Oblivion:Liberation or Apprehension?

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1 Quick Walkthrough
2 Detailed Walkthrough
3 Notes
4 Journal Entries

Locate a Necromancer informant, and return him safely to the Arcane University. ^edit

Quest Giver: Arch-Mage Traven at the Arcane University
Location(s): Arcane University, Nenyond Twyll
Prerequisite Quest: Necromancer's Moon
Next Quest: Information at a Price
Reward: Promotion to Warlock
Fame/Infamy: Fame +1
ID: MG12Gate

Liberate or apprehend?

[edit] Quick Walkthrough

Speak to Arch-Mage Traven who tells you to find Mucianus Alias and some Battlemages at Nenyond Twyll.
Once you arrive talk to Fithragaer the only remaining Battlemage.
Explore Nenyond Twyll until you find Mucianus Alias, who has been turned into a unique zombie called a Worm Thrall.
Return to Traven with the sad news concerning Mucianus which completes this task.
Go visit Raminus for advancement to Warlock.

[edit] Detailed Walkthrough

[edit] Background

Speak to Arch-Mage Traven after completing Necromancer's Moon. After he gives you a little speech about how you've shown great promise and such, he'll get down to the business of your next quest. It seems that in their efforts to gain information about the Necromancers, the Mage's Guild has enlisted a spy, Mucianus Alias, within the Necromancer's organization. This move has given the Guild valuable information, but now Traven feels that the informant is in danger. In particular, Traven is worried that a group of Battlemages sent to find Mucianus by the guild council will mistreat him or even mistake him for one of the necromancers, so he sends you to Mucianus Alias's last known location, Nenyond Twyll (South of the Imperial City.)

[edit] Fithragaer

Once you travel to the ruins and step inside, you meet what remains of the Battlemages, Fithragaer. According to him, the Necromancers were ready for the Battlemages, and that they were ambushed. This obviously doesn't sound like good news for the informant. Still, Fithragaer is eager to continue the fight, and he tells you to follow him. This turn of events only lasts a few seconds, as Fithragaer steps onto a platform that rises rapidly into the air, impaling him on spines attached to the ceiling. The platform is on the bottom of the first set of steps, in the center of the room. Now you'll be searching for Mucianus alone. There is a method for keeping Fithragaer alive, however, this is quite tricky. See the Notes section for more information. Keep in mind, the survival of Fithragaer is not mandatory, nor do you gain a reward for keeping him alive in the end.

[edit] The Rest of the Ruin

After passing the trap, the rest of the quest is decently straight forward. Just make your way towards the Riellesel area. In there, you'll find a necromancer named Mariette Rielle. Surprisingly, she doesn't attack you on sight. Speak with her if you want to, if you'd rather just attack her, that's fine too. If you do choose to talk, Mariette will tell you that Mucianus Alias has been turned into a Worm Thrall (Zombie), and then she will attack you. After you kill her, hit the switch on the northwest wall to open a nearby door. Behind the door you find Mucianus who, as Mariette claimed, is a Worm Thrall. Sadly, there is no way to help him, so the only thing you can do is head back to the Arcane University and report what happened. Don't forget to speak with Raminus for a promotion to Warlock. Your promotion will also gain you access to the Council Chamber (second floor of the Arch-Mages's tower).

[edit] Notes

You can keep Fithragaer alive, although Fithragaer's death is a scripted event which triggers a journal update (and updates your quest marker). If he does not die, it can cause the quest not to update properly. If you wish to keep him alive, one way to do it is:

Enter the cave. Fithragaer will start to move towards you, whether or not you are invisible.
Exit the cave quickly before he can chat with you.
Next, go back into the cave, but be invisible this time. Now he will be unable to see you and will stay in place.
Clear the cave of enemies on your own.
Go back to chat with Fithragaer; you'll get a quest dialogue.
Go back to Mucianus. You'll get a dialogue saying you've completed the quest and should go back to speak with Traven.

Another method is:

Enter the cave and let Fithragaer talk to you.
Run ahead and trigger the trap. When Fithragaer arrives he is likely to make it across the trap without it activating quickly enough to kill him.
Kill the nearby creatures without them hurting Fithragaer (he has very low health). You may want to lower the difficulty setting to do this quickly.
Fithragaer will now stay in that room until you slay Mucianus. Slightly after killing Mucianus, Fithragaer will begin to walk back to the entrance door with a small chance of being killed by the traps. Save after killing Mucianus in case Fithragaer dies.

If Fithragaer survives, he will stay in the ruin. If you get him to attack you and he follows you outside, he will die instantly. If you want to try this use a spell that doesn't inflict damage (because he has low health) but does anger a person, such as an absorb or drain skill/magicka spell.

You can easily defeat Mariette by hitting her and yielding before she retaliates. She will accept, dismissing any undead that she has summoned, and you can then hit her again. She will continue to accept yields until you kill her.

You do not need to kill Alias. Activating him (i.e., trying to talk to him) is sufficient to update the quest.

If Fithragaer dies at the trap near the entrance, and his body is left on it, the trap will keep activating until his corpse is removed.

[edit] Journal Entries

Liberation or Apprehension? (MG12Gate)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		I need to speak with Hannibal Traven, who has a special assignment for me.
20		I need to travel to Nenyond Twyll, south of the Imperial City, and make sure Mucianus Alias is safely rescued from the Necromancers there. I am to escort him back to the Arcane University.
30		Fithragaer is the only survivor from the group of Battlemages sent to find Mucianus Alias. I need to help him reach the Necromancers within Nenyond Twyll.
40		Fithragaer, the only surviving Battlemage, is dead. I'll need to continue on my own into the ruins to find Mucianus Alias.
50		I've found Mucianus Alias. He's been transformed into some kind of walking dead; there's nothing I can do for him. I should report his fate to Hannibal Traven at the Arcane University.
100	0	Arch-Mage Traven has been informed of Mucianus Alias' fate.

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.