To join the Stormcloak rebellion, we need to travel to the city of Windhelm. A big city in Skyrim ruled by Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak.
But before traveling, if you need to get some rest and you don’t have any money, sleep in Gerdur’s house. When you sleep in a bed, you feel rested when you wake up and you gain extra experience for 8 hours.
By using the key to Gerdur’s house, you can save money and you don’t have to stay over at the Inn. To make money right away you can talk to Alvor and he’ll give you a quest named Craft an Iron Dagger.
Alvor Quests in Riverwood
Once you’re done crafting the iron dagger, give it back to Alvor. Next, he’s going to give you another quest called Temper an Iron Dagger. Make your way to the sharpening stone and sharpen the dagger and give it back to Alvor.
Your next quest is to craft some leather. Go to the tanning rack and put together some leather. Once you’re done crafting leather, give it to Alvor. Your next task is to craft a hide helmet for Alvor.
To craft a hide helmet, use the blacksmith forge. Once you’re done crafting the hide helmet, give it to him. So your next quest with Alvor is to temper the hide helmet.
In order to temper the hide helmet, you need to use the workbench, go to the workbench and tamper a hide helmet. Once you’re done with that, Alvor will be happy he’s going to let you keep all the material that you have created.
So what I like to do is, for example, the dagger I will not use, so I’m going to sell it and make a bit of money. I could use the hide helmet for now, so I won’t sell it. Alvor is a merchant so you can sell and buy new items from his shop.
How to Find Windhelm Capital
Now I am on my way to join the Stormcloaks, however to join the Stormcloaks I have to go to Windhelm, a big city that’s far away. The city of Windhelm is located northeast of White Run on the Skyrim map.
When you open the map, you can check locations or set a destination. We mark custom destinations with a blue arrow icon on the map wherever we want to travel. If you are using the Xbox controller, you can press the X button to set a custom destination on the map.
A good rule of thumb while you are out adventuring with your character is to add special items from your inventory to your favorites bar. To set items or skills to your favorite bar, press B on the Xbox controller and go to items menu.
For example, if you want to add your weapon to your favorites bar, press Y on your Xbox controller. In my favorites bar I have health potions, weapons, shouts and racial abilities.
The orc has a special ability, so go to the magic tab and go to the powers tab and you will find a special racial ability called Berserker Rage. I recommend you add this ability to your favorites bar right away.
Things to Consider in your Adventures
You can use once per day, so make sure that you use as your last line of defense. If you get into a dangerous situation, you can use the orc berserker rage.
To use your favorites bar, press on the directional pad to the up position and it will show you all the skills and items there. When you’re traveling to another city or a big capital in Skyrim, the easiest way to find out if you’re going the right way is to look at signs posted near the cities.
For example, while crossing a bridge towards Windhelm, I found a sign with the names of most of the major capitals in Skyrim. Look for the name of the city and start walking in the direction where the arrow points.
While traveling to Windhelm, be ready to fight. Have your weapons in the ready position. After fighting enemies, your health is going to be low. Go into your inventory and eat some food. For example, you could eat carrots, cheese and apples to re-energize your health bar.
This is a great technique if you are fighting multiple enemies. If you are not fighting multiple enemies, you can fast-forward time to rest and fill your health bar. On the Xbox controller, press the left center button next to the menu button to fast-forward time.
If normally fast-forward time for an hour to recharge my health bar and continue with my quest. However, if there are more enemies around, it will not work and you will have to try later.
How to Level up in Skyrim
Once your character gains enough experience to level up, press B in your Xbox controller and move the joystick up to level up. For my orc warrior, I’m going to add points to health and stamina.
It will be an even distribution of points between 50% of health and 50% of stamina every time I level up. My first point goes to stamina, then health is next.
I’m building a two-handed orc warrior, so my first point goes to the two handed skill tree. This way I can use two handed weapons such as great swords, battle axes, and war hammers.
Those that improve this skill deliver deadlier blows. So my first point goes to the barbarian perk. It allows me to deal more damage with two handed weapons.
Once you arrive at the Windhelm capital, go to the Palace of Kings and that’s where you’re going to find the Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak. Once you speak with him, talk to Galmar Stone Fist. He’s going to give you a quest called Kill the Ice Wraith.
So in order to join the Stormcloak ranks, you need to head out and kill an ice wraith. Before I continue with the Ice Wraith quest and head to Serpentstone Isle, I am going to look for a two-handed weapon.
If you want to make quick money now, west of wind helm capital there is a place called Anga’s Mill. You can chop firewood by the mill and then sell it to a lady named Aeri. You can make fast money chopping wood by the mill.
How to Chop wood in Skyrim
To chop wood in Skyrim, you will need a woodcutter’s axe and wood chopping blocks. Once you have the wood cutter, press the A button on the Xbox controller and you will automatically chop wood until there’s no more wood to chop.
Travel west of Anga’s Mill and you will find a place called Bronze Water Cave. Be prepared before going inside this mysterious cave. You will fight some creatures that live in the cave.
But the best part of all is that there is a treasure chest inside with lots of good loot. Now I have sufficient money to go buy a two-handed weapon for my orc warrior build.
What is inside a Skyrim cave?
The caves in Skyrim are full of treasure, but they are extremely dangerous because they have lots of enemies. Whenever you go inside a cave, make sure you are prepared and have enough minor health potions to help you survive for a long time.
There are different enemies in Skyrim Caves. Some are weak, but a few are powerful bosses that are hard to kill. Once you’re finished killing all your enemies in the cave, open your map.
The cave icon on your map should say cleared. This means there are no more enemies to fight. Once you clear a cave, you need to wait a specific amount of time until the cave gets populated by enemies and treasure. You can fast-forward time or sleep a lot of hours to help pass time.
Remember to use your fast travel option by opening the Skyrim map and traveling to your destination faster. Since I want to sell my newfound treasure, I’m going to fast travel to Windhelm to buy my two-handed weapon.