Unbound Unbound is a quest available in . It serves as the prologue of the game and the tutorial mission in which the player learns the basics about the game . Walkthrough . Character creation . Character creation is very similar to how it was in . The design of the Dragonborn is much more detailed than " Oblivion " and features many more options to choose from . The Dragonborn ' s race , weight , gender , and more can be determined . The choices made will sometimes affect how the people of Skyrim and beyond react to the Dragonborn . Hadvar ' s comment when he calls the Dragonborn will change based on the race chosen : Executions . At this point Alduin roars for the first time , but the soldiers think little of it . Dragon Attack . Just before the Imperial Headsman has the opportunity to decapitate the Dragonborn and end the game before it begins , Alduin arrives and disrupts the execution , raining meteors and fire down upon the town . Now , Alduin roars for the second time , unsettling Hadvar , but the Imperial Captain remains unfazed . Alduin ' s third roar occurs , and he makes an appearance atop the tower . Quotes during the initial chaos : Ralof : Imperial Soldier : With the execution halted and the town in chaos , the Dragonborn escapes custody . Running towards a nearby tower , the Dragonborn meets Ralof and Ulfric Stormcloak , leader of the Stormcloaks , who also managed to escape . Alduin bashes through the wall next to the staircase as the Dragonborn is ascending it , killing another Stormcloak in the process . Ralof will instruct the Dragonborn to jump out of the tower from the hole into a nearby inn , with the promise that he will meet the Dragonborn when he can . After jumping down and exiting the inn , the Dragonborn finds Helgen heavily damaged , with many buildings destroyed and burning . After the Dragonborn runs into the street , an Imperial soldier , Hadvar , will tell the Dragonborn to follow him to safety . Alduin will now land on the wall above the Dragonborn . Hadvar will then lead the Dragonborn to the Helgen Keep . At the keep ' s entrance , Ralof catches up . At that point , either Hadvar or Ralof must be chosen to accompany the Dragonborn the rest of the way . The choice will create some minor changes in the story during the Civil War questline ; however , this does not affect the side that can be taken in the war later in the game . If Ralof is followed , he will say , " " Through here . Let ' s go ! " " If Hadvar is followed , he will say , " " Quick , I can cut you loose inside the keep . " " and " " Come on ! We need to get inside ! " " The Dragonborn will still be cut loose regardless of who is followed . Just before entering the keep , Alduin will say , Helgen Keep . The only main difference at the beginning of the game between following Ralof and following Hadvar is that if Hadvar is followed , the Dragonborn gets light armor , but if Ralof is followed , the Dragonborn gets heavy armor ( which is separately obtainable later ) . Following Ralof . Upon entering the keep , the Dragonborn and Ralof discover the body of a dead Stormcloak , Gunjar . After freeing the Dragonborn from their bindings , Ralof instructs the Dragonborn to take Gunjar ' s gear , as he won ' t be needing it . While it is being equipped , Ralof examines the doors . He discovers one door is locked , and the other can ' t be opened from the inside . Luckily , an Imperial Captain and Imperial soldier will come through and open the door from the other side ( if the Dragonborn is seen before the gate is open , the captain will be alert and shout " It ' s the Stormcloak prisoners ! " ) . Once they open the door , they must be killed in order to recover the key to the other gate from their bodies . Also , a full set of heavy Imperial Armor can be taken from the Imperial Captain ' s corpse . The newly opened path leads to a store room , with two more Imperial soldiers gathering supplies . After defeating the soldiers , Ralof advises the Dragonborn to go through the barrels to find potions . There is time for a thorough search of the area and all containers and to become familiar with Skyrim ' s controls and menus . A search will find a barrel with potions , a magicka potion over near the table with bread , tankards , and a potion of minor healing . Between the barrel of potions and the cabinet , there is a crate containing five rock warbler eggs , which can be used in Alchemy . Taking any of these things is optional , which means the Dragonborn doesn ' t need to take them in order to proceed . Continuing down , a battle between an Imperial torturer and his assistant against two Stormcloaks is discovered . If any Stormcloaks survive the combat , the following conversation will be heard : Regardless of the battle ' s outcome , Ralof will then look around the room . Ralof gives 12 picks to pick open the cage , which contains a dead mage who is wearing a novice hood and robes . Along with this , he has 25 and two potions of minor magicka . Next to him are a few septims and a Sparks spell tome . The rest of the locked cells can be picked for lockpicking experience . In the armory there are two lockpicks , an iron shield , and an iron mace and a couple of books . On a table outside the cage is a knapsack containing four lockpicks and some gold . Next to it are " The Book of the Dragonborn " and an iron dagger . The torturer who was killed also has a steel dagger , the only one in the keep . Beyond is a hallway lined with cells . One of these cells contains a skeleton , bone meal , and a coin purse . After that , a room is entered with prisoners in cages . All of them are deceased , and there are three more skeletons , all of which also carry bone meal , or on rare occasions , may be empty . They may have gold on them as well . In one of the cages , there is a dead Stormcloak wearing ragged robes . Eventually , a natural cave is entered , filled with soldiers guarding it for General Tullius . There are few Imperial soldiers in the cavern , along with another soldier wearing Imperial Armor . The archers all are positioned dangerously close to a pool of flammable oil , which can be set on fire using the Flames spell . After killing them , any surviving Stormcloak Soldiers will stay behind , waiting for Ulfric Stormcloak . Next is a drawbridge that connects to another part of the cave that is not occupied by the Imperials . Shortly after arriving in this cave , Alduin will roar , destroying the bridge behind the Dragonborn . When following Ralof , there is a skeleton near the passage leading towards the cavern that leads to frostbite spiders . Near the skeleton is an iron dagger , a potion of minor healing , and a coin purse . The next cavern consists of two to four of the smaller variety of frostbite spiders , plus two larger ones ( not to be mistaken for giant frostbite spiders ) that will drop down from the ceiling . Frostbite venom can be collected from their corpses . There are also Spider Eggs in the egg sacks and skeever tail s in the hanging web sacks , as well as some gold or a lockpick or two in the hanging desiccate corpse . Once the spiders are defeated , the Dragonborn and Ralof exit through another passageway . In the next cave , a potion of health is at the fire at the other side of the water . There is also another iron dagger . The potion can ' t be seen from a distance , because it is too close to the fire . After getting the potion , Ralof tells the Dragonborn to stop at the cart , as there is a bear on the other side . He suggests sneaking by , but he also gives the Dragonborn a Long Bow and twelve iron arrows . If the Dragonborn chooses to fight the bear , its damage will be reduced by 80 % to make the battle easier . In the cart next to the Dragonborn are two bottles of Alto wine and a coin purse . In front of the cart , near the skeleton , is an iron helmet and a bottle of Black - Briar Mead . Beyond the bear is an exit to the cave . Upon exiting , Alduin can be seen flying overhead . Ralof will direct the Dragonborn to his sister , Gerdur , who lives in Riverwood . At this point the Dragonborn can choose to follow Ralof to Riverwood , or split up and find their own way . If the Dragonborn decides to split up , unique dialogue can be missed . Following Hadvar . After entering the keep with Hadvar , he unbinds the Dragonborn and tells them to look for equipment . In the corner of the room there is a warden ' s chest where an iron sword , Imperial light armor , Imperial light boots , and a Helgen Keep key can be found , in a chest in front of one of the beds an Imperial light helmet can be found . After opening the door with the key , pulling the chain will open the wooden gate . Behind the gate there are two hostile Stormcloaks . After defeating them there is another door , leading to the storeroom . In the store room two more Stormcloaks are found . When the fight is won Hadvar advises the Dragonborn to go through the barrels to find potions . There is time for a thorough search of the area and all containers and to become familiar with Skyrim ' s controls and menus . A search will find a barrel with potions , a magicka potion over near the table with bread , tankards , and a potion of minor healing . Between the barrel of potions and the cabinet , there is a crate containing five rock warbler eggs , which can be used in Alchemy . Taking any of these things is optional , which means the Dragonborn doesn ' t need to take them in order to proceed . Going down , there is a torture room , where the torturer and his assistant are battling the two Stormcloaks . If the torturer survives , the following dialogue will occur : If the Torturer ' s Assistant is alive , he will say at this point : " Forget the old man . I ' ll come with you . " Otherwise : There is a dead mage in the central cage that wears a novice hood and robes and carries 25 and two potions of minor magicka . There is also more septims on the floor of the cage , and a Sparks spell tome . The cage ( and other prison doors ) can be picked open with the Lockpicking skill . In the armory there are two lockpicks , an iron shield , and an iron mace and a couple of books . On a table outside the cage is a knapsack containing four lockpicks and some gold . Next to the knapsack are " The Book of the Dragonborn " and an iron dagger . Beyond the torture room is a hallway lined with cells . One of these cells contains a skeleton , bone meal , and a coin purse . After that , a room is entered with prisoners in cages . All of them are deceased , and there are three more skeletons , all of which also carry bone meal , or on rare occasions , may be empty . They may have gold on them as well . In one of the cages , there is a dead Stormcloak wearing ragged robes . Eventually , a natural cave is entered , filled with about ten more Stormcloaks to kill . Some of them are near a pool of oil which can be set ablaze with the Flames spell . Then , a bridge which is activated by a lever nearby must be crossed . After going through the bridge and entering the cave , Alduin will roar , which causes the ceiling above the bridge to collapse . Now , the Dragonborn only needs to follow the quest marker along with Hadvar . There is a skeleton near the passage leading towards a cavern . Near the skeleton is an iron dagger , a potion of minor healing , and a coin purse . The next cavern consists of two to four of the smaller variety of frostbite spiders , plus two larger ones ( not to be mistaken for giant frostbite spiders ) that will drop down from the ceiling . Frostbite venom can be collected from their corpses . There are also Spider Eggs in the egg sacks and skeever tail s in the hanging web sacks , as well as some gold or a lockpick or two in the hanging desiccate corpse . After killing the spiders , exit through another passageway . In the next cave , a potion of health is at the fire at the other side of the water . There is also another iron dagger . The potion can ' t be seen from a distance , because it is too close to the fire . After getting the potion , a sleeping bear is found . Hadvar gives the Dragonborn a Long Bow and twelve iron arrows , suggesting either sneaking past or killing the bear . If the Dragonborn chooses to fight the bear , its damage will be reduced by 80 % to make the battle easier . In the cart next to the Dragonborn are two bottles of Alto wine and a coin purse . In front of the cart , near the skeleton , is an iron helmet and a bottle of Black - Briar Mead . After the bear has been dealt with , the two can exit the cave . Upon exiting , Alduin can be seen flying overhead . After exiting the cave , Hadvar will direct the Dragonborn to his uncle , Alvor , who lives in Riverwood . At this point the Dragonborn can choose to follow Hadvar to Riverwood , or split up and find their own way . If the Dragonborn decides to split up , unique dialogue can be missed . Advantages and Disadvantages . Following Ralof ( Stormcloaks ) grants slightly better heavy armor because one of the guards who must be killed is an Imperial Captain , which means that Imperial armor can be picked up . This gives very helpful protection in the early part of the game . After continuing to Riverwood , Gerdur will give the Dragonborn her house key . If the Dragonborn sides with Hadvar ( Imperial Legion ) , the pile of iron and steel ingots which spawn next to the workbench outside of Alvor and Sigrid ' s house can be taken freely . This gives the Dragonborn a better weapon from the start if they have Steel Smithing . The armor and weapons next to the grindstone and in the basement of his house can also be taken .