Skyrim 100% Maximized Legendary Playthrough - 275. Silver Lining
2Last time we picked up the third city reputation quest - Markarth's Silver Lining. This is one of the one's we've been on the hunt for, as a Stone of Barenziah can be found in Pinewatch where we're going.
But first things first - we have to head to Markarth to get the details from Endon. From there we fast travel to Pinewatch - a location we've already unlocked, but simply haven't visited. Inside we find the NPC Rhorlak posing as a humble woodcutter, but we know better. We out him as part of the bandits, then end him when he turns hostile. Despite being a named NPC he's not worthy of the soul gem treatment - we're saving that for the leader, Rigel Strong-Arm.
That turns out to be the most challenging part of this location. We're going solo here still, but we're carrying a black soul gem with Rigel's name on it. But that means we have to drop it every time we kill a bandit, then pick it up again afterwards. First world problems, you know? Speaking of killing, this is nothing more than a group of bandits, so though I've made a lot of the pacifist way we'll be doing the Thieves Guild quests, this is yet another exception. Bandits give true thieves a bad name, after all.
Pinewatch is another one of those areas that really holds your hand, much to my annoyance. You can tell Bethesda was very concerned that players would not be able to find the secret entrance to the lair behind the shelves, so they let you know in multiple ways. Even if you don't notice the button on your own, the note on the table lets you know something is behind the shelves, and if you're reading-averse, the coins in front of them are meant to tip you off as well. There's also the constant noise in the cabin meant to mimic the rushing of air coming from the cavern below. And of course if you choose to bribe Rhorlak he'll outright tell you about the button. I'm not going to get on my "back in my day" soapbox again, but I just wish there was a little more trust of the player's abilities. People who can't figure it out can always read the solution online, after all.
Anyway, we leave a trail of slit throats behind us as we delve into this Nordic ruin turned bandit hideout. Arriving at last at Rigel's room, we dodge the bone chimes and sneak up on her sleeping in bed. She never even knows we're there before we add her soul to our collection at last. Then we notice something odd about her. The several notes we find throughout the hideout all indicate that Rigel is supposed to be rather large and ugly. However, her face is randomly determined by the game, and RNG has generated a fairly attractive face for us this time around. So in a bit of irony we decide to pick up her corpse and take it home with us to join our growing collection.
From there the only remaining challenge is getting to the treasure room, but our Light Foot perk means all the traps in between are for naught. We loot the place, and we're having the problem that we simply have found more than we can carry, and we don't have Serana around to carry our burdens either. So we stash some stuff away before heading back to the surface and on to Markarth to wrap up the quest with Endon. We then take the opportunity to sell off as much of our acquired treasure as possible. We make a stop at Proudspire Manor to drop off Rigel's soul gem, the we return to Pinewatch to collect the remaining items we left behind. Sadly, there's still slightly more than we can carry, so we have to leave a solitary Ancient Nord Battleaxe behind. I battled my OCD on this one and managed to win, so we're not coming back to get it, either. I guess I've broken my '100%' promise. I'm so sorry.
We finish out in Whiterun with a sort n' sell, of course. Next time it's back to the Guild to pick up more side jobs in hopes of landing the last city reputation quest we need.
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