Skyrim:The Ratway

There are three zones to the Ratway, namely The Ratway, The Ratway Vaults, and The Ratway Warrens. The entrance to the sewer is below The Scorched Hammer, and the nearest stairs down to the lower level of Riften are beside Honorhall Orphanage. The sewers can also be accessed through The Ragged Flagon, after joining the Thieves Guild. The Ratway is used by non-members of The Thieves Guild to access The Ragged Flagon.
 

Residents
 

Related Quests
Thieves Guild
 
 

Other
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Walkthrough
The Ratway
At the bottom of the steps from the main entrance is a woodcutter's axe. Past this there are two alcoves. On the left is a hanging moss growing through the grate in the floor. At the end of the tunnel are two shady characters discussing their decision to move into the Ratway and attack anyone looking to pass. To the left of the campfire is a small coin purse. Past these ruffians is a square room with an unowned bed roll and a single piece of bread between the bed roll and the right wall. On the floor opposite the bed roll is an iron mace. From here you can see a raised bridge. The lever to lower the bridge is on the other side, so it is not possible to get to it directly.

You must drop down to the stone floor below, where a wandering skeever makes its home. A darkened tunnel is blocked by an expert-locked gate, while a lit tunnel leads to an apprentice-trapped wooden door. The trap triggers a spear trap from the left side that is easily avoided by simply stepping back.

The next room has an oil slick, with an oil lantern hanging above. To the left are iron boots, a woodcutter's axe, and a pair of gloves. Another skeever makes its home in the tunnel on the left.

Through the open door opposite is a small room containing an unowned bed roll in the corner. Shelves hold some bread and cheese, a seared slaughterfish steak, and a bulb of garlic. Three septims are inaccessible in (or under) a pot, while a fourth may be blown out of the room by burning the oil slick outside.

Through the closed door awaits Gian the Fist, who wears the unique Gloves of the Pugilist. He has a very high detection level, making it nearly impossible to sneak up to him. He sits at the far side of the room beside his bed roll. Just inside the door are five bear traps. The room contains a cooking pot, an unowned hay pile in the corner, and four bottles of Nord mead scattered on the ground. In an alcove is an alchemy lab with a bottle of alto wine and a leveled random poison, with a second leveled poison on the floor to its left.

The next room has a leveled potion of health on the sill of a round grate at the foot of the stairs. On the third step from the top of the stairs, on the left-hand side, is a pressure plate that activates a battering ram from behind you. With the Pets of Skyrim Creation installed, Skritch's cage can be found next to the stairs. With the Dawnfang & Duskfang Creation installed, the entrance to the Guardian Vault is in the southern corner, through a sewer grate.

Through the locked grated door at the top of the stairs is a small naturally lit room, with vegetation growing in the center including a blue mountain flower, and roots hanging down from the ceiling all around the room. There is an executioner's block with an iron battleaxe driven into it near two hanging moss hanging down. With the Shadowfoot Sanctum Creation installed, the entrance to Shadowfoot Sanctum can be found behind a gate in this room.

Continuing through the next tunnel, you will come upon a Lowlife who is facing away from you. On the table is a copy of the Pickpocket skill book Beggar, a loaf of bread, a salt pile, and a drum. There are two tunnels to the north. The left-hand tunnel leads to the raised bridge seen previously from the other side and its associated lever. The right-hand tunnel leads to the expert-locked gate seen previously. The door to the east leads to The Ragged Flagon.

During the quest A Cornered Rat, Shavari will be seen around town, and will be waiting for you as soon as you enter the Ratway.

The Ratway Vaults
The only way to get to the vaults is through The Ragged Flagon; the door is to the right of the bar. The door opens to a large three-floored room. The darkened path heads to the left and passes two small alcoves before exiting to the east into a tunnel. At the end of the tunnel where it enters a room, there is a tripwire that triggers two swinging maces from the ceiling straight ahead. In the left-hand corner of the room is an unowned bed with a dead Nord lying on top. There is a campfire opposite the entrance, with three blocks of wood for seats, a food sack, and three loaves of bread beside it; three skeevers are nearby. Through a wooden door is another tunnel heading south. By a barred window on the right are a lit brazier and a chair, and leaning against the bars is a random battleaxe. Above the brazier is a garlic braid and some dried frost mirriam.

Following the path around the pillar and the next corner, there are two alcoves to the left. The second alcove has no floor and an oil lantern that can be knocked down onto an oil slick on the floor of the level below. The tunnel then turns west and at the end turns north, leading into the first room on the next level down from the initial entrance. There is a Vagrant patrolling along the path. Complete the circle and continue going under the entrance. The passage continues into a room in darkness. The room contains an anvil, a workbench with a pair of random enchanted gauntlets, three iron ingots, and a leather strip on top, and an unlocked chest in the hay behind the anvil. There is a lit tunnel heading west opposite the workbench, with an iron helmet on the ground. The room after this is guarded by another Vagrant who uses a bow at the top of two flights of stairs and a Lowlife by a table at the bottom. The room contains a long wooden table and chairs in the middle of the room with a random enchanted war axe, three small coin purses, one large coin purse, six loose septims, a loaf of bread, and two miniature chests, one unlocked and the other apprentice-locked, both containing minor loot. Under the stairs, against the north wall are two sets of shelves holding a woodcutter's axe among a lot of clutter and an apprentice-locked chest to the right. Painted on the wall above is the "Loot" shadowmark. The chest contains Dravin's bow among its loot, a unique bow stolen from Dravin Llanith, the owner of Merryfair Farm just outside Riften to the north. He and his wife were recently robbed; speaking to him will initiate a quest to recover the bow from thieves in the Ratway. A short tunnel leads south from here to an overgrown corner section of the tunnel that contains a skeever. The tunnel eventually opens up to the first room again, this time on the bottom floor. There is an open gate opposite, and barred windows line the east wall. On the ground is a pickaxe, while against the north wall is a straw bale with a couple food sacks nearby. Beyond the open gate on the ground is a small oil slick below the oil lantern seen in the tunnel above (if the slick hadn't previously been burned away by dropping the lantern from above). Against the south wall, behind more bars is a random Fortify Health potion on the ground, and to the left is a short tunnel leading down some stairs to a door that opens into the Ratway Warrens.

During the quest A Cornered Rat, two Thalmor soldiers and a Thalmor wizard will be found in the Vaults, with the wizard opposite the entrance, and the soldiers each on one of the floors below.

The Ratway Warrens
You enter into a darkened tunnel with an apprentice-locked gate on your right and a lit room behind. At the end, the tunnel turns west and ends in an open doorway into the same room. In front is a flight of stone stairs leading up to a ledge above, with a pickaxe on the ground at the bottom. On your right is some wooden scaffolding, while on the left is a straw bale, and beyond that a wooden door. This opens into a small room containing Salvianus, a mad, retired Imperial soldier who fought in the Great War. He is normally found sitting on a chair eating bread. He rambles, and doesn't seem to make much sense. There is an unowned bed roll on the ground, and a wooden table at the rear of the room with two leveled potions (one of pickpocketing and the other of light feet), an enchanted iron dagger, an Imperial officer's helmet, and a red apple on top, and an unlocked chest underneath. All of these items are marked as owned, and taking them is considered stealing.

To the right of the stairs, against the north wall is an apprentice-locked door, behind which you can hear a female who also sounds disturbed. Her name is Hefid the Deaf, and she is sitting on the ground in the dark facing away from you. She is carrying several items, including a burned book, a bucket, a flawless garnet, an inkwell, and an iron dagger. She constantly checks to ensure she hasn't lost any item. You may not be able to interact with her in order to pickpocket or even view the items.

At the top of the stairs is an unlocked gate directly in front, behind which Knjakr, a mad chef, will attack as soon as you approach, declaring, ''"I'm going to eat well tonight, my darling!"'' implying he's a cannibal. His apparel consists of a chef's tunic, a chef's hat, and a pair of shoes. He is armed with an iron war axe. His room has partially caved in, with an unowned bed roll, a table with a piece of random raw meat on top, and a grindstone in the small area not covered with earth. To the south is another small room containing an unowned single bed and an empty table behind an unlocked gate. To the left of this room is an alcove with a large square hole in the floor that drops down into Salvianus' room. At the end of the raised walkway is a substantial door with many locks, bolts, and chains. If you try to open the door, a small slot will open, and a man will explain you are not welcome and threaten you. During the quest A Cornered Rat, you discover this to be the door to Esbern's room. The room is very well stocked and decorated, certainly out of place for the Ratway.

During the quest A Cornered Rat, the only person seen in the Warrens is Salvianus. Everyone else has disappeared. When you reach the heavily-locked door and go through the conversation, eventually Esbern will admit who he is and let you in. His room contains a single bed with a small table beside it holding copies of The Dragon Break and The Rise and Fall of the Blades and a random enchanted dagger. A stack of crates beside this table has a potion of health on top, and at the foot of the bed is an unlocked chest. A dresser can be found opposite with rolls of paper on top. A woodcutter's axe is leaning against the west wall, with a desk near the same wall with a salt pile, a portion of grilled leeks, a bottle of Nord mead, the One-handed skill book Fire and Darkness, and several common books on top and piled on the floor beside it. A bookcase behind the desk holds a further eleven common books, as well as copies of Magic from the Sky, The Dragon War, Feyfolken III, Children of the Sky, and The Wolf Queen, v6, a bottle of Nord mead, a silver jeweled necklace, and twelve loose septims. There is a small set of shelves against the south wall with four more common books, two red apples, and a loaf of bread. There is an end table beside the door, with a common book and a copy of Lost Legends on top and a cooking pot in the corner beside it. An adjacent counter wraps around to the south wall, with a raw rabbit leg, two charred skeever hides, two skeever tails, a gourd, a blue butterfly wing, two random potions, a bottle of alto wine, and a bottle of Nord mead on top and on the shelves underneath. Hanging above the counter are two whole salmon, two garlic braids, and two bunches of dried elves ear.

When you leave Esbern's room, or if you stay too long, you will be attacked by another Thalmor soldier and wizard.

Notes
The Ratway, the Ratway Vaults, and The Ragged Flagon never respawn. However, the Ratway Warrens respawn on a standard ten-day schedule.
In the Ratway, the skeever is a good climber, and likely has already attacked the Lowlife. You can usually hear this happen soon after entering the initial entrance.
If you make enough noise in the Ratway entrance, the Lowlife may grab the iron battle axe, deal with the skeever, and rush toward you even before you've jumped beneath the raised bridge.
During A Cornered Rat, the only NPC that remains in the Ratway Vaults is the Nord who is alive; all the others are gone, while a few Thalmor are added, the locations of which are on the quest page.
There are three shadowmarks found here:
A "Guild" shadowmark is on the left side of the ground before the gated door to The Ragged Flagon. It's marked for being the headquarters of the Thieves Guild.
A "Loot" shadowmark is above the chest in the northwest room of the Ratway Vaults.
A "Danger" shadowmark can be seen after going through Riftweald Manor and before dropping down into the Ratway Vaults.
In Legends, there is a reference to the Ratway, with a card named  . 

Bugs
 
 

Maps