In Which Finds-The-Way Becomes Guildmaster of the Thieves Guild

As you eventually do if you’re me and you’re running the Thieves Guild in Skyrim, I finally got Finds-the-Way to the point of becoming Guildmaster! So most of this session from early January is her doing the thievery work necessary to pull that off.

And oh yeah, she’s also now thane of the Reach!

Play by play

Play date: 1/7/2024
Session number in this run: 44
Picked up again in Whiterun
Had to derp around a bit before Olfrid Battle-Born woke up
Sold things until Olfrid showed up at the Drunken Huntsman, then informed him I’d finished his job
Got his quest reward and boinged back to Riften to turn in the job
Picked up fresh Bedlam and Sweep jobs from Vex and Delvin, but the Sweep Job was in Markarth and the Bedlam was in Solitude–so let that stand so I could do the special job for Solitude, too
Bedlam Job turned out to be in Addvar and Greta’s house
Could not for the life of me get in there when Greta was asleep, so had to run the side quest to get her to go to the temple
Svari, her kid, was right there in the house so talked to the kid to trigger the Return to Grace quest
Ran the quest, then talked to Greta
But she still wouldn’t leave the house, so I dropped into Sneak and used invisibility potions so I could take the items while she couldn’t see me
Got out safely and returned to Riften to turn in the job to Delvin
Then got the special job to boing right back to Solitude and talk to Erikur
Picked up the Nightingale gear from Shadowfoot Sanctum so I could Nightingale my way through the Dainty Sload
Got the Balmora Blue from Sabine, and it was certainly easier to get to the chest under the dock this time, LOL
Did not have to fight a single one of the corsairs on the boat–but I had to run the damn boat twice, because I forgot to place the Balmora Blue in the chest, oops
Throw Voice Shout was very handy to get the first mate out of the way long enough for me to nab the Stone of Barenziah there
Finally returned successfully to Solitude to report back to Erikur
Then boinged back to Riften to turn in that job and wake up the next merchant in the Flagon
Then got another Bedlam job, this time for Ogmund’s house in Markarth, to stack on top of Vex’s job
Boinged to Markarth to take care of this
Ogmund’s house wasn’t even locked, because I got in there during daylight hours and he was in the inn performing
Nabbed the items to resolve both jobs and got out again
Then boinged back to Riften yet again to turn in the jobs
And boinged right back to Markarth to talk to Endon about his special job
Then boinged to Lakeview
Lucia gave me a circlet! What a nice kid!
Got Lydia on duty since I wanted her at my back for running Pinewatch
Got in and ran the place
Leveled up to 54
One-shotted the three initial bandits, but didn’t get that lucky with a lot of the rest of them
Made it through successfully and got Endon’s mold and the other treasure
Also got the Stone of Barenziah in there and that brought me to 17 of 24, seven of them left
Boinged back to Markarth to check in with Endon
Did the rest of the favor quests to pick up the thaneship:
- Gave a coin to the beggar Degaine
- Then ran the delivery quests for Banning at the stables and Bothela at the Hag’s Cure
That got me up to the required five, so I reported to the Jarl to say I’d helped his people
Got thaned up \0/
Went to Vlindrel Hall to drop off the weapon the Jarl gave me as well as a couple other items
HI ARGIS!
Then boinged back to Riften to check in, and and get proclaimed Guildmaster, fuck yeah
This got me achievement number 36
Got Guildmaster armor from Tonilia
Also got her quest to talk to Ri’saad about engaging the Khajiit to move contraband around
Dropped off regular Guild armor at Shadowfoot Sanctum, then boinged back to Lakeview
Sofie hit me up for an allowance, so I gave her 1000 gold
Did some crafting to get the Guildmaster armor up to Legendary
Also did some alchemy to unlock some combos on ingredients
Nabbed a bunch of low-level enchanted jewelry out of storage, then started boinging around to talk to all my fences and sell them stuff
This included going to the College of Winterhold to see if I could sell stuff to Enthir; vaguely disappointed he did not have 4,000 gold 😉
Eventually returned to Lakeview
Sofie gave me a staff, and a fairly powerful one at that
Finally caught up with Ri’saad at Whiterun and gave him Tonilia’s packet of moon sugar to get the Khajiit on board with being fences
From Whiterun, headed over towards Raldbthar finally
Right at Honningbrew Meadery, a Frost Dragon showed up; guards and Lydia and I took it out
Only after the battle did I realize there was a dead giant nearby, so it was a dragon vs. giant encounter, not just a random dragon
But the giant did not last the battle, so looted it along with the dragon
Rode on over towards Fellglow Keep
At spawn point, got Thalmor execution squad and got a random Blood Dragon; took them all out
Thought this dragon was probably respawned Shearpoint dragon, but no, because a) it gave me a soul and b) I saw the respawned dragon up on the Shearpoint word wall
Shearpoint dragon saw me, too, so I had to take it out
Tried attacking it on the Dwarven Horse
But this had kind of hilarious results as I got thrown right off the cliff–AND SURVIVED THE FALL, awesome
Landed at the giant camp right around the entrance to Irkngthand, so had to fast travel back to Shearpoint, at which point the dragon was almost dead and Lydia finished it off
Then finally we were able to proceed to Raldbthar
Came in from the back so got a bit disoriented trying to find the outside shelf with the chest and the loot, but eventually found it and took out the exterior bandits
Then went in and started running the place
Alain Dufont yet again hilariously easy to kill, and I got Aegisbane off of him too
Rest of the place was pretty much as per previous playthroughs
Had trouble getting Lydia past the two spinning blade traps; loaded her up with a bunch of healing potions to try to mitigate that problem
But at least at the second one, she actually got thrown forward towards the door, so yay?
And while we were dealing with that, Falmer must have heard us because they came running in through that door
Called up Staada for help, and was a little afraid she and Lydia were going to run back up through the damn blades, but got them through finally and proceeded to take out all the Falmer
Ran the rest of the place and made it to the end
Being an Argonian helpful here, too, for the part where I had to dive underwater to free one of the stuck mechanisms
Lydia picked up a lightning staff off one of the Falmer shamans; didn’t realize this until I saw something zapping Falmer that wasn’t me, LOL
Took out the final centurion with no problems, and got the final aetherium shard
HI KATRIA! See you at the forge!
Returned to Lakeview to deal with all my loot and such
Lucia asked me if I brought her something and I gave her a snack
Did final inventory managing and saved there until next time

Commentary

It amused me a bit that I had to wait for Olfrid Battle-Born to wake up before I could talk to him about finishing up his job for the Thieves Guild. I didn’t really want to barge into his house and wake him up while he was sleeping! For one thing, I’m pretty sure his house would have been locked. And for another, while Skyrim certainly lets you wake people up to talk to them without any particular consequences, it always strikes me as rude.

I’ve complained before about Addvar and Greta in Solitude not being a wealthy couple, no matter how many times Vex tries to describe them to me as a wealthy house in need of some “housecleaning”. But even aside from the question of just feeling guilty every damn time the game asks me to rob that particular house, it’s a bit more difficult than many houses because Greta never leaves her house.

Not until you run the Return to Grace quest, anyway. Which I did try to do. Except that I had two less than useful results of this:

Greta didn’t actually take the Amulet of Talos I brought her from the Hall of the Dead
She also still didn’t leave the damn house

I had to drop into Sneak and quaff invisibility potions to make sure she wouldn’t see me nabbing the items. And I shall assume Finds even felt a trifle guilty about this particular act of thievery. I think she may have pulled an Ysani, and left a few extra coins lying around the place.

I was very pleased that I didn’t have to fight any of the corsairs on the Dainty Sload; I successfully snuck through the entire boat. That feeling of pride, however, lasted until I got almost all the way back to Solitude and realized I hadn’t put the Balmora Blue into the chest. Oops.

On the upside, at least, I got to run the Sload twice in a row without having to attack anybody!

And on the first time through, the Throw Voice Shout was super effective in getting the first mate out of the way long enough for me to nab the Stone of Barenziah. It was a nice little challenge trying to figure out where to position myself to throw the Shout so that he’d run off and not bump into me on the way back.

Noting for the record that both Lucia and Sofie gave me gifts in this session, and expensive ones at that. I’m presuming this is because I keep giving them 1,000 gold every time they hit me up for an allowance? Either that or they found all the gems I’ve been leaving in the safes in the cellar.

That said: I also am real curious how Sofie got her mitts on a powerful staff for me, LOL. Maybe she got Rayya or Lydia to take her to Farengar in Whiterun and paid him to get it from the College of Winterhold without me knowing? That Enthir guy seems to have a plethora of powerful staves after all. 😀

Prior to this session, I’d intellectually known that the Dwarven Horse would be able to block you from any and all fall damage. This time, though, I actually got to see that in action! Because I went sailing right off the cliff during the fight with the respawned Shearpoint dragon–and I survived the fall. That was awesome.

Noting for the record that Lydia was on hand during these final acts of thievery, and also when I returned to the Thieves Guild to get proclaimed Guildmaster. So she absolutely knows her thane is in charge of the Thieves Guild now. I had rather less of Lydia following me around in later sessions though, for assassination! More on this to come.

Achievements unlocked

One With the Shadows: For becoming Guildmaster of the Thieves Guild.

Achievements count as of this post: 36.

Language commentary

Interesting terms observed:

Hinrichtung: Execution
Einsamkeit: Katakomben: Solitude Catacombs
Aufwand: Expenditure (used by Greta when she thanks the player for their time and effort, in the Return to Grace quest)
Offensichtlich: Apparently
Freigelassen: Released
Hafenanlage: Docks
Roten Woge: Red Wave (the ship)
Wasserscheu: Afraid of water
Die Holde Kreckin: The Dainty Sload
Hinter Schloss und Riegel: Behind bars (lit. “behind lock and bars”)
Ein Glück!: What a piece of luck!
Silbergussform: Silver mold
Kiefernwachträuberlager: Pinewatch Bandit’s Sanctuary (lit. “Pinewatch Robber Camp”)
Rigel Stark-Arm: Rigel Strong-Arm (the bandit leader in Pinewatch)
Endons Silbergussform: Endon’s Silver Mold (called Curious Silver Mold in the English game)
Eine ernstzunehmende Größe: A serious contender/a force to be reckoned with
Auf krummen Wege erworbene Gegenstände: Objects acquired through crooked means (used when Endon offers to become the Dragonborn’s fence)
Verschwiegenheit: Discretion
Argis das Bollwerk: Argis the Bulwark (the housecarl)
Offiziell: Official
Zeremonie: Ceremony
Beschwörung verstärken: Fortify Conjuration
Chaurusjägerfühler: Chaurus Hunter Antenna
Wildschweinhauer: Boar Tusk (lit. “wild pig tusk”)
Redekunst verstärken: Fortify Speech
Tundrabaumwolle: Tundra Cotton
Drachenbaum: Dragon’s Tongue (lit. “dragon tree”)
Gildenmeister-Handschuhe: Guild Master’s Gloves
Gildenmeister-Rüstung: Guild Master’s Armor
Gildenmeister-Stiefel: Guild Master’s Boots
Gildenmeisterkapuze: Guild Master’s Hood
Geschenk aus Nächstenliebe: Gift of Charity
Stab der Besänftigung: Staff of Calm (the staff I got from Sofie!)
Statthalter der Thalmor: Thalmor Justiciar (guessing here, see below)
All diese lästigen Götter: All those annoying gods (who Alain Dufont theorizes you must have on your side when you find him in Raldbthar)
Beeindruckend: Impressive
Vulkanglasbogen der Austreibung: Glass Bow of Expelling
Raldbthar: Tiefenmarkt: Raldbthar Deep Market
Zwergenzenturiomeister: Dwarven Centurion Master
Aetheriumschmiede: Aetherium Forge

I’m not entirely sure of this, but I think Sabine may not have actually sniped at me about my hygiene this time? Hard to tell in German! But maybe German Sabine likes Argonians? Snerk.

(Though hmm, the wiki says she has four potentially different lines she can greet the player with, only one of which snipes at you about taking a bath. The others are still hostile, though! I must have gotten one of the other lines. I guess I just managed to get “lucky” on all my previous Thieves Guild runs?)

Sabine did however have this line, which amused me:

“Ich hoffe, Ihr seid nicht wasserscheu.”

This translates as “I hope you’re not afraid of water”. The original English line is “Hope you like getting wet.”

Hon, I’m an Argonian. I assure you, I am not the slightest bit afraid of water.

“Kreckin” is apparently the word that the German version of Skyrim uses for Sload, but damned if I can find a reference to what it actually means. It sounds kind of like “kraken”. I could see this being the spelling that results if you try to spell “kraken” phonetically in German. But I have no way of knowing if that’s what the translation team meant.

“Hinter Schloss und Riegel” seems like an idiom, a German version of the English phrase “behind bars”. Note here that “Schloss” means “lock” and “Riegel” means “bars”.

“Ein Glück” also seems to be idiomatic. It’s an expression used by Endon the silversmith when the player approaches him in Markarth about getting his silver mold back, in the same sentence where Endon says “Oh thank goodness!” in the English game.

“Eine ernstzunehmende Größe” is yet another idiom, from what I can tell. It translates to “a serious contender” or “a force to be reckoned with”, and it appears in Endon’s dialogue to the player when you report back to him at the end of the Silver Lining quest. In the English version of the game he says that it’s clear that the Thieves Guild is “back on its feet” in Markarth. In the German version, “Eine ernstzunehmende Größe” is not a direct translation, but it’s close enough in spirit that I certainly won’t quibble with it!

Of the four pieces of Guild Master’s armor from the Thieves Guild, three of them use a dash after “Gildenmeister”, in the middle of the compound noun. Only “Gildenmeisterkapuze” does not. The only guess I can muster for this is that maybe “Gildenmeisterkapuze” pronounces a little easier and doesn’t need the slight break of the dash? But that’s entirely a guess. As always, if any native German speakers happen to read this and know the answer to this question, do please advise!

Interestingly, the German translation of the temporary perk you get when you give a coin to a beggar, “The Gift of Charity”, shows up immediately in the game’s upper left corner as “Geschenk aus Nächstenliebe”. However, the Elder Scrolls wiki calls it Geschenk der Nächstenliebe. And now I’m very curious about this discrepancy. I don’t know if it’s a translation error in that specific point of the game, or if the wiki got it wrong. Next time I play Finds, I’m going to have to make sure I have this perk active, and then check my Active Effects menu and see what it says.

I’m assuming that “Statthalter der Thalmor” translates to “Thalmor Justiciar”, just because it makes sense given the context of the Thalmor execution squad I fought near Fellglow Keep. But I couldn’t find a confirmation of this on the German translated pages of the Elder Scrolls wiki, and what pages I could find on the dictionaries I consult say that “Statthalter” translates to “governor”. (Source) (Source)

That said, Wikipedia goes a bit into the history of the word “justiciar“, and that does kind of line up appropriately here. So I’m calling this an informed guess.

Next time

Finds-The-Way’s next post will feature a little bit of followup with Muiri about Alain Dufont, finding the Aetherium Forge, and then hitting Alftand and Blackreach to find the Elder Scroll!