Oblivion:Corruption and Conscience

The Captain of the Guard in Cheydinhal is corrupt and the citizens want him removed. Quest Giver: Llevana Nedaren in Cheydinhal Location(s): Cheydinhal Prerequisite Quest: None Next Quest: None Reward: Level-dependent amount of gold Fame/Infamy: Fame +1; Infamy +1 if player kills Ulrich ID: MS10

Cheydinhal needs a more honest captain of the guard

Quick Walkthrough

1. Learn of the corruption in the guards, and speak to Llevana Nedaren to help fight it.
2. Nedaren points you to Garrus Darelliun, who will direct you to Aldos Othran when asked about Ulrich.
3. Speak with Othran, and he'll have an altercation with a guard in which he is killed.
4. Leave, and speak with Llevana who tells you to bring Ulrich to her.
5. Before you bring Ulrich to Llevana, speak with Garrus for an alternate method.
6. Decide which method to take.
7. When Ulrich is dealt with, you receive your gold and single fame/infamy point.

Detailed Walkthrough

Corruption

[Aldos Othran's house

The corruption started when the new captain of the guard, Ulrich Leland, arrived in Cheydinhal. Ask about "Rumors" in Cheydinhal and you'll learn the topic "Fines." Ask about the exorbitant fines and you'll be directed to the outspoken Llevana Nedaren to help fight the corruption. She tells you to seek out Garrus Darelliun in the Count's Castle. When you talk to him, ask him about Ulrich. You'll need a disposition of at least 60 with him before he'll tell you anything. Garrus tells you that he needs a witness to be able to bring the case before the Count. He directs you to Aldos Othran, a local drunk that lost his house after being unable to pay the various fines imposed on him by Ulrich.

Deal with Ulrich

Save your game, there is a possible bug that can happen here. After you mention Ulrich to Aldos, he tells you to follow him. He walks up to his house and starts berating a guard. After a short discussion he pulls a knife and the guard kills him. Your quest journal now indicates that you need to talk to Llevana again. After you talk to Llevana she snaps and tells you to bring Ulrich to her, she tells you to inform him that she has "information that incriminates him" and she'll "take care of him" when he arrives. Before you talk to Ulrich, visit Garrus again. He proposes an alternate plan; you are to sneak into Ulrich's quarters (located in the Cheydinhal Castle Guard Barracks), and look for evidence to use against him. Garrus gives you a key and your journal indicates that you need to choose between the two methods. All methods will yield one Fame point.

Garrus's Method

If you pick Garrus's method, you find a note in Ulrich's room (on top of a book on top of the dresser to the right as you enter) that shows he's been sending huge sums to his family and basically milking the town. Give this note to Garrus, and he runs off to the count and tells you to meet him in the Cheydinhal Bridge Inn in two hours (possible bug triggering can happen now, see Notes section below for Bug Alert #4). When you meet Garrus at the inn he thanks you for your help and gives you a level dependent (see below) amount of gold. Ulrich is incarcerated in the town dungeons indefinitely. Garrus is then promoted to Captain of the Guard.

Llevana's Method

If you pick Llevana's method, lead Ulrich to her house. Inside, they talk for a bit, she then paralyzes him and summons two Tunnel Rats to eat him. Once he's dead your journal is updated. Talk to Garrus, who admonishes you for choosing bloodshed but gives you a level dependent amount of gold since you acted for the good of Cheydinhal (less gold than if you choose the non-violent method). You can loot Ulrich's body for free though. Llevana goes to jail, and Garrus gets promoted to Captain of the Guard.

Your Own Method

There is a third option that neither Llevana nor Garrus would have dared to suggest: seek justice by your own hand. At this stage, slaying Ulrich yourself will complete the quest. Speaking to Garrus afterwards will result in him berating you for such a murderous choice and you will get no gold. Depending upon how Ulrich dies, you risk a bounty or jail time for your action.

• This result will occur if Ulrich dies by any means other than Llevana's trap. Methods such as Poisoned Apples, Frenzy-induced attacks, or dying during the Defense of Bruma will earn you no criminal bounty. Nevertheless, Garrus will still say you murdered Ulrich in cold blood.

Reward

Level	Garrus Method	Llevana Method
1-4	150 Gold	75 Gold
5-9	250 Gold	175 Gold
10-14	350 Gold	275 Gold
15-19	450 Gold	375 Gold
20-24	550 Gold	475 Gold
25+	650 Gold	575 Gold

Notes

• The "heavy fines" are also associated with any bounties the player receives. All fines are increased to 150% of the bounties listed on the Crime page.
• You can either find the incriminating note, or lead Ulrich to his doom; you can't do both. If you find the note, you will not be able to talk to him, (and the green quest marker disappears), and if you let the rats have their way with him, the note doesn't appear on the dresser.
• You can also complete this quest an alternate way. After speaking with Garrus, do not speak with Aldos as directed; instead, go and kill Ulrich. Then speak with Garrus again to complete the quest. This way, Aldos technically does not die -- but after you complete the quest, he vanishes from the game.
• One way of skipping a small part is by casting a Frenzy spell on Aldos. He will unsheathe his weapon and guards will come and kill him, regardless of where he is or if he attacks anyone. It will then come up with the dialogue saying that he approached his house and was killed by the guard there. You can do this before you have even talked to Llevana Nedaren, but you must have started the quest.
• If you're planning on following the Main Quest then you might want to delay starting Corruption and Conscience until after The Defense of Bruma. This will ensure that Ulrich is dispatched to help in this major battle before you get him arrested or killed. Ulrich can be a useful soldier in the battle since he is essential and cannot be killed.
• Providing that you did not kill Ulrich Leland yourself, you will be able to visit Ulrich or Llevana in prison, depending on how you completed the quest.
• If you drop the key Garrus gave you before giving him the evidence, you can pick it back up afterward.

Bugs

• After you bring Llevanas' plan to Garrus, each time you select the Ulrich Leland option, Garrus will repeatedly give you a key to Ulrich's room.
  • This bug is fixed by the Unofficial Oblivion Patch.
• If you've got the message to meet Garrus at the inn, there is a bug that sometimes causes Garrus not to appear at the green marker. It seems that waiting near him or even in Cheydinhal Castle hall for two hours causes this bug, so wait outside until time passes! Chances for this bug to show up are lesser when you give the suspicious note to Garrus in the daytime. If everything goes well, a quest note should pop up after waiting for 2 hours. Here is a possible fix (for PC version only). When you are outside of the Cheydinhal Bridge Inn bring up the console and type the following command:

  set MS10.GarrusBridge to 0
  

  Then go to the Bridge Inn, Garrus should be here. Do this only if you reached stage when quest points to Bridge Inn but Garrus missing.
  • This bug is fixed by the Unofficial Oblivion Patch.
• If you give the note to Garrus at a time when the Count is not available, such as at night, Garrus won't show up at the Cheydinhal Bridge Inn and you won't be able to finish the quest. At the moment there is no known way of fixing this issue apart from restoring to an earlier savegame. Simply waiting long enough for Garrus and the Count to meet is also known to work, although it's undetermined as to exactly how much time this will take. It is easiest to just load an earlier save. You can also try the fix for the previous bug.
  • This bug is fixed by the Unofficial Oblivion Patch.
• Sometimes, there is a bug that happens just at the point where Aldos is supposed to pull a knife on the guard in front of his house which for some reason will cause him not to draw, but instead leave you stuck in immobile-mode, unable to do anything. If this happens, try following console commands to fix it (PC version only):

  prid 00003c8b4
  kill
  

  This will kill Aldos Othran and allow the quest to continue. ^?
• If you attack (then engage in fight) the guard in front of Aldos house, (while Aldos approaches for the encounter with this same guard) the moment Aldos starts the dialogue, you'd get stuck in immobile-mode. For the PS3 console, no solution exists but just to reload an earlier save game. The same bug can be achieved by casting a paralyze spell on the guard as Aldos approaches him. When the guard gets up, they'll both just stare at you while you're immobile. ^?
• If Ulrich is caught in some fighting after you have just begun this quest (only one journal entry) and is killed by one of the guards or townspeople, you are unable to complete the quest. Garrus tells you "We've got him now ... (etc)" but no topic to complete the quest is enabled for him. Llevana tells you "Ok, I guess we will do it your way" and does not give you the chance to talk to her further. Aldos Othran tells you to follow him but he goes nowhere. Lastly Ulrich's note does not exist in his room. There is no known way of fixing this issue apart from restoring to an earlier savegame.
  • This bug is fixed by the Unofficial Oblivion Patch.
• Aldos Othran tells you to follow him to the outside of his house (where there normally should be a guard). There is no guard there and you just stand there in cutscene mode. No known fix exists.
  • This bug is fixed by version 1.7.0 of the Unofficial Oblivion Patch.
  • Save before you speak to Aldos! If you encounter this bug, reload. Don't speak to him. Cast a Frenzy spell on Aldos while he is standing on the bridge near his house (around 10:30AM). He will draw his dagger and a nearby guard will rush in and kill him. Then the dialog for the next part of the quest will pop up ("He had led me to his old house, where he exchanged heated words with the guards...."). Now you can complete the quest as normal.
• Another of the "infinite gold" glitches, sometimes Garrus's dialogue doesn't change after the reward is given for helping convict Ulrich, and he will continue giving further rewards each time the subject is broached. Entering "stopquest MS10" on the console will remove the offending dialogue option.
  • This bug is fixed by the Unofficial Oblivion Patch.
• If you deal with Ulrich Garrus's way, you can visit him in prison and then kill him. You will then get an update that tells you to speak with Garrus again. It also mentions that he's still Ulrich's 2nd in command even though he was already promoted to Captain of the Guard. The bug is caused by Ulrich's OnDeath script checking that the quest stage is >=90 and <150 before setting stage 150. If you complete it Llevana's way, the quest will be at stage 180 instead.
  • This bug is fixed by the Unofficial Oblivion Patch.

Journal Entries

Corruption and Conscience (MS10)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		I was told by one of the townspeople in Cheydinhal that the guards have been imposing heavy and unfair fines lately. This seemed to begin ever since the new Captain of the Guard, Ulrich Leland, took office. I was referred to Llevana Nedaren, who lives in the south end of town, as she is the most vocal about her dislike of the new commander.
20		Llevana Nedaren told me about the plight of a good friend of hers, Aldos Othran. She explained how he was evicted from his home for non-payment of fines and expressed her hatred of Ulrich. She mentioned that Ulrich's second in command, Garrus Darelliun, seemed sympathetic to the people's plight. I should speak to Garrus next about this matter.
30		Garrus Darelliun let me know his dislike of his commanding officer and took it a step further by letting me know he thinks Ulrich is pocketing much of the money from the inflated fines. He said I should speak to Aldos, as Garrus needs a witness to bring Ulrich to justice.
40		I found Aldos, drunk as usual. He begged me to follow him back to his old house where wanted me to witness something. I should follow.
50		Aldos Othran has been slain by a Cheydinhal guard. He had led me to his old house, where he exchanged heated words with the guards. During the argument, Aldos pulled a knife and the guard put him down. I should tell Llevana the sad news.
60		Llevana was furious after I told her of Aldos's fate. She wants me to go speak to Ulrich and somehow convince him to follow me back to her house, where she would "take care of him." This doesn't sound like the best method to deal with Ulrich. I think I should speak to Garrus first then decide how to handle this situation.
70		Garrus was saddened by the news of Aldos's death. He vowed to bring Ulrich to justice by any means. He suggested the only way to incriminate the Captain would be by searching his quarters. He is suggesting that I sneak in there and look for such evidence. I'll have to decide if I want to do this Garrus's way or Llevana's way.
75		I have convinced Ulrich to follow me to Llevana's house. I should lead him there now.
78		I have arrived at Llevana's house with Ulrich. I should see where he goes.
79		(This makes the rats appear and attack and kill Ulrich)
80		Once Ulrich was led inside Llevana's house, she cast some sort of paralysis spell on him. At that point, Llevana released some rats upon Ulrich's helpless body that bit into him until he was dead. I should report this to Garrus.
90		In Ulrich's quarters, I've discovered a letter he wrote to some relatives outside of Cyrodiil. In it, he talks about sending them a great deal of money and goods he purchased using the illicit funds. This is the evidence Garrus would need. I should take it to him.
95		I have given the evidence to Garrus he needs to remove Ulrich from office. He said he would take it directly to the Count of Cheydinhal. He told me to meet him at the Cheydinhal Bridge Inn in two hours. (If the player finishes the quest Garrus's way) or Garrus was upset that I would resort to such a method to have Ulrich removed from his position, but he was glad it was over. He said he would report this to the Count of Cheydinhal, and told me to meet him at the Cheydinhal Bridge Inn in two hours. (If the player finishes the quest another way)
97		It's been about two hours, and Garrus Darelliun should be meeting me at the Cheydinhal Bridge Inn.
100	1	Garrus has informed me that he was made Captain of the Guard of Cheydinhal to replace Ulrich, and has rewarded me for helping him.
120
150		I've slain Ulrich Leland. At my first opportunity, I should speak with Garrus Darelliun, his second-in-command.
180	1	Although my actions removed Ulrich from his position as Captain of the Guard, Garrus didn't approve of my method.
200	1	One of the characters needed to complete this quest has died.

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 MS10 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.