No Stone Unturned: the Stones of Barenziah
Ever since I first played Daggerfall (the second episode of the Elder Scrolls series), I've been hooked on the series, so when I heard Skyrim would be released I immediately preordered the game on Game Webshop (a highly recommendable webshop, by the way!). As soon as the game was released I was ready to play, and by now I've reached the happy side of 300 hours of play.
During those hours of play, I've played through the main quest twice (once on each side), and I've finished just about any quest that can be done in Skyrim - each one of them more enjoyable than the next, except maybe for one "little" quest: No Stone Unturned...
If you do not want to learn the location of the stones, or you haven't encountered an unusual gem yet in the realm of Skyrim, please do not read on. But chances are more likely you stumbled upon this page, looking for the other locations, so feel free to continue reading.
Anyway, the quest starts as soon as you pick up a stone, called "an unusual gem", somewhere in the world of Skyrim. You'll need to speak to some people in order to learn what this unusual gem is - a stone from the crown of Barenziah (Queen of Wayrest, and Queen Mother of Morrowind). You'll also learn that there are 24 stones in total, scattered all over Skyrim.
And therein lies the problem I had with this quest: during my travels I encountered a few stones, and after doing my very best searching for more, I ended up with about half of the stones. All discovered by luck, instead of logic, so my hopes of discovering the others weren't quite high. There is no way to learn the location of the stones in Skyrim, so I had to turn to the internet for assistance (which I really dislike in a game).
Should you find yourself stuck in this same predicament, here are all of the locations of the 24 gems.
| Stone | Location | Additional information |
|---|---|---|
| 01. | Whiterun | Hall of the Dead. Inside the Catacombs, go down the left stairs and it will be to your left, next to a skeleton. |
| 02. | Whiterun | Dragonsreach, the Jarl's bedroom. |
| 03. | Whiterun | Jorrvaskr's living quarters, on the bookshelf in Kodlak's room. |
| 04. | Solitude | Blue Palace, Jarl's bedroom. |
| 05. | Solitude | Proudspire Manor. Buy the house or pickpocket the Key to Solitude Fletcher. |
| 06. | Riften | Mistveil Keep, Jarl's bedroom. |
| 07. | Windhelm | Palace of the Kings Upstairs. Take the first door to the left upon entering the main palace area, then find Wuunferth's room at the end of the hall. |
| 08. | Windhelm | House of Clan Shatter-Shield, on a bookshelf in the room to the left of the top of the stairs. |
| 09. | Markarth | The Treasury House, in an end table in Thonar's bedroom, which is down the hall on the left from when you enter the front door. You may need to pick an apprentice-level door, but no one reacts. |
| 10. | Markarth | Understone Keep's Dwemer Museum, on a table in the first room to the left. Note: do not go into the museum after completing the quest Hard Answers until you have finished the quest Darkness Returns! |
| 11. | College of Winterhold | Arch-Mage's Quarters. Access may be gained at the end of the quest Under Saarthal. |
| 12. | Dead Crone Rock | On the stone altar opposite a Dragon Word Wall. |
| 13. | Black-Briar Lodge | East of Riften. The gem is in the top floor bedroom, next to the bed. |
| 14. | Ansilvund | Northeast of Shor's Stone and due north of Riften, on the table at the end of Ansilvund Burial Chambers. |
| 15. | Stony Creek Cave | Just north of Ansilvund, on the table in the last room. |
| 16. | Rannveig's Fast | After falling down the trapdoor, in front of the chest and Dragon Word Wall. |
| 17. | Fellglow Keep | Northeast of Whiterun. Head straight up the stairs and to the right. |
| 18. | Dainty Sload | Ship along the coast northeast of Solitude, in the last room on the table. |
| 19. | Sunderstone Gorge | On the table with two bodies in front of the Dragon Word Wall. |
| 20. | Yngvild | The island northeast of Dawnstar. The gem is in the bedroom behind the throne in Yngvild Throne room. |
| 21. | Hob's Fall Cave | On the northern coast, directly between Dawnstar and Winterhold. The gem is near the alchemy set. |
| 22a. | Thalmor Embassy | Prior to patch 1.4, the stone is located in the Thalmor Embassy in Elenwen's Solar on the second floor. Acquiring the gem during the Diplomatic Immunity quest is advised, since the easiest way to access the cave is through your escape near the end of that quest. However, it is still possible to access Reeking Cave without doing that quest. |
| 22b. | Reeking Cave | After patch 1.4, inside Reeking Cave and next to a corpse in the back. |
| 23. | Pinewatch Bandit's Sanctuary | In a house west of Helgen, there is a secret hideout accessible from the basement (you have to push a button on the wall to open the bookshelf). The gem is found in a locked room in the Bandit's Sanctuary. |
| 24. | Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary | On the dresser in Astrid's room. It is still accessible after the Death Incarnate quest. |
Hunting them down will still be fun, you just don't have to search yourself silly doing so. Besides this little nuisance, Skyrim is by far the best game I've ever played, and I'm really looking forward to its successor. It'll be a long couple of years, I guess...