The Straw that Broke

The Straw that Broke
Reyda's remains at the bottom of Lake Geir.
Quest Giver	Narfi
Location	Ivarstead
Reward	Radiant items Ingredients
Type	Miscellaneous quest
Quest ID	FreeformIvarstead02

For other uses, see Straw.

"Reyda would gather ingredients from the small island in the river east of here. Then one day, she just vanished. I tried to look for her, but she never turned up."

―Wilhelm

The Straw that Broke is a quest available in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in which the Last Dragonborn must find the remains of Narfi's sister Reyda as well as her necklace and decide whether to tell Narfi of her death.

Objectives

1. Ask Wilhelm about Reyda
2. Locate Reyda's remains
3. Bring Reyda's Necklace to Narfi

Walkthrough

On the other side of the river that runs through Ivarstead is a ruined house, where the beggar Narfi lives. If spoken to, Narfi will ramble about the death of his parents and the departure of his sister, Reyda, whom he believes is still alive and will return. He mentions that Wilhelm, the innkeeper, said Reyda would come back.

After talking to Narfi, enter Vilemyr Inn and speak to Wilhelm. He will tell the Dragonborn that Reyda used to collect ingredients on the small islands east of Ivarstead, mentioning Geirmund's Hall (which will mark it on the map, if it wasn't discovered already), and that she is most likely dead. This information can be extremely misleading, as Reyda's remains are not actually located on any of these islands. In fact, Reyda's remains are at the bottom of the river just southeast of Ivarstead, near the bridge. The Dragonborn may search for her remains by using the Illusion spell Clairvoyance (or simply by following the quest marker). Note that the Detect Dead spell will not reveal the remains.

Near her remains is a satchel containing some Alchemy ingredients, as well as her necklace. Bringing the necklace to Narfi will finish the quest. The Dragonborn will be rewarded with three random alchemical ingredients from a small list that includes items such as Nirnroot, Void Salts, Human Flesh, a Human Heart, a Giant's Toe, and a Daedra Heart.

Journal

The Straw that Broke – FreeformIvarstead02
ID	Journal Entry
20	Objective 10: Ask Wilhelm about Reyda
30	Objective 20: Locate Reyda's remains
40	Objective 30: Bring Reyda's Necklace to Narfi
200	Quest complete

Trivia

• If "Contract: Kill Narfi" is active, killing him will cause this quest to fail if not completed beforehand.

Bugs

This section contains bugs related to The Straw that Broke. Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following: Please reload an old save to confirm if the bug is still happening. If the bug is still occurring, please post the bug report with the appropriate system template  360  /  XB1  ,  PS3  /  PS4  ,  PC  /  MAC  ,  NX  /  PS5  ,  XS  , depending on which platform(s) the bug has been encountered on. Be descriptive when listing the bug and fixes, but avoid having conversations in the description and/or using first-person anecdotes: such discussions belong on the appropriate forum board.

•  360   The quest marker may not appear, which can make finding Reyda's remains quite difficult. If the marker doesn't appear, go to the middle of the bridge, look east, and jump into the river. Dive down and Reyda's skeleton should be visible right away.
  • Solution: It has been patched on the version 1.3.10.0 of the game.
• Taking Reyda's necklace from her remains before starting the quest can make it impossible to complete, or in Narfi speaking of the quest as if it had already been started.
  •  PC   One solution to this problem is to type "player.drop 663DA 1" into the console. The necklace drops, and the quest can be resumed upon recollecting from the ground.
• If the player shows Wilhelm the necklace before starting the quest, and then is taken to Narfi, the item will be removed from the inventory, but the quest itself will begin with the objective "Ask Wilhelm about Reyda." Interacting with Wilhelm from then on will not show an option to talk about Reyda and Narfi, hence the quest cannot be completed.
  •  PC (Fix)   By typing setstage FreeformIvarstead02 30 into the console, the quest is automatically advanced to the second of four stages. This makes Reyda's necklace respawn in its original location to be recollected and brought to Narfi again, which should complete the quest. To confirm that the bug is resolved, the command getstage FreeformIvarstead02 can be entered into the console. If the output value is 200, the quest is officially completed.
• If the Dark Brotherhood quest to kill Narfi has begun, when speaking to Narfi, only an option to mock him before he dies is present—there is no option to show him the necklace. A workaround exists in the form of a console command: enter "/player.placeatme 136c0" to spawn a clone of Narfi, which can be killed to complete the contract. The original Narfi will then offer the correct dialogue options.
  •  PS3 (Fix)   After installing 1.05 update, the game data files need to be deleted, so create two saves. Once the game data files are deleted, run Skyrim, reinstall, and the glitch should be fixed. Reyda's remains should be accessible.
•  360   The satchel may appear invisible, making it harder to locate when searching Reyda's skeleton. Even if invisible, the Dragonborn may interact with it, looting Reyda's necklace. It is located near Reyda's left hand, close to her waist.
•  360   Not a gameplay bug, but "physics" is backwards at the bridge where Reyda's Remains are found. If left to drift along with the water in the river, the Dragonborn drift away from the waterfall, instead of towards, above Narfi's house.
• Not a game-breaking bug, but a funny one. If Reyda's necklace is brought to the bartender at the inn, he will sometimes speak Narfi's lines as if you were speaking to him. Although in the average Nord voice, not the beggar voice.