Out of all the quests in The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, the most infamous is probably “No Stone Unturned.” Requiring the Dragonborn to find 24 gems across the map and with no markers nor hints as to where they could be, players have understandably been frustrated by this quest. Still, like many aspects of The Elder Scrolls series, these gems have history.
Before players were tasked to go on a treasure hunt for the Stones of Barenziah, these gems were embedded in a crown and belonged to a powerful queen. Before long, however, her crown was stolen, and its pieces were scattered across the snowy lands of Skyrim. How it came to be this way is a long story.
Queen Barenziah in Elder Scrolls Lore
Barenziah was the daughter of the rulers of Mournhold, formerly the capital of Morrowind. She was born during the end of the Second Era, and thus experienced the horrors of the Tiber Wars. Luckily, she survived the conflicts and was brought to Skyrim, where she was taken care of by a local count and his family. However, once she grew a little older, she escaped to Riften with a stable boy named Straw whom she regarded as her friend.
Accounts of this time in Barenziah’s life differ. The biography written by Imperial scribes simply states that Straw tricked Barenziah because he wanted her for himself. Not long after running away, Straw reportedly fell in with a group of thieves, and Barenziah bravely warned the Commandant, Symmachus, of their plans. The Commandant knew who she was and told her that she would be transported to the Imperial City, where she’d live with the Septim family before she returned to Mournhold as its ruler.
In another account, however, it’s said that Barenziah was quite the thief herself. Thus, when she ran away with Straw to Riften, she became a member of the Thieves Guild. Eventually, though, Symmachus found her and convinced her to leave her friends for a life in the Imperial City. In both versions, she was eventually crowned the Queen of Morrowind, during which she acquired her famous crown.
It’s also worth noting that Queen Barenziah is Karliah’s grandmother. Sometime during the Third Era, she was seduced by a Dunmer named Drayven Indoril, who happened to be a member of the Nightingales. It is believed that Barenziah abandoned Drayven’s child with a midwife to hide her affair with the Nightingale.
The Theft of the Crown of Barenziah
At one point during Barenziah’s rule, an unknown thief would steal away her crown. To cover their tracks, this thief pried off each of the gems embedded in the crown and spread them across Skyrim. One thief by the name of Wulfmare Shadow-Cloak claims that the theft was his handiwork in a book entitled “Guide to Better Thieving.” However, this is never proven.
The individual gemstones circulated across the different holds of Skyrim, picked up by unsuspecting travelers and merchants who thought they were nothing but nifty trinkets. Meanwhile, the crown somehow ended up in the hands of a group of refugees fleeing Morrowind. Unfortunately, the group did not survive the journey and met their end in Tolvald’s Cave, where the crown rests.
In the events of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, the Thieves Guild is reportedly searching for the crown and all its gemstones. However, they have no luck in their search until the player picks up their first Stone of Barenziah.
Finding the Stones of Barenziah in Skyrim
The "No Stone Unturned" quest triggers immediately after the player picks up an Unusual Gem anywhere on the map. It will then direct them to Vex, who appraises the gem and reveals that there are 23 more scattered across Skyrim. According to her, the gem on its own is worthless; only the completed crown is worth something. As such, Vex asks that the player return to them only when they’ve found all the gems.
This is where the quest becomes infuriating. Often, tasks come with relevant objective markers to point players in the right direction. Alternatively, there could be markers leading the player to hints on how to complete the quest. “No Stone Unturned,” however, comes with no such markers. The player is left to wander the snowy lands of Skyrim, hoping to come across the Stones of Barenziah in their travels.
Infamy aside, should the player find all 24 gemstones, Vex will send them on one last dungeon crawl to find the crown. As mentioned above, this can be found in Tolvald’s Cave. She also explains that the crown has mystical abilities, which is why, surprisingly, she doesn’t intend to sell it for profit. She refers to the Crown of Barenziah as a “paragon,” which is an object that enhances the group’s thieving capabilities. Although, it’s never explained why the crown grants such abilities or why it’s such a boon to the Thieves Guild in particular.
Perhaps this blessing to thieves can be taken as proof that Barenziah was, in fact, a member of the Thieves Guild at one point. It’s also possible that she had closer ties with the Nightingales and acquired the blessing straight from Nocturnal. Whatever the case, it’s clear that Barenziah’s life was not as spotless as the official Imperial account of her life portrays.
After the player collects the unembellished crown from the cave, Vex will restore it to its former glory. It will then be displayed in the Ragged Flagon Cistern, near the Guildmaster’s desk. Once the quest is completed, the player will be granted a permanent effect known as Prowler’s Profit. This increases their chances of finding gems in chests and containers.
While the “No Stone Unturned” quest is one of the more tedious in The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, it has some interesting backstory to it — one that introduces a seemingly normal queen with a penchant for mischievous deeds. Not to mention, the quest’s rewarded effect pretty much ensures that the player never runs out of gold. All it takes is some patience and a lot of trading.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
