The Gales of Guilt
Quest Giver	Herran, at the Frozen Hearth in Winterhold
Locations	Frozen Hearth, Pilgrim’s Trench, Winterfrost Cottage, Blue Palace
Prerequisites	None
Related Quests	None
Enemy Level	None	Class	None
Quest ID	HerranQuest	Editor ID	0224CEAA
NPCs	Herran, Asgeld, Foromir, Utei, Peracles, Blue Throat, An-Ru, Thorngar, Elisif the Fair, Falk Firebeard
Reward	3 waterbreathing potions, 400 gold, plus 500 gold or a levelled enchanted light armour

Embarking on a simple delivery mission, the player finds themselves involved in legal proceedings with a man’s life at stake, testing their observation and debating skills. The Dragonborn’s reputation will also affect the difficulty of achieving a successful outcome to this quest.

At a Loss
In the Frozen Hearth inn at Winterhold, Herran laments the sinking of his beloved cargo ship “The Autumn Gale”. Concerned for his reputation, he hired a team of salvagers to recover the documents on board, hoping they can still be delivered. If the player offers to help, he asks them to go west of Winterhold to Pilgrim’s Trench, and deliver some waterbreathing potions to Utei, the leader of the salvage team.

If the player is curious about how he came to own the ship, he will relate his story of once being courier who devised a method for extorting gold from mail recipients. Falsely claiming the senders hadn’t paid, and opening their mail to sell the information within if they refused his fee, he eventually saved enough for his own shipping and delivery business.

The Autumn Gale
At Pilgrim’s Trench, Utei will disclose that she’s responsible for all the salvaging, the rest of her team consisting of her sons An-Ru, Blue Throat and Peracles, who are just there for experience. She has managed to recover everything but a single lease agreement from the wreck. Recently injured by a slaughterfish, she suggests the player try their hand at retrieving the final document, giving them the waterbreathing potions and promising half her fee on success.

The lease can be found in a chest on the wreck of The Autumn Gale, north of the salvagers’ camp. Utei will suggest taking it to Herran, and reward the player with 400 gold.

Express Delivery Service
Returning to the Frozen Hearth, the player will find Asgeld, the intended recipient of the lease, frantic about the potential loss of this vital document. Relieved by the fortuitous timing, Herran assuages his anger by claiming he went to great lengths to ensure the document’s recovery.

Asgeld will disclose that a fight broke out between his father and some trespassing hunters who he mistook for thieves, one of whom is planning to prosecute. The lease will prove that his claim of trespassing is valid, and possibly save his life. He asks the Dragonborn to examine the scene of the altercation and look for any clues, arranging to meet them at Winterfrost Cottage in the Haafingar hold.

Things Got Heated
At Winterfrost Cottage, Asgeld will present the player with his father’s testimony: Hearing a noise outside one evening, he discovered some trespassers had shot a deer. They offered to trade some venison for admittance to his cottage, to enjoy a drink and some warmth. Suspecting they could be bandits, he told them to leave his property and take the deer with them. An argument ensued and they shot arrows at him, so he ran inside for his axe. Fighting near the hearth, a candlehorn was knocked over, burning down his cottage.

Asgeld asks the player to examine the surviving evidence for anything corroborative, and act as an objective witness. Reiterating that his father will lose his life if found guilty, he asks the player to meet him at The Blue Palace in Solitude to help prove his innocence.

The Trial
Arriving at The Blue Palace, the trial will be under-way, with Elisif the Fair and Falk Firebeard presiding, and the hunter Foromir as the prosecution. Asgeld will greet the player enthusiastically and express his thanks for their presence, introducing their role as a cross-examiner.

Foromir presents his case: He was hunting a deer with a companion when a single arrow struck Winterfrost Cottage. To appease Asgeld’s father for the disturbance, they offered to share some venison, and he invited them inside. Foromir took The Wolf Queen from the top shelf of his bookcase and began to thumb through it when he heard his companion being attacked by an axe wielded by Asgeld’s father. Ordering his companion to leave, he wrestled the father to the ground, and in panic threw a nearby candlehorn at him, missing and setting fire to the house. He then used the distraction to escape.

The player has the opportunity to question Foromir twice whilst he presents his case; at the claim of an arrow hitting the cottage, and again when he mentions reading The Wolf Queen.

As Elisif is about to commence judgement, a courier arrives to provide Foromir with a message containing evidence that the Dragonborn is either disreputable or not impartial. Depending on the strength of the cross-examination and the associates of the player’s character, either Asgeld will concede to subject his father to trial by combat, or Foromir will drop his case. Foromir’s investigations will uncover the player’s Thieves Guild or Dark Brotherhood membership, having conversed with Rumarin, or an association with Asteria via completion of The Raven of Anvil quest.

To win the father’s freedom regardless of the player character’s moral alignment, the player should assert that there were several arrows scattered on the ground outside the cottage, though Foromir claims there was only one, and that he couldn’t have taken The Wolf Queen from the top shelf as the books were stored in alphabetical order.

If defeated, Asgeld will remain gracious and give the Dragonborn 500 gold for their efforts. Aware that his father stands no chance of winning a trial by combat, his only concern will be spending time with him. If victorious, he will reward the player with a levelled, enchanted light armour. They can later be found at The Winking Skeever, and if triumphant will be in high spirits, giving the player a bottle of Mogo’s Mead to celebrate with them.

The Gales of Guilt (HerranQuest)
Stage	Information
0	Talk to Herran at Winterhold’s Frozen Hearth.
10	Deliver the potions to the salvage team.
20	Investigate the wreckage in Pilgrim’s Trench.
30	Return to the Argonian salvager.
40	Receive 400 gold reward. Deliver the lease document to Herran in Winterhold.
60	Travel to Winterfrost Cottage and wait for Asgeld to arrive.
70	Study the crime scene at Winterfrost Cottage.
80	Meet Asgeld at The Blue Palace.
220	Receive 500 gold reward.
300	Receive enchanted cuirass reward.