Lore:Riften

(sometimes called Rifton)  is one of the nine major cities in the province of  ,   and is the hold capital of  . Built on the shores of  , nestled within the Fall Forest,  Riften lies close to Skyrim's borders with   and  ,  and enjoys robust trade with the latter via the nearby pass through the  .   Riften is also the home of the   in Skyrim,  and has become infamous as a town where the aspiring rogue or thief can rise among the criminal underworld.  
 

Layout & Geography
thumb|left|Riften's crest circa 4E 201
thumb|right|A map of Skyrim
Riften lies on the eastern shore of  , in a region of the Rift known as the  , and is surrounded by the expansive Fall Forest. Lake Honrich is one of the largest lakes in northern Tamriel, and is connected to the smaller   in the northwest by the winding  . In the center of Lake Honrich lies the  . Riften, as with the rest of the Rift, enjoys a relatively temperate climate compared to the other   thanks to the mountains of  , which separates the Rift from   and the  , blocking the cold weather that comes from the north. One of the  , the Shadow Stone, can be found overlooking the city from the southern gate. Much of the land surrounding Riften is farmland, such as the Merryfair Farm, the Snow-Shod Farm, and the Thornwell Farm, among others.   serves an important bulwark against incursions from the north. Riften was also neighbored by several settlements, including   to the west,   to the north, and Morrowind to the east, towards  .  

thumb|right|Mistveil Keep
Riften's architecture and layout reflect the local environment and its role as a center of trade. In the  , buildings are made of wood from the forest, and the heart of the city is its market square and dockyards, which together are known as the Plankside district. Plankside is separated from the rest of the city, Dryside, by a large canal with water-level entrances to lower quarters and a complex sewer system. These sewers, affectionately called The Ratway, are used as a refuge for the impoverished and outlaws, and also hold the headquarters of the Thieves Guild in Skyrim, who can trace their origins in Riften back to the  . There is a   on the city's east side, a chapter of the  .

Several noble families inhabited Riften, most notoriously the   family, canny political manipulators who owned the Black-Briar Meadery. Another clan was the   family, who were staunch supporters of the   in the  .   is the seat of the Jarl of Riften and contains the barracks of the city guard.
 

History
At some point in the Second Era, Riften was raided by Dark Elves of an unknown creed, in which they hit several farms across the area. Not long after, a local Nord,   had gathered warriors from all across Skyrim and began his series of campaigns across Morrowind's coast come springtide. He sailed off with an army of warriors once or twice a year, and wreak havoc across the province. One such example was when he sacked the port-town of  . His exploits were documented and celebrated for several years. Statues depicting Unnvald were erected in Riften and Windhelm. 

In his youth,   of   studied at   on the Isle of Gold in Lake Honrich. When the   occurred in  , Jorunn and his closest comrades, the Pack of Bards, were in Riften when they received the news. They fought their way north to Windhelm, but were too late to stop the sacking of the city by the   of   and the slaying of Jorunn's mother and sister, Queen   and Princess  . Jorunn barely escaped the sacking alive. After journeying to the   for aid and rallying the Nords of Eastern Skyrim, he claimed the title of Skald-King and amassed an army to defend Riften from the approaching  . Upon finding Riften heavily fortified,   decided to divert his army away from the city and towards Morrowind. The Kamal were later defeated at a decisive battle in   and an alliance known as the   was formed, with Jorunn leading the helm as the newly-crowned High King of Eastern Skyrim. Riften joined the Ebonheart Pact with the rest of Eastern Skyrim,    but in doing so, they took down Unnvald's statues and essentially erased any information regarding his legacy. He was forced to retire and accept the Thanedom of  . 

thumb|right|Wuuthrad & the Spirit of Sinmur
During the   in  , the city of Riften was a small yet bustling mercantile hub. Riften suffered considerable damage in a conflict against the   that ravaged the Rift, and involved the Ebonheart Pact as well as the spirits of the  .   summoned the spirit of the giant chieftain   the Terrible,  who then rampaged through Riften's northern wall and left nearby farmsteads in ruins on his way to  .   The city guard, under the command of Captain  , tended to the damage, with an   of the Pact aiding the effort.  Meanwhile, the Worm Cult unleashed zombies in the back alleys of Riften at the direction of the Anchorite  , who possessed a shard of   that was needed to end Sinmur's threat.  Once the situation in Riften was resolved, the Pact's army marched to Trolhetta while the Agent gathered more pieces of Wuuthrad across the Smokefrost Peaks. 

thumb|left|The Ratway
Around this time, the   began showing an interest in Riften, and an agent was sent to scout it and compile a report on its layout, merchants, and guard patrols.  The city had a small sewer system used only as a "rat pathway" which the Guild believed would be expanded as Riften grew, and it was hoped that the tunnels could someday be utilized in their activities.  This proved prescient, and by the  , the enlarged sewers would become a den of criminal activity known as The Ratway.  A cistern beneath the city had also been converted into an outlaws refuge, and was occupied by a gang of local Nords called the Skull-Brethren. 

thumb|left|Riften during the Imperial Simulacrum
In the early  , the young   traveled to Riften and became acquainted with the Thieves Guild. On one fateful day, Barenziah and her guild associates attempted to rob the Imperial Commandment's building in the city. It was here that   re-encountered Barenziah and brought her back to  .   During the   in the late Third Era, the city of Riften was ruled by King Bjis, and had a rivalry with  . 

Riften continued to prosper well into the  , when both its size and affluence reached their zenith. However, the city fell into a period of decline beginning in  , when the   was assassinated.   was installed as the next Jarl of Riften, and although many believed Hosgunn was responsible for the previous Jarl's murder, he used the city guard to brutally quash any dissent and solidify his rule. Over the course of his long reign, the new Jarl imposed strict curfews, harsh punishments, and unreasonably high taxes on the people, spending most of the accrued gold on the construction of a massive and lavish wooden castle for himself. As Riften sank into squalor and its people succumbed to disease and famine, the city finally reached its breaking point and a popular revolt broke out in  . Hosgunn's castle, by then derisively known as "Hosgunn's Folly", was set alight, creating a conflagration that quickly consumed the entire city. Although Jarl Hosgunn's tyranny was brought to an end that night, many citizens perished, and Riften was left in ruins. The city was rebuilt over the next five years into a smaller, gloomy, fortress-like town of wooden structures and rough stonework, which it remained as of  . 

During the   in  , Riften and the Rift were affiliated with the  , the rebel group that sought to split Skyrim from the   and crown   as High King of Skyrim.   was the Jarl of Riften at the time, and despite aligning with Ulfric, she was not fully convinced by the Stormcloak cause or Ulfric's leadership.  The Snow-Shod clan avidly supported the Stormcloaks, while the Black-Briars were friendly to the Empire. 

Meanwhile, the Thieves Guild was experiencing a long streak of misfortune that had resulted in the loss of much of its influence in Skyrim.  There were many theories about their sudden downfall, but the troubles began after Guildmaster   was killed in   by one of his allies,  . During Gallus' time as the guildmaster, he maintained relationships with the influential families of Skyrim and kept the Thieves Guild's business safe across the province.  With his death, the Thieves Guild had fallen into obscurity, but continued their alliance with the matriarch of the Black-Briar family,  . A   eventually helped the Thieves Guild regain its lost glory, expose the murder of Gallus, and reassert itself throughout Skyrim. 

Gallery
 

Notes
Arena was originally conceived as a fighting game featuring a tournament that took the player to each of Tamriel's cities to challenge different gladiatorial teams. According to a file from that stage of development left behind in the final game, Riften's gladiatorial team would have been called "the Furies". 

See Also
For game-specific information, see the Arena, Skyrim, and ESO articles.

Books




References