The quest is given by Louis Letrush in Riften at the Bee and Barb.
Objectives
- Speak to Sibbi Black-Briar
- (optional) Tell Maven Black-Briar about the plan
- Steal Frost's lineage papers
- (optional) steal the lodge stash
- Steal Frost
- Return to Louis Letrush
Walkthrough
Speak to Sibbi Black-Briar
After obtaining the quest from Louis Letrush, go to the Riften Jail and either persuade the jail guard to give access or bribe him with gold. During a conversation with Sibbi, he will say that the horse wasn't actually his, but belongs to his family, and will tell where to retrieve the papers, which are at the Black-Briar Lodge. Sibbi will also give the key to the Lodge Stash (upon doing so, the optional objective to "Steal the Lodge Stash" will be added).
One option is to go to Maven Black-Briar and report Sibbi's plans to her, and she will say to continue the plan and that she will take care of everything else.
Black-Briar Lodge
Stealing Frost's Lineage Papers
Frost's Ownership Identity Papers.
When arriving to the Black-Briar Lodge, there will be two to three mercenary guards outside in front of the lodge; an archer and a swordsman. One option is to approach from the front and fight them as to enter through the front, or, sneak around and open the basement door on the west side of the house. If a third mercenary does not join the fight outside from the basement, there may be two in the basement area.
Alternately, the building can be approached from the rear. 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.
The sneak skill can also be put to good use here, as there is a small path on the east side of the hill mentioned above. Behind the Lodge there is a wooden lookout tower and a single guard that walks between the two buildings. Kill the guard, take the key and enter from the back door (north side - top building level). No matter what approach is taken, the objective is to steal Frosts' identity papers, so the Black-Briar Lodge must be entered. The lodge is a three level building; there are living quarters and rooms above, a dining area and rooms at mid-level and storage rooms and living quarters in the basement level. All outside guards appear to carry keys to unlock the doors of the Lodge. A single guard may be in the upper level and three to four guards in the mid/dining room level. In the upstairs bedroom, there is a Stone of Barenziah on a night-table.
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.
Stealing Frost
After Frost's identity papers have been retrieved, go outside to retrieve Frost; he will be outside either in or behind the stables running around loose. Mount Frost and proceed to Letrush, who is close by.
Returning to Louis Letrush
If Frost dies on the way to Louis Letrush, the quest fails. There are no scripted enemies on the way, but standard random encounters may still occur, in which case hostile enemies will target both Frost and the Dragonborn. If a random encounter which involves combat occurs nearby Louis, he will join in the combat, preventing the completion of the quest until he has left combat and the enemies have been defeated. If a random dragon encounter occurs, riding Frost at a very slow pace may avoid catching the dragon's attention.
After getting to Louis Letrush, initiate a conversation with him which will give several dialogue options. There are several options to complete the job Letrush has given and to finish the deal.
The first (and easiest) way is to simply accept the payment and give Frost to Letrush, completing the job Letrush has given and the quest itself.
A second option is to persuade him to give the payment and also to keep the horse. There are two sub options, and may be based on whether or not the Dragonborn has already spoken with Maven. The first option is to threaten to report to Maven unless allowed to 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 the Dragonborn the horse and walks away. If his life is threatened, he comments, leaves the horse and runs away. In both cases the Dragonborn has the horse and got the gold as well. Louis will however send a hired thug in retaliation. The thug will randomly show up at a later point saying that "this is for betraying Louis Letrush" before attacking.
A third option to receive the reward is to demand the pay by intimidation in which the payment is received and the horse is given to Letrush which will result in a reward of leveled gold.
A fourth option is to just kill him, then retrieve the horse and loot the gold off his body.
Journal
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Louis Letrush wants a message taken to Sibbi Black-Briar.
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Louis Letrush wants me to ask Sibbi Black-Briar about Frost, a breeding horse Letrush is buying.
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Sibbi Black-Briar has asked me to steal Frost and deliver him to Louis Letrush.
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I have been rewarded by Louis Letrush for stealing Frost from Black-Briar Lodge.
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Trivia
- If Frost is lost after mounting but before returning, he is not the Dragonborn's horse and will not stay in the place they have left him until they go back to retrieve him. This includes his running away mid-combat. Be careful, searching for him before he is owned can be a tedious task. If Frost runs away the first time he is dismounted to talk to Letrush, reload. He should stay at some point.
- Sometimes after paying the Dragonborn, Louis will not mount Frost, but instead leave him there and start running northwest on foot. Frost can then be kept without having to pass the speech check.
- If the Dragonborn threatened to report to Maven unless they kept Frost, Letrush will hire one thug to come kill them. The thug targets Frost if he is nearby 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.
Bugs
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This section contains bugs related to Promises to Keep. Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following:
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PS3 PC If Sibbi Black-Briar is talked to 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.
PC 360 PS3 Reveal the plan to Maven Black-Briar and continue the quest as normal. In order to trigger Louis' appearance, the papers must be stolen (which will be unmarked). Speaking to Maven may cause the "steal the papers" portion of the quest to be marked complete, and a notice appear that the Dragonborn has the papers but if they are not in their inventory then they must steal them from the lodge or the quest cannot be completed.
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