Skyrim Campaigns: The Companions

The Companions are the "fighters guild" substitute for Skyrim with one huge difference, they're all werewolves. The Companion quest-line begins like you'd expect any fighter-ish missions to start, you go to a ruin and beat up some baddies. Then you get trapped in a room while your partner remains in the room completely alone. Suddenly a swarm of bandit looking people rush out and claim they're going to kill him and they close in on him. Farkas (your partner for this mission) then says something along the lines of "There aren't enough of you" or some other mildly badass quote then he transforms into a giant ass werewolf and slaughters the entire group and casually lets you out of the cage. Upon looking at the fallen enemies they're labeled as "Silver Hand" which I automatically interpreted as a werewolf hunting group. So this mission basically sets the tone for the rest of the campaign and you're sent out to begin wiping out these werewolf hunters.

After you're officially invited into the Companions you're given an option to take part in the blood ritual, which will turn you into a werewolf. I believe you can choose to remain human if you so desire but I wanted to give lycanthropy a fair shot. I'll briefly go over the benefits and drawbacks of being a werewolf.

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Pros:

Transformation once a night

Extremely fast run speed (much faster than a horse)

High resistances to various attacks

Large boost in overall attack power

Cool finishers

Ability to heal and extend your transformation by feeding on fallen enemies

Cons:

Must kill and feed on one person a day in order to retain the maximum benefits (I never suffered the consequences of not doing this but I have read that you weaken the longer you don't feed)

It is a major crime if you're seen transforming

Weak to silver weapons (Typically only a problem when dealing with the silver hand)

Impossible to get "Rested" and "Well Rested" bonuses from sleeping

Can't use items or spells

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So after a few missions as a werewolf where you're sent to hunt down various groups of silver hand members, the harbinger of the group (unofficial leader/elder) wants you to go on a mission for him. This mission's purpose is to cure the entire group of the "beast blood" that runs through their veins so you're sent after the witches that gave it to the companions many years ago. So you go into a cave and cut off some hargreave heads to bring back to the harbinger as he had asked. When you return =*SPOILER ALERT*= the silver hand has raided the Companions' base in Whiterun and left the harbinger dead. Following this event you're sent to eliminate the leader of the silver hand in an act of vengeance. Once this is complete, the Companions reassemble the ancient axe used by the original founder Ysgramor and you enter into another ruin in order to attempt to purify the soul of your fallen leader. Once you fight your way to the end you place one of the witch's heads into the fire and summon out the wolf spirit of the harbinger. Its not a hard fight at all and then you purify the harbingers soul and all is well.

After the main story is over the extra missions involve curing the other members of the Companions of their lycanthropy and doing various hunting missions, including dragon hunts. You're also given the option of curing yourself as well (which I did) which is nice so you don't have to be stuck as a werewolf forever.

Ending notes: One of the early benefits of being a Companion is the Skyforge steel weapon you're offered upon joining. These are easily some of the best weapons you can get early on and hold their own against various other higher-than-steel class weapons such as dwarven, orcish, elven etc. You also get really cool looking wolf armor, its not terribly great but it is definitely one of the cooler looking armor sets in the game.

Thanks for reading :)! Daedric quests are next!