Diplomatic Immunity

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Quest Progression
Objectives:
 * Meet Malborn in Solitude.
 * Give Malborn your equipment.
 * Create a distraction and get away from the party.
 * (Optional) Retrieve your gear.
 * Search for information about the Dragons returning.
 * Escape the Thalmor Embassy.
 * Talk to Delphine.

Background
"It seems that things are worse than even Delphine thought. Dragons aren't just coming back to life, they're being resurrected by other dragons. Delphine suspects that the Thalmor might be bringing dragons back for some sinister purpose. She's going to help me infiltrate the Thalmor ambassador's manor and find out what they know about the dragons. I should meet with her contact, Malborn, in the Winking Skeever Inn in Solitude."

Malborn
Delphine thinks that the Thalmor know something about the Dragons' return to Skyrim. She has a plan to get you into the Thalmor Embassy, so that you can get hold of secret documents to find out more. She will acquire a legitimate invitation to a reception being held by the Thalmor ambassador, Elenwen. Find the elf Malborn at the Winking Skeever tavern in Solitude. When you arrive Malborn will agree to smuggle some of your equipment into the party. Malborn can bring a significant amount of your gear with him, but because of all the loot you can grab during this mission (including sets of Elven weapons/armor, Fine Clothes/boots/hats etc.), you might want to give him only the bare necessities in order to save space. Although if you are quite wealthy already, the value of the obtainable loot is of considerably of less importance and you need not overly concern yourself with this factor. However if you are not so wealthy, you may want to consider bringing the minimum of armor, weapons, lockpicks, and whatever scrolls or potions your skill level requires; the only gear you'll have during the mission will be what you give Malborn. Afterwards, you'll meet with Delphine at the Solitude stables at Katla's Farm to pick up your invitation and party disguise, and drop off everything else in your inventory. Extra gear can be left at your residence before meeting Delphine at the stables, or automactically given to Delphine for safekeeping at her safehouse; everything you give her will be stored safely until you claim it after the mission. It should be noted that Delphine will store the inventory in a chest in her office at the Sleeping Giant Inn, in Riverwood.
 * Quest items, such as the Skeleton Key, cannot be removed from your inventory—useful if you forgot to bring lockpicks.

Once inside the party, you will be approached by Ambassador Elenwen and engaged in a conversation. Malborn interrupts the conversation, causing the ambassador to walk off. You then have the opportunity to speak with Malborn and ask him for a drink — it could come in handy.

Distractions
Ambassador Elenwen greets you upon entering the Thalmor Embassy. After speaking with her, you'll need to create an opening to slip out of the party; tell Malborn when you are ready, and he'll wait by the door behind the bar for your move:


 * If you talk to Razelan on the bench nearest to Malborn, he'll ask for a drink. Malborn can conveniently provide you with a Colovian Brandy to give to Razelan, who then offers to do you a favor in return. Getting a drink from the Wood Elf servant and giving it to Razelan will also work. Tell him to cause a scene, and he will make a grandiose announcement, giving you your distraction.


 * Alternatively, if you are acquainted with Jarl Idgrod Ravencrone and have previously assisted her, you may ask her to cause a distraction, as "an old woman can get away with anything". She will then begin harassing Razelan and making a scene, providing you the necessary cover.


 * Another option is to overhear Erikur trying to flirt with the Wood Elf servant Brelas, unsuccessfully. Speaking with Erikur afterward will make him mention his weakness for Bosmer women, and you can therefore offer to speak with her on his behalf. Speaking to Brelas reveals her dislike for guests like Erikur and asks you to persuade him to leave her alone. Speak to Erikur once again, and any speech option chosen will cause Erikur to lose his temper and causes a scene.

Once you have your opening, run to the door behind the bar and follow Malborn. Proceed through the kitchen to a pantry, retrieve your smuggled equipment from a chest, and go through a door into the next hallway. If you did not give him any of your belongings, the rest of this quest will be quite difficult. Remember that you still have your magic, including shouts, and Beast Form (if you have it) will be indispensable if you have no armor and weapons. Malborn will lock the door behind you, completing this phase of the mission.
 * In addition, if you are on good terms with Ondolemar, you may ask him to make a distraction (after a persausion check) where he begins accusing Razelan of insulting the Thalmor.

Thalmor Espionage
Having Aura Whisper or Detect Life can be handy for this phase, but not necessary, as there are few guards in any given area.

As Malborn locks the door behind you, you will see a doorway to your left and overhear two Thalmor agents chatting over a bar. Behind the bar are stairs leading up to a Thalmor Wizard. Kill them (or wait for them to move out of the way and sneak past them), and then either go through the ground floor exit or turn left at the top of the stairs, kill the mage (as he never leaves the narrow hallway and is hard to not brush up against even if you have access to invisibility), and then turn left again to enter a room with access to a second floor exit. This will take you to an exterior area with more enemies to kill or avoid. The two guards can be avoided, but a mage guards the door and will alert the guards if you attack him, so it's probably easier to take out the guards first or distract the mage with an arrow or the Throw Voice shout if you have it. If a general alarm is raised, additional guards will come from the barracks. Once clear, enter the only door into the Ambassador's offices (Elenwen's Solar).

Inside, you may kill everyone or sneak over to the chest the quest arrow is pointing to and grab the items you need. Read the documents taken to activate the next arrow. If you choose not to kill Rulindil and/or Gissur, you will have to fight them later (when exiting the Embassy, and in a follow-up quest in the Ratway, respectively). It's actually possible to kill Gissur during his conversation with Rulindil without the latter becoming hostile (as long as you don't step into the elf's line of sight). It's also possible to sneak past both them while they talk and go down the stairs but, if you do that, Rulindil might magically appear in front of you (although he's supposedly still in his office talking to Gissur). All things considered, it's probably best to kill both of them before proceeding to the dungeon.

There are some locked display cases in Rulindil's office, containing two Elven Daggers, a Gold and Ruby Circlet and a Gold and Emerald Circlet; if you neglected to have Malborn smuggle your lockpicks into the party, you might be able to recover a precious few from the Thalmor you killed.

After recovering quest items in the offices, the quest arrow will lead you down into the dungeon, where Etienne Rarnis is being kept captive. If you killed Rulindil in his office, the only other person in the dungeon will be a guard, patrolling outside the cells. If you let Rulindil walk down the stairs, he will also be there, sitting at a desk (taking notes) while the guard tortures the prisoner.

To proceed to the next stage, you need to acquire information about Esbern. This can be done in three ways: Whichever method you choose, learning about Esbern triggers a scripted event leading to the next stage of the quest.
 * Pretend you're an interrogator and order the prisoner to repeat what he told the Thalmor.
 * Release the prisoner and ask if he has any useful information.
 * Open the chest and read the documents inside.

The Escape
After you learn about Esbern, two Thalmor guards will enter the dungeon with Malborn in custody, his cover blown. The guards hold the key to the trapdoor, so you will have to kill them. While saving Malborn is possible, perhaps allowing him to die there might be a kinder fate, as he points out that Thalmor will now hunt him for the rest of his life.

Once through the trapdoor (using the key looted from the guards), a Frost Troll will be waiting, as well as any followers you might have left before entering the party. Malborn will help you fight the troll, but Etienne will simply run for the exit. There is a safespot if you get the troll on the upper walkway. Stand behind the rock on the lower walkway and the troll will come to you but not attack you.

Under the ledge you will also find a necromancer's body, an Illusion Skill Book : Before the Ages of Man, and some extra loot.

Exiting the cave will allow you to see off anyone you saved (they don't seem very interested in talking) and you can then return to Riverwood to reclaim your gear from Delphine 's chest.
 * Note: The Stone is only under the ledge in Patch 1.4 or later.

If Malborn survived, he can later be found in Windhelm's Gray Quarter, where you can help him escape Skyrim by killing a Khajiit assassin (located by the stables), allowing him to make it safely (for the time being) to Morrowind. If Etienne survived, he can later be found in Riften among the Thieves Guild.

Trivia

 * After leaving the embassy following this quest you may return to the gates and they can now be opened through normal lockpicking, whereas before the quest they required a key to open. However the embassy building itself (where the party was held) will be locked and requires a key.
 * You can find Thalmor Robes in a room near the kitchen. The robes will act as a disguise, making it easier for you to sneak around. Imperials, Bretons, Nords and Redguards can avoid detection at a distance, Dunmer and Bosmer can get closer, and Altmer can stroll around without question. Altmers wearing Hooded Thalmor Robes can only fool guards if they have NO weapons or spells equipped. This also only works if the Altmer is wearing only the set (top,boots and gloves) meaning any amulets/rings will cause guards to attack. Note:this will only work until you attack someone or reach the dungeon.
 * In some instances after Delphine hands the Party Clothes to you and takes all of items you still currently have, a Dragon might attack which prevents you from talking to Delphine and boarding the carriage. This leaves the Dragonborn helpless and you can only rely on your Spells, City Guards nearby and Delphine herself to kill the Dragon to proceed to the next part.
 * Further Dragon attacks can occur when you are near Elewen's Quarters and also when you are escaping. However, there is a chance the Dragon will attack the Thalmor inside the Embassy Courtyard, instead, when you are trying to escape.
 * All distraction options will have hilarious dialogue if you wait a few minutes before proceeding with the quest.
 * NPCs outside of the quest after it's completion will talk about the party. At least one will mention "I heard some (the Dovahkiin's race) ruined the party."
 * The Thalmor Embasy and Elewen's Solar hold a plethora of otherwise rare silver goblets, plates, jugs, platters and valuable potions. Because most of your items are removed from your inventory for the duration of this quest you can take along many of these trinkets to decorate your home with or to sell later. Several bookcases also hold the entire collection of various book series, making it easy to complete your own collection by taking these as well.
 * You may have to go back to a previous save if you've ever run into and killed any Thalmor in the courtyard. Killing Thalmor patrols while wandering the map will make all Thalmor, especially the guards in the courtyard, hostile to the player. You will be unable to equip any spells, transform into Beast form, escape, or even try unarmed strikes while still in the courtyard. See the glitches section.
 * If you have talked to Maven Black-Briar previously and then talk to her during the party, she will comment how you should refrain from talking to her unless you want her to blow your cover.
 * Although Ondolemar is in the party, if the Miscellaneous quest of giving him Ogmund's Amulet of Talos isn't completed before the quest, it can't be completed during the party.

Quest preparation & completion

 * Some players, upon completion of Diplomatic Immunity, do not receive the quest, A Cornered Rat, and cannot progress the main questline. Affiliation with the Thieves Guild is speculated as being an issue, but is not confirmed, as some other players affiliated with the Guild don't have the issue.
 * (Fixed as of Skyrim Patch 1.5 Attacking and killing people within the Embassy before doing this quest will cause it to glitch and the doors to be locked, and so are unable to enter Embassy building. You are also unable to leave the Embassy, or do anything except run around the front courtyard. The only way (PC) to continue afterwards (other than reloading a previous save when nobody was harmed), is to open the console and, after clicking on the Embassy door, use the command "unlock". The rest of the quest will proceed as normal. - Skyrim 1.5 Patch Fixed issue in “Diplomatic Immunity” where killing all the guards in the Thalmor Embassy before starting the quest would break progress.
 * A dragon may spawn outside the Embassy again locking you in the courtyard until the guards kill the dragon (which may never happen due to the large fence around the property).
 * If you've discovered the embassy before the quest, it may not count towards the "Explorer"Achievement.
 * chillrend can dissapear completely from your inventory if you give it to malborn.

Giving and getting back items glitches

 * Sometimes, after giving your items to Malborn and speaking to Delphine before boarding the carriage to the embassy, you will be frozen in one spot, unable to move, use items or skills. This can be solved by, after speaking to Malborn and giving him the things you need, but before speaking to Delphine, emptying your inventory as much as possible (excluding quest items) into a safe house chest. Now, when you speak to Delphine, the game will not freeze.
 * Some players have reported that the quest may take any stolen portions of gold you may have.
 * People who have downloaded the game on Mac through a port may find that they cannot retrieve ANY gear at all from Delphine upon completion of this quest, so put it in a chest in your home.
 * When giving Malborn items to smuggle into the embassy it is advised that you do not give him dragon masks. Krosis has been reported lost upon completion of the quest.
 * Malborn may not give other items back as well. Whether or not he has an unshown carry amount is unknown, but I gave him a good bit of heavy armor, and he did not give it all back.
 * It is advised to not give money to any companion before attempting the quest as all but 1500 of it may be gone.
 * If you give amethysts to Delphine and after the quest you retrieve them, they may become stolen.
 * If you have Dead Thralls when you are transported to the Thalmor Embassy, they may disappear.
 * If you use the 'Take All' command on the chest to get your belongings back, the game may crash.
 * Malborn may not return Ancient Shrouded gear. It is ill-advised to give him any unique items, as you may not ever be able to get them back.

Glitches during the quest

 * The chest where you retreive your items may not have your items as the door leading into the room may glitch making Malborn unable to lock the door. Even restarting the quest may not help it.
 * Sometimes Malborn spawns glitches and he appears on the map to be halfway between Ilinalta's Deep and Fort Greymoor. Since you can't continue the quest line, nor leave the party, the only option is to backtrack to a previous save point. It is however, possible to physically wait, with the game unpaused, until he makes his way to the Embassy, the timing may vary. The reason for this glitch is unknown. (It seems to be caused by having a companion with you.)
 * When you're at the party and talking to people, they slide around instead of walking. When you speak to Malborn, when he's beside the door, he will glitch and either slide or not move. You won't be able to open the next door. (Only way to fix this is to leave the party through the front door and then come back in and do everything that you must do inside, all over again).
 * Sometimes upon entering the Embassy NPCs will not appear, Elenwen will not talk to you, nor can you give Razelan a drink even if you have the drink in your inventory. (Happened once, still don't know why)
 * Sometimes upon clearing the dungeon in the Embassy, regardless of dialogue options with the prisoner, the event with Malborn and the soldiers entering the dungeon will not occur, and the quest will not continue. This may not actually be a glitch, just not completing certain tasks- I.e not reading the books you find in the Solar - causing the rest of the quest not to trigger. Make sure you have read all the books you find in Elenwen's Solar. And then only enter the Torture Chambers when the quest marker indicates you to. Then, instead of talking to the prisoner first, read the book in the indicated chest. The quest should continue on as normal, with Malborn entering with his captors.
 * After you grab your equipment, (if you gave him any) you then have to go upstairs, at the top of the stairs there is a magician, attempting to backstab this mage will render you into the wall, and you won't be able to move. (Untested, happened once)
 * If the Dragonborn is a high elf, your character can shrink and will remain shrunk for some period of time, reload on the auto save after coming through the door to correct the issue.
 * Even if you have the skeleton key, carrying no lockpicks will disable you to pick locks.
 * If you have the Morokei or Arch Mages Robes you will lose them if you give them Dephine.
 * upon speaking to the prisoner he may glitch into tthe wall, if so he will do this no matter what you say to him.

Achievements
Diplomatische Immunität Дипломатическая Неприкосновенность ==References= 