So I started a new game (a cleric character), and Iv'e barely done anything yet. I chopped some wood, cleared a cave (embershard mine), and then did the golden claw quest, and that's it. I go back to town and the infamous "Hired Thugs" are there waiting for me, I'm like wtf did I do?

So I kill them, loot them, and read the note. Apparently I somehow pissed of a woman named Moira, according to the UESP she's a hagraven. http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Moira

Anyone have a clue as to why she would want me dead? Is this a new bug in the latest patch?

Did a quick a search and apparently I'm not the only one.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/615803-/60970289

Sounds like you've been drinking

Edit: Huh, except that quest can't be started until you're at least level fourteen, odd.

Hmm, if you're talking about the drinking contest quest, then no. I haven't even been to whiterun yet!

Aaahhhhh, I figured it out.

That old woman in the cabin near Riverwood is a part of the Hagraven faction. http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Anise

I was really confused there for a while.

If you're after her alchemy book, you can sneak around to the back of the cabin, reach the book through the window and read it, and then put it back and she'll be none the wiser. No thugs coming after you later.

Well I killed her.

I went into her basemant and she attacked me, oh well.

Stealing things from people, BEFORE killing them? And people say I'm crazy...

Even so, Moira is not related to Anise from what I know. Moira is related to the A night to remember quest where you start drinking with your new friend Sam Guevenne, then you need to find him and solve the puzzle of what happened that night.

Iv'e done that quest on other characters. but not on this one. I haven't even been out of the general vicinity of Riverwood and I'm only level 6.

Edit: I have an idea...
Does anyone know of a way to check who an item belongs to via console? I think some of the stuff I took from Anise's cabin may have belonged to Moira...and that's why she wants me dead.

I believe I read somewhere that Moira is Anise's sister. Or maybe I didn't read it and Anise said something about her. Anyway I got two different DB attempts from her, and then she gave up.

I stole a hagraven feather from anise's cabin and Moira sent 3 thugs after me. So that may cause the hired thugs too, since the feathers might belong to moira...

I haven't been attacked yet by thugs on my latest char, even though this is the first one to actually find Anise's cellar and kill her. Her note to Helgi mentioned that she had a sister (unnamed) and that they could start a coven. Hm, we'll see if I get any hired goons, but it's been a few days and nothing. Oh, wait... I didn't take anything from her hut, at least I don't think so.

On the only character I killed Anise, Moira sent thugs right after. It's related to that. And at early levels on master, boy was that a crazy fight. Top 3 toughest battle I had in Skyrim.


If you just want the alchemy book boost early on, you can just read the book without stealing it. Leave it on the table. Don't even need to sneak. Anise don't mind you reading it. Just don't put it in your inventory.

I've bumped into sam in riften on one character, whiterun on another and windhelm on my most recent...

LOL!

I did that quest but didn't even talk to Moira; I figured it out before the "goat" part. Man, I want to do that quest again so I can meet Moira.

Agreed. I'm playing a thief/assassin on MASTER and it took me at least a dozen reloads to survive the fight with those 3 thugs. I was actually worried that I'd have to decrease the difficulty to get past it.

That, and the pyromancer at Morvunskar (part of the drinking context quest mentioned above to get Sanguine) were my two most difficult fights in the game. Others have probably been harder where I accidentally pull aggro from a dozen mobs, but with those I just reload and take a completely different approach. There was absolutely no way to get around those 3 thugs or the the pyromancer in Morvunskar. Lucky critical hits and potions saved me both times.

Well I just made a new character to test some stuff out.

It seems that everything in the basemant belongs to Moira, not Anise. Even killing Anise doesn't get the thugs after you.

I had a similar experience with the innkeeper in Kynesgrove. I think the reason it happened to me was that I rented a room, placed some items that were legitimately mine in a chest in the roo, then when I retrieved them the UI said "steal" instead of "take" for each item. Either way, the thugs are dead and I am alive. I just wish I could go have a conversation with that innkeeper about it.

Just had a visit from three thugs, while I was sneaking up on a vampire contract kill, of all things. Funny thing was they were sent by a wood elf. I scratched my thatch for a bit then remembered I had been in sneak mode on the road to Dawnstar late at night (another contract) and came across a suspicious-looking wood elf. I pick pocketed him of some gold, maybe a lockpick, and went on my way. I may have to go back to Anise's cellar and steal something. Those thugs carry a lot of gold!