Riverwood is a quiet village, but it has its own little soap opera: the elf Faendal and the bard Sven are both chasing Camilla Valerius, and neither is above a bit of forgery. A Lovely Letter is a short side quest in Whiterun Hold where you pick a side in this love triangle, or play both suitors against each other.
How to start
- Talk to Faendal, the Bosmer archer who works at the lumber mill in Riverwood, or
- Talk to Sven, the Nord bard who performs in the Sleeping Giant Inn.
Whoever you speak to first hands you a fake letter, written to look as if it came from his rival, and asks you to take it to Camilla at the Riverwood Trader. The innkeeper Orgnar will also hint at the rivalry if you ask him about local rumours.
Walkthrough
Get the forged letter
If you start with Faendal, he gives you a nasty letter supposedly signed by Sven. If you start with Sven, you get the reverse: an insulting letter that pretends to be from Faendal. Either way your objective is to deliver it to Camilla.
Optional: tell the rival
Before delivering anything, you can go to the other man and tell him about the letter. He will then give you his own letter to deliver instead, which flips the whole scheme around. This is how you end up helping the suitor you did not talk to first.
Deliver a letter to Camilla
Camilla is usually in the Riverwood Trader, the shop she runs with her brother Lucan Valerius. When you hand over a letter, you choose what to tell her:
- Back up the letter (lie): claim it really was written by the rival. Camilla is offended and wants nothing more to do with him, so the man who gave you the letter wins.
- Tell the truth: admit the letter is a fake written by the man who handed it to you. Camilla turns against the forger instead, so his rival wins.
The wiki source describes three slightly different routes for each suitor, but they all boil down to these two levers: which letter you deliver, and whether you lie or tell the truth about who wrote it. The reward is the same whichever route you take.
Report back
Camilla asks you to pass a message on to whichever man has lost her favour, and your journal will point you to either Faendal or Sven. Speak to the winning suitor (Faendal can be found at his house or around the lumber mill) to collect your reward.
Helping yourself
For the morally flexible: both men carry their letters, so you can pickpocket them and give Camilla both. She has no special lines for this. Lie about both and she ends up disliking both men; tell the truth and she simply asks you to go talk to them. You then have to visit both suitors. The one you spoke to first can still be told the good news and will offer his services, while the second will stay angry with you.
Choices and consequences
- Helping Faendal makes him available as a follower; helping Sven makes Sven a follower.
- You can never end the quest with both men as followers or both friendly towards you. The loser stays sour.
- Even if you help Sven, Faendal still trains Archery for you.
Rewards
- 25 gold
- Faendal or Sven becomes a potential follower, depending on whom you helped
Tips and notes
- Faendal is an Archery trainer up to level 50, which makes him the more practical follower for many characters. Once he follows you, his inventory can be opened, so any gold you paid him for training can be taken back.
- Sven is a bard, so expect more singing and less sniping if you pick him.
- If Faendal, Sven or Camilla dies, the quest may become impossible to finish.
- The quest still works if you have already married Camilla.
- If you later kill one of the two suitors, the survivor may send you a letter by courier saying he knows what you did and will keep quiet about it. If you are married to Camilla, she may send a letter of her own, pleased that he is gone.
