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Whiterun is typically the first city a new player will visit. There’s a lot to do here, from the main questline, buying your first house, and completing various side quests and miscellaneous tasks. One of these quests will be available right off the bat, pretty much as soon as you enter Whiterun. This quest is called In My Time of Need, which, while simple to complete, does have different endings based on your actions. In this guide, I’ll walk you through the quest in full, and show how you can get your preferred ending.
Accepting In My Time of Need in Skyrim
Shortly after you walk through the gates of Whiterun, a pair of Alik’r Warriors will enter behind you. They will initiate a conversation with you, asking if you’ve seen a Redguard woman lately. This conversation starts In My Time of Need, with the first objective being to find this Redguard woman.
If you somehow miss the Alik’r Warriors on your first visit to Whiterun, you can still trigger the quest in one of two ways. The Alik’r Warriors will take their investigation all over Skyrim, and you can get the same dialogue that starts the quest if you bump into them. While they can go quite far afield, the pair most commonly wanders around near Whiterun. If you want to maximize your chances of finding them, patrol the roads around Whiterun, and you should find them before long.
Searching for the Redguard woman
The first step of In My Time of Need is to track down the Redguard woman the Alik’r Warriors are looking for. Luckily, this is pretty easy to do, and you may well have encountered her already. The Redguard woman in question is Saadia, who works in The Bannered Mare tavern in the square a short distance from the city gates. Head inside during open hours and speak with her. If you mention the Alik’r Warriors, she’ll ask you to meet her upstairs to continue the conversation in private.
At this point, you have your first branching path. You could follow her upstairs and hear her out, but you have identified her as the Redguard woman the Alik’r are looking for. If you like, you could head right back outside and track down the Alik’r Warriors instead, turning her in and claiming a bounty. You’ll leave Saadia to her fate, and end the quest here.
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Assisting Saadia
If you don’t want to turn Saadia in just yet, head upstairs and hear her out. She’ll give a bit of her side of the story, then ask you to track down a bounty hunter, Kematu, and kill him. Keep in mind that, if you ever start to doubt Saadia, you can turn her in at any point from now.
Tracking down Kematu
Finding Kematu isn’t nearly as easy as finding the other two Alik’r. While it is possible to stumble across him while out on your travels, the best approach is to pay a visit to Dragonsreach. Specifically, you should head into the dungeon underneath Dragonsreach to speak with the Alik’r imprisoned inside. This prisoner will be the key to finding the location of Kematu.
Unsurprisingly, the prisoner won’t offer up the location of Kematu for free. Instead, he’ll offer you a trade; free him from jail, and he’ll give you the location of Kematu. You can free this prisoner either by bribing the guard with 100 gold, or by force. Once he’s out, the Alik’r will tell you that Kematu is at Swindler’s Den, which marks the next step of the quest.
Raid Kematu’s hideout
With the location of Kematu in hand, it’s time to head out to Swindler’s Den and deal with the bounty hunter. The den is a fair trek west of Whiterun, near the large river flowing north. Once inside, you’ll have quite a few bandits to dispatch before reaching Kematu. Keep your wits about you while in the cave, as there are a few traps to beware of and a few chests to loot. After you pass through a waterfall, you’ll be met with Kematu and his cohort of Alik’r Warriors. This marks another branching path, as you can either hear his side of the story, or put him and his men to the sword.
If you choose to listen to Kematu, he will tell you his side of the story, essentially calling Saadia a traitor to Hammerfell. He will then ask you to deceive Saadia, luring her to the stables just outside Whiterun. There, Kematu will seize Saadia, giving you some coin for your efforts and taking his band back to Hammerfell. Alternatively, you can just kill everyone in the cave and get your reward from Saadia.
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Finishing In My Time of Need
There are four ways to complete this quest. I’ve already mentioned three of them; two involve handing Saadia into the Alik’r, and one is to do what she asks of you. If you don’t mind a little bit of cheese, you can conclude the quest by getting both rewards. To do this, you’ll need to accept Kematu’s request to deceive Saadia, then lure her to the stables. She will be immobilized, and you can get your reward from Kematu. After you receive your payment, you can then kill Kematu and his troops, then free Saadia from her binding spell with a smack. She will then give you the reward for killing Kematu, but will be hostile to you for the rest of your playthrough. You might as well kill her now while you have the chance, and you’ll have two full rewards plus a bunch of bodies to loot. This is the optimal conclusion to In My Time of Need, and a perfect bit of role-play if you’re playing as a rogue.
