Can anyone tell me how to get this quest initiated - I have left Windhelm and returned about 4,393,394 times and jumped thru every possible hoop to try and get this quest started - but to no avail - any suggestions? Windhelm is the only hold left for me to become Thane and I would also like to buy the house there.

I just walked into the grave yard and a bunch of people were talking about a murder

STOP MAKING threads about quests in the forum already.

Why is everyone doing it, it clearly says NO SPOILERS IN THIS FORUM.

This. Also it is amusing to see so many threads from confused people covering the only quest in Skyrim that isn't obvious and doesn't hold your hand the whole way through!

Ive had this same problem on my main Character on Skyrim, no matter what I do I cannot get the quest to activate. Yet I recently made a Khajit to play as a thief/assassin and during my trip back from a contract, I seen the dead body in the graveyard and what do you know? The quest worked and I was able to complete it with no other problems..... Really irritates me though since I want WIndhelm house on my Main and the house in Riften for my Khajit -.-

I tried basically retracing all my steps from the past hour leading up to getting the quest to work but I did it on my main and still nothing =/

I'm pretty sure it was after midnight when it triggered for me.

You have to go at night. There will be a body and a guard and two witnesses as well as a priestess there.

I don't recall if you talk to the guard or if he auto triggers you when you approach. The dialogue is about you helping out. This triggers the quest to start.

Indeed, I wanted to post sth. similar, it clearly shows that people who don't immediately get the quest or don't know how to continue (I'm not talking about bugs here!) rush to the forums and ask for help, advice, because they know that they will never solve this quest by themselves.

BTW, try entering after midnight.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Blood_on_the_Ice this also says you have to enter Windhelm through the main gate, but i dont think i have enter through maingate since my first visit. i usually fast travel to the castle.

I'm having the same issue. Anyone know if it will still trigger the 5th time you enter the city, because I think the fourth time I entered was with the
Imperials for the final battle in the civil war.
please help!

how is that a spoiler in anyway he didnt give any information about the quest. stop complaining

and if ive completed the imperial quest and the guard at the graveyard is gone is there any to complete the quest

i can not access it on my main player either. some have said that the quest is broken as part of the inital DB quest when you have to kill one of the three npc's. my problem with this is there is suposed to be more then one way to finish this quest. as far as i can tell the quest is broken for some. but i started a new player and did this quest before any others and it worked fine. so as far as i can see depending on the side you choose in the civil war and npc you kill during the DB initial quest you can break the quest. hopfully there will be a fix for this in a future patch.

Well my 2nd char didnt start civil war yet and had only JUST killed that lady in the orphanage when I found the quest going on. So dont think they have much to do with it.

To you Forum Trolls who are so far above the rest of us noobalicious help-seekers - get a life. I simply asked a very prevalent question regarding a broken quest - this was NOT a spoiler - go bring momma her cookies and save your wit for your blow-up dolls

No lollygagging!



Seriously though, I got lucky on one character where I repeatedly when to Windhelm, Whiterun and Markarth to buy some ingots for crafting and I luckily over heard a guard saying something about a murder on a return trip to Windhelm.


From there I went to the grave yard area and followed most of the advice on the UESP page for this quest. I was able to complete it and get the amulet. joben1 already linked earlier to what info I used.


So the key for you seems to be getting that scene in the graveyard. Which seems connected to the calendar day and week. There have been a few threads mentioning that there is a bug with how the caledar flows, so it could be a luck of the draw to get that scene to start I'm afraid.

Not arguing, just wondering. I thought spoilers gave away results in the form of what happens at the end of a quest or the how a quest or the game ends. I never thought of a spoiler as being how to begun a quest or the continuation of it. I am unsure as to how the OP is spoiling the game with the question.

Again, just looking for clarification.

Going to the rules to see how its defined.

Have you completed the civil war in favour of the Imperials?
You wont get the quest at all then.

There are a lot of bugs associated with a quest and its a real shame as it is one of two or three quests in the game that are actually interesting.

I could not get the quest to activate at all until my third character, when I went to Windhelm straight out of tutorial.

It's the most bugged quest in the game. I wish I had the same fate as you. I had glitches all the time and can't complete this quest. It ruined my favorite house in Windhelm. Each time I come inside, the killer attacks me and I can't kill him, nor do anything else.

You posted about a specific quest by name and linked it to a city- Windhelm. You're also bashing other members with your blow up dolls and momma comments.

It's rather sad, actually.

Forget her name but I think its the woman that lives across from Hjerim, pickpocket the key to Hjerim from her and go in the house. Start poking around and that too will start the quest.