Skyrim:A Cornered Rat

Locate Esbern. Quest Giver: Delphine Location(s): Riften, The Ratway Prerequisite Quest: Diplomatic Immunity Next Quest: Alduin's Wall Reward: None ID: MQ202 Suggested Level: 8

Esbern in his room in the Warrens

Quick Walkthrough

1. Speak to Delphine in Riverwood.
2. Talk to Brynjolf in Riften or talk to the Argonian bartender in The Bee and Barb.
3. Search the Ratway for Esbern's hideout.
4. Find Esbern in the Ratway Warrens.
5. Talk to Esbern.
6. Bring Esbern back to Delphine at Sleeping Giant Inn in Riverwood.

Detailed Walkthrough

Finding the Rat

After infiltrating the Thalmor Embassy, return to Riverwood and inform Delphine of what you learned from the Thalmor records. Delphine is surprised to know her old colleague and fellow Blade, Esbern, is reportedly still alive. She tasks you with finding the archivist from his hiding place in Riften. Due to the clandestine nature of the Blades, Delphine gives you a secret phrase to deliver to Esbern in order to secure his trust when you locate him. Depending on your standing with the Thieves Guild, the journal will direct you to talk to Brynjolf, or search the Ratway for Esbern. If you are directed to find Brynjolf, you may speak to him, Dirge, or Vekel the Man inside the Ragged Flagon. All three give an option to persuade or bribe them for information on Esbern's location.

Brynjolf

Option	Dialogue				Reaction
Let me find him first. Dragons are bad for business. (Persuade)	Passed: Aye, you've got a point there. Failed: Passing on a golden opportunity is worse.				Passed: Locate Esbern Failed: Nothing

Vekel the Man

Option	Dialogue				Reaction
I need to talk to him. I'm a friend. His life's in danger. (Persuade)	Passed: Maybe I'm just getting soft in my old age, but I actually believe you. Failed: That's a touching story. Now get outta my face.				Passed: Locate Esbern Failed: Nothing
Maybe this will help your memory. (Bribe)	Passed: Well... when you put it that way, I think I do know the old guy you're talking about. Failed: Big talk for someone with a light purse.				Passed: Locate Esbern Failed: Nothing

Dirge

Option	Dialogue				Reaction
I need to talk to him. I'm a friend. His life's in danger. (Persuade)	Passed: A friend, huh? Well... then it's probably okay if I tell you. Failed: I guess you don't hear too well. I never heard of this "friend" of yours.				Passed: Locate Esbern Failed: Nothing
Maybe this will help your memory. (Bribe)	Passed: You know what? I think I do know the guy you're talking about. Failed: Maybe it would. If you had it.				Passed: Locate Esbern Failed: Nothing
I can break some of your bones if that's what it's going to take... (Brawl)	Passed: Easy there. I don't want that kind of trouble. Guy ain't worth it. Brawl: Yeah. That's what it's going to take. Victory: You're tougher than you look. You got me, fair and square. Now where's Esbern? He lives somewhere in the Ratway Warrens. Must be crazy or desperate to live down there. Maybe both. Failure: (Nothing)				Passed: Locate Esbern Failed: Brawl

If you have already joined the Thieves Guild, the Ratway is accessible and you can locate Esbern directly. Speaking with Keerava, the Riften innkeeper, also advances the quest.

The Ratway

The Ratway and the Ratway Vaults beneath Riften are inhabited by a number of lowlifes, vagrants, and three or four Thalmor warriors searching for Esbern. When you reach the door to Esbern's room in the Ratway Warrens, he is very wary of Thalmor agents and initially refuses you entry. You may persuade him by saying Delphine sent you, you can tell him the password Delphine gave you: "Where were you on the 30th of Frostfall?", or you may explain that you are the Dragonborn.

The Dragon's Return

Once Esbern lets you in, he has some dire predictions about the state of the world: Alduin the World-Eater's return has apocalyptic implications, and Esbern's warnings of this threat have been consistently ignored. Esbern makes it clear that there had been no hope until you arrived and that he had believed the world was going to end. He agrees to follow you to Delphine's base in Riverwood.

Before leaving, however, Esbern will scamper about his room, claiming that he has to remove any sensitive information the Thalmor may discover. He will also gather some supplies from the chest at the foot of his bed and then will be ready to leave. The quest ends here and the next quest, Alduin's Wall begins.

Notes

• If any follower is hired prior or during the quest, they will not be forced to return to their original location when Esbern comes along, making him a second follower.
• If he survives Diplomatic Immunity, Gissur will be seated at a table in the Ragged Flagon when you get Esbern's whereabouts from Vekel the Man. After you end conversation with Vekel, Gissur will get up from the table and leave the Flagon. If you are a member of the Thieves Guild, Vekel will suddenly say "That one, right there, walking out the door! He was one of them asking about that old man you were looking for." If confronted, Gissur will only rebuff your attempts at conversation, but the note he carries reveals his true intentions. He can be attacked and killed with no repercussions, and other Thieves Guild members will join the fight on your side if you are a guild member, which may make your escape with Esbern easier. If you choose to follow Gissur to his assigned contact instead of killing him, he will head into the Ratway. He meets up with two Thalmor soldiers and a Thalmor wizard and informs them about you:

Gissur: "He's/She's in the Flagon right now. Get ready."

Thalmor Wizard: "You're sure?"

Gissur: "Of course I'm sure! He/She was asking about Esbern."

Thalmor Wizard: "Doesn't matter. We'll kill them either way."

At this point they'll all make their way back to the Flagon and accost Vekel (or Dirge, if Vekel's dead), demanding to know where you are:

Thalmor Wizard: "Where is he? The one who was asking about the fugitive hiding in the Ratway?"

Vekel: "You're in the wrong place to be asking those kind of questions, pal."

(The Thalmor soldiers draw their weapons.)

Thalmor Wizard: "No. Not yet."

(The Thalmor soldiers sheathe their weapons.)

Vekel: "You'd better clear out before someone gets hurt."

Thalmor Wizard: "Your lack of cooperation has been noted. We'll be back if we require further information. You won't get a second chance."

Vekel: "The answer ain't gonna be any different the next time. Arrogant elven bastard."

The Thalmor will then leave the Ragged Flagon and go back into the Ratway to wait for you, while Gissur will return to his seat in the Flagon. They will be hostile on sight, so you will only hear the above conversations if you remain hidden throughout.

• If A Chance Arrangement has been started, Brynjolf cannot be talked to.
• It is possible to proceed directly to Esbern without returning to Delphine first. Esbern will unlock his door if you tell him you are Dragonborn.

Bugs

• The quest may fail to start after completing Diplomatic Immunity, and even trying manually start or end it with the console will not work.
  • The Unofficial Skyrim Patch, version 1.2, fixes this bug.
  • You may have to skip forward to the start of the next quest, Alduin's Wall, by using the console and typing in setstage MQ203 5, which will allow you to continue.
  • Use console command setstage MQ202 (stage #) to force Esbern to open the door and talk again. Stage 160 makes Esbern open the door, if bugged. Stage 170 makes Esbern talk again, if bugged. Another easier way to avoid bugs is to type in CompleteQuest MQ202, which would work for any quest value.
• If following Gissur, the Thalmor may never return to the Ragged Flagon or they may be hostile when you get there, causing the second dialogue to be skipped. ^?
• If you have already become a member of the Thieves Guild, Gissur will attempt to get to his Thalmor contact through the Ragged Flagon - Cistern, through the Crypt Secret Entrance (will not get stuck unless you actively follow him through this roundabout path), and back into the Ratway via the river entrance, resulting in an extremely delayed arrival to his contact. The Thalmor and Gissur will then follow the same path in reverse; all the way through the Crypt, Cistern, and back into the Flagon. ^?

Quest Stages

A Cornered Rat (MQ202)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		The Thalmor are just as puzzled as we are about why dragons are returning. I learned that they are looking for a Blade named Esbern, who Delphine says is an expert on ancient dragon lore. We need to find him before the Thalmor do. Objective 10: Talk to Brynjolf (if no later stage was done and Taking Care of Business wasn't started)
20		Objective 20: Search the Ratway for Esbern's hideout
50		The Thalmor are just as puzzled as we are about why dragons are returning. I learned that they are looking for a Blade named Esbern, who is supposed to be an expert on ancient dragon lore. I've learned that he's hiding out in the Ratway Warrens in Riften. Objective 30: Find Esbern in the Ratway Warrens
150		The Thalmor are just as puzzled as we are about why dragons are returning. I learned that they are looking for a Blade named Esbern, who is supposed to be an expert on ancient dragon lore. I found Esbern hiding in the Ratway in Riften, and convinced him to let me in to explain myself. Objective 40: Talk to Esbern
180	Finishes quest	The Thalmor are just as puzzled as we are about why dragons are returning. I learned that they are looking for a Blade named Esbern, who is supposed to be an expert on ancient dragon lore. I found Esbern hiding in the Ratway in Riften, and convinced him to let me in to explain myself.

• The following empty quest stages were omitted from the table: 0, 1, 5, 55, 56, 60, 65, 70, 100, 130, 140, 145, 160, 170, 175, 200, 300.

Notes

• Any text displayed in angle brackets (e.g., <Alias=LocationHold>) is dynamically set by the Radiant Quest system, and will be filled in with the appropriate word(s) when seen in game.
• Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
• Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in any order. Some stages may therefore repeat objectives seen in other stages.
• If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
• On the PC, it is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage MQ202 stage, where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages, but it is possible to clear all stages of the quest using resetquest MQ202.

Prev: Diplomatic Immunity

Up: Main Quest

Next: Alduin's Wall