Oblivion:Mercator Hosidus

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Mercator Hosidus in the hall of Skingrad Castle

Mercator Hosidus, an Imperial noble, handles appointments for Count Janus Hassildor at the Skingrad Castle. It seems he moonlights in another profession, however. During the related quest, Mercator turns out to be a Necromancer and attempts to lure the player into an ambush together with his two similar minded friends: Arterion and Mondrar Henim.

At the castle, Mercator shares his duties with Hal-Liurz, but is clearly the most arrogant of the two. Even though he hides a dark secret, he lives his life at ease. Every day at 6am, he gets out of his bed in the Castle Living Quarters and enters the County Hall, where he will wander around all day long. As the count never wants to see anybody, his job is extremely easy; therefore, as early at 8pm, Mercator retires to his room for ten hours of sleep. The only exception to this routine is at stage 30 of the related quest, when he will set off at 10pm to the high pastures, just west of Tamika's Vineyard and wait for you to make your appearance. On rare occasions he can be seen in the Skingrad graveyard on the road outside the town(360 version).^{[verification needed — Is this specific to the 360 version? Does it only happen during the quest?]}

He wears typical upper-class attire: a green brocade doublet, a green silk garment and a pair of matching shoes. He also carries a leveled piece of upper-class jewelry, a sizable amount of gold and two keys, which are however removed from his inventory at the start of the related quest. In combat, he relies on an Iron Dagger and leveled set of standard Necromancer spells.

His room is located in the midst of the Castle's Living Quarters and contains two books on Alchemy and a complete set of Alchemy Apparatus.

Not the most service-minded steward in the game, he will greet you with the following insult: "The Count will not see you now. Not now, not ever. He sees no one. I’m Mercator Hosidus, his steward. I believe that’s all you need to know." On the city of Skingrad, he will give the following impolite advice: "Wander the streets, fields, and public places of Skingrad to your heart’s content. Just don’t include me in your social explorations."

He will also guide you towards purchasing your own mansion in Skingrad, should you happen to ask.

[edit] Related Quests

• Ulterior Motives: Retrieve a book from the Count of Skingrad.
• Buying a house in Skingrad: Purchase Rosethorn Hall, a large manor house in Skingrad.