Whitewatch Tower is a modest sentry post north of Whiterun, manned by the city’s soldiers. To find it, head northeast from Dragonsreach – it sits roughly midway between Halted Stream Camp to the west and Shimmermist Cave to the east. There is no dungeon here, but there is loot for the observant (and the slightly shameless).
What you’ll find
- Whiterun guards keeping watch over the plains.
- A partly ruined tower with a bridge leading to a roofed section; a locked chest waits up top.
- Another locked chest beside some crates at the foot of the stairs.
- A weapon rack with two Imperial Swords and one randomly generated weapon.
- A locked strongbox northwest of the tower, among some fallen stone pillars.
Tips
The chests and rack belong to the guards, so taking from them counts as theft. Being Thane of Whiterun is supposed to make the chests fair game, but players report that you can still be penalized, so check around before you help yourself. The random weapon on the rack has to be stolen no matter what your title is – unless it happens to roll as an iron or steel sword, which can reportedly be taken freely. The strongbox among the pillars is the one prize nobody is guarding. The weapon rack is also a little temperamental: players report it sometimes stops working and drops its weapons on the ground, or leaves them floating beside it.
You may arrive just as bandits throw themselves at the tower. They tend to lose quickly, which says a lot about bandit career planning.
Good to know
If the Stormcloaks take Whiterun during the civil war (see Battle for Whiterun), the tower’s Whiterun banners are swapped for Stormcloak colours, and the Imperial Swords on the rack become two iron weapons and a leveled mace.
Nearby
Closest places covered on TamrielSaga: Halted Stream Camp, Shimmermist Cave, Battle-Born Farm, Chillfurrow Farm, Graywinter Watch.
Location data (hold, map position, editor ID) read from the Skyrim game files; details checked against community wiki articles and summarised in our own words.