You've heard it plenty of times. You got thu'um-happy somewhere, be it in the middle of town or in a dungeon. Next thing you know the Courier is chasing you down and handing you a "Letter from A Friend".

But just who is it? Sometimes you get one from using shouts in some gods-forsaken back-end middle-of-nowhere locale where you left no survivors. So how could "A Friend" know you were using the Thu'um?

Some people say it's Delphine... but for all her spymastery, even she still has mundane limitations; she cannot be everywhere at once.

I have a theory... it's divine in origin: it's from Talos.

He watches on high, sees His successor getting Thu'um-happy somewhere, then sends through one of His avatars a letter (or maybe it just manifests in the courier's bag), and presto.


Who besides the Blades or Greybeards would truly understand the nature of the Dragonborn's "talents" but one who was one before?


Who would be able to know just where all the Word Walls are but someone who was all-seeing... like a God? And again, who would know such things could only be unlocked by a Dragonborn? Someone who was one before.

Sound plausible?

I had the same exact thought

I wish it was signed Wulf. That would be Epic.

I'm pretty sure I've gotten one of these letters. Just in case though, what does the letter say exactly?

In the underlying game mechanics, it is caused by someone seeing you use the Thu'um. Use a shout in a city. As a rule of thumb, once a guard tells you to stop that "...shouting", the courier note should be flagged. A short time later, you should be chased down by a courier next time you're in a civilized place, and given a "http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Letter_from_a_Friend"

You would think a god, or any sort of deity for that matter, would use something other than the postal service to send their messages though.

Well... if it were a more overt manifestation, either the avatar or by the Dragonborn going "I met Talos!", then that would raise unwanted Thalmor attention.

This way is far more discrete, and guides the Dragonborn to where they can gain more powers of Thu'um without Thalmor interruption, increasing the odds that the Dragonborn would then subsequently use it to kill your ilk.

Ah, ok. I'm pretty sure I have that letter. I know I've shouted in a city. I used the Whirlwind Sprint shout in the middle of Solitude just to show everyone how cool I am and how I'm so much better than they are that I can do that and they can't, lol.

"Letter" singular?

Just you wait...

Do you still get the letters if you've completed the CW in favor of the Empire?

Seeing that the Imperial-sided nords do the smart thing that the Empire hoped the nords would do from the start and carry out their Talos worship discretely... probably.

There can be nords in the empire, everyone just views it as:

empire=imperials(cyrodills)
stormcloaks=nords(people of skyrim)

I think its batman just look at what part of the letter says

I believe it's M'aiq.

Then how come the letters are true

Yes you do.

I'm currently doing that strand of quests on my rather shouty Orc Destroyer. You can still get the letters when you used the shout in a dungeon where you left no draugr surviving.

At first I thought it was Esbern, but then again I was getting them before he is introduced to the dragonborn in the MQ so that rules him out. The Graybeards on the other hand are aware when you use a word of power - as shown by them calling you after you use a word for the first time. Don't forget that they can hear 'the whisper of a word'

Now Borri, Wulfgar and einarth cannot speak to you because their voice is too powerful so it stands to reason that it is one or all of those. Communication being only possible by letter