Skyrim:Briarheart Necropsy

This page is currently being rewritten as part of the Skyrim Quest Redesign Project. The page is being rewritten and checked in several stages. All users are welcome to make changes to the page. If you make a change that is relevant to the project, please update this template accordingly, and make sure you have observed the project guidelines. Details Walkthrough: written by Krusty, not checked Reward: written by Krusty, not checked

Examine a Briarheart for Neloth. Quest Giver: Neloth Location(s): Tel Mithryn, The Reach Prerequisite Quest: Reluctant Steward Reward: 250 gold ID: DLC2TTR5

Neloth wants to know the secret.

Quick Walkthrough

1. Talk to Neloth in Tel Mithryn.
2. Find a Briarheart of the Forsworn.
3. Return to Neloth for your reward.

Detailed Walkthrough

The Briarhearts

When you ask Neloth if you can help him with his research, he may respond: "I've been having difficulties with my heart stone experiments. Have you heard of the Briarhearts? 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." He then reveals that he has been experimenting with similar theories but all his test subjects died in the process. Lastly, he will point you towards Skyrim and The Reach to find a specimen in a Forsworn hideout. Before you leave, he will cast Neloth's Memory Spell so you can remember what you observe.

Harvest a Heart

You will have to travel all the way back to Skyrim, so hire the boat in Raven Rock or simply fast travel to Windhelm. Then go west to the Reach, where hold capital Markarth has its fair share of problems with the Forsworn. They can be found in most locations where the Forsworn have set up camp, such as Lost Valley Redoubt, Broken Tower Redoubt, or Hag Rock Redoubt. After you have killed a Forsworn Briarheart you will be given two options, either "Harvest" or "Search". Choose "Harvest" and the quest will update and tell you to return to Neloth on Solstheim.

Extracting Memories

Back in Tel Mithryn, a trio of ash spawn will be waiting outside to attack upon your return. Inside his tower, Neloth will be awaiting your arrival. When you tell him you examined the Briarheart warrior, he will comment: "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!" He will then hand you 250 gold for all your hard work and the time you spent traveling back and forth.

Notes

• Pickpocketing a Forsworn Briarheart for its briar heart will not give you the option to "Harvest" when trying to loot its body. You must kill it in another way.

Bugs

• After the quest is finished it is possible for Briar Hearts you acquire to be erroneously marked quest items making them impossible to remove from your inventory, even though the quest has been completed.
  • It is possible to fix this by completing Repairing the Phial, if it is in progress. Note that the quest may be considered in progress if the player has received the Letter from Quintus Navale after completing The White Phial but has not yet read it to initiate Repairing the Phial.

Quest Stages

Briarheart Necropsy (DLC2TTR5)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
100		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. Objective 100: Examine a Briarheart warrior
200		Neloth has asked me to examine a Briarheart warrior of the Forsworn tribes. I found one and saw how the heart was implanted. Objective 200: Talk to Neloth
300	Finishes quest

Notes

• Any text displayed in angle brackets (e.g., <Alias=LocationHold>) is dynamically set by the Radiant Quest system, and will be filled in with the appropriate word(s) when seen in game.
• Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
• Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in any order. Some stages may therefore repeat objectives seen in other stages.
• If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
• On the PC, it is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage DLC2TTR5 stage, where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages, but it is possible to clear all stages of the quest using resetquest DLC2TTR5.