Helgen

Helgen is a small fortified town in Falkreath Hold, guarding the road south towards Cyrodiil. It is the place where Skyrim begins: you arrive on a prisoner cart, about to be executed by the Imperial Legion – and then Alduin, the World-Eater, lands on the watchtower and burns the town to the ground.

The opening of Skyrim

Everything in Unbound happens here. The Legion has captured Ulfric Stormcloak and a group of Stormcloak rebels, including Ralof, and the soldier Hadvar reads out the names of the prisoners. When the dragon attacks, you escape through Helgen Keep with one of them, through its cellars, a torture room and the caves beneath the town.

Helgen Keep

The keep is your first dungeon: guard rooms, a cellar with potions, a torture room with a spell book and a locked cage for practising lockpicking, and finally a cave system with frostbite spiders and a sleeping bear before you reach daylight.

Coming back later

Helgen is not quite finished after the opening. If you return later, the ruins are no longer empty and the town has a few more stories to tell – it is worth a visit when you are better equipped.