Hey everybody. I have a quick question about those random, non hostile, mercenaries that travel the roads of Skyrim. Apparently you can talk them out of their "job" and take care of the problem yourself. They always mark my map, but it fails to show where they're going because I've already discovered the location. Out of curiosity, I'd like to see what's going on but I never know where to go.

More recently, I came across two children near the road selling dwemer items they found in a ruin.( I have never seen this before. ) They mark my map, but I have the same issue as above. Is this just a way for random places to be marked on your map in hopes that you'll go exploring? I'm lvl 45 so I've found many places already. I wish I had ran into these random encounters earlier in the game.

I know this is just a small thing, but is there a way to tell where they're going? Thanks.

I've had the same issue, although a couple times I hadn't seen it before. And I don't think there's any penalty for NOT going where they send you, which they never mention.

The kids, though, you should try to buy at least one item from them if you can, starts a mini-quest (so I've heard).

They're just random encounters that lead you to particular locations. Same thing happens when a guard talks about something happening at a location. It'll mark your map. Thugh now in my game most locations are discovered. Earlier I had no problem hitting up all those type of places because obviously I didn't have nearly as many locations discovered.

I don't think there's a sure way of knowing where the random encounter intended for you to go. It's unfortunate but luckily they never really lead to anything to astonishing. Just keep walking the roads, without fast travel, and hopefully you can find one that leads you some where new.