Oblivion:The Coldest Sleep

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1 Quick Walkthrough
2 Detailed Walkthrough
3 Notes
4 Journal Entries

Locate a Nord at Gnoll Mountain, said to be running from a fate he chose in Solstheim. Today it will find him. ^edit

Quest Giver: Dead Drop at the Imperial City Market District
Location(s): Gnoll Mountain
Prerequisite Quest: A Matter of Honor
Next Quest: A Kiss Before Dying
Reward: 500 gold
Fame/Infamy: Infamy +1
ID: Dark15Coldest

Havilstein Hoar-Blood at Gnoll Mountain.

[edit] Quick Walkthrough

Receive the next contract.
Make your way up the mountain to Hoar-Blood.
Decide how you will kill him and his wolf companion.
Make your way to the next dead drop.

[edit] Detailed Walkthrough

[edit] The Target

Your orders instruct you to travel to Gnoll Mountain to kill Havilstein Hoar-Blood. According to the dead-drop orders he murdered a mead hall chieftain back on Solstheim and the victim's sister wants bloody revenge. This is out of the ordinary, as Nord tradition dictates some form of monetary distribution.

[edit] Up the Mountain

Travel to Bruma, you then need to head directly east to Gnoll Mountain. The easiest way up the mountain is the trail. Follow the trail that starts at the Bruma East Gate. Take the left path when you get to the "Bruma-Imperial City" crossroads. Take the first right when you get to Dragonclaw Rock. You'll run into a Bandit camp very shortly, so be ready. Continue east past the camp. Now up the mountain and across the bridge. Hoar-Blood and Redmaw (his wolf companion ) can be found at the end of the trail.

[edit] Killing Hoar-Blood

How you should kill him depends on what you're best at.

If you're skilled at Marksman and Sneak, a ranged sneak attack is an effective way to kill him. A Chameleon effect and sneaking up the hill just before the target can enable you to use a bow to perform a sneak-attack on him, bringing his health down drastically. Afterwards, you can run back down the hill to the edge, just outside of his reach, and perform further attacks with which to kill him. Three or four arrows will take care of the wolf.
If you are skilled at Blade or Blunt you may wish to use a sneak attack; be careful however, as his wolf will often detect you. Even if this happens, you can still often paralyze him or knock him down to make him take fall damage. While difficult, fall damage is an effective way to kill Hoar-Blood.
If you have Shadowmere with you, you can use her to distract your enemy.
If you approach Havilstein in his sleep, you can pickpocket all of his weapons and armor, or even slip him a cursed item.
You can't kill him with Poisoned Apples because he does not eat.

[edit] The Next Dead Drop

Now that business has been taken care of, you should head for Nornal to collect your reward/next contract. The ruins are filled with rats, crabs and marauders, this doesn't even change if you're higher than level 5. Upon entering, head down the stairs and take a right. Dive under the water and swim towards the door. It's locked. There exists A Rusty Key, that opens the lock, if your security skill isn't that high. However, an alternative way of entering the room is to use a potion or item that gives you "Water Walking on Self" and walk through the iron bars above the door, effectively bypassing the gate. In the chest is your gold and your next contract. You could also just jump out of the water to get over the gate.

[edit] Notes

Go up the mountain with a lot of spare room in your inventory. Havilstein always has two battle axes, one of which is enchanted.
Also grab the Grey Robe Hood in his tent as it is one of only two in the game.
If you have the Wizard's Tower official plug-in, Gnoll Mountain is a very short walk from Frostcrag Spire.

[edit] Journal Entries

The Coldest Sleep (Dark15Coldest)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		I have picked up my next contract from the dead drop in the hollowed-out tree stump. I have been ordered to go to the campsite on Gnoll Mountain and kill Havilstein Hoar-Blood, a savage Nord Barbarian skilled in the use of the axe.
20		Havilstein Hoar-Blood is dead. I must now pick up my reward and next contract at the dead drop located in an old chest that is sunk into the pool at the Ayleid ruin of Nornal.
100	0	I have picked up my reward and received my next contract.

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.