Tag Archives: Oblivion

Warning: potential side quest (Fighters Guild) spoilers ahead!

From the journals of Garn:

Changing Careers

Having seemingly exhausted my supply of fresh work with the death of the would-be Ayleid king Umbanaco I’ve decided to take leave of the Imperial City once again. While I’ll keep it my base of operations for now it seems almost as if the city exists inside of a bubble where matters of the rest of realm have little bearing on life within. Not a good place for work unless you join the guard and even then I’d suspect it none too exciting unless you get a great thrill out of putting irons on pickpockets. Instead I’ve decided to ride east to the city of Cheydinhal where I’m told I can join the Fighters Guild. With this I hope to be able to receive some extra training, keep a closer ear to news from around Cyrodiil, and of course get some steady work, even if it does reward the guild’s honor more than my own.

At the Fighters Guild guildhall in Cheydinhal I’m directed to an Orc named Burz gro-Khash. While a few of the other guild members have at least a passing knowledge of me, Burz does not, and combined with his usual Orcish temperate, I expect little comfort from him as I work my way through the ranks. Indeed for my first assignment he’s given me little more than an errand to run, delivering supplies to some other guild members planning to clear out a nearby cave infested with goblins. Though the Orc tries to test me, it is only a test. Besides, stirring up an organization such as the Fighters Guild would be exceedingly counterproductive to my goals.

“Jump for joy!”

I receive quite a warm welcome to Desolate Mine. A pack of savage goblins ambushed me and slew my horse before it was over. Of course, they all paid. Inside I deliver the supplies. Impressed by my handling of the goblins outside, the other members have asked for my sword in cleaning them out. Naturally I accept. Between the four of us the goblins are no match. Unfortunately numbers didn’t appear to help the numerous dead miners we’re finding in the lower depths. I’m not sure what caused this incursion but whatever it was, the mine is now cleared. Burz is pleased with our performance and has advanced me from Associate to Initiate rank in the guild. The bad news is that if I want immediate work I’ll need to go elsewhere – he says the Anvil hall currently has a healthy backlog of jobs. It’s a long ride out west but it has been a while since I’ve visited the port.

“Speaking with Azzan, head of the Anvil Fighters Guild.”

Burz was right. The guildhall at Anvil is bustling with activity. I’m directed to the head of hall here, a Redguard named Azzan. His first contract for me as an Initiate is to deal with a rat problem in a local woman’s basement. Surely, despite my rank, he can tell from my arms and the way I carry myself that I am no novice fighter. Still, as with Burz, perhaps just a test. I go to visit the woman. Arvena Thelas, a Dunmer, apparently isn’t the victim of a rat infestation but rather she keeps pet rats and something has been killing them. Upon investigation I find a mountain lion in her basement, catching it in the act. The beast immediately turns on me as I disturb it but I’ve fought large cats many times before now and am able to quickly put it down. Anvil city seems like an unusual place for mountain lions. Arvena suggests I contact Pinarus Inventius, a local hunter, to help track down the beasts and thin their numbers.

“What am I, level 1?”

Pinarus gladly accepts the task and volunteers to take me to some spots in the foot hill outside of the city walls where he suspects we might find them. Sure enough, after a short hike we spot a small pride gathered under some trees. I summon one of my more destructive fireball spells and kill them all in one large blast. I return to Arvena to collect my fee but she’s not pleased to hear the news – apparently there’s already another mountain lion in her basement. I quickly put it down too but by the Nine, what could be luring them down here? She suspects one of her neighbors, Quill-Weave, could be responsible as she’s expressed a strong dislike for the rats before.

I seek out Quill-Weave, an Argonian woman – apparently a famous author. She quickly sees through my questioning and rejects any notion that she could be responsible. I’ve decided on another approach. I’ll simply hide outside of Arvena’s basement, near the hole that the mountain lions have been entering through, and see what happens. Sure enough a few hours later, after night has fallen and most have extinguished their candles and torches, I spot Quill-Weave sneaking to the hole and tossing some rotten meat nearby. As she turns to leave I confront her. She continues to deny it at first but caught red handed she finally tells me the truth. She was hoping to lure the rats out so that the city guard would find them and dispatch them – she knew nothing about mountain lions. She begs my mercy and so I accept as I believe her story and her desire to avoid conflict with Arvena. I tell Arvena that she was mistaken about the Argonian and accept my reward, hoping that I closed this contract with the least amount of turmoil for all involved.

“I might have destroyed your shop, but I got the burglars!”

Azzan’s next contract for me is a little more interesting. Apparently a local shop has been getting burgled regularly during off hours. I head over to Lelles’ Quality Merchandise on the docks and speak with Norbert Lelles, a friendly Breton. He suggests simply handing me the keys for the night and leaving me to take watch in the dark while he heads to the tavern next door. Simple enough.

I’m sitting alone in the dark here for hours. I hear faint whispers and the unmistakable sound of boards creaking beneath heavy feet… the door opens. Three men, armored and armed, creep in. I draw my sword from its scabbard and command them to halt, ready to give chase in case they flee but, surprisingly, they draw their weapons themselves and surround me. The battle is chaotic and bloody, leaving three corpses and a mess of merchandise in Norbert’s floor. After fetching Norbert he seems quite pleased by the result though rather disturbed by the fact that all three men used to work for him in the past. Azzan is pleased as well and I’m being promoted to Journeyman.

Azzan has informed me that the next contracts suitable for someone of my rank would have to be assigned at the Chorrol guildhall. It has been quite a while since I’ve visited Chorrol but my last stay there was fair enough. It’s a fairly lengthy journey when taking safe roads, which I plan on doing. Upon entering the city I’m already hearing rumors about the guild – not surprising since both the Fighters Guild and the Mage’s Guild have a strong representation in the city. The talk on the streets seems to be fairly negative. I’m greeted by a Dunmer called Modryn Oreyn who seems to have little patience for new recruits. After explaining my assignment I think I know why: I’m to ride to Skingrad to look for a new recruit who has defaulted on his contract.

“Fallen Rock Cave. Ahhh, I get it…”

After my journey I immediately ask a city guard manning the gates if they knew of the man, Maglir. The guard is usually a good source of information as long as you can find one of the less stern ones. I’m told that Maglir can usually be founding drinking at one of the city taverns so I’m heading that way. Sure enough, Maglir was sitting alone with an ale at the West Weald. He seemed to know why I was there. He explained that although his task was simple, to retrieve a journal rumored to be in a local cave, the contract wasn’t paying enough for the risk. I asked him about this several times, and every time he shrugged off my statements with less and less concern. He suggests that if I want the contract I can have it, and that he suspects I can find the journal in Fallen Rock Cave.

I’ve decided to make my way to Fallen Rock Cave this morning to try to close out the contract. I’ll decide what to do after that. Maglir might be a dishonorable coward but he wasn’t wrong about the dangers lurking in this cave. It is quite infested with undead and considering the ruins I’ve been clearing out lately that’s saying something. I fought many skeletons, wraiths and ghosts in the this place, even a lich, and eventually I located the journal in a flooded passageway on the lowest level of the cavern. The loot isn’t spectacular but at least I’ll return to Chorrol with the job complete. In Chorrol Modryn is pleased enough about the contract being finished but demands to know what Maglir’s role in this was. Given Maglir’s disposition about the whole or ordeal I do not deny the truth and tell him about Maglir smugly defaulting.

“Another bar… I’m starting to sense a theme here.”

Modryn’s next job for me is in Leyawiin. An exceedingly long ride from here but apparently this is the life of a guild member who volunteers to travel rather than only work locally. Apparently there have been reports of some other members causing all sorts of trouble in the city’s taverns and inns. Sure enough, even after the long ride I catch them red handed in the Five Claws Lodge. The men plead their ignorance but in their drunken stupors admit their guilt as well. Still, their excuse rings true enough: the men claim that the Blackwood Company has been grabbing up all of the work in the area and that they’ve got nothing better to do without contracts. After reassuring the bartender that the guild would have them out of her hair soon I left to canvas the city for potential work.

After a few referrals I’ve found a local alchemist who, after being offered some rare reagents that I’d gathered on the last job, has agreed to contract with the guild for some other alchemical components. I return back to the Five Claws to give them the good news and the details. They seem genuinely happy about the opportunity for honest work again. Returning to Chorrol, Modryn is quite pleased with my work as well and has decided to raise me to rank of Swordsman, making me a full member of the guild at last. Perhaps I’ll get some less lackluster jobs now…

Warning: potential side quest spoilers ahead!

From Garn’s recollections:

Long live the King!

When I returned to Umbanaco to claim my reward I could tell he was quite excited to finally have possession of the carving though, to my curiosity, he spent very little time looking it over. He seemed to start to offer me another job but hesitated before finally making the offer. He told me that my next job may be a little different than the usual because the item he wanted was not in some long forgotten ruin or guarded by horrible apparitions, but instead was in the possession of another collector in the city. He told me it was the crown of the last king of the Aleyids and that its owner, Herminia Cinna, refused to sell it to him. While he told me that the intention was simply to try to purchase it for him as a 3rd party, he seemed to imply that acquiring it by less scrupulous means may be required. He gave me 1000 septims and off I went.

“About to descend into Lindai.”

I tracked Herminia Cinna down to running errands near the tower and brought up being interested in her antiquities. Perhaps I should have changed into less conspicuous clothing or at least thought my words over a little more carefully before speaking to her as she immediately suspected me of being an agent of Umbanaco’s. She made it clear that it wasn’t a matter of money and that there was simply something about Umbanaco that she didn’t trust, and that she suspected him of being motivated by more than he claimed. While Herminia couldn’t elaborate much, even as I pressured her to, the Aleyids were known to be powerful magic users and dedicated servants of the Daedra, some rumored to be quite cruel in fact, so it didn’t seem out of the question that Umbanaco might be after something more sinister than a simple collection of dusty artifacts.

Herminia pleaded with me to consider another option – while the crown she had was indeed the crown of “last Aleyid king” there was no overarching Aleyid kingdom and, in fact, there were various other kingdoms, many of them even rivals. She told me that she knew of the possible location of another, similar crown from around the same time period that she hadn’t had the funds to hire help seeking out yet. I got all of the necessary details from her and told her I’d have to consider it. For someone with so little to back up her suspicions, Herminia seemed quite convinced.

“Setting things on fire never gets old.”

Herminia told me that the royal crown of Lindai would have been kept in the royal tomb of the site, now known simply as Lindai, which she suspected was still sealed. I figured there was little harm in attempting to acquire the crown before making any further decision so I set off for the ruins of Lindai, northwest of the city. The ruins were fairly typical of my findings so far, guarded by undead creatures and traps. Herminia’s suspicions were correct though and much of the tomb’s treasure seemed to still be intact including the cask containing the crown. Now I had one option secured.

“Oooh, look what I found!”

Although I’ve mostly stayed clear of a life of crime so far, I decided to visit Herminia Cinna’s home one afternoon after she had left to go to the market – I had developed a new plan. I had more or less decided that Herminia’s fears were unfounded and her outright refusal to part with the artifact for any sum of money was unfair to a someone such as Umbanaco, who had already displayed his merit as a real collector, with a real passion for the history of the Ayleids. To be honest, it was more Herminia’s motives that I was questioning at that point. So, a quick lock pick on her front door when I was sure that I wouldn’t be spotted and in I went. I carefully searched her fairly modest home for the artifact until I eventually found it in a locked cask upstairs. This lock was more troublesome to pick but soon I had the authentic crown in my possession, the royal crown of Lindai in its place and hopefully Herminia would be none the wiser until such a time when she examined it more closely.

Returning to Umbanaco I presented him with the real crown which seemed to please him to no end. He said he had another task for me: to escort him through the ruin of Nenalata to the east for another archeological expedition. Easy enough, I thought. He said he’d arrange to meet me there in three days time.

“Is that a stupid haircut or are you just happy to see me?”

Nenalata was a fairly unimpressive looking ruin from the outside, despite being perched on the side of a hill overlooking the junction between the Silverfish River and Niben Bay. I waited on horseback until I heard the first rustling of someone approaching and road to investigate. Umbanaco had arrived and was excited to get started. I asked him to wait outside at first, as many of these Ayleid ruins were quite dangerous. He seemed a bit put off by the idea, but agreed. This part of Nenalata was pretty typical of Ayleid ruins so far, save for more ornate stonework and a distinct lack of traps. After clearing out virtually the entire structure of guardians I returned to escort Umbanaco, who in-turn seemed to escort me. We went down to one of the lower levels where he spotted the location he was looking for and ran over to it to place the carving I had acquired for him earlier in a recessed spot in the center of the wall. He then dramatically recited some Elvish which I could not understand, causing a secret passageway to open.

“Someone light a fucking torch!”

Excitedly, he proclaimed that we were entering the throne room of the last king of the Ayleids and that it was now up to him to reclaim his people’s lost glory. I took pause, of course, though he was an Altmer I figured he was still speaking as a student of the history of Ayleid peoples. When he donned the crown and sat in the thrown, shouting in Elvish tongue, however, I began to reconsider. Was Umbanaco a mad man or…?

Before I could finish my contemplation of the events at hand the spell that Umbanaco was apparently casting had completed and a massive burst of energy spread out from him in all directions. As the smoke cleared he cast another spell and disappeared from sight. Doors opened from every side of the chamber and several liches and other undead flooded in. I drew my sword and began backing towards the door.

“Errrmmm…”

I summoned my own guardian and began casting all manner of offensive spells as skeletons rushed towards me, striking against my shield with huge, clumsy blows. It was quite a perilous situation and I constantly found myself having to retreat away from the seemingly endless hordes of undead. Umbanaco himself, or whatever he had become, also reappeared from time to time to summon more undead and launch the occasional spell at me. At one of these moments he found himself between me, still strategically withdrawing, and a corner. Looking in his rage filled eyes, I was sure that there was no other way and lunged. Umbanaco fell with a desperate cry echoing through the halls amidst the backdrop of still clamoring creatures and blasts of magic.

“Cleaning up Umbanaco’s mess.”

I finished clearing the room and took my time, looting the rest of the ruin. I wasn’t quite sure of what to do – Umbanaco was a fairly respected citizen of the Imperial City and he’d now be missing. If he told anyone about where we were going I would be suspected in his disappearance, and who would believe me about his attempts to resurrect the Ayleids? Only one person. As soon as I returned to the city I sought out Herminia Cinna and professed my regrets for not believing her. I gave her back the real crown and even offered her some of the other Ayleid artifacts I had looted. I only asked that, in return, she support my claims should I be implicated later on. While seemingly disturbed by the whole thing, she agreed and seemed quite happy to have her crown back, in addition to the other artifacts I added to her growing collection.

Warning: potential side quest spoilers ahead!

From Garn’s recollections:

The Collector

Returning to look for work in the Imperial City I learned of a man called Umbacano who apparently hired quite a lot of adventurers, explorers, and mercenaries into his employ. It took me little time to find out that he lived in a large house in the Talos Plaza District. I arranged a meeting with him.

After his butler lead me through the manor, past all manner of priceless artifacts and less-than-subtle hints at Umbacano’s wealth, I was greeted by a tall Altmer noble. Umbacano introduced himself as an avid collector of Alyeid artifacts and it was in that vein that my services could be of his use. He mentioned some Alyeid statues known as the Ten Ancestors which were once kept in the White Gold Tower but were scattered across Cyrodiil for safekeeping during the time of the rebellion against the Alyeids. He was willing to pay a generous sum to each of these 10 statues delivered to him. Of course, I was interested. I told Umbacano that I had already explored a few of the Alyeid ruins in the area and he was delighted when I presented him a copy of my landmark maps and notes that I had made for the cartographer in Bravil near the beginning of my journey. He ran over to a book shelf, took down various books, and began digging through them until we had a small list of ruins to start with. A new quest had begun!

“Actually, these ruins are pretty much fucking everywhere.”

Alyeid ruins dotted the Cyrodiil countryside but the majority of them that weren’t completely destroyed hadn’t been thoroughly pillaged and inhabited by bandits or monsters yet. These ruins are infamous amongst adventuring types for their great number and variety of still working traps and, worse yet, being home to terrible undead creatures. I’m not certain whether these undead are the lost spirits of the elves who used to live and work in these structures or if they’re merely the accursed guardians that were left to watch over these places when the Alyeids were being systematically driven out of the area. In any case, both the danger presented by these threats and the stories passed around about encounters with them have served to keep them relatively intact. In other words, while there was indeed a good chance of locating many of Umbacano’s artifacts it also wouldn’t be an easy task.

“A Jason and the Argonauts moment.”

Over the next month or so I traveled the region visiting over a dozen Alyeid ruins, seeking out the statues. Upon finding the first the others seemed to come more and more easily, like puzzle pieces falling into place. That’s not to say that my adventures were not fraught with danger. In fact I nearly met my end on several occasions. There were large, hard fought battles versus countless liches, ghouls, undead warriors, and other unworldly fiends. There were mazes and clever traps the likes of which I hadn’t yet seen. In the end, however, with Umbacano’s assistance researching, I was able to claim all 10 of the Ten Ancestors and collect quite a tidy sum in the process, never mind the countless spoils of investigating the ruins themselves.

Umbacano wasn’t done with me though. His next task for me was to acquire a carving that was said to be located in an Alyeid structure known as “The High Fane”. No doubt only a ruin remained, if anything, but he seemed quite intent on possessing this relic. He showed me an illustration of the carving from an old tome he had and gave me an old, rusted key that he said he believed would get me where I needed to go if I could locate the ruin.

“About to claim my first of the 10 Ancestors.”

With not much to go on, I started checking with patrons at the various taverns across the city when I eventually ran into an adventurer called Claude Maric. The Breton claimed himself also under the employ of Umbacano and invited me to have a drink with him at the Tiber Septim inn. After a few drinks and some casual conversation, in which I let as little information go as possible, Claude eventually brought up the High Fane and after little more nudging, let out that it was another name for the temple “Malada” along with some myths about it being the site great evil. This was lucky break – I had already found Malada whilst creating my map. It was far off, to the far East of Bravil, and quite secluded, but at least I knew where to start. I parted ways with Claude and prepared to set out.

After tying up my horse near the entrance of the ruin I caught a faint odor of smoke which seemed highly unusual for how far into the wilderness I was. Peaked by curiosity, I drew my sword and started heading for high ground from which I could look for the source of the smoke. Quite accidentally, almost tripping over them, I discovered two people, still sound asleep, at a small camp nearby. They looked like adventurers or even mercenaries. I thought this odd, but let them sleep. As I made my way back, more carefully surveying my surroundings than before, I spotted the silhouette of another man on a nearby hill. I casually approached him, sword sheathed.

“Do NPCs gain speechcraft skill for compliments? Hmm.”

The Khajiit seemed surprised to see someone else and, at first, plead ignorance, claiming to be part of a small hunting group who were camping in the area. The Khajiit was a poor liar, and besides the men were definitely not armed like simple hunters. I pressured him a bit more and he admitted that him and the others had arranged to meet another here in a few hours to attempt to clear the ruins of Malada. In exchange for a small bribe he offered to signal me when they arrived if I was planning on going in first – I accepted. Whether he would hold his end of the deal or not was another story.

“I came all this way for this fucking thing?”

The High Fane wasn’t too much more interesting than some of the Ayleid ruins I had visited recently, some traps, some undead creatures, and a small amount of abandoned treasure. I eventually discovered the room with Umbanaco’s carving. This area was sealed with a locking mechanism the likes of which I had never seen which inspired me to take extra time to look for signs of a trap around it. Thankfully the key I was given opened it without incident and I was able to pry the carving from its wall without too much difficulty.

“Party at Malada!”

As I emerged back into the now midday sunshine the situation got much less typical – I was greeted by my new friend Claude Maric, flanked by several armed men at each side. Claude demanded the carving, assuring me that it was only business. This, unfortunately for Claude, was not how I did business. When I outright refused to give up the relic Claude ordered his men to attack me. It was a close fight, having to fend off 3 separate attackers at once. When things were getting a little close for me I was surprised to have one of Claude’s men distracted away from me than none other than Khajiit I had talked to early. Unfortunately he was quickly slain as another mercenary joined the fight. Still, the distraction gave me the space and time I needed to use my magic to finish the fight.

“Is it hot in here or am I just being electrocuted?”

As I dusted myself off and turned around I caught Claude running off towards where the others had camped out earlier. I gave case and soon we too were engaged in a sword fight. Unfortunately for Claude he was much less of a fighter than his status as a treasure hunter might imply and he too soon lay dead at my feet. After searching the bodies and packing my loot I mounted up and began the long ride back to the Imperial City.