Oblivion:Information at a Price

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Image:OB-qico-MagesGuild.png
Travel to Skingrad to receive information from Count Hassildor.  edit
Castle Skingrad; even vampires in high places need help.


[edit] Quick Walkthrough

  1. Speak to Traven. He will tell you to go get some information from Count Hassildor.
  2. Upon arriving at the Castle of Skingrad, speak to Hal-Liurz who will bring the count to you after some time.
  3. After speaking to Count Hassildor, decide on a course of action:
    • Help the Hunters kill the Vampires:
      1. Talk to Mog gra-Mogakh at the Two Sisters Lodge.
      2. Find Eridor and tell him the Vampires are at Bloodcrust Cavern.
      3. Go to Bloodcrust yourself, and wait for the Hunters to come, as they'll help you kill the vampires.
      4. Start killing vampires. Once all the vampires are dead talk to Eridor, if he is dead, just kill all the remaining hunters (if any of them still live).
    • Killing the Vampires:
      1. Go to Bloodcrust Cavern and kill all the vampires. Also, grab some vampire dust off of a corpse.
      2. Talk to Eridor (he'll be the hunter the compass points to that's inside the town). Show him the dust, and he'll leave.
    • Killing the Vampires and the Hunters
      1. Go to Bloodcrust Cavern and kill all the vampires.
      2. Use the compass to find and kill the Vampire Hunters.
  4. Talk to Hassildor to get the information about the Necromancers.
  5. Return to Traven to give him the information.

[edit] Detailed Walkthrough

[edit] Background

Once you have been promoted to Warlock, speak to Traven again for your next task. Count Hassildor of Skingrad has personally requested that you go see him to retrieve some vital information regarding the necromancers. Traven stresses that the relationship between Hassildor and the Guild must be maintained. Travel to the Castle of Skingrad, and arrange an appointment with the Count's new assistant, Hal-Liurz, in the County Hall. She says that he has been expecting you, and she will tell him of your arrival immediately, unless you have done the Vampire Cure quest and encountered the bug where Hal-Liurz gets stuck in the Chamber of the Lost, in which case you will have to go and find the count on your own. Wait for her to return with the Count. (If she doesn't return soon, and your compass indicates that she's traveling towards Kvatch, go to the map marker. The Count will be there, and you can continue with the quest.)

Now ask the Count about Information to learn why he has called you here. Apparently, your last encounter with him earned his trust -- mostly anyway as he wants you to perform a task before he tells you the information. Hassildor says it is a minor problem but he doesn't want himself or his guards involved. A group of Vampires has taken up residence in Bloodcrust Cavern east of the town. In addition, rumors have spread such that Vampire hunters have come to town to take care of them. Both of these groups present a problem to the Count, and he wants them dealt with. Upon further questioning you'll learn there are four Vampire Hunters, led by a supposedly highly skilled Wood Elf named Eridor. Count Hassildor doesn't seem to care how you handle both groups: kill them, run them out, anything as long as the Count is not implicated.

[edit] Paying the 'Price'

There are a few ways to handle this: kill both groups, send the Hunters to Bloodcrust and clean up anyone or thing that's left, kill the vampires and convince the vampire hunters to leave, or help the Hunters get rid of the Vampires.

[edit] Helping the Hunters or Cleaning Up

First, you'll have to find the Hunters, let them know where the Vampires are, and probably help them out a bit at their task. The people around town don't seem to know anything about Vampires or the Hunters, so go to the Two Sisters Lodge. At the Lodge, Mog gra-Mogakh will tell you that they are in fact staying there and come in to eat every afternoon and then back to sleep at midnight. During one of these times (or around town, it doesn't really matter), talk to Eridor, and let him know the Vampires are hiding out in Bloodcrust Cavern. If you want to ask him any questions, you'll need to raise his disposition, but he only tells you information you already know. (It might take some time for the Hunters to set off for Bloodcrust Cavern; it seems they wait for a certain time of the day to leave. Given times that they sleep and eat, this period shouldn't be any longer than twelve hours.) After informing Eridor, go to Bloodcrust Cavern (just east of Skingrad), and start killing vampires. Eventually, the vampire hunters will show up. Unfortunately, the hunters seem to be a bit too eager to attack the vampires, and they are often quickly killed. (The hunters are always equipped with leather armor and steel weapons, whereas the vampires' weapons and spells are level-dependent; at high levels the hunters' chances of winning are very slim.)

You'll receive a quest message when, and if, all the Hunters are killed. This takes care of the first task if you are going for total obliteration of both groups. Continue on with or without the hunters clearing the cave of the Bloodcrust Vampires. It isn't too big and once you kill all the Vampires you'll get a quest message. Now, if some Hunters survive the battles in the cave, talk to them. The remaining hunters will then get back to their patrol routes but, if Eridor dies, it appears that the only way to get rid of them is to kill them. If you pickpocket the Hunters before you tell them the location of the Cave, they will show up with no weapons and armor. That will make it easier to kill them, though doing that means that you will not get any help from them while killing the vampires.

[edit] Killing the Vampires and Getting the Hunters to leave

If you feel like killing the vampires alone, just head over to Bloodcrust Cavern, and kill them. After they are all dead, grab some of the vampire dust (the Bloodcrust Vampires have unique dust, and this means you cannot even sell them to Roland Jenseric if you are in the The Order of the Virtuous Blood.) Then find Eridor (He will be the vampire hunter that is in Skingrad if you are using the compass). Talk to him about the vampires, and show him the dust. He will agree to leave. If you speak to the Hunters before entering the cave, you might have to kill them anyway.

[edit] Killing the Vampires and the Hunters

Once again, just go to Bloodcrust Cavern, and kill all the vampires. After that, use the compass to find and eliminate the vampire hunters. This method is hard to do without getting a bounty, but with a little skill the bounty can be avoided. Some of the easier ways to accomplish this are:

  • Slip into their room at night and leave them each a poisoned apple (if you have them).
  • Slip into their room and kill them with sneak attacks. (This may require setting the difficulty to a low level).
  • Slip into their room at night and pickpocket their weapons. You can hide the weapons in the containers in their rooms.
  • Cast a Frenzy spell on them, if you have the required Illusion skills.
  • Lower their dispositions to 0. If that doesn't work, draw your weapon. When their disposition is low enough they will attack you.
  • Reverse pickpocket a piece of Permanent Bound Armor that has been enchanted with a damage effect.
  • The easiest method, providing you're already at the top of the Thieves Guild: Kill them one by one by sneaking into their rooms at night and then putting on the Gray Cowl of Nocturnal just before you kill each of them, and then taking it off after each one. That way if any of the four wake up, the bounty is on the cowl and not you. Even if the guards come they will ignore you so long as you do not still have the cowl on.

[edit] Getting the Information

Once all of the vampires and hunters are taken care of, return to the Count with the news (speak with Hal-Liurz again to arrange a meeting). Count Hassildor will finally tell you the information he has for the guild. He says the Necromancers are a sign of things to come and the Mages Guild is in great danger. It seems that Mannimarco has returned, the near invincible leader of the Necromancers. Finally, return to Traven, and tell him the bad news. He will say that the Council needs to deliberate on this (you won't be able to get a new task for a few days).

[edit] Notes

  • If you do not have a high infamy rating you can use the Altar of the Nine, at the Chapel of Julianos in Skingrad, to cure yourself if you become infected with Porphyric Hemophilia while fighting the vampires. If you have a high infamy rating, or for the sake of quick convenience, eat a Mandrake Root (or use any other form of Cure Disease you have available) after clearing out Bloodcrust Cavern. Don't use it until the end, in case of multiple infections.
  • It is also a good idea to finish any business you may have with the Bruma Mages Guild before starting the next quest, as something will happen in the next Mages Guild quest that disrupts things. This mostly concerns Volanaro, who is the only vendor in the game that sells the Summon Dremora Lord spell. So, if you are a conjurer or ever plan on mastering the skill, it is recommended that you buy that spell in advance.
    • If you have the Spell Tomes mod installed, you may find a "Summon Dremora Lord" spell tome.
    • Similarly, Selena Orania is no longer available as a vendor, so if you intend to invest in every store in the game, invest in her before this quest.
  • The Vampire Hunters will steal vampire dust. After killing the hunters in the cavern, some of them might have large amounts of stolen vampire dust (one member had 90 lots of stolen dust), which can be very handy for obtaining extra money, but you will need a fence to sell the dust. The Order of the Virtuous Blood will not accept stolen dust.
    • Sometimes, the hunters will even start stealing dust from one another, lowering their dispositions until they attack each other on sight. This can be of assistance when trying to eliminate the hunters.
  • The vampire dust that you pick up from the vampires in Bloodcrust Cavern cannot be traded for gold with the Order of the Virtuous Blood.
  • Using the bound armor cheat, you can provide the vampire hunters with zero weight daedric armor. This gives them a better chance to survive.
  • Killing Eridor after he leaves the cavern can qualify as a murder and gain you a visit from the Dark Brotherhood Speaker. Eridor will leave the cave if he is the only one to survive the attack on Bloodcrust; there are no witnesses directly outside or in the cave.
  • Be careful when killing the vampires to keep them all in the cave. In other words, avoid leaving the cave when one of the vampires is chasing you. Vampires that leave the cave have been known to end up wandering far off and it may not be possible to ever find them and kill them, in which case the quest cannot be finished.
  • If you convince the vampire hunters to leave, they actually remain in Skingrad forever, although the Journal states that they have left Skingrad.

[edit] Bugs

  • If you kill the vampires on your own after talking to Eridor about them, you are unable to subsequently convince him to leave without murdering him. To avoid this, wait until you notice the map markers of the hunters in Bloodcrust, and then proceed to either help them, murder them, or let them be killed by the vampires.

[edit] Journal Entries

Information at a Price (MG13Information)
Stage Finishes Quest Journal Entry
10 Count Hassildor wishes to see me; I should travel to Skingrad immediately and speak with Hal-Liurz.
20 Count Hassildor has information that he will provide only if I remove the Vampire Hunters lurking around Skingrad, as well as a nest of vampires in Bloodcrust Cavern outside of town.
30 The Vampires in Bloodcrust Cavern have been disposed of. Now I must deal with the Vampire Hunters. (If the player kills the vampires before dealing with the vampire hunters) or

The Vampires in Bloodcrust Cavern have been disposed of. I should return to Count Hassildor and let him know my task is complete. (If the player had already dealt with the vampire hunters)
40 The Vampire Hunters in Skingrad have been killed.
50 The Vampire Hunters have left Skingrad. All that's left now is to remove the vampires from Bloodcrust Cavern. (If the player deals with the vampire hunters before the vampires) or

The Vampire Hunters have left Skingrad. I should return to Castle Skingrad and speak with Hal-Liurz. (If the player had already killed the vampires)
60 Count Hassildor's news about Mannimarco must be delivered to Hannibal Traven right away.
100 Finishes quest I have told Arch-Mage Traven about Mannimarco's presence in Cyrodiil.
Notes
  • Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
  • Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in random order.
  • If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
  • On the PC, it is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage MG13Information stage. Where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages. See SetStage for more information.
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