Cornered Rat alternative to Brynjolf

[Knightmage Bael]

tl;dr - Talk to Keerava (Bee and Barb) instead of Brynjolf.

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Long Version Nobody Cares About:

Much like how Fallout 4 forces you into the MM, eventually Skyrim's main quest "corners" you into talking to Brynjolf. I never liked that guy really, and the game never actually tells that you can get your next objective without talking to Brynjolf.

Go to Keerava in the Bee and Barb, and there's an option to ask "about some old guy hiding out in Riften" and she points you to the ratway. The journal entry for "Cornered Rat" doesn't say "talk to Brynjolf or Keerava" it just says "talk to Brynjolf", so it makes it seem like there's no alternative.

I guess the Devs just want to force you into joining the thieves guild.

Except I don't want to give my soul to Nocturne as one of her sentinels. No thanks. Don't care how awesome a questline is. I'm not giving my soul to any Daedra, and these quest lines don't give you the option to turn that down and have the quest complete. It just leaves it sitting in your quest log forever, which is something that physically triggers me (I have OCD).

I'm sure plenty of people know this already. This information isn't for you, then :P

[[RvB] RedArmyGrif]

You can also just skip Brynjolf entirely and just enter the Ratway and go on from there.

[Eternie]

If your worried about giving your soul to Nocturnal you could use a mod like "Thieves guild for good guys" To make the thieves guild a more friendly and supportive organisation.

[Knightmage Bael]

Originally posted by Eternie:

If your worried about giving your soul to Nocturnal you could use a mod like "Thieves guild for good guys" To make the thieves guild a more friendly and supportive organisation.

Eh, still not that big of a fan of being a part of the TG or DB. Fun as the questslines are (and I've done them, including getting all stones of Barenziah) but its just not groups I want my character to be a part of.

[Eternie]

Agreed Stone of Barenziah can also be a pain. That's why finding ways of role playing our characters to do what we want is the most important part of playing.

[SpeedFreak1972]

Yea what I do go to the Ragged flagon talk to the barkeep bribe him and get the info works every time

[Ilja]

Originally posted by Archmage_Bael:

Except I don't want to give my soul to Nocturne as one of her sentinels. No thanks. Don't care how awesome a questline is. I'm not giving my soul to any Daedra, and these quest lines don't give you the option to turn that down and have the quest complete. It just leaves it sitting in your quest log forever, which is something that physically triggers me (I have OCD).

I had similar conflict with this character. My bard follows another deity (through Wintersun) and has no intention to worship Nocturnal instead. However, TG was going to be a thing in this playthrough, for various reasons. I solved it with this.

No to Nocturna
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/10433

I did read your later comment about not wanting to be part of such group. I posted this, instead you would get a spark on TG stuff in the future, but would like to avoid Nocturnal's path, like I do.

[Knightmage Bael]

Originally posted by Ilja:

I had similar conflict with this character. My bard follows another deity (through Wintersun) and has no intention to worship Nocturnal instead.

Been looking at wintersun for a while, seems fun. Lots of deities to chose from.

[Ilja]

Ouch, those typos and formatting I made!

Sorry. I have sore side from an accident. Looks like I was concentrating on pain instead of what I was typing.

Yep. Wintersun is fun little addon in to the game. I am encountering shrines in locations where I never expected them. Sanguine and Shegorath shrines caught me by surprise.

I am playing with Legacy of the Dragonborn. Those shrines add to it's displays, which makes hunting them even more fun.