The Companions are a brotherhood of warriors based in Jorrvaskr, Whiterun, claiming direct descent from Ysgramor and the Five Hundred Companions who drove the Elves from Skyrim in the Merethic Era. Unlike mercenary guilds chartered by the Empire, the Companions are native to Skyrim, older than any guild and steeped in legend.
Their identity is bound to Nordic myth. To join is not only to fight but to share in a tradition of heroism stretching back to the first Nords who crossed the Sea of Ghosts from Atmora. Where the Fighters Guild sells its services under Imperial contracts, the Companions embody the spirit of Skyrim itself.
The Companions are a brotherhood rather than bureaucracy, but still follow hierarchy:
Harbinger: Spiritual and practical leader, not commander but guide. The Harbinger embodies Ysgramor’s legacy, settling disputes and shaping destiny.
Circle: Elite inner circle of Companions, sworn brothers and sisters bound by deeper oaths. Their ranks include the most skilled warriors, and their role is to uphold the order’s traditions.
Shield-Brothers and Shield-Sisters: The core membership, warriors of all backgrounds who swear loyalty to Jorrvaskr and their comrades.
Whelps: Recruits undergoing trials of strength and honor, proving themselves worthy of advancement.
Unlike the Fighters Guild, there is no rigid bureaucracy — only bonds of loyalty, courage, and shared legend.
The Companions embody Nordic ideals:
Honor in Battle: Combat is sacred, not merely trade. To die with sword in hand is path to Sovngarde.
Brotherhood: Members call each other shield-brothers and sisters, bound by loyalty deeper than family.
Neutrality: Though mercenaries, the Companions avoid entanglement in politics, serving jarls and peasants alike.
Tradition: Their roots in Ysgramor’s Five Hundred shape their identity, linking every battle to mythic past.
They are mercenaries, yes, but see themselves as more than sellswords: they are inheritors of Atmoran heroism.
The Companions are based in Jorrvaskr, the mead-hall overlooking Whiterun, said to be the oldest building in Skyrim still in use. Built from the hull of a longship that carried Ysgramor’s warriors, it is shrine to their origins.
Jorrvaskr functions as home, training hall, and feast-hall. Mead flows freely, songs of valor are sung nightly, and warriors share in bonds of kinship forged in blood and battle. It is not fortress or guildhall but living legend.
A defining secret of the Companions is the Circle, whose members inherit the curse of lycanthropy. According to legend, they made pact with the Daedric Prince Hircine, gaining the power of werewolves in exchange for their souls.
This curse grants them strength and ferocity in battle, but at spiritual cost: instead of Sovngarde, their souls are claimed by the Hunting Grounds. To the Circle, this is both gift and burden, a source of conflict within the order.
Most Companions are unaware of the full truth, believing the Circle merely embodies higher tradition. The secret is closely guarded, revealing the Companions’ dual nature — heroes by day, beasts by moonlight.
Merethic Era:
Founded by Ysgramor and his Five Hundred, the Companions began as avengers of Saarthal, expelling Elves from Skyrim. Their name and deeds became legend.
First and Second Eras:
The Companions persisted as band of mercenaries and heroes, resisting Imperial attempts to subsume them into foreign guilds. They became fixture of Skyrim’s culture, standing apart from both Empire and Dominion.
Third Era:
Though overshadowed by the Fighters Guild in much of Tamriel, the Companions endured in Skyrim. Jorrvaskr remained hall of legends, and the Harbingers ensured continuity.
Fourth Era:
By 4E 201, the Companions remain strong. Whiterun holds them in esteem, and jarls call on them for contracts. Yet their inner secret — the Beast Blood — threatens to divide them, as some seek cure while others embrace curse.
Relations with the Empire:
The Companions cooperate with Imperial authorities but do not answer to them. They maintain independence, a point of pride.
Relations with Nords:
Highly respected, embodying Nord ideals. Even peasants view them as heroes, not mercenaries.
Relations with Fighters Guild:
The Companions and Fighters Guild serve similar roles but from different traditions. The Fighters Guild is Imperial, bureaucratic, and widespread; the Companions are Nordic, mythic, and singular.
Training and Rites:
Whelps undergo trials of combat and courage. Full membership requires not only skill but loyalty. Feasts, storytelling, and songs of valor maintain cultural memory.
To outsiders, the Companions are mercenaries with Nordic trappings. To Nords, they are living legend, proof that Ysgramor’s spirit endures. Tales of their deeds echo in every hall: Companions slaying dragons, giants, and bandits, Companions avenging wrongs and defending holds.
Yet whispers persist of darker truths: strange rituals in Jorrvaskr, warriors vanishing under the moons, Harbingers making secret bargains.
The Companions are paradox: mercenaries who embody myth, heroes who harbor Daedric curse, heirs of Ysgramor who fight for coin. Yet their endurance proves their significance.
Unlike the Fighters Guild, which rose and fell with Empire, the Companions endure because they are bound to Skyrim itself. As long as Nords sing songs of Ysgramor, as long as Jorrvaskr’s fires burn, the Companions will remain.
By 4E 201, they are both revered and troubled: heroes in the eyes of Skyrim, cursed in the eyes of Sovngarde, and living reminder that tradition is both glory and burden.
Their legacy is not one of empire but of myth: warriors who fight not only for contracts, but for the spirit of Skyrim, carrying Ysgramor’s name into every battle.