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ACT I: BETWEEN THE DAEDRA AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA

• Optional: Pick up and read a breadcrumb note in the Drunken Huntsman or Bannered Mare.
• Loot the angry letters from the Message in a Bottle outside White River Watch.
• Read the angry letters in your inventory.
• Find the Merchant Captain in Dawnstar or at Windhelm Docks or find the Suspicious Captain at Solitude Docks.
• Any of the captains can give you the clue to search for the Dark Rose near Broken Oar Grotto.
• Outside Broken Oar Grotto you won't find a pirate ship, but you will find a knapsack by the two rowboats.
• Loot the journal from the knapsack.
• Read the journal in your inventory.
• Optional: Go to the bar at the Winking Skeever in Solitude.
• Optional: Talk to the Suspicious Captain.
• Optional: Give the Suspicious Captain an alcoholic drink. She will then give you the tip about the fight at the base of the arch.
• Optional: Take the gate and stairs under the windmill to leave Solitude. Turn left and follow the road to the north a short distance. By a fallen log you'll see a satchel on a rock.
• Optional: Loot the note from the satchel.
• Optional: Read the note in your inventory.
• Optional: Follow the blood trail behind the log until you find Fathis.
• Talk to Fathis, and loot the map from his body once he's dead.
• Read the map in your inventory.
• Activate the rowboat by the shore and select travel to the Offshore Island.
• Greet Serano at the top of the hill under the juniper tree.
• After a brief conversation, Serano will be following you. Activate the rowboat to return to Skyrim at the location of your choice. The boat will remain where you leave it and can be used again.
• The quest will complete, and Val is now your follower. Make sure you talk to him right away!
  

ACT I: HE RUNS A TIGHT SHIPWRECK
I recommend that you complete this quest as soon as possible, especially before taking on any other adventures with Val.

• In Solitude, wait for Val to mention he needs to talk to you before you go any further. He will also mention he needs to get back to Solitude for a business matter if you are in any other major city.
• Speak to Val, he will confess that he's wanted in Solitude for theft of a priceless artifact and that he needs to talk to Captain Aldis before he's arrested.
• Captain Aldis will be waiting in the courtyard of Castle Dour. Speak to him and watch the conversation between him and Val.
• After Val has retrieved his belongings, take him far enough away from Aldis that you cannot be overheard. Val will tell you if you're too close.
• Val will explain that he has no intention of returning the real Star of Solitude, and that you two are going to go get the relic from its hiding spot, then have a forgery made. He had an unnamed buyer lined up to purchase the original, and he'll be able to clear his name with the forgery.
• The map marker will guide you to a sunken chest at the end of the pier northwest of Solitude Lighthouse. Open it with the key Val provided or attempt to persuade him to get it himself.
• Speak with Val once you have the Star of Solitude necklace, and he will tell you the forger is located at Radiant Raiment.
• Enter Radiant Raiment and watch the conversation between Val and Endarie (the forger).
• Wait 24 hours in game.
• Speak to Endarie to retrieve the forgery.
• Return the forgery to Aldis and pass it off as the original.
• Give the real Star to Val, receive his heartfelt thanks, and officially obtain his services as a follower. He owes you big time.
• Talk to Val about trust to clear the air about his lies during this time to conclude the quest.
  

ACT II: STAND BY ME
I recommend that you complete this quest prior to doing any College of Winterhold content as Val will not join the College until he's spoken to all three court mages and this quest has advanced to the next stage.

• If you've previously read Val's journal, you can now ask him about it and suffer the consequences of reading it without permission. If not, you can now ask him about what it was like growing up on a ship and he'll happily give you his journal.
• Read the journal if you haven't already. Val's been harboring an artistic side.
• Val will confess that his life at sea has been one of piracy. Oh noes.
• IMPORTANT - the next quest, But You Have Heard of Me, starts silently in the background and runs concurrently. The next time you travel to a less-populated area, you and Val will be attacked by assassins.
• There are a series of conversations to have in specific locations to get to know Val better. The first one is to use his sit feature from his "Hey, Val-" command menu. Val will ask you about your past.
• The next conversation is available inside any store. You can talk to Val a bit about fashion, and afterward his wardrobe features will be unlocked in his command menu. He starts with his default outfit and the ability to give him gear by trading. He will unlock a couple additional outfits in other quests (see FAQ for details).
• Take Val to any tavern, inn, or meadery, sit down and have a drink. He'll buy you a round when you talk to him, and then you can have a conversation about the types of things he did as a pirate.
• Optional: Ask Val about his Dunmer family. Dunmer character can talk to him about what House (or not) their family is from.
• Next, while in a clearable location, compliment Val's magical skills. He'll return the compliment on your combat prowess, and you'll learn that he's a hedge mage and a bit lacking in self-confidence with his studies.
• Take Val to visit Farengar in Whiterun, Wylandriah in Riften, and Wuunferth in Windhelm. The order doesn't matter. Speak to each mage to start a short scene where Val interacts with them. After the scene, you can talk to Val about what he learned. Val will now pick up a few spells along the way in your adventures.
• Visit any Temple of the Divines. Talk to Val about religion.
• Visit any Daedric shrine and talk to Val a bit more about religion.
• If you haven't completed But You Have Heard of Me, you'll be prompted to do so before you can continue.
• Once that's done, you can craft Val a ship in a bottle at the tanning rack. Present it to him as a gift. He'll love it. Make a hundred and fill your house with them! (kidding, that's not part of the quest)
• In a safe location, ask Val about Fathis and help him start to grieve for his brother.
• If you choose to pursue it, Val's first romance quest, Romancing the Rogue, is now available after a short delay (2 hours in game).
  

ACT II: BUT YOU HAVE HEARD OF ME

• Once you've spoken to Val about his journal in Stand by Me, the next time you are in a less-populated area a trio of Morag Tong assassins will attack. If they aren't showing up, make sure you're changing locations outside of a major city or settlement.
• Once the assassins are dead, loot the Kill Order from one of the bodies.
• Read the Kill Order from your inventory.
• Talk to Val; he will remove the note from your inventory and read it himself.
• After a short conversation, Val will confess that his father, Tarek Serano, is the one who hired the assassins.
• Travel to a small island just north of Broken Oar Grotto, which is marked on your map.
• Confront Tarek and his mutineers by watching the scene play out. WAIT for the mutineers to start combat with you.
• Kill all five pirates and defeat Tarek so he goes into bleed out. This is a tough fight intended for level 10 and up, and it's fine to bring other followers to help.
• Talk to Tarek and decide whether he lives or dies. Your choice will matter for future quest events.
• Check in with Val and learn he's decided to stick with you and take a break from being a pirate captain.
• Loot what you want, get insulted by Tarek for a bit if you let him live, then leave the area for another location so that the quest objects and Tarek have a chance to despawn.
• You are now free to complete Stand by Me.
  

ACT III: DRINK AND THE DAEDRA HAD DONE FOR THE REST

• After completing Stand by Me, the courier will find you. He hands you a letter addressed to Valerius Serano. Hm.
• You can read the letter if you like. I recommend doing so as Val's dialogue will make more sense.
• The letter is from Val's mother. Give it to him, and he'll answer your questions.
• Val would like to pay his respects at Fathis' grave. Head to the cemetery in Solitude.
• Fathis' grave is nowhere to be found, and Val would like to return to the spot where he died.
• After defeating the Xivkyn that shows up, speak to Val about what you loot from the body. Then continue to the new location, Hidden Grotto.
• After defeating the giant Death Hound in Hidden Grotto, once again speak to Val about the item you looted. You are free to return to Hidden Grotto at any time, and I encourage you to make yourself at home!
• Travel to the Serpent Stone and defeat the gargoyle. Once again, Val has some thoughts about the item you looted.
• Speak to Val to travel to the Dark Rose or use the abandoned rowboat from Act I. There's no going back until the quest is done, so plan accordingly.
• Depending on your earlier choices, either Tarek or the Suspicious Captain (who we now learn is named Jena Avarix) will be in command of the Dark Rose. Watch the short scene while Val confronts the interloper.
• You can remove the offending "captain" by either shouting them off the ship with Fus Ro Dah, physically tossing them through a dialogue option, or asking Val to toss them via a dialogue option with him.
• Once Val's fully in charge of his ship, enter his cabin. Watch a short scene play out where he'll unlock another outfit, then use the Black Book on his desk.
• Optional: Instead of reading the book, you can take a shortcut and have Val go without you. (not recommended, but available)
• You are now in Sailor's Bargain. Like any part of Apocrypha, you can leave via the Black Book in your inventory and return at any point, although I recommend just doing it all at once. This dungeon is now much bigger and entirely new with numerous boss encounters. Do not rush. Take your time and explore all the scenes and dialogue.
• At the end of Sailor's Bargain, choose your reward and return to the Dark Rose. You can keep the Black Book and return any time to swap rewards.
• Back on the Dark Rose, speak to Val while on deck to sail to the next stop.
• Enter The Pit. Fight your way through the short dungeon until all the enemies are dead.
• Speak to Fathis to release him from his shackles. Watch the reunion scene between Fathis and Val.
• At certain points, Fathis will speak to you as well.
• Go outside and speak to Val to return home.
  

ACT III: SAFE HARBOR

• This quest starts automatically on completion of Drink and the Daedra Had Done for the Rest. Head to Solitude Docks and find Harbormaster Brego. He's got a map marker on him.
• Talk to Brego, and if you have 5000 gold (the astute player will have found this exact amount in a chest in Val's cabin) you can buy a small sailboat currently tied up at the dock.
• Brego will move the boat for you to a new location nearby, Safe Harbor.
• Take Val to Safe Harbor and introduce him to his new boat. He'll be thrilled and offer to take you sailing.
• The quest is over, but a new feature of going sailing is available. Activate the boat while Val is with you; numerous travel destinations are now available in addition to recreational sailing.
• Once on the sailboat and under way, you can ask Val to tell you a story about his life or his tattoos.
• Activate the anchor at the bow of the boat to return to Safe Habor. If you fall or jump overboard, the buoy in the water will bring you back aboard.