So I'm in the main square of Riften, and I remember I noticed earlier I accidentially picked up (stole) two wooden plates when I was stealing the food that was on them somewhere. So I drop them (having no way to sell them (not being in the Thief's Guild nor having moved up the Speech tree far enough to have a vendor to fence them)). This triggers the random event where two NPCs fight over a dropped item, with the NPCs in this case being Marise Aravel and Brand-Shei. Brand-Shei then kills Marise in front of at least a half dozen people but then just walks away without being arrested by the guards or anything. (The UESP wiki says she's bugged so the guards don't come to her aid. I guess they normally stop such a fight eventually?)So I feel slightly less guilty for having him sent to jail after I then planted the ring on him for the first Thief's Guild quest. (I now find out HE'S bugged and will never be let out unless you have the unoffical patch or use a console command-I'll let him stew in jail for awhile and console him out, I guess. He is a useful vendor (she actually wasn't since she had only 50ish gold IIRC).I did feel a little bit guilty for then getting an inheritance from her (I got her the Ice Wraith Teeth earlier), since I triggered the event, but who fights over a couple (stolen) wooden plates anyways?In fact, I then couldn't morally finish the next Thief's Guild quest. I'm playing my character as basically a nice guy, and you can't really do that quest without being a complete bastard.

Next time drop your dishes in the sink

Now, that reminds me of another time when I dropped a stolen Woodcutter's Axe in the little river/canol below the exit from Whiterun. It stayed in the same place for over an in-game month (my main base is Breezehome so I checked on it often), but eventually the "Stolen" tag disappeared so I picked it up and sold it.

It's amazing what NPCs will fight over. I dropped a wooden plate in Hjerim once by accident while doing some redecorating and my housecarl and follower tried to kill each other over it - I had to Fus Ro Dah them to get them to stop and behave themselves. Later I dropped an expensive enchanted weapon and the same follower just picked it up and handed it back to me and the housecarl never even noticed.

Come to think of it, they also tried to fight each other to the death over a dropped copy of The Gourmet's cookbook. A plate and a cookbook? Maybe I should leave them both at home to cook my meals and take someone else on adventures.

haha I remember you talking about this before. Wasn't it you who also had your housecarl and Ulfric going at it? Or maybe that was Aurora Winter.

And I say leave them at home with the cookbook and the dishes

I was trying to arrange some things in Breezehome and thought that nice dibella statue I stole would make a fine bed side table piece. Well I set it down and picked it up again... and Ysolda my wife started screaming thief and called the guard. On ME, her own husband! I quickly dumped it in a chest as the guards came bursting in and had to use my "I'm Thane, Get the hell outta my house!" card.

That was the first and last time any of my characters married Ysolda...

Man's gotta do what a man's gotta do...

...sometimes, that's crockery.

I don't remember Ulfric getting into it with anyone else like that, he would've shouted first thing so I'm sure I'd remember that. It was Calder and whoever I had as a follower hanging about at the time - not Marcurio, it was another more fighter-looking type. I think it was the merc who hangs out in Candlehearth Hall, I had him for a while on one playthrough when I also had Hjerim and would've had Calder as a housecarl there. What's that guy's name? I can't remember. I had him for a follower for quite a while on that character, at least early on - I remember taking him to kill the first dragon outside Whiterun and going back and forth between Windhelm and other places with him. Was probably doing the CW and started the MQ in the course of that. I think I dumped him when I got tired of him complaining about the cold every time we went into a cave or something... I remember thinking "you're a Nord, shut up about the cold you wuss" and finally getting sick of hearing it.