Riverwood (Skyrim)

Riverwood is a small village located in the province of Skyrim. The village is built on the eastern bank of the White River, in Whiterun Hold. It is a small Nordic village set in a valley, between the river and the steep mountainside of the Throat of the World. It serves largely as a stopping point and rural community along the road from Helgen to Whiterun.
==Overview==
Riverwood was founded by the ancestors of Gerdur and Hod, current residents and owners of the village's lumber mill. The village is small, despite the fact that there is a lumber mill, tavern, blacksmith, general goods store, and three log houses and huts with small vegetable gardens. The village is largely self-sufficient, growing its own vegetables as well as hunting and fishing for meat.
Trade is made through the blacksmith and goods store, and what cannot be found locally or bought from travelers passing through may be bought from the Whiterun Marketplace. While the village is walled along its entrances, these walls are not initially patrolled by Hold Guards, and the rural village is largely defenseless. As such, the road to Whiterun is frequented by bandits during the time of the Civil War, and the residents will stay in the town.
==Interactions==
Riverwood is most likely the first location visited by the Dragonborn following the attack on Helgen and the escape from Alduin. As such, the small and simple community serves as a tutorial village.
After the events at Helgen, they are directed to either Alvor, had they followed Hadvar, or Gerdur, if they sided with Ralof. The quest "Before the Storm" has them arriving in Riverwood, receiving supplies from the respective source, and being urged to head to Whiterun to inform the Jarl of the return of the dragons.
Riverwood also acts as a significant location and base during the first two acts of the main quest.
The Dragonborn can participate in several local economy and community jobs for the residents, such as chopping wood, milling logs at the mill and smithing basic armor and weapons at Alvor's forge. These activities will allow the Dragonborn to freely take most items from the buildings associated with the resident who was helped, without it counting as stealing. Additionally, Orgnar at the Sleeping Giant Inn has an Alchemy Lab.
Following the quest "Before the Storm," the village can be bolstered with a trio of Whiterun Guards as well as a small camp with bedrolls and a fire with a Cooking Place at the southwest entrance. Otherwise, the village is defenseless discounting its basic walls. Crime does not go unpunished, however, as the residents will attack the Dragonborn should they commit a crime. The residents will accept a yield, but a bounty will be added to Whiterun Hold regardless, and they may refuse another yield following further crimes.
==Points of interest==
===Inns===
*Sleeping Giant Inn. Run by Orgnar and Delphine.
===Shops===
*Riverwood Trader. Owned and run by Lucan Valerius.
*Blacksmith. It is attached to Alvor and Sigrid's house, owned and run by Alvor.
===Houses===
*Alvor and Sigrid's House
*Faendal's House
*Hod and Gerdur's House
*Sven and Hilde's House
===Other===
*Riverwood Lumber Mill – owned by Gerdur, also operated by Faendal and Hod.
*Guard Camp – Guards' sleeping place.
*A set of arrow targets.
The White River, on which Riverwood is built, is full of salmon. These fish are sought after by the area's hunters, and can be used for food or sold for gold. With the plug-in, salmon leaping up falls also have salmon roe, a valuable alchemy ingredient.
==Characters==
There are a total of sixteen residents (and one dog, as well as chickens and cows) in Riverwood.
*Alvor – A blacksmith who lives and works at the local smithy. Trader in weapons, armor and smithing materials. He is Hadvar's uncle.
*Camilla Valerius – Sister of Lucan Valerius. Both Sven and Faendal are in love with her.Events of "A Lovely Letter"
*Delphine – She and Orgnar own the Sleeping Giant Inn. Grandmaster of the Blades.
*Dorthe – The daughter of Alvor.
*Embry – The local drunk. He is mostly seen around or in the Sleeping Giant Inn.
*Faendal – A local Wood Elf archer who works at the mill and has a crush on Camilla Valerius. Possible follower depending on the Dragonborn's choice in the "A Lovely Letter" quest.
*Frodnar – The son of Hod and Gerdur, the young boy is tailed by his dog, Stump. He is a bit of a prankster.
*Gerdur – Runs the mill along with Hod. Descendant of the founders of Riverwood. She is Ralof's sister.
*Hadvar – An Imperial soldier and nephew of Alvor.
*Hilde – The mother of Sven. She claims that she has seen a dragon, but nobody believes her.
*Hod – Runs the mill along with Gerdur, and will buy firewood.
*Lucan Valerius – Owns the Riverwood Trader.
*Orgnar – He and Delphine own the Sleeping Giant Inn.
*Ralof – Is a member of the Stormcloaks who lives at the home of his sister Gerdur and her husband Hod.
*Sigrid – The wife of Alvor.
*Stump – Frodnar's dog.
*Sven – The son of Hilde and the local bard. He and Faendal have a crush on Camilla Valerius. Possible follower depending on the Dragonborn's choice in the "A Lovely Letter" quest.
*Whiterun Guards – A trio of Whiterun Guards will be assigned to Riverwood if the Dragonborn completes Before the Storm. One will patrol the north gate, another the south, while the third patrols the town itself, generally around the south gate. If the Dragonborn has sided with the Stormcloaks during the war, and has completed the "Battle for Whiterun," these Guards are replaced by Stormcloak Soldiers.
==Riverwood quests==
Quest 	Description 	Quest Giver 	Location
The Golden Claw 	Bring a family heirloom for Lucan 	Lucan Valerius 	Riverwood Trader
A Lovely Letter 	Deliver a forged letter to resolve a love triangle	Sven or Faendal	Sleeping Giant Inn
Blacksmithing Tutorial	Help Alvor with various blacksmithing jobs 	Alvor 	Alvor's Workshop
Chop Wood 	Get paid to chop firewood 	Hod 	Hod and Gerdur's House
==Quests==
Quest 	Description 	Quest Giver	Location
A Blade in the Dark	Prove to Delphine that the player is Dragonborn by slaying the dragon Sahloknir.	Delphine 	Sleeping Giant Inn
A Cornered Rat 	Bring Esbern back to Delphine at Sleeping Giant Inn in Riverwood 	Delphine 	Sleeping Giant Inn
Diplomatic Immunity	Infiltrate a party at the Thalmor Embassy 	Delphine 	Sleeping Giant Inn
==Nearby points of interest==
*Anise's Cabin
*Embershard Mine
*Guardian Stones
*A bandit camp can be found between Helgen and Riverwood.
*A hunter's camp can be found south-west of Riverwood on the banks of the river - directly south of Anise's Cabin on the opposite bank. It may prove useful for low-level characters, as the hunter can be killed or pickpocketed. His camp holds some useful items, and a Novice-Locked Chest with randomly generated loot. An iron ore vein is also present at the camp.
*Bleak Falls Barrow
*There is a hidden chest (Treasure Map I) across the river on the road leading into Whiterun in a tree trunk at the beginning of the game. Note that it will only be there if the Treasure Map I note from the bandit camp located between Helgen and Riverwood has been obtained.
*Riverwood Folly
==Gallery==
Riverwoodmap 03.png|Riverwood in Official Game Guide.
Aurora Riverwood Skyrim.png|A vibrant aurora over Riverwood
Riverwood Blacksmith.png|Blacksmith
Sleeping Giant Inn.png|Sleeping Giant Inn
Riverwood RoadtoWhiterun.png|Road to Whiterun
Riverwood LumberMill.png|Lumber Mill
Riverwood Streets.jpg|Riverwood streets concept art
Riverwoodaerial.jpg|Aerial view of Riverwood
==Trivia==
*Riverwood was a prototype for towns in Skyrim, and was the first area in the game to be built to completion.
*After crossing the stone bridge from Riverwood, there will be a fork in the road. If the road that heads towards the right is taken, stop at the first dead tree on the right side (Mora Tapinella is growing on it). Ants are coming out from the base of this dead tree and spilling out into the road.
**There is an-ant covered tree stump directly across the stone bridge that is connected to Riverwood.
**In Riverwood, ants can be found near the saw mill on a tree stump (land area surrounded by water).
*Riverwood, aside from Riften, seems to be one of the places that's most often a target for thieves. On some nights, it is possible to see a thief trying to lockpick the Riverwood Trader's Shop, though they are often found and attacked by the guards. The main reason to this is most likely the Golden Claw inside the shop, as it was stolen before.
**If the Golden Claw is given back to Lucan, there is a chance that two thieves will appear and attempt to steal it back. If the thieves are killed, Lucan will thank the Dragonborn.
*After the quest "Battle for Whiterun," the guards in Riverwood will remain in their traditional yellow uniform, even if "Before the Storm" is completed after this quest.
*There is a tree across the bridge from Riverwood, which will play a sound clip of birds scattering. There are some birds stuck in the tree.
*When talking to Whiterun Guards in the city, they often mention Riverwood not having a wall.
*Farengar Secret-Fire describes Riverwood as "a miserable, little village".
*On the border of the town by the entrance from Helgen, there is a camp. The bed rolls aren't marked as owned. The guards use it after completing Before the Storm. A useable cooking pot can be found there as well. Prior to completion of said quest, it is simply a pile of logs.
*There's a rare occurrence that snow may fall in Riverwood despite its warmer climate. Possible reason is due to fast travelling from snowy areas such as High Hrothgar or Dawnstar.
==Bugs==
Click to see the list of bugs encountered
* There is a bug when Delphine, Alvor, Sigrid, Gerdur, and Faendal attack for no reason. Yielding to a guard or fast traveling to a different hold can generally fix this. Additionally, Alvor has roughly 3/4 health. This normally occurs if the Dragonborn fast traveled to Riverwood when a thief is in the town.
* Upon entering Riverwood Trader, there can be a thief walking around inside it with Lucan still awake.
* The dog Stump will run into Alvor's house if a dragon attacks and will not come out. Consequently, this causes his owner Frodnar, Gerdur and Hod's child, to wait in the middle of the street for Stump to follow but there's no Stump. The only way to fix this is to reload a previous save.
* One instance has it to where all of the dead people never disappear.
* Hod never leaves his house, regardless of time of day. This is apparently triggered on the Dragonborn's first visit to the town, and lasts for the rest of the game.
*When there is only one Whiterun Guard in Riverwood and the citizens are attacked with fists while the fists of steel perk is active, the guard will help kill all of them.
** A possible solution for this is to open the console, clicking Hod, then typing disable then enable directly after. In many cases, this resets the character's AI.
* It is possible that everyone in Riverwood will act as if Frenzy was cast upon them.
* The Riverwood Trader cannot be entered sometimes.
==Appearances==
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==References==
cs:Riverwood
de:Flusswald (Skyrim)
es:Cauce Boscoso (Skyrim)
fr:Rivebois (Skyrim)
it:Riverwood
nl:Riverwood/Skyrim
pl:Rzeczna Puszcza
ru:Ривервуд (Skyrim)
sv:Riverwood (Skyrim)
uk:Рівервуд (Skyrim)
fi:Riverwood
Category:Skyrim: Whiterun Hold Locations
Category:Skyrim: Towns