Skyrim’s Civil War, the advent of dragons’ return, and the constant threat of attack has wrecked untold havoc on the citizens of Skyrim. Perhaps the most innocent and vulnerable are the children forced into orphanages or to beg on the streets. Have you the heart to help a child and bring them into the warmth of your family?
Part 1: Readying Your Home
The prerequisites leading to an adoption are discussed here.
Your newly constructed dwelling has numerous beds. This one is perfect for a child.
In order to house your rambunctious child, you’ll need to provide lodgings for them to sleep in and store their possessions. The amount of room needed depends on the type of house that you own:
City Dweller or Country Compound: The Property Owner’s Dilemma
Are you part of the landed gentry of Skyrim? Do you have an abode in the cities of Solitude, Markarth, Whiterun, Windhelm, or Riften? Then you receive a courier’s letter the next time you visit a settlement. The courier hands you a note written by the Steward of the Hold you have property in, advising you that you can purchase a children’s bedroom for each of the homes you own.
When you return to your dwelling, your House Decorating Guide has been updated and now lists the children’s bedroom as an option. The homes in Markarth, Whiterun, and Riften have the children’s bedroom as an alternative to an existing room. You can choose either room for the house but not both. You should clear out your old room before asking the Steward to convert it into a children’s bedroom. Items you leave in the room may be transferred over (typically to a chest), but some, particularly those on mannequins and wall plaques, may not be. You can swap back to your original room (by purchasing it again) if you don’t want to house a child in that home.
Hearthfire Homes: The Builder’s Choice
Are you designing and building your own manor in Skyrim? Then you can easily house a child in your new home, as long as you have the proper furnishings. Simply add a main hall and furnish the bedroom upstairs with two child-sized beds and a dresser. Optionally add the bedroom addition if you want more room.
Part 2: Choosing an Orphan
Which poor child in Skyrim is deserving of your success?
There are three types of children in Skyrim who make good candidates for adoption:
- Orphanage Orphans: These children are living in Riften’s Honorhall Orphanage under the draconian rule of Grelod the Kind.
- Orphaned Children: These children’s parents have been killed during the course of your adventure.
- Street Urchins: These are children you may not have encountered before; they eke out a living on the streets of a city.
In total, there are 23 children who are potential candidates for adoption. You can adopt only one or two of them, no matter how many properties you own.
Orphanage Orphans
Samuel
Initially, there are four orphans you can adopt from the Honorhall Orphanage in Riften. In order to adopt one of them, you must:
- Own a home with a children’s bedroom or a Hearthfire home with suitable furnishings (see Part 1).
- Complete Dark Brotherhood Quest: Innocence Lost, in which you slay Grelod the Kind. After killing Grelod, return to Aventus and claim your reward; this gives the situation in Riften some time to settle down.
- Wait 24 hours or so (and make sure your Bounty in the Rift is at zero), and then return and speak to Constance Michel.
- Complete Constance’s verbal questionnaire. While there are some wrong (and humorous) answers, you can always try again if need be. Convince her you can support a child and tell her where you want your child to live, and she eventually gives you her blessing. If you don’t meet the requirements, Constance will let you know what you still need to do.
- Speak to the child you want to adopt and agree to adopt them. They automatically travel to your abode.
Aventus Aretino, a former resident of the orphanage now living in his house in Windhelm, is not available for adoption. If Constance Michel “accidentally” died along with Grelod, don’t despair. Come back in another day or two, and you can speak to the orphans to adopt them directly.
Orphaned Children
Braith (Amren, Saffir), living in Whiterun.
Britte (Lemkil), living in Rorikstead.
Clinton Lylvieve (Michel Lylvieve, Azzada Lylvieve, Julienne Lylvieve), living in Dragon Bridge.
Dorthe (Alvor, Sigrid), living in Riverwood.
Eirid (Dagur, Haran), living in Winterhold.
Erith (Daighre), living in Left Hand Mine, near Markarth.
Frodnar (Hod, Gerdur), living in Riverwood.
Gralnach (Grosta), living in Heartwood Mill.
Hrefna (Tormir, Sondas Drenim), living in Darkwater Crossing.
Knud (Katla, Snilling), living on Katla’s Farm.
Minette Vinius (Corpulus Vinius), living in Solitude.
Sissel (Lemkil), living in Rorikstead.
Skuli (Eydis, Leontius), living in the Old Hroldan Inn.
Svari (Addvar, Greta), living in Solitude.
Aeta (Finna, Oslaf), living in Skaal Village, Solstheim
There are 15 children living in Skyrim who can be orphaned. In order to adopt them, you must:
- Own a home with a children’s bedroom or a Hearthfire home with suitable furnishings (see Part 1).
- Make sure the parents or guardians associated with the child (listed after their name) are dead. This may happen in the ordinary course of your adventure—they may be killed during a dragon attack; in a Forsworn Raid, Vampire attack, or other random act; or as collateral damage from your Storm Call Shout. Or you can slay the parents yourself!
- Wait 24 hours or so (and make sure your Bounty in the Hold in question is at zero).
- Locate the child. Once you complete Dark Brotherhood Quest: Innocence Lost, if Constance Michel is still alive, newly orphaned children are usually sent to Honorhall Orphanage in Riften. Otherwise, you can find them wandering the streets of their city or living in their old house.
If the child has been sent to the orphanage, you can adopt them by speaking to Constance Michel and completing her questionnaire, just as with any of the orphanage orphans. Otherwise, speak to the child directly and agree to adopt them, and they automatically travel to your abode.
Street Urchins
Alesan: An errand boy in Dawnstar.
Blaise: A stable boy at Katla’s Farm.
Lucia: A girl begging in Whiterun’s plaza.
Sofie: A girl selling flowers on the streets of Windhelm.
There are four other orphans you can find living on the rough streets of a city in Skyrim. In order to adopt them, all you need to do is own a home with a children’s bedroom or a Hearthfire home with suitable furnishings (see Part 1). Approach the child you want to adopt, bring the discussion around to adoption, and agree to adopt them. They will automatically travel to your abode.
Other Notes
A few days after completing Dark Brotherhood Quest: With Friends Like These..., if you have not adopted a child, expect to receive a note entitled “Consider Adoption” from Constance Michel, suggesting you visit Honorhall Orphanage.
Other children living in Skyrim (such as Agni, Kayd, or Virkmund) cannot be adopted, as their parents are integral to your adventure. They can never can be orphaned in the first place.
If you decide to move to another house you own, you can speak to your spouse (who tells the child), or if you are unmarried, you can tell your children yourself. Assuming your next dwelling has the correct setup for a child (a children’s bedroom or a main hall or bedrooms addition with beds in it), your children will appear at your new home the next time you visit.
If you’re building a Hearthfire home, your child always moves into the west wing bedrooms addition if it is built and furnished properly, If only your main hall is fully furnished, your children will sleep there instead. And if you build the bedrooms addition after the child is there, you need to move away, then return for the child to move into the bedrooms addition.
Part 3: You’ve Got to Be Kidding
The hard work of caring for a child is soon learned and cherished.
Samuel may stomp his feet and hate sweeping, but he’s a kind child at heart.
Now that you have one or two children in your home, a number of additional benefits and tasks present themselves. Here’s what to look for:
Resting Bonus: A Parent’s Love
Assuming you’re not a vampire or werewolf (who crave sustenance via other means), sleep in the house where your children live to receive the Father’s Love (male adventurers) and Mother’s Love (female adventurers). This is in addition to any other “Rested” bonuses you may also receive.
The Gift of Charity
If you give your child an allowance or gift (see below), you receive the Gift of Charity blessing, just as if you had given a coin to a beggar. This is in addition to any other effects the gift may have.
Your Child’s Basic Behaviors
Unless you choose to give your child some orders, which supersede these antics, your child makes him or herself at home in your dwelling in a variety of ways: They spend their mornings around the house, sweeping, reading, practicing their instruments, and exploring their new home. After lunch, they go outside and play until dinnertime. In the evenings, if you’ve given your child a weapon and your house has a practice dummy, they often spar with it. If your child has a doll, they may play with it, too.
Giving Orders: Basic Discipline
When you begin a conversation with your child, you can “request” that he or she follow one particular order. When that order is given, the child obeys it for three hours or until you give them another one. Sometimes, if the order isn’t something your child wants to do (such as “chores”), expect a small tantrum or whine. You can relent or insist they complete the task you’ve given them.
The orders you have available and how they are carried out (along with their priorities) are as follows:
1. Go Outside: Available from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., if the child is in the house. The child leaves the house and plays outside.
2. Go Inside: Available whenever the child is not in the house. The child heads back inside and mopes around.
3. Do Your Chores: Available from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. The child begins a sweeping regimen throughout the house.
4. Go to Bed: Available from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m., if the child is not already asleep. The child goes to sleep in their bed.
Giving Orders: Games
All work and no play may make your child more prone to tantrums, so it’s important to play games with them. This is one of the conversation options and works as follows:
- Ask them if they want to play a game. If this occurs at night, your child asks if this is really okay.
- Then you can choose either a game of tag or hide-and-seek.
- Follow the Miscellaneous Objective prompts and watch out; if other children are present, they can get roped into the game, too!
- Asking your child to play a game cancels anything else they are doing; this order has the highest priority. However, once the game is under way, giving your child another order ends the game.
Giving Gifts
Samuel looks smart in his new tunic, but he’d rather be wielding a wooden sword.
Children are happiest when they’re preoccupied, ideally with a gift you’ve picked up on your travels. Such items include:
- Children’s weapons (daggers or the wooden sword)
- Children’s clothes (these are gender-specific miscellaneous items)
- Children’s books (yellow book of riddles, etc.)
- Children’s toys (a doll)
- Sweets (such as a sweetroll or taffy)
Such items are mostly found in shops, though you may find them in cupboard or other containers on your travels. If you’re searching for a gift you want to give your child with some urgency, try the following:
- Most general goods vendors and miscellaneous containers (such as cupboards) have a chance of having a wooden sword, doll, or children’s clothes.
- If you visit Radiant Raiment in Solitude, Endarie always has a complete set of children’s clothes in stock.
- Visit any of the three Khajiit Caravans if you want to buy a wooden sword, doll, or children’s clothes.
When you return and give the gift to your child (through conversation), he or she reacts differently depending on the type of gift:
- Weapons: They take it immediately (any previously equipped weapon is placed in their bedroom chest). If you have a practice dummy in your house, they run off to spar with it immediately and practice for about an hour. This sparring practice becomes a part of their evening routine.
- Clothing: They wear it immediately, and their former clothing is placed in their bedroom chest.
- Dolls (girls only): Boys aren’t interested in this gift. Your girl plays with the doll for about an hour. It reappears from time to time as a basic behavior as your girl plays with it.
- Books: The book is placed in their bedroom chest.
- Food: If you hand over some food, they eat it immediately.
Regardless of the gift you hand over, you’re rewarded the Gift of Charity blessing: +10 to Speech for one hour.
Your Child’s Bedroom Chest
Your child keeps their belongings in a bedroom chest or dresser, which over time fills with items they’ve collected or that you’ve given them. You can take whatever you wish from this chest. The child’s own items tend to be rudimentary (but sometimes rare) ingredients, small trinkets, and occasionally a valuable [random] item. The quality of their trinkets and the chance of finding a valuable item increases based on the value of the gifts you’ve given them.
Check this chest once every five days so it keeps refilling. If you move to a different home, your child will start a new collection there (any items in the chest in your old home remain there).
Returning Home and Other Antics
After a particularly arduous quest, returning home to your child (and perhaps your spouse) should be a joy. Or at least a passable way to continue your existence before you’re inevitably slain by bandits. Upon your return, expect your child to be eager to interact with you in one of the following (usually randomly determined) ways:
Thanks for Adopting Me!: Your child rushes in to say hello and thanks you for adopting him or her.
Thanks for Adopting Me, Look What I Found!: Your child rushes in to greet you, thanks you for adopting them, and then tells you there’s a few items they’ve collected in their bedroom chest. You can take one or all of them if you’d like.
Look What I Found!: Your child rushes in to tell you he or she has been collecting items and has placed them in their bedroom chest. You can take any of them if you want.
Can We Keep Him?: If your family doesn’t already have an animal companion, and you haven’t previously banned them and you bring home an animal companion, your child may ask if they can keep the animal when you don’t need it. Consult the Hearthfire Pets section below for more details.
It Followed Me Home!: If your family doesn’t already have a pet and you haven’t previously banned them, there’s a chance that your child is waiting for you with a small animal. Your child asks if they can keep it. Consult the Hearthfire Pets section below for more details.
Mudcrabs are smarter than you!: If you have two children, when you arrive home, your children may be calling each other names. If you don’t intervene, the argument ends with both children beginning a game of tag. Speak to either child to:
- Break up the argument.
- Order the child you’re speaking with to their room.
- Or back off and let the argument continue. The more aggressive child always wins the argument, just like Braith does when she harangues Lars in Whiterun.
You Smell Like a Hagraven!: If you have two children, when you arrive home, they may be calling each other names. If you don’t intervene, the argument ends with one of the children running off and crying. They head to their room for an hour. You can:
- Break up the argument.
- Order the child you’re speaking with to their room.
- Or back off and let the argument continue.
Can I Have My Allowance?: Your child may run up to you and ask for money. Respond to this mini-shakedown by handing over some of your current gold, which can range from nothing all the way up to 1,000 coins. Any gold is added to your child’s personal collection and will raise the value of any items they subsequently find and gift to you.
If you give your child one or more gold, you receive the Gift of Charity blessing. If you fail to give your child any money on three consecutive occasions, the next present they get you may be especially disappointing. They’ve come to the conclusion that your family is poor, and hand over some beggar’s clothing. The cheek of it!
I Got You a Present!: Your child may dash up to you and hand over a gift they’ve found or bought for you. There’s a small [10 percent] chance you’ll receive two of the same item. The value of the item depends on the child’s personal funds: The larger their allowance, the better the items they get for you. The value of these gifts is also deducted from their savings, so don’t expect a one-time allowance to support pricey gifts for long. Over time, this always works out in your favor, so giving your child 30 gold always results in them giving you items worth more than 30 gold.
I Want a Present!: Your child may dash up to you and ask if you’ve brought them a present. You can:
Can We Play a Game?: Your child may dash up to you ask if you want to play a game with them. You can answer yes and begin a game of either tag or hide-and-seek. Or, you can answer no (mentioning the hour if it’s between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.) and your child leaves you feeling a little put out.
Hearthfire Animal Adoption
An added benefit of adoption is that your children can take care of your animals. There are two types of animals they can “adopt”: animal companions and pets.
Animal Companions
Bring home a four-legged friend and your child will love him and hug him and squeeze him....
If you bring home an animal companion (such as a dog), your children may ask if they can keep it. You have three options at this point:
- If you agree, then later dismiss your animal companion, they will return to the house your children are living in and wait for you there. You can ask them to rejoin you at any time.
- If you decline, your children won’t ask again for at least 15 days.
- If you put your foot down and say no pets, your children will never ask again and will never try to adopt a house pet, either.
You can adopt only one animal companion at a time. If your adopted animal companion is killed, you can adopt a replacement.
The following animal companions are available for adoption by your children:
- Common dogs: Vigilance, Meeko, Stray Dog.
- Dawnguard Huskies: Bran or Sceolang.
Pets
Meet Samuel’s pet mudcrab, Mr. Snapper. He was recently saved from the cooking pot.
You’re not the only one with a plan to bring home an animal; your children may also be spotted playing with a stray and (as mentioned previous) may ask you whether they can keep them. Your decisions are as follows:
- You can agree, and the animal lives in your house, following your child around.
- You can refuse, and your child sends the animal away. They won’t try to adopt another pet for at least 15 days.
- You can refuse with vigor, saying “no pets” firmly. Your child never asks again and won’t show interest in adopting an animal companion either! Fine, be like that!
The following pets are available for adoption if your children brings one home:
- Hares (girls only)
- Mudcrabs (boys only)
- Red foxes (girls only)
- Skeevers (boys only)
- White foxes (girls only)