People of Eastmarch
Eastmarch is a hold in eastern Skyrim, with its primary geographical feature being its volcanic tundra, dotted with steam vents and hot springs, but there is also the highlands and boreal forests of Giant's Run. Its capital is Windhelm, a major port city situated on the mouth of the Yorgrim river leading out to the perilous Sea of Ghosts, bringing in commerce across the north of the continent. Windhelm was built by the Atmorans in the Merethic Era and so is the oldest continuously inhabited human settlement in all Tamriel, and many Nordic kings through the ages have called this city their seat of power, giving the city great cultural and historical significance. Dunmer and Argonians have a notably big presence in the capital due to the hold bordering Morrowind which lies across the Velothi Mountains to the east, but they find little hospitality from the locals. Its banner is a profiled head of a roaring bear on a blue background, an emblem shared by the Stormcloak Militia. Its Jarl is Ulfric Stormcloak, leader of the Stormcloak Rebellion. open/close all folders
Alain Dufont
Voiced by: Stephen Russell (English)note
An infamous bandit lord that has taken over the Dwarven ruins of Raldbthar. Sometime before the events of the game, he took advantage of Clan Shatter-Shield's grief over Friga's death to con a large sum of gold from them and fled the city, leaving his fling Miuri to take the fall for the theft.
- Asshole Victim: Most Dark Brotherhood contracts are genuinely nice people who absolutely do not deserve their fates. Alain is not one of them.
- Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: A bandit lord who wields the unique warhammer Aegisbane, which he stole from the Shatter-Shields.
- Sequence Breaking: It is entirely possible to come across Raldbthar and kill him and his men without ever even joining the Brotherhood.
Ambarys Rendar
Voiced by: Keith Szarabajka (English)note
The innkeeper of the New Gnisis Cornerclub in Windhelm. He is a Dunmer supporter of the Empire and extremely vocal about his dislike of Nords.
- Freudian Excuse: His abrasiveness is due to Ulfric's mistreatment of the Dunmer.
- Jerkass: While his hatred of the Stormcloaks and the racist Nords in Windhelm is understandable, he extends this hatred to all Nords (even if the Empire, which he openly admires and has many Nord warriors, takes Windhelm) and treats his fellow dark elf Suvaris Atheron like a Category Traitor for working for Nords. He will also be snarky towards the player if they are non-Dunmer (especially if they are Nords themselves), but he will be otherwise friendly to you if you are a Dunmer.
- Missing White Woman Syndrome: Inverted. He is uncaring towards the victims of Windhelm's serial killer because they were Nords.Rendar: None of that matters to me. Until someone takes a Dunmer, I let Windhelm deal with its own problems.
- No Sympathy: He is very inconsiderate towards Dunmer that work for Nords, as well as the serial killer's female victims.
- Socially Unacceptable Collection: He has a display of Imperial armor on the second floor of his establishment despite it being in a staunchly anti-Imperial city, likely in protest at the Fantastic Racism his people receive from the locals.
Aventus Arentino
Voiced by: Reese C. Hartwig (English)note
A young boy whose mother recently passed away. Aventus was sent to the Honorhall Orphanage in Riften, but he flees back to Windhelm to escape Grelod the Kind's abuse, and rumors start circulating of his attempts to contact the Dark Brotherhood.
- Creepy Child: He's a little boy trying to contact a cult of death-worshiping assassins using what are heavily implied to be his dead mother's remains as the necessary body parts for the Black Sacrament. It's also clear that some time has passed between his mother's death, his stay at the orphanage, and his return to Windhelm - meaning that he would have had to go grave-robbing to retrieve her remains, if they are even hers.
- Confirmation Bias: In-Universe. When you speak to him, no matter how you try to say otherwise, he will refuse to see you as anything other than the Dark Brotherhood assassin savior sent to him by the Night Mother.
- Determinator: No matter how exhausted he is ("So... very tired..."), he won't stop chanting and praying the Night Mother until you put an end to his misery by talking to him.
- Heartwarming Orphan: Bizarrely enough, he still manages to be this too. He's only contacting the Brotherhood because he wants to save his friends from Grelod's horrible abuse.
- Hero-Worshipper: To the Dark Brotherhood after you fulfill his contract. He tells you that he's going to become an assassin when he grows up, so he can help other children like you helped him.
- Folk Hero: Becomes one to the children at the Orphanage, who cheer Aventus for getting the Dark Brotherhood to kill Grelod and leaves at least one of them musing on the things that can be accomplished through murder. Nice work, Dovahkiin.
- Take That, Audience!: His quest, and the overall introduction to the Dark Brotherhood, is carefully designed to make you feel a little ashamed of yourself. In Oblivion, it was possible to be contacted by the Brotherhood by accident, but not so in this game. Specifically, you must break into Aventus's home, get mistaken for or pretend to be someone you're not (although the only other choice is to walk away and leave the quest unfinished), murder an Asshole Victim in cold blood, and then return to a child and tell him that you just solved all of his problems through murder. He also tells you, quite happily, that he's going to grow up to be an assassin like you so he can help children, too. Also, due to a bug, he'll never actually return to the orphanage so you can't adopt him (with the Hearthfire DLC) and potentially guide him towards a nobler path.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Arentino's childish attempts to contact the Brotherhood ultimately determine the future of the Brotherhood itself, ranging from its potential destruction to the death of the Emperor.
- Vague Age: Not counting Babette, he's the sole aversion of this trope among the children in Skyrim. A letter in his house very clearly states he was 10 when his mother died, making him either 10 or 11 during the events of the game.
Calixto Corrium
Voiced by: George Coe (English)note
The eccentric proprietor of Windhelm's House of Curiosities, where he has an interesting variety of items on display. And a very dark secret.
- Affably Evil: He's pretty friendly for a brutal murderer.
- Alas, Poor Villain: The reveal from his journals that he was trying to resurrect his sister elicit some sympathy for him.
- Angsty Surviving Twin: If asked, he talks about his departed sister Lucilla, whom he's still mourning. The official strategy guide mentions that they were twins.
- Beware the Nice Ones: His cheery and eccentric demeanour masks a core of stone-cold lunacy.
- Brother–Sister Incest: This may have been the case, though it's not confirmed. After you confront and kill Calixto at the end of the quest, you can loot his body to get the key to his personal trunk, then enter his house/museum and go upstairs to unlock said trunk. Inside is his journal, in which he writes as though speaking to his sister, and some of the wording is a little
squicky. - Chekhov's Gunman: When you first come upon a murder victim in Windhelm, he'll be one of the witnesses, and the game sets him up as just a random bystander. Turns out, he's a just little more important than that...
- Collector of the Strange: Among other things, he's collected some embalming tools from ancient Nord barrows, a shelf full of rare alchemy ingredients, several soul gems, a 'Book of Fate' (which looks blank to you, but it's supposed to reveal your futurenote ), and a supposedly mystical flute whose tune could make any listener dance uncontrollably.
- Freudian Excuse: He lost his sister while adventuring, and committed the murders as part of a ritual to resurrect her.
- Memetic Badass: He tells a story about an in-universe one: Ysgramor, who was able to eat soup with a fork. And he has the very implement on display! (It's even labelled 'Ysgramor's Soup Spoon' despite being a fork.)
- Misanthrope Supreme: His disdain for the people of Skyrim is made evident in one of his journals. The one person he doesn't hate is his sister.
- Necromancer: Speaking with him about the mysterious amulet found in Hjerim suggests that despite his supposed ignorance, he knows a great deal on the subject. It's later revealed that it's actually the infamous Necromancer's Amulet and belonged to him, with his Butcher journal revealing that his entire killing spree was to acquire parts to resurrect his sister.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: His cheerful persona and (according to Wuunferth) ignorance of most of the magical items in his shop are revealed to be a ruse, designed to deflect suspicion off himself.
- Red Herring: Bring him the Strange Amulet you find among a murderer's possessions and he'll identify it as a Wheelstone, tokens given to some court mages upon their appointment to the position. Describe it to Windhelm's actual court mage and he'll all but facepalm at the misidentification. Of course, this is entirely deliberate on Calixto's part - he's throwing you off the trail. The Amulet is a powerful necromancer's token.
- Astute players might Spot the Thread if you show it to Jorleif, the steward in the Windhelm court, who pretty much says, "I dunno what it is, take it to Calixto." That he doesn't recognize it as an heirloom of the Windhelm court is telling.
- Retired Badass: Journeyed all over Tamriel with his sister.
- Serial Killer: He targets women (or womer) and surgically removes parts of their bodies for use in his ritual to resurrect his sister.
- Sibling Team: He and his sister apparently went on all sorts of adventures in the past.
- Too Dumb to Live:
- Many probably won't notice it, but he is without a doubt one of the most worthy people of this trope in the game. He somehow thinks he can get away with murdering someone right in the middle of the market area of Windhelm, and what showers him with this trope even more is the fact that he isn't wearing any robe, hood, or mask, and is attempting the murder barely a dozen yards from a permanently posted guard. Even at night, he'd be hard to miss.
- The person he attacks is this too. If you go to the Steward instead of the Court Mage, the Mage gets imprisoned and Calixto somehow manages to get away with that murder.
- Walking Spoiler: Him being the Butcher of Windhelm is not initially made clear and has to be pieced together throughout the "Blood on the Ice" quest.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: He adored his sister and desperately searched to find some artifact or method to bring her back to life; eventually, he did find one. Unfortunately, that's proven a little problematic, leading him and sanity to say goodbye to one another.
Jorleif
Voiced by: Paul Ganus (English)note
Ulfric Stormcloak's steward, tasked with the day-to-day operations of the hold, as his own mind is focused on the civil war.
- Honest Advisor: Ulfric occasionally asks for his counsel, even on matters on which he isn't an expert, because he doesn't hesitate to speak his mind.
- Hypercompetent Sidekick: He is basically in charge of Windhelm, because Ulfric and Galmar are too occupied with the war.
- Loyal to the Position: Unlike other stewards, Jorleif remains in his position when the Jarl is deposed and continues his day-to-day duties. His post-Civil War dialogue has him expressing relief that it's over even if the Stormcloaks lost.
Wuunferth the Unliving
Voiced by: Jim Cummings (English)note
The Court Mage of Windhelm, and a master of the Destruction school of magic. He has a a bit of a ferocious reputation, but is a mostly decent fellow aside from his anti-social ways. By his own admission he does little around the castle, but Ulfric allows him to stick around and work undisturbed due to their friendship with each other.
- Badass Bookworm: He's an extremely capable Destruction Wizard, and provides training in that school.
- Badass Boast: Makes one when you meet him.Wuunferth: Whatever you've heard I can do is probably true.
- Court Mage: To Ulfric, but Ulfric has little need for magic on account of his mastery of the Voice, so Wuunferth is mostly allowed to work on personal projects.Dragonborn: Does Ulfric have much need for magic?
Wuunferth: No. But then, I have little need for Ulfric. We mostly just leave each other to our work. - Dark Is Not Evil: Despite living in the darkest part of the Palace of Kings, and his sobriquet implying he may be a Necromancer, he's actually one of the most reasonable and sensible wizards to be found in Skyrim. And unlike Farengar, he doesn't let the Nordic suspicion of magic turn him into a passive-aggressive asshole.
- His potentially being a Necromancer — or at least well-versed in the subject — isn't even illegal, according to the Mages in the College of Winterhold. They admit that even when it was banned by the Mages' Guild, the law was never enforced in Skyrim.
- Grumpy Old Man: He's polite, but kind of irritable.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Over the course of the questline to find the Butcher, the player can go to him and tell him what they've found. While he takes offense to being suspected of necromancy, he quickly gets over it and starts readily sharing some very extensive knowledge that proves integral in capturing the murderer, and holds no hard feelings to the player for idiotically suspecting him of being the culprit with no proof.
- Red Herring: For the "Blood on the ice" quest. When you find the killer's diary detailing his past at the College of Winterhold, Wuunferth is the obvious suspect, since he is the only known mage in town and spends nearly all of his time brooding alone in his room in the palace, and both Viola Giordano and Calixto Corrium will tell you to immediately go to the steward and have him arrested. This is all a trap to lead you off the trail of the real killer.
- Undying Loyalty: To Ulfric. Everybody else can go hang, far as he's concerned.Wuunferth: If Ulfric needs a favour, he has it. Anyone else better pay well for the service.
- Wizard Beard: By far one of the most traditional-looking wizards in Skyrim.
Clan Shatter-Shield
Voiced by: William Salyers (Torbjorn); Martina Lotun (Tova); Corri English (Nilsine) (English)note
A family in mourning, they are trying to cope with a pair of recent tragedies. First, Friga Shatter-Shield was murdered by the Windhelm serial killer, and then they were robbed, seemingly by a family friend.
- Ancestral Weapon: Aegisbane is the family warhammer that was stolen by Alain Dufont. While you can loot it from his corpse, there is no way to return it to them.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: They paid the Blood Horker pirates to attack traders of the East Empire Trading company.
- Driven to Suicide: If Nilsine dies by the time of "Mourning Never Comes", Tova commits suicide in her grief, leaving her husband Torbjorn as the only surviving member.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Torbjorn Shatter-Shield has taken to alcohol to cope with his daughter's death.
- Fantastic Racism: They only pay the Argonian dock workers a fraction of Nord workers' pay. Some of the workers admit to stealing cargo from them, but this is clearly only a result of said wages.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: You can find Alain Dufont, kill him (regardless of whether you're with the Dark Brotherhood or not), and take the stolen Shatter-Shield family weapon from his corpse. But there's no dialogue option that lets you return it to Torbjorn to prove Muiri's innocence.
- It's All Junk: If you eavesdrop on conversations in the Windhelm marketplace, Tova requests to bring some of Friga's belongings to Revyn Sadri to sell, noting that "my daughter doesn't need them anymore." He very gently assures her he'd be happy to look at them whenever it's convenient for her.
- Meaningful Name: Aegisbane, the warhammer, is definitely one for a clan named "Shatter-Shield".
- Miscarriage of Justice: Muiri, a family friend, came to share in the family's grief, only to be charmed by the bandit Alain Dufont. He managed to rob the family and convince them that Muiri did it, ruining their relationship. Muiri took this so hard that she puts Nilsine as a bonus objective for her Dark Brotherhood contract on Alain - her fuzzy logic is that with both of their real daughters dead, Torbjorn and Tova will look on her as their daughter instead.
- Pet the Dog: If you speak to Torbjorn about the dock workers' pay disparity, after helping him ease his wife's grief with an Amulet of Arkay (it's supposed to remind her that their daughter is in a better place), he agrees to drastically increase their pay with no protest - primarily out of respect for you.
- Trauma Conga Line: A particularly tragic example. Friga Shatter-Shield was murdered by The Butcher. Shortly afterwards, a bandit named Alain Dufont stole the family warhammer, Aegisbane. If the player joins the Dark Brotherhood, Nilsine Shatter-Shield is one of the earliest targets, and her murder results in the clan matriarch Tova committing suicide, leaving Torbjorn the only survivor.
Captain Lonely-Gale
Voiced by: Paul Ganus (English)note
A retired Nord ship captain that can often be found in Candlehearth Hall. He was meant to replace Jorlief as Windhelm's steward if the Imperials win the Civil War, but a bug prevented this. Version 1.3.2 of the Unofficial Skyrim Patch fixes this.
- Abhorrent Admirer: Viola Giordano is trying to make a move on him, though considering that one of her pickup lines involves a Nord axiom about how the best way to get over a lover is to get a new one and Lonely-Gale is a widower, yeah, that one didn't go over very well.
- Honest Corporate Executive: When asked why Brunwulf chose him as Steward, he says it's because he always knew how to keep his men loyal, and always knew when to either spend or save coin, both of which come in handy for Brunwulf's goal to refill Windhelm's coffers to renovate the Grey Quarter, as well as working to ease the tensions between the Nords and Argonians.
- The Rival: To Viola Giordano, who is also his Abhorrent Admirer.
- Undying Loyalty: When asked about the important people of Windhelm, he speaks of Ulfric with downright reverence in his voice.Captain Lonely-Gale: ... And of course, there is Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King.
Nurelion
Voiced by: Jim Cummings (English)note
The Altmeri proprietor of The White Phial in Windhelm, he's spent his entire life searching for the legendary alchemy flask of the same name.
- Death by Despair: He wasn't a well man but seeing that the White Phial he's dedicated his very long life to rediscovering has been seemingly damaged beyond repair breaks something inside him and he's confined to his sickbed thereafter. Even if/when the Phial is repaired, it's too late to save him.
- Despair Event Horizon: After learning that the White Phial is broken, and the knowledge to fix it is long gone.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: No matter when you retrieve the White Phial from its hiding place, Nurelion will not start dying until after you've proceeded far enough in the main quest to be able to visit Paarthurnax on the Throat of the World, which is where one of the components required to repair it is located.
- Grumpy Old Man: Generally rather rude.
- Hope Spot: You finally find the phial and return it to him. However, see Despair Event Horizon above for how that turns out.
- Incurable Cough of Death: His very first 'words' when you enter his shop and see him and his assistant talking.
- Insufferable Genius: Lampshaded by his assistant, who mentions that once you get past all the abrasiveness, Nurelion really is a brilliant alchemist. He's so well-regarded in his field, his assistant came all the way from Cyrodiil just to learn from him.
- Jerkass: His assistant, Quintus, admits that Nurelion can be rather abrasive. After you show Nurelion the broken Phial, he only tips you five gold for your troubles, which is just insulting. Then again, Nurelion is facing the prospect of dying with his lifelong dream unfulfilled. Quintus apologizes for his master's manners and gives you a more substantial reward.
- Last Request: He knows he's dying and wants the chance to experiment on the phial before he goes.
- Let Them Die Happy: Quintus eventually repairs the Phial with your help (mostly), and is able to show it to him seconds before his last breath.
- Retired Badass: He used to be an adventurer but has settled down after years of disappointment in his quest for the White Phial.
Oengul War-Anvil
Voiced by: Michael J. Gough (English)note
The local blacksmith. A huge supporter of Ulfric, so much that he wants a copy of a sword given to a legendary Queen of Skyrim to give to Ulfric to have as High King. He wishes to prove that he is the best smith in Skyrim. He has an apprentice, Hermir Strong-Heart.
- Determinator: Openly states that he'd gladly smith a thousand swords and shields for the Stormcloaks if it helps win them the war.
- Heroic BSoD: Gets one if the Stormcloaks lose the Civil war, considering dropping his trade and just leaving (though where he would go is never explained). He decides to stay for the sake of his apprentice.
- Meaningful Name: War-Anvil, as he's a blacksmith who manufactures arms and armor for the Stormcloak rebellion.
- The Rival: Sees himself as this to Eorlund Gray-Mane.
- Unknown Rival: But Eorlund never even mentions him.
- Worthy Opponent: He has the utmost respect for Eorlund and regards him as a great smith. His observation that the Skyforge does give Eorlund a certain advantage over other smiths is not incorrect in the slightest, since the forge is described in several sources as being magical. His opinion of the man is nevertheless overwhelmingly positive.
- You Bastard!: While he doesn't outright admonish you following an Imperial victory in the Civil War, he does become noticeably passive-aggressive towards you, even calling you a "Milk-Drinker". His apprentice, however, is much more open about her anger towards you.
Hermir Strong-Heart
Voiced by: Corri English (English)note
Oengul's apprentice, and a huge supporter of Ulfric and the Stormcloaks.
- Fangirl: Like most of Windhelm, she's one for Ulfric and treats him like a living legend.
- Hidden Depths: But should the Imperials win the war, she'll freely admit to still supporting the Stormcloaks and any leader they might have in the future, showing that she cares more about Skyrim's freedom and what Ulfric represented for her than about Ulfric himself.
- You Cannot Kill An Idea: While she's extremely bitter in the event of an Imperial victory and Ulfric's death, she recognizes that the dream of an independent Skyrim is ultimately greater than even Ulfric himself, and resolves to support whoever else arises to champion the cause.
Rolff Stone-Fist
"Only thing I hate worse than those scale-backs are them filthy gray-skins!"
Voiced by: Thor Edgell (English)note
Brother to Galmar. Rolff is seen when one first enters Windhelm bullying a Dunmer, Suvaris Atheron. He spends his days at or around the Candlehearth Hall drinking, and his nights in the Grey Quarters shouting racist insults at the local Dunmer populations, whom he is convinced are all Thalmor or Imperial spies.
- The Alcoholic: Often gets drunk before shouting abuse at Dunmer or Argonians.
- Bullying a Dragon: Rather rude to the Dragonborn when they could theoretically kill him several times over.
- Butt-Monkey: Owing to his essential status for many Thieves' Guild quests, he can't be killed and therefore is a great target for Videogame Cruelty Potential. He's also this In-Universe for many Dunmer owing to his alcoholic stupidity. In fact, several mods exist which take away his "essential" status, while many other PC players opt to kill him with console commands, just because of how annoying he is.
- Defeat Means Friendship: Beat him in a brawl and he'll consider you a friend, even if you are a Dunmer or Imperial. Unfortunately, he won't actually shut up about his racism, even if it's the reason you kicked his arse in the first place.
- Establishing Character Moment: The first thing you see him do is bullying a Dunmer and threatening her.
- Fantastic Racism: He proudly proclaims his entirely unfounded hatred of Dunmer and Argonians, even if you belong to one of the races, and he walks about the streets of Windhelm at night shouting racial slurs even if no one is there to hear him.
- If you're a Dunmer, the first thing he'll say to you is "You damn gray-skin. Go back to Morrowind!"
- Hypocrite: He complains the Dunmer must be spies because they do not support or help the Stormcloaks... yet he himself does not do anything to help them, either. He also claims they are parasites, thieves and just living off the Nords - big accusations from a man who does not actually have a job and spends all his days at the inn drinking. Note that unlike his friend, the beggar Angrenor Once-Honored, Rolff doesn't have the excuse of having suffered a debilitating injury on the front line of the rebellion.
- Insane Troll Logic: He believes that all Dunmer are Imperial spies... owing to the fact that an entirely different species of Mer is manipulating the Empire. He also has no proof that the Dunmer are spying whatsoever.
- Jerkass: He really does and says everything he can to make you not want to like him. Frankly, it's a wonder he's related to Galmar at all.
- Patriotic Fervor: Not in a good way, unfortunately, as his definition of patriotism is "be a dick to any non-Nords in the nearby vicinity".
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Not exactly evil per se, but he definitely makes other Stormcloaks (or sympathisers in his case) look downright liberal. To keep this in perspective, his brother and Ulfric will allow you to join regardless of race and you can rise to the second-highest rank possible regardless of race. Rolff will just shout abuse at you until you punch him in the face, and even after he doesn't moderate his views to anybody except you.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Possibly. Rolff reached his conclusion that all Dunmer are Imperial or Thalmor spies based entirely on his Fantastic Racism. However, if you poke around the Dunmer-operated New Gnisis Cornerclub, you'll find Imperial armor and memorabilia prominently displayed, indicating that a few Dark Elves might indeed be Imperial spies. (Some of them might also be retirees from the Legion, or just like to collect Imperial memorabilia, but there's some ground for suspicion, at least.)
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Galmar Stone-Fist is a Reasonable Authority Figure for the Stormcloaks who's willing to accept any recruit, regardless of race, and often has to pull Ulfric's head out of the mythic clouds and back down to reality. Rolff is a drunken slob who does basically nothing other than persecute Dunmer.
- Very Punchable Man: The only meaningful interaction you can have with the guy is to start a fistfight with him over his racist attitude, which earns you some gold if you win (and you probably will). That's right, the game wants you to punch the crap out of him.
- We Have Ways of Making You Talk: He threatens various Dunmer with this.
Niranye
Voiced by: Julianne Buescher (English)note
An Altmer merchant in the Windhelm marketplace. Some of her dialogue at first appears... less-than-trustworthy, and for good reason once you find out that she has ties to the Thieves' Guild as well as their rival guild, the Summerset Shadows.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Trafficking stolen goods is just fine, but stealing from the dead is not.
- Friend in the Black Market: She has connections to the Thieves' Guild as well as the Summerset Shadows. After dealing with the latter, she goes back to dealing with the Guild and acts as a fence for you.
- Mob War: Finds herself in the middle of one between the Thieves' Guild and the Summerset Shadows. With enough persuasion, she'll sell out the Shadows to you, since they're a lot less honorable than the Guild and they forced her to work for them in the first place.
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: You can witness her conversation with Jora, wife of Lortheim; the couple are a Priest and Priestess of Talos. She subtly offers to have them smuggled out of the city if the Thalmor were to strike in some way, and even though they refuse, they are grateful for the consideration.
- Pet the Dog: Offering to smuggle Jora and Lortheim out if the Thalmor attack certainly counts.
- Robbing the Dead: This is the Summerset Shadows' M.O., and what makes them so detestable to Niranye.
- Statuesque Stunner: She's rather cute and, being a Altmer, is taller than anyone else.
- Technicolor Eyes: In the Special Edition, her eyes are so brightly golden that they almost glow.
Shahvee
Voiced by: Renée Victor (English)note
One of the many Argonians working at Windhelm's docks, who can ask the Dragonborn's help to get her stolen Amulet of Zenithar back. She is the only female Argonian available for marriage.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: If you choose to marry her.
- Heel–Faith Turn: If you complete her quest, she will confess she used to be a thief before starting to pray to Zenithar, and teach you some of her old tricks as a reward.
- Hot Guy, Ugly Wife: Potentially, if you marry her, though whether you find Argonians ugly or not really is a matter of personal opinion and whether or not you're playing an Argonian yourself.
- Nice Girl: Always salutes you politely when you engage conversation with her, and unlike other Argonians in Windhelm, she doesn't seem to feel any grudge against Nords.
- The Pollyanna: She lives in miserable conditions, in a province where her species is ignored at best and despised as worse, on the dock of a city she is not allowed, and paid pittance to do back-breaking labor. She still manages to keep a happy and cheerful attitude."Sometimes life puts you in difficult circumstances you didn't choose. But being happy or unhappy is a choice you make, and I've chosen to make the best of things that I can."
- Rags to Riches: Invoked by the player should a wealthy Dragonborn marry her, especially if she moves into one of the nicer houses in the game.
Revyn Sadri
Voiced by: Keith Silverstein (English)note
A Dunmer merchant running a pawn shop in the Gray Quarter, who accidentally becomes involved in criminal activity.
- Bad Liar: He continually insists that "all [his] goods are legitimate," before admitting his guilt: he had accidentally purchased a ring before realizing it had been stolen from one of the city's more wealthy and prolific citizens.
- Failed a Spot Check: He will continue to remark that he only deals in legitimate merchandise and doesn't need trouble with the law, which crosses into this trope if his spouse the Dragonborn is leader of the Thieves' Guild and Dark Brotherhood.
- Nice Guy: Usually friendly and good-natured, and appears to be very charismatic and generous. He thanks the player profusely, should they help him in his dilemma; however, his demeanor takes a sharp turn if you choose to tattle.
- Strong Family Resemblance: His sister, Idesa, really just looks like a modified version of his model; they even wear the same (gender-specific) outfit.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: Emphasizes to visitors that he buys his goods fairly and legitimately; all it really takes is a suspicious look to make him immediately backtrack.
Susannah the Wicked
Voiced by: Susan Eisenberg (English)note
A barmaid working in the Candlehearth Hall in Windhelm and the most recent victim of a serial killer who already killed four women.
- Ironic Nickname: For someone known as the Wicked, she is actually kind of sweet. In contrast to Grelod the Kind...
- Nice Girl: She is one of the few Nords that shows sympathy for the Dunmer's plight, and while her interactions with the Dragonborn are limited, she is very complementary and welcoming.
- Plot-Triggering Death: Her death at the hands of the Butcher is scripted to kickstart the "Blood on the Ice" sidequest, and there is nothing that can be done to prevent it. Due to the way the sidequest works, it's entirely possible for Susannah to turn up dead as soon as you first set foot in Windhelm.
- The Tease: She is rather flirty, but according to Elda, it's just to get better tips.
