Oblivion:Skingrad Recommendation

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Contents 1 Quick Walkthrough 2 Detailed Walkthrough 2.1 Skingrad Mages Guild 2.2 A Terrible Guild Master 3 Notes 4 Bugs 5 Journal Entries

Find a missing mage to obtain a recommendation from Skingrad.  edit Quest Giver: Adrienne Berene at Skingrad Location(s): Skingrad Mages Guild and Bleak Flats Cave Reward: Skingrad Recommendation Fame/Infamy: Fame +1 ID: MG01Destruct

The guild at Skingrad, home to the art of destruction.

[edit] Quick Walkthrough

1. Speak with Adrienne Berene, she asks you to obtain some notes from a Mage that she forced to practice outside of the Guild.
2. The other Mages will fill you in on the details of where Erthor stays and why he stays there.
3. Head to Bleak Flats Cave and seek out Erthor.
4. Once Erthor is located, kill all the zombies and return to Adrienne with him for your recommendation.

[edit] Detailed Walkthrough

[edit] Skingrad Mages Guild

Speak to Adrienne Berene in the Skingrad Mages Guild for her recommendation. She asks you to help with finding some notes she lent to Erthor. She suggests speaking to the other mages in the guild, as they may have some idea where he is. Speak to any of the other mages about Erthor. They haven't seen him in a while but he is usually out in Bleak Flats Cave, west of Skingrad. Druja in particular can give you a more detailed location--northwest of Skingrad--and mark the location on your map. Druja suggests you remind Adrienne of this location.

[edit] A Terrible Guild Master

Speak with Adrienne, and remind her about Bleak Flats Cave. She will send you to the cave to fetch Erthor, giving you a Fireball spell for assistance. The cave is relatively small; besides Erthor there are only seven Deranged Zombies. These are leveled zombies that drop a unique form of Bonemeal instead of Mort Flesh. You will have to clear out the cave in order to get Erthor to leave and follow you back to Skingrad. Return with Erthor to the Mages Guild, and speak with Adrienne again to confirm your recommendation.

[edit] Notes

• If you want to steal Erthor's stuff but don't want to make a return trip to the cave, lead him around a corner and tell him to wait before taking it. If Erthor catches you in the act, you will be suspended from the guild.

• Don't be afraid to let Erthor return to Skingrad by himself. He is able to make it back safely. Be sure first, however, to follow him up the side tunnel that leads from his hiding place. He will need your help to open the rock wall at the end of this passage. Just pull on the lever to the left of the wall to open it.

• If your character is at a low level, Erthor is a great ally because he's a relatively strong mage and is essential. He can help you kill the Zombies in the cave if you start by sneaking past them; you can also have him follow you to other locations.

• At one point during development, this quest apparently had an option where Sulinus Vassinus could be asked to complete the task for you. The Journal Entries, NPC actions, and dialogue options are all still present in the Construction Set; the Prima Official Game Guide also claims that "Sulinus Vassinus will actually do the quest for you." However, it is impossible to trigger any of these options in game, perhaps because the developers intentionally disabled it.

[edit] Bugs

• If you are expelled from the Mage's Guild while Erthor is following you, he will be stuck following you until you get back in.

• There is a bug where Erthor refuses to acknowledge that the zombies are dead. This can be solved by reloading a save file from before entering the cave. One known cause is that the zombies respawn, so if you leave the cave after some but not all of them are dead and come back at least 73 hours later, there will be seven more of them; when they are dead this can throw off the counter that tracks when Erthor will agree to leave, so avoid leaving the cave until Erthor is willing to follow.
  • This bug is fixed by the Unofficial Oblivion Patch.
  • If you can remember how many zombies you killed the first time, kill just enough zombies to count as seven. This will allow you to leave with Erthor.
  • You can use the console to make Erthor follow you by typing setstage MG01Destruct 70. This makes Erthor follow you even if all the zombies are not dead yet.

• You may encounter a bug upon arrival back at the Guild Hall in which Erthor doesn't realize he's back and won't stop following you, even after talking to Adrienne to complete the quest. Reloading from the autosave fixed it (he should run to Adrienne and announce he's back, whereupon Adrienne will scold him.) If this doesn't work and you already went past the autosave, use the console command CompleteQuest MG01Destruct.
  • This bug is fixed by the Unofficial Oblivion Patch.

[edit] Journal Entries

Skingrad Recommendation (MG01Destruct)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		In order to get a recommendation from Adrienne Berene, I need to find Erthor and return him to the Skingrad Mages Guild. I should speak with the other guild mages to learn his whereabouts.
15		I have been told Erthor was last seen at Bleak Flats Cave, west of Skingrad. I should remind Adrienne of this.
17		I need to go to Bleak Flats Cave and find Erthor.
20 †		Sulinus Vassinus has offered to complete my task at Bleak Flats Cave for me, at a price. If I'm going to take him up on the offer, I need to bring him 300 gold. Otherwise, I should speak with the other guild mages to find where Erthor is.
30 †		I've paid Sulinus Vassinus, and he has agreed to go to Bleak Flats Cave and perform the task I was given. Once he returns, I can take credit for it.
40 †		Sulinus Vassinus has returned, and says that Erthor is safe. I need to go to Adrienne Berene, and tell her I saved him.
70		I've found Erthor in Bleak Flats Cave, and have agreed to escort him back to Adrienne Berene in Skingrad.
80		I've found Erthor in Bleak Flats Cave, and have told him to return to his guild hall. I need to report back to Adrienne Berene in Skingrad once Erthor has returned to town.
100		Adrienne Berene has agreed to send a recommendation to the Arcane University on my behalf.

† Quest stages 20, 30, and 40 involve a disabled quest option in which Sulinus Vassinus would help complete the quest, see Notes. These quest stages are not accessible.

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 MG01Destruct 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.

Next: There are seven Mages Guild recommendation quests that can be completed in any order: Anvil Recommendation Bravil Recommendation Bruma Recommendation Cheydinhal Recommendation Chorrol Recommendation Leyawiin Recommendation Skingrad Recommendation Once all seven are completed, your induction into the Mages Guild is completed by: A Mage's Staff