There are many different children in Skyrim the player can adopt during their travels, so gamers should have no issue finding the perfect choice. These children are available for adoption in a number of different ways. Some can be found homeless in major cities, but most are found in the Honorhall Orphanage in Riften. Yet, even that latter option has prerequisites that the player must accomplish first. Lastly, there are over a dozen kids that only become available for adoption after something happens to their in-game parents or guardians.
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The Orphanage in Skyrim
The first, and most obvious place, that players will first look at when considering adoption is the only orphanage in all of Skyrim, Honorhall Orphanage in the city of Riften. However, the orphanage is first run by the ironically named Grelod The Kind who is, by all accounts, an awful person. She refuses adoption to everyone, including the Dragonborn.
This name may sound familiar to gamers who have played through the Dark Brotherhood questline, as Grelod The Kind is the player’s first target in the quest “Innocence Lost.” After Grelod The Kind is eliminated, her assistant Constance Michel takes over and once again allows adoption. This means that if players want access to the orphanage adoption, they must start the Skyrim Dark Brotherhood questline, which could prove problematic for certain roleplayers.
Before the player can adopt from the orphanage, there is still another prerequisite and a brief questionnaire from Constance. She asks the Dragonborn about their employment, and the player can choose any number of roleplay dialogue options such as “I’m the Arch-Mage,” as none have any effect on who you can adopt. Secondly, she asks where the child will be staying and the player must select a home that has both a child’s bed and child’s chest, which were added with the Hearthfire DLC. After this, the adoption of the initial four children at the orphanage is open to the player.
There are three boys and one girl at Honorhall initially. Samuel, an Imperial whose mother worked at the orphanage before dying giving birth, has become the leader of the kids in true Imperial fashion. Francois Beaufort may have a Breton-sounding name, but is also an Imperial like Samuel. Francois was left at the orphanage by his parents a year ago and has been waiting for their return, which will never come. Hroar is a Nord boy who doesn’t share how he came to end up at Honorhall Orphanage, but does explain that his mother named him after the roar of a lion which inspires him to become big and strong. Runa Fair-Shield is a Nord girl who claims the other boys pick on her and make unfairly her do all the chores.
Skyrim’s City Kids
If the player doesn’t want to engage with the Dark Brotherhood storyline at all, then there are still several adoption options. However, just as with the orphanage, the player must still have a home with a child’s bed and chest. There are initially just four children in four of Skyrim’s major cities: Dawnstar, Solitude, Whiterun, and Windhelm. All the player must do to initiate adoption is ask about their circumstances and how they ended up where they did.
In Dawnstar, the player will find Alesan, a Redguard boy who worked on his father’s ship. One day, his father became sick and the pair were left at Dawnstar’s port only for the father to die shortly after. Now Alesan delivers food to local miners in order to survive and sleeps on the floor of the local inn. Sofie is a Nord child in Windhelm and can often be seen wandering around the city selling flowers so she can feed herself. Her mother died when she was young and her father was in the Stormcloak army before dying in battle.
Blaise is a Breton whose parents died in an Imperial Legion ambush. Afterward, Katla took him in to help out at the stables on her farm. She generally doesn’t care for him, as Blaise is forced to sleep with the horses he looks after. In Whiterun, players will find the Imperial, Lucia, near the giant Gildergreen tree. She seems to have a similar agreement with Hulda at The Bannered Mare as Blaise does with Katla’s Farm. Both can be seen working at their respective locations, but largely without thanks or appreciation. Lucia’s mother also owned a farm, but her aunt and uncle kicked her out after the mother’s death and she ended up in Whiterun.
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Other Adoptable Children in Skyrim
If those eight options don’t seem to be the best fit for a specific playthrough, there are fifteen other children that can be adopted. These kids will get sent to Honorhall orphanage if something happens to both of their parents. This can either be through the Dragonborn’s actions directly or through Dragon and Vampire attacks in Skyrim’s cities. It’s worth noting that if either guards or the child itself sees the Dragonborn killing their parents, adoption will not be possible.
These children include Braith in Whiterun, Aeta in Skall Village, Britte and Sissel in Rorikstead, Clinton Lylvieve at Dragon Bridge, Dorthe in Riverwood, Eirid at The Frozen Hearth, Erith at Left Hand Mine, Frodnar in Riverwood, Gralnach at Heartwood Mill, Hrefna at Darkwater Crossing, Knud at Katla’s Farm, Minette Vinius at The Winking Skeever, Skuli at Old Hroldan Inn, and Svari in Solitude. After the death of their parent or parents, the children will shortly arrive at Honorhall Orphanage with the original four.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has always tried to champion player choice and agency, and the huge amount of adoptable children is proof of that. The upcoming The Elder Scrolls VI could improve and expand this system in unimaginable ways, in addition to other gameplay systems. Whether a player wants to go directly to an orphanage to become a parent, or feels a duty to look after a child after failing to protect their parents, there are countless roleplay options for this small part of a very large game.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition is releasing November 11th, 2021 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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