Skyrim:Varnius Junius

Varnius Junius (RefID: 00029985)
Home Town	Dragon Bridge
Location	Blue Palace, Four Shields Tavern
Race	Imperial	Gender	Male
Level	4	Class	Farmer
RefID	00029985	BaseID	00019A26
Other Information
Health	75	Magicka	60
Stamina	60
Primary Skills	Restoration
Morality	No Crime	Aggression	Unaggressive
Essential	Yes, until he leaves the Blue Palace
Voice Type	MaleYoungEager
Faction(s)	CrimeFactionHaafingar; TownDragonBridgeFaction

Varnius Junius

Varnius Junius is an Imperial farmer from Dragon Bridge. He is first found in Solitude's Blue Palace appealing to Jarl Elisif to investigate strange occurences in Wolfskull Cave. Until Varnius' appeal is heard, you cannot interact with him. Once he's been heard, Varnius will return to his hometown of Dragon Bridge and go to the Four Shields Tavern. He will wander around the tavern throughout the rest of the day, only stopping when he goes to sleep at midnight until 8am.

Varnius wears a set of merchant clothes along with a pair of boots. He wields an iron dagger and carries a belted tunic along with a selection of common loot and gold.

Related Quests

• The Man Who Cried Wolf: Investigate reports of strange happenings in Wolfskull Cave.

Quest-Related Events

The Man Who Cried Wolf

"I swear to you, unnatural magics are coming from that cave!"

When you enter the Blue Palace for the very first time, you will witness Varnius plea to jarl Elisif for help with some strange occurrences near Wolfskull Cave:

Varnius: "I swear to you, unnatural magics are coming from that cave! There are strange noises and lights! We need someone to investigate!"

Elisif: "Then we will immediately send out a legion to scour the cave and secure the town. Haafingar's people will always be safe under my rule."

Varnius: "Th...thank you, my Jarl thank you."

Sybille: "Your eminence, my scrying has suggested nothing in the area. Dragon Bridge is under imperial control. This is likely superstitious nonsense."

Falk: "Perhaps a more... tempered reaction... might be called for?"

Elisif: "Oh. Yes, of course you are right. Falk, tell Captain Aldis I said to assign a few extra soldiers to Dragon Bridge."

Varnius: "Thank you, Jarl Elisif. But about the cave..."

Falk: "I will have someone take care of the cave as well Varnius, you can rest easy. You're dismissed."

Dialogue

When first met, Varnius will be actively trying to speak with the jarl, and will actively try and brush you off.

"I'm trying to speak to the Jarl."

Afterwards, he will go back to his hometown of Dragon Bridge, something which he will tell you:

"I've got what I came for, I better get back to Dragon Bridge."

He can now also be spoken with about his troubles:

Aren't you worried about Wolfskull Cave?

"I've done my part, Dragon Bridge will have extra guards. Falk Firebeard will find a way to take care of the cave."

Back in Dragon Bridge, Varnius will greet you in different ways, painting him as a law-abiding citizen:

"Respect the law, and you'll have no trouble in Dragon Bridge."

"Mind you don't cross Tassius [sic]. He's in charge around here."

"Don't start any trouble and I think we'll get along just fine."

"At least, if you're gonna cause trouble, go somewhere else, okay? Please?"

Unused Dialogue

Varnius' final greeting has a player response line attached, for some reason, reading:

Are you a mercenary? You won't find much work here.

This is odd for multiple reasons. One is that the line is a greeting and doesn't give you the option to respond, and there are no indicators that you were meant to talk any further to Varnius besides this. Secondly, the line does not seem related to any of Varnius' greetings, so those might have been re-recorded, but the line might've also been intended for Tasius (see notes) who you might actually confuse for a mercenary.

Rumors

Before meeting Varnius, one of the rumors the local innkeeper can provide you with is:

"Varnius Junius stopped by here on his way to court. He was worried about something. I'm sure Falk Firebeard could tell you what."

After he's spoken to the jarl about his issue, members of the court may also offer their opinion of him. Steward Falk Firebeard may say:

"I'll be honest with you, I was planning to let that go. Varnius is a bit jumpy at the best of times."

While court wizard Sybille Stentor is a lot more blunt, simply stating:

"Varnius Junius is a fool. I'm sure nothing will come of it."

However, when Varnius is proven right, Falk will change his tune:

"I should have paid more heed to Varnius' warnings. I won't make that mistake again."

Afterwards, you may also overhear Sorex Vinius mention him when buying fruit at the marketplace:

Sorex: "I'll need a whole crate of fruit. That Varnius Junius went through quite a few of our supplies."

Jala: "The guy in from Dragon Bridge? He didn't seem the type."

Sorex: "You never can tell."

Notes

• The "Tassius" he refers to in dialogue is actually an NPC that does not appear in the final game, Tasius Tragus. Tasius is marked as Varnius' boss.
• None of the other inhabitants of Dragon Bridge will ever speak to, acknowledge or mention Varnius in any way, and the same goes for him.

Bugs

• He walks back and forth between Dragon Bridge and the Blue Palace.
  • The Unofficial Skyrim Patch, version 1.2.4, fixes this bug.
• Varnius can be picked as a mark for The Fishing Job in Solitude, even though he lives in Dragon Bridge, since his editor location is in the Blue Palace.
  • The Unofficial Skyrim Patch, version 1.3.1, addresses this issue. He has been added to the no pickpocket faction to exempt him from this.
• Sometimes Varnius will not start his appeal when you approach the throne. This can be solved by pushing Varnius from where he is standing. ^?
  • This can also happen if the Bards College quest Tending the Flames has started. Completing the quest can make Varnius start talking the next time you enter the Palace.
• For unknown reasons, it is possible for the quest not to advance to stage 15 when you enter the court. ^?
  • You can use the console command setstage MS06Start 15 to force this step to initiate.
• The Man Who Cried Wolf quest fails to begin during some parts of the main quest. Varnius Junius will not approach the jarl and it will be impossible to begin the quest. To fix this issue, either complete the civil war quests, or finish the main quest (if you choose to hold a peace negotiation). ^?