The Elder Scrolls IV
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~~The Elder Scrolls IV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TABLE OF CONTENTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OBLIVION~~
Table of Contents
Main Story...................................................MS00
Tutorial..................................................MS01
Deliver the Amulet........................................MS02
Find the Heir.............................................MS03
Breaking the Siege of Kvatch..............................MS04
Weynon Priory.............................................MS05
The Path of Dawn..........................................MS06
Dagon Shrine..............................................MS07
Spies.....................................................MS08
Blood of the Daedra.......................................MS09
Blood of the Divines......................................MS10
Miscarcand................................................MS11
Bruma Gate................................................MS12
Allies for Bruma..........................................MS13
The Wayward Knight (Cheydinhal)........................MS13-A
Bravil.................................................MS13-B
Anvil..................................................MS13-C
Chorrol................................................MS13-D
The Battle for Castle Kvatch...........................MS13-E
Leyawiin...............................................MS13-F
Skingrad...............................................MS13-G
Defense of Bruma..........................................MS14
Great Gate................................................MS15
Paradise..................................................MS16
Light the Dragonfires.....................................MS17
Imperial Dragon Armor.....................................MS18
Fighters Guild...............................................FG00
A Rat Problem.............................................FG01
The Unfortunate Shopkeeper................................FG02
The Desolate Mine.........................................FG03
Unfinished Business.......................................FG04
Drunk and Disorderly......................................FG05
Den of Thieves............................................FG06
Amelion's Debt............................................FG07
The Master's Son..........................................FG08
More Unfinished Business..................................FG09
Azani Blackheart..........................................FG10
The Wandering Scholar.....................................FG11
The Fugitives.............................................FG12
Trolls of Forsaken Mine...................................FG13
The Stone of St. Alessia..................................FG14
The Noble's Daughter......................................FG15
Mystery at Harlun's Watch.................................FG16
Information Gathering.....................................FG17
Infiltration..............................................FG18
The Hist..................................................FG19
Expelled From the Fighters Guild..........................FG20
Mages Guild..................................................MG00
Anvil Recommendation......................................MG01
Bravil Recommendation.....................................MG02
Bruma Recommendation......................................MG03
Cheydinhal Recommendation.................................MG04
Chorrol Recommendation....................................MG05
Fingers of the Mountain................................MG05-A
Fingers of the Mountain, Part II.......................MG05-B
Leyawiin Recommendation...................................MG06
Skingrad Recommendation...................................MG07
A Mage's Staff............................................MG08
Ulterior Motives..........................................MG09
Vahtacen's Secret.........................................MG10
Necromancer's Moon........................................MG11
Liberation or Apprehension?...............................MG12
Information at a Price....................................MG13
A Plot Revealed...........................................MG14
The Bloodworm Helm........................................MG15
The Necromancer's Amulet..................................MG16
Ambush....................................................MG17
Confront the King.........................................MG18
Mages Guild Suspension....................................MG19
Thieves Guild................................................TG00
May the Best Thief Win....................................TG01
Independent Thievery......................................TG02
Untaxing the Poor.........................................TG03
The Elven Maiden..........................................TG04
Ahdarji's Heirloom........................................TG05
Misdirection..............................................TG06
Lost Histories............................................TG07
Taking Care of Lex........................................TG08
Turning a Blind Eye.......................................TG09
Arrow of Extrication......................................TG10
Boots of Springheel Jak...................................TG11
The Ultimate Heist........................................TG12
Cast Out of the Thieves Guild.............................TG13
Dark Brotherhood.............................................DB00
A Knife in the Dark.......................................DB01
A Watery Grave............................................DB02
Accidents Happen..........................................DB03
Scheduled for Execution...................................DB04
The Renegade Shadowscale..................................DB05
The Assassinated Man......................................DB06
The Lonely Wanderer.......................................DB07
Bad Medicine..............................................DB08
Whodunit?.................................................DB09
Permanent Retirement......................................DB10
Of Secret and Shadow......................................DB11
The Purification..........................................DB12
Affairs of a Wizard.......................................DB13
Next of Kin...............................................DB14
Broken Vows...............................................DB15
Final Justice.............................................DB16
A Matter of Honor.........................................DB17
The Coldest Sleep.........................................DB18
A Kiss Before Dying.......................................DB19
Following a Lead..........................................DB20
Honor Thy Mother..........................................DB21
Whispers of Death.........................................DB22
Dark Exile................................................DB23
Knights of the Nine..........................................KN00
Pilgrimage................................................KN01
The Shrine of the Crusader................................KN02
Priory of the Nine........................................KN03
Nature's Fury.............................................KN04
The Path of the Righteous.................................KN05
Stendarr's Mercy..........................................KN06
Wisdom of the Ages........................................KN07
The Faithful Squire.......................................KN08
The Sword of the Crusader.................................KN09
[MS00]
~~The Elder Scrolls IV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MAIN STORY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OBLIVION~~
[MS01]
<~~~~~~ TUTORIAL ~~~~~~>
This starter dungeon is your tutorial for the game. It covers most of the
basics. You start by choosing your race. Later you'll choose your birthsign
and class. You'll be given the opportunity to change all of these at the end
of the tutorial.
| Imperial Prison
+-----------------
Wander around your cell, playing with the chains and listening to the Dark Elf
across the way taunt you. Soon, Uriel Septim himself, accompanied by some of
his Blades, will show up and give you a way out. Follow them down into the
escape tunnel. You'll soon reach a place where the Emperor is attacked and
Renault is killed--stay out of this fight, as you don't have a weapon or armor
and you can't change the outcome anyway.
Loot Renault's corpse for her sword and a torch and search the assassin bodies
for miscellaneous stuff (mostly potions). From this point, you can't follow
the Emperor's party, but a convenient hole in the wall to the southeast soon
opens and a couple of rats run through.
Kill the rats, jump through the hole and watch out for more rats. Thoroughly
search this large cavern. A skeleton near the entrance has a bow and some
arrows, so you can start working on your Marksman skill. There are a number of
corpses--one has several lockpicks and another has a key to the exit door. The
exit is to the southeast; the lock can be picked if you haven't found the key.
(The body with the key is near the door.)
| Imperial Substructure
+-----------------------
There's a zombie at the bottom of the slope leading out of the first room.
This will be the strongest foe you've faced thus far. Other than that bit of
excitement, you're mostly just fighting rats and collecting loot. Near the
exit is a goblin early-warning system consisting of skulls hanging from the
ceiling.
| Natural Caverns
+-----------------
Soon after entering the caverns, you'll get your first lesson in sneaking. You
can just sneak past the goblin; but, might as well sneak up to him and give
him the business end of your weapon. Around the next corner is a tripwire. You
can jump the tripwire and then fight the goblin beyond it; or, try to run
through the tripwire and speed past the goblin, who will then take the brunt
of the swinging maces. Don't try this unless you have a Speed rating of 40 or
higher.
Not far past the swinging mace trap, you'll come upon a pile of logs at the
top of a slope. Activate the logs to take out the two goblins at the bottom of
the slope. Advance slowly down the slope to a very large cavern. There will be
three or four goblins in here, one of which is a witch with a lightning staff.
Use a bow or ranged spell to draw the weaker goblins to you, then bull-rush
the witch. The tunnel exit from this room eventually leads into the Imperial
Subteranne.
| Imperial Subteranne
+---------------------
You come out on a high ledge looking over Uriel Septim and his bodyguards.
Jump down into the room and Septim invites you to join the party. During the
conversation you'll select a birthsign. Don't worry too much about your
selection; you'll get to change it later. Follow the emperor and guards,
helping with the assassins as they attack. You'll eventually reach...
| The Sanctum
+-------------
Soon after entering the Sanctum, Baurus and the other guard go to scout ahead,
leaving you to guard the Emperor in a side room. Uriel Septim initiates
another conversation with you, this time charging you to take his Amulet of
Kings to Jauffre, who will know where to find the last remaining son of the
Emperor. As soon as you have the amulet, a Mythic Dawn assassin jumps through
a secret door and kills Septim.
[MS02]
<~~~~~~ DELIVER THE AMULET ~~~~~~>
| Sewers
+--------
Baurus and the other guard return in time to help you deal with the assassin.
You can then talk to Baurus about Jauffre. Jauffre is the Grandmaster of the
Blades--the Emperor's personal guard--and he bides his time at Weynon Priory
outside Chorrol.
Baurus also initiates your first chance to choose a class. Don't spend too
much time on it now; you can change it later (along with your race and
birthsign). He'll then point you through the door the assassin came through,
saying it leads to the sewers and freedom.
Follow the hall to the sewer entrance, then advance through the sewers. Soon
after entering, you'll come to a large room divided by water. There are two
exits. The left--north--exit leads to some loot guarded by goblins. The right-
-southeast--exit eventually leads to the long tunnel out of the sewers.
About halfway down the tunnel you'll come to a gate. When you Activate the
gate, you'll get a menu allowing you to change your race, birthsign, class or
exit the sewers.
*SAVE YOUR GAME*
You may even want to use the console command SaveGame to create a specially-
named save. Never delete this savegame. Whenever you want to start the game
over with a "new" character, just load this savegame and change your race,
birthsign and class, then exit the sewers. You never have to go through the
starter dungeon again. (Well, unless you go through the Dark Brotherhood
quests, but that's different.)
When you're happy with your choice of character, exit the sewers. You find
yourself looking out over a river toward some ruins. Behind you rises the
Imperial Prison and, beyond that, Imperial City itself.
| Imperial City
+---------------
You can, if you like, immediately Fast Travel to Weynon Priory; however, you
will probably want to stop in Imperial City and sell off any useless items you
collected in the starter dungeon. The main story beckons, but so does the
entire land of Cyrodiil. To quest, or not to quest, that is the question.
There are several reasons for starting the main story right away and leaving
everything else until later:
1) Several times during the main story you will be required either to protect
an NPC or fight a pitched battle against hordes of daedra with the help of
other NPCs. If you wait until you are higher level, the daedra you fight will
also be higher level. Alas, the NPCs around you will not. Once you get into
the late teens in level, the daedra you fight will have your allies for lunch
and come looking for you as dessert.
Fighting a mob of mid-level daedra isn't healthy. Not at all. You could wait
until your power rivals the Nine (around 35th or 40th level), at which point
the daedra you face simply can't keep up and you'll mow them down with ease.
That doesn't necessarily help in the "protect the NPC" quests, though.
At low levels, the daedra that spew forth from Oblivion are also low-level and
your allies can pitch in and actually do more than contribute to some demon's
indigestion. In this case, the leveled system works as intended and keeps the
tasks challenging, but not impossible.
2) If you do a little bit of the main story, up to taking Martin back to
Weynon Priory, you'll start the part of the game where random Oblivion gates
pop up around Cyrodiil. If you get up to that point in the main story, then go
side questing for a while, your way will eventually be impeded by all the
daedra roaming the countryside. Better to get to the end of the main story and
clear all that up.
3) When you finish the main story, you are proclaimed the Champion of Cyrodiil
and everyone loves you. Literally. You get a big Disposition increase with all
the NPCs, which makes all the side quests (many of which require a high
Disposition score with an NPC somewhere along the way) much easier. No mucking
about with the Disposition mini-game, or Charm spells or any thing like that.
Just chat with the people and they'll do whatever you want or tell you
anything you want to know. Makes the side quests a breeze.
4) A lot of the rewards for side quests are special enchanted items that are
keyed to your level--the higher your level, the more powerful the item. If you
collect all this junk at low levels, that's exactly what they will be...junk.
(PC users can download a mod that fixes this problem. See the Mods section at
the end of this guide.) Better to do all these side quests later and get the
uber leet gear instead of the fancy baubles.
Of course, you can ignore the voice of reason and go off side questing, in
which case, just skip on down to the section you want to see. For those of you
with a bit more wisdom, Fast Travel to...
| Weynon Priory
+---------------
Weynon Priory is located southeast of Chorrol. You can Fast Travel there from
the beginning of the game. Jauffre is typically found upstairs in the main
priory house, usually sitting at his desk. Talk to him for a history of the
kings, the Dragonfires and Oblivion. He'll also point you to Septim's lone
surviving heir, Martin, who serves as a priest of Akatosh in Kvatch.
Jauffre will take the amulet and charge you with finding Martin and bringing
him to Weynon Priory. After, ask Jauffre about assistance. He'll open his
chest and you can loot it for better armor, weapons and other things.
Downstairs, talk to Prior Maborel, who will offer the loan of his horse.
Accept, with thanks.
You now have some decent equipment and a horse, the world is yours! Or you can
get on with your mission to Kvatch. Now that you have a horse, you might want
to go overland to Kvatch rather than Fast Travel. You'll discover a lot of
locations that will be important for later quests.
[MS03]
<~~~~~~ FIND THE HEIR ~~~~~~>
| Outskirts of Kvatch
+---------------------
When you reach the outskirts of Kvatch, you find the city in flames. To the
south is a refugee camp, where you get the full story of daedra spewing forth
from an Oblivion gate. Questions about Martin lead you to Savlian Matius,
captain of the Kvatch guard, who is holding the line against the demons at the
entrance to Kvatch.
Wind your way up the hill and find Matius and a few troops fighting daedra.
(The specific type of daedra depend on your class level.) Pitch in, if you
wish. When the fighting is over, talk to Matius, who tells you Martin is holed
up inside the chapel in the city. Your only hope is to find out how to close
the Oblivion gate, so the soldiers can retake the city.
[MS04]
<~~~~~~ BREAKING THE SIEGE OF KVATCH ~~~~~~>
| Oblivion: Kvatch Gate
+-----------------------
Welcome to your primary task in the main story of Oblivion. You will soon grow
to hate Oblivion gates. Ah well, no better time than the present. Step up to
the glowing portal and Activate it and go to hell.
Literally.
Fire resistance is a good thing. Fire spells--not so good. Almost everything
you encounter in Oblivion is resistant to fire, but weak against shock damage.
Load up on shocking spells, or shock-enchanted weapons. (Funny--you would
think the weakness would be to frost. Anyway...) If you start encountering
Flame Atronachs, you can use frost against them. (Similarly, use fire against
Frost Atronachs. Against Storm Atronachs, use anything other than shock.)
As you enter Oblivion, you'll find a Kvatch guard under attack by daedra. If
the guard survives--his name is Ilend Vonius--talk to him and either send him
back to Matius, or ask him to come along and watch your back. Ahead of you
(north) is a bridge blocked by a gate. To the east is a dead end. Your path
lies to the west.
First note about Oblivion: these areas are all very linear. If you get lost,
just look at your map. There's usually only one way you can go.
Wind your way around the west side of this island, until you reach the
northwest section. Then you head back south--and a little east--eventually
reaching the large round tower in the center of the north sector of the
island.
This is a Sigil Keep. You'll get to know these well. This particular keep is
called Blood Feast. Lovely, isn't it? All Oblivion towers follow the same
basic layout:
* The tower is hollow in its center, with a Sigillum Sanguis at the top. To
reach the Sanguis, you have to climb through one to three side areas.
* Most Sigil Keeps have two side areas: Rending Halls and Corridors of Dark
Salvation. These areas are relatively small and feature a few daedra and
traps.
* In between the side areas, you'll climb some ramps around the central
hollow core of the tower.
First up in Blood Feast, as in most Sigil Keeps, is the Rending Halls. Enter
and climb the ramp, which takes a 90-degree turn. At the top, kill the daedra
and use the Blood Fountain for some health regeneration. Re-enter the tower
core through one of the two doors to the south.
Climb a ramp around the tower core to reach an entrance to the Corridors of
Dark Salvation. Wind your way up the ramp to a large room and dispose of the
daedra. The only unlocked exit from this room (besides the hall you just came
through) is to the west. This leads to a bridge over to a smaller tower.
In the small tower (Reapers Sprawl), climb the ramp and kill the Sigil Keeper.
Take a key from his body. Inside a cage is another Kvatch guard--still alive!
Talk to him to learn what you must do: enter the Sigillum Sanguis at the top
of the tower and remove the sigil stone. That will close the gate.
Go back to Blood Feast. You can now leave this room through either the north
or southwest door. The southwest door eventually leads back to the tower core,
but on a dead-end balcony. There is some loot here (in bloody hunks of meat
called "The Punished"). The north door leads to a ramp that curves to the
east.
At the top of the ramp, you'll see another ramp going down to the east and a
door to the south. The door goes to your objective. The ramp going down
eventually leads to another small tower, with some minor loot. Leave through
the south door at the top of the ramp, re-entering the core of Blood Feast.
Wind your way up the ramps to what looks like a dead end.
Find the round platform surrounded by spikes. It's a teleporter (only a few of
the Sigil Keeps have these). Step on it, Activate one of the spikes and you'll
reach the level where you can enter the Sigillum Sanguis.
All the Sanguis you enter are round rooms with three levels--you always enter
at the bottom of the room and the sigil stone is always at the top. Of course.
Fight your way up the stairs, and then up a ramp. When you reach the sigil
stone at the top, simply Activate it.
Things blow up. Lots of flashing. You're back in front of Kvatch with only a
burned out relic to remind you of the lovely Oblivion gate. Find and talk to
Matius. He wants you to come with them as they fight through to the survivors
in the chapel.
| Kvatch
+--------
*NOTE*: The only way to get Martin out of the chapel is to let Matius and his
men go in, going with them, and kill all the daedra inside the gates. If you
try to go it alone, the daedra keep respawning and you can't get the survivors
(including Martin) out of the church.
Charge into Kvatch with Matius and his men and kill daedra (about four or
five). Once you get a message that all the daedra are dead, enter the Temple
of Akatosh. Matius will get a report from one of his guards inside the temple,
and the survivors will head out to the refugee camp--Martin among them.
You have a couple of choices:
* Buttonhole Martin now and convince him to go with you to Weynon Priory. You
then leave Matius and company to their own devices (which is to stand
around and do nothing).
* Let Martin go on down to the refugee camp. You can find him there later,
perfectly safe, and have your heart-to-heart with him then. This frees you
up to do the "Battle for Castle Kvatch" sub-quest.
Regardless of what you decide to do, you must talk to Matius to officially end
Breaking the Siege of Kvatch. Matius will ask for your help re-taking the
Castle of Kvatch and finding the count. This is an optional sub-quest that
relates to the optional "Allies for Bruma" quest that comes later on. This
quest is covered under "Allies for Bruma", so if you want to do it now, skip
down a few sections and get the low-down on your tasks.
*NOTE* It is possible to do everything in Kvatch before ever visiting Jauffre
at Weynon Priory. But, if you do that, you won't be able to recognize Brother
Martin (he'll be labeled as a generic priest) and you won't be able to talk to
him about being the heir to the throne. If you do break the siege before
talking to Jauffre, you'll have to go talk to him, return to the refugee camp,
and there you will find Martin wandering about.
[MS05]
<~~~~~~ WEYNON PRIORY ~~~~~~>
When you're ready to get on with the main quest, talk to Martin and then Fast
Travel to Weynon Priory. (You do not want to walk all that way when leading
someone. They never run and it will take a long, long time.)
You arrive in the middle of an attack. The Priory's shepherd runs up, with a
Mythic Dawn assassin on his heels, and fills you in. Maborel is dead. (Yay!
His horse is, ipso facto, yours now!) Jauffre is holed up in the chapel. Kill
the assassins outside (with Martin's help, Brother Piner will join in as
well), then enter the chapel and kill the assassins inside. You must keep
Martin and Jauffre alive, else it's reload time.
Once the assassins are dead, Jauffre thinks of the Amulet of Kings. Follow him
to his loft room so you can be there to witness the look of shock on his face
when he finds the Amulet is gone.
Yeah. Never saw that coming.
Jauffre decides the safest place for Martin is the headquarters of the Blades:
Cloud Ruler Temple. The temple will be marked for you on your map and you can
even Fast Travel there. (Hooray!) When you arrive, Martin is introduced as the
Emperor, gives a little speech and heads off to settle in. Jauffre offers you
membership in the Blades. Go ahead and accept--especially if you are a heavy
armor fighter. There's a full set of kit (helm, gauntlets, cuirass, greaves,
boots, shield and katana) for every Blade. This equipment is the equivalent of
steel armor, so it's pretty good if you're still low level.
<~~~~~~ RANDOM OBLIVION GATES ~~~~~~>
This isn't really a quest. You get no journal entry, and there are no rewards
(beyond any normal loot you may collect). You don't even have to worry about
this at all; however...
Once you go to Weynon Priory, the main story advances to the point where
Oblivion gates begin popping up in random spots around Cyrodiil. The further
you are in the main story, the higher the chance a gate will open in whatever
region you are in.
These gates not only open in random places, they point to random Oblivion
worlds. All Oblivion worlds are roughly the same, but there's no way to
predict the exact layout you'll get when going through a gate. Enter at your
own risk.
You can:
* Ignore them. When you finish the main story, they will close automatically.
You'll still have whatever daedra came out of them to deal with, but that's
just a nuisance. (Especially since the first daedra to come out will be
commensurate with your level at the time the gate opened--not your level
when you come back through to sweep the area clean.)
* Close them. They don't stay closed. But if you want the extra experience
and/or loot and/or alchemical ingredients found only in Oblivion, then you
can go in and close them (temporarily).
[MS06]
<~~~~~~ THE PATH OF DAWN ~~~~~~>
Once you've settled in, talk to Jauffre. He wants you to track down the Mythic
Dawn and find the Amulet. He points you to an old friend, Baurus (the guy who
failed to properly guard Uriel Septim), who is hanging out at Luther Broad's
Boarding House in Imperial City.
Luther Broad's is in the Elven Gardens district. You can Fast Travel there, or
walk/run/ride. Your choice. During normal hours, Baurus is sitting at the bar
in Luther's place, having a pint (or two or three). Check out the guy sitting
over in the corner, name of Astav Wirich. This will be your target.
Have a seat next to Baurus (target the stool and Activate it) and have a
little chat. Baurus has been intelligence-gathering and now he's being
followed. He wants you to help him pin his shadow. Baurus will get up and
leave, heading down to Luther's basement. Wirich will get up and follow him.
You do the same.
Once down in the basement, Wirich transforms himself into a Mythic Dawn
assassin. Help Baurus dispose of him. Frisk the body to find a book: Mankar
Camoran's Commentaries on the Mysterium Xarxes, Book 1. (This is a skill book,
and will increase your Conjuration skill by 1 when you read it.). Talk to
Baurus about the book. He suggests taking it to Tar-Meena, at the Arcane
University.
Go to college. If you're a member in good standing of the Mages Guild (i.e.
you've completed enough of their tasks to have access to the University),
you'll find Tar-Meena in the library. If not, she'll be hanging around in the
lobby, just in case a visitor with a strange book happens to drop in and need
help.
Show her the book and she'll tell you this is the first of four Commentaries.
She supposes having all four commentaries will reveal the location of the
Mythic Dawn's headquarters. She just happens to have Book 2 (skill,
Destruction +1) and suggests the bookstore First Edition in Imperial City for
the other two.
Go to the Market District of Imperial City. First Edition is located on the
main SW to NE street near the gate to Green Emperor Way. Talk to Phintias, the
merchant about the Books. Yes, he just so happens to have Book 3, but another
customer, Gwinas, has already reserved the book and Phintias is holding it for
Gwinas.
Gwinas is the key to both Book 3 and Book 4. He's coming to buy Book 3 and he
has a note setting up a meeting at which he'll receive Book 4.
You have several options:
1) (Preferred): Wait in First Edition (you won't have to wait long), for
Gwinas to show up. As soon as Gwinas has bought the book, corner him and
reveal to him the Mythic Dawn is the group that killed the Emperor. Gwinas
will re-think his idea of joining the cult, give you Book 3 (skill,
Illusion +1) and the note about the meeting.
2) Get Phintias' Disposition north of 70 and he'll sell you Book 3 without
waiting for Gwinas to come get it. You'll still have to get the note from
Gwinas, which you can do by confronting him as in option #1. Since Gwinas
will give you Book 3 free, but Phintias won't, option #1 is better.
3) Follow Gwinas back to his hotel, and either pick-pocket Book 3 and the
note from him, or kill him and take them from his corpse.
*HINT* Visit Edgar's Discount Spells in the Market District and pick up a
Convalescence spell. (Convalescence allows you to heal a target.) Very useful
for keeping NPCs alive during the tasks ahead.
Once you have Book 3 and the note, return to Baurus. He'll tell you he knows
exactly where this meeting is to take place. Follow him to the Elven Gardens
district and a sewer entrance. Baurus leads you on a winding path through the
sewers, impeded by the occasional rat, mud crab or goblin.
Finally, he'll stop and tell you the meeting is to take place just beyond a
door. He suggests you go up some stairs to the left and spy on the proceedings
from above. You can either acquiesce or demand to be the one who has the
meeting and Baurus can be the cover. Either way works.
The meeting is with Raven Camoran, Mankar's son. Not long into the meeting, a
couple of assassins find whoever is handling backup duty on the upper floor
and your cover is blown. It's a 3-on-2 fight, unless you let Baurus get
killed, then you're in trouble. Once all the assassins are dead, loot Raven's
corpse for Book 4 (skill, Mysticism +1) and a key to another exit from the
sewers.
Talk to Baurus (if he's still alive). He's going to Cloud Ruler Temple to take
up his duties under Martin. You need to get out of the sewers. Use the key you
took from Raven to go out the way he came in and loot their hideout. If you
keep heading north, you'll reach the Talos Plaza sewers, which is a slightly
shorter way out; but, hasn't been cleared of enemies (and you're on your own
now). You can also go back the way you came in--if you can remember which
turns to take.
Once out of the sewers, return to Tar-Meena at Arcane University. She'll say
she has to study the books in order to find the hidden message. It takes her
three days to figure out the hidden message, which is "Green Emperor Way Where
Tower Touches Midday Sun". (Read the first letter of each paragraph of each
book.)
You don't have to wait for Tar-Meena. Go to Green Emperor Way (middle section
of Imperial City, where the palace is located). The palace is surrounded by a
cemetery and you're looking for the tomb of Prince Camarril. His tomb is
located in the southwest portion of the district. It's not marked on your map;
look for a large, domed tomb and target the door to find out if it's his.
Once you've found the tomb, Wait until the 11:00am hour and then sit and wait
for the light show to begin. When you see a glowing map appear on the door of
the tomb, step up close enough to get the message you've found the
headquarters of the Mythic Dawn.
Mission accomplished.
[MS07]
<~~~~~~ DAGON SHRINE ~~~~~~>
Your next step is obvious: invade HQ and get the Amulet of Kings back. You can
return to Cloud Ruler Temple if you wish, but Jauffre and Martin aren't going
to tell you any different.
The Lake Arrius Caverns now marked for you on your map are northwest of
Cheydinhal, so Fast Travel to the city and then hoof it north. The caverns are
on the north shore of Lake Arrius. When you enter, you'll meet a non-hostile
Mythic Dawn member. He'll give you a pass code and you give him the reply. He
then instructs you to proceed through the door and see Harrow.
Now, before you actually go any further, you need to know some things. If you
play this undercover, you'll be stripped of all your non-quest items such as
armor, weapons, potions--*everything*. Or, you can try to bull your way
through, which means fights with a *lot* of Mythic Dawn assassins. Here's the
rundown for each method:
1) You're going to play it "safe", so you decide to continue the deception.
This is a good choice for a very low level character. Before continuing,
Fast Travel back to Cheydinhal and stow your gear. You can join the
Fighter or Mages Guilds just by asking and get a free place to stash your
wares--but on the floor, not in a chest (the chests reset every few days).
You can't drop gold, so use it to buy potions and other good stuff,
because you don't want to just give it to Harrow.
Alternately, you can drop everything on the floor of the entrance room of
the caverns, but it will be hard to pick it back up when you come flying
through later with a dozen assassins on your tail.
Fast Travel back to the caverns and go through the door to your meeting
with Harrow. Harrow will lead you to the main shrine and you'll hear
Mankar Camoran himself give a little speech before disappearing into his
own little "Paradise". He takes the Amulet of Kings with him (you didn't
think it was going to be that easy did you?), but leaves behind the
Mysterium Xarxes, which could prove useful.
Harrow will lead you down and tell Remora Camoran (Mankar's daughter) that
you've come to be initiated. She'll invite you up to the dais and offer to
let you kill the Argonian tied to the altar. Regardless of what you do
with the Argonian, you're going to end up in a fight.
The wisest course of action is to agree to kill the prisoner, take the
silver dagger laying next to the book, then Activate the prisoner to free
him. Grab the book from the altar. Now everyone in the room has gone
hostile. It's time to run, crying like a baby.
You can't get out the way you came in. Your exit is up the stairs you came
down, but turning to the right rather than the left. At the top is a door
that leads to the Living Quarters. Head through the door and skip down
to the Living Quarters section below.
2) If you're a little bit higher level, have decent kit and don't want to
risk losing it, you can probably fight your way through to the shrine.
Kill the guard in the entrance cavern and get a key from his body. This
key will open the door into the next cave--just a tunnel, with possibly
one cultist.
The door at the end of the tunnel leads to the Shrine Antechamber. Read
these directions carefully--you do not want to stop long enough to fight
anyone, as that just brings hordes of cultists down on your head. And you
can't handle hordes, no matter how high level you are.
As you enter the Antechamber, you are in a large room. Your path is to the
south. Book it to a tunnel and take the first left. You're going to have
cultists nipping at your heals. Equip a healing spell and cast it as you
need it. The key you got from the entrance guard should unlock the door
here leading to the shrine. If you reach the end of the tunnel, where it
turns right (east), you went too far. Good luck trying to turn around and
go back.
As you enter the shrine, a gate drops behind you, shutting off pursuit.
You're on a high ledge looking over the altar. No one will notice your
presence as you listen to Mankar Camoran's speech and watch him disappear
with the Amulet of Kings. Once he's gone, you're in excellent position
to snipe at the cultists below with arrows or spells.
They will eventually respond, running up the stairs, but you should be
able to get them one or two at a time, which is Magickageable. Once they
are all dead, you can descend to the lower level, free the prisoner, and
get the Mysterium Xarxes from the altar. You can't go back the way you
came, so go up the stairs, taking a right instead of a left, and take the
door at the top into the Living Quarters.
3) You can exploit a little bit of bad programming by the developers. Strip
all your gear and drop it on the cave floor. Then agree to Harrow's
request to be inducted into the order. Before following him through the
door into the temple, go back and pick up your kit and re-equip yourself.
Nobody will notice, and, since they are still peaceful toward you, you can
depopulate the place with near impunity before going into the shrine.
(Exploit submitted by smjellish.)
| Living Quarters
+-----------------
Whether you're fully suited up or wearing only a red robe and carrying a
dagger, there's only one way through here: running for your life. The Living
Quarters are full of cultists, many of whom will use hit-and-run tactics.
Stopping to fight just means getting beaten by as many as a dozen Mythic Dawn
assassins at once. You can't survive that.
So, running it is. Get a healing spell ready, sheathe your weapon (if you have
one) and start pumping.
From your entry point, run down the tunnel and take a right at the end. Take
the next left and run until you can take a right turn. This leads into a room
with two or more cultists. The exit is to the southwest--as you enter the
room, take a hard left and hug the wall to find your way into the escape
tunnel.
This tunnel will turn south (left) and deposit you in a large room with at
least two assassins. Take the stairs to the west (to your right as you come
into the room) and run around the upper level to the exit in the southeast
corner of the room.
This tunnel turns south, then east and dumps you in another large room. You
may find up to a dozen cultists in here having "worship services". Lucky you.
The exit is in the middle of the south wall, so take a right as you come into
the room and run through the middle of the mob to make your escape.
This is a short tunnel that slopes up. At the top, turn left to find a door
that leads back into the entrance cavern. Run down this tunnel to a small
room. The exit tunnel is to your left (east). At the start of the tunnel is a
turn-lever on the wall. Activate it to open the secret door just ahead and run
through into the main entrance to the caverns. The exit to the outside world
is straight ahead.
As soon as you are outside, attempt to Fast Travel. If you were quick enough,
you got out before any cultists and you'll be able to Fast Travel. If you get
the "You cannot travel while enemies are near" message, then start running
again in the direction of Cheydinhal. Speed is your only concern now.
Once you are safe and have re-equipped yourself (if you decided on the
undercover method), you can think about going back to the Caverns and
methodically cleaning them out. There's a lot of loot in there. Or you can
just count yourself lucky and Fast Travel to Cloud Ruler Temple. Martin wants
that book you stole.
[MS08]
<~~~~~~ SPIES ~~~~~~>
By now, if Baurus survived your earlier dustup with the Mythic Dawn, you'll
find him wandering around Cloud Ruler Temple. Talk to him for boosts in your
Blade, Block and Heavy Armor skills. Find Martin (he's usually in the main
hall) and give him Mysterium Xarxes. He gets pumped over getting into a little
dark magic, then sends you to Jauffre, who's got some "concerns". Jauffre,
indeed, is concerned. It appears strangers have been loitering about the
Temple; but, despite having a huge building full of fighters, Jauffre can't
spare anyone but you to check into it.
Funny. Anyway, Jauffre refers you to Captain Steffan of the Blades or Captain
Burd of the Bruma constabulary. Your quickest route through the task ahead is
to track down Steffan. He's usually patrolling, during the day, follow your
quest marker to find him. He reports some strangers hanging out around a
runestone just south of the Temple.
Walk down the slope to the runestone (it's kind of hard to miss, since it's
big and has glowing runes on it). Take up position near the stone and Wait
until dark (around 7 or 8 p.m.). You'll soon be attacked by two Mythic Dawn
assassins, who shouldn't be too much trouble to take out. Search their bodies
for some keys, including one labeled "Jearl's House Key". Jearl, eh?
Go down to Bruma and find Jearl's house, it's in the southwest corner of town,
behind the Chapel of Talos. Enter and find the trapdoor down into the
basement, one of the keys you looted will open it. In the basement you will
find a note outlining the Mythic Dawn's plan to open a Great Gate at Bruma in
order to get to Martin.
Return to Jauffre with the information, and then talk to Martin about his
progress with the book.
*PROGRESS NOTE*
-----------------
At this point in the game, you get two divergent, parallel paths. One involves
collecting items for Martin to use in opening a portal to Paradise. The other
involves getting Bruma ready for the opening of the Great Gate. The quests for
Martin are Blood of the Daedra, Blood of the Divines and Miscarcand. The
quests from Jauffre are Bruma Gate and Allies for Bruma (which includes a
couple of sub-quests). You can do these in whatever order you wish.
Eventually, the main story will merge in the quest Defense of Bruma.
[MS09]
<~~~~~~ BLOOD OF THE DAEDRA ~~~~~~>
The first item on Martin's shopping list is an artifact of a daedra lord.
These are, actually, fairly easy to come by. There are fifteen, total, and
obtaining each one involves it's own set of tasks. These are detailed in the
Side Quests section under Daedric Quests.
Read through about the Daedric Quests and decide which artifact you are
willing to give up, then go complete that task. The game suggests Azura, but
many players like to keep her re-useable soul gem, Azura's Star. The best bet
is Wabbajack. This staff from Sheogorath is: 1) easy to obtain, since the
quest requires no combat, just pranks; and, 2) useless except as a novelty
item.
Once you have a daedric artifact, return to Martin.* He now wants the blood of
a god.
* A bug prevents Spell Breaker, the Peryite artifact, from being recognized by
Martin. This is fixed with patch 1.1; however, why you would want to give up
Spell Breaker is a mystery.
[MS10]
<~~~~~~ BLOOD OF THE DIVINES ~~~~~~>
Martin refers you to Jauffre, who knows the location of Tiber Septim's armor.
(The first emperor, Tiber eventually became the god Talos.) Speak to Jauffre.
First, Jauffre wants you to go help close an Oblivion gate that's opened
outside Bruma. This is the Bruma Gate quest. You can choose to do it now, or
wait until later. Ask Jauffre about the armor of Tiber Septim.
Jauffre directs you to Sancre Tor, which used to be a holy site for the
Blades. He'll give you a key and directions, then it's up to you. Sancre Tor
is west-southwest of Cloud Ruler Temple, almost due north of Chorrol. You'll
need to prep for ghosts and wraiths in this dungeon. That means a magic or
silver weapon or lots of spells. Suit up and hike on over.
As you enter Sancre Tor, you'll find an enchanted weapon--if you don't already
have one. Follow the hall to the first large room, and watch out for the dart
traps surrounding the loot chests. Continue northwest and then northeast until
you come to a large room. Be careful entering the room, this if the first of
four boss fights you'll have in this dungeon.
You may recall from Jauffre's conversation that the four greatest Blades of
Tiber Septim's era lost their lives in Sancre Tor. Well, their skeletons are
still prowling the corridors, and you have to kill them to release their
spirits. They are each using enchanted Ancient Blades equipment.
Oh. Goody.
Pepper the skeletons from range first to soften them up. They move fast, so
you won't get many shots in. Try to keep the fights in the large rooms where
you find them, rather than retreating up hallways. You don't want to get into
confined places with these guys.
First up is Rielus. After he's defeated, his ghost appears and gives you the
whole story. You'll need to release his "brothers" as well, so they can break
the final evil enchantment on Sancre Tor. Loot his skeletal corpse for the
Amulet of the Ansei.
Head southeast out of this room and follow the corridor to a door that leads
to the Entry Hall. There will be a couple of ghosts here. Down in the pit is a
huge door that leads to the Tomb of the Reman Emperors. That's the ultimate
goal, but it is inaccessible until you kill (re-kill?) the four undead Blades.
Go down into the pit, near the door to the Tomb. Jump into the water to your
right and find the door that's underneath the upper level of this room. This
leads to the Catacombs. You'll make your way through several tunnels and two
larger rooms before reaching the room with Alain, an undead Blade.
Alain drops Northwind, a one-handed katana with frost damage. Behind Alain, to
the northeast, is a door leading to the Hall of Judgment. In the hall, go
through the first room, exiting to the northwest to find your way to Casnar,
your next target. He is using Mishaxhi's Cleaver, a two-handed sword with
Disintegrate Armor enchantment. (Hopefully, you remembered to bring repair
hammers with you.)
From Casnar's room, find the tunnel leading northeast (the exit is along the
east wall of the room) and follow this back to the Entry Hall. In the Entry
Hall, take the east exit to get to the Prison. When you enter the first large
room, you'll fight the skeleton of Warden Kastav. He's not as tough as the
Blades, but he's no patsy. There will probably be a ghost or two joining in
the fight.
Loot his corpse for his key, which opens the door at the top of the ramp. At
the second four-way intersection, take a right and then take your third left.
The next left leads to Valdemar's room. Defeat him and take his enchanted
shield. That should be all four undead Blades. Return to the Entry Hall and
head for the Tomb.
The spirits of the four Blades should be here, and they'll take up positions
to bring down the magical barriers protecting the armor of Tiber Septim. Once
the barriers are down, pick up the armor and head back to Cloud Ruler Temple.
(Yes, that really is it. There's no more fighting unless you left some ghosts
behind you.)
[MS11]
<~~~~~~ MISCARCAND ~~~~~~>
Upon your return, Martin reveals the third item necessary for a portal to
Paradise: a great welkynd stone. If you've been exploring any Ayleid ruins
prior to this point, you may have pockets full of the normal welkynd stones
(they fully restore your Magicka when used). But Martin doesn't want just any
old welkynd stone, so he directs you to the ancient Ayleid capital of
Miscarcand.
This ruin is between Skingrad and Kvatch, not far north of the main road. It
is filled with mostly skeletons, zombies and goblins. The goblins are engaged
in running fights with the undead. You'll frequently be able to stand by and
watch them kill each other before you finish off the survivors.
From the entrance, take a left and head down the long hall to a four-way
intersection. The gate in front of you cannot be opened from this side. To
your right, stairs go down to the large room you just passed, which is mainly
a looting opportunity. To the left is a hall that leads to a raised corridor
over a large room.
Snipe the goblins and undead from your raised position. Eventually, you will
have to jump down. After looting the room, take the exit in the northwest
corner and go up the stairs. Find the button on the first landing and push it.
This opens a gate leading south from the raised corridor. Go up more stairs
and step on the pressure plate at the top to open the gate at the four-way
intersection.
Head south and enter the second level, Sel Vanua. In the first room is a varla
stone under a cover. The button to lift the cover is on the east wall. (Varla
stones fully recharge all enchanted weapons in your inventory.) Take the south
exit from this room to reach another large room with a raised corridor
crossing it. Again, you can snipe from the raised position.
Eventually, you'll have to jump down. The gate leading out of this area is to
the north. The button that opens that gate is in a side passage on the south
side of the room. Once the gate is open, enter the third level, Morimath.
Make your way through a series of halls to a large room with a platform in the
middle. In the center of the platform is the great welkynd stone, ripe for the
picking. Before you pick it, get ready for battle. If you have fire spells or
weapons, now is the time to get them ready. Wait for one hour to fully restore
your health and Magicka.
Ready? Pick up the stone. Some stairs rise from the lower floor up to the
platform. (All the easier for the zombies to get you.) Behind you, a door
opens letting out a lich, the King of Miscarcand. Jump down to the lower floor
and deal with the zombies as quickly as you can. Then you can concentrate on
the lich. It's resistant to frost and magic, and weak to fire. It's primarily
a spellcaster, so try to close with it and smash it good.
After the lich is dead, loot its remains for a key. Go back up the platform
and go north into the alcove from which the lich came. Step on the pressure
plate, kill the zombies and exit to the west. The key you got from the lich
will open the gate and you've got a shortcut straight back to the top level of
the ruin. Another pressure plate opens the secret door leading to the main
exit from Miscarcand.
Return to Martin with your booty. He's still working on the final item needed
for the portal. Now it's time to deal with the Oblivion gate in front of
Bruma.
[MS12]
<~~~~~~ BRUMA GATE ~~~~~~>
Assuming you've already talked to Jauffre about the Bruma gate, head down to
the city and report to Captain Burd. He wants you to show the city guard how
to close a gate. Agree and you'll take Burd and two of his men with you into
Oblivion.
The Bruma Oblivion world is semi-circular and filled with daedra. (You're
supposed to be here with allies, so there are more than the usual number of
demons.) You'll work your way around a semi-circular island to the north side,
then head south to the Sigil Keep, this one called The Fury Spike.
There are no side towers or anything here. This is a straight run up the tower
to the Sigillum Sanguis. The Rending Halls is a two-level affair. When you
reach the top of the first ramp, clear the room, use the Blood Fountain, then
exit to the east. Climb the curving ramp. When the hall makes a sharp left,
look for a lever on the wall to spring the blade trap ahead.
Climb the final ramps and return to the Fury Spike core. The Corridors of Dark
Salvation are next, and it's a simple loop-back climb up a couple of ramps.
Then it's on to the Sanguis and the sigil stone. Activate it and get thrown
(along with Burd and whoever else survived) back to Bruma. Burd now thinks he
and his soldiers can handle any new gates that pop up around Bruma. Return to
Jauffre at Cloud Ruler Temple.
[MS13]
<~~~~~~ ALLIES FOR BRUMA ~~~~~~>
*NOTE* These quests are completely optional. However, if you want a chance of
making it to the end of the main story, and you're not 50th level, then you
probably want to enlist some help.
Jauffre wants you to travel to the other cities in Cyrodiil and ask for aid
for Bruma. (He suggests seeing the Elder Council in Imperial City, but you can
skip them. They're not going to help.) You must travel to each of the other
seven cities--or fewer if you feel you don't need as much help--close an
Oblivion gate (except for Kvatch, which has a different requirement) and then
ask the ruler of the city for Aid for Bruma.
Cheydinhal and Bravil are your best stops. Each sends a high-level Captain;
Cheydinhal also sends a soldier. Anvil and Chorrol each send two soldiers.
Kvatch, Leyawiin and Skingrad send only one soldier each. At a minimum, you
should get aid from Cheydinhal, Bravil, Anvil and Chorrol. If you want to make
the next quest (Defense of Bruma) ridiculously easy, get aid from all seven
cities.
In each city, you can go speak to the count or countess first, which will mark
the Oblivion gate for you. Or you can just go close the gate and speak to the
ruler after. Speaking to the ruler before offers no special advantage other
than the map marker. Most of these rulers hold court from 8am until 6pm. You
can find the castle for each city on your world map and Fast Travel there
though you've never set foot in their doors.
You should also note some of these worlds use one of the seven random Oblivion
worlds you can enter through the random gates that pop up here and there in
the wilderness. For example, Bravil uses the #1 random world, Chorrol uses #2.
You'll always get the same world when you go through those city gates, but you
won't always get the same Sigil Keep since the random worlds link to random
Keep interiors.
| The Wayward Knight (Cheydinhal) [MS13-A]
+------------------------------------------
The gate near Cheydinhal is west of the city. If you speak to the count of
Cheydinhal first, or speak to one of the soldiers guarding the gate, you'll
get a new quest: The Wayward Knight. It seems the count's son fancies himself
a great knight, and has a group of friends who play at being knights with him.
These impetuous youths charged into Oblivion when the gate opened, and the
count wants you to bring his son out of there.
Make sure you have a spell to restore health on a target (along with your
normal Oblivion kit) before entering the gate. You'll come out at the top of a
large mountain. You'll be required to jump your way down here and there, and
it will be impossible to get back up. You're in this one for the long haul.
Once you've reached the bottom of the mountain, you'll find Farwil, the
count's son, and one other knight on the east side of the mountain, near the
bridge that crosses to the Sigil Keep. Talk to Farwil and they'll agree to
follow you and help you close the gate.
Advance across the bridge and into the tower. This is just like any other
Sigil Keep, but you have to concern yourself with keeping Farwil (at least)
alive. If he does die, you can take his signet ring from the body as proof of
his heroism.
After the gate is closed, if Farwil survived, he makes you an honorary Knight
of the Thorn and gives you an amulet with a Speechcraft enhancement. His
father then will offer you the choice of a magic sword or staff. If Farwil
didn't make it, the count will still give you some gold for your effort.
Either way, he'll offer up the services of his captain of the guard and a
soldier for the defense of Bruma.
| Bravil [MS13-B]
+-----------------
The Bravil gate is located northwest of the city. Inside you arrive facing a
bridge leading to the Sigil Keep, but a gate blocks your way. To open the
gate, you must throw a switch at the top of one of the two small towers
southeast (Spindle Shrine) and southwest (Blood Well) of the Sigil Keep. There
are three ways to get to one of those towers.
1) Go around the long way. Begin by going west, then north, then east across
a long bridge with a sunken tower in the middle, then south to the Spindle
Shrine. Fight your way up the tower (it's like a mini-keep) and throw the
switch at the top to open the gate across the main bridge.
2) If you have some decent Acrobatics skill, you can turn southwest from your
entry point and pick your way across a series of small islands that curve
to the east and then north, leading you to the Spindle Shrine. Throw the
switch at the top to open the gate across the main bridge.
3) Start by going west from the gate until you come to the bridge going
north. Look around for a cave entrance, then work your way through the
caves to the basement of the Blood Well (southwest) tower. Work your way
to the top to find the switch that opens the main gate.
Once the Sigil Keep is accessible, you're all set. Note this Keep is randomly
determined when you open the door. Some of the random Keeps have one side
area, some two and some three. There's no telling what you're going to get.
When you've got the sigil stone and have closed the Oblivion gate, see Count
Terentius for your high-level soldier.
| Anvil [MS13-C]
+----------------
You'll find the Anvil gate northwest of the city. This Oblivion world is easy,
from a pathing perspective. The Sigil Keep is on top of a mountain, you come
in at the bottom. Just follow the path as it goes through several switchbacks
up the face of the mountain and you're there. After the Oblivion gate is
closed, visit Countess Umbranox for your promise of aid, which is two standard
soldiers.
| Chorrol [MS13-D]
+------------------
This Oblivion gate is south of the city, in the woods just beyond the stables.
You enter Oblivion on the north side of the area, facing the Sigil Keep
surrounded by six towers. You enter the Sigil Keep through a connecting bridge
from the east (Earthquake) or west (Hurricane) tower. To get to one of those
two keeps, you have to open the gates that block your way.
Pick any one of the four "corner" towers: Tsunami, Eruption, Tornado or
Landslide. Ride the "corpse masher" elevator to the middle of the tower, then
climb the ramp to the top and throw the switch. This opens the gate next to
that tower. (You can, from the top of any of these towers, cross over to the
Sigil Keep; however, you can't go anywhere inside the Keep except to one of
the other four corner towers.)
Go back down, exit the tower and head through the now open gate. Enter one of
the two side towers and ride the elevator to the middle of the tower. There's
a door right at the top of the elevator to a bridge over to the Sigil Keep.
Inside the Keep you'll find the doors to the Rending Halls and you're on your
way.
Countess Valga spends a lot of time in the chapel, in addition to standard
court hours, so you should be able to find her most any time of the day.
She'll send two soldiers to the aid of Bruma.
| The Battle for Castle Kvatch [MS13-E]
+---------------------------------------
You may have already done this after Breaking the Siege of Kvatch. If so,
you'll find Savlian Matius where you left him, in the castle of Kvatch. Speak
to him about Aid for Bruma and he promises to send what he can (which is one
soldier).
If you haven't done this quest yet, Matius and his guards will still be in the
Temple of Akatosh in Kvatch. Speak to Matius and agree to help him retake the
castle. He takes off with some men through the north door of the church.
Follow him outside and help cut through the daedra between the church and the
castle.
When you reach the castle gates, you find them locked. Matius instructs you to
go through the North Guard House, under the wall, to the inside of the gates
and unlock them. Berich Inian, a guard still in the church, has the key.
Return to the church and talk to Inian. He tells you he'll take you through
the passage. You'll also find some Imperial legionnaires. Speak to them and
they agree to help out. Follow Inian down into the chapel's crypt. Take it
easy through here, there are a lot of daedra. With Inian and the legionnaires,
the demons shouldn't be much trouble. You'll exit the crypt and wind your way
through more daedra until you reach the North Guard House. If Inian dies along
the way, make sure you frisk him for the key.
Once you reach the Guard House, all you have to do is drop down into the
tunnel, run to the far end (no enemies) and climb up to find yourself on the
inside of the castle gate. Turn the wheel to open the gate and let Matius and
his men through. There's a pitched battle in the courtyard and then more
fighting in the main hall of the castle.
Matius now instructs you to go find the count. You'll be aided by any
surviving legionnaires, so you probably won't have to fight through the castle
alone. When you reach the count's quarters, you'll find his body. Get his
signet ring off the body and return it to Matius.
Matius, at this point, suddenly decides to retire and gives you his armor. He
then spends the remainder of the game standing in the castle in his civvies.
You can also ask him for Aid for Bruma and get one Kvatch soldier for your
trouble.
| Leyawiin [MS13-F]
+-------------------
The Oblivion gate is east-northeast of Leyawiin. From the entry point, go west
and find a cave door. The caves, like many Oblivion things, are random. Just
keep plugging along and you'll eventually reach the main island.
When you finally make it out, there are Spindle Shrines to the east and west.
Pick either one and climb to the top. Here you can get to a bridge that leads
to one of the Blood Well towers. Throw the switch at the top of the Blood Well
tower to open gates leading to the Sigil Keep. Go down to the bottom of the
Blood Well, exit onto the bridge and fight your way to the Keep.
Once the gate is closed, you can find Count Caro in Castle Leyawiin during
normal court hours.
| Skingrad [MS13-G]
+-------------------
The Skingrad gate is just east of Castle Skingrad, at the top of a small hill.
Inside, you find yourself facing three towers. The two towers to your left and
right are the Anguish Keep and the Sorrow Keep. Each is a full keep, with two
side areas and a shrine at the top.
Fight your way to the top of either keep and throw the switch. This will
extend a bridge across to the top of the other side keep. Cross the bridge and
throw a switch in the second tower. The bridge between the towers retracts,
but bridges extend from each side keep to the main Sigil Keep. You'll have to
fight your way down one level in the second keep in order to take the bridge
over to the Sigil Keep.
Entering the Sigil Keep, you're already about halfway up the tower and only
have to fight your way through one side area in order to reach the Sigillum
Sanguis. You know what to do by now.
The peculiarity in Skingrad occurs after you've closed the gate and want to
get aid from Count Hassildor. You can only talk to the count by going through
an intermediary. If you are in the middle of the Mages Guild quest, "Ulterior
Motives", then Hassildor will refuse to speak to you until you fully complete
that quest (which means reporting in to Raminus Polus). Otherwise, if you have
not done "Ulterior Motives", then you must speak to the steward, Mercator
Hosidus about Aid for Bruma. If you have done "Ulterior Motives", you must
speak to Hal-Liurz.
[MS14]
<~~~~~~ DEFENSE OF BRUMA ~~~~~~>
You can open this quest any time after finishing the three "relic hunts" for
Martin and the Bruma Gate quest. Talk to Martin and he'll reveal the final
item he needs for a portal to Paradise: a great sigil stone. You can only get
these by entering a great gate. So Martin proposes to let the enemy open a
great gate next to Bruma and then send you in to get the great sigil stone
before the enemy gets its siege machine out and destroys Bruma.
It's goofy plans like this that make him the Emperor, see?
You've no choice but to agree. Martin asks that you personally see Countess
Carvain in Bruma and fill her in on the plan. So head off to Bruma and the
Countess, who agrees with the plan. (Must be the royal blood that causes this
idiocy.) She'll head off to the chapel of Talos.
Follow her down to the chapel and witness the meeting between Martin and
Carvain. After they've chatted, talk to Carvain again. At this point you have,
essentially, two choices: "Let's go" or "I'm not ready yet". (If you haven't
completed all the Allies for Bruma quests, you will also have a "Recruit more
soldiers" response, which is the same thing as "I'm not ready".)
Save your game! Martin and Carvain will stand in the chapel until the cows
come home waiting for you to get ready. So...get ready. The mission ahead is a
timed run through an Oblivion world. You'll not be able to Wait at any point,
so you'll need a full set of healing potions, Magicka-restoring potions, etc.
Make sure your enchanted weapons are recharged and all your armor and weapons
are fully repaired. Feel like you need more support? Go finish more Allies for
Bruma quests.
When you're ready, give Carvain the go ahead and follow Martin and company out
the East Gate of Bruma. Your little army heads towards an Oblivion gate that
has just opened, Martin gives a speech, then the battle is on. Your primary
job is to keep Martin alive until the great gate opens. If you recruited all
the available soldiers in Allies for Bruma, this is really easy. There are
more than enough guards to control the daedra popping through the lesser
gates.
After a few minutes, you'll get the message the great gate has opened. The
timer has started! Get moving through the gate...
[MS15]
<~~~~~~ GREAT GATE ~~~~~~>
This Oblivion world is different in two ways: There's a giant siege engine
moving toward the gate and you have about 15 minutes to get to the top of the
Sigil Keep and get the great sigil stone. That's 15 minutes real time, but
don't dawdle. Try not to spend too much time fighting. Use a potion, spell or
equipment to Fortify your Speed and try just racing past most enemies. Keep a
healing spell equipped and boost your health as you run.
There are two towers in front of you, head to the west (left) one. Climb to
the top and exit onto a north-bound bridge that leads to another tower. Go
down that tower and exit onto a large bridge. There's a jump here across
broken pieces of the bridge, but if you miss the jump, you fall down in front
of a cave entrance that might actually be an easier path.
If you decided to take the eastern route north, the jump across the broken
bridge is much more difficult and drops you into lava. Plus, there's no
convenient cave to take you under the fire-spitting guard towers. Your choice.
Regardless, your goal is one of the two towers flanking the Sigil Keep. If you
use the cave at the base of the western bridge, it takes you directing into
the western guard tower. At the tops of these two towers are switches that
open the gates leading to the Sigil Keep.
This Keep has only one side area, the Vaults of End Times. However, you do
need a Sigil Key from one of two Sigil Keepers. There's a Keeper on the ground
floor, and another near the door to the Sigillum Sanguis. Kill either one,
enter the Sanguis and run for the great sigil stone. Provided you got there in
time, everything, including the large siege engine, blows up and Bruma is
saved!
Your reward is a standard sigil stone lying in front of the burned-out hulk of
the siege engine (which somehow Magickages to blow up right outside Bruma) and
the opportunity to go after Mankar Camoran.
Aren't you lucky?
[MS16]
<~~~~~~ PARADISE ~~~~~~>
After the battle for Bruma, return to Cloud Ruler Temple. Tend to your
equipment and talk to Martin. He's ready to open a portal to Camoran's
Paradise. The question is, are you ready? Once you enter Paradise, you can't
get out until Camoran is dead. He's a high-level mage, so kit yourself out
appropriately. Some Dispel scrolls or potions would be useful. Plenty of
damage resistance, magic resistance, spell absorption...you know the drill.
Once you're ready to live off what you can carry, tell Martin to open the
portal. Enter the portal to find yourself in Paradise.
Literally.
Camoran's little slice of reality is a pleasant garden environment with blue
skies and fluffy white clouds. Oh, and the occasional daedra ready to tear
your head off...Nothing's perfect. Head off down the white brick path,
listening to Camoran lecture you. Along the way, in addition to the occasional
daedra, you'll find Ascended Immortals. These dead Mythic Dawn cultists are
waiting in Paradise for Dagon's victory over Tamriel.
You can talk to these cultists and learn some of the history of this place.
You also learn the only way to Camoran is through the Forbidden Grotto. And
you can only get in there if you have the Bands of the Chosen.
As you follow the path, you'll eventually encounter a dremora named Kathutet.
He wants to talk (so watch your trigger finger). He'll give you Bands of the
Chosen if you serve him or beat him in a fight. Choose to serve him and he'll
send you on an errand to free one of his subordinates, Anaxes, who has been
imprisoned by the Ascended Immortals.
Beating Kathutet is the easier and quicker course of action. But, if you
decide to serve him, Anaxes' lair is to the northwest. Enter and find the
boulder wedged in place by logs. Stand to the side and Activate the logs to
push them out of the way. Return to where you met Kathutet.
Cross the bridge going east and enter the Flooded Grotto. At the end of the
grotto, if you freed Anaxes, you'll meet Kathutet again and he gives you the
Bands of the Chosen. If you killed Kathutet, you already have the Bands. Equip
them and open the door to the Forbidden Grotto.
The Forbidden Grotto turns out to be a torture chamber. As you leave the first
large room, you'll be intercepted by an Ascended Immortal named Eldamil. He
wants to help, and, you want his help. Really, you do. Agree to Eldamil's
plan. He directs you into one of the cages. While in the cage, Eldamil's boss,
Orthe, comes to check on things.
Eldamil's ruse works, and he lets you out on the east side of the chasm. You
can now head south, through another torture chamber and through the door into
the next section of the Grotto.
If you chose to turn down Eldamil, then you have to head north from Eldamil's
room and fight Orthe and two of his buddies. This is not good for your health.
But, if you insist on trying, you'll have to kill them all and get Orthe's key
from a loot sack in the corner of their room. This key opens the portcullis
leading east and eventually to the exit.
In the second part of the Grotto you'll meet Eldamil again. (Even if you
turned him down or killed him.) He removes your Bands of the Chosen and offers
again to help you out. You really should accept his offer. Work your way
through the Grotto until you encounter a xivilai named Medrike. He has the key
to the exit. Take it from him.
Outside, follow the path until you run into Mankar's children, Raven and
Remora. They lead you inside Mankar's palace, where Mankar begins making a
speech. Don't bother listening. Walk up to him and smack him. Mankar has a lot
of spell absorption and damage reflection, so attacking him from range,
especially with spells, is not a good option.
Ignore the children; if you kill them, they just respawn. Mankar is your only
concern. You want to keep him off balance, preferably with power attacks that
stagger or stun him. You might also be able to paralyze him with poison put on
your weapon. If you brought Eldamil along, he can help distract the two kids
and let you focus on Mankar. If you're an Orc or Redguard, use your greater
power and just bash Mankar as hard as you can.
As soon as Mankar is dead, Paradise collapses and you find yourself back in
Cloud Ruler Temple, the Amulet of Kings in hand. It's time to close the
Oblivion gates once and for all.
[MS17]
<~~~~~~ LIGHT THE DRAGONFIRES ~~~~~~>
After your return from Paradise, Martin says it's time to go to Imperial City
and the Temple of the One. Fast Travel down to the Palace district of Imperial
City and enter the Elder Council Chambers. Once Martin's joined you, he and
Ocato begin discussing Martin's claim to the throne and re-lighting the
Dragonfires.
Unfortunately, you're interrupted by a couple of dremora. Oblivion gates have
sprung up in Imperial City and daedra are rampaging in the streets. Your final
mission is at hand: protect Martin. Follow the group outside and help deal
with the daedra; make sure Martin stays healthy.
Once this initial wave of daedra are dead, you're joined by a small group of
Imperial Legion soldiers. This is your army. Martin says he must get to the
Temple of the One, so join the soldiers as they run toward the Temple
District.
When you reach the Temple district, you find it overrun by daedra. Don't spend
too much time on them--as you kill them, more jump out of the two gates in
this district. Just run to your right around the temple, making sure Martin is
keeping up with you.
You'll soon run into Mehrunes Dagon himself. You can't kill this monster, but
you can hurt him. Your only task is to get Martin inside the Temple and the
door is just past Dagon. Run up and power attack one of Dagon's legs. He'll
lift the foot as he staggers back, so take that time to run to the door and
Activate it. Martin will follow you inside.
At this point, there's nothing you can do but watch. Enjoy the show!
[MS18]
<~~~~~~ IMPERIAL DRAGON ARMOR ~~~~~~>
This isn't really a quest, more of an epilogue. After all the shouting is
done, Chancellor Ocato has a chat with you. He names you Champion of Cyrodiil
and says he's ordered up a suit of Imperial Dragon Armor--normally only worn
by the emperor--for you. Two weeks later, you'll be able to go to the Imperial
Legion armory in the Imperial City Prison district and pick up a suit of
either Light or Heavy Imperial Dragon Armor. (The type of armor is determined
by which of your two armor skills is higher rank.) The armor not only looks
nice, it's got some decent enchantments on it as well.
That's it! You've finished the main story of Oblivion. But the game is far
from over...
[FG00]
~~The Elder Scrolls IV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FIGHTERS GUILD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OBLIVION~~
The Fighters Guild specializes in solving problems--any problem. Whether it's
rats in the basement, thieves in the store or goblins overrunning a
settlement, the Guild gets called in to take care of the situation.
The Fighters Guild isn't for everyone. Several times you will be fighting in
close quarters with multiple enemies. Tanking is highly suggested. The
problems presented in this series of quests are to be met with sword or axe
and do not lend themselves to sneaking around or blowing things up from range.
Joining the Guild is easy, talk to Vilena Donton at the Chorrol Guild, Azzan
at the Anvil Guild or Burz gro-Khash at the Cheydinhal Guild. You must not
have any outstanding bounty and your Infamy score must be less than 100. If
your Infamy score is 100 or higher, get your Fame score to 100 or higher and
you'll be able to join.
Vilena Donton is the guild master, but doesn't directly issue any orders. You
get about half of your contracts from Azzan and gro-Khash; the remainder of
your jobs come from Donton's assistant, Modryn Oreyn. Your first three
contracts come from Azzan and gro-Khash.
[FG01]
<~~~~~~ A RAT PROBLEM ~~~~~~>
Azzan, in Anvil, sends you to see Arvena Thelas, who is having a problem with
the rats in her basement.
Not that kind of problem. It seems Ms. Thelas actually *likes* the rats, but
someone or something is killing them. Get down there and identify the culprit.
When you enter the basement, you'll find a mountain lion chewing on the corpse
of a rat.
Yeah, a mountain lion. Kill it (not necessarily an easy task) and report back
to Thelas. She worries more might follow this one, and recommends you seek out
a hunter, Pinarus Inventius. Together, you should be able to track down and
kill any remaining mountain lions in the vicinity of Anvil.
Use your quest marker to track down Inventius; he roams around a lot and may
even be out hunting. When you find him, he agrees to lead you to a suspected
lair just northwest of the city. You'll find four lions have set up camp among
some rocks. Make sure you stick close to Inventius. Lions are fast and strong.
Let one of them stagger you and the rest will close in and then you're cat
chow. One possibility is to get up on the rocks from the "back" side and snipe
the lions where they can't reach you.
When the lions are dead, return to Thelas. She's still upset. There's
*another* mountain lion in the basement! Get down there and kill it and return
to Thelas. She suspects her neighbor, Quill-Weave, of luring the lions into
Thelas' basement. Find a good hiding spot in the back yard of Thelas' house
and go into Sneak mode. Wait until dark (around 8pm) and you'll see Quill-
Weave sneak into the yard and leave a piece of meat near the hole in the
basement wall.
Step out and confront her. She admits to trying to lure the rats out of the
basement (she finds them disgusting, which means she's perfectly normal). She
never intended lions to get in. She promises to leave Thelas alone and offers
you free Acrobatics training, as long as you don't rat her out to Thelas.
* Rat her out to Thelas. Thelas is quite pleased with the outcome and boosts
your Speechcraft skill by one point, plus your pay for fulfilling the
contract.
* Keep Quill-Weave's secret. Thelas thinks you're holding out on her, but
pays you for fulfilling the contract. Track down Quill-Weave and get a
one-point boost in your Acrobatics skill.
Return to Azzan at the guild hall for another assignment.
[FG02]
<~~~~~~ THE UNFORTUNATE SHOPKEEPER ~~~~~~>
Once you've dealt with the lions, Azzan sends you to see Norbert Lelles, of
Lelles's Quality Merchandise. Lelles's store is located on the waterfront,
outside the Dock Gate of Anvil. Thieves have been breaking into his store and
he wants you to play security guard.
Stand behind the counter and Wait until midnight. Three thieves will sneak
into the store. If you're a basic tank, you should be able to handle these
guys. Stay behind the counter and try to take them one-at-a-time as they come
around to get you.
If you're more a ranged/stealth fighter, now's the time to pull out a shield
and block a lot--or use a Shield spell. This is just the first of several
fights you're going to have in cramped quarters with multiple opponents.
This is the Fighters Guild, after all.
When you've disposed of the thieves, find Lelles in the Flowing Bowl for your
payment. Return to Azzan. He's got nothing more for you. If you've already
done "The Desolate Mine", he kicks you on to Vilena Donton in Chorrol,
otherwise he suggests you go visit gro-Khash in Cheydinhal.
[FG03]
<~~~~~~ THE DESOLATE MINE ~~~~~~>
Burz gro-Khash wants you to play delivery boy. He gives you a bow, war hammer
and long sword and tells you to deliver them to Fighters Guild members at
Desolate Mine, just a short jaunt to the northwest.
You'll find a couple of goblins outside the mine entrance. Inside, in the
first room, are the three fighters. Speak to Rienna, who explains the
situation (goblin hunting) and takes the bow. Give the war hammer to Brag gro-
Bharg and the sword to Elidor.
As soon as all three have a weapon, they take off after goblins. Desolate Mine
is fairly small, but has a number of twists. Your main objective is to stay
near the other three and keep them alive. The more that survive this trip, the
higher your payment.
Once your journal informs you all the goblins are dead, return to gro-Khash
and he'll pay you. If you haven't completed Azzan's quests yet, you're told to
see him, otherwise you're sent to Chorrol to speak to Guild Master Donton.
[FG04]
<~~~~~~ UNFINISHED BUSINESS ~~~~~~>
Vilena Donton doesn't have time to waste on peons such as yourself. She tells
you to talk to Modryn Oreyn about any duties to be performed. Oreyn, indeed,
has something he wants you to look in to.
Another new recruit, Maglir, has defaulted on a contract in Skingrad. You're
to find him and figure out what's gone wrong. Travel to Skingrad and ask
around town about Maglir. You'll be directed to the West Weald Inn, where
you'll find the little squirt drowning his sorrows.
Maglir complains about not getting paid enough for the job, which is to
recover the journal of Brenus Astis from Fallen Rock Cave. Maglir's not going
to go back in there, so you're going to have to go in after the journal.
Fallen Rock Cave is just a bit northwest of Skingrad. Undead roam it's depths,
including spirits--make sure you have a silver, daedric or enchanted weapon.
Fallen Rock Cave is fairly small; take the first right and follow it around to
a large room. Exit through the northwest tunnel and continue straight,
entering a flooded area, and, eventually, a flooded room with a body and the
journal. Make sure you collect all the ectoplasm dropped by the spirits and
save it. You'll want it for the next task.
You can return and talk to Maglir if you like, but it's not required. Report
back to Oreyn. You can give Maglir the credit for collecting the journal,
which will help you later on, or claim credit for yourself. Either way, you
get paid and another assignment.
[FG05]
<~~~~~~ DRUNK AND DISORDERLY ~~~~~~>
Three Fighters Guild members are drinking on the job down in Leyawiin. You're
sent to deal with them; you'll find them at the Five Claws Lodge. Turns out
they're not actually drunk on the job, since they have no job. The Blackwood
Company is taking all the work. Your mission, should you choose to accept it,
is to find some work for these guys.
Talk to any townie and they'll point you to Margarte. You should now get a
quest marker pointing to her, which makes it a lot easier to track her down.
When you find her, she'll reveal she's in the market for various alchemical
ingredients, especially ogre's teeth and minotaur horns. She doesn't trust the
Blackwood Company to collect these ingredients, but she's not ready to hire
the Fighters Guild either.
She wants you to prove the Guild's worth by bringing her five samples of
ectoplasm. If you got lucky in Fallen Rock Cave, you've got the five samples
in your pockets right now. If not, you can try scouring the nearby countryside
for caves or ruins, which may contain ghosts or wraiths. Or, try an alchemy
dealer at the local Mages Guild, to see if they have any in stock.
Once you have the five samples of ectoplasm, Margarte will agree to hire your
three gadabouts to hunt ogres and minotaurs for her. (Good work if you can get
it?) She'll also buy ogre's teeth and minotaur horns from you in lots of five
(100 gold for teeth, 50 gold for horns). This really isn't much, considering
the base price of those ingredients; an alchemist will pay you (assuming a
measly 40% buy rate) 150 gold for 5 ogre's teeth and 110 gold for five
minotaur horns.
Report the good news to the three Guild members at Five Claws, then return to
Oreyn. Oreyn is troubled by news of the Blackwood Company's success, and has
nothing further for you. He suggests you go see Azzan or gro-Khash for more
contracts.
[FG06]
<~~~~~~ DEN OF THIEVES ~~~~~~>
*NOTE* There's a side quest, "Newheim's Flagon", that's tied up with this
quest. You complete the side quest as you complete the Fighters Guild quest.
Azzan in Anvil has a job for you, and a partner--Maglir, the whiny little wood
elf you covered for in Skingrad. Reports of a gang of thieves have been
filtering into the Guild, and Azzan wants the two of you to look into it. Ask
around town and you'll be pointed to Newheim the Portly. Seek him out (he
typically wanders the docks) and he'll fill in the details.
In addition to other things, the thieves stole Newheim's family tankard, and
they're hiding out in Hrota Cave, which is close to Anvil, just north of the
city. Take Maglir and head out there. Your job is to clean out the caves;
don't worry about your buddy, for plot reasons he can't die just yet. The
flagon is sitting on a barrel in the only large room inside the cave.
Return the flagon to Newheim and report back to Azzan. You don't have to
travel with Maglir any more. If you haven't finished "Amelion's Debt" for gro-
Khash, you're sent packing for Cheydinhal, otherwise you're told to report to
Oreyn in Chorrol.
[FG07]
<~~~~~~ AMELION'S DEBT ~~~~~~>
If you've got a bit of cash on you and are feeling generous (or lazy), this
will be a very short mission. Otherwise, you're in for some serious undead
carnage. Burz gro-Khash sends you to Water's Edge, a farmstead down near
Leyawiin. You're to recover some family artifacts for Biene Amelion.
When you arrive at Water's Edge, Biene explains she needs to pay off her
father's gambling debts. She hopes to sell her grandfather's enchanted armor
and weapon for the money. Here's where you get to decide how energetic you
are. If you have 1,000 gold to spare, you can simply give her the money to pay
off her debt and then be on your way.
Otherwise, you have to clean out Amelion's Tomb, which is located further
south and on the other side of the Niben River. Fight your way through a lot
of undead and two small levels. You'll find Brusef's cuirass and sword on a
sarcophagus in the second level. You can also find other pieces of his armor
scattered about. (If you pay off Biene's debt, you can still raid the tomb and
keep the armor for yourself.)
Once Biene has the gold or the armor and sword, return to gro-Khash for
payment. He then sends you to Anvil if you haven't finished "Den of Thieves"
or to Chorrol for more duties from Oreyn.
[FG08]
<~~~~~~ THE MASTER'S SON ~~~~~~>
Modryn Oreyn has a couple of problems, and thinks you can solve them both in
one go. First, Guild member Galtus Previa has vanished while spelunking in
Nonwyll Cavern. Second, Vilena Donton's younger son, Viranus, is green around
the gills and needs seasoning. (Seems Ms. Donton is coddling the youngster
after older brother, Vitellus, died in an earlier Guild mission.)
Anyway, you're to take young Donton with you to Nonwyll Cavern and keep him
alive. Run down Viranus using your quest marker and tell him to come along and
not to tell Mommy about it. Nonwyll Cavern is north of Chorrol and full of
trolls; not to mention the occasional ogre and a minotaur boss. Don't worry
about Viranus, he's a plot NPC and can't be killed, so let him charge in and
take the hits for you.
At the "bottom" of the cavern, you'll find Previa's body. When you get the
journal update, head out and report back to Oreyn. He's perturbed, and
comments that it's strange Previa wasn't chewed up.
[FG09]
<~~~~~~ MORE UNFINISHED BUSINESS ~~~~~~>
Maglir is at it again. Or, more accurately, not at it. Oreyn sends you to
Bravil to find out why the little snot hasn't fulfilled a contract with a mage
there. You'll find Maglir at the Lonely Suitor Lodge, and he's wearing a
different uniform. Seems he decided to join the Blackwood Company.
If, during "Unfinished Business", you gave credit to Maglir for recovering the
journal, then Maglir will have pity on you and give you the name of the mage
he is supposed to be working for, Aryarie of the Bravil Mages Guild. If you
took credit yourself earlier, Maglir has nothing more to say. If that's the
case, you either have to hunt Aryarie down yourself (she may or may not be in
the Mages Guild) or return to Oreyn in Chorrol to get the name (which includes
the convenient quest marker).
Aryarie wants 10 portions of imp gall, which, predictably, can be obtained
from imps. She points you to Robber's Glen Cave, a short distance north of the
city. Indeed, there are at least a dozen imps in this complex, along with a
handful of other critters. Return with the imp gall to Aryarie, who gives you
an enchanted ring as a bonus.
[FG10]
<~~~~~~ AZANI BLACKHEART ~~~~~~>
Back in Chorrol, Oreyn has a "side" job for you and asks that you meet him at
his house after dark. Oreyn lives in the south-western most corner of Chorrol,
in a small hut. Follow him to his house (if it's already dark), or Wait until
after 8pm and then meet him there.
Oreyn goes into a long rant over duplicity on the part of the Blackwood
Company. It seems they've been a thorn in his side since before they started
stealing contracts in Leyawiin or wimpy wood elves from the ranks of the
Guild. Specifically, he suspects them of interfering in a job to retrieve a
valuable artifact from Azani Blackheart.
Oreyn wants to expose the Blackwood Company, and he wants you to come along
for the ride. He wants you to meet him at the Leyawiin Guild and then go to an
Ayleid ruin, Arpenia, with him. Fast Travel down to Leyawiin and meet up with
Oreyn. You can then trudge down to Arpenia together.
Arpenia is mostly empty (a few low-level critters and some traps are all that
remain). Not far into the ruin, in a large room, Oreyn decides he's seen
enough and tells you the Blackwood Company must have struck a deal with
Blackheart. He now wants to find Blackheart; he thinks he might be up the road
in another Ayleid ruin, Atatar.
Blackheart is, indeed, in Atatar. Along with a dozen or more of his friends
and a bunch of other creatures. There are four levels in Atatar, and, of
course, Blackheart is in the last level. The route is circuitous, but, there's
always only one way you can go.
Fortunately for you, Oreyn is a plot NPC and can't be killed, just knocked
unconscious (which might happen a lot depending on your level). You'll need
his help against Blackheart. Once Azani is down, loot his body and give his
ring to Oreyn. He thanks you, tells you to go see Azzan or gro-Khash and takes
off, leaving you to get out of Atatar on your own.
[FG11]
<~~~~~~ THE WANDERING SCHOLAR ~~~~~~>
Azzan wants you to accompany a scholar, Elante, to a supposed daedric shrine
in Brittlerock Cave. You can complete this quest even if Elante dies, but you
don't get paid if that happens. Brittlerock Cave is northeast of Anvil and
quite a trek. If you've previously done work around Fort Sutch ("Assault on
Fort Sutch" side quest or "Bad Medicine" Dark Brotherhood quest), that's the
nearest Fast Travel point.
You'll find a couple of creatures outside the mine and the scholar just inside
the door. (Makes you wonder how she got in there, doesn't it?) Elante wants to
take the lead, and this is both a blessing and a curse. The curse is she
wanders through every side passage in the cavern before finding the shrine.
The blessing is you have a trick to keep her alive.
You may have noticed, when NPCs lead you, they will stop if you get too far
behind. Actually, they stop if you get too far away in any direction. So, what
you do is run past Elante and keep running until you run into your first group
of daedra. As you blow past Elante, she will stop and wait patiently for you
to "catch up". This allows you to deal with the demons while Elante is safe
further up the tunnel.
You can clean out the caverns one room at a time, returning to "follow" Elante
as you go, or you can clear the entire complex (it's not large) all at once
and then meekly trail after Elante down to the shrine. Elante decides to stay
and study the shrine a bit longer. You can go back the way you came, or take
the door behind the altar. It leads to another section of the cave, with more
daedra, and another exit back into the world above.
Azzan thanks you for dedication and sends you to see gro-Khash, unless you've
already completed "The Fugitives", in which case you're told to report to
Oreyn.
[FG12]
<~~~~~~ THE FUGITIVES ~~~~~~>
This is a simple quest. gro-Khash reports a group of four prisoners escaped
the Bravil jail and have decided to stick around and prey on the citizens of
that fair city. He sends you to deal with the problem. (Just in case you were
wondering, "deal with" is a euphemism for kill. There's no other way to finish
this quest.)
Go to Bravil and ask around. You need to get an NPCs Disposition over 60 in
order to get the location of the fugitives: Bloodmayne Cave. The cave is
northwest of Bravil and the ex-cons are somewhat spread out. You shouldn't
have to face more than two at once.
When they're dead, return to gro-Khash for your pay and marching orders from
Oreyn. (Or referral to Azzan if you haven't completed "The Wandering
Scholar".)
[FG13]
<~~~~~~ TROLLS OF FORSAKEN MINE ~~~~~~>
Oreyn sent a group of Guild members to Forsaken Mine to clear out the trolls.
It's been days and he hasn't heard from them. You're to investigate. Fast
Travel to Leyawiin and head southwest. Forsaken Mine is just about as far
south as you can go in Cyrodiil. Use the entrance marked for you on your map.
(There's another entrance to the mine, but it leads directly into some trolls
that are better approached from behind.)
The first level of the mine is basically empty except for corpses--mostly
Fighters Guild, but one or two will be Blackwood Company fighters. You won't
encounter your first troll until you hit the door to the second level of the
mine. From here, there are about 10 trolls that you must kill. Make sure you
get every one.
Along the way you'll find Viranus Donton's body--you just know Mommy's going
to be happy about this. His journal suggests the trolls weren't the problem.
Something's fishy in Leyawiin, and it's not the Niben River. When you get the
journal entry that you've killed all the trolls (a high-powered Detect Life
spell is good for finding any that are eluding you), return to Oreyn.
He's not happy, but is ready to face the axe himself. He sends you to Anvil or
Cheydinhal to get away from the wrath of Donton.
[FG14]
<~~~~~~ THE STONE OF ST. ALESSIA ~~~~~~>
In Anvil, Azzan tells you of the theft of a religious relic from the temple in
Bruma. He sends you there to recover the Stone of St. Alessia. In Bruma, you
need to track down Cirroc, who is normally in the Chapel of Talos. He says
four or five men were seen heading east out of town about the time the stone
was discovered missing.
Your quest marker updates to a point along the east road out of Bruma. Follow
it to find the lone remaining bandit, a Khajiit. He confesses to the crime,
but says he and his buddies were ambushed by ogres and he's the only surviving
member. The ogres now have the stone and are holed up in an Ayleid ruin,
Sedor, a little further east and a bit south.
The path through Sedor is simple, but you will have to deal with ogres (by
combat or stealth). Return the stone to Cirroc and then report back to Azzan.
Azzan doesn't have any more work for you. Literally, this is your last quest
for the leader of the Anvil guild. If you have finished gro-Khash's quests,
Azzan tells you Oreyn is looking for you.
[FG15]
<~~~~~~ THE NOBLE'S DAUGHTER ~~~~~~>
This is the first of two quests gro-Khash has for you, and they're the last he
will give you. It's a simple kidnapping. gro-Khash refers you to Lord
Rugdumph; his estate is a fair walk north-northeast of Cheydinhal. Azura's
Shrine or the Lake Arrius Caverns (Dagon Shrine from the main story) are the
closest quest-related Fast Travel points.
Lord Rugdumph doesn't have great command of English (or Imperial or whatever
it is that they speak in Cyrodiil), but you get the gist. His daughter was
kidnapped by ogres, who then headed east. Follow your quest marker almost due
east of the estate to find the young lady and her three ogreish "protectors".
This can be a bit tricky, as the ogres sometimes clump up around the orc and
make it difficult to pick them off (and you definitely don't want to use an
explosive spell on them when they're near the target of your quest). Approach
in Stealth mode and wait until the ogres are spread out. Then use bow or spell
to attract one to you and kill it. Rinse-and-repeat for the other two.
Talk to the orc woman and she'll agree to follow you back to her home. Lead
her there, get more entertainment from Rugdumph's language lessons and his
special sword. Then return to gro-Khash, who has another assignment for you.
[FG16]
<~~~~~~ MYSTERY AT HARLUN'S WATCH ~~~~~~>
People are disappearing from Harlun's Watch and gro-Khash wants you to find
out why. Harlun's Watch is just south of Cheydinhal; your contact is Drarana
Thelis. She tells of strange lights near Swampy Cave. Some villagers sent to
investigate have not returned.
Swampy Cave is a short distance to the southeast. If you haven't encountered
will-o-the-wisps before, you're about to. You need a couple of things to fight
wisps: a silver, daedric or enchanted weapon (or spells); and a Detect Life
spell (or enchanted equipment). Wisps like to go invisible and you don't want
them sneaking up on you and draining your health.
There are three to four wisps clustered outside the entrance to Swampy Cave.
Try to deal with them at a distance; up close they have a Drain Health ability
that basically ignores your armor. Spell Absorption or Reflection wouldn't
hurt. When the wisps are dead, your journal suggests that explains the strange
lights, but not the missing townsfolk.
Enter Swampy Cave and start killing trolls. There are a lot of trolls spread
over two levels. You'll have to kill them all to complete this quest. Your
Detect Life spell will now come in handy for finding all the trolls. In the
southernmost part of the first level of the caves, you'll find the bodies of
the missing villagers*. Your journal should update at this point.
* There's a bug in the game caused by clearing out Swampy Cave before you get
this quest. If you've already been through here, the dead villager won't spawn
and the quest won't advance. You can fix this by downloading the v1.1 patch.
Once the trolls are all dead (your journal should update again), return to
Thelis in Harlun's Watch with the bad news. Then see gro-Khash for your
payment and word that Oreyn wants to see you. (Unless you haven't finished
"The Stone of St. Alessia", then gro-Khash tells you to talk to Azzan.)
[FG17]
<~~~~~~ INFORMATION GATHERING ~~~~~~>
You'll find Modryn Oreyn in his house, as, basically, he has nothing better to
do these days than sit and chew his nails over his dismissal from the Guild.
He thinks the Blackwood Company is a bunch bad guys (no kidding!) and he's
determined to bring them down. But, even though he has lots of time on his
hands, he wants you to do the bringing down.
Nice of him to think of you, isn't it?
For starters, he wants you to capture one of the Blackwood leaders, Ajum
Kagin, from his headquarters in Glademist Cave. The cave is east of the city,
not far, and it's very small. Kagin has six to seven Blackwood Company
fighters holed up in there with him.
Now is actually a good time to work on your Sneak skill. This little cave is
rather overflowing with bad guys (other than Kagin, they don't want to talk)
and you'll want to work as hard as you can to separate them. That means bow
attacks while in Sneak mode, to try to force a single foe out of his cozy
cavern he's sharing with his buddies and into the tunnels where you can
dispatch him.
Kagin is in the far room of the cavern, behind a wood door. Don't go in until
you've killed everyone else. Confront him and he'll meekly surrender and
follow you to Oreyn's house. Oreyn orders you to conduct the interrogation.
You have two choices:
1) Use the Persuasion mini-game and/or Charm spells to raise Kagin's
Disposition. You'll need it over 90 to get all the information he has
to offer.
2) Use your fists to beat on Kagin until he talks.
Either method works, just don't kill Kagin. He'll eventually give you the
number of Blackwood Company recruits (100) and the name of the leader
(Ri'Zakar). Once he's spilled Ri'Zakar's name, he kills himself rather than
reveal the recipe for the Company's secret sauce.
Oreyn is satisfied, but wants more. He wants you to join the Blackwood Company
and find out what they're up to.
[FG18]
<~~~~~~ INFILTRATION ~~~~~~>
Joining the Company is easy. Fast Travel to Leyawiin and find the Company's
main HQ right across the street from the Fighters Guild. Talk to Jeetum-Zee
and he'll take you right in.
Must be a lot of defectors from the Guild.
Zee takes you down to the Training Room and briefs you and three other
recruits on a goblin hunting mission. During the conversations, you discover
the source of the Company's wild successes: sap from the Hist tree. This tree
normally only grows in the swamps of Black Marsh, the Argonian homeland, and
the narcotic produced from its sap is illegal in Cyrodiil. Rather than smuggle
the sap in, the Company has figured out how to keep a Hist tree alive in this
very building, so they've got plenty of sap for everyone.
You have no choice but to drink some Hist along with the other three recruits.
You automatically Fast Travel to Water's Edge (you may remember this hamlet
from a previous task). There are several goblins roaming around, and your
brother Blackwoods lay into them immediately. The goblins are strangely
passive and very weak.
After the goblins outside are dead, you're ordered to check the houses. Sure
enough, you'll find four more passive, weak goblins inside the various houses.
Kill them and you'll pass out.
You wake up in Oreyn's house in Chorrol. You were found in the streets of
Leyawiin by Guild members and brought to him. Explain the Hist tree. He says
he'll look into it and sends you to Water's Edge to check on its inhabitants.
There you find a truly tragic scene. Seven dead sheep, and four dead people,
including the lovely Biene Amelion. Standing over the carnage is Biene's
father, Marcel, recently released after Biene paid his debt. He wonders who
could have done this.
You know, but you can't confess. All you can do is return to Oreyn.
[FG19]
<~~~~~~ THE HIST ~~~~~~>
If, after the scene with the elder Amelion, you're not ready to lay some smack
down on the Blackwood Company, there's something wrong with you. Fortunately,
Oreyn knows just how you're feeling. He tells you to get to Leyawiin and take
out the Hist tree. If some Company fighters go down with it...well, that's
just collateral damage.
Fast Travel to Leyawiin, enter the Blackwood Company HQ and express your
displeasure to the three to four fighters on the ground floor. (Don't try any
sweet-talking, they attack on sight. So should you.) When you're finished
pounding on them, find the body named Ja'Fazir and get the key to Jeetum-Zee's
room.
Go upstairs to Jeetum-Zee's room and explain what the pointy thing on the end
of your sword is for. From his corpse you get the key to Ri'Zakar's room on
the third floor. You haven't met Ri'Zakar yet; he's going to wish you never
did. Take the key to the basement from him.
Find the basement door on the first floor and enter. There's a huge tree
growing in the center of the room with complex machinery on either side of it.
There are also two Argonian mages. Make them regret ever leaving Black Marsh.
Once they're dead, find two loose pipes laying on the floor and pick them up.
With the pipes in your inventory, Activate each large machine to destroy them.
The Hist tree goes up in flames and you can start breathing again. On your way
out, Maglir shows up.
It's OK. You get to kill him now.
Return to Oreyn, who sends you on to Vilena Donton to explain everything.
While initially ticked you and Oreyn have been working behind her back, she
ultimately decides the real problem is herself. She's getting too old and too
shell-shocked to lead a guild of fighters.
So, she hands the reins over to you and recommends you appoint Oreyn your
second-in-command. Oreyn initially complains about missing out on retirement,
but then decides you need someone to look after you.
Once each calendar month, you can give Oreyn new orders from a list of three:
1) Focus on getting new recruits.
2) Focus on drumming up business.
3) Focus on both equally.
On the first of each month, you get a stipend placed in the guild master's
chest in your office in the Chorrol guild hall. It will contain a mixture of
gold and magic items. If you instruct Oreyn to concentrate on recruitment,
you'll get more items. If the focus is on contracts, you get more gold.
Balancing the two will balance your monthly reward.
Take your boots off and relax a bit. You get to collect loot without doing any
of the work.
It's good to be the boss.
[FG20]
<~~~~~~ EXPELLED FROM THE FIGHTERS GUILD ~~~~~~>
Like the other guilds, you are not permitted to steal from, attack or kill
other members of the guild. (Non-members are fair game.) The Fighters Guild
operates on a three-strikes and you're out policy. The first two times you
commit a crime against a guild member, you can earn your way back in. The
third time, you're out for good.
The first time you are expelled, you must bring 20 bear pelts back to Vilena
Donton in Chorrol to be re-instated. The second time you are expelled, you
must bring Donton 20 minotaur horns. Neither are particularly easy tasks,
especially since bears and minotaurs are leveled creatures that only appear
when you're at the right level.
The best policy is to avoid committing crimes against fellow guild members. If
you suspect you might get a little out of control, stockpile bear pelts and
minotaur horns as you find them. If you commit a third offense against a guild
member, you're out for good.
[MG00]
~~The Elder Scrolls IV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MAGES GUILD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OBLIVION~~
The Mages Guild quests should be considered a necessity for any character, at
least to the point where you get access to Arcane University (after completing
the Recommendations). Once you are an Apprentice, you can enchant items and
make your own spells, both highly useful activities.
Note also that completing the Mages Guild quests does not require you to be a
mage, nor even particularly proficient with magic. Most of the quests are
"solved" by combat, which any character can be adept at.
Joining the Mages Guild is simple: make sure you have no outstanding bounty,
then speak to the leader in one of the seven local guild halls. They are:
* Anvil: Carahil
* Bravil: Kud-Ei
* Bruma: Jeanne Frasoric
* Cheydinhal: Falcar
* Chorrol: Teekeeus
* Leyawiin: Dagail
* Skingrad: Adrienne Berene
Once you've joined, you are considered an Associate and you receive a key that
opens the various locked doors in the guild halls and you can pick up
equipment freely in the guild storerooms. Before you can advance in rank and
access the Arcane University in Imperial City, you must get a recommendation
from each local guild leader.
Ask each guild leader about a recommendation. They'll say they can't possibly
give you a recommendation unless you do something for them first.
Uh huh. You've been down this road before.
Agree to undertake the tasks they ask of you and you'll get their
recommendations.
[MG01]
<~~~~~~ ANVIL RECOMMENDATION ~~~~~~>
This quest, while it initially sounds exciting, is quite yawn-worthy. Talk to
Carahil at the Anvil Guild. She wants you to bait a trap for a rogue mage
that's been murdering merchants traveling the Gold Coast. You are sent to the
Brina Cross Inn, just north of Anvil. Be sure to follow through all Carahil's
conversation options to get some Frost Shell scrolls.
Go to the Inn and speak to Arielle Jurard. She tells you to take a room. Do
so, and Jurard will come up to your room soon after you enter and explain the
plan. You are to rest, then travel east along the road. You'll be followed by
Jurard and another battlemage. When the rogue mage hits you, they'll move in
and take him out.
You only need to rest in the bed 1 hour (you can rest overnight if you wish),
then head out to the road and walk east. You'll soon be waylaid by Caminalda,
who may have spoken to you at the Inn. She's the rogue and she is easily
dispatched. In fact, you don't even really need to do anything except step
back and let the other two battlemages take over.
After, loot Caminalda's body for the key to her room at the Inn, which
contains a bit of loot. Then return to Carahil for her recommendation.
Don't you love it when a plan comes together?
[MG02]
<~~~~~~ BRAVIL RECOMMENDATION ~~~~~~>
No combat required for this task, just lots of running around and a fair bit
of gold from your pocket (or a bit of theft). Kud-Ei, head of the Bravil
Guild, wants you to speak to Varon Vamori about a staff he stole from one of
Kud-Ei's "girls". To help matters, Kud-Ei gives you a Beguile scroll (Charm,
30 points for 30 seconds). Head to Vamori's house, which will be marked for
you on your local map.
Talk to Vamori. You need to get his Disposition to 65 to find out the fate of
the staff. You can do this with the Persuasion mini-game and/or bribes or use
the Beguile scroll. Once you've persuaded him, Vamori reveals he stole the
staff in a fit of anger and sold it to one Soris Arenim, who lives in Imperial
City.
Lovely. Go back to Kud-Ei and get another supply of Beguile scrolls. Travel to
the Talos Plaza District and find Arenim's house (marked on your map). You
must get Arenim's Disposition up to 70 to get any information about the staff.
He offers to sell it to you for 200 gold. You can pay the price and finish
this business; or, if you're opposed to being out-of-pocket on this mission...
Speak to Arenim's wife, Erissare. Get her Dispostion to 65 (again, with
Persuasion or spell), and she'll tell you where Arenim keeps the staff and
where he keeps the key to the chest containing the staff. (If you don't want
to use up a scroll, the key is upstairs in Soris' desk; the chest with the
staff is in the cellar.)
Return the staff to Kud-Ei, who is suitably grateful. She teaches you a mild
Charm spell (Captivate) and promises her recommendation to the Guild.
[MG03]
<~~~~~~ BRUMA RECOMMENDATION ~~~~~~>
This may just be the easiest and shortest quest in the entire game. Talk to
Jeanne Frasoric, guild leader, to learn one of her mages, J'skar, has gone
missing. Now, if you have a Detect Life spell, cast it and walk around
(including down in the basement living quarters) and you should find an
invisible humanoid. Cast a Dispel to reveal J'skar and return to Jeanne for
your recommendation.
If you don't have Detect Life, you may still be able to find J'skar by
wandering around and pointing your crosshair target at random places. If it
suddenly changes to a crown (plot NPC) icon over thin air, you've found your
Dispel target.
Finally, if you don't have a Dispel handy, talk to guild member Volanaro. He
reveals the whole disappearance is a prank. Raise his Disposition to 70 and
he'll make a deal: you steal Jeanne's copy of the Manual of Spellcraft and
he'll "find" J'skar. Getting the book is easy, especially since Volanaro will
teach you an Unlock spell. Jeanne's room is the only room on the upper floor
of the guild. Break in, unlock her desk (with spell or lockpick) and grab her
book.
Return to Volanaro, and he'll agree to meet you at 10pm in the living
quarters. Wait ahead to the appropriate time, meet Volanaro in the basement
and he'll Dispel J'skar's invisibility.
[MG04]
<~~~~~~ CHEYDINHAL RECOMMENDATION ~~~~~~>
Falcar, leader of the Cheydinhal guild, has dropped a ring down the well
behind the guild. He makes some mention of sending someone else after it and
not getting it back. He now wants you to go get the ring. He sends you to
Deetsan for a key to the well.
Deetsan won't give you the key until she's had a talk with you, and she won't
talk while Falcar is around. Wait ahead until Falcar goes back to his
quarters, then talk to Deetsan. She is concerned over Falcar's "prank tasks"
given to new Associates, and warns you to be careful. Then she hands over the
key and teaches you a combination water-breathing and feather (reduced
encumbrance) spell.
Deetsan's warning is well-taken. The ring is a Ring of Burden and increases
your encumbrance by 150 points. Deetsan's spell only reduces encumbrance by 5
points. Bit of a discrepancy there. Once you enter the well, you can easily
find Vidkun's body and take the ring off him. As soon as you do, you get 150
pounds added to your encumbrance--you don't have to equip the ring to suffer
the effects.
You have two options:
1) Divest yourself of at least 150 pounds of gear. Even if this is your first
recommendation quest, you have access to the bedroom and chests upstairs, so
put all your gear into a chest. You can then safely carry out the ring.
2) Once you have the ring, wait until you get the quest update saying you
should return the ring to Falcar. As soon as you have that quest update, drop
the ring. The quest has continued and you don't need to actually hand over the
ring. *NOTE* Some people have experienced a glitch where the quest does not
update and the ring disappears so this quest becomes impossible to complete.
The safest way to do the quest is to get rid of your gear and actually bring
the ring to Deetsan.
Return to the guild. Deetsan rashly confronted Falcar over the disappearance
of the previous Associate and he had a fit and has taken off for parts
unknown. So how do you get your recommendation? Deetsan tells you to search
Falcar's quarters for the letter of recommendation. You won't find a letter,
but you will find two black soul gems. Take them to Deetsan, who is dismayed
with your find, and promises to send your recommendation herself.
[MG05]
<~~~~~~ CHORROL RECOMMENDATION ~~~~~~>
The Chorrol recommendation only comes with your completion of the Fingers of
the Mountain quest. There's a part 2 of that quest, depending on how you
handle the first part.
| Fingers of the Mountain [MG05-A]
+----------------------------------
Teekeeus, head of the Chorrol guild, has bad relations with former colleague
Earana. She is loitering about town, and Teekeeus wants you to find out why so
she can be sent on her way. Follow your objective marker to Earana. She isn't
interested in Teekeeus, she wants a book, Fingers of the Mountain, that can be
found at a ruin called Cloud Top. She promises a vague reward if you bring her
the book.
Relay this to Teekeeus and he lets you know he would like the book as well.
Retrieve it for him and the recommendation is yours. Journey (by foot or
horse) to Cloud Top, which has been marked for you and is north-northwest of
Chorrol. There are no specific enemies to fight, though you will encounter the
normal range of wild animals on your path. The book is conveniently located on
a charred corpse lying at the base of a broken column.
You now have two choices:
1) Take the book to Teekeeus. He accepts, with thanks, and the recommendation
is yours.
2) Take the book to Earana. She says she must study it for a day. Return to
her the following day and she'll give you instructions on how to obtain
a powerful spell. See "Learning the Spell" below for the full
instructions.
| Fingers of the Mountain, Part II [MG05-B]
+-------------------------------------------
You can, actually, do both--get the recommendation from Teekeeus and the spell
from Earana. After finishing part 1 of this quest, go to the other participant
and reveal what you've done. This opens Part II: you are asked to steal the
book back. Teekeeus keeps the book in a locked chest in his quarters. Earana
keeps the book in her room at the Grey Mare Inn.
Once you've stolen the book, return it to the other party. You'll get the
recommendation (from Teekeeus) or the spell instructions (from Earana) and
still have the other "reward" from the previous "owner" of the book.
It's all good.
| Learning the Spell
+--------------------
The true reward for this quest is Finger of the Mountain, a very powerful
spell. Two things to note about this spell:
1) Its power is keyed to your level. If you learn the spell at level 2, you
get a low-level spell. Learn the spell at a higher level, and the power
is much higher. (See list below.) PC users can learn the low-level spell
and have it automatically leveled up using a mod.
2) At higher levels, the spell is only useful to dedicated mages, since it
costs a lot of Magicka. If you don't rely much on spells, don't bother
learning this one.
To learn Finger of the Mountain, you must visit Cloud Top and cast a Shock
spell on the central, broken column and have a welkynd stone in your
inventory. Welkynd stones are all over the place in Ayleid ruins. If you don't
have one, you can get some from a small ruin just northeast of the Chorrol
north gate.
It's called Hrotanda Vale, and it is a two-level, bandit-infested ruin. The
first large room you come to has two floor traps in the center. If you draw
the bandits over them, you may finish off two or three with the traps. Careful
jumping around the corners will get you past the traps into a room full of
welkynd stones. (You can finish off the rest of the ruin, or not. All you
really need is one stone.)
Make sure you have a spell or scroll that does shock damage (any magnitude)
and a welkynd stone. Return to Cloud Top, restore yourself to full health and
cast your Shock spell on the central column. You'll get hit by lightning in
return and learn Finger of the Mountain. The shock damage done to you and the
power of the spell is keyed to your level:
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | | Finger of the Mountain (Destruction magic) |
| Min PC level | Dmg to PC | Shock Dmg | Area | Magicka* | Skill level |
|--------------+-----------+-----------+------+-----------+-------------|
| 1 | 15 | 6 | 5 | 11 | Novice |
|--------------+-----------+-----------+------+-----------+-------------|
| 5 | 40 | 20 | 5 | 54 | Journeyman |
|--------------+-----------+-----------+------+-----------+-------------|
| 10 | 60 | 40 | 5 | 131 | Expert |
|--------------+-----------+-----------+------+-----------+-------------|
| 15 | 120 | 90 | 5 | 371 | Master |
|--------------+-----------+-----------+------+-----------+-------------|
| 20 | 210 | 140 | 5 | 653 | Master |
|--------------+-----------+-----------+------+-----------+-------------|
| 25 | 210 | 200 | 10 | 1547 | Master |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Actual Magicka cost will be adjusted based on your skill level in
Destruction.
[MG06]
<~~~~~~ LEYAWIIN RECOMMENDATION ~~~~~~>
The head of the Leyawiin Mages Guild, Dagail, is somewhat incoherent. Speak to
her, and, among her ramblings, she'll point you to Agata. Speak to Agata to
learn about the stone Dagail used to have that allows her to focus her
visions. Find Kalthar and ask him about the Seer's Stone.
He'll give you an earful and then some. Return to Agata and discuss Kalthar
with her. She'll tell to you go back to Dagail. Speak to Dagail again and
listen intently to her riddles. Or not. Your journal will now point you to
Fort Blueblood.
Refer to your map, where you'll find Fort Blueblood now showing southeast of
Leyawiin. Hoof it over there and fight your way through a bunch of marauders
in a two level dungeon. After killing the marauder warlord, make sure you loot
his body for the Fort Blueblood key. This gives you access to the crypt where
Dagail's father lies.
His coffin is protected by leveled creatures. Once they are down and you've
retrieved his amulet, you'll be confronted by Kalthar. He wants the amulet,
which, of course, you're not going to let him have. Kalthar's a conjurer, so
ignore his buddy if he summons one and concentrate on taking him out. Return
to Dagail in Leyawiin for the recommendation.
[MG07]
<~~~~~~ SKINGRAD RECOMMENDATION ~~~~~~>
Adrienne Berene wants some notes from Erthor, a mage Adrienne ran out of the
guild. She has no idea where Erthor is, and wants you to track him down. Talk
to Sulinus Vassinus, who should be wandering around the guild. Vassinus says
Erthor moved into Bleak Flats Cave and hasn't been seen in a long time. (Yay!
Caves!) Vassinus has no idea where Bleak Flats Cave is.
Find Druja, another mage wandering around the guild. Druja can pinpoint Bleak
Flats Cave on your map and mentions it was Berene that recommended the cave to
Erthor. Talk to Berene again; she'll order you point-blank to go to the cave
and bring Erthor back. To aid you, you are taught a new spell, Fireball. (Yay!
Fire!)
Bleak Flats Cave now appears on your map, north-northwest of Skingrad. You
can't Fast Travel there, so walk on over. Inside are quite a number of
deranged zombies. (Yay! Zombies! In a cave! With fire!) Fight your way through
them, making sure you wipe them all out, until you find Erthor. Erthor will be
pleased with the rescue and ask that you lead him out of the cave.
Letting Erthor follow you is not required. You can simply tell him to return
to the Skingrad guild hall on his own. There's a shortcut out of Erthor's
"room" to the northwest. Pull the lever to move the rock. After returning to
the Mages Guild, talk to Berene to get your recommendation.
[MG08]
<~~~~~~ A MAGES STAFF ~~~~~~>
After completing the seven recommendation quests, talk to any guild leader
about your recommendation. You'll be sent to Raminus Polus at Arcane
University just outside Imperial City. Travel there and enter the lobby of the
University during normal hours to meet Polus. You'll be promoted to Apprentice
and given a new task: create a mages staff.
First, you have to collect the proper wood for your staff. Polus sends you to
a grove near Wellspring Cave, which is east of Imperial City. To reach the
grove, you must go through the cave. In the first area of the cave you'll find
the body of one of the grove's guardians. (You knew this wasn't going to be
simple, right?) Make sure you Activate the body twice--once to update your
journal, again to get the key to the grove from her body.
There are also some necromancers in the cave. Necromancers like to summon
things; try to ignore the summoned creatures and take out the summoner (which
also dispels the summons). Near the end of the cave is the body of the second
grove guardian. Outside, in the grove, are three necromancers. There's no way
to take them on one-by-one, you'll have to put up with all three hitting you
at once.
If you're having trouble with them, make sure you use items and potions with
damage resistance (especially against fire and shock). Remember to take out
the summoner and don't waste time on the summons. When the necromancers are
dead, get your wood from the chest in the center of the grove. You can jump
down from the grove into Lake Rumare and swim across to Arcane University.
Polus is appalled at the necromancer attack on the grove. He sends you along
to Delmar in the Chironasium, who will make a staff of your choosing. You can
pick from three schools, and then choose one of three powers from that school:
* Destruction: Fire, Frost or Shock damage
* Illusion: Charm, Paralyze or Silence
* Mysticism: Dispel, Telekinesis or Soul Trap
Wait until the next day and collect your staff from the cupboard in the back
of the room. Return to Polus and ask about Advancement; you are now a
Journeyman in the Guild. Then ask about Tasks for a new mission.
[MG09]
<~~~~~~ ULTERIOR MOTIVES ~~~~~~>
Polus sends you on a simple step-n-fetch mission. Count Hassildor in Skingrad
borrowed a book, and the Guild wants it back. Travel to Castle Skingrad. You
can't see the count, and everyone refers you to Mercator Hosidus, castle
steward. Mercator is brusque and won't bother the count until the following
day.
Return the next day. Hosidus sets up a meeting between you and the count on
the road west of town after 2am that night. Wait until the appropriate time,
then head out the west gate and down the road, just past the first farm on the
left. Make sure you're kitted out for battle first (yeah, you're not getting
off easy).
Hosidus and a couple of necromancers are waiting for you. This can't end well.
Endeavor to make sure Hosidus and friends feel worse about the meeting than
you. During the ruckus, Count Hassildor will show up and take a personal
interest in "retiring" Hosidus--and his pals. Then he chews you out for being
a gullible fool.
Well. Yeah. But it's not like the game gives you any other choice. You find
out you were sent to spy on Hassildor, but he turned the situation around and
used you as bait to draw out Hosidus and his allies. Travel back to Arcane
University and do some chewing out of your own on Polus. He apologizes, fully
explains the count's condition (he's a vampire, if you haven't figured that
out yourself) and promotes you to Evoker. You get a leveled amulet with a
Spell Absorption enchantment and a new task.
[MG10]
<~~~~~~ VAHTACEN'S SECRET ~~~~~~>
Polus sends you to help Irlav Jarol, who hangs out in the Arch-Mages Council
Chamber (use the portal in the Lobby). Jarol is supervising an archaeological
study of an Ayleid ruin and they've hit a snag. He sends you to investigate.
Vahtacen is located south-southeast of Cheydinhal. The upper level of this
ruin is unoccupied except for a couple of Mages Guild workers: Skaleel and
Denel. Skaleel is disgruntled and doesn't want to help. She sends you down to
Denel, who explains the problem.
They've got a wall blocking their way further into the ruin and they can't
figure out how to open it. You can do this the hard way by entering the large
room and looking at the inscriptions on the walls. Then return to Denel and
ask about translating the runes. He sends you to Skaleel for a book, then
helps you translate the writing.
Or, you can just go ahead and open the wall. You need four spells (scrolls or
staffs will work): fire damage, frost damage, damage Magicka and fortify
Magicka. If you don't have these spells, you can find scrolls in the chest
behind Denel. Walk up to the large column in the center of the room and cast
your spells in this order: fire, frost, damage Magicka (must be damage, not
drain or absorb) and fortify Magicka (must be useable on a target, not on
self). The walls will open, revealing a staircase leading down.
It's up to you to go down and explore Vahtacen's depths. Speaking to Denel or
Skaleel will only confirm this for you. You'll fight your way through a lot of
ghosts (or wraiths, depending on your level) until you reach a large room with
a platform in the middle. There's no immediate way up onto the platform. Use
the stairs on the south side of the room to get up to the switch that raises
steps to the central platform.
On top of the platform is a cover that is raised with a nearby switch. Don't
push the switch until you're ready for battle. Open the cover and take the
relic underneath. When you do, three zombies are released into the room.
They're pretty stupid and won't use the stairs to come get you, so you can
stand on the edge of the platform and snipe them. Or you can jump down and try
to take them all on at once.
Once they're dead, you can take a shortcut back to the upper levels of the
ruin by using the northern-most exit from this room. Show the relic to
Skaleel, who will be delighted, then return to Jarol at Arcane University for
your reward.
[MG11]
<~~~~~~ NECROMANCER'S MOON ~~~~~~>
Polus now gives you another promotion and a new task: talk to archivist Tar-
Meena about necromancy. Use the "Black Soul Gems" topic to get Tar-Meena to
talk. She tells you to read a book called "Necromancer's Moon". It's lying on
a table there in the library. Talk to Tar-Meena again, who points out a
reference to "Shade of the Revenant".
Return to Polus, who refers you to Bothiel, the resident astronomer. Bothiel
recalls Falcar (he of the Ring of Burden "prank") once asking about the Shade
of the Revenant. He dropped a note when he left and she kept it. The note
mentions four sites: The Dark Fissure, Fort Istirius, Fort Linchal and
Wendelbek. Polus decides to send you to Dark Fissure, which is a place he
recognizes.
This cave is near Cheydinhal, and you never actually need to go inside. You
can finish this quest in two ways:
1) When you find the cave, you'll see an altar out front. Wait until
nightfall and watch as a necromancer comes out and turns normal soul gems
into black soul gems. You'll get a new journal entry and can return to
Polus with what you've seen.
2) If you arrive during the day and don't want to wait, enter Dark Fissure.
In the very first room, you'll be able to kill a necromancer and get a
recipe for black soul gems from his body. Return to Polus with this
information.
In neither instance is it necessary to clear out the caves, though you can do
so if you wish. Polus promotes you to Magician and sends you to Arch-Mage
Traven.
[MG12]
<~~~~~~ LIBERATION OR APPREHENSION? ~~~~~~>
You'll find Traven either in the Council chambers or in his room (use the
portal in the Council chambers). His first task for you is to bring in an
informant who has been working with the necromancers. Traven fears a team of
battlemages may mistake the informant for a real necromancer and kill him. You
are sent to Nenyond Twyll, southeast of Imperial City.
Travel down there and enter the ruins. You'll meet one of the battlemages, who
reports the necromancers wiped out the rest of the team. Despite that, he
thinks he and you are enough to take out this nest of vipers. Let him rush
down the stairs and be killed by the trap at the bottom. Better him than you,
right?
Jump around the corners of the trap and fight your way south to the entrance
to the second level of the ruins. This is basically just one big room, mostly
filled with water. There are several necromancers in this room, so advance
slowly and try to pick them off one-by-one. There's one, who, if given a
chance, will talk and reveal the fate of the informant; but, you're going to
find that out soon anyway. Along the north wall is a secret door, opened with
a switch that's in an alcove to the left.
Beyond is the informant, now a zombie (Worm Thrall, in technical terms). Kill
him and your journal updates. Also to the left of the secret room entrance is
a shortcut back to the exit from the ruins. Return to Traven to complete the
quest, then talk to Polus, who increases your rank to Warlock.
[MG13]
<~~~~~~ INFORMATION AT A PRICE ~~~~~~>
Having dealt with Count Hassildor in Skingrad once, you're sent back to him.
He has important information for the Guild, and has requested that you
personally come to collect. When you arrive, and have gone through Hal-Liurz
to see the Count, he lets you know there's a little task--or two--he wants you
to perform before he divulges his knowledge.
First on the list are a group of uncultured vampires who have taken over
Bloodcrust cave just outside the castle. Hassildor wants them wiped out as
they are little better than beasts. Second are the vampire hunters who have
come to town to kill these vampires. Hassildor doesn't want them poking too
much into his own nocturnal activities.
There are at least three ways to handle this little task:
1) Find the vampire hunters (they have rooms at the Two Sisters Lodge and
also eat lunch there). Tell the leader, Eridor, where the vampires are,
then follow them to watch the fun. Bring some popcorn. When it's all done,
either mop up the rest of the vampires or congratulate the surviving
hunters, who will pack up and leave town now that all the vamps are dead.
2) Go wipe out the vampires yourself. Make sure you take at least one sample
of "Vampire Dust" from one of these vampires. (Dust from other vamps won't
work.) Go find the hunters at the Two Sisters Lodge and speak to their
leader, Eridor, and tell him the vampires are all dead. Show him the dust
sample as proof. The hunters will take off for other parts.
3) Kill the vampires and the vampire hunters. The latter is risky as it is
murder and the count has told you he can't protect you. Though he,
personally, doesn't care if you kill them, he can't intervene if you're
caught.
Overall, the first option is by far the easiest. You may even get lucky and
the hunters will prevail and you won't have to lift a finger. Regardless,
return to Hassildor and get his information and then take that to Traven.
[MG14]
<~~~~~~ A PLOT REVEALED ~~~~~~>
Traven is upset by the information you bring him, and says he and the council
need some time to sort things out. You can't get another quest from him until
a couple of days have passed. Either go quest somewhere else for a while or
Wait two days and try him again.
The news of the King of Worms' return has blown up the council. While they try
to sort things out, Traven sends you to Bruma. Jeanne hasn't reported in
several days and Traven is worried.
And rightly so. The Bruma Mages Guild is on fire and filled with the dead
bodies of its members and lots of leveled undead. You'll have to kill off the
creatures on the main floor, then go down the right-hand set of stairs to the
living quarters.
This is where things get hairy. There are from four to six creatures in this
confined area and they will all hit you at once--one as soon as you come
through the door. Your only chance is to immediately scuttle into the room to
your right and try to take them out as they come through the door. If you can
keep them bottled up in the doorway, only one or two can hit you at a time.
When you leave the living quarters, you can go up the stairs to Jeanne's room,
where you'll find the necromancer in charge of this expedition. She's not
talkative, so take her out fast. When you do, J'skar appears out of nowhere.
He used his invisibility to hide and escaped destruction. He has a terrifying
eye-witness account of the attack, and then heads for Arcane University for
safety. Follow him and report in to Traven.
Go see Polus for another advancement, to Wizard, and the spell Wizard's Fury,
which is keyed to your level and provides fire, shock and frost damage in one
handy explosion.
[MG15]
<~~~~~~ THE BLOODWORM HELM ~~~~~~>
You'll need to go play with your new spell for a couple of days, because
Traven and his cronies need time to digest the new information. When you
return, he gives dismaying news. The other two council members, Irlav Jarol
and Caranya, have stolen some powerful artifacts and taken off with them.
*NOTE* You can do these two quests in any order.
Jarol has stolen the Bloodworm Helm and gone to Fort Teleman. Teleman is
northeast of Leyawiin, so Fast Travel there and head out to the Fort. You'll
have to fight your way through two levels of necromancers and daedra (even if
you finished the main story, there will still be daedra in here). At the
bottom of the second level is Jarol's body.
Retrieve the Bloodworm Helm from Jarol's corpse and return it to Traven; or,
use it to help retrieve the Necromancer's Amulet.
[MG16]
<~~~~~~ THE NECROMANCER'S AMULET ~~~~~~>
Caranya has made off to Fort Ontus, which is in-between Chorrol and Kvatch in
the Colovian highlands. The mages in here are initially peaceful, so there's
no fighting as you work your way down to the second level and a meeting with
Caranya. Of course, you won't get out without a fight, so note the positions
of all these future enemies.
After Caranya reveals herself to be a traitor to the cause, kill her and take
the amulet. There are two ways back out, both of which cover about the same
distance. Either way, you're going to have to wade through several
necromancers and their summons.
[MG17]
<~~~~~~ AMBUSH ~~~~~~>
After returning both the Bloodworm Helm and Necromancer's Amulet to Traven,
talk to Polus again for promotion to Master Wizard. You're now Polus' equal in
rank. Traven now wants you to help take the battle to the enemy.
A group of battlemages has been sent to the Ayleid ruin of Silorn to intercept
a unique black soul gem. Before leaving, buy a Paralyze or Burden spell or
scroll, if you don't have one. Travel to Silorn, southeast of Skingrad, and
meet up with the leader of the team, Thalfin. A direct assault didn't work
because the entrance to Silorn is blocked with an enchantment. The team lost
one member in the assault, so they've decided to set up an ambush.
Talk to her about abilities and positioning, then do the same with the others.
You want to station Thalfin and Iver closer to the action and Merete further
away. Join Thalfin and Iver behind a column on the road leading out from the
ruin and wait.
When Thalfin suddenly casts a spell and runs out, do the same. Your target is
your old nemesis, Falcar. He's going to make a break for the ruin and you want
to stop him. Use your paralyzing or burdening spell, power or weapon
enchantment to stop him in his tracks, then finish him off. You can then turn
and help your team get rid of Falcar's supporting staff. Take the Colossal
Black Soul Gem from Falcar's body.
If you just can't get to Falcar fast enough, then you'll have to follow him
into Silorn. Silorn is three levels full of necromancers and undead. Have fun.
When you reach Falcar, kill him and take the special gem.
Return to Traven. Your final task in the Mages Guild awaits.
[MG18]
<~~~~~~ CONFRONT THE KING ~~~~~~>
Time to put an end to the King of Worms. Traven kills himself, putting his
soul in the Colossal Black Soul Gem you just took from Falcar. Take the gem
and journey to Echo Cavern, which is west of Cloud Ruler Temple. At the door,
you'll be confronted by Bolor Savel, who gleefully informs you he has the only
key for the door. Introduce him to the folly of guarding a door from you, take
his key and enter the cave.
The top two levels of the cave are standard necromancer-infested lairs. You've
seen a lot of these by now. When you reach the bottom, you've found
Mannimarco, King of Worms. Fortunately for you, Mannimarco is a bit
overconfident. Seems he intends to turn you into a Worm Thrall; but, the
special black soul gem prevents that from working.
Don't give Mannimarco time to finish his conversation, cast his Enthrall spell
and then realize it doesn't work. Walk up to him during his speech and hit
him...hit him hard. Keep him off-balance and staggered and the fight should be
easy. If you let him get off a few spells, you could be in trouble. Once he's
dead, loot the place, then return to Arcane University.
Congratulations! You are the new Arch-Mage of the Mages Guild. Primarily what
this means is free alchemy ingredients. There's an enchanted chest in your
room. Put an ingredient in there and, 24 hours later, you'll find lots of that
particular ingredient. (The chest gets cleared out after a week, so come back
for your stuff before then.)
You can also pick any Apprentice on the grounds and take him or her along with
you on adventures. There are still necromancers lying around (refer to
Falcar's note from the "Necromancer's Moon" quest for their locations);
however, there are no more formal quests for the mages guild.
[MG19]
<~~~~~~ MAGES GUILD SUSPENSION ~~~~~~>
The Mages Guild frowns on members who commit crimes against other members. You
get two opportunities to earn your way back into the guild. After the third
crime, you are banned for good.
Earning your way back into the guild depends on the type of crime. You must
bring two types of alchemical ingredients to Raminus Polus, who will re-
instate you into the guild.
Theft: 20 nightshade, 20 mandrake root
Assault: 20 dragon's tongue, 20 redwort flowers
Murder: 20 vampire dust, 20 daedra hearts
These prices apply regardless of whether it is your first or second offense.
[TG00]
~~The Elder Scrolls IV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THIEVES GUILD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OBLIVION~~
The Thieves Guild provides a welcome respite from the typical step-n-fetch
quests that predominate the main story and the Fighters and Mages Guild quest
lines. There are no dungeon crawls and almost no combat until you get near the
end of the story. Prior to that, you'll be required to "obtain" or "retrieve"
various items, *without* killing anyone!
Can you believe it? These quests require a bit more thought, better
preparation and some serious Sneak and Security skills. If you can't pick
locks or Sneak effectively, you'll need to buff up on those skills prior to
joining the Guild.
* Sneak can be easily leveled by breaking into an occupied house, during the
night, Sneaking up beside the sleeping owner, and Sneak-running into the wall.
(PC users can press 'Q' to turn on auto-movement.) Get your Sneak skill past
50 so you don't have to go barefoot all the time. You can supplement Sneaking
with Invisibility spells, but you still need a decent Sneak so you aren't
heard and to allow you to pickpocket various targets.
* Security is difficult to level up; however, there are various workarounds.
First, you can wait until level 10, perform Nocturnal's quest, and get the
Skeleton Key, which is an unbreakable lockpick with a +40 Security boost
enchantment. No lock can stand against you. Second, you can level up your
Alteration skill (keep casting Feather on yourself, over and over) and buy
some high-powered Open Lock spells.
In short, the bull-rush tactics of your average fighter or blast-them-to-
Oblivion mage strategy aren't going to work for you in the Thieves Guild.
You've got to be a lot more sneaky.
When you're ready to join, go to Imperial City. There's two ways of getting an
invitation:
1) Steal something and go to jail. When you are released, wait around until
you are approached by Myvryna Arano and given a message. The message says to
go at midnight to the Garden of Dareloth in the Waterfront district.
2) Read one of the Gray Fox wanted posters scattered about the city. This
gives you a couple of new topics. Approach a beggar and Persuade or Charm him
or her to a Disposition past 70. Then ask about the Gray Fox. Say you want to
work with him. You'll be told to go at midnight to the Garden of Dareloth in
the Waterfront district.
Once you have those instructions, head to the Waterfront district. You can
Fast Travel there or go out through the door in the Temple district. Head
south, past the docks and through the large wall to the dockworker slums.
There's one house, on the eastern edge of the slums, with a walled garden
behind it. That's the Garden of Dareloth.
[TG01]
<~~~~~~ MAY THE BEST THIEF WIN ~~~~~~>
Wait until midnight and Armond Christophe will appear. The two of you will be
joined by a wood elf, Methredhel and an Argonian, Amusei. When everyone's
there, talk to Christophe and ask about joining the Guild. Christophe says
there's never been this many new recruits at once, so he proposes a test. The
first one to return with the diary of Amantius Allectus wins approval to join
the Guild.
Now, technically, there's no way to lose. If you don't win this first test,
you'll get another; still, better to get it over with quick. Fast Travel to
the Temple district. (Yes, you can run over there, but you're probably not
fast enough.) As soon as the Temple district loads, hang a right and run along
the wall until you reach the southeastern corner. Go left and pick the lock on
the second door to your left.
This is Allectus's house. (If you want to do this the "right" way, you would
first need to find a beggar--Puny Ancus--sleeping near the Garden and ask him
the location of Allectus's house.) Regardless, Methredhel will be there before
you, Sneaking across the room. Don't bother Sneaking. Run to the desk against
the wall to your right and open it to get the diary. Go back to the Garden,
Wait until the next midnight hour and give the diary to Christophe.
If, for some reason, the wood elf gets the diary first, you can still get it
back. You're not allowed to kill your fellow contestants (or Allectus for that
matter), but there's no prohibition against stealing from them. Wait until
after sunrise, say about 7 or 8am. Methredhel lives right next to Dareloth's
house. Pick the lock on her door, then on the chest next to her bed (she
sleeps from sunrise until 10am). Get the diary, Wait until midnight, and give
the diary to Christophe.
Say that, for some reason, you don't get the diary at all and Methredhel wins
the contest. Hope is not lost. Christophe figures the Thieves Guild could
still use another member, so he proposes another test between you and Amusei;
you're to bring back Rohssan's sword.
For plot reasons, Amusei is not capable of winning either of these contests,
so you don't need to worry about him getting the sword first. Fast Travel to
the Market District and find "A Fighting Chance" next to the Merchant's Inn.
They're both along the street leading to the Arena in the southeastern section
of the Market district.
Pick the lock on the door and go upstairs to Rohssan's quarters. You'll have
to kill her dog, then pick the lock on Rohssan's Chest to get Rohssan's
Antique Cutlass. Return the sword to Christophe at the next midnight hour.
[TG02]
<~~~~~~ INDEPENDENT THIEVERY ~~~~~~>
Congratulations! You are now a Pickpocket in the Guild. There are a series of
ten "special jobs" you will have to perform to advance to the rank of guild
master (Gray Fox). However, in order to get each job, you have to fence a
certain amount of stolen goods. As you advance, the required total amount of
fenced property increases, and you get access to more fences.
For starters, your only fence is Ongar the World-Weary in Bruma. He lives
behind the chapel and he isn't called "World-Weary" for nothing. He spends a
lot of time sleeping. He'll only fence items for you while in his house, so if
you find him on the street or in a tavern, you're just going to have to Wait
until he goes home. He has a limited amount of gold, but you probably aren't
going to be selling him any high-priced items anyway.
You can, without too much work, fence over 1,000 gold worth of items to Ongar
on your first try. That way you can zip right through the ten quests without
stopping to clean out houses and fence the loot. There's a house in Imperial
City's Temple district owned by Trenus Duronis. His house is west of the
temple, and opens into the central circle.
Duronis is a skooma (drug) addict. He's rarely home at night and has no
servants. His house is easy pickings. You can grab over 40 bottles of premium
wine, lots of silver, plus jewelry and 15 bottles of skooma (base price 75
gold each). Make sure you loot all the miscellaneous sacks lying around, some
of the jewelry are in those sacks. Ignore the basement, there's nothing down
there. Haggle Ongar up to paying you 45 or 50 percent of base price and you
can get 1,500 fenced value in one shot.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Rank | Target | Quest | Contact | Fence |
|-------------+--------+-------------------------+----------+---------------|
|Pickpocket | 50 | Untaxing the Poor | Armand | Ongar, Bruma |
|Footpad | 100 | The Elven Maiden | | |
|Bandit | 200 | Ahdarji's Heirloom | S'Krivva | Dar Jee, |
|Prowler | 300 | Misdirection | | Leyawiin |
|Cat Burglar | 400 | Lost Histories | | Luciana Galena|
| | 500 | Taking Care of Lex | | Bravil |
|Shadowfoot | 600 | Turning a Blind Eye | Gray Fox | Orrin, Anvil |
| | 700 | Arrow of Extrication | | |
|Master Thief | 800 | Boots of Springheel Jak | | Fathis Ules, |
| | 1,000 | The Ultimate Heist | | Imperial City |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[TG03]
<~~~~~~ UNTAXING THE POOR ~~~~~~>
Once you have over 50 gold worth of fenced goods, talk to Christopher (always
at midnight in the Garden) about Special Jobs. He goes on a rant about how
futile it is to tax the poor people, but that's just what Imperial Watch
captain Hieronymus Lex has done. Christophe wants you to get the tax money
back from Lex, as well as the records so the Thieves Guild knows how to
redistribute the funds.
Find a beggar--Puny, who sleeps near the Garden will do--to learn Lex's
quarters are at the top of the South Watchtower. The South Watchtower is
between the Temple district and the Arboretum, near Allectus's house. The best
time to break in is during mid-morning.
Yeah, broad daylight. You see, the Radiant AI is a bit stupid. During the
night, there are too many watchmen entering the barracks for the number of
beds available. Since there aren't enough beds, some of the watchmen just
stand around all night and it's devilishly hard to Sneak past them. An
Invisibility spell might work, but better just to wait until daylight.
Around 9am, there's no one in the tower except the night shift watchmen, and
they're all sleeping. As a bonus, Lex will also be out and about on his
rounds. You can enter the tower's bottom level publicly, then you have to
Sneak your way up (find the ladder on the wall and Activate it) through two
levels of barracks until you reach Lex's quarters.
Pick the lock on his desk and collect the tax records and gold, then return to
Christophe at the next witching hour.
[TG04]
<~~~~~~ THE ELVEN MAIDEN ~~~~~~>
If you've fenced at least 100 gold worth of goods, Christophe offers you
another special job. You're to steal the bust of the late Countess Indarys of
Cheydinhal. Fast Travel over there and use your quest markers to track down a
beggar. You'll probably have to bribe them to tell you the bust is sitting
next to the Countess' coffin in the undercroft of the chapel.
Oh yeah, and there's a guard patrolling day and night and the place is haunted
as well. Joy.
Sneak down into the undercroft of the chapel and watch the guard. He (or she)
patrols between the two wings of the crypt, from east to west. The bust is in
the west wing, so wait until the guard is heading east, then zip in and grab
the bust. Hide behind a column while the guard comes and peeks in, then scurry
back out when his (or her) back is turned.
You won't encounter any ghosts unless you try to Activate the coffin, so don't
do that.
Return to the Waterfront of Imperial City and you'll find the place crawling
with cops, under the direction of Captain Lex, all asking questions about
Christophe and the bust of Countess Indarys. Looks like you've been set up,
but by whom?
Hang around the Waterfront for a while, and Methredhel eventually finds you.
The whole operation was designed to ferret out an informant in the Guild. The
weasel is revealed as Myvryna Arano, and Methredhel suggest you frame her for
the crime. Her hut is near where Lex is standing, and with all the guards
running about, Sneaking in can be difficult.
You can use an Invisibility spell to get you in, or just go into Sneak mode
while standing next to Arano's door and wait until the eye icon dims down and
then quickly pick the lock and get inside. Activate the cupboard next to the
bed; the bust will automatically be placed inside.
Now the hard part, convincing Hieronymus Lex his stooge is the real thief.
You'll have to get his Disposition up to 70 (Persuade, Charm or Bribe) and
then follow him into Arano's shack, where he confronts her with the evidence.
You might say she's been busted.
The police clear out, life returns to normal and Christophe shows up at the
appointed time and place once again. He'll pay you for your work, promote you
and let you know he's got nothing more for a talented crook like yourself. He
suggests S'Krivva in Bravil.
You also get access to a new fence, Dar Jee, in Leyawiin. Dar Jee lives in
Leyawiin's "skid row"--a group of tumble-down shanties amidst the more stately
manors. His shack is diagonally across from the one you can buy, and right
next to Weebam-Na ("Mazoga the Orc", "Nocturnal").
[TG05]
<~~~~~~ AHDARJI'S HEIRLOOM ~~~~~~>
As you enter Bravil's North Gate, the place ahead and to your right is the
home of your next Doyen in the Thieves Guild, S'Krivva. She holds court during
normal hours (roughly 8am to 6pm) and will only deal with you during those
hours. If you catch her on the street or break into her house any other time,
she just tells you off. At least you don't have to wait until midnight every
day to see her.
Provided you've fenced at least 200 gold in stolen property, S'Krivva hands
out one of those Special Jobs you've come to love. The widow of a dearly
departed Thieves Guild fence has lost a prized possession. While you're
talking to S'Krivva, buy some lockpicks if you don't have any (perhaps because
you're using spells or the Skeleton Key to open locks). Ahdarji lives in
Leyawiin, so head down there and question the beggars for directions to her
house.
Ahdarji is incensed because a freelance (i.e. non-Guild) thief took her ring
and names the culprit, Amusei. (Yep. Your erstwhile competition from the entry
test.) She wants you to kill him, but is willing to let it go at suffering. In
any case, she wants the ring back.
Question the beggars again, or talk to any city guard. Amusei was caught
trying to blackmail Countess Alessia. Head for the castle and the entrance to
the dungeons. The guard is not pre-disposed to let you in to see any
prisoners. You can bribe him (20 gold) or try to Sneak past him and pick the
lock leading to the cells. Your choice.
Inside, talk to Amusei, who doesn't want to be left to rot. Give him a
lockpick to open him up. The ring was actually the Countess' ring and Amusei
found he couldn't fence it after he stole it, so he tried to sell it back to
the Countess and got thrown in jail for his trouble. Countess Alessia has her
ring.
Now, you can try just going through the front door. However, the doors into
the private quarters of Castle Leyawiin are guarded 24/7, so you would need
100% invisibility to get through. There is another way, one that provides some
additional "color" to the story.
Find a beggar and discuss the matter. You get the name of the Countess' maid,
Hildari Mothril. You also get the convenient quest marker showing you Ms.
Mothril's current location. Track her down and butter her up (Disposition of
80) and she'll spill all the beans. The Countess is away from the 15th through
the 17th of the month. She goes to sleep around 11pm and always takes the ring
off when she goes to sleep. There's also a secret passage linking the royal to
the castle's cellar.
Enter the main room of the castle and take the door to the southwest to reach
the cellar. Along the far wall, look for an open barrel that just barely shows
the tip of a lever extending above the rim. Activate the lever to open a
secret door and make your way through a torture chamber (the Countess
has...interesting...amusements) and to the royal quarters.
The ring is in a jewelry box next to the royal bed. You can pick the lock or
pickpocket a key off either the sleeping Count or Countess. To let them know
what you think of their little funhouse, steal their gold as well. (Remember,
no killing.) Go back out the way you came in and return the ring to Ahdarji
and then see S'Krivva for payment.
[TG06]
<~~~~~~ MISDIRECTION ~~~~~~>
Hieronymus Lex is up to his old tricks again. Provided you've fenced at least
300 gold worth of loot, S'Krivva sends you back to the Waterfront district of
Imperial City to help get Lex out of the Guild's collective hair. The obsessed
captain of the Watch has pulled guards from their regular patrols and is
turning the Waterfront inside-out. You're to meet Methredhel, who is director
of operations for the current job.
Again, the beggars point you to Methredhel's location, which is Dynari Amnis's
house in Talos Plaza. Methredhel outlines an audacious plan: have four thieves
pull off high-profile robberies all at once. The resultant hue and cry from
the city's elite will force Lex to pull back his troops to their regular
patrols.
Your job is stealing Hrormir's Staff from the Arch-Mage's quarters. (Note: you
still get this quest even if you are the Arch-Mage. It's just, you won't have
to actually "steal" the staff, since it belongs to you.) Wait until just after
1am, enter the Arch-Mage's Lobby of Arcane University and use the portal to
get to the Council Chambers. Use the other portal in this room to get to the
Arch-Mage's chambers.
Assuming Traven is still Arch-Mage (and not you), he should be asleep. The
staff is lying out in the open on a table. Pick up the staff, then Activate
the nightstand next to the bed to automatically insert a note from the Gray
Fox. Return to Methredhel with the staff.
She congratulates you, lets you know everything is going well, and asks you to
go keep an eye on Lex, to see if anything breaks. Head for the Waterfront and
find Lex where you found him earlier in "The Elven Maiden". Stand nearby and
wait. Soon a dremora approaches and hands Lex a note, then departs. Lex reads
the note, drops it, then hurries away, ordering his men to follow him.
Go pick up the note, which is lying on the ground. It's from Raminus Polus of
the Mages Guild. It says, in part, "We demand that you return all guards to
their posts immediately. If you do not do this, we will be forced to bring the
matter to the attention of your superior."
Lex won't be bothering the good people of the Waterfront for a while. Go back
to Methredhel; there's one last task for you. The Gray Fox isn't really
interested in having the Mages Guild permanently mad at him, so you're to
return the staff--but not to the place where you grabbed it, security will be
too high.
Rather, you're to return the staff to the home of a former University
researcher, Ontus Vanin. Vanin lives in the Talos Plaza district, in the
southwest section. His house is built into the outer wall. (If you've done
"Unfriendly Competition", his house is opposite Agarmir's house.)
Ontus spends weekday afternoons out eating and shopping. He sleeps from 2am to
10am. Pick your time to Sneak into his house, head upstairs and Activate the
chest against the wall. The staff is automatically placed in the chest and you
can return to S'Krivva in Bravil for your payment and a promotion. You also
get access to a new fence, Luciana Galena, right here in Bravil. She's open
for business at the Lonely Suitor Lodge in the afternoons and evenings.
[TG07]
<~~~~~~ LOST HISTORIES ~~~~~~>
Once you've fenced at least 400 gold in illicit items, S'Krivva has a new
assignment for you. She sends you to Skingrad to find out what happened to a
thief named Theranis. He was supposed to steal a book called "The Lost
Histories of Tamriel" and he hasn't been heard from in days.
Go to Skingrad and track down one of the beggars. With a high enough
Disposition (or a bribe), you'll find Theranis boasted about his theft in
front of a captain of the guard and is now cooling his heels in prison. You
can't bribe your way into this dungeon, so you have three options:
1) Get a job delivering food to the prisoners. To get this job you need to
find the count's butler, Shum gro-Yarug. He spends his mornings in town and
afternoons in the castle. To make finding him easier, you can ask around town
about "Work in the castle" and someone will refer you to gro-Yarug. You should
then get a quest marker showing his location. Once you have the job, report to
the dungeons and the jailor will let you in.
2) Get arrested. Any small crime will do, but make sure you have either a
powerful Open Lock spell or several lockpicks so you can break out of your
cell.
3) Break into the jail. This is probably the hardest, as Sneaking past the
jailor will be very difficult, not to mention you have to pick the locks
leading into the cell area.
Once you're inside, you'll find only one prisoner behind bars, and he's not
Theranis. Bump Larthjar's Disposition high enough (telling him you're here to
rescue him is a good way to do this) and he'll relate Theranis was taken by
the "Pale Lady". Theranis' Argonian roommate was also taken and put up a
fight, leaving blood marks all over the place.
Using this information, follow the bloodstains on the floor to the wall at the
end of the cell area. Activate the "strange candle" on the wall to open a
secret door. Follow the tunnel to a door and pass through into a another
tunnel. At the end of this tunnel, turn the handle to the left to open another
secret door.
You're now in the wine cellar. Follow the bloodstains down the hall and then
to your right where they end in front of three large wine casks. To to the
right-most cask and Activate the "strange candle" on the column to the left of
the cask. The center cask opens up to reveal a hidden passage.
Down the passage is the Pale Lady, a vampire (in case you hadn't guessed).
After you kill her, you'll find Theranis' body on the floor and your old
friend Amusei in the cell (he was Theranis' Argonian cellmate). Amusei knows
where Theranis stashed the book, but he wants out of Castle Skingrad first.
Get him out of his cell and tell him to follow, he'll automatically go into
Sneak mode, but you can't. You see, if you Sneak, Amusei can't see you so he
won't follow you. Whatever. Head back into the wine cellar and go up the ramp,
but don't turn left toward the secret door.
Instead, turn right and go through the door into the dining hall. Go through
the kitchen and toward the main dining room (keep an eye out of guards or
other castle occupants). Just before the main dining room, turn right and go
through a door into the County Hall.
Go straight until you come out on the balcony overlooking the main hall. Head
left and through an opening, then turn right. The door straight ahead of you
leads out into the castle courtyard. Slip through when there are no guards
patrolling and head down the main road to Skingrad. Once you are far enough
away from the castle, Amusei will stop you and tell you the location of the
"Lost Histories".
The book is "under a bush near a well behind Nerastarel's house". Continue
down the castle path to Skingrad's East Gate. After entering Skingrad, head
down the street and make the first right-hand turn. Follow the stone path
around the houses until you see a well. Beyond the well a bush and rock crowd
close together. The book is lying right out in the open between the bush and
the rock. Return to S'Krivva with your prize.
[TG08]
<~~~~~~ TAKING CARE OF LEX ~~~~~~>
The Gray Fox has had it with Hieronymus Lex; but, since this is the Thieves
Guild, not the Dark Brotherhood, rather than order a hit on Lex, the Fox wants
him re-assigned--to Anvil, the other end of the world. Countess Umbranox is
looking for a new Captain of the Guard. The Imperial Watch commander has sent
her a list of candidates, but no specific recommendation.
However, the Countess hasn't even seen this list of candidates. Her steward,
Dairihill, has hidden the list in hopes of getting her cousin the job. (You
find out this tidbit later.) Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is:
1) Steal the letter from Dairihill.
2) Forge it with a strong recommendation for Captain Lex.
3) Get the Imperial Watch commander's seal on it.
4) Deliver it to Countess Umbranox.
Simple, right? Actually, more so than you might imagine. Report to Anvil and
find one of the beggars. You'll be directed to find the smith. Wait until
morning (when Dairihill is in the main hall) or the middle of the night (when
Dairihill is asleep). Enter Anvil Castle and hang a right (northwest) to find
the smithy.
Orrin is a Thieves Guild fence (soon to be your fence) and knows of a secret
passage. You can wake him if necessary and he'll show you to the door--the
secret door. Go up the stairs, through a wood door and up some more stairs. At
the top, Activate the moveable column on the left to open a secret door into
the private quarters.
Dairihill's office is immediately to your left. Pick the lock on her door and
on her desk to get the list of candidates. Return the way you came and go back
to Anvil and talk with one of the beggars. You need a forger, and the beggars
point you to someone known only as "The Stranger". He lives in an abandoned
house to the west of the Mages Guild hall.
Enter the house and talk to the Stranger. He needs 24 hours and 500 gold to
complete the forgery. Give him both and you'll have the new high
recommendation for Lex in your hands. Now all you need is the Imperial seal to
make it authentic. (If you have previously done the Dark Brotherhood quest
"Early Retirement", you will have received a key to the Imperial Watch office.
Get that key now.)
Enter the Imperial Prison compound (northeast of the city) in the middle of
the night (between 2am and 4am). Go to the second door to the left of the main
entrance, enter Sneak mode and wait until the guards near the gate aren't
watching (your eye icon is dim). Pick the lock on the door (or use your key).
On the desk is the seal; Activate it to seal the forged letter, then Sneak
out. Return to Anvil and present the letter to Countess Umbranox during normal
hours (8am to 6pm). She decides Lex would be a perfect fit for Anvil, and asks
you to personally deliver his new orders.
It's back to Imperial City for you; follow your quest marker to catch up with
Lex and hand him his exile papers. He suspects the Gray Fox is behind all
this, but off to Anvil he goes. And off to Bravil you go for your payment,
promotion and access to Orrin as a new fence.
[TG09]
<~~~~~~ TURNING A BLIND EYE ~~~~~~>
Now begin your tasks for the Gray Fox himself. These are more traditional
dungeon crawls, and you'll actually be allowed to kill people (or things)
somewhat indiscriminately. All these quests are received the same way: you
make sure you have fenced enough loot, then you sit around twiddling your
thumbs until you get a message from Fox.
To get this first task, you will need to have at least 600 gold worth of
fenced items. The best place to wait (for any of these messages) is the
Waterfront district in Imperial City. Your first messenger is Methredhel, who
sounds kind of breathless that the Gray Fox would want to speak to you. You're
to meet Fox at Helvius Cecia's house in Bruma.
*A note about the messengers*
They won't deliver their message except in a major city, and not in the same
city (or same district in the case of Imperial City) where the meeting is to
take place. They start out in Imperial City, so you can either: 1) stay in the
same city where you last met Fox; or, 2) Fast Travel back to the Waterfront
and sit tight. In either case, Waiting for a few hours generally guarantees
you'll be interrupted by the messenger.
Cecia lives in the south of Bruma, behind the chapel. The Gray Fox is waiting
for you downstairs. He wants you to retrieve an item known as Savilla's Stone.
It is kept in a monastery known as The Temple of the Ancestor Moths. You're
allowed to kill the Stone's guardians, but not spill any innocent blood.
The closest quest-related point to the Temple is Azura's Shrine. You can also
Fast Travel to Lake Arrius Caverns or Lord Rugdumph's Estate if you've been
there before. From any of those locations, the Temple is further north. If you
have to Fast Travel to Cheydinhal, go due north from the city to eventually
reach the Temple.
First go to the Monk's Quarters and talk to Holger. Get his Disposition to 80
or higher and he'll tell you all about the blind monks that live in the
catacombs and even take you up and unlock the door for you. (Alternately, you
can find the crypt entrance yourself, next to the chapel, and pick the lock.)
There are three levels of catacombs. The top two levels are just occupied by
blind priests and you can easily Sneak past them. (You can also kill them, but
it's not necessary and they might attack you in large groups if you start
making a lot of noise.) The final level has undead, and you'll have to kill
those.
When you reach the final room, there's a blind monk guarding the Stone and
you'll most likely have to kill him. There's also a dark welkynd stone that
will zap you with frost damage as you approach Savilla's Stone. Kill the monk
from a distance, then run in, grab the Stone and run out. There's an emergency
exit to the east that lets you skip all the tedious catacomb Sneaking. Return
to Cecia's house in Bruma and give the Stone to the Gray Fox.
[TG10]
<~~~~~~ ARROW OF EXTRICATION ~~~~~~>
Your next message comes from old pal Amusei. Yeah, seems the goof-up joined
the Guild and immediately moved to the top of the class, running errands for
the Fox his-own-self. Kind of makes you wonder why you work so hard, doesn't
it? Of course, he won't show up until you've fenced a total of 700 gold in
purloined property.
The meeting place is in Chorrol, at the home of Malintus Ancrus. He lives in
the far southwestern corner of Chorrol, between Valdus Odiil ("The Killing
Field") and Reynauld Jemane ("Separated at Birth") and across the street from
Modryn Oreyn (Fighters Guild). The Gray Fox wants you to steal the Arrow of
Extrication from Bravil court wizard Fathis Aren. The wizard and the guardians
he strews in your path are fair game.
*IMPORTANT*
Aren is a member in good standing of the Mages Guild; if you are also a member
of the Mages Guild, you'll get booted if you kill him.
Go to Bravil and hunt down the beggars. For a bribe, they'll reveal Aren has a
tower outside of town, keeps all his precious stuff in it and is the only one
who can open the door to the tower. However, there's also rumored to be a
secret passage from his room in the castle to the tower, so that should be
your route of attack.
*ALTERNATE ROUTE*
There is a back way into the Wizard's Grotto that does not involve sneaking
your way past the guards in the castle. If you have a pitiful Sneak skill,
what are you doing in the Thieves Guild? No, you might be able to get in the
back way. Swim out into Niben Bay. About where the 'a' in 'Bay' shows on your
world map, swim down to the bottom and hunt for a wood trapdoor. There is a
partially buried wooden chest and some broken pottery nearby. It will be very
difficult to find (a mod that improves the underwater view would help). This
takes you directly into the cave with the giant slaughterfish (see below) and
you can swim up and continue through the Wizard's Grotto.
The direct route goes through a door in Castle Bravil's main hall. The door is
in the center of the balcony and is always protected by two guards. Good luck
Sneaking through there--an Invisibility spell would help tremendously. Inside
the private quarters, hang a left and Aren's room is the first door on your
left.
You can loot his room, but the important thing is the secret door on the back
wall. There's a "moveable column" on the wall--Activate it and the door opens.
Enter the Wizard's Grotto. At the end of the first hall is the first of many
leveled daedra you will meet. Sneak past or, better, kill it and open the gate
straight ahead of you. Hug the left wall as you go down into a flooded
section, eventually leading to a section where the floor drops away and you
can swim down.
Swim down slowly, hugging the left (north) wall and looking for an entrance to
a flooded tunnel. If you encounter a giant slaughterfish in a cave, you've
gone too far down. (This is the cave you enter through the trapdoor in Niben
Bay.) Swim back up, hugging the right wall and try to find that tunnel
entrance.
Check your map, if you find yourself swimming along a northbound tunnel that
quickly turns east, you're in the right place. Come out of the flooded tunnel
going north; turn right (east) at the T-intersection. Through the locked gate,
turn south (right), then take the next left (east) and another left (north)
and wend your way to a locked wooden door. This leads to the Wizard's Lair.
There's only one way to go through here, blocked by daedra and conjurers. At
the end you'll enter Aren's Tower, which is a ruined fort on the surface.
There are more daedra out here. Fathis Aren is in a little open-air lab on the
third level. Climb the stairs and circle around to his lab.
Now, if you're a Mages Guild member in good standing, you can walk right by
him, open his chest, remove his Tower Key and a key-shaped arrowhead, chat
with him, then walk out. If you're not a Mages Guild member in good
standing...
Well, you're either going to have to kill him or use an Invisibility spell (or
have very, very high Sneak skill). Aren stands right in front of his chest,
facing it, and it is almost impossible to steal its contents using just Sneak.
Of course, Aren is expendable--there's no Blood Price attached to killing him,
so go ahead if that seems the simplest solution.
Regardless, you now have the key to walk right out of the tower with the
arrowhead the Gray Fox wants. Return to Chorrol and deliver the arrowhead. As
part of your reward, you are promoted to Master Thief and you can now fence
items with Fathis Ules.
[TG11]
<~~~~~~ BOOTS OF SPRINGHEEL JAK ~~~~~~>
Once again, Amusei brings you news of a meeting requested by the Gray Fox. You
must have pawned off at least 800 gold in pilfered goods to get the message.
The meeting is to take place at Ganredhel's house in Cheydinhal. Fast Travel
to Cheydinhal's East Gate and head straight south. Ganredhel's is the fourth
house on your left (just past the Abandoned Home that is a front for the Dark
Brotherhood Sanctuary).
The Gray Fox wants the boots of a legendary thief known as Springheel Jak. He
was supposedly buried 300 years ago with his boots on, so you need to find his
crypt and acquire said footwear. Your only lead is a descendant: Jakben, Earl
of Imbel. Fast Travel to Imperial City and track down a beggar; bribe him or
her for information about Jakben and you'll get the location of his house--
Talos Plaza district--and the information he only goes out at night.
Gee...wonder where you've heard that before...
Head over to Talos Plaza and enter the house--it opens out into the central
plaza. It's preferable to go during the day. In order to get anywhere with
this quest, you have to talk to the earl himself. You might need to Wait
around bit by bit in order for Jakben to show; when he does, he'll be
terrified of you and give you the key to the family crypt, which is beneath
the cellar of his house.
You may have noticed the earl's red eyes. Jakben is actually Springheel Jak,
he's a vampire, he's wearing the boots you need. The only way to get them is
to take them from his body, so might as well skip the crypt and just attack
the earl as soon as you see him. If you like, you can still go down into the
crypt, where you'll find about a half-dozen vampires and a decent loot haul.
Return the boots to the Gray Fox. Your adventures are almost at an end...
[TG12]
<~~~~~~ THE ULTIMATE HEIST ~~~~~~>
...once you've fenced stolen goods totaling at least 1,000 gold, that is. Sit
around and wait for Amusei once more. He brings a message the Gray Fox wants
to see you at the house of Othrelo in the Elven Gardens district of Imperial
City. If you Fast Travel to the district, go left from your entrance point,
around the corner and Othrelo's is the first door on your right (northeast
corner of the district).
The Gray Fox now reveals his ultimate plan: he wants you to break into the
Imperial Palace's Elder Scrolls library and steal one of the scrolls. Gee,
won't that be simple.
Not.
This is easily the most complex and longest individual quest in the game. (The
side quest "The Collector" might be longer, but it's more like a bunch of
individual tasks grouped under one heading.) The Fox has a plan, and it's so
complicated, he writes it down for you so you won't forget it.
Here's what you need before you start:
* Plenty of potions, poisons, empty soul gems and repair hammers. You'll be
out of circulation for a long time and there are a lot of enemies between
you and the final goal.
* Lots of lockpicks or the Skeleton Key or a Open Very Hard Locks spell.
There will be numerous locks, most Hard or Very Hard, that have to be
picked.
* The Boots of Springheel Jak, the Arrow of Extrication and the Palace Sewers
Key. The Gray Fox will give these to you, don't drop them anywhere.
* Detect Life spell or enchanted item will make it easier to Sneak around the
palace, since you can "see" through the walls.
Here are the steps:
"1) Activate the Old Way using the Glass of Time. It is located
inside the Imperial Palace. I do not know what it looks like or
exactly where to find it."
The Glass of Time is located in the basement of the Imperial Palace. Enter by
the main doors into the publicly accessible Elder Council Chambers.
Immediately go left, around the circular hall and down a ramp to the the
basement. Enter Sneak mode and wait until the eye dims, indicating no one is
watching, then pick the lock and Sneak into the basement.
There's a patrolling guard here. He patrols around the outer circumference of
the room. Sneak through the center to the opposite side of the basement, where
you'll find a giant hourglass. That's the Glass of Time. Activate it, your
journal updates and you can Sneak out.
Now come the hard parts.
"2) Find the entrance to the Old Way. It is rumored to be somewhere
in the sewers under the Imperial City."
The entrance to the sewers is in the Arboretum. Near the door to the Arena
(northeast section of the Arboretum) is a sewer grate to the Southeast Tunnel.
Drop down into the sewers. Go down the stairs and through the one tunnel
available. Pick the lock on the gate to enter the next room.
Turn the wheel on the south wall to open a door to the northeast. Go through
the tunnel and enter a room with a water trench. Go right (east), through a
small tunnel, then jump up to the left (north) to find a door into the Arena
sewers (Beneath the Bloodworks). From here on out you'll be facing a variety
of undead. These sewers are vampire lairs. Watch your step.
Go down the stairs and through the east gate. Go up the stairs in the next
room and through the tunnel. The next room you enter has a wheel on the north
wall. Turn it, then go through the gate to the west. As you go over a bridge,
drop down and head north through the newly opened door.
You'll enter a water trench room. Cross the trench and go into the room to the
north. Turn the wheel on the west wall, then return to the trench and go
through the newly opened tunnel to the west. Your next route is through a
tunnel to the left (south) as you enter the next trench room. There's an
undead concealed in that tunnel, so climb the stairs to your right (north) and
reconnoiter before heading into the tunnel.
That tunnel takes you to a gate opened with the key given you by the Gray Fox.
Inside is a manhole cover to the Palace Sewers. From here, the entrance to the
old way is pretty straightforward, but still blocked by the occasional undead.
Go northwest until you come to a large cistern. Go northeast to another
cistern, then southeast to a trench room. The entrance to the Old Way is
across the trench and to your right.
"3) Inside the Old Way is an entrance to the heart of the Imperial
Palace. Savilla's Stone was only able to scry the two most important
obstacles. For one of them you will need to use the Boots of
Springheel Jak."
Inside the Old Way, take the quickest route, which is straight down the hall
to the first left, then straight to the entrance to the second section of the
Old Way. Watch out for the pressure plate midway down the hall; it releases a
swinging mace trap.
You come out on the second level of a two-level room full of undead. Once they
are all out of the way, find the hole in the wall in the western, lower
section of the room. Follow this "cave" west and then south and find another
hole in the wall. Drop down into the room beyond and destroy the spirits in
the room. Find a hole in the east wall that leads to a downward sloping tunnel
and a wood door to the Lost Catacombs.
The Catacombs go on forever, but there's only one way to go and lots of undead
filling the path. There are some ways to avoid some of the fighting. First,
remain in Sneak mode. Second, when you approach a large room with stone and
wood columns arranged in a square in the center, you'll find a lot of undead.
You'll also find a tunnel in the south wall before you reach the center of the
room. You should be able to Sneak your way into that tunnel.
Follow it around until you reach a T-intersection, then turn right (south).
You'll soon enter another very large room with several undead. There are two
exits from this room on the north wall. The shorter route is the east (right-
hand) exit.
At the end of the tunnel, go to the north wall of the room and take the tunnel
east. You'll enter a large room with a couple of undead. Get rid of them, then
find the broken stairs on the north side of the room. Equip the Boots of
Springheel Jak and jump up the stairs. There are two pushbuttons on this upper
level, one to the north and one to the south. Activate both of them to open
the gate to the east, which leads to the Hall of Epochs.
"4) To enter the Imperial City you must use the Arrow of Extrication
to unlock the final door."
Straight ahead are some undead foes and an extremely large room. Keep going,
up the stairs to some statues and you'll get a journal entry that this must be
the secret entrance to the Palace that is opened with the Arrow of
Extrication. Staying on the upper level, go right (south) and find the gate on
the south wall. Pick the lock and step through onto a balcony. To your left is
a pushbutton, Activate it, then go back west and down the steps into the room
below.
There's a new opening in the southeast corner of the room. This leads to a
door to a second Hall of Epochs. As you go through the door, there will be an
undead immediately in front of you, so be prepared. Turn left into a large
room and exit at the northeast corner. At the end of the hall, turn left, then
left again and go down some stairs.
In this room, behind an altar, is a pushbutton. Activate it, then retrace your
steps to the very large room with the statues. Be careful, your Activation of
that button released some more undead into this room, so all is not clear. As
you re-enter the large room, you'll notice several walls have dropped.
Straight ahead of you now is a bridge with a pressure plate in the center.
Stand on the pressure plate and the statue across the room will rotate,
revealing a key-shaped hole. This is where the Arrow of Extrication must go.
Practice with normal arrows first--the aiming spot is approximately where the
statue's hands grip the sword hilt--you'll hear the impact if you hit the
right spot, and hear nothing if you miss.
*SAVE YOUR GAME*
Without moving your crosshair, open your inventory, equip the Arrow of
Extrication, close your inventory and let the arrow fly. If you miss, reload
and try again. If you succeed, the statue rises, revealing a door into the
Palace. Also revealed are a couple of Ayleid Guardians, but they won't mess
with you unless you attack them.
*SAVE YOUR GAME AGAIN*
"5) Inside the Imperial Palace you must find the Imperial Library.
On the bottom floor is some sort of viewing room."
The secret door deposits you into the fireplace of the Imperial Guard's
quarters. Make sure you're in Sneak mode before you enter. Getting through
here is ticklish. This is where you need the Detect Life spell or enchanted
item. If you're lucky, the guards (if any) in this part of the room will be
sleeping. If you're not lucky, you walked into the middle of a shift change
and you're probably dead meat, in which case it's reload time and you'll have
to wait a while before trying again.
Sneak over to the large doors that lead to the dining area. Wait until Detect
Life detects no life beyond the doors, then Sneak out into the corridor and go
left. This will take you to the Library level. Go halfway around the corridor
to the Library entrance.
In the Library, go right until you reach a gate. There's a priest on this side
of the gate, but--as are all the priests--he's blind. So Sneak up behind him
and pull the lever on the floor to your right. Go back around the hall to the
now open door into the main library.
"6) I have arranged to have a particular scroll made available in
the Chamber. The blind monks that care for the scrolls are expecting
Celia Camoran, but you will take her place. Just find the chair
assigned to visitors to the library. You must not speak, or they
will know it is not her. Just let them bring you the scroll."
Sit in the Reading Chair and a priest will call you Lady Camoran and bring you
a scroll. Remember not to Activate (talk to) any priest. Take the scroll and
Sneak up the circular staircase. Pick the lock on the door on this upper level
to get back out into the Palace corridors.
"7) Once you have the scroll, retrace your steps and deliver it to
me. Of course the chances of something going wrong with this plan
are very high. When that happens, you'll just have to get creative."
Now, to escape. Instead of going down, go up. Go left from the library to the
priests' quarters, then all the way around to the Imperial Battlemage's
quarters. Go halfway around the hall to the door to the battlemage's actual
rooms, find her fireplace, make sure you have the Boots of Springheel Jack
equipped, and drop down through the fireplace flue.
It's a long way down, but the Boots protect you. (They are destroyed in the
process.) You land near where you entered the Old Way. Just retrace your steps
through the sewers and return to the Gray Fox. (Ignore your quest marker, it
will try to lead you out through a different--i.e. full of enemies--way. Just
go back the same way you came.)
But! The Gray Fox is not finished with you yet. He gives you a ring and asks
you to deliver it to Countess Umbranox in Anvil. Do as he says and watch the
cutscenes. After it's all over, you have the Gray Cowl of Nocturnal and you're
the new Gray Fox, guild master of the Thieves Guild.
| The Gray Cowl of Nocturnal
+----------------------------
This amazing hood (and it is a hood, not a light or heavy helmet) Fortifies
your Sneak by 25 points, reduces encumbrance by 200 points and has a constant
Detect Life effect.
Wait! There's more!
It also changes your identity. When wearing the Cowl, you *are* the Gray Fox.
Any bounty accrued while wearing the Cowl disappears when you take the Cowl
off. Moreover, the enchantment is such that even when people see you put on or
take off the Cowl, they don't notice the change. No one will ever know you are
the Gray Fox (or the Gray Fox is you).
Think of the scenarios: you invade a home while wearing the Cowl, steal them
blind, then remove the Cowl as you exit. The guards will come running...and
politely ask you how you're doing. You can even assault or kill people in
broad daylight with the Cowl equipped, then remove it immediately and have
everyone wonder where the criminal is.
There are some downsides. If you run into any guards while wearing the Cowl,
they will confront you and the only option is "Resist arrest". You can always
remove the Cowl and yield--Block + Activate; however, during the brief moment
between removing the Cowl and yielding, townspeople will see the guard
attacking an "innocent" and they will attack the guards. (On the other hand,
this is great for causing incredible mayhem in a town.)
You can't pay off your bounty as the Gray Fox, and, even if you did, it's
renewed at 500 gold the next time you re-equip it after removing it.
The constant Detect Life effect is useful for clearing out dungeons; however,
it makes it difficult to tell friend from foe, so only use it when you know
you're surrounded only by enemies.
Some NPCs will ignore the cowl, including your maid in the Skingrad house (if
you've purchased the house and hired the maid). Many quest givers will treat
you and the Gray Fox equally.
Finally, in Dareloth's Garden in the Waterfront District, you can now enter
Dareloth's house through the basement. This is the new Thieves Guild
headquarters, and you have private quarters on the top floor. Fathis Ules and
Christophe hang out here, so you have constant access to a fence and a doyen.
You'll also see other Thieves Guild familiars (Methredhel, Amusei) now and
again. You'll find mementos of your exploits (Savilla's Stone, the tax
records, The Lost Histories, etc.) lying around the place.
However, beyond that, there's no benefit to being the guild master. Unlike the
Fighters Guild or Dark Brotherhood, where you receive regular payments; or the
Mages Guild where you can recruit a henchman to fight with you, the only
benefit to being the Gray Fox is...well, being the Gray Fox. You'll have to
make your own wealth.
[TG13]
<~~~~~~ CAST OUT OF THE THIEVES GUILD ~~~~~~>
The Thieves Guild has some pretty strict rules regarding behavior.
(Apparently, there *is* honor among thieves.) You are not to steal from,
assault or kill another guild member. Additionally, you cannot kill anyone
while committing a theft for the guild (unless your doyen or the Gray Fox
specifically gives you permission in advance.)
Unlike the other guilds, getting back into the Thieves Guild is a simple
matter of money. There is a fine attached to each action, and paying the fine
to Armand or S'Krivva gets you back into the guild.
Crime Fine
------- --------
Theft 200
Assault 500
Murder* 1,000
* You get charged 1,000 gold Blood Price for each unnecessary murder during a
job. The exceptions are killing one of the two targets of "May the Best Thief
Win", their Blood Price is 500 gold. Your doyen or the Gray Fox will let you
know if any job targets can be killed before you go out on the job.
The Thieves Guild is pretty lenient and always lets you back in, as long as
you pay the fines.
[DB00]
~~The Elder Scrolls IV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DARK BROTHERHOOD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OBLIVION~~
*NOTE* The Dark Brotherhood should not be undertaken by anyone with a weak
stomach or a disinclination to slaughter people for money. How a game with
these types of tasks got through with (initially, anyway) a 'T' rating is a
mystery. The Dark Brotherhood is a major reason the game was re-rated to 'M'.
*QUESTS* The following journal quests run during the Dark Brotherhood story;
they are "placeholder" quests that merely tell you to go get your next
contract. They are not individually broken down in this walkthrough:
* Welcome to the Family
* Blood of the Damned
* No Rest For the Wicked
* To Serve Sithis
* My Brother's Keeper
* Enter the Eliminator
* The Night Mother's Child
* The Assassin's Gambit
* The Dead Drop
Like the Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood quests are geared toward Stealth
characters. Unlike the Thieves Guild, you don't need Stealth to complete the
missions. After all, each task basically involves killing someone and you
don't have to be a sneak-thief to do that.
However, each contract carries with it bonus perks based on meeting specific
parameters. Meeting these parameters and receiving the bonus does require
Stealth. For example, in one quest you must infiltrate the Imperial prison and
kill a prisoner. To get the bonus, you must do so without killing any guards.
In another quest, to get the bonus, you must make the assassination appear to
be an accident *and* not kill the target's servant.
You will also need some lockpicking skill to complete some of these tasks,
whether you do it stealthily or not. If you have trouble with the lockpicking
mini-game, you may wish to hold off on joining the Brotherhood until you've
received Nocturnal's Skeleton Key, which you can do at level 10.
The Dark Brotherhood is more than a gang of hit men (women/cats/lizards). They
are a religious cult that worships Sithis, the Dark Lord of Death. They
delight in killing and bloodshed, but more than just being savage, they
delight in performing complicated murders that require cunning and stealth.
There are some...interesting conversations you can have with your colleagues,
and they are not for the faint-of-heart.
Also, you should be aware you cannot join the Brotherhood with the goal of
wiping them all out. Such is not possible; though the Brotherhood is nearly
destroyed in the course of these quests, it is your destiny to rebuild it. You
can't rise to the top only to kill the few remaining survivors. So if that's
your goal, forget about it and find something else to do.
Joining the Dark Brotherhood is simple: murder someone. But, you can't just
murder *anyone*, you have to murder an innocent. (Well, maybe innocent is not
the right word; you have to perform what the game deems an unnecessary
killing.) There are several possibilities:
1) Fight through the Arena, perform "Origin of the Gray Prince" and then
challenge the Gray Prince to a fight, which ends with him begging you to kill
him. This is more like assisted suicide and you won't get in trouble with the
law, but the game regards it as murder anyway. This is the safest murder you
can commit, since it's not really murder and the character only exists to die
anyway. On the flip side, you have to fight through 21 successively more
difficult battles to reach the Gray Prince.
2) Kill a beggar. Make sure no guards are around when you commit the crime.
Beggars generally sleep outdoors on bedrolls. The beggars play a big role in
the Thieves Guild quests; if you intend to play through the Thieves Guild,
murder one in the Imperial City--there are five total in the city, so they'll
be some left over that can help you with the Thieves Guild quests.
3) Kill a non-essential innkeeper or shopkeeper. There are a dozen or more
shopkeepers in Imperial City and several inns, so you could probably off one
of them in their sleep without messing up your game too much. You always run a
risk of killing someone who sells something that may be important to you
later; but you can minimize this. Just make sure the merchant you kill doesn't
provide any other services, such as training or armor repair.
4) Kill a solitary Imperial Legionnaire or Forester you encounter on the road.
Trying to kill a guard in town is tough as you will be attacked by the other
guards and the citizenry, but one of the wandering troopers in the country can
probably be dispatched without too much trouble. This will get you in trouble
with the law, so you'll have to pay a fine or serve some jail time.
When you commit a "proper" murder, you'll get a message saying, "Your killing
has been observed by forces unknown..." The next time you sleep (and you have
to sleep, not just Wait), your rest will be interrupted by one Lucien
Lachance. He introduces you to the Dark Brotherhood and asks if you would like
to join their family.
You still have an out--maybe you didn't intend to kill an innocent and you
don't really want to join the Brotherhood. You can turn Lachance down and he
won't bother you again. You can also (try to) kill Lachance, in which case he
definitely won't bother you again. If you choose to join, Lachance first sends
you on an initiation run...
[DB01]
<~~~~~~ A KNIFE IN THE DARK ~~~~~~>
In order to complete your "application" and fully join the Brotherhood,
Lachance points you to a target: Rufio. Rufio spends most of his time asleep
at the Inn of Ill Omen, which is located on the Green Road about halfway
between Bravil and Lake Rumare.
Speak to the innkeeper and he'll reveal Rufio's room is in the cellar. The
trap door downstairs is just to the left of the main entrance to the inn.
Rufio's room is the last door on the left, and he sleeps all the time, except
for the middle of the night. You can kill him with a single blow.
You can also choose to wake him. If you use the "Oh, but you have Rufio"
response, you'll get a hint of why there is a price on his head. Regardless,
if you do wake him, you better be between him and the door. He moves very fast
for a tired, old man and will hotfoot it for the exit as soon as he finishes
speaking. However, even when awake, he's still a one-hit kill.
Find a bed (you can even use Rufio's) and Sleep, and Lachance will visit you
again. He welcomes you into the family and, if you follow all his conversation
options, gives you some detail on the operations of the Brotherhood.
The leadership of the Brotherhood is composed of a Listener and four Speakers-
-together known as the Black Hand. The Listener receives assignments from the
Night Mother and gives those assignments to the Speakers who pass them on to a
local Sanctuary, where a family member is tasked to carry out the mission. You
also learn the Five Tenets (See "A Dark Exile" below).
Lachance is sending you to the Cheydinhal Sanctuary. Fast Travel to
Cheydinhal's East Gate and go south. The third house on the left, almost
directly behind the chapel, is an Abandoned House. Even though the door is
boarded over, enter and go down into the basement.
Follow the basement to a black door with strange runes carved into it. When
you Activate the door, you are asked for a pass phrase, which is "Sanguine, my
brother". Enter the Sanctuary and find Ocheeva, a female Argonian. She
welcomes you to the Sanctuary, gives you an outfit (Shrouded Armor and Hood
that, when worn together, Fortify your Sneak, Illusion, Marksman, Blade and
Acrobatics by 10 points each) and sends you to Vincente Valtieri for
assignments.
[DB02]
<~~~~~~ A WATERY GRAVE ~~~~~~>
Yes, Valtieri is a vampire, and proud of it. In fact, later on, he'll offer to
give you "The Dark Gift"--i.e. turn you into a vampire.
But only if you want to.
Right now, Valtieri is just your boss. He explains the contract system--some
contracts have bonus rewards if you meet certain conditions. He also will tell
you to talk to your colleagues in the Sanctuary about each contract; they may
have valuable information.
Your first contract is to kill Captain Gaston Tussaud aboard his ship, the
Marie Elena, which is docked at Imperial City's Waterfront district. There are
no bonuses for this mission, just the standard pay. The Marie Elena berths at
the eastern end of the Waterfront dock. There are three ways of reaching the
captain:
1) The direct approach. Simply walk onto the ship. You'll be warned away by
the first mate, but when you don't listen, she and the other crew attack. This
could get sticky, except for the fact that, since they attacked you, all the
guards around the waterfront will be hostile to them. Lead them on a chase
into a group of Legion Watch and...well, watch the fun. Once all the sailors
are down, you can pick the lock on the Captain's cabin, enter and kill him,
then return to Vincente.
2) Stowaway. This is the method suggested by Valtieri when he gives you the
job. Walk past the ship, to the east end of the dock and twiddle your thumbs
for a moment. You'll get a message the nearby crate looks like it has enough
room for you to fit. Choose to climb in the crate and you'll jump straight to
the Marie Elena's cargo hold. Climb up to the middle deck and hide until a
couple of sailors finish their argument and go to bed. Then Sneak past and
climb up to the captain's cabin.
You can kill the captain quickly, but two sailors will hear the noise and rush
in to investigate, so kill them as well. (You can hide in the aft part of the
cabin when the sailors rush in, and then Sneak attack at least once to give
yourself an edge.) When the two are dead, get the captain's key from the chest
next to his bed, open the door in the aft section of the cabin and jump off
the balcony into the water and swim out of range of the enemies on the ship.
Then Fast Travel back to Cheydinhal to report to Vincente.
3) If your Acrobatics skill is high enough, you can jump from the east end of
the dock to the balcony outside the captain's cabin. Then it's just a matter
of picking the lock, killing the captain and running back outside and jumping
into the water to get away. You don't even have to kill the two sailors who
come to investigate, because you don't need the captain's key to get out.
Report back to Vincente.
[DB03]
<~~~~~~ ACCIDENTS HAPPEN ~~~~~~>
Valtieri assigns you the task of killing Baenlin, of Bruma. To earn a bonus,
you must make the killing appear accidental and make sure you don't kill
anyone else, especially Baenlin's servant, Gromm. Valtieri suggests a way to
make it happen: use a hidden crawlspace on the second floor to drop a prized
minotaur head on top of old Baenlin. Baenlin always sits below the head from
8pm to 11pm.
Baenlin lives just north of Bruma's East Gate (next to the house you can buy).
You have a choice to make. The easiest time to infiltrate the house is during
the middle of the night; however, you can't Wait while trespassing, so you
would be stuck twiddling your thumbs for around 30 real minutes (15 game
hours) until 8pm when you can drop the head. One way to make use of this time
is to Sneak-run into the wall in the hidden crawlspace. You'll gain 25 or more
ranks in your Sneak skill during the time you're waiting.
The other option is to Wait until 8pm to infiltrate the house. You may still
be able to successfully Sneak past Gromm and Baenlin, but you're going to need
a fairly high Sneak skill to accomplish this. Choose your time, go around the
back of the house and pick the lock to the basement. Go into Sneak mode and
pick the lock on the door to the main floor.
The crawlspace is up on the second floor--make a U-turn at the top of the
stairs and go through Gromm's bedroom to the far corner, where you'll find the
secret panel. At the appointed hour, Activate the fastenings on the end wall
of the crawlspace and hear the satisfying thump of death. Resist the urge to
peek out the hole, Gromm will see you and soon be in the crawlspace with you.
Enraged Nord + big axe + cramped quarters = reload time.
Sneak out of the crawlspace and down the stairs. Gromm will be standing,
weapon out, over the old man's body. Sneak along the far wall to the basement
door and go out the way you came in. For "accidentally" killing Baenlin
without killing Gromm, you get Sufferthorn, a dagger with Damage Health and
Damage Strength enchantments.
[DB04]
<~~~~~~ SCHEDULED FOR EXECUTION ~~~~~~>
Valtieri next reveals there is an Imperial prisoner, Valen Dreth, who needs to
be put out of his misery. It seems another prisoner recently escaped using
secret tunnels under the prison (that would be you) and you are now to use
those tunnels to get back into the prison and kill Dreth. If you can do so
without killing any guards, you'll get a bonus.
Your path back through the underground system will not be identical to the
path you took when fleeing in the wake of the emperor. However, much will be
familiar, especially your cell and the sneering dark elf across the hall.
The route through the sewers, the Sanctum, the Subteranne and the prison is
pretty straightforward. The challenge here is not in figuring out which way to
go, but avoiding the guards with torches that patrol regular routes. The trick
is to stay in Sneak mode as far into the shadows as possible and watch the
route of each guard. Choose your moment to Sneak through--usually by scurrying
along in the wake of the guard.
The biggest problem occurs in the Sanctum. Getting out is difficult as there's
a guard right next to the stairs and the stairs are well lit. You can use an
Invisibility spell to get through here, or wait until the guard turns and
stares as the back wall for a few minutes.
When you reach your old cell, hide in it while a guard chats with Dreth, then
step across the hall and say goodbye to your old friend. The easiest thing to
do is a spell or arrow through the bars of Dreth's cell; he's wasted away and
a single shot should be the end of him.
If you Sneak down the hallway to the left of Dreth's cell, you should be able
to procure a prison key from the guardroom at the end of the hall. Then go
back up the other way and enter the main prison room. You can exit Sneak mode
now, this is a public area, and walk right out, then Fast Travel back to the
Cheydinhal Sanctuary. Assuming you killed no one but Dreth, your payment
includes the Scales of Pitiless Justice. This miscellaneous item Fortifies
your Strength, Intelligence and Agility while Draining your Personality. It
works any time it is in your inventory; just drop it to lose the effect.
[DB05]
<~~~~~~ THE RENEGADE SHADOWSCALE ~~~~~~>
This is not an official Dark Brotherhood quest, rather it's a favor for the
male Argonian, Teinaava. He tells you a tale of a Shadowscale (Argonian royal
assassin), Scar-Tail, who decided to forsake his duties and flee to Bogwater
Swamp. Teinaava asks you to go kill him and bring back his heart as proof of
his death.
Anything for a friend, right? Bogwater is southeast of Leyawiin, almost as far
south as you can go in Cyrodiil. Tidewater Cave (Nocturnal's quest),
Darkfathom Cave ("Whom God's Annoy" side quest) and Fort Blueblood ("Leyawiin
Recommendation" Mages Guild quest) are the closest quest-related landmarks for
Fast Traveling. If you've not visited them yet, Fast Travel to Leyawiin and
hoof it.
You'll find Scar-Tail by a small campfire, weakened by a previous fight with a
Shadowscale agent. You can: 1) kill him and take his heart; or, 2) talk to him
and he asks that you allow him to live and take the heart of the dead
Shadowscale as proof and Scar-Tail's treasure for yourself. If you decide on
option #2, you'll find the treasure in a hollow rock near the campfire and the
dead agent a short way from the campfire.
Regardless of which heart you bring back to Teinaava, you get the Boots of
Bloody Bounding, with Fortify Acrobatics and Blade enchantments.
[DB06]
<~~~~~~ THE ASSASSINATED MAN ~~~~~~>
This one's a little different. You are *not* supposed to kill someone this
time, rather you are to make it look like you killed someone without actually
performing the deed. Francois Motierre wants to welsh on his debts, and has
asked for the Dark Brotherhood's assistance. Since *someone* is supposed to
die to satisfy the Dark Lord Sithis, Motierre handed over his own mother.
These are the kinds of people you get to deal with.
Motierre's being pursued by an enforcer for the people to whom he owes money.
You're supposed to hit him with a dagger laced with Langourwine in view of the
enforcer and then run away. The Langourwine will cause Motierre to fall into a
coma that feigns death; the enforcer will report Motierre has been killed by
the Brotherhood; and, then you revive the skinflint using an antidote.
(Vincente provides all this for you.) If either Motierre or the enforcer die,
you don't get your payment for this mission, though you can continue to
advance in the Brotherhood.
Fast Travel to Chorrol and find Motierre's house, which is in Chorrol's
upscale district around the great oak (straight ahead from either the North or
South Gate). Enter and Motierre will fill you in on all the details. Soon
after his conversation ends, you'll hear the enforcer, Hides-His-Heart,
picking the lock on the door.
You don't want to waste any time. Equip the Langourwine dagger and stand next
to Motierre. As soon as the Argonian enforcer is inside, strike Motierre and
beat it. If you hang around and listen to Motierre and Hides chat, you won't
learn anything and you'll probably have to kill the lizard (which fails the
mission). You have to get outside the city in order to shake the pursuit.
As soon as your journal lets you know you were successful, Wait 24 hours, then
go to the Chapel of Stendarr and go down to the undercroft. Motierre's "body"
is lying in the southern wing of the undercroft. Activate him to revive him
with the Langourwine antidote. Motierre chooses, at this time, to let you know
his ancestors won't be pleased with his cheating of death, screams, "Aunt
Margaret" and the zombie attacks.
Auntie isn't the only ticked-off relative in the crypt. There are two more
zombies out in the main part of the undercroft. You still have to keep
Motierre alive, so take out Aunt Margaret as quickly as you can, then rush the
other two.
Once all three are dead, lead Motierre to the Gray Mare inn and then return to
Valtieri for your payment. If all went as planned, your reward includes an
amulet, Cruelty's Heart (Fortify Strength and Willpower), promotion and a key
to the "back door" of the Sanctuary. There's a well behind the abandoned house
that leads directly into the Sanctuary (the ladder going up is in a corner of
the main room, behind a broken section of wall). No more trudging through the
basement to get in an out of the place.
Finally, Vincente offers to give you the "Dark Gift"--i.e. make you a vampire.
And he turns you over to Ocheeva for future assignments as he has nothing left
for one of your rank.
[DB07]
<~~~~~~ THE LONELY WANDERER ~~~~~~>
Ocheeva's first assignment is to kill an elf named Faelian in Imperial City.
There must be no witnesses. There are a number of ways in which you can track
down Faelian, but, by far the quickest and easiest is to Fast Travel to the
Talos Plaza district in Imperial City.
Find the Tiber Septim Hotel, which opens out onto the main plaza on the
southwest side of the district. Charm innkeeper Augusta Calidia to a
Disposition of 50 or higher and she'll give tell you Faelian and his
girlfriend live in the hotel. Find the girlfriend, Atraena, who is almost
always in the hotel.
Get her Disposition over 50 and she'll give you the name of the place where
Faelian goes to do drugs during the day: Lorkmir's house in the Elven Gardens
District. Lorkmir's is in the western section of the Elven Gardens, along the
central street.
*NOTE* You could go straight to Lorkmir's house without going through the
girlfriend, but then you get no quest marker to help you find the house. Your
call.
Break in and find Faelian there or Wait for him (he comes in from around noon
until late afternoon). Kill him in Lorkmir's house and head back to
Cheydinhal. Your bonus for a completely successful mission is Shadowhunt, a
steel bow with several enchantments: on hit you will Turn Undead, Damage
Health, Damage Magicka and imbue the target with Weakness to Poison.
[DB08]
<~~~~~~ BAD MEDICINE ~~~~~~>
You're to kill a mercenary warlord named Roderick, who makes his camp in Fort
Sutch. Once again, you're to make the death appear accidental. Roderick is
very sick and takes a powerful medicine daily. You're to replace his medicine
with poison supplied by Ocheeva. Doing so without detection earns you a bonus.
If you are detected, you can kill Roderick (and all his mercenaries) the old-
fashioned way, but then you don't get the bonus.
It turns out the bonus isn't especially good, so don't worry over this one too
much. It really isn't that hard to Sneak in and replace the medicine, but it
does take a while.
Fort Sutch is midway between Anvil and Kvatch, north of the main road between
those two cities. Brina Cross Inn ("Anvil Recommendation" Mages Guild quest)
and Malacath's shrine are the closest quest-related points. You may have even
done "Assault on Fort Sutch" during the main story and can Fast Travel
directly there. Ocheeva suggests finding a back way into the fort through
tunnels leading to a nearby ruined tower.
But that's the long and arduous way. Go straight in the front door and
immediately turn right, picking the lock on the gate. Sneak through the tunnel
until you come out on the upper level of a two-level room. Creep up close to
the edge and listen in on the conversation below.
When it ends, the two mercs head up to your level. Sneak back into the tunnel,
and then follow them when they pass you. They'll lead you through a northeast
passage to a room divided by columns. The orc starts patrolling through the
columns. Your objective is a cupboard on the northwest wall. Sneak around the
columns, avoiding the orc merc's patrol routes.
Open the medicine cabinet, remove Roderick's medicine and put in the poison
you brought with you. Sneak back out the same way you came in, and Fast Travel
back to Cheydinhal. Ocheeva pays you and, if you didn't alert anyone, gives
you The Deceiver's Finery, clothing that Fortifies your Personality and
Speechcraft.
[DB09]
<~~~~~~ WHODUNIT? ~~~~~~>
Your new threads are largely intended to help you with this contract. You're
going to play "Clue" and you get to be the culprit--in every room with every
conceivable weapon. You and five others will be locked into a house for a
"treasure hunt". You are supposed to kill the other five people. To earn the
bonus, you must kill them without any of them ever figuring out you are the
killer.
Fast Travel to Skingrad's East Gate and go down the street a short way to
Summitmist Manor. You'll be met by Fafnir, presumably the man who prayed for
the hits, and he gives you the key to the manor and a few instructions. As you
enter the manor, you're met by an old woman, Matilde Petit. Tell her you're an
assassin sent to kill her and she'll think you're joking; her Disposition will
also rise to maximum. Matilde will also summarize the other targets: Dovesi
Dran, Nels the Naughty, Neville and Primo Antonius.
There are two ways to play this:
1) Just start killing. The guests are initially spread out, none present a
significant challenge and the bonus reward may not be particularly appealing
to you. The important thing is for everyone to die. (When you think about it,
since they all end up dead, the concept of keeping them ignorant of your
identity seems nonsensical. But maybe the client has a perverse sense of
humor.)
2) Use the Persuasion mini-game or Charm spells to raise their Dispositions.
You can then lure a couple of them away, and set the rest on each other. For
example, tell Dran that Antonius has fallen for her and wants to meet her in
his room. Follow her up the stairs and kill her. Offer to team up with Matilde
and suggest you search the basement, when you go downstairs, kill her. Neville
likes to take naps in his room, wait for him to go upstairs and go to sleep,
then kill him. The remaining two (Nels and Antonius) despise each other; you
can easily persuade either one to attack and kill the other, then finish off
the survivor.
When you're done, return to the Sanctuary and report to Ocheeva. If you
accomplished your mission within the parameters, you'll receive the
Nightmother's Blessing--a "spell ability" (like a birthsign) that permanently
increases your Blade, Acrobatics, Sneak, Security and Marksman skills by 2
points each.
[DB10]
<~~~~~~ PERMANENT RETIREMENT ~~~~~~>
Captain of the Imperial Watch Adamus Phillida has been a thorn in the side of
the Brotherhood for a long time. Phillida has finally retired to Leyawiin and
you are sent there to kill him. (The Brotherhood waiting until after his
retirement is another nonsensical plan. Wouldn't it have been more useful to
kill him when he still posed a threat? Whatever.)
You are given a special arrow, the Rose of Sithis that will kill Phillida in
one shot. (The Rose only works on Phillida, don't bother saving it to use on
someone else.) The Rose won't pierce armor, so you have to use it when
Phillida is not wearing his metal suit. To earn the bonus, you must get
Phillida's ring finger and put it in the desk of the current commander of the
Imperial Watch.
Travel to Leyawiin and find the pond just west of the castle guard tower. The
pond is surrounded by houses, has a dock at the northeast corner and a set of
stairs to the south. Go to the dock and Wait until mid-afternoon (about 2pm).
Phillida will soon come to the south end of the pool, where he strips, leaves
his bodyguard and takes a little swim.
*SAVE YOUR GAME*
Draw a bead on Phillida with the Rose of Sithis and shoot him. If you miss,
reload your game and try again. When he's dead, swim out to his body and
Activate it. Take his keys and his ring finger, then swim to the south shore
(the bodyguard will have gone running around the pond to the dock, so you
don't want to go back there), and high-tail it out of town.
*ALTERNATE METHOD*
If you're a fairly high-level character and don't want to run the risk of
mixing it up with the city guards, then you can kill Phillida elsewhere; but,
you won't be able to use the Rose. Go to the Coast Guard station outside
Leyawiin's Northeast Gate. Wait until morning, around 9am, and Phillida will
come with his bodyguard and enter the station. You can enter behind them and
kill them both. You'll have to do it the conventional way and it will be a
tough fight. Get Phillida's keys and finger.
Fast Travel to the Imperial Prison district northeast of Imperial City. From
the main entrance, go to the second door on the left, which leads to the
commander's office. Wait until the middle of the night, go into Sneak mode,
and enter (you have the key) when the Watch isn't...watching. You also have a
key to the desk, so put the finger in there and Sneak back out.
Assuming you weren't detected, you can Fast Travel from right outside the door
and return to Ocheeva for your pay and bonus, which is 500 gold.
[DB11]
<~~~~~~ OF SECRET AND SHADOW ~~~~~~>
Ocheeva has important news! Lachance wants to see you. Like, right now. His
headquarters are in Fort Farragut, just east of Cheydinhal. He mentions
something about getting past his guardians to prove your worth, yada yada.
Walk out to Fort Farragut and go around to the northwest side of the fallen
tower and look for a hollow tree. Inside is a trapdoor that leads directly to
Lachance's quarters, skipping a short, but tedious, skeleton-and-trap-filled
dungeon crawl.
[DB12]
<~~~~~~ THE PURIFICATION ~~~~~~>
Lachance informs you there is a traitor working out of the Cheydinhal
Sanctuary. You are above suspicion because the problems began before you
joined the family. Since the Black Hand can't figure out exactly who, among
your brethren in the Sanctuary, is guilty, you are ordered to exterminate them
all in a rite known as "Purification".
To help you out, Lachance gives you a poisoned apple and a scroll that will
summon the ghost of Rufio (your first official victim). In a barrel in the
corner of Lachance's quarters (behind a lock) are ten more poisoned apples.
There are, of course, numerous ways to handle eliminating your fellow
assassins. Regardless of how you go about the killings, you'll want to try to
separate them so they don't gang up on you. One way of working it is to remove
all the food in the main hall and the Living Quarters and putting some
poisoned apples on the food tables and in the food cupboards. You may have to
Wait up to a week before all your victims partake.
You can let the ghost of Rufio out among a small (three to four) group.
They'll concentrate on the ghost, leaving you free to backstab them. The
training room or Living Quarters work well for this tactic--for one because
the Dark Guardian won't be around to pitch in, and also because you tend to
get concentrations of targets in these two places.
Valtieri and Ocheeva, with separate rooms, can be killed in their sleep. You
can also attack other Brotherhood members while they are asleep in the Living
Quarters, but their sleeping habits are irregular.
Once the Sanctuary has been cleansed, return to Lachance. He reveals that each
member of the Black Hand has their own personal assassin, called a Silencer.
Congratulations! You're now Lachance's Silencer. From now on, you'll be
receiving assignments and payment at "dead drop" locations around Cyrodiil.
Your first dead drop is at Hero Hill, south-southeast of Fort Farragut.
Oh, and since you're going to be running all over Cyrodiil at Lachance's
request, he gives you Shadowmere, the fastest, strongest horse in the game.
Enjoy!
[DB13]
<~~~~~~ AFFAIRS OF A WIZARD ~~~~~~>
Find the hollowed-out rock at Hero Hill and read the orders. You're to kill a
necromancer named Celedaen before he completes his transformation into a lich.
Celedaen hangs out in Leafrot Cave, which is south-southeast of your current
location, near the Panther River. The closest quest-related point is Redwater
Slough ("Vampire Cure").
Leafrot Cave is a small, two-level affair full of undead. In the first room is
Celedaen's journal. Reading this will update your quest journal with the
objective of removing Celedaen's magical hourglass in order to kill him.
Celedaen is on the second level of the caves, and it is difficult to Sneak up
on him.
If you can Magickage it, pickpocket the hourglass to kill him instantly.
Otherwise, you're in for quite a fight as Celedaen is much more powerful than
you and can conjure a number of different creatures. Hit him as hard as you
can, ignoring his summons, in order to kill him.
You are then instructed to go to Chorrol. Your payment for this task and
orders for your next task are in a sack near the great oak in northern
Chorrol. Fast Travel to Chorrol's North Gate and go straight south to the
tree.
[DB14]
<~~~~~~ NEXT OF KIN ~~~~~~>
You are ordered to kill the entire Draconis clan: mother Perennia, sons
Matthias and Andreas and daughters Sibylla and Caelia. Start with mom; she
resides at Applewatch Farm, just west of Bruma. During the day you'll
typically find her outside tending to her garden.
She will think you're a courier come to buy and deliver gifts to her four
children. She'll give you a list of what to buy them, and their locations, so
you can deliver the gifts. Oh, you'll be delivering something all right. Kill
mother Draconis (and, possibly, also her dog), then look at your list.
1) Andreas: He runs the Drunken Dragon Inn, northwest of Leyawiin. If you tell
him what you did to his mother, he'll attack you. This causes the Imperial
Legion guard who is almost always at the Inn to attack and kill Andreas for
you. Neat.
2) Caelia: She's a guard in Leyawiin, on the night watch. You can track her
down during the night while she's making her rounds; or, you can kill her in
her room at the Three Sisters Inn. (Note: as a Leyawiin guard, Caelia is off-
limits if you currently have "The Elven Maiden" Thieves Guild quest open.
Finish that quest first before killing Caelia.)
3) Matthias: He lives in the Talos Plaza district of Imperial City, in the
southwestern section (across from Ontus Vanin and next to Agarmir). Break in
during the middle of the night and kill him in his sleep.
4) Sibylla: She has gone wild, living with animals in Muck Valley Cavern. This
small series of caves is located halfway between Imperial City and Cheydinhal,
south of the Blue Road. Vaermina's shrine (Daedric quest) is nearby. Kill her
and the animals that protect her.
When the Draconis line has been erased from the annals of history, Fast Travel
to Castle Skingrad and Activate the well in the courtyard. You'll receive your
pay and your next assignment.
[DB15]
<~~~~~~ BROKEN VOWS ~~~~~~>
The father of the bride is upset. His daughter's erstwhile groom decided to
break off the engagement when he saw the size (or lack thereof) of the young
lady's dowry. Papa wants J'Ghasta dead. That should make daddy's little girl
happy.
J'Ghasta lives in Bruma, three doors south of the East Gate. Pick the lock, go
downstairs and look for a trapdoor somewhat hidden behind the staircase.
J'Ghasta is an expert in unarmed combat. Ha ha. Good one! Teach him the
advantage of shiny, pointy things.
Your payment and next assignment are in an old box under Old Bridge. Old
Bridge is directly south of Imperial City's Waterfront.
[DB16]
<~~~~~~ FINAL JUSTICE ~~~~~~>
Shaleez, an Argonian hunter, is your next target. She lives in Flooded Mine
just north of Bravil. As the name implies, there will be some swimming here.
The best time to attack is in the middle of the night, when Shaleez is asleep.
Swim through the tunnels, following your quest marker to the lizard.
After she's dead, you can collect your payment and new mission at Fort Redman,
which is halfway between Bravil and Leyawiin, on the east side of the Niben
River. There's a single bandit roaming the surface area of the Fort. In a
coffin near the door are your blood money and two pieces of paper.
[DB17]
<~~~~~~ A MATTER OF HONOR ~~~~~~>
One piece of paper names your subject: Alval Uvani, a traveling merchant. The
other piece of paper lays out Uvani's schedule. Now here's where lady luck
might just shine on you. Depending on how far into the game you are, Uvani
might already be dead.
Yes, in fact, the further along you are, the higher the probability Uvani
traveled into something he couldn't handle. If you're lucky, as soon as you
get the journal entry opening "A Matter of Honor", you'll get another journal
entry that proclaims you have killed Uvani. Pat yourself on the back for
excellent work and go on to your next job.
(There's no way to tell why or how this happens. Uvani actually does travel
from city to city--unlike some games where he would just spawn in the
appropriate place at the appropriate time. So if you've done the main story,
or a substantial part of the main story, Uvani might have run into some daedra
near one of the random Oblivion gates between cities. Or it could have been
wild animals. Or, maybe a glitch in the AI caused him to have it out with some
Imperial Legion guards. Regardless, count your blessings and move on.)
Otherwise, take a look at Uvani's schedule.
As he travels around Cyrodiil, Alval Uvani can be found at the
following locations, on the following days:
Morndas/Tirdas -- Bravil -- The Lonely Suitor Lodge
Middas/Turdas -- Skingrad -- The West Weald Inn
Fredas/Loredas -- Bruma -- Olav's Tap and Tack
Sundas -- Leyawiin -- Alval Uvani's House (rented property)
Keep in mind that there may be some variation based on the time
it takes for him to get to the different cities.
Your best bet for a clean kill is Uvani's rented house in Leyawiin--it's the
southeastern most house in Leyawiin. Every other location is fairly public and
things can get messy. The downside is, if Uvani starts running behind, he may
not even stop in Leyawiin, or his stop is so brief he never goes into his
house. Regardless, Fast Travel to Leyawiin, Wait until Sundas (you have to
Wait before entering the house), break in and wait until Uvani shows his face.
If you have trouble killing him--he's a master of Destruction magic--your
orders provide a workaround: Uvani is allergic to the honey in mead. You can
get several bottles of mead from the Cheydinhal Sanctuary, distribute it in
his house, remove all the other consumables, then wait for him to come home,
drink the stuff, and be paralyzed.
Your payment and orders are in a hollow stump in the Market District of
Imperial City. Find the garden behind Edgar's Discount Spells and the hollow
stump is there.
[DB18]
<~~~~~~ THE COLDEST SLEEP ~~~~~~>
Your next hit: Havilstein Hoar-Blood. He has a camp east of Bruma. There's
nothing special about this mission. Hoar-Blood is a tough Nord axe-wielder and
he has a pet wolf. Go in gun's blazing or try a Sneak-attack at night when the
Nord is sleeping.
The next dead drop is in the Ayleid ruin of Nornal. Fast Travel to Muck Valley
Cavern (from the Draconis assassinations) and go south. You don't have to go
all the way into the ruins, just go down the first set of stairs and take the
first right. There's a locked gate and chest underwater, so have a Water
Breathing spell handy.
[DB19]
<~~~~~~ A KISS BEFORE DYING ~~~~~~>
You are to kill a Bosmer named Ungolim. He spends his evenings--from midnight
to 2am--praying to a statue known as "The Lucky Lady", in Bravil. You're told
not to worry about guards, they've been bribed to look the other way.
Head to Bravil and find the statue in the northern part of town. Find a hiding
place and Wait until midnight. When Ungolim shows up, Sneak attack him
(preferably from range) and then finish him off.
Next thing you know, Lachance shows up and begins chewing you out. Seems you
just eradicated the Listener and all your other hits since the Draconis family
have likewise been members of the Black Hand--Speakers and their Silencers.
Lachance is here to kill you, but then realizes you have no idea what he's
babbling about.
He deduces someone is switching your orders. The rest of the Black Hand
suspects him, and there's a price on his head. The two of you need to find out
who's doing this, and fast. Lachance tells you to go to the next dead drop and
wait to see who comes and drops off the money and orders.
[DB20]
<~~~~~~ FOLLOWING A LEAD ~~~~~~>
Fast Travel to Anvil's North Gate, hang a left and find the barrel behind the
pond. Select a hiding place nearby and wait for a Wood Elf to show up. Make
sure you are not in Sneak mode, then confront the little punk. He claims a man
in a robe put him up to this, and the man lives under the lighthouse here in
Anvil. (Ignore the new orders the Wood Elf has placed for you, they don't lead
to anything. The punk Bosmer keeps your 500 gold--unless you kill him for it.)
Go to the lighthouse, outside Anvil's Dock Gate. Find the caretaker and
question him about his tenant. When he asks, "Who wants to know", tell him the
truth. He'll wet himself trying to give you the key faster.
Use the key to enter the basement of the lighthouse, the door is outside, on
the north face of the tower. In the back room of the cellar is a grisly sight:
a shrine featuring the rotted head of a long-deceased woman. Nearby, on a
little table, is a diary detailing the traitor's mental instability. (It also
provides the back story on "The Ghost Ship of Anvil".) Too bad there's no name
attached.
Take the diary (and the head, for a little extra amusement) and Fast Travel to
the recently departed Draconis family farm, Applewatch. Lachance is waiting
for you there. Unfortunately, the remainder of the Black Hand is waiting for
Lachance. He's dead when you arrive, and you can speak to the other members.
Arquen takes the lead.
You are not suspected of anything; they believe Lachance was the traitor and
everything is now green. Here's where you use the head. Drop it on the ground
and talk to Bellamont. He sure is jumpy isn't he? Oh well, you can't do
anything about him now.
Arquen says they are going to see the Night Mother, who will choose a new
Listener so they can begin rebuilding the Black Hand and the Brotherhood. Wait
until midnight (but not past 3am) and talk to Arquen again. Say you're ready
and you'll all Fast Travel to Bravil and the statue of the Lucky Lady.
[DB21]
<~~~~~~ HONOR THY MOTHER ~~~~~~>
There's a cutscene and the statue opens to reveal a trapdoor. Follow the Black
Hand inside. The Night Mother (a ghost) tells Arquen they're all idiots and
then Bellamont attacks. The other two Black Hand members (i.e. not you and not
Arquen) get it quick and then Bellamont is on you. Take him out. (Note that
neither the Night Mother nor Arquen are predisposed to give you a lot of
help.)
Afterwards the Night Mother once again rants about the idiocy infecting the
Brotherhood, tells Arquen off (again) and promotes you to Listener and puts
Arquen in charge of the Cheydinhal Sanctuary. She also tells you to take what
you want from the crypt. Loot the place thoroughly (you'll never come back
here again).
Talk to the Night Mother again to be transported to the Cheydinhal Sanctuary.
Congratulations! You're the leader of a guild of assassins.
[DB22]
<~~~~~~ WHISPERS OF DEATH ~~~~~~>
Once each week you can go to the Lucky Lady statue in Bravil and Activate it.
The Night Mother will speak to you, giving you the name of someone who needs
the services of the Brotherhood. These people are all outside of Cyrodiil, so
don't even try to do anything about them.
Go see Arquen in Cheydinhal and give her the name. She'll give you a portion
of the weekly take. Gradually, new assassins will start wandering around the
Sanctuary. You can ask any of them to travel with you as a henchman.
Otherwise, there's not much to being Listener. You listen a lot. That's about
it...
[DB23]
<~~~~~~ DARK EXILE ~~~~~~>
When you first join the Dark Brotherhood, Lucien Lachance will fill you in on
the Five Tenets:
Tenet 1: Never dishonor the Night Mother. To do so is to invoke the Wrath of
Sithis.
Tenet 2: Never betray the Dark Brotherhood or its secrets. To do so is to
invoke the Wrath of Sithis.
Tenet 3: Never disobey or refuse to carry out an order from a Dark Brotherhood
superior. To do so is to invoke the Wrath of Sithis.
Tenet 4: Never steal the possessions of a Dark Brother or Dark Sister. To do
so is to invoke the Wrath of Sithis.
Tenet 5: Never kill a Dark Brother or Dark Sister. To do so is to invoke the
Wrath of Sithis.
You may wander what this "Wrath of Sithis" is. It is a spirit that will attack
you if you break one of the Tenets. The first two times this happens,
defeating the spirit means you're back in the guild. The third time, defeating
the spirit just means you get to avoid reloading your game. You're out of the
Brotherhood forever.
The first three tenets are impossible to break. The game never gives you a
chance to do any of those things. Well, you can fail to carry out an
assignment, but you're never visited by the Wrath, it just remains an open
quest in your journal. So, basically, you'll only run into a problem if you
steal from or kill another member of the Brotherhood.
[KN00]
~~The Elder Scrolls IV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KNIGHTS OF THE NINE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OBLIVION~~
*NOTE* Before installing Knights of the Nine, you must install the v1.1.511
patch. If you install KoN first, the patch will fail.
Install the Knights mod and make sure it's active. Unlike the other official
mods, Knights of the Nine does not automatically start when you next load up
your game. This mod is intended for good characters--especially paladin types
(i.e. melee fighters with healing magic and a hatred for undead). When you
finish the quest, you'll be the leader of a new guild: Knights of the Nine.
The Crusader's Relics you collect are a suit of armor and both a blunt and
blade weapon. The armor matches your level when you receive it; however,
unlike other quest rewards, there's a method in the game to keep it up-to-date
with your increasing power. The armor will either be light or heavy depending
on which skill is higher. There's no difference in appearance between the
light and heavy armor.
RELICS OF THE CRUSADER
------------------------
Helm of the Crusader:
- Fortify Restoration
- Fortify Personality
- Serene Beauty (Calm on touch)
Cuirass of the Crusader:
- Fortify Restoration
- Resist Normal Weapons
- Fortify Health
Boots of the Crusader:
- Fortify Restoration
- Woodland Grace (normal woodland animals will not be hostile;
e.g. lions and wolves and bears, oh my!)
Gauntlets of the Crusader:
- Fortify Restoration
- Resist Disease
- Merciful Touch (Restore Health on touch)
Greaves of the Crusader:
- Fortify Restoration
- Fortify Destruction
- Blessing of the Eight (Shield on touch)
Shield of the Crusader:
- Reflect Spell
Mace of the Crusader:
- Fire Damage
- Turn Undead
- Fortify Blunt
Sword of the Crusader:
- Fire Damage
- Damage Magicka
- Fortify Blade
You'll be fighting lots of spirits during this quest, so you'll want silver,
daedric or enchanted weapons or plenty of Destruction spells--at least, until
you acquire the Mace of the Crusader about a third of the way into the story.
In order to wear and use the Crusader's Relics, you must have an Infamy score
of zero (0). If you gain one point of Infamy, you'll receive a warning. If
your Infamy increases to two (2) or higher, you can't equip the Relics until
you have once again walked the Pilgrim's Way (first quest for KoN).
To kick off this quest, you must talk to a Prophet, who is declaiming across
the street from the Temple of Dibella in Anvil. You may hear Rumors of an
attack on the Temple from just about anyone in all Cyrodiil; however, you do
not need to hear these Rumors before talking to the Prophet.
[KN01]
<~~~~~~ PILGRIMAGE ~~~~~~>
Talk to the Prophet and follow the natural lines of conversation until he asks
if you are a worthy champion to defeat Umaril the Unfeathered. Use any "No"
answer and the Prophet will tell you that you must follow the Pilgrim's Way
and visit a wayshrine of each of the Nine Divines. He gives you a map showing
the locations of one wayshrine for each of the Nine.
WAYSHRINES
------------
In Cyrodiil, there are at least three wayshrines for each of the Nine. These
wayshrines are part of the base game and you may have already encountered some
during your travels. Normally, when you pray at (Activate) a wayshrine, you
receive a small buff for five minutes or so (assuming your Infamy is zero).
You can perform this quest even if your Infamy is greater than zero; however,
you won't receive the blessings as you pray. When you complete the Pilgrim's
Way, your Infamy is reset to zero.
Now, you do not specifically have to go to the wayshrines marked on the map
the Prophet gives you. There are at least three wayshrines in Cyrodiil for
each of the Nine. Unfortunately, wayshrines are never marked on your primary
map--even with this mod installed; so, you have to find them on your own. Here
is the quickest route (from Anvil) to a wayshrine for each of the Nine:
* Go around to the east side of Anvil and head straight east, passing Fort
Strand to the north, to find a Wayshrine of Akatosh.
* Walk straight north until you cross the Kvatch-Anvil road, then turn north-
northwest until you find a Wayshrine of Arkay in a small hollow among the
hills.
* Go back to the Kvatch-Anvil road and travel east until you reach Gottshaw
Inn. A Wayshrine of Zenithar is on the hill behind the Inn (to the east).
* Go around the south side of Kvatch and catch the road to Skingrad. Follow
the road east toward Skingrad. You'll cross over a stone bridge; on the far
side turn left (north) and you'll see a Wayshrine of Talos up the slope.
* Go east-northeast a short distance to a Wayshrine of Mara.
* From the Wayshrine of Mara, go due north into the Imperial Reserve to find a
Wayshrine of Kynareth. The Wayshrine is located directly on top of the "E" in
"IMPERIAL" on your map.
* Go due east and you'll soon run in to a Wayshrine of Julianos. On your map,
it sits directly on top of the "A" in "IMPERIAL".
* Head due northeast, going through Weatherleah ("Legacy Lost") and Hackdirt
("Shadow Over Hackdirt") to find a Wayshrine of Dibella.
* Fast Travel to the sewer entrance where you started the game (just outside
Imperial City Prison). Go south along the shore until you see a wayshrine
across the lake. Swim over and pray at the Wayshrine of Stendarr.
*NOTE* You can encounter a couple of other knights walking the Way if the last
shrine you visit is one marked on the map given you by the Prophet. While not
important to the quest, if you want to meet these knights, go to a different
Wayshrine of Stendarr as your last stop. Fast Travel to Bravil and head down
the road toward Leyawiin. About halfway along that road is the Wayshrine to
Stendarr marked on your map.
As soon as you pray at the last wayshrine, you'll have a vision and speak to
Pelinal Whitestrake. He marks the location of his lost shrine on your map. It
just so happens to be in the middle of Lake Rumare, not far south of the
Wayshrine of Stendarr.
How convenient!
You also receive the Greater Power, Pilgrim's Grace. This power fortifies your
Agility, Endurance, Intelligence, Luck, Personality, Speed, Strength and
Willpower by 10 for 300 seconds.
Sweet!
[KN02]
<~~~~~~ THE SHRINE OF THE CRUSADER ~~~~~~>
The Shrine of the Crusader is located inside the Ayleid ruin of Vanua. The
entrance to Vanua is under water, just north of the Ring Road bridge over the
Upper Niben River. Water Breathing is a plus; but, not required. Suit up for
undead hunting in an Ayleid ruin and swim out to the spot marked on your map.
Dive down and find the entrance to Vanua (it's easier to do this on a bright,
sunny day). Once inside, you'll have to swim about 10 meters to a stairway
that takes you out of the water--if you don't have Water Breathing, be sure
you have enough breath before entering the ruin.
At the top of the stairs is your first encounter with a (leveled, obviously)
undead. Many more will follow. Continue straight until you reach a T-
intersection. The right (east) branch is eventually blocked, so go left
(west). When you reach a large room and dispose of the guardians, go through
the tunnel to the north into the Shrine of the Crusader.
Yeah...it's not that simple. This area is a lot like the secret passages under
the Imperial prison--lots of ruins mixed with crawling through tunnels; and,
undead all over the place. Go straight and drop down into a ruin; turn left
(west) and then right (north) until your way is blocked. A hole in the wall to
your left (west) leads through a small cavern and then into the shrine. You
can now see the target; but, you can't reach it yet.
Loot the skeleton on the raised bit of floor to get Sir Amiel's key, ring and
diary. This opens the next quest, "Priory of the Nine", and lets you continue
on your way. First, unlock the gate to the south and deal with the undead
guardian of that path. That's your shortcut back out once you've retrieved the
Helm of the Crusader.
Go through the gate to the west and kill the undead. In the next room, find
the hole in the west wall and jump into another tunnel. Fight your way north
and then drop down into the ruin again. Take the south hall for a little
treasure, then take the door to the north. This leads to the Lost Catacombs.
Follow the catacombs--make sure you take opportunities to loot--until you
reach a door leading back into the Shrine. There are actually two doors;
either will serve. Back in the Shrine, fight your way to the altar where the
Helm is located. Watch out for the undead near the altar--it might be down in
a little doorway on the north side of the area.
Collect the Helm, jump over the fence and go through the south gate you opened
earlier. This takes you to a tunnel leading back into Vanua. In Vanua, you'll
pass through a room with at least three undead--including one boss-level mob.
In the same room is an Ayleid Reliquary with your reward for this dungeon.
Leave Vanua and embark on the next stage of your quest.
[KN03]
<~~~~~~ PRIORY OF THE NINE ~~~~~~>
Your next stop is the old Priory of the Knights of the Nine. This is located
in the middle of nowhere, halfway between Skingrad and Bravil. Lucky you, it's
marked on your map; but there's precious little close by that you can Fast
Travel to. The closest may be Silorn (Mages Guild quest, "Ambush"); or, you
can Fast Travel to Skingrad and hoof it.
Regardless of how you go, stock up on healing potions or a good healing spell
and Magicka potions before you go. When you reach the Priory, all appears
peaceful. Enter the Priory and find the Knights of the Nine seal on the floor.
Activate it and Sir Amiel's ring opens the door to the basement. (You did
remember to loot Amiel's ring in the Shrine, right?) Go down into the
basement, which is a training room, then take the door into the Undercroft.
There's the Cuirass of the Crusader! That was easy.
Yeah, right. Eight of the original Knights of the Nine surround you and you
have to beat them all in personal combat (i.e. one-on-one). You can use any
style of combat you wish, just so long as you beat each one. They are all
swordsmen, and good ones; but, they are leveled to match you so you should be
able to handle them. Use the brief respite in between each fight to heal up
and restore your Magicka. Summon help if you need it.
When you have bested all eight knights, claim the Cuirass as your own. When
you get the quest update telling you to talk to the knights about the other
Relics, go around the circle and speak to the knights. The four important
conversations are with Sir Casimir (Gauntlets of the Crusader), Sir Ralvas
(Mace of the Crusader), Sir Henrik (Shield of the Crusader) and Sir Juncan
(Boots of the Crusader).
You can quest after these items in any order with one restriction: you must
retrieve the Boots before you can get the Mace. All clear? On with the show
then...
[KN04]
<~~~~~~ NATURE'S FURY ~~~~~~>
To get the Boots of the Crusader you must travel to a Shrine of Kynareth west
of Imperial City. Make this your active quest and the shrine's location will
be marked on your map; it's southwest of Wawnet Inn and north of Clavicus
Vile's shrine. When you find it, talk to Avita Vesnia to get the details of
your test. She instructs you to go to the Grove of Trials and face whatever
test Kynareth has for you.
Go ahead and sheath whatever weapon you may be carrying. Not only do you not
need it, you best not use it. Travel west a short distance to a ring of white-
barked trees. Enter them and wait a bit until a wild animal enters and attacks
you. You can block the attacks; but, don't return the favor. Take your lumps
and, pretty soon, Kynareth deems you worthy, shows you a secret door; and, you
enter Kynareth's Grotto and get the Boots.
Simple.
[KN05]
<~~~~~~ THE PATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS ~~~~~~>
The Mace of the Crusader is protected by Zenithar in his chapel in Leyawiin.
Make sure you have the Boots of the Crusader before you attempt to get the
Mace. Travel to Leyawiin; go to the chapel and downstairs into the Undercroft.
There will be at least four spirits down here. Dispatch them; then, Activate
the Tomb of Saint Kaladas at the far end of the Croft.
You'll find yourself in space, on a floating piece of a fort. In the distance
is the Mace. If you have the Boots of the Crusader equipped, you just walk
across the misty path that appears. If you don't have the Boots equipped--
well, go get them and put them on!
As soon as you grab the Mace, you re-appear in the Undercroft. Go ahead and
equip the Mace (or your favorite weapon) and gird your loins. As you leave the
Undercroft and enter the chapel, you'll be attacked by Aurorans--Umaril's
daedra servants. You'll have help killing them, try to be careful you don't
harm the eager knight that greeted you when you first entered the Temple. He
soon declares himself a new Knight of the Nine and runs off to join your
service.
[KN06]
<~~~~~~ STENDARR'S MERCY ~~~~~~>
This is a pretty simple quest. Go to the Chapel of Stendarr in Chorrol and
talk to the priest, Areldur. He'll tell you the sad tale of Sir Casimir and
his descendents. He'll also inform you Kellen, the current scion of the
Casimir family, is in the temple trying to be rid of the family curse.
Go downstairs to the Chapel Hall and find Kellen. He's typically sitting in a
small bedroom off to the side. Kellen tells you more about his curse and says
he thinks Areldur knows the cure but is holding out on him. Return to Areldur
and confront him about Kellen. He reveals the only way to cure Kellen is to
take the curse yourself. Once you show mercy to Kellen, you can lift the
Gauntlets.
Pray at the altar of Stendarr and you'll be asked if you want to take Kellen's
curse on yourself. Answer yes and you'll receive a one-use Lay Hands lesser
power. Go downstairs and Lay Hands on Kellen. He'll be cured and you'll suffer
the Curse of the Consumed, which is a permanent Damage Fatigue effect. (It is
by no means crippling and you'll hardly notice it.)
In the main chapel, find the gauntlets laying on the floor behind the altar;
Activate them to pick them up. On with the show!
[KN07]
<~~~~~~ WISDOM OF THE AGES ~~~~~~>
Make "Wisdom of the Ages" your active quest and find Fort Bulwark in eastern
Cyrodiil. It is northeast of Leyawiin and not particularly near anything. The
closest quest point is Fort Teleman (Mages Guild, "Bloodworm Helm"). Fast
Travel to Teleman and go south, or go to Leyawiin and head northeast.
Approach Fort Bulwark warily. There are conjurers also seeking the Shield and
two are outside the main doors--one at ground level and one at the top of the
tower. If you can draw the ground-level conjurer outside the fort and dispatch
him, you can sneak into the fort without the upper-level mage knowing about
it. Or, run upstairs and take care of him too.
Inside, watch your step as there are plenty of conjurers and daedra to impede
your progress. The quickest route to your target is to follow the corridor
around a left turn, then take the first left-hand branch and then the next
right through a double wood door.
You'll be in a large room on a raised catwalk. Note the gate to your right and
raised drawbridge to your left. Go past these two obstacles and through
another set of double wood doors. Follow the tunnel to a makeshift bedroom
with two conjurers. When they are down, turn the handle on the north side of
the room and pick up the Conjurer's Note from the desk to the right of the
handle.
Backtrack a short way down the tunnel and take the left-branch. You'll come to
a balcony overlooking a room with two raised drawbridges. Turn the handle and
watch the drawbridges lower and a gate rise. That's the gate you passed a
short while ago. Backtrack to it and go through, across the drawbridges and to
a corridor with four rows of three pressure plates.
If you follow the clue on the Conjurer's Note, you need to step on the plates
in this order: left - middle - right - left. There's no penalty if you mess
up, other than you have to go back and start the sequence over. Go through the
door into the second area of Fort Bulwark.
You're in a corridor with prison cells to either side. Go past the first pair
and then enter an open cell to your left. There's a door on the north side of
the cell that leads to a torture room and a conjurer or two. Dispose of them,
then go to the cell on the other side of the corridor and open it to free Sir
Thedret. He'll give you a clue to reach the shield and then leave for the
Priory of the Nine.
At the end of the prison corridor is another room full of mages. Get rid of
them and loot their stuff. There's another note that details what they have in
mind for Sir Thedret. Continue west, keeping an eye out for conjurers. You
will soon reach a long room running north-south with raised drawbridges. The
handle for the first drawbridge is right next to the bridge. Turn it, watch
the drawbridge lower and marvel at the number of darts being flung out by the
traps in the ceiling.
If you've got plenty of health, you can just make a run for it. Otherwise,
watch the pattern of the darts and try to slip through in between cycles. At
the end of the first bridge, you'll make a left and find another handle that
lowers the second bridge. This handle is in a safe spot out of range of the
darts, so take a breather here and heal up if necessary. Then, dodge your way
across the second bridge and continue.
Advance carefully into the next room. There are at least two conjurers in this
room and one of them is the boss of this dungeon. Get rid of the mages, then
study the room. You'll see four Stone Guardians on pedestals around a seal of
Julianos. At the base of each Guardian is a handle. Turn each handle until
each Guardian is turned to face the seal of Julianos. You may have to turn
each handle multiple times until the Guardian rotates all the way around.
Once all four Guardians are facing the seal, a door in the south wall opens
and you can advance to the third area of the fort. Fortunately, there are no
more enemies or traps, so you can move ahead swiftly.
Area three is small--just a short tunnel and a big room. The room has a raised
platform with a chest and eight Stone Guardians around the edges of the room.
Each Guardian is turned away, facing the wall, and has a chest at its base.
The large chest in the center of the room is randomly filled with one of eight
items:
* Rodgar's Book
* Rodgar's Gem
* Rodgar's Goblet
* Rodgar's Hammer
* Rodgar's Helm
* Rodgar's Skull
* Rodgar's Stone
* Rodgar's Sword
You have to take the item that appears in the large chest and place it in the
correct small chest at the base of one of the Guardians. When you place the
correct item in a Guardian's chest, the chest glows and the Guardian turns to
face the room. If you place the incorrect item in a Guardian's chest, nothing
happens. The item will randomly show up again in the large chest.
If you want to solve this yourself...why are you using a walkthrough? Anyway,
each time you take an item out of the chest, scan the room. One of the
Guardians will randomly display a floating image of the item it wants.
Start facing the door, the Guardians to the left, beginning with the one
closest to the door, take: sword, goblet, helm, stone. Facing the door, the
Guardians to the right, beginning with the one closest to the door, take:
book, hammer, skull, gem.
Lights flash, a door opens at the top of the stairs and you can go into the
next room and retrieve the Shield of the Crusader as well as other goodies.
Once you pick up the Shield, doors to either side of the altar open and you
can take a shortcut back to the top level of the fort. You'll come out on the
drawbridge you couldn't lower earlier. Leave Fort Bulwark and Fast Travel back
to the Priory of the Nine.
[KN08]
<~~~~~~ THE FAITHFUL SQUIRE ~~~~~~>
Upon your entry to the main Priory building, you'll be accosted by Lathon,
squire to Sir Roderic. (You may have met Roderic and Lathon on your Pilgrimage
if you used the wayshrines on the Prophet's map.) Lathon tells you of the
death of Sir Roderic at the hands (or ephemeral representations thereof) of
Sir Berich's ghost. Lathon presents you with the Greaves of the Crusader and
tells you the Sword of the Crusader is still in the misty appendages of Sir
Berich in Underpall Cave.
Further, Lathon asks if you'll allow him to join the newly formed Knights of
the Nine. If you say yes, Lathon not only becomes one of your Knights, he also
accompanies you on the upcoming quest for the Sword. If you're a stealthy
fighter, this won't be a good thing and Lathon will just keep getting in your
way. The upcoming mission is no more difficult than the invasion of the Shrine
of the Crusader, so tell Lathon to be patient a bit longer.
Explore the Priory a bit more. You'll see many of the people you have
previously met on this adventure. They have come to join your Order. (Yes,
it's your Order. Several of the warriors address you as Commander.) The place
is nice and livable now and has become a place of residence for you. And
there's a very nifty contraption in the Undercroft.
Go down to where the eight ghostly Knights still await the completion of Sir
Pelinal's crusade. Speak to Sir Amiel about Berich for a little more history
of the original Knights of the Nine. Behind Amiel is the armor stand where you
first found the Cuirass. Activate the stand and place all your current Relics
on it; then, target the bit of stand showing between the greaves and take all
the Relics back. You'll find them completely repaired and recharged and, if
you've increased enough in level, leveled up.
Seriously Sweet.
Leave the Priory and Fast Travel to Bruma. Refit yourself (healing potions,
arrows, etc.) and look for the quest marker pointing to Underpall Cave. It's
north of the Orange Road between Bruma and Chorrol. Leave Bruma by the East
Gate and travel the Orange Road toward Chorrol. When you get to a point east
or southeast of the cave, cut cross-country.
[KN09]
<~~~~~~ THE SWORD OF THE CRUSADER ~~~~~~>
When you reach the cave, go ahead and charge in. There's nothing in the cave
portion of this dungeon. Deep in the cave is a sunken fort; it is inside the
fort where you will encounter all the enemies (primarily undead, though a few
creatures show up as well).
Once inside the fort, advance to the first main room, kill the undead creeping
around, and make a U-turn down another south-running hallway. The other two
exits from this large room--to the east and west--lead back out into Underpall
Cave. There's a little loot on those paths if you're intent on scavenging as
much as possible.
Advance carefully down the south-running hall. There's one door that blocks
your way; on the other side is a rock-fall trap. Only take a step through the
door, then jump back to avoid the rocks. At the end of the hall is the door to
the Underpall Reflecting Room and your big boss fight with the remains of Sir
Berich.
Go through the entrance tunnel slowly. There are two ways to proceed; both are
about equivalent. You may or may not encounter any enemies, depending on your
level. The left (east) path has Sir Roderic's body. When you enter the main
chamber, you're in for a fight with a wraith. You'll need a silver, daedric or
enchanted weapon (such as the Mace of the Crusader), or spells. This can be a
difficult fight; however, there's plenty of room for maneuvering and you can
even run away into the tunnels for a bit to heal up. Just try not to fall into
the water, as there's only one place where you can climb back out.
When the wraith has spewed forth its final essence, pick up the Sword of the
Crusader.
*DO NOT EQUIP THE SWORD!*
It's cursed and, if you equip it, you will be cursed as well. Leave Underpall
the same way you came in and Fast Travel to Cheydinhal. Rest and refit before
entering the Temple of Arkay. Upon entering the Temple, you'll be attacked by
Aurorans. You have two choices:
1) Kill all the Aurorans (with the help of the other people inside the Temple)
and then pray at the altar to consecrate the Sword.
2) Run straight to the altar and pray to consecrate the Sword. You can then
use the Sword to kill the Aurorans.
Either way, the Aurorans end up dead, the Sword is now useable and you'll find
you've also lost the Curse of the Consumed you took from Kellen, descendant of
Sir Casimir. All-in-all, a good day's work. Return to the Priory of the Nine.
It's time to put an end to this business.
[KN10]
<~~~~~~ THE BLESSING OF TALOS ~~~~~~>
As soon as you arrive at the Prior, you're met by Sir Thedret. The Prophet has
come sticking his nose into your business again and is preaching to your
knights in the chapel. Well, you'll just have to see about this. Enter the
chapel and listen to the Prophet's sermon. He then approaches you and tells
you to get on with killing Umaril and all. As an aid, you get one thing
Pelinal did not: the Blessing of Talos. This Power will enable you to follow
Umaril into the spirit realm and destroy him once and for all.
After the Prophet's speech, go around the chapel and induct all the people who
want to become Knights of the Nine. They'll run off, suit up and head out for
Umaril's headquarters, Garlas Malatar. Before following them, head down into
the Undercroft and chat with the spirit of Sir Berich, now restored to his
brothers. Repair, recharge and (possibly) upgrade your Relics while you're
down there.
Ready to kick some butt?
[KN11]
<~~~~~~ UMARIL THE UNFEATHERED ~~~~~~>
Garlas Malatar is located on the coast, northwest of Anvil. Fast Travel to
Anvil and head out to the coast and then go north. You'll find some, if not
all, of your knights on the beach facing the bridge that leads over to the
main entrance. If all eight knights are not there, wait for a few minutes and
the rest will show up.
Once they are all gathered, give one of them the command to charge and they
will. They'll bowl over the two Aurorans stationed outside the main door, then
charge inside. Try to keep up. There are two more Aurorans in the first large
room, then your way is blocked by some gates. The button to open the gates is
on top of one of the altars in the room.
Before opening the gates, take the opportunity to walk around and use Merciful
Touch (healing Lesser Power granted by the Gauntlets) on your knights. Push
the button, charge up the stairs and continue your rampage through the ruins.
Your path leads to the northeast section of the ruins and through a door into
Garlas Malatar, Ceysel.
When you enter Ceysel, you'll be stopped by a couple of gates. The button to
push is right there--on the wall between the gates. Again, take the
opportunity to go around the use Merciful Touch on your companions. Open the
gates and charge into the next room.
Ignore the Aurorans and run around the right (east) side of the large raised
platform in the center. Go around the back and head west up a flight of stairs
and around to the top of the platform. Ignore any Aurorans that get in your
way. When you reach the glowing orb, Activate it to destroy it. The orb
explodes and time stops...
Now, you can take some time and loot the area. Your knights and the Aurorans
are gone; but, you can still collect welkynd stones and anything else you can
find lying around. You should also use this time to heal up and make sure
you're ready for battle.
When you're ready to move on, go back up to the orb platform and go north into
Garlas Malatar, Carac Abaran. Run through the halls, disposing of a couple
Aurorans on the way until you reach the main chamber, where Umaril is waiting
for you. The door is blocked behind you, so this is a fight to the finish.
Umaril is big and packs a big punch; but, he's predictable. He will
occasionally shoot lightning at you, which is easy to dodge. Then he'll run up
close and make a big thrusting attack. This attack is easy to avoid since he
spends a lot of time winding up. He is also easily distracted by other
enemies, so summon help if he's giving you fits.
Generally, if you just stay out of the way of his lightning blasts and sword
thrusts, you can take him down pretty easily with potshots from range or by
getting in a few, quick strikes right after he's made a sword attack. The
higher your level, the tougher Umaril will be; but, he should be manageable by
anyone.
When he's dead, you'll get a quest entry reminding you to cast The Blessing of
Talos to follow Umaril into the spirit realm. Don't rush off! Heal yourself
first and restore your Magicka as well. Loot the place. There are some Ayleid
casks around, not to mention Umaril's body and his sword. Once you've picked
the place clean, cast The Blessing of Talos.
You'll find yourself fighting in the clouds over Imperial City. Umaril is
quite a ways off, so take the opportunity to stick a couple of arrows into
him. (If they're poisoned first, so much the better.) Repeat your earlier
tactics. Umaril is no tougher now than he was earlier. When he dies, you fall
into mist...
And come to in the Undercroft of the Priory of the Nine. Sir Amiel chats with
you right before the old knights pass into glory. When you leave the
Undercroft, Sir Thedret greets you and tells you what happened in Garlas
Malatar after you destroyed the orb. He then goes out and speaks to your
assembled knights.
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