Skyrim:Caught Red Handed

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Gather three marks of Dibella to help Svana Far-Shield against Haelga.
Quest Giver: Svana Far-Shield
Location(s): Haelga's Bunkhouse
Reward: Enchanted Heavy Armor, Leveled Scroll
Disposition: =1 (Svana Far-Shield)
ID: FreeformRiften11
 
"My dear aunt, I'm ready to catch you."

Quick Walkthrough[edit]

  1. Talk to Svana Far-Shield in Haelga's Bunkhouse.
  2. Obtain the Marks of Dibella from Bolli, Indaryn, and Hofgrir.
  3. Confront Haelga.
  4. Return to Svana.

Detailed Walkthrough[edit]

A Worshipper[edit]

If you visit Haelga's Bunkhouse in Riften, you may see Svana Far-Shield busy doing some cleaning there. The work seems hard and endless. She prefers to call her work slavery. Ever since her parents died and Haelga took her in, it's been a nightmare. She was surprised to learn that Haelga is such a wretched woman. "So now I'm stuck living here while those pigs she calls customers grope me and say the most awful things." In her opinion, Haelga is disgusting and she takes her worship of Dibella a bit too seriously. In the last month alone, she's slept with three different men. Svana wants to see her squirm just for once. She happens to know that after Haelga makes love, she gives her partner a token of her affection called a Mark of Dibella. If you collect the marks from Bolli, Indaryn, and Hofgrir and confront Haelga with them, it would cause her endless embarrassment. Svana is sure this is going to be great! To finish, she will remind you to try and get the marks without using violence.

Three Lovers[edit]

In order to get the three Marks of Dibella, you can use your Speech skills to persuade or intimidate the men into giving their marks to you. Alternatively, you can just pickpocket the marks from your targets. If you kill any of the men, the quest will fail immediately.

Bolli can usually be found wandering in the market or working in Riften Fishery. Talk to him about the mark and he will say "I have no idea what you're talking about. I'd never sleep with anyone besides my good wife, Drifa [sic]." You must pass an average-level Speech check to persuade him.

Option Dialogue Reaction
Hand it over and no one has to know.
(Persuade)
Passed: Look, it was one night, okay? I think she slipped something in my drink. I haven't even been back to the Bunkhouse since. Just take this damn thing. I never want to see it again.
Failed: Hand what over? I have no idea what you're talking about.
Passed: Get the Mark of Dibella
Failed: Nothing
Give it to me or else!
(Intimidate)
Passed: Look, it was one night, okay? I think she slipped something in my drink. I haven't even been back to the Bunkhouse since. Just take this damn thing. I never want to see it again.
Failed: Or else what? You don't scare me.
Passed: Get the Mark of Dibella
Failed: Nothing
Never mind. My mistake. I should say so. Nothing

Indaryn can usually be found at the Black-Briar Meadery, but he will visit The Bee and Barb too. If you talk to him about Haelga, he will be a little angry "You're crazy! How dare you make such an accusation!" You must pass an average-level Speech check to persuade him.

Option Dialogue Reaction
Hand it over and no one has to know.
(Persuade)
Passed: If word gets around that I bedded her, they'll lose all respect for me at the meadery. Take the mark if you want it. It's not worth all this hassle anyway.
Failed: You aren't making any sense. Hand what over?
Passed: Get the Mark of Dibella
Failed: Nothing
Give it to me or else!
(Intimidate)
Passed: If word gets around that I bedded her, they'll lose all respect for me at the meadery. Take the mark if you want it. It's not worth all this hassle anyway.
Failed: You're threatening me? Oh, that's rich!
Passed: Get the Mark of Dibella
Failed: Nothing
Never mind. My mistake. You've got some nerve. Nothing

Hofgrir is the owner of the Riften Stables and you can find him there easily. If you ask him to give you the mark, he will pretend to be innocent: "Huh? What are you talking about? I don't even know what that is." You must pass an easy-level Speech check to persuade him. (See Bugs).

Option Dialogue Reaction
Hand it over and no one has to know.
(Persuade)
Passed: I don't want a bad reputation in Riften, but Haelga's out of control. She wanted to try it in the stables so I said yes. If you want the mark that badly then go ahead and take it.
Failed: Look, you must have me confused with someone else.
Passed: Get the Mark of Dibella
Failed: Nothing
Give it to me or else!
(Intimidate)
Passed: I don't want a bad reputation in Riften, but Haelga's out of control. She wanted to try it in the stables so I said yes. If you want the mark that badly then go ahead and take it.
Failed: You have a death wish or something?
Passed: Get the Mark of Dibella
Failed: Nothing
Never mind. My mistake. Next time think before you speak. Nothing

Two Rewards[edit]

Once you have all three Marks of Dibella, return to Haelga's Bunkhouse and show them to Haelga. She will be surprised. "What? How... where did you get these?" Obviously, she doesn't want anyone else to know about it, especially Svana. She will give you a magic scroll to keep you quiet. "If word got out that I'm practicing my Dibellan Arts in Riften, they'll run me out of town."

Bring the news to Svana, and she will be quite happy. "Oh I know. Isn't it wonderful? I bet she squirmed like a skeever when you pulled them out of your pocket." She believes things are going to be a lot different around here with your help. Then she will give you a piece of enchanted armor in return. "I want you to have this. It was my father's but I'm certain you'll put it to good use."

Notes[edit]

  • The Blessing of Dibella (+10 Speechcraft— 8 hours) from the shrine in Haelga's bedroom can significantly improve your chances to obtain the marks of Dibella from their owners.
  • The Gift of Charity (+10 Speechcraft— 1 hour) can also help with this quest. A beggar can be found in the center of town near where Bolli stands.
  • After you complete this quest, you will be allowed to take low value items from anywhere in Haelga's Bunkhouse (due to your new friendship with Svana), even items found in her boarders' containers.
  • Svana will not offer the quest if one of the three lovers was already killed before talking to her.

Bugs[edit]

  • If you have pickpocketed any of the marks of Dibella by accident before receiving the quest, make sure to find all three before attempting to speak to anyone. You will get a notice to confront Haelga in your miscellaneous quest log. You can talk to Haelga and Svana without the requisite dialogue options and then talk to Haelga again. You will get to give the stones to Haelga after all and your quest will complete and a reward given.
  • After acquiring one of the marks before ever picking up the quest, Svana will urge you to find the rest of the marks though you won't see anything in your quest log. However after obtaining all three, a miscellaneous objective to confront Haelga will then appear and the quest can be taken through to completion from that point on with items received from both Haelga and Svana.
  • When asking Bolli about his relationship with Haelga he will remark that he has never slept with any woman other than his wife Drifa. However, Bolli's wife is Nivenor.
  • Hofgrir Horse-Crusher's persuade check is incorrectly flagged to check his Speech level rather than yours.

Quest Stages[edit]

Caught Red Handed (FreeformRiften11)
Stage Finishes Quest Journal Entry
20
Objective 10: Obtain a Mark of Dibella from Bolli
Objective 20: Obtain a Mark of Dibella from Hofgrir
Objective 30: Obtain a Mark of Dibella from Indaryn
60
Objective 40: Confront Haelga with the Marks of Dibella
70
Objective 50: Speak to Svana
  • The following empty quest stages were omitted from the table: 10, 30, 40, 50, 200, 250.
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 FreeformRiften11 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 FreeformRiften11.