Promises to Keep
Quest Giver	Louis Letrush
Location	Riften Black Briar Lodge
Prerequisite	N/A
Next Quest	N/A
Reward	Leveled (or/and Frost upon Persuasion)
Type	Miscellaneous

It's given by Louis Letrush in Riften at the Bee and Barb.

ObjectivesEdit

1. Speak to Sibbi Black-Briar
2. (optional) Tell Maven Black-Briar about the plan
3. Steal Frost's Lineage Papers
4. (optional) Steal the Lodge Stash
5. Steal Frost
6. Return to Louis Letrush

WalkthroughEdit

1. Obtain the quest from Louis Letrush
2. Speak to Sibbi Black-Briar.
   • You have to go to the Riften Jail and either persuade the jail guard to let you in or bribe him with gold. Sibbi will tell you the horse wasn't actually his, but belongs to his family. Then he will tell you where to get the papers. If you pass a persuade challenge, he will also give you the key to the Lodge Stash (upon doing so, the optional objective to "Steal the Lodge Stash" will be added).
   • You can also go tell Maven of Sibbi's plans and she will tell you to continue the plan and she will take care of everything.
3. Steal Frost's Lineage Papers

   

   • You will find the papers in the basement of Black Briar Lodge east of Riften. Follow the road down until it forks up the hill to the left.
   • Black Briar Lodge is a three level building. Living quarters and rooms above, Dining area and rooms at mid-level and storage rooms and living quarters at Basement level. All outside guards appear to carry keys to unlock the doors at the Lodge.
   • There will be two men outside in front of the lodge, an archer and a swordsman. You can either fight them and enter through the front or sneak around and open the basement door on the West side of the house. If a third man does not join the melee outside from the basement, there may be two in the basement area.
   • Alternately, you can approach from the rear of the building. The Lodge is set back against a hill that runs along the West side of the building and out toward the road to the South. You can scale the hill from behind if you're a climber. If your sneak is high enough, there is a small path on the East side of the hill mentioned above, just as you approach, that leads to the top. Behind the Lodge there is a wooden tower/lookout and a single guard that walks between the two buildings. Kill him, take his key and enter from the back door (North side - top building level). A single guard may be in the upper level and three to four guards in the mid/dining room level.
   • Once downstairs, there will be a barrel in the back with the papers in a strongbox. The papers may also be found on one of the tables.
4. Steal Frost
   • Frost will be outside either in or behind the stables running around loose.
   • Shortly after stealing Frost, a random Dragon  encounter may occur. (Note: riding Frost at a very slow pace seems to avoid the dragon's noticing you.)
   • Just before reaching Louis, a Vampire Mistwalker and one or more Frostbite Spiders may be present. They seem to specifically target Frost, and may also engage Louis in combat, preventing the completion of the quest until he has left combat.
5. Return to Louis Letrush - You have the following choices:
   • You can demand your payment and give him the horse which will result in a reward of Leveled Gold.
   • You can Persuade him to give you the payment and also keep the horse. Actually listed as two options, and may be based on whether or not you have already spoken with Maven (need confirmation). The first option is to threaten to report to Maven unless you keep the horse, the second is to threaten to kill him to keep the horse. The first results in a response from him that "You play a dangerous game" and he leaves you the horse and walks away. If his life is threatened, he comments, leaves you the horse and runs away. In both cases you own the horse and get the gold as well. Louis will also send a Hired Thug after you, the thug will randomly show up at a later point and inform you that "this is for betraying Louis Letrush" before attacking.
   • Or you can kill him, keep the horse and loot the gold off his body.

NotesEdit

• Once you get on Frost, follow the road slightly to the west of Black Briar Estate and there will be a small river to your right. That's where you will find Louis. You can then persuade or intimidate him into letting you keep the horse.
• If you lose Frost after mounting but before returning, he is not your horse and will not maintain in the place you have left him until you go back to retrieve him. This includes his running away mid-combat. Be careful, searching for him before he is your horse can be a tedious task.
• If Frost runs away the first time you dismount to talk to Letrush, reload. He should stay at some point.
• Sometimes after paying you, Louis will not mount Frost, but instead leave him there and start running northwest on foot. You can then keep Frost without having to pass the speech check.
• If you threaten to report to Maven unless you keep Frost, Letrush will hire ONE thug to come kill you. The thug targets Frost if he is near by and will attack and kill the horse if Frost is close.
• "Promises to Keep" is from the poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, by the American poet Robert Frost.
• Frost's great grandsire is registered as Sleipnir, a reference to Odin's mythological horse of the same name.
• East of the location where you meet Louis to deliver the horse, you will often find a dead bandit lying by a pinto (brown and white) horse. You can ride (and keep) this horse, it will not be considered stolen. This is just a random encounter.

BugsEdit

•  PS3   If you dismount Frost too far away from Louis, Louis will tell you he does not see the horse and to come back when you have it.
•  PS3   Louis may quit the conversation before any speech choices are displayed, draw a dagger and run off saying 'Who's there', at this point, Frost may become unmarked for stealing and may be kept like any other horse (quest will not complete- although you may be able to find Louis again and turn it in)
• Missing Paper marker
  • The papers are on a small table in front of you as you come in the side door, not in the strong box with the gold. If you grab the money first, the quest marker goes away, leaving some to believe this is just another broken quest. Sometimes the papers are on a table around the corner from the lockbox. Picking them up will return the quest to normal
• Duplicated Louis
  • Sometimes after finishing the quest there may appear two Louis at the stables of Riften or Whiterun. One of them can also be trapped half in the ground. if you kill him, he will also respawn outside the stable you found him at.
• Disappearing Louis

 PS3   PC   If you talk to Sibbi Black-Briar before accepting Louis' proposal, there is a chance that Louis will vanish from the Bee and Barb. A quest marker will show where he normally would be standing, but Louis is nowhere to be found.

• Possible Solution

 PC   360   PS3 Reveal the plan to Maven Black-Briar and continue the quest as normal. In order to trigger Louis' appearance, you must steal the papers which will be unmarked. Speaking to Maven may cause the "steal the papers" portion of the quest to be marked complete, and you'll even receive a notice that you've accepted the papers but if they are not in your inventory then you must steal them from the lodge or the quest cannot be completed.

• There is a bug where Louis will attack you and if you kill him he will get back up. Frost will help attack, but Louis will keep on attacking you and if you kill him then move away he will will say things like "I heard something" and "who's there" as if he's a bandit. If Frost helps attack, he will stay where left like an owned horse but you will still have to 'steal' him although even if Frost is stolen in front of guards you will not be attacked nor have a bounty added.
• Letrush may also appear in front of wherever you leave Frost for the night when you sleep. He will not steal Frost nor will he attack or intimidate you. He just stands there. (This is only if you threatened to go to Maven unless you could keep Frost.
•  PS3   Letrush may act as if being attacked when given Frost, despite no enemies being in the immediate area. He will run in the direction of Shors stone and stop at the town.
•  PC   Sometimes Letrush will attempt to kill you on sight when you try to turn in the quest and will not die. Apparently this is a bug caused by acquiring a a bounty in The Rift from stealing Frost. Pay the fine then talk to Letrush and he should allow you to complete the quest.