The quest entry in your journal states that you should meet Delphine in Riverwood. She will be found in the Sleeping Giant Inn, where you follow her back into her secret room.
Talking to her will reveal she has a plan to get into the Thalmor Embassy. She can arrange to get you into a party thrown by Elenwen, and that will be your chance to get some secret documents. You will need to speak with a Bosmer spy, Malborn, who will offer you assistance.
Meet Malborn in The Winking Skeever in Solitude. When you meet him, make sure to bring everything you want or need smuggled into the embassy, including amulets, rings, weapons, potions, etc. There are locked doors and display cases in the Embassy, so you may wish to bring lockpicks. You have only one opportunity to hand over equipment for use in the Embassy, everything you don't give to Malborn will be taken from you by Delphine to be stored in a chest in the Sleeping Giant Inn's secret room.
Following the meeting with Malborn, rendezvous with Delphine at the stables outside the city. She will make grave comments about your attire regardless of what you are wearing and give you Party Clothes that you must wear. When ready, Delphine will take all your remaining items and you will automatically board the carriage.
Once you have arrived, show the guard the invitation and head inside to be greeted by Elenwen. There is no rush, so you can take your time to converse with the party guests if you wish. The guests who attend depend on your travels in Skyrim. If you have completed any quests for them, they and their dialogue will match accordingly. However, in order to slip out and investigate the embassy, you'll need to create a distraction. Many of the guests are willing to cause a distraction:
| Guest | Interactions | Parameters for appearance |
|---|---|---|
| Aquillius Aeresius | ||
| Balgruuf the Greater | Must have finished the siege on Whiterun. | |
| Elisif the Fair | ||
| Erikur | Talk to him and encourage him to solicit Brelas. | Talk to him in the Blue Palace. |
| General Tullius | No distraction option, but will express his disdain for the Thalmor and a rare bit of sympathy for Ulfric's cause. | Must have finished Message to Whiterun and must not have a civil war attack going on. |
| Idgrod Ravencrone | If you have completed Laid to Rest, there is an option to ask her to make a scene. | Talk to her in Highmoon Hall. |
| Igmund | ||
| Maven Black-Briar | Will offer distraction if she likes you. Otherwise she will only tell you not to talk to her. | Appears unless you are on the quest Dampened Spirits. |
| Ondolemar | If you have completed Search and Seizure, there is an option to ask him to make a scene. | Talk to him in Understone Keep. |
| Orthus Endario | If you have completed Rise in the East, there is an option to ask him to make a scene. | Only appears if you have completed the quest. |
| Proventus Avenicci | Must have finished The Whispering Door and must not be on the questMessage to Whiterun. | |
| Razelan | Ask Brelas or Malborn for a drink, give him the Colovian Brandy and you can ask him to make a scene. | Always. |
| Siddgeir | ||
| Vittoria Vici | Appears unless you are on the quest Bound Until Death. |
You must now locate and retrieve documents with information on dragons. Approach with stealth and avoid detection, or charge in with combat and kill anyone who stands in the way—whichever you choose, the quest resolves in the same way. If you wish to use stealth, see the Notes section below. Proceed through the door on the left - you can either wait until thesoldiers finish their conversation and move away, or kill them. Once inside, go up the staircase. A Thalmor Wizard will be standing guard ahead, facing the wall. Either kill him or sneak behind him. Head left down the hallway and left again to find the door leading outside. There are two guards patrolling outside, which can be evaded. However, a wizard stands guard at the door to Elenwen's Solar and will not move away. Either create a distraction to move him away and quickly dash in, or kill him. If you are seen, the guards will sometimes not follow you into the Solar.
Inside the Solar, there is a soldier immediately ahead who will head upstairs. Head to the left side of the room and search the chest behind the desk. Grab the dragon report and the two dossiers. There is an Unusual Gem upstairs in the bedroom to the left, which is required for a certain Thieves Guild quest, although if you have installed version 1.4 of the Official Skyrim Patch, the gem can instead be found in Reeking Cave. There is a safe in a small room next to the bedroom with high level loot.
Go down the nearby stairs to the Interrogation Chamber. Rulindil and a Thalmor Soldier will be torturing a prisoner, Etienne Rarnis, in one of the cells. You can sneak behind Rulindil and grab the dossier, or kill both him and the guard. You can also speak to the prisoner, who will tell you to escape via a locked trapdoor. You may free him if you so choose. If you caused Brelas to get arrested earlier, she will be in the cell at the far end and can be freed as well. She will assist you in taking out any hostile guards before escaping.
Once the prisoner has been spoken to or the document has been retrieved and read, two soldiers will enter the room with Malborn and begin to search for you. Either kill them and loot the key to the trapdoor, or pickpocket it from them; the latter option is difficult since they are constantly alert, but this is the only way to get through this quest without directly killing anybody (Etienne Rarnis' and Malborn's fates due to you not helping them notwithstanding). If you are inactive too long, they will attack and kill Malborn, though this does not affect the quest at all. If you wish to save Malborn, act quickly, as he is weak and defends only with his fists. If you collect the dossier without reading it or talking to Etienne, you can go back upstairs to the door you entered through and then read it, which will update the quest and trigger the two guards to appear with Malborn; if you are hiding next to the door they will appear in front of you and can be easily ambushed. Once the guards are dealt with, go through the trapdoor.
The trapdoor in the dungeon leads to Reeking Cave. There is a troll inside the tunnel who will attack both you and the prisoners, but you can simply run for the exit to avoid it. If you have any followers at this point they will be at the tunnel exit already fighting the troll. There is a dead necromancer, an Unusual Gem, and a copy of the Illusion skill book Before the Ages of Man beneath the ledge that you walk out on when you exit the tunnel.
Return to Delphine in Riverwood with the information you have obtained, and retrieve your gear from the marked chest.
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