Dawnguard

Skyrim:Surgery

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Detail
Walkthrough: written by multiple users, not checked
Reward: written by Alphabetface, not checked
 
Change your appearance.
Location(s): The Ragged Flagon
Reward: A new appearance
ID: DLC1Surgery
 
"Beauty or hideous deformity, nothing is beyond my skill."

Quick Walkthrough[edit]

  1. (Optional) Hear rumors about the Face Sculptor from an innkeeper or guard.
  2. Find Galathil in the Ragged Flagon.
  3. Pay her to change your appearance.

Detailed Walkthrough[edit]

Any time after installing the Dawnguard add-on, you may hear a rumor from an innkeeper or guard about someone new in Riften: "People say there's someone in Riften that can... change your face. Make you look completely different. Do you believe that?" Your quest journal will update with the objective to locate the face sculptor. Your map will not be updated with a quest marker, but if you travel to Riften, a guard will make a negative comment about the face sculptor, conveniently providing her location: "Take my advice, don't listen to that talk of the "face sculptor" down in the Ragged Flagon. "Face butcher" is more like it from what I've heard." Make your way to the Ragged Flagon, located within Riften's sewer network and accessible through the Ratway. Sitting alone on a bench is Galathil, the face sculptor you're seeking.

Upon approaching her, she'll speak to you before you can say a word: "Hmm, I suppose I can work with your face. After all, the sculptor cannot always choose the finest clay." If you are a vampire, however, she will be able to tell and instead say, "What have you done to yourself? I can't work with you in this state, night-walker." You can ask her what she's talking about, or tell her you've already heard of her. Either way, she will subtly insult you, by implying that your appearance is not "artful" or referring to you as the "scum of Skyrim". She will then check to see if you are a client, asking "So are you here as a client? Shall I remake your face?" unless you are a vampire, in which case she'll tell you "But, my techniques only work on the living, not those that have crossed over into undeath."

At this point, you can choose to have your appearance changed, back out, or question her qualifications. If you tell her you'll have to think about it, she'll respond, "Indeed. It is no small thing to submit yourself to the flesh sculptor's knife." and begin to read a book. You are still able to approach her again with the same options if you do this. If you question her, she'll answer defensively, telling you how experienced she is: "I have not always been a ragged beggar. I learned my art from the masters of the art of flesh sculpture. I studied with the Faculty of Chirurgeons in Cloudrest. I walked with the Hollow-Faced Men of Nohotogrha for three years. I count the nobility of both the Empire and the Dominion among my clients", and then angrily add "And yet, I have fallen so low that I must justify myself to a wanderer in the sewers of this backwater of the world."

If you decide you would like her to change your appearance, it costs 1000 gold. If you can afford it, she'll say, "Hmm. Very well. Just tell me what you desire - beauty or hideous deformity, nothing is beyond my skill", but if you don't have enough gold, she'll be offended and dismiss you: "Despite my present low estate, I am no beggar. Begone until you have the coin to warrant my skills."

When you pay her the gold, you will enter a screen nearly identical to the initial character creation option from beginning your game. You can change almost all aspects of your appearance, the only exceptions being your character's race or sex. There is no limit to the amount of times you can repeat this quest.

Achievements[edit]

One achievement is unlocked when you complete this quest:

  • SR-achievement-A New You.png A New YouDG (20 points/Bronze) — Change your face

Notes[edit]

  • Vampires cannot get their faces changed. You must cure your vampirism in order to start this quest.
  • Changing, or even overhauling, your appearance will not impair any NPC's ability to recognize you. Therefore, it cannot be used to, for example, erase bounties or start relations over with an NPC you've fallen out of favor with by making them think you're a different person.

Bugs[edit]

  • Occasionally, pushing "Done" in the character customization screen will have no effect. The only way to leave the screen in this instance is to load a previous save. It is unclear whether the face sculptor can ever be used on a save that exhibits this bug, but it is possible for other saves to use the sculptor. ?

Quest Stages[edit]

Surgery (DLC1Surgery)
Stage Finishes Quest Journal Entry
10
Objective 10: Locate the face sculptor in Riften
20
Objective 20: Talk to the face sculptor in the Ragged Flagon
50 Finishes quest☑
Objective 50: You have talked to the face sculptor in the Ragged Flagon
Notes
  • Any text displayed in angle brackets (e.g., <Alias=LocationHold>) is dynamically set by the Radiant Quest system, and will be filled in with the appropriate word(s) when seen in game.
  • Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
  • Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in any order. Some stages may therefore repeat objectives seen in other stages.
  • If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
  • On the PC, it is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage DLC1Surgery stage, where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages, but it is possible to clear all stages of the quest using resetquest DLC1Surgery.