Oblivion:Imperial Legion Forester

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Imperial Legion Foresters, doing what they do best.

Occasionally, if you venture out into the wilds, you'll encounter an Imperial Legion Forester. All of the Foresters are Imperial men and are usually hunting deer on foot. They are all equipped with a silver bow and steel arrows and wear varying combinations of fur, leather, and Imperial Legion armor. They will comment on the weather if you talk to them. A total of thirteen Foresters (four variations) can be found in the game.

The only topic available when you talk to them is "Rumors", but apart from that, they'll treat you like any guardsman, meaning they'll attack you if you've got a price on you head. So if you're ever on the lam, be careful if you decide to run into the wilderness, because you just might end up being pursued by one of these guys. They'll give you the standard options of "pay fine" "go to jail" and "resist arrest" when they catch you.

One notable quirk with the Foresters' AI is their tendency to get into fights with other Legion members. Whenever a Forester hunts for a deer (i.e., whenever a deer passes by), any nearby guards or Legion members (including any other Foresters) will chase and attack the Forester. The two NPCs will invariably fight to the death. One place where fights between Foresters are particularly common is west of Bruma, near Applewatch, where two Foresters patrol fairly close to each other.

• This bug is fixed by the Unofficial Oblivion Patch.