Skyrim:Vlindrel Hall

To purchase this home, you must first complete the prerequisite quests for Thane of the Reach. If Igmund is Jarl, you must complete Kill the Forsworn Leader, followed by Dungeon Delving, the latter of which requires you to be at least level 20. If Thongvor Silver-Blood becomes Jarl, either due to the events of The Battle for Fort Sungard or Season Unending, he will grant you permission to buy it out of gratitude for your efforts in making him Jarl. You can purchase the house from the Jarl's Steward for 8,000 gold once you have been given permission.

Once purchased, the Steward will provide you with a book, Markarth Home Decorating Guide, which details the various house upgrades available from him. The upgrades cost 3,900 or 4,200 gold, putting the final cost of Vlindrel Hall at 11,900 or 12,200 gold, depending on whether you choose the child's bedroom  or the alchemy laboratory. Argis the Bulwark will be appointed your housecarl and will move to Vlindrel Hall after you become a thane.

 
Residents

‡ This person moves here once you become Thane of the Reach.

Walkthrough
Exterior
The house is located in the top tier of houses over the market place. It is next door to Nepos's house and above Ogmund's house, both of which have related quests that can leave them uninhabited. Outside and to the right of the single entrance is a lit brazier and food sack. Once you have completed the reputation quest for the Thieves Guild in Markarth, a barrel marked with the   shadowmark will also be found by the brazier.

Vlindrel Hall
Prior to Purchasing any Upgrades
The whole place is filthy, with cobwebs and dust throughout. There are many pieces of cheap, broken, and unusable wooden furniture. In the living room, a large stone table is centrally situated with a single wooden chair drawn up to it; the others have been knocked over or are resting upside-down on the edge of the table. There is a large fireplace with a lit fire to the north, which has a sunken area in front of it. Hanging over the fire is a metal pot. There is also a food barrel by the rear wall to the left of an open door that leads back to a room which separates the bedrooms. This room also has a large fireplace with a lit fire opposite the door, with a cooking pot, a carrot, and a cast iron pot containing a baked potato and cabbage on the hearth. To the left is a loaf of bread, and to the right is a wooden block with a rack of dog meat on top. The central third of this room is also sunken, like the area around the fireplace in the first room, and another stone table stands in the middle. There are a couple chairs, a crate, and a round wooden table on the raised section to the left, as well as a large doorway that leads to the master bedroom. On the raised section to the right of the fireplace is a dagger-rack display case on a stone ledge, with an end table and open crate to the right of it. On the end table is a red apple and a jug; the open crate contains more fine crockery. To the right of a doorway leading through into the housecarl's bedroom are a crate, a food barrel, and a sack. There is also a set of shelves that holds two bottles of alto wine, a bottle of wine, two bottles of Nord mead, a garlic bulb, a cabbage, a gourd, a cast iron pot containing two carrots and a cheese wheel, a haunch of venison, a goat cheese wheel, a leek, and a rock warbler egg in a wooden bowl.

The master bedroom contains a large, poor quality double bed with an empty chest at its foot and a crate to the right. 

At the other end of the main room are two more open doors. The right-hand door leads to a darkened room that is empty except for a single crate behind the door, while the left-hand door leads into another room with a lit fireplace in front of which are a block of wood, a chair, and stool. In the corner behind the left-hand door there is a crate with three food sacks on top, as well as a mead barrel containing bottles of Nord mead and clutter. 
 
Costs and Upgrades
 

Walkthrough - Room by Room
As each upgrade is purchased, the corresponding area is cleaned up, rugs are scattered over the floors, and mounted animal heads are hung from the walls. Most of the existing items are kept, though often upgraded to be higher quality. Throughout the property fine quality crockery and goat horn lamps (or candles on stands) are added.

Bedroom
right|thumb|Master bedroomThis upgrade actually upgrades both the master bedroom and the room between the bedrooms. The double bed in the master bedroom is upgraded to a finer quality bed and corner shelves are added on either side. (The left-hand shelf holds a rock warbler egg in a wooden bowl.) The empty chest remains at the foot of the bed, and four small cupboards are added around the room. These cupboards hold two red and one blue mountain flower, a thistle branch and a sweet roll, a potion of minor healing, and a bottle of Black-Briar Mead, respectively. There are two wardrobes, one small - with a bottle of alto wine and a gourd on top - and one tall; each contains a selection of fine clothes and boots, and to the left are a washbasin, a dagger-rack display case with a wall shelf above it, and a bowl containing two sprigs of snowberries, as well as three food sacks. On the wall above the head of the bed hangs a shield rack sporting an iron shield and crossed iron greatswords.

The middle room has kept all its original items. The central stone table has now been laid with a platter holding several red and green apples and wedges of cheese, two bottles of alto wine, a bottle of wine, a copy of On the Great Collapse, and a wooden bowl containing two luna moth wings. To the left of the fireplace is a second dagger-rack display case. The round wooden table outside the master bedroom has been laid with a potion of minor healing, a boiled creme treat, and a honey nut treat. The chairs in the room have been upgraded to a higher quality and are arranged in pairs either side of the stone table and the doorway to the master bedroom.  

Housecarl's Bedroom
Once you have been made Thane, the housecarl's room is furnished with an owned single bed against a stone ledge to the southeast. On the ledge are a small mead barrel and a wooden bowl containing one bunch of juniper berries and two bunches of jazbay grapes. Beside the bed stands a small table with a loaf of bread on top and a kettle beside it containing two cabbages and two potatoes. Against the northeast wall is a cupboard and a square wooden table, both of which hold more fine crockery - of which there is even more in a basket on the floor. Opposite the bed hanging from a rack are two bunches of dried frost mirriam, a bunch of dried elves ear, and a garlic braid, with a pile of firewood, a wooden block, and a bucket containing a woodcutter's axe and two goat cheese wedges underneath. To the left is a dresser with an apple pie and a bottle of alto wine on top. Beside the dresser is a washbasin and a basket containing three leeks and a potato. 

Living Room
right|thumb|Living roomThe central stone table now has three chairs drawn up to it and has been laid with two bottles of alto wine, a bottle of wine, a baked potato, a salmon steak, an apple pie, two portions of grilled leeks, a pheasant breast, a cabbage, a tomato, a raw rabbit leg, a salt pile, and some bread and cheese. Two large round tables stand on either side of the fireplace. Both have a single chair, and they are laid with a bottle of alto wine, a bottle of wine, a green apple, several loaves of bread and pieces of cheese, a sweet roll, a wooden bowl containing three bunches of jazbay grapes, a drum, a flute, and a copy of The Third Door. To the right is a small cupboard with a lute on top. To the left of the fireplace is a set of shelves holding an iron mace, a sample of ice wraith teeth, and copies of Galerion The Mystic and Beggar Prince. Beside these shelves is a washbasin. 

A square wooden table stands to the left of the entrance doorway, with a bottle of alto wine, two honey nut treats, and a copy of ''Chance's Folly'' on top and a single chair pulled up to it. Three tall, three-shelf bookcases are arranged in an L-shape nearby, one of which is backed up against the table and two of which stand along the wall. Against the wall at the southwest end of the room is a dresser with a dagger-rack display case on top and chairs on either side. To the right of the doorway is a mannequin, an end table with a long taffy treat on top, and a set of shelves holding a deer hide, a bottle of alto wine, a bottle of wine, and a set of iron armor and boots. On one side of the shelves is a half-height stone wall with a quiver of iron arrows on top. Nearby are a chair and stool, on top of which sits a bowl of red apples and cheese; a bottle of alto wine sits on the floor beside it. 

Alchemy Lab
right|thumb|Alchemy LaboratoryThe left-hand room off of the main room still contains its original items, but now also houses an alchemy lab, with three racks hanging above it which hold two rabbits, a pheasant, two bunches of dried elves ear, two bunches of dried frost mirriam, and a garlic braid. On the small stone shelves on either side of the table sit a bowl of vampire dust, a salt pile, a bottle of frostbite venom, a bowl of ectoplasm, and a draught of vigor. To the left of the lab is a washbasin holding two samples of slaughterfish scales and four slaughterfish eggs. On the floor to the right is an open crate containing a cabbage and three apples, two red and one green. Beside the previously existing mead barrel, atop which now sit a sheaf of wheat and a bowl of bone meal, a barrel containing ingredients has been added. There are two wall shelves above the stone shelf that runs along the rear wall; these hold two bowls of troll fat, two sprigs of frost mirriam, a sample of scaly pholiota fungus, a mammoth cheese bowl, a potion of vigor, a potion of vigorous magicka, a weak vigor poison, a potion of vigorous healing, a potent lingering poison, a fear poison, and a potion of brief invisibility. On the stone shelf are two bowls of fire salts, two bowls of glow dust, a torchbug thorax, a bulb of garlic, two bowls of frost salts, a bunch of tundra cotton, a draught of strength, a small mead barrel and two open crates, which contain two swamp fungal pods, three rock warbler eggs, two deathbell flowers, and three nightshade flowers. There is an apothecary's satchel on the stool, and sitting by the hearth are a wooden bowl containing two hagraven claws and a cast iron pot holding a taproot. Beside the hearth is a kettle containing a rack of dog meat, a cut of horker meat, and a potato.

Enchanting Room
right|thumb|Enchanting roomThe right-hand room off of the main room still contains the single crate behind the door, but it now has a small cage hanging above it which contains several human skulls. Beside the crate is an empty soul gem stand, and to the right of the stand is a stone shelf with a copy of Magic from the Sky, a bowl of bone meal, three soul gem fragments, a bowl containing an empty lesser and filled petty soul gem, and a copy of The Firmament which may have fallen to the floor. Above the stone shelf is a wall shelf holding a skull and an empty grand soul gem. Above the shelf hangs a shield rack bearing an iron shield and crossed iron greatswords. To the side is a washbasin holding two bottles of wine. 

Against the rear wall are two weapon plaques, one above the other, above which is a second shield plaque holding another pair of iron greatswords and an iron shield. A sets of shelves on the left holds an empty petty soul gem in a stand, three more soul gem fragments, an empty soul gem holder, a bowl containing an empty petty soul gem and filled common soul gem, a set of blue mage robes and a copy of the non-skill book version of Vernaccus and Bourlor. An additional set of shelves on the right holds another empty petty soul gem, an animal skull, a soul gem fragment, and a dragon's tongue flower in another soul gem holder. On the floor between them is an open crate containing a sample of ice wraith teeth and an animal skull. Against the wall to the right is an arcane enchanter with two weapon racks on either side. The left-hand rack holds an iron sword. Above the enchanter hangs another cage containing human skulls.

Entryway
A washbasin is added immediately on your left when entering, with two pairs of lit braziers on either side along the passage leading up to the main living room. There are planters between the first and second sets of braziers. The one on the left holds two gourds plants, a lavender bush, and a red mountain flower plant, while the one on the right holds two patches of jazbay grapes and a snowberry bush. At either end of both planters are metal plates; atop one sits a bowl containing five red mountain flowers and two bunches of jazbay grapes. Beside this is a basket holding two gourds. To the right there are a bowl containing two sprigs of snowberries and a basket holding a bunch of lavender, as well as a cabbage and a goat cheese wheel. On a stone shelf by the doorway into the living room is an empty bowl that is added by the living room upgrade; opposite this sits an empty basket.

Children's Bedroom
right|thumb|Children's bedroomWhen purchasing this upgrade, any items left in containers are found in the tall wardrobe after installing the children's bedroom. To the left of the fireplace is an empty, unlocked child's chest. To the right, coming out along the front of the fireplace, is a child's bed; a second bed sits along the rear wall. Between the beds is a tall wardrobe. To the right of the second bed is an end table with a copy of Olaf and the Dragon on top. Beside this is a child's practice dummy and on the far side is a small sideboard holding a satchel, two red apples, a honey nut treat, and piece of bread; on a shelf underneath are a flute, a drum, and copies of Yellow Book of Riddles, ''An Explorer's Guide to Skyrim, and A Children's Anuad''. In front is a flower basket containing two chicken's eggs, and a blue, a purple and a red mountain flower. 

Purchasing the upgrade to convert the alchemy lab to a children's bedroom is reversible as often as required, for repeat costs of 1000 septims and 700 septims respectively. This does not reset the room or replace any loose items picked up previously, but any loose items remain on display once you revert the room's function. Any items left in any of the containers in the alchemy lab room, when replacing the lab with the bedroom, will be found in the tall wardrobe. Any items left in any of the containers in the bedroom, when reverting the children's bedroom to an alchemy lab, will be found in the large mead barrel behind the door.

Adopted children living here will have unique dialogue comments about Markarth:
''I climbed all the way up to the temple, but they said I wasn't old enough to get in. They're just mean. (girls)
Banning said I could come play with his dogs. I want a dog. (girls)
Aicantar let me see his museum. It's really nice. (boys)
I hate Markarth. There's nowhere to play! It's all just rocks. Rocks rocks rocks. (boys)
If you ask your spouse "How are the kids?" they will reply with one of the following, depending on their voicetype:
You tell me. Between the Forsworn and the mines, Markarth is no place to raise a child.
All right. I do worry, though, no matter how many times the guards say Markarth is safe.
Honestly, I'm a little worried. Markarth is nice enough, but... I wonder if it's really safe for children.
Fine, fine. The city's not safe, but... that's good. Keeps a kid on edge, alert. Could keep 'em alive when they grow up.''

Bugs
There are a few bugs which affect all houses; see the bugs section of the Houses page for details and fixes.
 
 
If you completed these two quests before you were level 20, there is still a way to buy the house. During the quest Season Unending, General Tullius and Ulfric Stormcloak will negotiate an exchange of territories, which will include the Reach unless you are a Stormcloak. If the Reach is handed over to or conquered by the Stormcloaks during Liberation of Skyrim, Thongvar Silver-Blood will become the Jarl of Markarth. He will then give you the opportunity to become thane, and the subsequent option to purchase Vlindrel Hall. If you have joined the Legion and completed Reunification of Skyrim then this workaround is unavailable.
 
 This can be fixed by entering   in the console. The dialogue to become thane will reappear if you talk to Jarl Igmund, and once you are thane, the option to buy the house from Raerek will appear.
 If the above solution doesn't work, you can enter  , which will advance the quest to the "help x citizens" stage. Speak with the jarl to become thane and afterwards speak with Raerek. The option to buy the house should re-appear.
This can also be fixed by doing another quest to help a citizen of Markarth if one is available.