Base: The Ragged Flagon, Riften Ratway.
Ends with: Nightingale Armor, the Skeleton Key, and the title of Guild Master.
A guild in decline, cursed by broken luck. Restore it to glory — and uncover the traitor rotting it from within.
Questline
- 1
A Chance Arrangement
Meet Brynjolf in Riften market. Frame Brand-Shei by planting a ring, then follow Brynjolf into the Ratway to the Ragged Flagon.
- 2
Taking Care of Business → Loud and Clear
Collect debts around town, then burn the beehives at Goldenglow Estate for Maven Black-Briar.
- 3
Speaking with Silence
Chase Mercer Frey to Snow Veil Sanctum. There, Karliah shoots Mercer — no, Mercer betrays and downs you, revealing he murdered the old Guild Master, Gallus.
- 4
Trinity Restored
Ally with Karliah, translate Gallus's journal, and become a Nightingale — sworn agent of the Daedra Nocturnal — gaining the Nightingale armor and powers.
- 5
Blindsighted & Under New Management
Storm Irkngthand, defeat Mercer, and recover the Skeleton Key and Chillrend. Return the Key to the Twilight Sepulcher (Darkness Returns). With that done and all four city special jobs finished, "Under New Management" makes you Guild Master.
Complete extra "city influence" jobs from Delvin & Vex to fully restore the Guild and unlock special vendors and the Thieves Guild armor upgrades.
Special Jobs & Fences
- Tonilia is the Guild's own fence, buying stolen goods from the moment you join — she works out of the Ragged Flagon.
- Delvin and Vex hand out an unlimited supply of radiant "jobs" in four cities — Whiterun, Markarth, Windhelm and Solitude; Riften is already the Guild's own turf, so it doesn't get one of these city jobs.
- Finish five jobs in one of those cities and Delvin offers a special job there. Completing it places the city under permanent Guild influence: a local fence opens up, and the Flagon gains another merchant stall.
- Each influence job also raises how much gold every fence in Skyrim can pay out, up to a shared cap of roughly 4,000 septims once all four cities are won over.
- The quest "Under New Management" opens once Darkness Returns and all four special jobs are done: Brynjolf names you Guild Master in the Flagon's cistern, and Tonilia hands over the Guild Master's armor.