Skyrim:Personal Steward

With the Hearthfire plug-in, certain followers can be hired to become a personal steward upon purchase and construction of any of three new houses:

• Heljarchen Hall in the Pale
• Lakeview Manor in Falkreath Hold
• Windstad Manor in Hjaalmarch

To hire a follower, simply ask them to come with you, then travel to the build site. They should approach you and volunteer for the job, or if not, you can ask them yourself once there. You will need to first build at least the Small House Layout before the option to hire them appears. Your steward will patrol the exterior of your property, as well as use various items in and around your house.

Commands

Improvements

You can ask them to make improvements to the house, which will allow you several options:

• Hire a carriage driver for 500 gold
• Hire a bard for 1500 gold
• Purchase a horse for 1000 gold (if you have built the exterior Stable option)
• Purchase a cow for 200 gold (if you have built the exterior Animal Pen option)
  • Your cow will provide jugs of milk over time in a cupboard in your kitchen if you have built it. ^{[verification needed]}
• Purchase up to three chickens for 25 gold (if you have built the exterior Animal Pen option)
  • Your chicken(s) will have a nest where you will be provided with chicken's eggs.
  • There seems to be little advantage to purchasing more than one chicken - you only get one nest even with three of them. ^{[verification needed]}

Building Materials

You can ask your steward to purchase building materials for you:

• Lumber: 20 for 200 gold
• Stone: 20 for 100 gold
• Clay: 20 for 20 gold

Furnish a Room

You can ask your steward to purchase furnishing options for the house. When you ask a steward to decorate part of your home for you, they will not do so immediately. They will gradually add furnishing options over time, which can be a very slow process. This is one way to avoid the chore of collecting all the required materials yourself, though you'll miss out on all the Smithing experience you'd gain from crafting thousands of nails and iron fittings. If you have them decorate a section of your home, they will eventually add all possible furnishing options to that section of the home; if you prefer not to have certain furnishing options added, you should build furnishing options for that section of the home yourself. The costs of each section of the home are as follows:

Small House: 1000 gold Entry Room: 1000 gold Main Hall: 3500 gold

Alchemy Laboratory: 2500 gold Armory: 2000 gold Bedrooms: 2000 gold

Enchanter's Tower: 2500 gold Greenhouse: 1500 gold Kitchen: 1500 gold

Library: 1500 gold Storage Room: 1000 gold Trophy Room: 1500 gold

Note that the cost for each section will be the same, regardless of how much of the furnishings you have already built yourself.

Other

You can also ask your steward where to buy materials such as glass or straw. They will direct you to a nearby general goods store: Belethor's General Goods in Whiterun (from Heljarchen Hall), Gray Pine Goods in Falkreath (from Lakeview Manor), or Bits and Pieces in Solitude (from Windstad Manor).

Followers who can become Stewards

Skyrim

Name	Type	Description	Primary Skills	Prerequisite Quest	Max Level	Moral	Marry	Blades
Adelaisa Vendicci	Misc	A female Imperial who works for the East Empire Company.	Alchemy, Enchanting, Smithing, Archery, Light Armor, One-handed, Sneak, Speech	Rise in the East	25	3		1
Aela the Huntress	Companion	A female Nord Thief and expert Archery trainer.	Archery, Light Armor, Sneak, One-handed, Speech	Must be follower eligible. Companions chain must be completed first.	50	3	1	1
Annekke Crag-Jumper	Misc	A female Nord Ranger found in Darkwater Crossing.	Archery, Light Armor, Block, One-handed	Kill the Bandit Leader† (radiant)	30	3		1
Belrand	Hireling	A male Nord Spellsword found in the Winking Skeever in Solitude.	Destruction, Light Armor, One-handed, Restoration	None	40	0	1	1
Brelyna Maryon	College	A female Dunmer Mystic.	Alteration, Illusion, Conjuration, Sneak	Brelyna's Practice	30	0	1	1
Calder	Housecarl	A male Nord found in Windhelm.	Heavy Armor, One-handed, Archery, Block	Become Thane of Eastmarch	50	0	1	1
Erik the Slayer	Hireling	A male Nord Barbarian found in Rorikstead at the Frostfruit Inn after completing his quest.	Light Armor, Two-handed, Archery, Block	Erik the Slayer	40	0		1
Eola	Misc	A female Breton Warlock found in Markarth's Hall of the Dead.	Destruction, Sneak, Alteration, One-handed	Obtain the Ring of Namira in The Taste of Death.	30	0		1
Faendal	Misc	A male Bosmer Thief found in Riverwood. He is a common Archery trainer.	Archery, Light Armor, Sneak, One-handed, Speech	A Lovely Letter (in his favor)	30	3		1
Ghorbash the Iron Hand	Misc	A male Orc Ranger found in Dushnikh Yal.	Archery, Light Armor, Block, One-handed	Convince him (via brawl, persuade check, or bribe).	30	3	1	1
Golldir	Dungeon	A male Nord Warrior(1H) found in Hillgrund’s Tomb.	Heavy Armor, One-handed, Archery, Block	Ancestral Worship	30	3		1
Illia	Dungeon	A female Imperial Fire/Frost/Shock Mage found in Darklight Tower.	Destruction, Restoration, Alteration, Conjuration	Repentance	40	3		1
Iona	Housecarl	A female Nord found in Riften.	Heavy Armor, One-handed, Archery, Block	Become Thane of the Rift	50	0	1	1
Jordis the Sword-Maiden	Housecarl	A female Nord found in Solitude.	Heavy Armor, One-handed, Archery, Block	Become Thane of Haafingar	50	0	1	1
Lob	Misc	A male Orc Ranger found in Largashbur.	Archery, Light Armor, Block, One-handed	The Cursed Tribe	30	3		1
Lydia	Housecarl	A female Nord found in Whiterun.	Heavy Armor, One-handed, Archery, Block	Dragon Rising	50	0	1	1
Marcurio	Hireling	A male Imperial Destruction Mage found at The Bee and Barb in Riften.	Destruction, Restoration, Alteration, Sneak	None	40	0	1	1
Njada Stonearm	Companion	A female Nord Warrior (1H) and expert Block trainer.	Block, One-handed, Speech, Pickpocket	Must be follower eligible. Companions chain must be completed first.	25	3	1	1
Ogol	Misc	A male Orc Warrior found in Largashbur.	Heavy Armor, One-handed, Archery, Sneak	The Cursed Tribe	30	3		1
Onmund	College	A male Nord Sorcerer.	Destruction, Illusion, Heavy Armor, One-handed	Onmund's Request	30	0	1	1
Ria	Companion	A female Imperial Warrior (1H).	Heavy Armor, One-handed, Archery, Block	Must be follower eligible. Companions chain must be completed first.	25	3	1	1
Roggi Knot-Beard	Misc	A male Nord Warrior found in Kynesgrove.	Alchemy, Enchanting, Smithing, Archery, One-handed, Two-handed	Dungeon Delving (Caves)†	20	3	1	1
Sven	Misc	A male Nord Bard found in Riverwood.	Alchemy, Enchanting, Smithing, Archery, One-handed, Two-handed	A Lovely Letter (in his favor)	20	2		1
Uthgerd the Unbroken	Misc	A female Nord Warrior found in The Bannered Mare in Whiterun.	Heavy Armor, One-handed, Archery, Block	Fight! Fight!	30	3	1	1
Vilkas	Companion	A male Nord Warrior (2H) and master Two-handed trainer.	Heavy Armor, Two-handed, Archery, Block	Must be follower eligible. Companions chain must be completed first.	50	3	1	1

^†Only one quest of this type can be active at a time.

Notes

• Mjoll the Lioness has the dialogue options to become a steward in the Creation Kit but the options do not actually appear in game.

Dawnguard Followers

These NPCs are added by the Dawnguard plug-in. If you become infected with Vampirism after appointing one of the Dawnguard as your steward, you must cure yourself before you can speak to them again, making them useless while a vampire.

Name	Description	Primary Skills	Max Level	Moral	Marry	Blades
Agmaer	A male Nord member of the Dawnguard found in Fort Dawnguard. (Bandit class)	One-handed, Two-handed, Block, Light Armor	25	0		1
Beleval	A female Bosmer member of the Dawnguard found in Fort Dawnguard. (Bandit class)	One-handed, Two-handed, Block, Light Armor	25	0		1
Celann	A male Breton member of the Dawnguard found in Fort Dawnguard. (Warrior(1H) class)	Heavy Armor, One-handed, Archery, Block	None	3		1
Durak	A male Orc member of the Dawnguard found in Fort Dawnguard. (Ranger class)	Archery, Light Armor, Block, One-handed	None	3		1
Ingjard	A female Nord member of the Dawnguard found in Fort Dawnguard. (Warrior(2H) class)	Heavy Armor, Two-handed, Archery, Block	None	3		1

Hearthfire Followers

These NPCs are added by the Hearthfire plug-in. All Hearthfire stewards are housecarls.

Name	Description	Primary Skills	Prerequisite Quest	Max Level	Moral	Marry	Blades
Gregor	A male Nord found in Dawnstar.	Heavy Armor, One-handed, Archery, Block	Become Thane of the Pale	50	0	1	1
Rayya	A female Redguard found in Falkreath.	Heavy Armor, One-handed, Archery, Block	Become Thane of Falkreath	50	0	1	1
Valdimar	A male Nord found in Morthal.	Heavy Armor, One-handed, Alteration, Destruction, Restoration	Become Thane of Hjaalmarch	50	0	1	1

Dragonborn Followers

This NPC is added by the Dragonborn plug-in.

Name	Description	Primary Skills	Prerequisite Quest	Level	Moral	Marry	Blades
Talvas Fathryon	A male Dunmer conjurer living in Tel Mithryn.	Conjuration, Restoration, Destruction, Alteration, Sneak	From the Ashes	25	3	?	?

Bugs

• Personal stewards may vanish after being appointed.
  • This bug is fixed by version 1.0.3 of the Unofficial Hearthfire Patch.
• Personal stewards may tell you that you don't have enough gold when you attempt to furnish rooms, even when you do. This is usually caused by furnishing a room before asking the steward to do it.
• Personal stewards may not sleep at all and instead just stand next to the bed.
• Hiring a bard through a personal steward does not always bring the bard to your residence. ^?
• Upon arrival at the house they offer to be a steward but may not have the normal steward dialogue and instead offer to go adventuring for free or a price depending on the mercenary. They will, however, wander off and do things on the property like any other steward. ^?
• If you accept the offer to be a follower, when they are dismissed, they may say they will head back to their original location but instead return to the property of which they are steward. ^?
• Whenever hirelings are subsequently "hired" for adventuring, they will lose their steward dialogue upon being released from service. ^?
• Followers may not give the option to become stewards if Dragonborn is enabled. ^?
  • Disabling Dragonborn temporarily, hiring a steward, then enabling it may fix the problem.
• In some occasions, particularly when hiring a bard is the only option left, the option of making upgrades for the home will be absent.
  • Killing an animal will NOT fix it.
  • If an animal is killed and enough time has been spent outside the hold where a reset has happened, the options of buying the animal and a bard will come back.
  • It is not known if it is the death of the animal or the reset has triggered the fix.