Riften is the hold capital for The Rift (aptly named, right!?) and is an interesting city. It has all the commodities of a major city as well as an entire canal system running underneath it. This canal system has grown rather stagnant after years of not being used and as a result crime is rampant in the city. So rampant that you can find the Thieves Guild here. The city is ruled by Jarl Laila Law-Giver. Other notable sites include the temple of Mara where romancing adventures can be wed and the Black-Briar Meadery.

Major City? Yes (Hold Capital of The Rift, loading screen required)

House? Yes - Honeyside (MUST complete the Misc. quest “Identify Riften’s skooma dealer. Possibly help out Riften citizens. Have 8000 Gold)

UPGRADES:

Bedroom Furnishings - 600 Gold

Kitchen Furnishings - 500 Gold

Alchemy Laboratory - 1000 Gold

Enchanting Laboratory - 1000 Gold

Garden - 800 Gold

Porch - 400 Gold

Major Shops

o Elgrim’s Elixirs (Alchemy Shop)

o Pawned Prawn (General Store)

o The Bee and Barb (Inn)

o The Scorched Hammer (Blacksmith)

Major Quests

o A Chance Arrangement (Talk to Brynjolf out in the market; this is the start of the THIEVES GUILD QUESTLINE)

o Promises to Keep (Talk to Louis Letrush in The Bee and Barb Inn and agree to help him)

o The Book of Love (Talk to Dinya Balu, the priestess of Mara who you can find in the temple of Mara)

o Unfathomable Depthes (Talk to From-Deepest-Fathoms out by the Riften Fishery. Must be a higher leveled player to make her show up!)

CRAFTING STATIONS

o Alchemy Lab (Inside Elgrim’s Elixirs) (Inside Mistveil Keep) (Inside Honeyside once you purchase its upgrade) (Inside the Thieves Guild)

o Arcane Enchanter (Insdie Mistveil Keep) (Inside Honeyside once you purchase its upgrade) o Blacksmith Forge (By Balimund’s Smithery)

o Cooking Pot (Inside Pawned Prawn) (Inside Mistveil Keep Barracks) (Inside Honeside once you purchase the kitchen upgrade) (Inside the Thieves Guild)

o Grindstone (Inside The Scorched Hammer) (By Balimund’s Smithery) (Inside the Thieves Guild) o Tanning Rack (Inside The Scorched Hammer) (By Balimund’s Smithery) (On the ship next to Riften Fishery) (On the back porch of Honeyside)

o Wood Chopping Block (By Balimund’s Smithery)

o Workbench (By Balimund’s Smithery)

FOLLOWERS/TRAINERS

FOLLOWERS:

o Iona (Your Housecarl, once you become THANE and buy Honeyside)

o Marcurio (Adventurer for hire in The Bee and Barb Inn; 500 Gold)

o Mjoll the Lioness (Female Nord, you must be level 14+ and find her sword for her).

TRAINERS:

o Balimund: EXPERT SMITHING TRAINER (Works near the open Blacksmith in town)

o Delvin Mallory: MASTER SNEAK TRAINER (Member of the Thieves Guild)

o Grelka: EXPERT LIGHT ARMOR TRAINER (Runs a small stall in the middle of town)

o Niruin: MASTER ARCHERY TRAINER (Member of the Thieves Guild)

o Vex: MASTER LOCKPICKING TRAINER (Member of the Thieves Guild)

o Vipir the Fleet: MASTER PICKPOCKET TRAINER (Member of the Thieves Guild)

INTERESTING ITEMS

o Advances in Lockpicking (LOCKPICKING SKILLBOOK, located in the Thieves Guild training room).

o Beggar (PICKPOCKETING SKILLBOOK, upstairs in Haelga’s Bunkhouse).

o Beggar (PICKPOCKETING SKILLBOOK, outside the Ragged Flagon, on a table).

o Enchanter’s Primer (Inside Honeyside once you purchase the Enchanting upgrade).

o Stone of Barenziah (Found by the Jarl’s bed in his chambers in Mistveil Keep).

o Surfeit of Thieves (LOCKPICKING SKILLBOOK, Found by the Jarl’s bed in his chambers in Mistveil Keep).

o Words and Philosophy (TWO HANDED SKILLBOOK, in the Mistveil Keep Barracks on a shelf by all of the beds upstairs).

MARRIAGE PARTNERS

o Balimund (Male Nord, owns the smithery in Riften, you must bring him 10 fire salts first).

o Iona (Female Nord; Your Housecarl, once you become THANE and buy Honeyside).

o Marcurio (Male Breton, Adventurer for hire in The Bee and Barb Inn, you must hire him first). o Mjoll the Lioness (Female Nord, you must be level 14+ and find her sword for her).

o Romlyn Dreth (Male Dark Elf, works at the Black Briar Meadery, you must do a miscellaneous quest for him first).

MISCELLANEOUS QUESTS

Bring 10 fire salts to Balimund 0/10

You get this quest by talking to Balimund, the city blacksmith. His forge requires 10 fire salts to “bring it back to life”. This is yet another gathering quest you should likely do while continuing to adventure as fire salts can often be found in dungeons and on the bodies of flame atronachs. You can always check alchemy shops as well. Once you deliver the fire salts to him, he’ll give you 750 Gold and will become a marriage partner, if gruff men are your thing!

Bring Alessandra’s Dagger to Andurs in Whiterun

To start this quest, go visit Alessandra in the Hall of the Dead in Riften. She’ll go on and on about her father pushing her into this job and you can eventually volunteer to take her dagger to Whiterun for her. Simply fast travel to Whiterun and give the dagger to Andurs. Once you have done that, return to Alessandra and she’ll be grateful and give you a reward (which I did NOT get for some reason…). This quest will now be over.

Deliver Mead to Wilhelm or Show Mead to Indaryn

You get this quest by talking to Romlyn Dreth, who works at the Black Briar Meadery. He’s pretty much selling the mead there for cheap, taking advantage of where he works. If you go rat him out to Indaryn, you’ll get a reward of gems (Flawless Garnet/Garnet/Amethyst). Otherwise you can choose to head to Ivarstead (the city leading up to High Hrothgar) and give the keg to Wilhelm who will give you a copper and onyx circlet. Just let me say that going to Indaryn is better for your wallet…

Deliver the purchase agreement to Kleppr in Markarth

You can get this quest by talking to Bolli, the fisherman, who is often wandering the town (seriously, this guy loves to walk around). He wants you to head to Markarth and talk to Kleppr in the Silver Blood Inn. Head over there and talk to Kleppr and afterward you’ll get a gold and silver ingot for your trouble and this quest will be done.

Distribute the Warmth of Mara within Riften 0/20

You can get this quest from Dinya Balu after doing the Book of Love quest by asking her if she needs any more help. She’ll ask you to pass 20 fliers around the town for her. I’m not going to list who to give this stuff to, but wander around during the day and avoid guards and the keep and you’ll get this done eventually. You get a Potion of Healing afterwards.

Identify Riften’s skooma dealer

Go find the female Argonaian named Wujeeta. She works outside in the Riften Fishery so she shouldn’t be hard to find. She’ll tell you that she’s been addicted to skooma for a year and needs a ‘Healing Potion’ to cleanse her body. Why she can’t go buy one I don’t know, but give her one of yours and in return you get this quest and a gold ring. Talk to Wujeeta again and ask her who her dealer is. Use persuade/bribe/intimidate to learn it is Sarthis Idren, and he’s operating out of the Riften Warehouse and only the Jarl has a key.

Now, head to Mistveil Keep and talk to Jarl Laila and tell her you’ve discovered a skooma dealer. She’ll already know about it and will suggest that we take care of it discreetly. She’ll give us the key! With the key in hand, head over to the warehouse (which is by the fishery) and drop in. Of course Sarthis won’t like this and will immediately attack with an Orc named Orini Dral. Kill them both. Grab the key from Sarthis’s body and head downstairs. Open up the door down here and nab all the moon sugar and skooma if you wish, then take the letter in the satchel on the table. Once you have it, return to the Jarl and report. She’ll want you to follow up on this and take care of the source, so it looks lie we’re off to Cragslane Cavern.

Cragslane Cavern is just north of Shor’s Stone, making it easy to get to. There’s a bandit and pit wolves out front, but they’re easy to take down. Go inside now and in front of you is a single guard. Take him out. Further in will be 2-3 gamblers, 1 barkeeper, 1 bandit, and 1 pit wolf, all of who will be aggressive to you. Try to get in the first hit or bring back up help of some kind, and be quick on the potions as you can be overwhelmed here if you aren’t careful. After killing them all, loot all the chests in the area (the BIG one has a bear trap in front of it) and check the bar for a book called “The Wolf Queen, V1” as it’s a LOCKPICKING SKILLBOOK. Now, go back and report to the Jarl to end this quest and receive a random enchanted item.

Find 5 Ice Wraith Teeth for Marise 0/5

Marise Aravel is the meat vendor near the middle of town. She wants the ice wraith teeth to perserve her meat. This is yet another gather quest. The teeth can be found on dead ice wraiths of course, but can also be found while exploring the world. Your best bet is to keep adventuring and deliver them once you’ve found enough. Once you give them to her, she’ll give you pheasant breast and a spellbook!

Find 20 deathbell for Ingun Black-Briar 0/20

Find 20 nightshade for Ingun Black-Briar 0/20

Find 20 nirnroot for for Ingun Black-Briar 0/20

Eck, a gathering quest. You get this one by talking to Ingun Black-Briar inside Elgrim’s Elixir’s. She wants to help restock all the supplies she’s used. Deathbells are common around Morthal and in the swamp area. Nighshade is common in cemetarys, and I’d recommend Riften and Falkreath for hunting. Nirnroot is a bit trickier… the best place for it has to be Sarethi Farm, a farm east of Ivarstead where Sarethi grows a whole bunch of them, but other then that you need to just scout waterways and lakes for the rest. For each set of 20 ingredients that you bring in, you will gain a whopping 500 gold (for a total of 1500 gold) and once you bring them all in, Ingun will give you a KEY to a SUPPLY CHEST located in the back of Elgrim’s Elixirs that contains various potions that you can take FOR FREE! And what’s better than that is that she’ll restock it every few days, turning it into FREE POTIONS for the rest of your Skyrim life!

Find gold ore for Madesi 0/1

Find a mammoth tusk for Madesi 0/1

Find 2 flawless sapphires for Madesi 0/2

Another gathering quest, this time for Madesi out in the minor shop circle in the center of Riften. He needs this stuff for a jewelry creation he’s working on. Your best bet is to just continue adventuring instead of heading out to GET this stuff, but you could always go kill a mammoth (and some giants), as well as go mine for awhile and come up with it that way. I found all this stuff while adventuring and you will too.

Get 3 flawless amethysts for Talen-Jei 0/3

Talen-Jei is the male Argonian in The Bee and Barb Inn. He wants the gems so he can make a wedding band for the owner, Keerava. Flawless Amethysts can be found while adventuring or while mining, but I’ve never found three in one place. So like the other gathering quests, you should keep playing and hoarding until you get three of them. Once you do, go return and give them to Talen-Jei. I watched for my “reward”, but I didn’t get anything after I gave him the amethysts. Let me know what you guys get, if anything.

Kill the bandit leader located at Bthalft

Go talk to Keerava in The Bee and Barb Inn and she’ll give you this bounty letter from the Jarl. Bthalft is located south of Ivarstead, so its easiest to fast travel there and take the road south that leads to it. I only found TWO bandits there, so this should be easy work for you. Return to Riften and talk to the Steward, Anuriel for a 100 gold reward.

Kill the bandit leader located at Rift Watchtowr

Go talk to either Keerava in The Bee and Barb Inn or Anuriel, the Jarl’s steward to get this bounty letter. Rift Watchtower is between Shor’s Stone and Ivarstead, and has three Orc’s in it that will automatically attack if you get near. Wipe them out (shouldn’t be hard) but be sure to loot the place as the HEAVY ARMOR SKILLBOOK “Hallgerd’s Tale” is at the top of the tower. Return to Anuriel for your 100 Gold reward.

Kill the bandit leader located at Treva’s Watch

Go talk to either Keerava in The Bee and Barb Inn or Anuriel, the Jarl’s steward to get this bounty letter. Treva’s Watch is located to the north west of Riften (the southeast of Ivarstead) so head over there. If this is your first time there, go do the “Infiltration” side quest. If it isn’t your first time, just go waste the bandits. Either way, return to Anuriel for your 100 Gold reward.

Locate a clue about Brand-Shei’s past

This is a weird one. Brand Shei is a dark elf, but tells you how he was raised by Argonians. He was wrapped in a specific Morrowwing blanket when he was discovered though, and asks for your help looking for clues about his past (oh, you can find him out near the stalls… or in jail if you’ve recently done “A Chance Arrangement”). His only clue is a ship, ‘The Pride of Tel Vos’, which is a shipwreck to the east of Winterhold. Head over to Winterhold and make your way over to it where you will find a group of bandits to kill. After than find a waterlogged chest and open it to find a journal. Grab it and return to Brand Shei. He’ll give you the key to his strongbox in his stand for your trouble!

Locate Grimsever

You must be level 14+ to trigger this quest, but once you are go talk to Mjoll the Lioness. You will now be able to offer to locate her lost sword. It is located in the Dwemer ruins of Mzinchaleft, southwest of Dawnstar. Head over there and kill the bandits outside then head in. Inside are more bandits. Be sure to loot them all for ‘Maluril’s Room Key’ to open a locked door for a SPEECH SKILLBOOK called “A Dance in Fire, v7”. Make your way through the place through a lever puzzle (flip the second lever and run back to the first one then flip the following levers) and go to Mzinchaleft Depthes. This area is pretty straightforward but you’ll be facing a LOT of Falmer, so be ready. Continue on until you reach Mzinchaleft Gatehouse. Down here you will fight a Dwarven Centurion, a tough battle to be sure. There is also a guardian sphere, so save and be ready for a tough fight. Grimsever is sitting on a nearby table, so grab it once you win. Return back to Mjoll and give her the sword. You can now marry her or have her as your follower if you wish!

Obtain a Mark of Dibella from Indaryn

Obtain a Mark of Dibella from Hofgrir

Obtain a Mark of Dibella from Bolli

To get this miscellaneous quest, go talk to Svana Far-Shield in Haelga’s Bunkhouse. She’s complain how she’s more of a slave than a worker, and wants to get back at Haelga. Apparently Haelga is quite a freak in bed, and has many partners, so Svana wants you to get marks of Dibella from three of her partners (she apparently gives these out after having sex!).

We can do these in any order we wish. Indaryn can be found in the Black Briar Meadery. You can either try to persuade him or intimidate him to get the mark, and even at level 23 Speech I was able to intimidate him. We also always have the option of pickpocketing any of these men for their marks. I was unable to convince Hofgrir or Bolli to give their marks to me, so I pickpocket both of them. Hofgrir is out by the stables and is EASY to pickpocket as he leans against the stable (remember to save before you try). Bolli is much harder, and I had to break into his home and nab it when he was asleep (again, save!).

Once you have them all, go back and confront Haelga. She’ll beg you to be quite about the issue and give you a Scroll of Bane of the Undead, which is quite valuable. Go talk to Svana now and she’ll be pleased and give you Iron Boots of Minor Stamina (or some other enchanted armor, I suspect). You’ll be done with this Misc. quest now.

Obtain Ore Sample from Filnjar

Talk to Elgrim’s wife, Hafjorg, to get this quest. It’s a fetch quest to obtain an ore sample from Filnjar in Shor’s Stone, a small town just to the northwest of Riften. You’ll likely find Filnjar at his smithy, so talk to him to get the sample, then return to Hafjorg. She’ll give you four potions that increase various skills for your work (Defender, Lockpicking, Alteration, and Conjuration for me) and you’ll be done with this quest.

Pick up Harrald’s Sword from Balimund

Harrald is the Jarl’s son and can usually be found in Mistveil Keep somewhere. He’ll ask you to pick up his sword from the blacksmith,so head over to Balimund and pick it up. Now return it for a few gemstones worth of thanks. A really easy quest to do.

Retrieve Wylandriah’s Soul Gem

Retrieve Wylandriah’s Ingot

Retrieve Wylandriah’s Spoon

To get this quest, go talk to the Mistveil court wizard, Wylandriah. After talking to her for a bit you’ll realize she’s a bit… clutzy. Talk to her about her organization and you’ll get this quest. After that, ask her WHERE you have to go to get a preview of what you’ll be doing. Now, as for the items travel to Ivarstead and enter Fellstar Farm. On the table is Wylandriah’s satchel with her SPOON in it. Next, head to the Frozen Hearth Inn at Winterhold and another satchel will be on a bookcase here with her ingot. Lastly, head to Windhelm and into the White Phial Alchemy shop to find another satchel with the soul gem. Return everything to Wylandriah, and despite her not remembering sending you out she will reward you with several spell scrolls! Very nice!

Purchase a House from the steward of Riften

I HIGHLY suspect that this quest replaces “Assist the people of Riften” if you DON’T do the “Identify Riften’s skooma dealer” quest right away. Either way, to become THANE OF RIFTEN you must help out people AND own a home, which is where this quest comes in. And do that quest about the skooma dealer. Once all those are done, you can talk to the steward and buy HONEYSIDE for 8000 gold! You can then decorate it if you wish, but that is all there is to this “quest”.

Speak to Sapphire about Shadr’s debt

To get this miscellaneous quest talk to Shadr, who is often just leaning against the bridge by Riften’s main entrance. He’ll explain he owes Sapphire money but can’t repay it due to a carriage being robbed that he was depending on. Agree to help him and then go talk to Sapphire (who is likely in the Inn). Go talk to her and use the Persuade option to get her to agree Shadr doesn’t owe her anymore (this worked for me at LOW speech levels). Return to Shadr and tell him the good news. He’ll end up giving you a Potion of Brief Invisibility and you’ll be done with this quest.