Briarheart Necropsy

Briarheart Necropsy
Quest Giver	Neloth
Location	Tel Mithryn The Reach
Prerequisite	Heart Stones
Reward	250
Type	Side Quest

Briarheart Necropsy is a quest given by Neloth, asking the Dragonborn to retrieve a Briar Heart.

Background

Neloth has asked me to examine a Briarheart warrior of the Forsworn tribes. He couldn't direct me to a specific one, but he said they live in the hills on the western edge of Skyrim.

Walkthrough

Upon entering Tel Mithryn, Neloth can be heard yelling "Curse these heart stones!". Ask him if there is a problem and he explains:

Is there a problem?: "I've been having difficulties with my heart stone experiments. Have you heard of the Briarhearts?"

What about them?: "They are fierce warriors of the Forsworn tribes. They actually remove their own hearts, and replace them with large briar seeds. It puts their lifesparks in direct connection to the natural forces. I need you to examine one of them. Just investigate as much as you can. I'm going to put this memory trace spell on you, so you won't have to worry about taking notes. I doubt you could know what was important anyway."

Where can I find a Briarheart warrior?: "The Forsworn live in the hills on the western edge of Skyrim. From there, you're on your own. I'm given to understand that they are not difficult to find, if you gather my inference."

What do Briarhearts have to do with Heart Stones?: "Well, I'm hoping to do something similar... if I could connect a living being to the forces of the Red Mountain well... that would be formidable. I've done some experiments in this area, but, well, my test subjects are far too fragile. I'm hoping to learn some of the Briarheart techniques, their methods. would venture out myself, but long voyages and dangerous risks are precisely what people like you are for."

Neloth then casts a memory spell on the Dragonborn that records their interactions with Briarhearts. Next, travel to Skyrim and kill a Forsworn Briarheart and examine his corpse. Remove his heart and return to Neloth. Briarhearts killed by pickpocketing their hearts cannot be used to complete this quest. Briarhearts killed by spells that disintegrate the bodies, turning them into Ash Piles, also make the corpses unusable for the quest.

Briarhearts can be found in the following locations:

• Bard's Leap Summit
• Bruca's Leap Redoubt
• Hag's End
• Kolskeggr Mine
• Lost Valley Redoubt
• Sundered Towers
• Serpent's Bluff Redoubt
• Druadach Redoubt
• Karthspire

Upon returning to Neloth, he remarks:

I examined the Briarheart warrior: "Oh have you? Well, let me just extract those memories and I'll see if you found anything useful. I promise that any unrelated memories I run across will be kept in the strictest of confidences. Here, you deserve a bit of reward for your efforts... that was a lengthy trip for you, I'm sure!"

Once the reward is given, the quest is completed. If later asked about what he has learned from the Briar Heart, he explains:

What did you learn from the Briarheart?: "The connecting soul thread is knotted three times, once for the heart, once for the spirit, and once for the body. The knot gives the connection a strength that may be the key that I've been looking for."

Reward

• Leveled

Journal

Journal Entry
Neloth has asked me to examine a Briarheart warrior of the Forsworn tribes. Objective: Examine a Briarheart warrior
Neloth has asked me to examine a Briarheart warrior of the Forsworn tribes. He couldn't direct me to a specific one, but he said they live in the hills on the western edge of Skyrim.
Neloth has asked me to examine a Briarheart warrior of the Forsworn tribes. I found one and saw how the heart was implanted. Objective: Talk to Neloth
Quest complete