I spent the majority of the day exploring the nooks and crannies of Riften. It’s a large settlement, though I’d have to say Whiterun is just a tad bigger. Riften has many shops to its advantage, a better diversity then the selection in Whiterun.

I met many interesting people and saw many more Argonians than I previously have. One of note was Wujeeta. She worked at the Riften Fishery and was recuperating from a skooma addiction. She was buying the skooma from a local merchant and after some prodding I was able to obtain more information. In fact, when I eventually met with the Jarl of Riften, Laila Law-Giver, she wanted me to deal with the skooma selling thugs. I did.

Laila Law-Giver doesn’t seem like a corrupt person as I initially thought. She thinks she has the Thieves Guild under control, but you wouldn’t guess that from talking with Riften’s residents. She has two sons who are divided in the civil war. Although she has pledged support for Ulfric Stormcloak, one of her sons has deemed the Imperials the proper choice for backing. This has caused strife inside her court.

Another powerful woman in Riften is Maven Black-Briar. She runs the Black-Briar Meadery, which doesn’t seem to be the most-liked business within Riften. Her family is… interesting. I met one of her sons in jail. His cell was decked out in the luxuries of the wealthy and in a note I found to Anuriel (the Jarl’s stewardess), her mother was pleased with his sentence as he might learn from it. He attempted to murder his ex-fiancé if I’m not mistaken. Another of her offspring, Ingun, is reportedly a fantastic alchemist. Mentioning Maven in conversation yielded mixed reactions from the townsfolk.

After I deemed Riften fully explored, I decided to head south and assassinate the leader of the groups of Silver Hands that killed Skjor. That’s part of the reason I headed this way after meeting with the Greybeards, I wanted to avenge Skjor’s death. There weren’t many Silver Hand members with the leader and the fight was pretty easy. I’m glad to have finally finished this quest. I’ll have to report back to the Companions. Besides that I have so much to do now; practically every person in Riften had something for me to do. Better than twiddling my thumbs I guess.