Oblivion:Light the Dragonfires

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Contents 1 Quick Walkthrough 2 Detailed Walkthrough 2.1 The Circle Closes 2.2 The Jaws of Oblivion 2.3 The Stand 3 Notes 4 Bugs 5 Journal Entries

Escort Martin to the Temple of the One... but will you be able to crown him Emperor?  edit Quest Giver: Martin at Cloud Ruler Temple Location(s): Imperial City Prerequisite Quest: Paradise Next Quest: Imperial Dragon Armor Reward: End of the story line, named the Champion of Cyrodiil Fame/Infamy: Fame +3 ID: MQ16

The Imperial City is under attack!

[edit] Quick Walkthrough

1. Escort Martin to the Imperial Palace.
2. Lead Martin, Ocato, and guardsmen outside to combat the Daedra.
3. Catch sight of Mehrunes Dagon, and your journal will update.
4. Run to the temple and watch as Martin turns into an avatar of Akatosh and battles Lord Dagon.
5. Ocato names you the Champion of Cyrodiil.

[edit] Detailed Walkthrough

[edit] The Circle Closes

With the Amulet of Kings reclaimed and Martin under safe watch, all that's left to be done is for Martin to light the Dragonfires in the Temple of the One, resealing the barrier between Tamriel and Oblivion. However, there is still a matter of regal tradition: Martin wants the Elder Council's blessing to be accepted as Emperor without officially being an heir. For one final task, you must escort him to the Imperial City's Imperial Palace to complete the ceremony and end this ordeal at last. Upon arrival, Ocato greets Martin amiably and is about to officially accept him as Emperor when a messenger rushes in, exhausted and terrified, reporting Oblivion Gates opening inside the city's walls!

[edit] The Jaws of Oblivion

The Daedra and Mythic Dawn have launched a last-ditch effort to be victorious over the Empire. Opening a multitude of Oblivion Gates throughout the city, Daedra have stormed the city and its people. No sooner than the messenger stops speaking do Daedra burst through the doors to the council chamber and attack everyone within. With the help of the Palace Guards, the Blades, and Ocato, they can be defeated quickly, though this is only the start of the epic battle. If Baurus, Jauffre, or Captain Steffan survived the previous battles, they will aid you in this darkest hour as well.

Be warned that Martin is no longer marked as essential, and further, the game is over if he dies. Because he is wearing only the low-defense Emperor Robes, he will make easy prey indeed. It is up to you to protect him. You would be wise to save the game before you exit the palace, and make any preparations you feel are necessary (repairing weapons and/or armor, making a few potions, etc.).

Once you have exited the Palace, you will be swarmed by a battalion of Daedra that will likely exhaust some of the help you receive from your NPC companions. It is advisable to stay by Martin at all times, helping him kill whatever Daedra he attacks. If you can, use healing spells on him to keep his health up. If you do not have any, simply killing Daedra quickly will minimize damage dealt to Martin and aid him in surviving.

After the Daedra in the Palace District have been dealt with, take a moment to breathe and resupply yourself. Repair any broken equipment if you can, and take anything you may need from the bodies of the dead to replace whatever resources you may have used. When you are ready, take the troops through the door to the Temple District. More Oblivion Gates open, spewing forth more Daedra. Instead of trying to combat them, rush to the right, to be greeted by the sight of a group of Guards fighting futilely against a massive, red-skinned, four-armed, demonic creature wearing a spiked gauntlet and wielding an axe: Mehrunes Dagon himself!

[edit] The Stand

The plan has failed. The barriers between Tamriel and Oblivion have already dissolved - lighting the Dragonfires will do nothing now.

Martin soon joins you. In desperation, he tries rapidly to think of a solution. Mehrunes Dagon, he explains, is an immortal, and can only be killed by another immortal. No matter how many Guards throw themselves at him, Dagon will never fall. However, from this, and your suggestion about using the Amulet of Kings, he forms a backup plan. He establishes that all hope may not be lost, and Dagon may be able to be defeated - but Martin needs to get inside the Temple. With both an Oblivion Gate and Dagon blocking the way inside, the only way there is past the Daedric prince himself. If you can get Martin inside, he will handle the rest.

There are a variety of ways to get past Dagon. Although you can't harm Dagon by normal means, you can "stagger" him, if you do enough damage in a single attack. The critical amount of damage is set to be one-half of the player's health (or 50 points if the player's health is less than 100). If a single attack does more than the critical damage, then he will stagger backward, unable to attack, for roughly ten seconds, giving you an opportunity to run past. Another option is to count on luck: if Dagon is preoccupied by crushing the Imperial Guards beneath his heel, he may not notice if you simply run past him. Fortifying your Speed will help with this approach. You could also run behind the nearby building, following the outer walls of the district, and slip behind Dagon without him ever seeing you. You may also use an invisibility spell or high sneak and Chameleon to easily slip past him.

Whichever option you choose, run inside the Temple with Martin in tow. When he enters, he appears almost relieved, and explains hurriedly: The Amulet of Kings is infused with the Dragon God Akatosh's blood, and as Martin is a part of the Dragonblood, he may be able to use his joined blood, the Amulet, and the power of Akatosh's Temple to summon the power of the Dragon himself. He bids you farewell, gasps a thanks to you for all that you've done, and rushes atop the altar as Dagon smashes through the rooftop. Staring down upon the last Septim, Dagon menaces him, and Martin stands against him, unafraid. Suddenly, beams of light burst forth from Martin as he shatters the Amulet, and transforms into a gigantic, flaming dragon. Dagon and Martin - now the Avatar of Akatosh - clash, the two immortals battling for the fate of Cyrodiil. Finally, Martin swoops down and buries his jaws into Dagon's neck, wounding him, and finishing him off with a breath of holy fire. Dagon falls, his physical form banished and the Oblivion Gates closed. Martin, however, pays the ultimate price for borrowing the power of Akatosh: He turns to stone atop the Temple Altar, an eternal monument to him.

[edit] Notes

• When you enter the Temple District have all the speed bonuses you can get, run towards Mehrunes Dagon, get the Journal Entry, run back to Martin talk to him, then rush to the Temple door (just run the gap between Mehrunes Dagon and Temple walls). When you enter the Temple no matter how far Martin is he will enter the Temple with you. So, you can end the final part without swinging a sword or casting a spell.
• It is possible to keep Baurus and Jauffre alive during this mission, though it does not affect the ending (other than being able to hear their remarks). A hint is to lure the Daedra over to the unnamed guards/captains or to Ocato (who cannot die) to avoid getting them damaged. After you talk to them, they will both head back to Cloud Ruler Temple.
• After this quest, you can receive the blessing Favor of Akatosh from the statue of the Avatar. This blessing fortifies Personality and Luck each for 86,400 seconds, one full real-time day (although in practice somewhat less depending on how often you fast-travel).
  • There are actually two Avatar of Akatosh statues in the game world. Besides the one in the Temple of the One cell, the Temple District cell has its own fully-functional version. To reach it, find the window that the tail of the statue sticks out over, then jump on the sill. Look straight up at the tail, jump, and activate the statue at the apex of the jump. The two statues are considered different entities, so their blessings stack and you can get both in the same day.
• The Staff of Worms and the Skull of Corruption do not work on Mehrunes Dagon, since Dagon is treated as a creature, not an NPC.
• Dagon has two attacks: swinging his axe and stomping. The axe causes around 50 damage while his stomp can cause over 100. This is quite useful when your speed stats are high and there are a lot of daedra chasing you, or it can be very fatal.
• Enemies will not enter the Temple, so once you've escorted Martin inside, you can safely leave him there and play around with Dagon or collect souls and alchemy ingredients from the respawning Daedra, and pop back into the Temple whenever you need to heal. You may have difficulty getting your equipment repaired, however. It won't be a problem if you have a lot of repair hammers or if you are a master of Armorer.
• Having a Convalescence spell can be useful: Martin isn't marked essential anymore, is in the Emperor's Robes, and is equipped with a enchanted iron dagger. You could also use or create other spells to help keep him alive such as a long Shield spell or Fortify Health.
• All the Oblivion Gates close permanently after this mission so if you still want access to Sigil Stones you may want to hold off completing it or collect all the Sigil Stones you want first. However, the gates can be made to reopen using console commands.
• If you have acquired the Staff of Sheogorath from the Shivering Isles expansion pack, you can use it to freeze Mehrunes Dagon, allowing you safe passage past him.
• Make sure that when you collect all of your loot, you don't leave anything you want in the street. Anything left behind will disappear when you talk to Chancelor Ocato.

[edit] Bugs

• It is possible to kill Mehrunes Dagon yourself. If you fling a huge number of spells at him, or use the kill console command on him, Dagon will dissolve and turn into a pile of reddish mud. He will still attack as if he were alive.
  • An alternative to the console is use Damage Fatigue or Absorb Fatigue spells, or a weapon enchanted with them. Once Dagon's fatigue is drained (and he doesn't have all that much) he will collapse.
  • Yet another alternative is to use the Wabbajack on Dagon if you have it. It won't affect his appearance, but it will change his stats into something much easier to kill. This was supposed to have not been possible, but the scripting on the Wabbajack to prevent it working on Mehrunes Dagon is faulty.
    • This bug is fixed by the Unofficial Oblivion Patch.
• Do not close the door in the Imperial Palace when you go to Ocato. If you do, the Imperial Legion messenger will not be able to reach Ocato, leaving you motionless.
  • This bug is fixed by the Unofficial Oblivion Patch.
• Sometimes when you enter the city, all the guards will start attacking Baurus and Jauffre. Since they are both killable now, the guards will make short work of them.
• Make sure that Martin makes it to the Temple District before you otherwise he will stay in the Palace District and the guards bar the gates so you can't get past and Martin can't get through. This can be fixed by running to the Temple of the One and waiting for 24 hours. (On the 360 this bug is actually helpful - Martin will stay out of the temple district, along with everyone but Ocato. You can spend as long as you need to get through the temple district, and as soon as you enter the temple Martin will simply materialize there.)
• There seems to be a bug where, if you ask Martin to wait for you after he tells you about his plan, he will disappear altogether. To fix this you will have to reload a save prior to commencing the quest. ^{[verification needed — Is this true, does it always happen? If so why?] [verification needed — Using Player.MoveTo, I found Martin and Jauffre mounted on horses in Cloud Temple stables, out of sight but waiting]}
• Do not close the doors of the Elder Council Chambers before you have introduced Martin to High Chancellor Ocato. The messenger might not be able to open them, and he will get stuck behind the closed doors, while you are stuck in "cutscene mode", unable to do anything.

[edit] Journal Entries

Light the Dragonfires (MQ16)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
0
5		I must escort Martin to the Elder Council Chambers in the Imperial Palace, to formally present his claim to the Septim Throne.
8		(Martin arrives outside the Palace)
9		(Baurus greets Martin)
10		We have arrived in the Elder Council Chamber. I must formally present Martin's claim to Chancellor Ocato, the head of the Elder Council.
14		On behalf of the Elder Council, Chancellor Ocato has recognized Martin as Uriel Septim's heir. Now all that remains is for Martin to light the Dragonfires in the Temple of the One.
15		(trigger for messenger to run up)
16		(stage set after messenger shouts to Ocato)
18		(stage set after messenger arrives to tell Ocato of daedra attack)
19		(stage set in Martin's last dialogue (give the daedra a head start))
20		The Imperial City is under attack! Oblivion Gates have opened all over the city and daedra are pouring out! I must escort Martin safely to the Temple of the One where he can light the Dragonfires, close the Oblivion Gates, and save the city!
21		(after conversation between Martin and Ocato, triggers packages to head for Temple)
23		(at least one dremora attacker is dead)
25		(player exits the Elder Council chamber)
26		(Martin enters Palace district)
27		(Martin enters Temple district)
29		(trigger Imperial soldiers to attack Dagon)
30		Mehrunes Dagon is here! The barriers between Oblivion and Tamriel have been destroyed! Our only hope now is to somehow defeat Mehrunes Dagon and cast him back into Oblivion. Perhaps Martin will know what to do.
35		Martin said that while mortal weapons may hurt Mehrunes Dagon, they cannot destroy him. He said that if he can only reach the Temple of the One, there is still a chance to turn defeat into victory.
40		Martin and I are inside the Temple of the One. I must get Martin to the Dragonfires, or all hope is lost.
45		(Martin reaches wait marker inside temple)
46		(player has spoken to Martin)
50		(Martin reaches altar)
54		(enable transformation and animate)
58		(disable entry)
60		(fight over)
65		(play outro bink)
80		Martin shattered the Amulet of Kings and transformed himself into an avatar of Akatosh, the Dragon God of Time. In dragon form he banished Mehrunes Dagon to Oblivion and ended the Oblivion Crisis, and then vanished. Whether he is dead, or has ascended to join his ancestor Tiber Septim, no one knows.
100

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 MQ16 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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