Oblivion:Scheduled for Execution

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Contents 1 Quick Walkthrough 2 Detailed Walkthrough 2.1 No Rest for the Wicked 2.2 Getting through the Sewers 2.3 Assassination 2.4 Payoff 3 Tips 4 Notes 5 Bugs 6 Journal Entries

An old "friend" in the Imperial Prison needs to be released... from living.  edit Quest Giver: Vicente Valtieri at Cheydinhal Sanctuary Location(s): Cheydinhal, Imperial Prison Sewer Prerequisite Quest: Accidents Happen Next Quest: The Assassinated Man Reward: Up to 600 gold, Scales of Pitiless Justice Fame/Infamy: Infamy +1 ID: Dark04Execution

Take good care to avoid the guards.

[edit] Quick Walkthrough

1. Take the key from Valtieri, and make your way through the sewers.
2. Find Valen Dreth in his cell, and kill him. (To get the bonus, do not kill any guards).
3. Exit the prison and return to Valtieri.

[edit] Detailed Walkthrough

[edit] No Rest for the Wicked

The mini-quest to get the contract from Vicente Valtieri is named "No Rest for the Wicked." Vicente will tell you your next target is Valen Dreth. The name may sound familiar - he was the Dark Elf taunting you inside the Imperial Dungeon at the very beginning of the game. Revenge is a dish best served cold.

[edit] Getting through the Sewers

You return to the imperial dungeon basically the same way that you got out in the tutorial: through the Imperial Prison Sewer to the northeast of the Imperial City. Valtieri gives you the key, which is necessary because the sewer was sealed shut following your escape. Early on there is a detour through a couple of sewer sections that you did not previously visit, but then you'll proceed through the same Sanctum and Imperial Subterrane as before. If in doubt, follow your map marker.

Caution is needed in the Sanctum and in the first part of the Imperial Subterrane: guards have been posted to prevent any more prisoners from escaping, and to get the bonus you need to be sure to not kill any of them (Detect Life spells or enchantments are useful). Pause for a minute when you first enter the Sanctum to hear the guards' humorous complaints about this new duty. By keeping to the shadows and waiting patiently for the guards to move along it is possible to sneak past all of them. The most attentive guard is the one when you enter the Imperial Subterrane; he is the only one who is carrying a torch and is more actively patrolling.

If you're interested, take a slight detour into the room where the emperor was actually killed. You will find a small shrine to the emperor (including items that can be stolen), a dead Mythic Dawn agent with some notes about the investigation, and the guard leading the investigation, Captain Gepard Montrose. Luckily, the captain is too immersed in his own thoughts to notice an assassin sneaking around right behind him. In fact, it is very possible to pickpocket him and acquire all the keys for the prison, but it is not necessary, because they are easily attainable in the next part of the quest.

[edit] Assassination

Dreth will be in the same cell as before, across the hall from your former cell. When you first get to the cells, stop and patiently wait for the talkative guard chatting with Valen to leave. If he does not leave, it is possible to shoot Dreth with a bow and arrow from a distance without the guard seeing you. Another alternative (if you have a good invisibility spell and your sneak skill is high enough) is to just push the guard out of the way (say, into the next cell over).

If you pickpocketed Captain Montrose, you already have the key to Dreth's cell. Otherwise, another set of keys are sitting on a small table to the left of the cell. The lock can also be picked. However, once you open his cell be sure to kill him quickly (if possible, with one hit), otherwise he will take off running through the sewers, which leads to a long annoying chase. The other option is to kill him using a bow or destruction magic, in which case you do not need to open the cell door.

To get back out, you have two options. You can stealthily return back through the sewer system. Or, using the Imperial Prison Key, you can go up the stairs and leave through the front door. Once you get into the main prison area you are in a public area; being spotted here won't cause you to be arrested or forfeit your bonus.

[edit] Payoff

Return to Valtieri for a level dependent gold reward (up to 600 gold). If no guards died, you will also receive the bonus Scales of Pitiless Justice, a miscellaneous item that increases your Strength, Agility, and Intelligence attributes by 2 but also reduces your Personality by 2 whenever it is in your inventory.

[edit] Tips

• There is a chest in one of the last rooms, before you get into the prison cell. To reach it, first jump onto the base of the broken pillar, then jump up onto the ledge with the locked door. You can walk on the edge of this ledge extending towards the chest, then jump all the way over to the chest.
• If your Illusion skill is high enough (50, Journeyman), purchase the invisibility spell "Deathly Visage" from M'raaj-Dar (the Khajiit merchant that makes rude comments at you) in the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary. Though it only lasts 35 seconds, it costs less Magicka than an equivalent custom spell. It will aid you greatly in this quest as well as others. Invisibility plus Sneak makes you almost undetectable.
• You can also purchase "Hands of Midnight" from M'raaj-Dar, which provides 10% Chameleon as well as 30 points of Sun Damage. It does however, have a prohibitively high cost and the Sun Damage may be fatal to lower level characters.
• Night-Eye and Detect Life effects can prove to be invaluable during your trek through the sewers and past the guards.
• When you get into the second room in the Imperial Subterrane, there is a guard with a torch that is more actively patrolling than the others. However, there is a small corner right before the hallway that he emerges from that you can slip into in order to avoid the torch picking you up. Just be sure to stand perfectly still and not cast any spells until he is gone. Once you get past this guard, you have a clear path to Dreth.
• If you really hate your old cell mate, run up to him after the guard leaves and choose the Night Mother response. His expression is priceless.
• If you don't feel like sneaking around and you are fast enough or have enough armor, you can just run to the cell with the guards chasing after you. Pick the lock and kill Dreth, then yield to the guards, who will be trying to attack you. Go ahead and pay off your bounty or spend the time in jail. Either way, as long as you didn't kill a guard, you get the bonus.
• If you do get attacked by the guards and your initial Disposition is high enough, you can yield to them, causing all the guards to stop attacking and go back immediately to what they were doing, completely forgetting about you. This only works with the guard at Dreth's cell; the guards before that stage reject your yield every time. ^{[verification needed — Needs Verification]}
• If you open up Dreth's cell and let him escape, there is a chance that the other guards will put him down, and you will still finish the quest. If he escapes the guards, follow the map marker to find him in the wilderness.

[edit] Notes

• You cannot access Valen Dreth's cell from the door to the prison at the Bastion. The guard has the key, but the key doesn't work while the quest is active.
• You cannot kill Dreth before the quest if active. If you pick the key from the guard, it will take you down to the cell, Dreth, as well as the other guards on patrol, will not do anything to you. If you kill anyone, then they will instantly respawn as soon as the quest is activated.
• You cannot access Valen Dreth's cell by getting arrested. The cell you're sent to is a different interior cell than the one that you get from accessing the sewers.

[edit] Bugs

• If you try to avoid bounty by sneaking past all the guards, sometimes the last guard in front of Valen Dreth will not walk away after they finish talking. You can save the game, then load it right away and the guard will walk away.

[edit] Journal Entries

No Rest for the Wicked (Dark03AccidentsFIN)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		I must accept a contract from Vicente Valtieri.
100		I have accepted a contract from Vicente Valtieri.

Scheduled for Execution (Dark04Execution)
10		I must break into the Imperial Prison and kill a Dark Elf prisoner named Valen Dreth. I will receive a special bonus if I manage not to kill any guards. I can enter the Imperial Prison through the connecting sewers, which can be accessed through a locked manhole just outside the prison walls. Vicente has provided me with a key.
20		I have entered the sewers beneath the Imperial Prison. I must now proceed through the sewers and into the prison itself, and kill Valen Dreth.
40		Valen Dreth is dead, and no guards have been killed. I must return to the Sanctuary and speak with Vicente Valtieri to receive my reward, as well as a bonus.
50		The contract has been fulfilled, but I was unable to prevent the death of any guards. I must return to the Sanctuary and speak with Vicente Valtieri to receive my reward. Unfortunately, the bonus is forfeit.
100		I have spoken with Vicente Valtieri and received my reward.

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 Dark04Execution 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.

Prev:  Accidents Happen

Up: Dark Brotherhood

Next: The Assassinated Man