The Elder Scrolls IV ------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______ ______ _ _________ _________ _______ _ ( ___ )( ___ \ ( \ \__ __/|\ /|\__ __/( ___ )( ( /| | ( ) || ( ) )| ( ) ( | ) ( | ) ( | ( ) || \ ( | | | | || (__/ / | | | | | | | | | | | | | || \ | | | | | || __ ( | | | | ( ( ) ) | | | | | || (\ \) | | | | || ( \ \ | | | | \ \_/ / | | | | | || | \ | | (___) || )___) )| (____/\___) (___ \ / ___) (___| (___) || ) \ | (_______)|/ \___/ (_______/\_______/ \_/ \_______/(_______)|/ )_) #################################### ##################################### ################################## ############## ########### ########### ########## ########## ######### ########### ######### ######### ######### ######### ######### ######### # ######## ######## ###### ######## ######## ######## ######## ######## ####### ####### ####### ##### ####### ###### ## ####### ####### ####### ###### ####### ###### ####### ##### ###### ##### ###### ##### ###### #### ###### #### ##### ### ##### ## #### ### ## FAQ/Walkthrough (for PC & XBox 360) v1.00 2006-05-01 Copyright 2006 Barry Scott "PapaGamer" Will The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was developed by Bethesda Game Studios, published by Bethesda Softworks and 2K Games and is copyright 2006 Bethesda Softworks. This guide is not endorsed by, nor is the author associated with, Bethesda Game Studios, Bethesda Softworks or 2K Games. This FAQ/Walkthrough does not include a Character Guide. You can find my Character Build Guide at: http://www.papagamer.com/faqs/oblivion_character.txt This includes a complete rundown of all the skills, races, attributes and birthsigns in Oblivion, as well as many class templates for your amusement. A premium version of this FAQ is available. It includes maps, screenshots, hyperlinked cross-references and more. See http://www.papagamer.com/ for more information. *SPOILER WARNING* This guide contains plot spoilers. You have been warned. <~~~~~~ CONTACT INFORMATION ~~~~~~> To contact me about the guide, send email to: barry@papagamer.com Please include "Oblivion FAQ" in your subject line so I don't auto-discard the message. Also, please read the FAQ carefully prior to asking for help on any part of the game. If you send me additional suggestions or hints for the game and I find them useful, you will be acknowledged in the Credits. If you found this guide useful and would like to contribute a small token for my efforts, you may send money through PayPal by using the Donate link found on my Web site: http://www.papagamer.com/ Thank you, and enjoy the guide! <~~~~~~ TABLE OF CONTENTS ~~~~~~> Front Matter Contact Information Table of Contents How to Use This Guide *Sections without a code are incomplete* Gameplay.............................................................GP00 Controls & Icons..................................................GP01 Game Mechanics....................................................GP02 Radiant AI...................................................GP02-A The Leveled System...........................................GP02-B Time, Waiting & Resting......................................GP02-C Combat............................................................GP03 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 Fighter's Guild Mage's 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 Thieves' Guild Dark Brotherhood Side Quests..........................................................SQ00 Quest Index..........................................................QL00 Alphabetical Index................................................QL01 City/Region Index.................................................QL02 Expanding Your Game..................................................XP00 PC Optimization...................................................XP01 PC Console Commands...............................................XP02 Mods..............................................................XP03 Version History & Credits To quickly jump to a section, copy the section code, press CTRL-F and paste the section code in the search box. <~~~~~~ HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE ~~~~~~> Oblivion is a huge game, and very much freeform. You can spend 100 hours playing the game and never touch the main quest. You can play through the main quest a half-dozen times and never do the same sidequests twice. In addition, some dungeons and quests are randomly generated. There's no way to write a typical linear walkthrough for this game. So here's how the walkthroughs are organized: * Main Quest: First up is a step-by-step walkthrough of the main quest. The main quest does advance in a fairly linear manner, so each step along the journey will be laid out. Of course, you do not have to complete the main quest in any sort of time limit and you can take your time and do lots of side quests during the main quest. However, the Main Quest walkthrough will concern itself only with the quests that are directly connected to the main story. * Guild Quests: There are four "guilds" in Oblivion--Fighters, Mages, Thieves and the Dark Brotherhood (assassins). Each guild has numerous quests associated with it, and each has its own section in this part of the guide. * Side Quests: Everything that doesn't fit into the previous categories is organized here in alphabetical order by quest name. Before all the walkthroughs is a rundown of basic gameplay in Oblivion, including the controls, how the Radiant AI works, combat hints and frequently asked questions. At the end of the walkthroughs is an index of every quest in the game, with the section number where you can find the mini-walkthrough for that quest. The index is organized both alphabetically and by city/region. A complete breakdown of the character system in Oblivion, including all the skills, races, signs, etc. is in a separate document, located at: http://www.papagamer.com/faqs/oblivion_character.txt The guide wraps up with Expanding Your Game, which covers optimzing your PC to run Oblivion well, using console commands (on the PC) for that extra edge and mods (mostly for PC, but some for X360 as well). The main point of Oblivion is to explore, have fun and immerse yourself in the world. The game simply cannot be adequately covered in words, you have to experience it for yourself. But, if you get stuck, feel like you're in over your head, or just can't figure out how to do that one little thing...then this guide is here for you. [GP00] ~~The Elder Scrolls IV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GAMEPLAY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OBLIVION~~ [GP01] <~~~~~~ CONTROLS & ICONS ~~~~~~> These are the default controls for the game: +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | ACTION | PC (keyboard/mouse)+ | XBOX 360* | |------------------------+------------------------+------------------------| | Movement | W, A, S, D | Left stick | |------------------------+------------------------+------------------------| | Camera | Move mouse | Right stick | |------------------------+------------------------+------------------------| | Activate | SPACE | A button | |------------------------+------------------------+------------------------| | Jump | E | Y button | |------------------------+------------------------+------------------------| | Run | Left SHIFT | Movement speed is | |------------------------+------------------------| controlled by the | | Always Run (toggle) | CAPS LOCK | force on the left stick| |------------------------+------------------------+------------------------| | Ready/Sheath Weapon | F | X button | |------------------------+------------------------+------------------------| | Attack | Left mouse button | R trigger | |------------------------+------------------------+------------------------| | Power Attack | Hold left mouse button | Hold R trigger + | | | + movement key | move left stick | |------------------------+------------------------+------------------------| | Shoot Arrow | Hold left mouse button | Hold R trigger to aim, | | | to aim, release to fire| release to fire | |------------------------+------------------------+------------------------| | Block/Bow Zoom | Right mouse button | L trigger | |------------------------+------------------------+------------------------| | Cast Spell | C | R button | |------------------------+------------------------+------------------------| | Grab | Z press-and-hold | L button press-and-hold| |------------------------+------------------------+------------------------| | Sneak | Left CTRL | Press left stick | |------------------------+------------------------+------------------------| | Journal | TAB; You can also open | B button | | | a journal tab directly | | | | F1 - Stats | | | | F2 - Inventory | | | | F3 - Spells | | | | F4 - Map/Quests | | |------------------------+------------------------+------------------------| | Hotkeys | 1 - 8 | D-pad | |------------------------+------------------------+------------------------| | Assign Hotkeys | Press-and-hold 1 - 8 | Press-and-hold D-pad | | w/Inventory Open | and click item | and select item (A) | |------------------------+------------------------+------------------------| | Game Menu | ESC | Start | |------------------------+------------------------+------------------------| | Wait | T | Back | |------------------------+------------------------+------------------------| | Switch View (1st/3rd) | R | Press right stick | |------------------------+------------------------+------------------------| | Vanity Mode | Press-and-hold R | Press-and-hold rt stick| |------------------------+------------------------+------------------------| | Quicksave | F5 | | |------------------------+------------------------+------------------------| | Quickload | F9 | | +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ * XBox 360 Controls list courtesy of Styck and GOSFreak from GameFAQs. + The PC version does support gamepads; however, there are some problems with the default control setup. Find your Oblivion.ini file (typically in My Documents\My Games\Oblivion) and open this file in a *text* editor such as Notepad. (Don't use Word or Wordpad or other word processing program. Stick with a simple, plain text editor.) Find these lines in the section headed [Controls]: fMouseSensitivity=0.0020 ;X = 1, Y = 2, Z = 3, XRot = 4, YRot = 5, ZRot = 6 iJoystickMoveFrontBack=2 iJoystickMoveLeftRight=1 fJoystickMoveFBMult=1.0000 fJoystickMoveLRMult=1.0000 iJoystickLookUpDown=6 iJoystickLookLeftRight=3 fJoystickLookUDMult=0.0020 fJoystickLookLRMult=0.0020 These are the default movement (left analog stick) and camera (right analog stick) controls. Specifically, the Look (i.e. camera) controls may not be set properly for your joystick. If moving the right analog stick has no effect on the camera, change these two lines: fJoystickLookUDMult=0.0020 fJoystickLookLRMult=0.0020 Increase the value of 0.0020 to something significantly larger, such as 0.5000. If the camera still does not respond or is sluggish, increase to 1.0000 and so on until the camera responds to the right joystick in a way that works for you. Additionally, you may find the camera movement does not correspond correctly to the joystick movement: i.e. the camera moves up and down as you move the stick left and right. In that case, switch these values: iJoystickLookUpDown=6 iJoystickLookLeftRight=3 so that you have: iJoystickLookUpDown=3 iJoystickLookLeftRight=6 You may also need to change some of these values completely depending on your controller and your controller's drivers. You can set the buttons within the Controls Options of the game. | Icons +------- When in first-person perspective, the center of the screen is occupied by a crosshair. When you move over a target, the crosshair changes depending on the target. * Face: NPC, Activate the NPC to talk to him or her * Crown: plot critical NPC, Activate the NPC to talk to him or her * Open hand: a loose item, press Activate to take the item * Closed fist: something that can be manipulated (such as a door or switch), press Activate to...well...activate the item * Pottery jar: container, press Activate to open the container * Door: a door, Activating may open the door or take you to another area depending on the door * Lock: a locked door or chest, you'll need to pick the lock or use a spell or key to open the door or chest * Moon and stars: a bed, Activate to sleep in the bed * Book: a book or note, Activate it to read the item * Stool: a chair, bench, etc., Activate it to sit down, press Activate again while not targeting anything to stand up * Horseshoe: a horse, press Activate to mount the horse, press Activate again while not targeting anything to dismount * Bat: NPC, Activate the NPC to feed on him or her (can only be used when you are a vampire) * Eye: inidicates you are in Sneak mode Sometimes icons display in red. When you see a red icon, don't touch the item or you'll be accused of a crime. Unless, of course, you're trying to commit a crime, then go ahead and touch away... [GP02] <~~~~~~ GAME MECHANICS ~~~~~~> Most of the basic gameplay elements are dealt with during the tutorial. How to pick things up, how to drop them, how to equip weapons and spells, how to Sneak, etc. But, there are a lot of things going on under the hood that the tutorial never mentions. This section covers all those extra game mechanics. | Radiant AI [GP02-A] +--------------------- Radiant AI is Bethesda's name for its NPC scripts. NPCs in Oblivion are supposed to "act like real people". At first, this really seems to be the case. After a few hours invested in a city, you'll see it's just another bunch of scripts strung together with some pseudo-random events to give the feel of actual intelligence. Here are some of the things the Radiant AI does: * NPCs keep a schedule. Their schedule is occasionally randomized, but, for the most part, these characters move around eating, working, sleeping and other activities at different times of the day. * NPCs react to crimes. Enter someone's house uninvited and they'll call for the gendarmes. Hit someone and they'll scream, "Assault!" Etc. * NPCs talk to one another as they pass on the street. After spending a couple hours in a city, you'll have heard every variation on conversation there is. (Since everything in Oblivion is voice acted, the number of conversations is quite limited.) Sometimes, hearing these conversations opens up a new topic for you, often leading to a quest. Here are some things the Radiant AI does not do: * Force you to keep a schedule. For the most part, if someone tells you to meet them at midnight tonight or else, you can show up at midnight three weeks later and they'll be there waiting patiently for you. There are very, very few quests in Oblivion that actually require you to act within time constraints. * React to assaults on allies. The vision/hearing of every NPC in Oblivion must be impaired. If you have two enemy mages on opposite sides of a large room, you can blow one of them to smithereens while the other wonders aloud about the rats. This does help with combat since you don't want lots of bad guys swarming you, but it is kind of ridiculous. * Care much about the world around them. There are scripted instances where you can't get help from someone because of an Oblivion gate nearby, but, for the most part, while the big, bad demonic invasion is happening, most NPCs still just want you to kill (or protect, depending on the situation) the rats in their basement. So, don't get your hopes up to high over the Radiant AI. The NPCs in Oblivion pretty much act like the NPCs in every other RPG, except they don't just stand around waiting for you to show up (unless you're in the middle of a quest requiring they just stand around until you show up--in which case they'll wait for months). And, even if a quest-target NPC is moving around, the convenient objective marker on your map will always show you where he or she is. | The Leveled System [GP02-B] +----------------------------- Oblivion uses a system that matches enemy levels to your PC's level. It does this in two ways: * Changes the type or number of creatures you face. For example, at low level, the daedra you fight inside Oblivion are mostly scamps and the occasional clannfear runt. At higher levels, you'll start seeing dremora, adult clann- fear, atronachs, etc. * Increases the level of the enemy. This is mostly used on boss creatures. For example, the opponents you face in the Arena are always the same, but their level, skills and equipment increase in power as you increase in power. The leveled system means you never get in over your head. Whatever challenge you face is always scaled to your level, so you can do anything at the beginning of the game. This is also a drawback, as being able to complete any quest even at level 1 is somewhat unrealistic. The leveled system also means you never overpower your opponents. There are never any "easy" fights against overwhelmed opponents. When you encounter bandits at level 1, they are clad in fur and wield rusty daggers. If you encounter them at level 20, they are clad in mithril and wield enchanted glass short swords. Treasure and store inventories are likewise leveled. At level one, you can fight for your life through a three-level ruin, dispatching dozens of undead and come away with a grand total of 32 Septims, a flawed jewel and some day-old bread. Going through the same ruin at level 10 can yield a couple hundred Septims, some soul gems and an enchanted weapon. The leveled system also affects quest rewards. Finish Fingers of the Mountain at level 3 and the spell you get is, to say the least, underwhelming. Finish it at level 25 and you get one of the most powerful spells in the game (assuming you have the Magicka to cast it). A sigil stone collected at level 5 is a lot less powerful than a sigil stone collected at level 15. (*NOTE*: PC users can download a mod that corrects this problem.) The leveled system does present some problems, especially in the main story. There are a few quests where you have to defeat hordes of enemies, and you are given help; or, you have to protect someone from enemies. In these cases, having a higher level PC works against you since your allies do not similarly increase in power. The last thing you want is a dozen dremora overwhelming the guards around you, then turning all their attention on you. No matter how uber you think your gear, you're not going to survive that. There are some ways to work around this system: 1) Increase your class levels slowly. If you work mostly with minor skills, and only increase your major skills (and, thus, your class level) when you've locked in +5 modifiers for your attributes, then you'll run far ahead of the NPCs of similar level. For more info on the skill/class system, see the PapaGamer Character Build Guide at: http://www.papagamer.com/faqs/oblivion_character.txt 2) Play at a lower difficulty level. If a quest is just too hard, turn the difficulty down until you complete the quest. 3) Use a modded leveling system (see the Mods section near the end of the guide). This will allow you to level more reasonably without having to pay a lot of attention to the math. 4) Use the Quest Reward Leveling mod (see the Mods section near the end of the guide). This levels up quest rewards with your class level, so you'll always have a use for those special gifts. | Time, Waiting & Resting [GP02-C] +---------------------------------- Time in Oblivion passes at the rate of 30 minutes for every one real minute spent playing the game (not in Pause). So a 24-hour day takes 48 minutes of real time to play through. NPCs operate on schedules during the game day. Normal operating hours for merchants are 8am to 8pm every day. In the cities, most of the rulers hold court from 8am to 6pm every day. You can find a lot of NPCs at dinner in the local tavern or castle dining hall around 8pm to 11pm most days. The calendar is just like the Gregorian calendar, albeit with different names: January - July - Last Seed February - August - Heartfire March - September - Frost Fall April - October - Sun's Dusk May - November - Evening Star June - December - Sunday - Sundas Monday - Morndas Tuesday - Tirdas Wednesday - Middas Thursday - Turdas Friday - Fredas Saturday - Loredas The months have the same number of days as the Gregorian calendar, thus Last Seed and Heartfire have 31 days, Frost Fall has only 30, etc. The game begins the 27th of Last Seed, Third Empire, year 433 (7/27/433). You can see the current date by turning on the debug console (tdt) and choosing page 0 (sdt 0). What does all this mean? Well, not much, unless you need to figure out an NPC's schedule. If a character does activity X on weekdays, you know that means Morndas, Tirdas, Middas, Turdas and Fredas. If it's currently Loredas, you've got to Wait two days to catch the NPC. And so on and so forth. At any time there are no enemies nearby you can use the Wait command (default PC key 'T', XBox 360 button 'Back'). You can Wait in one hour increments up to 24 hours (one full day). Waiting any period of time, even just one hour, fully restores your Health, Magicka and Fatigue. This is a kind of cheap way to heal yourself up while spelunking--clear out enough enemies and you can just Wait one hour. You can also sleep, if you have a bed handy. The only times you have to sleep are: 1) To increase your class level. Unless you're using a mod, or have turned on instant leveling in your INI file, you must sleep in a bed to level up. 2) Certain quests require you to sleep in a bed. E.g. "Where Spirits Have Lease" or during Dark Brotherhood quests. An easy way to have access to cheap (i.e. free) beds is to join either the Fighter's Guild or Mage's Guild. Just asking to join gives you a key to all the guild halls, all of which have beds to sleep in. You don't even have to perform any quests. Every city except Kvatch and Imperial City have both a Fighter's Guild and Mage's Guild. [GP03] <~~~~~~ COMBAT ~~~~~~> As would be the case in any adventure/RPG style game, there is plenty of combat in Oblivion. Combat can be generalized into three types: Melee, Ranged and Stealth. You can use magic or weapons in any of the types--yes, there are plenty of touch spells to use in an up-close-and-personal way. Before getting into specific tactics for each type of combat, there are some rules-of-thumb that apply to all combat in Oblivion: | Divide and Conquer +-------------------- The combat in Oblivion is real-time and based on simple physics: if you swing at the right time and in the right place, you hit. If you aim your arrow properly, you hit. If you don't do these things right, you miss. There are no dice rolls going on "in the background". Nobody stands around "waiting their turn". If you get surrounded by three or more enemies, you're dead. Fortunately, the developers, for the most part, spaced enemies out so you don't typically walk in on a horde that's just sat down for lunch. Most rooms have only one or two nasties in them. Larger rooms may have three or four, but widely spaced out. You need to learn to draw enemies to you one (or, at worst, two) at a time. Use arrows, ranged spells or jump up-and-down to attract the attention of the closest to you, then turn and run back a ways so your foe will foolishly charge after you, not waiting for his/her/its compatriots. Once you learn how to deal with enemies in *very small* numbers, combat becomes a lot easier. | Variety is the Spice of Survival +---------------------------------- Don't restrict yourself to a single type of combat. Have different methods (melee weapons, ranged weapons, spells) available to you. Some enemies are much more difficult to kill in certain ways. For example, the best way to deal with a mage hurling spells at you is Me Smash! Trading fireballs probably won't cut it (unless you were born under the sign of Atronach and are using the opposing spells to regenerate your own Magicka, but that's advanced tactics and you better know what you're doing...) | The Better Part of Valor +-------------------------- Sometimes, sneaking past is the best way to handle the situation, even for non Stealth characters. And, of course, you can always run away and return later when you've got new, fancier equipment (with enchantments!) | Melee Combat +-------------- If you're used to the charge-and-bash "strategy" present in many RPGs, it's time to re-think your tactics. Oblivion is much more akin to standard first-person shooters (which it emulates in gameplay) in which you must use your brains before your brawn, no matter how well you've crafted your tank. Simply charging into a battle situation is a good way to end up dead. Even as a primarly melee fighter, you need to have an arsenal of ranged weapons and spells at your disposal. They don't have to especially effective, just enough to either draw enemies to you or to put archers/mages off balance while you charge. It also doesn't hurt to have some Restoration magic handy. Use magic between battles to heal yourself, saving the potions for emergencies--i.e., when you're in the middle of combat and about to die. You do not want to neglect your inner sneak thief, either. When approaching large rooms, sneak up to the doorway and try to identify the enemies within. You may be able to single them out with well-placed arrows, thus keeping yourself from being ganged up on by three or four beasties. The watchword for fighters in Oblivion: Patience. Remember, it's a virtue. | Ranged Combat +--------------- Ranged combat can be accomplished with a bow or with magic--mostly Destruction spells, as that is the school with the most damaging ranged spells. Ranged characters depend on Agility and Speed to stay out of range of melee foes. Acrobatics is a good skill for this type of fighting as it gives you the ability to jump up out of the way of the swinging sword and pepper your foe while they futilely try to reach you. This works better outdoors than in dungeons, but even some of the bigger caverns and ruins have lots of ledges and cubbyholes where you can stand and fire away. You'll want to invest some time in leveling up your Block skill and carry a shield if using spells (archers can block with their bow). This will be your fallback if you can't get away from the big nasty with sharp, pointy claws. You'll not want to wear heavy armor, as it slows you down too much; you may even want to stick with enchanted robes. If you go pure archer, you'll tend to be at a disadvantage. You will want to consider having some melee weapons to use in case of emergency--you can't snipe everything in this game. Mages will be a little better off as there are plenty of spells that can do as much, if not more, damage than the typical melee tank. | Stealth Combat +---------------- Some players prefer getting the drop on their enemies, rather than trying to duel everyone they meet. If you attack someone undetected, you score additional damage--up to six times as much damage using an undetected melee attack. Add poison and/or enchantements to your weapon, and you can rack up a lot of one-hit kills this. The downside? You must have a lot of patience, diligently level up your Sneak skill and take your time going through every dungeon. Stealth fighting is not for those who just want to get things over with. You also can find yourself at a disadvantage if you get into a scrap with multiple foes. Since your fighting abilities are designed for taking out one enemy as quickly as possible, being surrounded puts you in a world of hurt. In order to minimize your chances of being mobbed, you'll want to invest in some ranged Destruction spells or the Marksman skill. You can use arrows or spells to draw a single foe to you, then go into Sneak mode and take them out from hiding. You should also invest in light armor skill, so you're not totally defenseless if Sneaking fails you. [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 emporer 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 Emporer's party, but there's a convenient hole in the wall to the southeast. Jump through the hole and watch out for rats. Thoroughly search this large cavern. 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. You'll then want to advance carefully through the caverns, fighting each goblin as you come upon it. Don't rush or you'll get two or three of these nasty beasts on you at once and then it's reload time. Near the end, 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 shaman with a staff that shoots eletricity. Use a bow or ranged spell to draw the weaker goblins to you, then bull-rush the shaman. 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 emporer 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 Emporer in a side room. Uriel Septim initiates another conversation with you, this time charging that you take his Amulet of Kings to Jauffre, who will know where to find the last remaining son of the Emporer. 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. Seems Jauffre is the Grandmaster of the Blades--the Emporer's personal guard--and he bides his time at Weynon Priory outside Chorrol. Baurus also iniates 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 or 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. [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, ain'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, feature a few daedra, and the occasional trap. * In between the side areas, you'll climb some ramps around the central hollow center 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 labelled 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 Emporer, 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, guantlets, 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 in to 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 Mage's 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 Emporer Way. Talk to Phintias, the merchant about the Books. Yes, he just so happens to have Book 3, but another customer has already reserved the book and he's holding it for this person. 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), fo 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 Emporer. 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, mudcrab 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 aquiesce 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 Emporer 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 Emporer Way (middle section of Imperal City, where the palace is located). The palace is surrounded by a cemetary 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 there first. 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 passcode 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 Mage's Guilds just by asking and get a free place to stash your wares. 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 themm one or two at a time, which is manageable. 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. | 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 ~~~~~~> Back at Cloud Ruler Temple, 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's shrine, but many players like to keep her re-useable soul gem, Azura's Star. Once you have a daedric artifact, return to Martin. He now wants the blood of a god. Oh goody. [MS10] <~~~~~~ BLOOD OF THE DIVINES ~~~~~~> Martin refers you to Jauffre, who knows the location of Tiber Septim's armor. (The first emporer, 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 Emporers. 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 Judgement. 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 rememberd 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 fightin' 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). Martin 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 polish 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 any enchanted weapon you have equipped.) 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 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 4 or 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 towern 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 the 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 legionaires. 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 legionaires, 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 legionaires, 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 ourself 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 Mage's 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 the gate and destroys Bruma. It's goofy plans like this that make him the Emporer, 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 the Bruma and the Countess, who agrees with the plan. (Must be the royal blood that causes this idiocy.) She'll head off the 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 manages 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 skys 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 Anaxes is far 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 toruture 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, 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 even 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 Ruma. 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 Raven and Ruma, 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 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's 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 emporer--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... [MG00] ~~The Elder Scrolls IV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MAGE'S GUILD ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OBLIVION~~ The Mage's 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 "inside", you can enchant items and make your own spells, both highly useful activities. Note also that completing the Mage's 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 Mage's 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 quite 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? <~~~~~~ finis ~~~~~~> [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 Septims. 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. <~~~~~~ finis ~~~~~~> [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 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. <~~~~~~ finis ~~~~~~> [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 200 points. Deetsan's spell only reduces encumbrance by 5 points. Bit of a discrepancy there. You don't actually have to retrieve the ring. Drop down into the well, cast your water-breathing spell and find the body of a previous Associate sent after the ring. Take the ring from his body, which will over-encumber you, then drop it to the bottom of the well. 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. <~~~~~~ finis ~~~~~~> [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. <~~~~~~ finis ~~~~~~> [MG06] <~~~~~~ LEYAWIIN RECOMMENDATION ~~~~~~> The head of the Leyawiin Mage's 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. <~~~~~~ finis ~~~~~~> [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 Mage's Guild, talk to Berene to get your recommendation. <~~~~~~ finis ~~~~~~> [MG08] <~~~~~~ A MAGE'S STAFF ~~~~~~> After completing the seven recommendation quests, talk to any guild leader about your recommendation. You'll be sent to Raminus Polus at the Arcane University, in 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 mage's 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, Telekineses 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. <~~~~~~ finis ~~~~~~> [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. <~~~~~~ finis ~~~~~~> [MG10] <~~~~~~ VAHTACEN'S SECRET ~~~~~~> Polus sends you to help Irlav Jarol, who hangs out in the Arch Mage's Council Chamber (use the portal in the Lobby). Jarol is supervising an archaelogical 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 Mage's 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. <~~~~~~ finis ~~~~~~> [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 (remember him) 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 infor- mation. 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. <~~~~~~ finis ~~~~~~> [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 th