Skyrim: Killing These NPCs Breaks EVERYTHING

Narfi

Ivarstead is a quaint picturesque hamlet located inbetween Riften and Whiterun, though players will most likely only find themselves swinging by when they're preparing to make their first trek up the Throat of the World to visit the Greybeards.

One local they might not meet until later on in the game however is Narfi, the mentally unstable hermit who spends all of his days living alone in the burned out shell of his family's old house. It's clear that many in the village hold him in contempt, which makes for a pretty long list of suspects when it comes to trying to work out who had put a contract on his life during the Dark Brotherhood questline.

That's reason number one for keeping him alive, at least until that point in the Dark Brotherhood story anyway. If he's destined to go down, might as well be paid for it.

Most players tend to get this far with Narfi, but there's much more to this character than what meets the eye, and killing him off too soon can completely break how the game wants you to see the hermit.

Ivarstead is already a less defended settlement than the big towns with walls around them, and Narfi's ruins that he calls home are even more isolated and exposed to the wolves, bears and frostbite spiders that sporadically attack the area. It's not uncommon for players to stumble across Narfi's corpse courtesy of one of these wild animals before even being able to interact with him.

But, it's not just a contract and the desired opening to the Dark Brotherhood questline that is ruined by Narfi being killed. The mystery behind Narfi, the townsfolk of Ivarstead and Narfi's sister, Reyda, is one of the most fascinating and under-appreciated mysteries present in the game.

Only Narfi can prompt an investigation into the fate of his sister through the quest, The Straw That Broke, a lore-filled quest that will end with the Dragonborn being gifted various rare alchemical ingredients, as well as giving Narfi a 'friendly' tag that will result in the player being in the running for an inheritance letter should the character die after the quest is completed.

What's important about all of this is whilst these lore-driven investigations are obviously impossible to complete if the character dies. The game also makes it impossible to complete if the player has already joined up with the Dark Brotherhood and been given Narfi's contract before they speak to him.