Riften is one of the most iconic cities in The Elder Scrolls series. It houses a massive shopping district for citizens to find goods at, but it also houses the infamous Thieves Guild.

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Thieves are commonplace in Riften, taking items from the rich to use for themselves. While there are no daedric quests here like other holds, the Thieves Guild questline and various NPCs that reside here make it a hold worth exploring. Regardless of your character's skills or feelings towards theft, there is something for everyone to do in Riften. Here are 10 details everyone missed about Riften in Skyrim.

10 Boarded Entrance

Riften is one of the few holds in Skyrim to have walls surrounding the town. While it has many entrances, one of them is boarded up for seemingly no reason.

On the east side of Riften, there is an entryway into the city that is boarded up with wood. Fans speculate that it could be because of the massive amount of immigrants from Morrowind after Ash Mountain erupted. The official game guide does mention this boarded-up entryway, however. In the guide, it mentions that repeated bandit attacks from the east resulted in many casualties near that gate.

9 Unreachable Lake

Skyrim Riften Cropped

A massive lake surrounds Riften that is impossible to enter. You can be outside of the town or in Riften, but you are unable to enter this lake even though it's clearly visible.

This is because invisible walls cover the town itself. Inside of Riften, there are ways to climb over the walls to try to enter this lake. Unfortunately, all you are met with when doing so is invisible walls that prevent you from progressing further. You will have to disable invisible barriers through console commands or mods to explore the nearby lake.

8 Litany of Larceny

The Thieves Guild are notorious for stealing items from the rich and dividing the loot amongst the guild, but did you know there's a special room dedicated to displaying the work you've put in?

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Delvin Mallory is a member of the Thieves Guild that loves to display your accomplishments to all in the guild. The Litany of Larceny is a special quest tied to this room, slowly accumulating new items as you complete jobs for the guild. It starts small with golden ornaments and decorations, but this room has a special safe that unlocks at 125 job completions, housing great loot for the Dragonborn to take for themselves. If you can obtain all of the Stones of Barenziah, it even displays the Crown of Barenziah with all 24 stones embedded.

7 Wedding Ceremony

If you ever wanted to marry someone in Skyrim, your only option to do so is Riften. The Temple of Mara in this city performs wedding ceremonies you can partake in.

To get married, you must first have a good reputation with a certain NPC, usually from completing quests for them. Next, you need to equip an amulet of Mara to show you are looking for a relationship. Assuming you can marry them, you can then ask them to meet you at the Temple of Mara in Riften to get married. There aren't many bonuses for marrying someone besides a well-rested buff when sleeping with them, but it seems that Riften has a monopoly on marriage ceremonies in the province.

6 Random Thief Encounters

After you convince the Riften guard that you should enter the city for free, you will be approached by a mysterious man asking you to steal someone's ring.

This man is Brynjolf, a core member in the Thieves Guild that runs in Riften. Once you complete this quest, not only does he offer you more quests to complete, but new random events can occur in the city. While you are in Riften, there is a 20% chance that a thief will appear at any moment to steal someone's items on the streets or in their store. It helps reinforce that the Thieves Guild operate in this location and exploit every store they possibly can.

5 Three Entrances

Few holds in Skyrim have walls that surround the city. Those that do typically have one entrance to the city. Riften is different from the rest in that regard.

There are three entrances into Riften instead of the typical one of two. This is the only hold in Skyrim that has so many entrances. All of the other holds that have walls can only be entered from one main gate and, rarely, a side entrance that requires sneaking. As long as you don't approach the city from the east, there is an entrance for every direction you can think of.

4 Shadowmarks

Skyrim-Shadowmark

Thieves need a way of communicating with each other in the open without directly talking to each other. Bethesda thought of this and introduced shadowmarks into Skyrim. Shadowmarks are engravings that players can find on walls or objects. These markings tell fellow Thieves Guild members if a location is safe, dangerous, has tons of loot, cargo from a fellow thief, or if it's a waste of time to loot. While not exclusive to Riften, there are certain shadowmarks here that are hard to find elsewhere.

A great example of this is the Riften Jail. A special shadowmark exists near a chain in the prison, signaling that you can destroy a nearby chain to escape. Breaking that chain reveals a new wall that can be used to escape the prison. Without mods, however, this doesn't work as it seems the script to destroy the wall is broken and will not trigger. Still, it goes to show just how knowledgable the Thieves Guild are with each location, even if it is a prison they've likely had to escape from a few times.

3 Hardest Thane Quest

Thane quests require determination from players to complete. Helping citizens and completing personal quests for the Jarl are typical in earning this prestigious title for a hold.

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Riften is much harder to earn that title compared to other cities, however. You must help five citizens instead of the typical three, complete a quest chain for the Jarl, and you must purchase property in the hold to be considered for Thane. It is a massive laundry list of tasks to complete for the title, which only grants a rare item and the ability to call off guards from you if you got caught breaking the law. Out of all of the holds, Riften easily takes the longest when it comes to getting the notorious Thane title.

2 Skooma Issues

Riften has a massive Skooma issue that no one wants to talk about. The Jarl will bring it up if you ask to become Thane or if you talk to a certain Argonian at the docks.

This starts a quest chain that must be finished to earn the title of Thane for Riften. It involves busting a Skooma operation in a nearby warehouse, then finding the rest of that group in a cave near the Throat of the World to end the Skooma drug operation for good. Once complete, fewer citizens will complain about being addicted to the drug and one of the core steps towards becoming Thane will be complete.

1 Maven Black-Briar Becomes Jarl

Skyrim Maven Black Briar

The Black-Briar family is one of the most corrupt yet powerful families in Skyrim. Maven is a key player in the Thieves Guild's success and Riften's booming economy.

She can also become the Jarl of Riften if you play your cards right. For this to happen, you must have sided with the Imperial Legion during the Civil War and successfully finished the questline for this to occur. When the war ends, Maven will take the previous Jarl's place and control the city. She says the title is just a formality and that she's always controlled the city, but her gaining the title of Jarl further cements her importance to the city's success and failings.

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