Promises to Keep

Promises to Keep is a quest given by Louis Letrush in Riften at the Bee and Barb.

Objectives

 * 1) Speak to Sibbi Black-Briar
 * 2) (optional) Tell Maven Black-Briar about the plan
 * 3) Steal Frost's Lineage Papers
 * 4) (optional) Steal the Lodge Stash
 * 5) Steal Frost
 * 6) Return to Louis Letrush

Walkthrough

 * 1) Obtain the quest from Louis Letrush
 * 2) Speak to Sibbi Black-Briar.
 * 3) * You have to go to the Riften Jail and either persuade the guard to let you in or bribe him with gold. Sibbi will tell you the horse wasn't actually his, but belongs to his family. Then he will tell you where to get the papers.
 * 4) * You can also go tell Maven of Sibbi's plans and she will tell you to continue the plan and she will take care of everything.
 * 5) Steal Frost's Lineage PapersFrost ownership.jpg
 * 6) * You will find the papers in the basement of Black Briar Lodge east of Riften. Follow the road down until it forks up the hill to the left.
 * 7) * Black Briar Lodge is a three level building. Living quarters and rooms above, Dining area and rooms at mid-level and storage rooms and living quarters at Basement level. All outside guards appear to carry keys to unlock the doors at the Lodge.
 * 8) * There will be two men outside in front of the lodge, an archer and a swordsman. You can either fight them and enter through the front or sneak around and open the basement door on the left side of the house. If a third man does not join the melee outside from the basement, there may be two in the basement area.
 * 9) * Alternately, you can approach from the rear of the building. The Lodge is set back against a hill that runs along the left side of the building and out toward the road. You can scale the hill from behind if you're a climber. If your sneak is high enough, there is a small path on the building-side of the hill that leads to the top. Behind the Lodge there is a wooden tower/lookout and a single guard that walks between the two buildings. Kill him, take his key and enter from the back door (top building level). A single guard may be in the upper level and three to four guards in the mid/dining room level.
 * 10) * 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.
 * 11) Steal Frost
 * 12) * Frost will be outside either in or behind the stables running around loose.
 * 13) Return to Louis Letrush - You have the following choices:
 * 14) * You can demand your payment and give him the horse which will result in a reward of Leveled Gold.
 * 15) * You can Persuade him to give you the payment and also keep the horse. Actually listed as two options, and may be based on whether or not you have already spoken with Maven (need confirmation). The first option is to threaten to report to Maven unless you 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 you the horse and walks away. If his life is threatened, he comments, leaves you the horse and runs away. In both cases you own the horse and get the gold as well.
 * 16) * Or you can kill him, keep the horse and loot the gold off his body.

Bugs
If you dismount Frost too far away from Louis, Louis will tell you he does not see the horse and to come back when you have it. Even if Frost is fifteen to twenty (virtual) feet away. The papers are on a small table in front of you as you come in the side door, not in the strong box with the gold. If you grab the money first, the quest marker goes away, leaving some to believe this is just another broken quest. Sometimes the papers are on a table around the corner from the lockbox. Picking them up will return the quest to normal Sometimes after finishing the quest there may appear two Louis at the stables of riften or whiterun. One of them can also be trapped half in the ground. if you kill him, he will also respawn outside the stable you found him at. If you talk to Sibbi Black-Briar 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. Reveal the plan to Maven_Black-Briar and continue the quest as normal. In order to trigger Louis' appearance, you must steal the papers which will be unmarked. Speaking to Maven may cause the "steal the papers" portion of the quest to be marked complete, and you'll even receive a notice that you've accepted the papers but if they are not in your inventory then you must steal them from the lodge or the quest cannot be completed.
 * Missing Paper marker
 * Duplicated Louis
 * Disappearing Louis
 * Possible Solution
 * There is a bug where Louis will attack you and if you kill him he will get back up. Frost will help attack, but Louis will keep on attacking you and if you kill him then move away he will will say things like "I heard something" and "who's there" as if he's a bandit. If Frost helps attack, he will stay where left like an owned horse but you will still have to 'steal' him although even if Frost is stolen infront of guards you will not be attacked nor have a bounty added.
 * Letrush may also appear infront of wherever you leave Frost for the night when you sleep. He will not steal Frost nor will he attack or intimidate you. He just stands there. (This is only if you threatened to go to Maven unless you could keep Frost.