Distant Memories is a personal favour for Brand-Shei, a Dark Elf merchant with an unusually Argonian name who trades in the marketplace of Riften in the Rift. He knows very little about where he came from, only that his family fled Morrowind and he was later raised by Argonians. Your job is to travel to the far northern coast and find something, anything, that tells him who his real family were.
How to start
Find Brand-Shei at his stall in Riften’s market during the day and pick the dialogue option commenting that he has an odd name for a Dunmer. He explains that his parents left Morrowind by ship when he was a small child, that the ship sank off the north-eastern coast of Skyrim, and that he was the only one to survive. An Argonian family in Black Marsh took him in. He asks you to help him uncover his past, and the quest begins.
Walkthrough
Locate a clue about Brand-Shei’s past
Travel to the Wreck of the Pride of Tel Vos, which lies on the coast east of Winterhold. A few bandits have made themselves at home around the wreck, so expect a fight when you arrive. The clue you are looking for is Lymdrenn Telvanni’s Journal, which sits in a chest underwater by the wreck. Dive in, open the chest and take the journal. Bring a waterbreathing effect or just be quick, since the icy water of the Sea of Ghosts is not a place to linger.
Return to Brand-Shei
Travel back to Riften and give the journal to Brand-Shei. Grateful to finally have a piece of his history, he hands you the key to the strongbox kept under his market stall and tells you to help yourself to what is inside.
Rewards
- Key to Brand-Shei’s strongbox under his market stall
- The strongbox contents: some gems, potions and a random novice-level spell tome
Tips and notes
- The Thieves Guild quest A Chance Arrangement frames Brand-Shei and lands him in Riften’s jail. If you plan to do that quest, consider finishing Distant Memories first, or be prepared to find him in a cell. The source notes that it is possible to keep him out of jail; see that quest for details.
- The journal is in a chest under the water, so it is easy to clear the bandits, look around the deck and leave without it. Check below the surface.
- The wreck is far from Riften, so this pairs well with any trip to Winterhold and the College of Winterhold.
