Oblivion:Imperial Corruption

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OB-qico-General1.png
One of the Imperial Guard captains in the Imperial City is corrupt.
Quest Giver: Luronk gro-Glurzog or Ruslan in The Imperial City
Location(s): Imperial City
Reward: Increase in Jensine's disposition
Fame/Infamy: Fame +1, +2 with UOP
ID: MS26
 
Audens Avidius, the corrupt Imperial Watchman, after escaping prison.

Quick Walkthrough[edit]

  1. Hear complaints of a crooked Imperial Watch Captain.
  2. Speak with the shop owner where this occurred and find out who's behind it.
  3. Report this to numerous guards and be directed to Itius Hayn.
  4. Find two witnesses and convince them to testify against the corrupt Watch Captain - Audens Avidius.
  5. After ten days, provided you are over level 5, Audens will find and attack you.
  6. Kill him and search his corpse for a note.

Detailed Walkthrough[edit]

Complaints[edit]

Talk to Luronk gro-Glurzog or his friend Ruslan, who both usually hang around in the Temple District, and they will complain about being robbed by some Imperial watchman while shopping at Jensine's "Good as New" Merchandise. Go to the shop in the Market District and talk to Jensine. If you raise her disposition to 70 she'll tell you the name of the soldier responsible - Audens Avidius.

Report Avidius[edit]

Report Audens to any of the guards around. They turn out to be of no use, as the culprit is a Captain and can only be arrested by someone of the same rank. That means you will need another captain's help to catch him. Try the famous Hieronymus Lex if you have not completed the Thieves Guild quest line. Lex is usually in the Waterfront District, but the quest arrow should point to him now. Speak to him, and he'll refuse to help too, as he's too busy with his search for the Gray Fox and will send you to another captain - Itius Hayn. If you have completed the Thieves Guild quest line go and talk to Servatius Quintilius. He follows a similar schedule to Lex, but the quest arrow should point to him. When you speak to him he will tell you that he has only recently been promoted and is not willing to cause any trouble. He, like Lex, will then tell you to go talk to Itius Hayn. You find Hayn in the city (following the quest arrow again). If his disposition is at least 70, he'll tell you that you need to have two witnesses ready to testify due to the seriousness of the accusation. Get back to Luronk gro-Glurzog and Ruslan. The quest arrow should lead you to them. Raise their disposition to 70 to convince them to testify. If you ask Jensine to testify, she will refuse, regardless of disposition.

Justice Served[edit]

Now the quest arrow should point back at Itius Hayn, but you don't need to follow it. The next day, the witnesses will meet Itius for a brief moment. If you speak to Hayn after this he tells you that he shall arrest Audens Avidius. You can follow him until he does, but it is not necessary. The corrupt captain threatens to kill you, but afraid of Itius he peacefully goes to jail. The only reward for the quest is a fame point and an increased disposition with Jensine, but it is simple enough that you can finish the quest very quickly. Once you have persuaded the two witnesses to testify, the next part of the quest will play out even if you are not there. You can be doing something completely different, and at the appropriate time a quest update will appear telling you that Audens Avidius has been arrested.

Escape from Prison[edit]

After ten days, and when you are at least level 5, Audens Avidius will escape from jail, track you down and attack you. He will even follow you into the Planes of Oblivion, but not into the Shivering Isles (he will wait for you outside the Strange Door) or into locked buildings. He's poorly armed so you can kill him easily. In his belongings you can find a note saying that he escaped through the same route as you did.

Notes[edit]

  • If you try to confront Audens Avidius before he is arrested, he will put a 1000 gold bounty on your head. He will then proceed to arrest you with the normal dialogue.
  • It may take much more than a day for your witnesses to find their way to the proper authorities.
  • If Audens' disposition towards you is high enough (through fame, personality and so on) he will not attack when he escapes, and will act as a normal Imperial City guard. You could also charm him, yield to him and raise his disposition, if you have a powerful enough spell. Afterwards he stands around acting like a normal guard, and appears outside any prison you are sent to (like the Fighter's Guild members from the Desolate Mine).
  • Luronk and Ruslan can both die. Should one of them do so, there is no way to complete the quest.

Bugs[edit]

  • When the two witnesses set off to testify to Itius Hayn at 8am, they will both give up the search around 9am, never reaching Itius. However, as each of them abandons the search, the game will act as though they had successfully found Itius and testified. Once both witnesses have tried and failed to find Itius, the quest will update to stage 90 and Itius will find and arrest Audens. Thus, this bug does not block the completion of the quest.
  • After the witnesses have reported to Itius Hayn but before Avidius' arrest, selecting the "Corrupt Imperial Watchman" conversation item will cause Audens Avidius to say the generic, "If you've got a complaint, tell it to the watch captain," dialogue. He will even be so kind as to suggest which captain would be the most open to hearing your accusations against him.
  • If Audens attacks the player when there are any guards nearby, this will usually result in the player getting an assault bounty (40 gold) and being attacked by the guards as well. This is caused by a bug where even though he's removed from the Guard class when he's arrested, the code often doesn't take effect.
  • The above bug may also cause Audens Avidius to continue to have the ability to arrest your character after he has been put in jail, if your character has a bounty.
  • If Servatius Quintilius has died for any reason, the quest marker will point you to the spot where he died. You can still continue the quest as usual by finding Itius Hayn; during the day he patrols throughout the Imperial City, but at night he will always be in the northwest watchtower between the Talos Plaza and Elven Gardens districts.
  • The note you find on Audens' body is one of the few things that doesn't adjust to the sex of your character. It always says "...poke his nose..."
  • There is a bug with An Unexpected Voyage which can make Servatius appear in Imperial City, before Lex is sent to Anvil. If you completed the Unexpected Voyage before this quest and at stage 20 you talk to Servatius he'll update you to stage 30 and send you to Lex.
  • Killing Audens yourself after he escapes from jail is supposed to give the player an additional fame point and set the quest to stage 120. Due to a scripting error, Audens is always assumed to have been killed by something other than the player, which sets the stage to 119. That additional fame point and stage 120 are impossible to obtain without using the console.

Journal Entries[edit]

Imperial Corruption (MS26)
Stage Finishes Quest Journal Entry
5 (Set if PC asks a guard for directions to a captain. Hieronymus Lex.)
6 (Set if PC asks a guard for directions to a captain. Servatius Quintilius.)
10 Apparently there is a corrupt Imperial Watchman in the city. Luronk gro-Glurzog in the Temple district was complaining about him. Luronk ran afoul of him at Jensine's Merchandise in the market district. Luronk didn't have a name, but maybe Jensine does.
11 Apparently there is a corrupt Imperial Watchman in the city. Ruslan in the Temple district was complaining about him. Ruslan ran afoul of him at Jensine's Merchandise in the market district. Ruslan didn't have a name, but maybe Jensine does.
20 I spoke to Jensine in the Imperial market district about the corrupt watchman. She told me the same story as Ruslan and Luronk. The Imperial Watch Captain Audens Avidius is extorting money from the shopkeepers. They are all too afraid of him to do anything about it. I need to find someone with the authority to stop him. She says only another watch captain would be able to arrest him.
30 The guards are no help. Any complaints about guard activities are to be taken to the guard captain. Of course Audens Avidius is one of the guard captains, so that won't work. I could try talking to one of the other Watch Captains.
40 I tried reporting Audens Avidius to Hieronymus Lex, who is one of the other guard captains. He is busy chasing after the Gray Fox. He said I should try the third guard captain, Itius Hayn.
45 I tried reporting Audens Avidius to Servatius Quintilius, who is one of the other guard captains. He is new to the job and won't act against one of the other guard captains. He said I should try the third guard captain, Itius Hayn.
50 Watch Captain Itius Hayn is willing to arrest Audens Avidius if I can produce two witnesses that will publically [sic] accuse him. The only victims I know are Ruslan, Luronk gro-Grurzog [sic], and Jensine. I'll need to talk to them.
60 Jensine refuses to testify against Audens Avidius. I don't think I can persuade her. I'll have to try the other two, Luronk and Ruslan.
70 Ruslan has agreed to testify against Audens Avidius in the morning. Now I just have to get Luronk gro-Glurzog to testify as well.
71 (Ruslan spoke with Itius.)
75 Luronk gro-Glurzog has agreed to testify against Audens Avidius in the morning. Now I just have to get Ruslan to testify as well.
76 (Luronk spoke with Itius.)
80 I've convinced both Ruslan and Luronk to testify against Audens Avidius. I hope Itius Hayn is true to his word and arrests his fellow Watch Captain. Otherwise those two are going to be in a lot of trouble. I could keep an eye on those two and make sure they go to see Itius first thing in the morning.
89 (Set to strip Audens of his rank)
90 (Both Ruslan and Luronk have testified to Itius Hayn.)
91 Yes☑ Audens Avidius has been arrested. That should make Jensine, Ruslan, and Luronk happy. Hopefully it will serve as a lesson for any other guard that is thinking about shaking down innocent citizens.
95 (Audens in jail)
100 (Audens escapes)
119 Yes☑ Audens Avidius is dead. He was that crooked guard in the Imperial City that had threatened Luronk and Ruslan. He must have escaped from prison. He kept raving about how he would get me for putting him in jail.
120 Audens Avidius attacked me. He was that crooked guard in the Imperial City that had threatened Luronk and Ruslan. He must have escaped from prison. Sadly, I was forced to kill him. He kept raving about how he would get me for putting him in jail.
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 PC It is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage MS26 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.