Oblivion:Ambush

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1 Quick Walkthrough
2 Detailed Walkthrough
3 Notes
4 Journal Entries

Oversee a contingent of Battlemages, and retrieve a unique Black Soul Gem from an old friend. ^edit

Quest Giver: Arch-Mage Traven at the Arcane University
Location(s): Arcane University, Silorn
Prerequisite Quest: The Bloodworm Helm and The Necromancer's Amulet
Next Quest: Confront The King
Reward: None
Fame/Infamy: Fame +1
ID: MG17Ambush

Ambushing the Necromancers.

[edit] Quick Walkthrough

Travel to the ruins to meet the battlemages.
Learn of the battlemages' strategy, and prepare for the ambush.
When the necromancers leave the ruins, attack them.
Chase Falcar; when you find him, kill him for his Soul Gem.
Return the gem to Traven.

[edit] Detailed Walkthrough

[edit] Ambush the Necromancers

Speak to Hannibal Traven to begin the quest, then travel to the Ruins of Silorn southwest of the Imperial City and just southeast of Skingrad. Meet the three Battlemages (Iver, Merete, and the leader Thalfin) outside of the ruins. They were supposed to storm the ruins but the door is magically sealed, and they cannot get in. Instead, they are just going to wait for the Necromancers to come out and then attack them. Ask the Battlemages about their Abilities and Position and use the best combination (fighters close in, casters far away).

[edit] Three Options

[edit] Make the Attack

Once everyone is in position, speak with Thalfin. Note that if you get too close to the ruin entrance the Necromancers will spot you and ruin your element of surprise. Alternatively, you can use Sneak/Invisibility to get to the ruin entrance by circling the ruins from the southern side and cut off Falcar's escape route. He won't engage in a fight with you, running to the ruin, so if you manage to land a single well-poisoned arrow or swing of the sword at him, you'll save a lot of work. Three Necromancers and Falcar will exit the Ruins and head towards you. Once close enough, join your allies in attack. Falcar will bolt for the ruins, and you can either chase him or aid the Battlemages with the remaining Necromancers.

Falcar will very likely make it back to the ruins with the Colossal Black Soul Gem you are after, so follow him inside. It's a rather long path in order to find him. Make your way to Silorn Sedorseli, and exit through the northernmost exit back into Silorn. This will give you access to a button which opens the way to the Silorn Buroseli area. You'll find Falcar shortly within this area. Unlike the other Necromancers in the area, who tend to run around and make you chase them, Falcar will charge straight at you and attack aggressively with his dagger. He hits surprisingly hard (and fast) so don't underestimate him. Kill him, and loot the Colossal Black Soul Gem. Leave Silorn.

[edit] Alternate Method 1

Sneak past the Battlemages and attack the two Necromancers standing watch outside the ruin (sneak attack with enchanted arrows or paralyzing them and killing them both quickly both work well). Enter the ruin and proceed to stealth kill all the Necromancers until you reach Falcar in the depths of the ruin. Paralyze Falcar to prevent him from running after the first hit, and then kill him. Loot his corpse. Leave Silorn. It's not necessary, but you can talk to the Battlemages if you want, and they'll just tell you to return it to Traven immediately (which is what you can just do anyway).

[edit] Alternate Method 2

Pickpocket Falcar, and steal the gem from him. It will show as stolen in your inventory, but Traven will accept it anyway. See discussion page for more comments.

Take out the two necromancers in front by any means, then position your fellow mages wherever you want in order to trigger Falcar's exit. Quickly move up to the steps in sneak mode (using invisibility or chameleon if necessary) as Falcar passes with his bodyguard. Either at that point or when he flees, it is possible to pick his pocket and remove the gem.

[edit] Alternate Method 3

Kill Falcar outside the ruins. Falcar has almost 250 hit points, and is generally quite difficult to kill with one strike. His speed is well beyond normal, so a follow-up attack will normally not be possible. A sneak attack must deal 61 base damage in order to kill him (41 damage at Apprentice level) and a single power attack must deal a base of 98 damage. A custom spell, enchanted weapon or poison will help considerably. Below is a list of suggested methods. Note that some of them may depend on the difficulty level you're using and the skills, items, and spells you have available.

[edit] Methods to kill Falcar

Use Skooma to fortify your speed enough that you can keep up with Falcar when he flees and thus kill him. Note that for a mage, the drop in intelligence is normally far too costly.
Attack Falcar as soon as he emerges, then trap him in the narrow steps. He won't get far enough out to turn back and run inside.
Talk to Falcar from behind to get him to turn around, then hit him. Very quickly talk to him again and repeat as necessary. This method is best for low-level melee attackers.
Paralysis is a great way to take Falcar down and prevent him from re-entering Silorn. Paralysis is, however, the most expensive offensive spell effect in the game, only available once you reach Journeyman level in Illusion. Paralysis poisons can be made by a Journeyman in Alchemy. The Cobra's Dance greater power (from the Serpent Doomstone) is another alternative: a hefty 5 seconds of paralysis plus damage. The greater power will only allow you one chance though, so save before trying.
If you have the Enemies Explode spell and a high destruction you can kill the three necromancers and Falcar as they exit and while they are grouped together. The battlemages will not have attacked if you move when the necromancers reach the bottom of the stairway.

[edit] Return

Return the gem to Traven. If Traven mentions the Battlemages, choose the Black Soul Gem topic to complete the quest.

[edit] Notes

If you approach Falcar in the ruins under the cover of Invisibility or 100% Chameleon he will at first be aggressive but will then calm down.
If you kill Falcar when he is not aggressive, it will be counted as a murder by the Dark Brotherhood.
If you immediately leave without pursuing Falcar, the 3 mages follow him into the ruin, in pursuit. If you return a few hours later and clear out (or sneak through) the ruin, you will find the 3 mages standing over Falcar's body at the very end of the tomb. That suggests you don't even have to pickpocket Falcar... just let the mages do the work.
Make sure you either have a spell that opens hard level locks or lockpicks before beginning this quest, as you will need them in Silorn, provided you don't just kill Falcar outside of the ruin.

[edit] Journal Entries

Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
Ambush (MG17Ambush)
10		I need to travel to the south of Cyrodiil and meet a group of Battlemages preparing to storm the ruins of Silorn.
20		I have arrived at Silorn, and spoken with Thalfin. We cannot enter the ruins, so I must help prepare an ambush for the Necromancers when they attempt to leave.
30		I have been discovered by the Necromancers at Silorn. They will surely have alerted Falcar; I'll need to enter the ruins and find him. (This will appear in your journal if Falcar hasn't left Silorn yet.) or Falcar has fled back into the ruins of Silorn. I must find him. (This will appear in your journal if Falcar has left Silorn)
90		I've recovered the Black Soul Gem. It needs to be taken back to Hannibal Traven at the Arcane University.
100	0	The Black Soul Gem has been delivered to Hannibal Traven.

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 quest stage. Where quest is the internal name of the quest, and 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.