Objective: Attend Elenwen's party undercover and reach the embassy's secret files.
Key NPCs: Delphine, Malborn (your smuggler), Razelan (your distraction).
1. Preparation
Meet Delphine in Solitude. She introduces Malborn, 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 ask him to cause a scene (a Persuade check helps). 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 you'll overhear a Thalmor interrogation. Read the files on the desk and interrogate the prisoner: the Thalmor are not behind the dragons and are hunting a man named Esbern in Riften's Ratway.
- 3
Escape
Slip out through the trapdoor in the dungeon. Fight or sneak past the final guards to reach the mountain exit. 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.
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