Oblivion:Ulterior Motives

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[edit] Quick Walkthrough

Speak with Raminus Polus. He tells you to travel to Skingrad and retrieve a book from the Count.
When you arrive at Castle Skingrad, you will be directed to Mercator Hosidus who says the Count will see you tomorrow.
The next day, Mercator will tell you the Count has agreed to meet you away from prying eyes, at 2 AM north of Cursed Mine. (Note: Direction given is incorrect.)
Go to the meeting point, where you are ambushed by Mercator and his fellow necromancers. The Count of Skingrad will also arrive during the fight.
Afterwards, the Count speaks to you about the delicate relationship between himself and the guild, a pretense you can see in his eyes.
When all is understood, return to Raminus for a promotion and the Spelldrinker Amulet.

[edit] Detailed Walkthrough

[edit] The Rarest Book in Cyrodiil

After completing A Mage's Staff, speak to Raminus Polus to receive your next task related to the necromancers you found at Wellspring Cave. All he wants is for you to retrieve a book from Janus Hassildor, Count of Skingrad. He warns you that Skingrad can be an "unusual place."

[edit] To Be Entertained

Head over to Castle Skingrad and speak to any guard to learn that all appointments with the Count must go through Mercator Hosidus. Find Mercator in the Castle County Hall during the day. It seems the Count is aware of your presence but doesn't feel like granting you an audience at the moment. Mercator suggests trying again tomorrow.

Return a full day later and speak to Mercator. It seems the Count has agreed to meet with you but not in the Castle. Instead you're meeting him north of Cursed Mine at 2 AM. The mine is just west of town; although the quest log says to meet north of the mine, it actually means southeast, next to the field of grapes at Tamika's vineyard (follow your quest compass). Wait around until 2 AM (Mercator actually comes around 10 PM).

[edit] Clever Chap

Unfortunately, it seems that Mercator tricked you and the Count is not coming. In fact, Mercator and his fellow Necromancers (namely Arterion and Mondrar Henim) mean to kill you. Fortunately, you have an ally as the Count himself appears during the ensuing fight. If you are having trouble with this fight, run towards the gate. The guards there will help you. After the Necromancers are dead, the Count will chew you out for being a gullible fool and demand you thank him for "saving" you, even if you killed all the enemies before he even showed up.

Note: If you are quick and dodge around Mercator as he approaches, you can talk to the Necromancers and ask them about rumors (their dispositions will be 0--someone who likes a Speechcraft challenge can try to bump them up). You can also raise it high enough to yield to them during the fight; they will attack Mercator, but the Count kills them anyway.

In the dialogue with Janus after the battle, you learn that he suspected Mercator was allied with the Necromancers, but needed to know just how many others were with him before acting. He also explains that the Mages Guild was actually using you to spy on him to see what connections he had with the Necromancers. Janus tells you to explain to Raminus that he had no connections with the Necromancers and that they should not send anyone else under false pretenses.

Return to Raminus, who apologizes for putting you in such a situation. It seems the Count is actually an ally and the Guild was worried that sending a higher official would bring too much attention to the tenuous relationship with the Count. After completing this quest, you will ascend to the rank of Evoker, whereupon you receive the Spelldrinker Amulet.

[edit] Notes

If you give Mercator Hosidus the runaround and sneak into the Count's manor, Janus Hassildor's conversation topics will only include Rumors and Skingrad. The quest cannot be advanced using this method.

[edit] Bugs

If you wait inside the castle for 24 hours after Mercator Hosidus tells you to come back tomorrow, it is possible that Mercator just keeps telling you to come back tomorrow. If this happens, go outside the castle before waiting (or finish other quests).
- This bug is fixed by the Unofficial Oblivion Patch.
Once you have reached stage 40 of this quest, Janus will refuse to talk to you anymore. This is the quest stage after the ambush has been foiled and Janus has told you that he is a vampire. If you try to talk to him, he will respond:

I've said all there is to be said. Trouble me no more.

And he will refuse to say anything else. Although this is not a problem in completing the Ulterior Motives quest, it can prevent progress in any other quests involving Janus (in particular, Vampire Cure and Allies for Bruma). To fix the problem, you simply need to finish this quest: go talk to Raminus Polus in the Arcane University and receive your reward.

[edit] Journal Entries

Ulterior Motives (MG09Motives)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		Raminus Polus has asked me to retrieve a book from Janus Hassildor, Count of Skingrad.
20		Mercator Hosidius, a liason to the Count of Skingrad, has told me the Count is not accepting visitors. I need to return tomorrow.
30		Mercator Hosidius told me the Count will meet with me North of the Cursed Mine west of town at 2 AM.
40		Count Hassildor saved me from the ambush set by Mercator Hosidius. I need to deliver his message to Raminus Polus.
100		I've delievered^{[sic, not delivered]} Hassildor's message to Raminus Polus.

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 MG09Motives 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.