Objective: Attend Elenwen's party undercover and reach the embassy's secret files.
Key NPCs: Delphine, Malborn (your smuggler), Razelan (your distraction).
1. Preparation
Delphine briefs you in her secret room at the Sleeping Giant Inn in Riverwood, then sends you to Solitude to find Malborn at the Winking Skeever, a Wood Elf servant at the embassy who will smuggle your gear inside. Hand Malborn the weapons, armor and potions you'll want mid-mission — you'll enter carrying nothing but party clothes.
Give Malborn a bow + arrows or a stealthy dagger, a few potions, and any spell tomes. You don't need heavy armor — this is a stealth mission.
2. The Party
- 1
Arrive as a guest
A carriage takes you to the embassy. Ambassador Elenwen greets guests. Mingle and grab a drink from Malborn at the bar to confirm your gear is stashed in the back.
- 2
Create a distraction
Talk to the tipsy nobleman Razelan and bring him the drink he wants from Malborn, then ask him to cause a scene. When he draws the room's attention, slip through the side door Malborn unlocks for you.
3. Infiltration
- 1
Reclaim your gear
Grab your equipment from the chest Malborn points to, then sneak through the kitchen. You can avoid most guards by staying crouched and using shadows.
- 2
Interrogate the guest
In Elenwen's Solar a chest holds the Thalmor dossiers, the dragon investigation report and the interrogation-room key. Take the key down to the dungeon, where Rulindil is interrogating a prisoner; the last dossier is in a chest behind him. Read them all: the Thalmor are not behind the dragons and are hunting a man named Esbern in Riften's Ratway.
- 3
Escape
Deal with the dungeon guards, free the prisoner (Etienne Rarnis) and take the trapdoor key from one of the guards, then drop through the trapdoor and out through the cave beyond. Malborn escapes separately if he survived.
4. Chapter Complete
You now know the dragons are being raised by Alduin himself, and that only Esbern knows how to stop him. Next you'll track Esbern down in Riften and, eventually, learn the one shout that can bring Alduin to earth — Dragonrend.
Sources
Checked on 1 October 2026 against the Spanish walkthroughs of EliteGuias and Eurogamer.es, which set where you meet Delphine and Malborn, Razelan's drink, where the dossiers and the interrogation are, and how you get out.