Farengar Secret-Fire is the court wizard of Jarl Balgruuf, working out of a cluttered study inside Dragonsreach in Whiterun. He is a Nord mage – which already makes him a bit of an oddity in a land that distrusts magic – and he is completely fascinated by dragons.
The absent-minded professor
Farengar is friendly enough, in the way a busy professor is friendly to a student who interrupts him. He is clever, curious and more than a little condescending, and he would much rather discuss ancient dragon lore than the civil war, which he mostly sees as an annoying distraction from research.
Role in the main quest
When you reach Dragonsreach, Balgruuf sends you to Farengar, who has a “small” job: walk into a draugr-infested Nordic tomb and bring back an ancient stone tablet. That job is Bleak Falls Barrow, and the tablet is the Dragonstone – a map of dragon burial sites. When you return, you also get your first look at a mysterious hooded woman working with Farengar, who turns out to be Delphine.
Farengar is essential until Bleak Falls Barrow is completed. After that, he is mortal like everyone else.
Services
Farengar sells spells and spell tomes, which makes him one of the first places a new mage can stock up on Destruction and other schools. He is also a good stop for selling soul gems and enchanted odds and ends.
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