You know that annoying pink floating gem in the gold box? The one sitting on the bedside table in the Dragonsreach Jarl’s Quarters? You picked it up. Now it’s stuck in your inventory. It's labeled as an "Unusual Gem." It doesn't stack. It weighs nothing, but it clutters everything.
Finding all the skyrim stone of barenziah locations is basically the ultimate litmus test for whether you’re a completionist or someone who actually values their sanity. Most players give up after finding five or six. Honestly, I don't blame them. Without a map or a guide, you’re basically looking for 24 needles in a province-sized haystack. But here is the thing: the reward, Prowler’s Profit, is arguably the most broken mechanic in the entire game. Once you finish this slog, every urn, chest, and burial urn in Skyrim starts spitting out flawless diamonds and emeralds like a malfunctioning slot machine. You will never be poor again.
The Reality of the Hunt
The quest is called "No Stone Unturned." To even start properly, you have to take one of these gems to Maul or Vex in Riften. Vex tells you the truth: the gem is worthless alone. It's part of the Crown of Barenziah. You need all 24.
The problem is that these things are scattered with zero rhyme or reason. Some are in Jarls' bedrooms. Others are at the bottom of necromancer dens. A few are even locked behind expensive gold walls—specifically, the 25,000 gold you need to buy Proudspire Manor in Solitude. If you don't have the cash, you aren't getting the crown. It's as simple as that.
Whiterun and the Surrounding Tundra
Let's start where everyone starts. Whiterun.
There are three gems here. One is in Dragonsreach, specifically in the Jarl's bedroom. Just walk in like you own the place and grab it off the nightstand. The second is in the Jorrvaskr Living Quarters. Head to the back of the Mead Hall, go downstairs, and look in Kodlak Whitemane’s room. It's sitting right there near his bed. The third one is in the Hall of the Dead. You’ll find it in a catacomb niche near a skeleton.
Most people miss the one in Fellglow Keep. You visit this place during the College of Winterhold questline. It’s in the workroom, sitting on a counter. If you aren't a mage, you might never step foot in here. That's the brilliance (and frustration) of this quest. It forces you to engage with every faction.
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The Hold Capitals and Royal Bedrooms
Bethesda really wanted you to rob the rich. Almost every major city has a stone tucked away in a place of power or a high-end residence.
In Solitude, you have to go to the Blue Palace. It’s on a bedside table in the Jarl’s quarters. But wait, there’s more. You also have to buy Proudspire Manor. That's the 25,000 gold barrier I mentioned. The stone is in the master bedroom. If you're doing a "pure" thief run, that’s a lot of pockets to pick just to afford a house for a rock.
Windhelm follows the same pattern. One is in the House of Clan Shatter-Shield. Upstairs, first bedroom on the left. The other is in the Palace of the Kings, specifically in Wuunferth the Unliving’s quarters at the very end of the hall.
Markarth is a bit of a trek. You’ll find one in the Treasury House next to Thonar’s bed. Another is in the Understone Keep, hidden in the Dwemer Museum on a table in the corner. Be careful—picking it up is considered stealing, and those guards don't play around.
Riften is the home of the Thieves Guild, so naturally, there's a stone here. It’s in Mistveil Keep, tucked away in the Jarl’s chambers.
Dungeons You'll Probably Hate
This is where the skyrim stone of barenziah locations get genuinely dangerous. You can't just fast travel and walk into a palace for these.
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- Ansilvund: Deep in the burial chambers, right next to where you fight Fjori and Holgeir.
- Sunderstone Gorge: This place is a nightmare of fire mages. The stone is on the altar in front of the Word Wall.
- Pinewatch: This looks like a simple shack near Falkreath. It’s not. There’s a secret button in the basement that leads to a massive bandit sanctuary. The stone is in a treasure room behind a locked door.
- Dead Crone Rock: You go here for the "Pieces of the Past" quest. The gem is on the altar in front of the Word Wall at the very top.
- Rannveig’s Fast: Down in the laboratory area near the prison cells.
- Hob’s Fall Cave: Located between Dawnstar and Winterhold. It’s in the sleeping quarters near the alchemy stand.
The Missable and the Messy
There used to be a huge problem with the stone in Thalmor Embassy. In the original release of Skyrim, if you didn't grab it during the "Diplomatic Immunity" quest, you were locked out forever. Bethesda eventually patched this because too many people were losing 40-hour save files to a single missing rock. Now, if you miss it, the stone relocates to Reeking Cave, near the corpse of a dead conjurer.
Then there's Yngvild. You have to go through the whole cave to the throne room behind the boss. It’s in a small room in the back.
Black-Briar Lodge near Riften has one too. It's upstairs in the master bedroom. You don't actually need a quest to go here, but you'll likely end up here for the "Promises to Keep" quest anyway.
Stonehills is another weird one. It's in Blackadge Sanctum (inside the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary). If you decide to destroy the Dark Brotherhood instead of joining them, you can still grab it. It's on Astrid’s dresser.
The Final Push: Tolvald’s Cave
Once you have all 24, you aren't done. You go back to Vex. She tells you that you need the actual Crown. This sends you to Tolvald's Cave.
This dungeon is long. It's filled with Falmer. It's tedious. But at the end, you find the remains of Queen Barenziah’s caravan and the crown itself. Take it back to the Guild, and you get the "Prowler's Profit" perk.
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It's a passive ability. It doesn't show up in your active effects menu for some reason (classic Skyrim), but trust me, it’s working. Go open a random chest in a bandit camp. You’ll see three flawless garnets and two diamonds. It’s absurd.
Why Do People Still Do This?
Honestly? Bragging rights. And the fact that the Thieves Guild looks way cooler with the completed Crown on its display bust.
But there’s a deeper mechanical reason. If you’re playing on a higher difficulty like Legendary, you need gold. You need gold for training, for high-level soul gems, and for crafting materials. Finding all the skyrim stone of barenziah locations effectively removes the "economy" aspect of the game. You become a god-tier merchant simply by looting the corpses of your enemies.
Common Misconceptions
People think you can "glitch" the stones. There was an old trick where you could rapidly tap the "pickup" button to count one stone as two or three. While this still works in some unpatched versions of the game, the Special Edition and Anniversary Edition have made this much more inconsistent. Just get them the old-fashioned way. It's more satisfying.
Another myth is that you need to be a member of the Thieves Guild to see the stones. Not true. You can see them and pick them up from level one. You just can't finish the quest or stack them until you talk to Vex.
Your Strategic Action Plan
Don't try to find these all at once. You will burn out. Skyrim is a game about the journey, and this quest is the ultimate "side" journey.
- Integrate the hunt into your main questlines. If you're at the College of Winterhold, grab the Fellglow Keep and Hob's Fall Cave stones.
- Save the 25,000 gold early. Stop buying armor you'll outgrow. Save for Proudspire Manor.
- Check your inventory. If you have "Unusual Gem (18)," don't guess which ones you're missing. Go to the palaces first. Those are the easiest to verify.
- Clear the dungeons. Dungeons like Sunderstone Gorge and Ansilvund are worth doing for the Word Walls anyway.
Once you have the Crown, head to the nearest Nordic ruin. Check every single burial urn. By the time you walk out, you'll have enough gems to buy every house in the Empire. It turns the game into a different kind of power fantasy—one where your biggest problem is finding enough merchants who actually have enough gold to buy your loot.
Start with the stone in Dragonsreach. It’s right there. You’ve probably walked past it fifty times. Go get it.