The Elder Scrolls IV:  Oblivion
Walkthrough and FAQ for the Thieves Guild Quests
Written by: Nick Bartosic
This file is Copyright (c)2006 Nick Bartosic. All rights reserved.
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Table of Contents
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1.  About Me
2.  The Guide
3.  The Game
4.  *NEW*  Thieves Guild Tips  *NEW*
5.  Joining the Thieves Guild
6.  Armand Cristophe's Quests
7.  S'krivva's Quests
8.  The Gray Fox's Quests
9.  Miscellaneous
10.  FAQ
11.  Credits
12.  Copyright Notice
13.  Contact Information
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About Me
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This is my first FAQ/Walkthrough of any kind on GameFaqs, so please be gentle
and merciful =) With that said, any help would be greatly appreciated
( constructive criticism that is ).  I'm a recent Software Apps and Programming
graduate from ITT Tech, and it was actually my professor that first got me
interested in the Elder Scrolls games by introducing me to Morrowind.  Since I
heard about Oblivion, I was very eager to get my hands on it.
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This Guide
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Version 1.0
March 27, 2006
Began writing introductions
Completed "Joining the Thieves Guild" section
Added Contact and Copyright information
Version 1.1
March 27, 2006 (Later that day)
Completed Armand's Quest line
Completed S'krivva's Quest line
Completed The Gray Fox's Quest line
Version 1.1a
April 2, 2006
Information update regarding contact information
Version 1.2
April 8, 2006
Updated a ton of info in the guide, including some bugs and typos
Added sections in Misc, FAQ, and Thieves Guild Tips
Version 1.2a
April 17, 2006
Information update regarding contact information
Working on next update currently, will be up within the next few days
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This Game
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Version 1.0
March 21, 2006
Bethesda releases Oblivion for the PC
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Thieves Guild Tips
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*1*
The first tip I have is, by far, the most important.  Make sure you learn it
if you haven't already.  Save, Save, SAVE!  This means save frequently, and
save using more than 1 file!  I can't TELL you how many times
I'll get e-mails with people that have gotten stuck on something, or they run
into a bug (Which can be expected with a new game).  Often times by reloading
to your last save, or a previous save (Provided your last fresh save file isn't
over 15 hours old) you can fix a problem.  This can help you get out of many
jams, including ones where you are suspended from the Guild.  This also will
include the annoying bugs in the final Heist quest.  Some of you will consider
this "cheating" by some stretch of the imagination, but Bethesda encourages
frequent saving as well.  With a new game like this, do yourself a favor and
just do it to avoid yourself some headache, if you want a challenge run the
difficulty bar up and get to higher levels...
X-Box 360 users, I've been told that your cache memory will often screw with
quests if you run into a bug, so not only will you need to reload to a previous
save when you encounter a bug, you have to make sure to restart your console
and clear your cache, this will fix problems many times.
*2*
First learn rule numba 1 =)
*3*
If you're looking for an answer to a particular question, try using the Find
command by hitting Ctrl + F.  Often times by putting in a keyword or two you
can find good info pretty quickly.
*4*
Scheherazade says if you invest in a Life Detection spell, or Life Detection
potions and scrolls if you can make them.  It can help you see
through doors and walls to find out where NPCs are located, and which way they
are looking, which can make sneaking around much easier on you.
*5*
If you run into a bug, and you have the X-Box version of the game, you should
try to clear your cache as previously stated.  To do this, you need to reset
your system, and hold the "A" button till the Bethesda logo shows up on your
screen.  This should clear everything, and help to bypass bugs.  Thanks to
phill0037 for info on how to do this, as I don't have an X-Box =)
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Joining the Thieves Guild
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*UPDATE*  Some people have told me that the beggars and Armand will not have
anything to do with them when asked about the Thieves Guild or the Gray Fox.
I may not have had any problems with this myself because I took Speechcraft
as a major skill (Don't know why) and I used it frequently anyway.  If you
have problems with either of them, try and boost your disposition with both
through the Persuasion mini-game, and/or use Charm spells and scrolls.
Also, I left this out because no one really wants to go to jail, but
RussianReefer reminded me another way to roleplay a thief.  You get caught
stealing, go to jail and do your time, and when you go to sleep next an elf
will be waiting for you.  He'll give you a note to head to the Waterfront to
speak to Armand, then you can begin the Thieves Guild competition as normal.
Personally, I don't like to go to jail and lose my stolen goods, but its up
to you =)
*****Quest:  May the Best Thief Win*****
Alright, you may have gone straight for the Imperial Capital after breaking out
of the prison, or you have have wandered around for a bit.  In any case, you
can head there at any time to begin the Thieves Guild quests.  Theres a few
ways to start out, you can either go straight to the Garden of Dareloth at
midnight, or you can treat it as an actual quest and read the next paragraph.
Once you enter the Imperial City, you'll notice a wanted poster near any of the
gates.  Once you click on that poster, you can then ask any of the beggars
around town about the Gray Fox.  They'll ask why you want to know, just give
them the acceptable answer "Yes, I want to work with him."  The beggar will
refer to Garden of Dareloth, and tell you to be there at midnight.
The garden is located in the Waterfront district, you can either run through
the whole city to get there, or bring up your map and click on the Waterfront
District inside the Imperial City.
So, now you're in the Waterfront district. Dareloth Garden is in the western
part of the Waterfront district, near several shacks on the other side of the
wall.  The actual garden is located behind the "Abandonded Shack" (Not the
building you can purchase).  If you try to go there before midnight, you won't
find anything there.  You can press "t" on your keyboard and wait till midnight
if the game clock is too slow for you.  About the time it starts to hit 12:00AM
you'll notice an Argonian named Amusei, a female named Methredhel, and a male
(with torch) named Armand Cristophe approach the garden.
Talk to Armand, and he should have a topic for the Gray Fox.  He'll see that
you contacted a beggar about the Thieves Guild, and says thats fine because
beggars are the eyes and the ears of the Gray Fox.  You'll do well to
remember that in the future, because you'll be relying on beggars in all towns
for information.  After you ask Armand about the Gray Fox, he'll have a topic
about "Joining the Thieves Guild."  He'll go on to say that its unusual to have
three potential recruits, so hes going to make it a contest.  The rules are you
must steal Amantius Alectus's diary.  You cannot kill him, and you cannot kill
any of the other recruits (Although I have heard you can kill one and still
pass the test, but its risky and you will receive quests for both later, so try
to avoid it, eh?).  Methredhel will say something about the garden by sunrise,
but disregard this.  You need to return at midnight once again.  At this
time you can talk to Armand if you wish and buy lockpicks from him for 5g each.
Now we're off to steal the diary.  If you need directions to Amantius's house,
you can ask any beggar in the area.  If you head north along the wall from the
garden, you should find one sleeping on a bedroll.  Ask him about Amantius and
he'll provide directions to the Temple district (South-western Imperial
City).  Click on the Temple district on your map, or simply run through the
city to get there.  I'm going to tell you right now, unless you have a decent
speed rating and know exactly where you're going to begin with, you probably
aren't going to beat Methredhel there.  Thats ok though, just skip to the next
paragraph.  In the event you do beat her there, just pick the lock on
the front of Amantius's door, head to the right when you enter his house, and
take the diary from the desk.  David.mrwally says if you follow Methredhel as
soon as the quest begins, you can follow her all the way to the house, let her
open the door for you, then head in right after and beat her to the desk on
the right side of the room.
In the event Methredhel does beat you there, and more than likely she will
(She beat me there the first time I ran the quest), don't worry about it!
You're a thief now, sometimes you have to get creative =) You can either wait
a few days and speak to Armand again for a new quest, or you can try to take
the diary off of Methredhel's hands, I prefer the latter.  If you would rather
do the other quest, scroll to the bottom of this section.  Leave the house
after she finishes gloating to you, and look to see where she goes.  There has
been a few occasions when I've seen her actually go into Amantius's basement,
which I think may be a bug.  In that case, just pick the lock and follow her
down there.  When you begin to follow Methredhel, your quest info will update,
saying you need to get the diary back by stealing if off her.  Theres no easy
way to do this, especially if your sneak level is low.  Just hit the left
"CTRL" key, and stalk her from behind.  You may want to quicksave first, if
your theft happens to go awry.  Hit the Space key to attempt to pickpocket the
diary.  If you don't mind waiting, scissorslizard says you can head to
Methredhel's house in the Waterfront district, and I've noticed just as the
sun begins to come up she likes to head back there and go to bed.  If you
pick the lock on her door, you'll find a chest locked in there.  If you
open it while she sleeps, you can take the diary back.  Be careful, as theres
usually another lady in the room with you, be sure to Sneak if you try this.
So, by either beating Methredhel there, or by stealing if off her afterwards,
you now hold Amantius's diary. You can head back to the garden and wait till
midnight again, or you can shop around town and do some quests to waste some
time.  If you get back to the garden by 3AM, Armand may still be there and
you can turn the diary in then.  When you give Armand the diary, he will
admit you to the Thieves Guild, and some new topics will appear. He will also
tell you the three rules to the Thieves Guild:
1.  Never steal from fellow Guild members.
2.  Don't kill anyone on the job, you're a thief, not an assassin!
3.  Don't steal from  the poor, they're under the protection of the Gray Fox.
He'll also tell you a little about Harmonius Lex, an Imperial Officer that
really has it out for the Gray Fox and the guild.  He'll tell you about
Doyen's, the eyes and ears of the Gray Fox (Armand is one, S'krivva is the
other).  He'll also say if you break any of the three Thieves Guild rules,
you'll be booted from the Guild until you can pay a fine to a guild Doyen.
Finally, he'll mention the guild's fences, which are the people that you'll
be selling stolen loot to. Armand will tell you that Ongar is the first and
only fence you can access in the beginning, and he lives in Bruma (to the
North).
You can't advance in the Thieves Guild by doing normal quests at
first, you need to actually do a little independant thieving before you can
do any of Armand's special guild quests.  So, if you don't already have some
goods you've cased off of people, get to work and start pickpocketing and
looting houses! If you want to grab some quick items, Chorrol isn't far away.
You can sneak into Chorrol's castle and steal anything of value in the throne
room and pick up 50g or more quickly.  Remember, even small items such as books
and wine can contribute to your running fenced items total.  Your "Items
Fenced" total can only be added to by selling stolen items to a fence.  That
means items that don't have a little hand icon on them are considered to have
been acquired by legal means, and so fencing them will give you gold, but won't
contribute to your independant thieving amount.
*UPDATE*  If you let Methredhel turn in the diary, all is not lost.  Return
to Armand after a few nights (At midnight as always) and he'll give you one
more chance.  This time you need to steal a sword off Rohssan  of the store
A Fighting Chance, which is located in the Marketplace district.  You can
ask a beggar for directions as usual.  Head there at night, sneak to the
door and pick the lock.  You'll have to head upstairs, still sneaking.  Be
prepared, because on the 2nd floor is a dog that may see you and let out a
bark.  Be quick, and head right and around the corner.  You'll find an Easy
locked chest, pick it and grab the sword.  Hightail it out of there, and
look for Armand at midnight again (Or if its before 3AM, you can just
return to him the same night).  You'll get accepted into the Thieves Guild.
Thanks to Syme for letting me know about this quest.
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Armand Cristophe's Quests
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So, you've done a little independant thieving and managed to steal at least 50
gold worth of items, good!  Go back to the Garden of Dareloth at midnight to
find Armand.  You can't just stop in his house any time you please, he'll only
deal with Thieves Guild stuff between midnight and 3AM in the garden.  Find him
there to receive your first official quest as a guildie.
*****Quest:  Untaxing the Poor*****
Ask Armand about Special Thieves Guild jobs, and he'll feel like you're up for
a challenge.  Lex has collected taxes from everyone in the Waterfront district,
and the Gray Fox wants you to fix it.  You need to find out where Lex is
stationed at, get a list of everyone he collected taxes from, and also return
with the money Lex collected.  To start off, ask a beggar where Lex is. You can
use our little buddy just north of the garden, he should be sleeping again.
Ask him about Lex, and he'll let you know he stays in the South Guard Tower in
the Temple district.
Run to the Temple district, or click on the Temple district on your map.  The
South Guard Tower is located in the south-eastern part of the zone.  You can do
this quest at any time of the day, but it seems to be rather difficult to do at
night. I waited until 8 or 9 AM, and noticed that several guards left the
building, making it a lot easier to sneak in and out.  Start sneaking before
you even click on the door to the tower. There may be a few guards on the first
floor, get behind them while sneaking and click on the step ladder to reach the
second floor.  There will be a few guards sleeping, don't pester them, okay? =)
Once you get to the third floor, you should have to pick the lock to Lex's
room.  While still sneaking, click on the step ladder to begin working on the
lock.  If you're out of lockpicks, you can still buy some from Armand for 5g.
Pick the lock to Lex's room, and you're in.  If you look to your right, you
should see a locked desk.  Pick that lock as well, and you'll find the list of
people taxed, as well as the gold taken.  Grab both, and sneak your way back
down the tower.
Talk to Armand in the garden at midnight.  Give him the record of people that
were taxed, and he'll tell you he'll pay them back personally.  You get to keep
the gold taken from the people, sweet!  He'll tell you he just wanted to teach
Lex a lesson because he went too far.  He'll also promote you to Footpad, yea!
Now, if you've fenced a total of 100g, Armand will be able to give you your
next special mission, otherwise hit some more houses up for loot and check out
Ongar in Bruma.
*****Quest:  The Elven Maiden*****
Once you've fenced a total of 100g, Armand will be ready to give you this
mission.  Armand wants you to steal a statuette of Llathasa Indarys from the
town of Cheyhindal.  Accept the mission and start running to Cheyhindal, or
click on your map and travel there instantly if you're lazy like me.
When you arrive in Cheyhindal, scope out a beggar to get information from.  Ask
one about the bust of Llathasa, and they'll tell you the Count recently asked
the Elves to carve the statue, and he placed the statue at her grave in the
Chapel Undercroft.  It used to be available to the public, but its now being
guarded and off-limits.  Uh oh, time for more sneaking, heh heh.  Hopefully
your skill is improving.
Head into the Chapel and downstairs.  You'll have to pick the lock to get
inside, hopefully your Security skill has been going up too.  If you haven't
already guessed, Thieves use Sneak and Security a lot.  When you get into the
Undercroft, you'll notice a guard walking about the room.  Make sure you're in
Sneak mode, and always stick to the shadows when you can.  Also remember that
if you're not already at Journeyman level in Sneak, the weight of your boots
can affect how well you can sneak.  If you have metal boots on, take them off
to reduce your chance of being heard.  Stop for a moment and watch how the
guard moves around the room.  You'll notice she will head down the stairs to
the left, come back up, walk across the room to the stairs to the right, wash,
rinse, repeat.  Move across the room slowly to the left set of stairs, and hide
shadows behind a pillar.  When you see the guard start her path towards the
right set of stairs, begin slowly moving towards the left stairs and use the
shadows when you can.  When you get into the room, head to the right side and
wait in the darkness for a moment till you see the guard come back down the
stairs.  When you see her leave, its now safe to grab the bust to your right.
Sneak towards the stairs again, remaining hidden, and when you see the guard
come back down a second time, begin walking behind her out of the room.  Be
sure to keep at least 6 feet or more between you and her, otherwise she may
hear you.  Leave the Chapel then, and head back to the Dareloth garden at any
time.  We're not done yet!
You'll soon find out that something is amiss in the Waterfront.  Guards will
ask you if you've seen Armand anywhere, and if you head to the garden your
quest will update.  It will say the Waterfront is crawling with Imperial
guards, and Armand will most likely not show at midnight.  You should seek
other Thieves Guild members to figure out your next move.  There are many
members of the guild in Waterfront, if you talk to any of them they'll say that
Armand is in hiding because Count Indarys reported the statue stolen and Armond
is being blamed.  Your guild will also tell you that Methredhel is looking for
you.  Methredhel's house is near the garden, so step inside and look around.
If shes not in there, when you leave the house she may be waiting there for
you.  In any case, she'll say that Armond used you to flush out a traitor in
the guild.  As it turns out, Myvryna Arano was part of the Thieves Guild, but
shes really been an informant for Lex!  Methredhel's plan is to blame the
statue theft on Myvryna by planting the bust in Myvryna's house and telling Lex
about it.  This can be a little tricky because Imperial guards are running all
around Waterfront, and Lex is standing near the house.
Myvryna's house is a few houses north of Methredhel's.  Sneak over there, and
try to avoid letting the guards see you.  With any luck, you can get a position
at Myvryna's door where your Sneak "eye" is dark, signifying no one can spot
you currently.  Begin picking the lock on her door and head inside.  Myvryna
should be sleeping right now, so make sure you don't have heavy boots on while
you sneak over to her cupboard by her bed.  If you click on the cupboard, your
quest will update and let you know that the bust has been planted, and now you
must convince Lex that Myvryna was behind it all along.  Sneak out of the house
and walk over to Lex.
If you have low Personality and/or Speechcraft skill, you may have to do the
Persuasion mini-game a bit to boost your reputation with Lex.  Eventually he'll
hear you out, and decide he has to check Myvryna's house.  He'll head inside
and find the bust you planted.  Myvryna will try to explain you were the one
that actually stole the bust, but Lex admits even if I wasn't telling the
truth Myvryna has still been exposed as the informant, so he has no further use
for her.  In any case, the bust was still in her cupboard, so she gets arrested
for the theft, booya!  Make a save here in case you encounter a bug soon.
You'll have to wait till the next midnight to speak to Armand again, so head
over to the Dareloth Garden then to get an update from him.  Some people have
reported that Armand sometimes does not appear in the Garden, even after
waiting several nights for him at midnight.  My only solution is to reload from
our previous save and wait again, hopefully he'll show.  Armand will admit he
used you to flush out the traitor, but he couldn't know that you weren't in
cahoots with Myvryna.  Even though the bust is gone, he pays you the 100g he
promised, and promotes you to Bandit.  At this time, if you've fenced 200g or
more you can start taking quests from S'krivva the Argonian in Bravil.  Armand
only works with the less experienced guild members, so he has no more quests
for you.  He'll let you know that you can access a new fence with more gold to
spare.  You can now use Dar Jee as your fence, in the town of Leyawiin.  He
doesn't have much more gold than Ongar, but if you happen to be in the Leyawiin
area he can save you a trip.  We're now done with Armand, so if want head to
Bravil to talk to S'krivva, or if you haven't fenced 200g worth of goods, go
do some looting and check out Ongar or Dar Jee.
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S'krivva's Quests
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Once you've completed Armand's quests, and you've fenced a total of 200g worth
of goods to either Ongar or Dar Jee, head to Bravil to meet with S'krivva.
Unlike Armand, you can usually contact her any time during the day, except when
shes locked within her house.  You could probably pick the lock and try to talk
to her then, but I wouldn't recommend it.  You can find her sometimes hanging
out in her house near the northern gate of Bravil, and other times in the
Lonely Suitor Lodge in the south-west part of Bravil.
*****Quest:  Ahdarjis's Heirloom*****
The first quest S'krivva gives you is to return an heirloom to a Khajiit kitty
in Leyawiin.  Ahdarji was the mate of a former fence with the guild, and she
had a ring stolen from her by a freelance thief.  Start running south to
Leyawiin, or bring up your map and click Leyawiin to go there.
When you get to town, your quest markers should be pointing to the local
beggars, unless Ahdarji's Heirloom isn't your active quest.  Talk to a beggar
and they'll inform you where Ahdarji goes throughout the day.  I found her in
her own house, which is just west of the castle, at 8AM.  When you ask her
about her ring, she is rather...upset to say the least.  She tells you an
Argonian named Amusei has taken the ring (You may remember him from your guild
initiation quest).  She wants the ring back, as well as the death of Amusei. As
per guild rules, you must remember not to kill him though!  When you are done
with Ahdarji, go grab another beggar to inquire the whereabouts of Amusei.
After speaking to a beggar, they will inform you that Amusei tried to swindle
the Countess of Leyawiin and is currently in the castle dungeon.  Busted!  The
beggar will also let you in on a little info that the jailor can be bribed to
get access to the dungeon.  Make sure you have at least 20g, then head to the
over to the castle.  Once inside the castle, head forward until you see the
first hallway on your left, it will lead to the dungeon.  Head down and you'll
see a guard sitting.  Speak to him and ask about Amusei.  He'll inform you the
Countess doesn't allow people to speak to Argonian prisoners.  Tell him you
have 20g and the jailor suddenly has a change of heart.  He opens the dungeon
up to you.
Talk to Amusei and he tells you what happened after the Thieves Guild trials.
He won't talk about the ring unless you decide to help him get out of his cell,
so go ahead and hand him a lockpick.  Don't worry about following Ahdarji's
orders, you don't have to beat him up and you probably won't want to soon.
He'll say he returned home to Leyawiin where he stole Ahdarji's ring...but no
fence would take it.  He realized from the inscription on the inside that the
ring really belonged to the Countess herself!  That dirty Khajiit Ahdarji lied.
Anyway, give him the lockpick and leave him to his own devices.  If you speak
to the guard again, you can ask him about the "Recovered Caro family ring."
He'll mention that the Countess is happy to have it back and rarely takes it
off.  He'll also mention you can talk to Hlidara if you want more info about
it.  This will spawn a new topic you can ask him about, "Finding Alessia Caro."
He'll say she spends her mornings in the town Chapel, evenings hosting dinner
in the castle at 8PM, and she goes to bed in the evenings.  He also says she
spends the Ides of each month traveling to Chorrol, so I wouldn't bother
looking for her in town during that time.  I think the guard said the Ides fall
on the 15-17 of each month.
If you talk to the Countess's lady in waiting, Hlidara, she'll add a little
more info for you.  She'll say the Countess only removes the ring when she goes
to bed and during bath time, so if you want to grab the ring then you'll want
to check the jewelry box in her bedroom.  I've tried to see if you can
pickpocket the Countess herself to get the ring, but it doesn't seem to be
possible.  Do you think even the greatest thief could slide a ring off your
finger without you knowing?  Anyway, so we know she keeps the ring in her
jewelry box when she isn't wearing it, so thats when we need to recover it.
While you can't take the ring off the Countess herself, you can help yourself
to the jewelry box key she has on her, as well as any other castle keys you
desire, although you DON'T need it, so if you're having a tough time
snatching it off her, don't worry.
Theres a couple different ways to get to the Countess's bedroom, and you'll
definitly need to Sneak to get there.  The way I prefer is to use the castle's
secret room to get to the Lord's Manor Private Quarters (LMPQ).  To do this,
head to the castle basement, which is located to the right of the thrones.
You'll come to a room with lots of boxes and junk.  Under one of the torch's
you'll find an open barrel that contains a secret switch.  Hit the switch, and
a hidden door will open.  Head through the hallway and you'll come to another
area with some...strange things.  Continue on, and you'll find a door to the
LMPQ.  Now, the Countess goes to bed around 11PM, so you don't want to be
snooping around before then, and you can't use the wait function while
trespassing in the castle, so you may have to actually wait normally for this
to happen (which can take awhile).  Better yet, when you're ready to steal the
ring, head outside the castle and wait till 9 or 10PM, then enter the castle
again and head to the basement.  To my knowledge the guards won't bother you if
you're in the throne room after hours, and they won't know if you go into the
basement or secret room unless you do something stupid like swipe an item in
front of them or slap them around.
At this point, make a clean save just in case.  The next part can get nasty,
and theres a small bug when you go for the ring, so use this as a fallback.
When you get into the LMPQ, head up several flights of stairs till you get to
a little room with some chairs and a table.  At approx. 11:12PM I noticed the
Count begin to head to bed, accompanied by a guard.  At nearly 12:00AM the
Countess followed suit, followed by Hlidara.  The guard will leave, and
Hlidara go to bed in a nearby room, so don't worry about her...unless you're
being loud and not sneaking.  Don't head to the Count's chambers just yet, you
have to be on the watch for a patroling guard.  I noticed one came by shortly
at 12:25AM, and he goes around reguarly, about once an hour in game (a few
minutes in real time).  The Count and Countess's room is to your left up a
flight of stairs.  Once the guard passes by to your right, begin sneaking in
that direction.  The Countess doesn't actually lay down to sleep until nearly
1AM, so if the door isn't already open don't try opening it before then.  Make
sure your boots are off if you aren't a Journeyman in Sneak, then proceed to
tip-toe to the right side of the bed.  The jewelry box is on the table, if you
stole the key off the Countess, use it to open the box, otherwise you'll have
to pick the lock.  Whatever you do, if you open the jewelry box and find two
rings DO NOT TAKE BOTH!  Theres a bug here that will keep you from turning the
ring in to Ahdarji.  Grab the ring, and make your way back to the bedroom door.
Careful though, the patroling guard may be making his rounds again.  Another
thing, be sure you aren't taking too much time grabbing the ring, the first
time I did the quest I started it too late, and around 6AM the Count began to
wake up!  Make sure you're sneaking to the room, while you're in the room,
and on your way back.  Guards or Hlidara may hear your footsteps and come
running...and if they find you you're in bid trouble.
Make sure the patroling guard is on his way back, and when hes out of sight
head back to your little room with the chairs.  Close the door behind you,
breath again, and head to the secret room.  You should be able to head back to
the throne room without sneaking now, and the guards shouldn't care.  Head out
the castle gate and head to wherever Ahdarji may be.  Give the dirty Khajiit
the ring, then head back to S'krivva in Bravil.  S'krivva will give you some
gold and promote you again to Prowler, nice.  If you've fenced at least 300g
to Ongar or Dar Jee you can accept your next quest, otherwise you know what you
need to do.
*****Quest:  Misdirection*****
After you've fenced 300g total, S'krivva will give you another quest.  It looks
like Lex is up to his old tricks again, hes invaded the Waterfront district in
the Imperial City and vows not to leave until he gets the Gray Fox.  The Fox is
kind to the poor, so they won't give him up, but they won't be able to hold out
forever.  Your job is to find Methredhel in the Imperial City and devise a plan
to get Lex out of there.
Head to the Imperial City by any means you wish, and look for beggars again.
One will tell you that Methredhel escaped the Waterfront and is currently
hiding in the Talos Plaza of the city in the house of Dynari Amnis.  Head there
now, Dynari's house is located a little north of the Plaza's center.  The plan
Methredhel has drawn up requires you to steal Hrormir's staff from the Arch
Mage's room in the Arcane University.  You will be one of four thieves stealing
precious items from around the city, the idea is if you piss off enough people,
Lex will have to withdraw his troops to police the city once more.  Methredhel
says the Archmage sleeps between 1 and 7AM, so check your map and head over to
the Arcane University located in the south-eastern part of the city.
Wait till about 1AM, make sure you save before heading forward into the
Arch Mage's lobby.  The mage downstairs should leave, but another will take
the portal to the second floor.  Head to the second floor, the mage shouldn't
care that you're there right now.  Initially the mage didn't give me any
problems, but after I came back downstairs from the 3rd floor he decided he
wanted me out right away.  Anyway, sneak up to the Arch Mage's room on the
3rd floor by clicking on the other portal.  The Arch Mage should be sleeping,
the staff is at the foot of his bed.  Sneak over and grab it, but remember the
larger and heavier the item, the greater chance you'll alert someone to their
presence.  Now you have to leave the Gray Fox's note in the Arch Mage's desk.
Head over to the left side of the bed slowly and click on the dresser.  The
quest should be done now, all you have to do is sneak out.  Head back to the
portal to get to the 2nd floor.  If the mage gives you guff, just head straight
to the portal to the 1st floor.  Head outside and back to Methredhel to show
her the staff (Don't sell it, heh heh).
Methredhel will tell you the other three thieves have already pilfered their
items, so now the plan is in motion.  She'll ask you to head to the Waterfront
and wait for a messenger to approach Lex and call off the lockdown.  So head
to the Waterfront and find Lex where he was during the Elven Maiden mission.
Don't worry about sneaking or anything, just go right up to Lex and a little
cutscene will ensue.  A Dremora will approach Lex, tell him to leave, and it
will hand Lex a note.  Lex will then call off the search, but before he leaves
he'll drop the note.  Pick the note up, read it, then head back to Methredhel.
It looks like everything is peachy-keen now, but you have one last task to take
care of before you can get paid and move on to other quests.  As a sign of good
faith, the Thieves Guild is going to give the staff back, but you DON'T put it
back where you found it...they'd kill you.  Instead Methredhel wants you to put
the staff in the Safebox of the former Arcane Researcher, Ontus Vanin, whose
house is also located in the Talos Plaza.  Head there now, and if the door is
located you'll have to pick it.  Be sure there aren't any guards watching, and
make sure you're sneaking anyway when you do open the door (A guard spotted me
just before I came in, and after I planted the staff he was waiting for me
downstairs).  Head up the stairs to your left, still sneaking as always, and
you'll probably find Ontus sleeping.  Stealth over to the right side of the
room and click on his Lockbox to plant the staff.  When you're done, sneak out
the way you came in and head to Bravil to check in with S'krivva and get your
reward.
When you talk to S'krivva she'll thank you on a job well done, and give you the
300g you were promised.  She also promotes you to Cat Burgler, go you.  Better
yet, she gives you access to a new fence, Luciana Galena who is located right
there in Bravil.  You can find Luciana in the Lonely Suitor Lodge where
S'krivva often is, but you can also pick the lock on her house and visit her
even when shes sleeping (She doesn't seem to care when I invade anyway).  I
prefer Luciana to any of the other fences, even though she doesn't have the
most gold.  Bravil isn't a bad little town, it isn't exactly gorgeous since its
located in a swamp, but Luciana isn't as stiff a negotiator as the final two
fences you find, and Bravil is already located pretty close to the Imperial
City.  On top of that, if you buy the shack in Bravil, your house will be
located right underneath Luciana's house, and will be very near the Lonely
Suitor Lodge as well (So if you want to drop off excess gear, it'll be close
by).
*****Quest:  Lost Histories*****
Your next target amount to fence is 400g.  Once this is done, speak to S'krivva
in Bravil and she'll give you a new quest.  The guild is in need of a book
called the Lost Histories of Tamriel.  A cat burgler named Theranis was sent
to Skingrad to obtain this book from a wizard, but he hasn't been heard of
since. Your job is to head to Skingrad, recover the book, and if Theranis is
alive bring him back.  Either way you get paid.
Head to Skingrad, which is south-west of the Imperial City. Begin asking your
beggar friends for information about Theranis.  One will mention that Theranis
was in the bar, bragging that he had stolen something from the castle, when
Captain Dion overheard him...you can guess the rest.  So, we have to begin
looking for Theranis in the castle dungeon, but it won't be as easy as paying
off the guard like last time, we have to get a little creative.  Ask a guard in
town about "Work in the Castle" and one will mention that the butler is looking
for someone to do a job, sounds like a good start.  The butler is an Orc by the
name of Shum Gro-Yarug.  The guard will give you a list of places Shum visits,
but he doesn't leave the castle much so chances are you'll find him there.
Head out the east gate of the town, then up the path to the castle.  Head into
the castle courtyard, then straight ahead into the Skingrad County Hall.  I saw
Shum in there around 4PM, ask him about work in the castle and he'll offer you
the lovely position of feeding the prisoners their slop (affectionately known
as the "slop drudge" to the guards).  Say you'll take the position, and Shum
says he'll pay you 2g a week, a loaf of bread, and a thing of mead, what a
ripoff!  I never actually went back to him for my pay, so oh well.  Anyway, as
slop drudge you now have access to many parts of the castle without being
bothered too much.  Head back to the courtyard for now, and to the left you
should see some stairs.  Head up those, and at the top of the stairs you should
see a doorway to the dungeon to your right.  Head through that door, then make
your way down the hallway and stairs till you find a guard sitting in a chair.
Tell him you're the new slop drudge, and he'll open the door for you (Don't
worry if you don't actually have the prisoner's slop on you).
In the cell area, talk to Larthiar the Laggard.  He'll ask if you're there to
rescue him, I usually say no, but you can probably say yes if you like.  After
he responds, you can then ask him about Theranis.  He'll say Theranis used to
be there in a cell with an Argonian, but the "Pale Lady" took him 3 days ago.
If you ask him about the Pale Lady, he'll say she comes for prisoners now and
then, sometimes the prisoners return, sometimes they don't..but those that are
taken 3 times never return...and it was Theranis's third time.  If you ask him
where the Pale Lady takes them, he says he doesn't know...but he does point out
that she took the Argonian less than an hour ago, and he put up quite a
struggle.  Not only that, but he bled all over the place...does that sound like
a good way to find Theranis to you?  If you look near one of the cells you'll
notice the blood on the ground, follow it to a dead end.  To your right is a
candlestick on the wall that opens a secret door.  Hit that, head through the
door. You'll find a small table to your left before the next door, upon it are
three lockpicks, so help yourself.  When you're done, take the door to the Wine
Cellar.
Continue to follow the trial of blood.  If its night time, you'll have to start
sneaking because Shum lives down in the Wine Cellar and your footsteps may wake
him as you pass by his room.  Follow the trail of blood to a room with 3 large
wine storage barrels.  If you continue to follow the blood to the right side,
you'll notice another candlestick, this one with blood upon it.  Hit it to open
another secret door, this one is actually inside the large center barrel in the
room, which was kinda neat.  Now comes the tricky part!  The pale lady is there
waiting for you, and it just so happens that shes a vampire.  Shes not a very
tough one, but more than likely you still won't finish her off without getting
the hemophilia disease.  If you don't want to become a vampire yet, fear not.
You have a few days until you become a full fledged vampire, and I believe you
have to rest in a bed before that happens.  Check out the Misc section on how
to get rid of the disease.
Once the vampire is dead, loot her body to pick up a few items, including the
secret cell key.  You'll notice Theranis's dead body to the left, but the book
you're looking for isn't on him.  If you look to the right you'll find our good
buddy, Amusei, again.  Talk to him, and he'll say Theranis never mentioned a
book, but he did have a message for the Thieves Guild.  He also told Amusei of
the location of a treasure, theres a good chance he was talking about the book.
The problem is Amusei won't tell us anything until we get him out of the
castle...sounds like fun.  Since Amusei has decided to join the Thieves Guild
and all, you should probably help him out, and we need his information anyway.
Begin stealthing again if you aren't already, and make your way out of the
secret room.  Instead of heading back the way you came, you'll have to take a
different route (You probably won't get past the jailor near the dungeon).
Instead of heading left past Shum's room, head to the right and to the castle's
Dining Hall.  You'll notice an open doorway to right right once you head up the
steps in the Dining Hall.  Be careful, as a guard sometimes walks down the
hallway outside that door.  You'll want to head left out of that doorway, and
head to the Castle Skingrad County Hall again.  Go through the door, and you'll
find yourself upstairs and out of sight (Hopefully).  Sneak straight ahead and
you'll see a locked doorway to the courtyard.  If you grabbed the castle key
off the vampire, you should be able to use that to unlock the door, otherwise
you'll have to pick it.  Now comes another potentially tricky part.  You have
to exit the courtyard and head down the long walkway to the castle...when there
are no guards out front.  My best advice is to make a new save when you get to
the courtyard, and then just run down the stairs to the front gate and check it
out.  If theres guards there, reload from the save.  I've been able to lead
Amusei through the courtyard and down the front castle walkway at 7PM and in
the morning around 8AM I think, but the guards may be randomly patroling so
you'll have to see for yourself.  You can actually wait in the courtyard
several hours just outside the door you just came from (Upstairs, from the
County Hall) if you need to wait for the guards to leave outside.
Eventually you'll lead Amusei down the stone walkway, and down the path towards
the town.  He'll thank you for saving him once again, then he'll tell you where
Theranis said the treasure was.  He says to check behind Nerastarel's house,
under a bush (Its also by a well).  Part ways with Amusei, and go check out the
bush.  You should find the book there, pick it up and head back to S'krivva in
Bravil.  She'll reward you for returning the book, give you a reward and thats
about it.  No new fence or rank, after all that work stealthing through a
castle and fighting a vampire!  Before you can get a new quest from her, you'll
have to have at least 500g fenced from Ongar, Dar Jee, or Luciana.
*****Quest:  Taking Care of Lex*****
This quest involves a lot of running around and sneaking, but its also pretty
fun...and we finally get to take care of Lex once and for all!  No, we don't
plant a knife into his skull, we get to reassign him.  As it turns out, Lady
Umbranox of Anvil Castle is looking for a new Guard Captain.  A letter of
recommendation has been sent by the Imperial Watch in the Imperial City, but
the Gray Fox wants to make sure Lex gets the job.  Anvil is far away, so Lex
won't be able to cause havoc in the guild anymore.  Whats more, the Gray Fox
has extended his protection to the Umbranox family, especially to Lady Umbranox
herself.  Lex would make a good protector because of his undying dedication and
loyalty.
To get Lex the recommendation, we're going to forge the original letter sent by
the Imperial Watch.  The letter is already in Anvil, but its currently being
held by Lady Umbranox's steward, Dairihill.  For whatever reason, Dairihill is
telling the Lady that the letter hasn't shown up yet.  We'll use this to our
advantage to grab the letter, so find Anvil on your map and get there by any
means you wish.  Make sure you have at least 500g with you, or a means of
getting said cash before you get there.
When you get to Anvil, search out one of our beggar friends and ask about
Dairihill's office.  The beggar will tell you that he doesn't really have any
directions within the castle itself, but he will tell you for free that there
are many secret places and people within.  You're to look for the smith inside
(Yes, there is a smith in town, but hes not the same one).  Head south to the
gate, follow the walkway and enter the Anvil Castle Courtyard.  From here, look
for the door into Anvil Castle and go inside.  To your right you'll see a hall
that leads to the Smithy, thats your next destination.  If Orrin is in, have a
chat with him.  He'll immediately recognize you as the cat burgler sent for the
letter, and tells you to follow him (That was easy, eh?  It sure is good to
have connections).  He'll take you to a room with a hidden door, and he'll show
you how to open it.  Follow the hidden path to the Private Quarters, pick the
lock and go inside.  Start sneaking immediately now, you're still in a secret
area, but the guards will be able to hear your footsteps.  You'll come to a
dead-end, with another moveable pillar to open a secret door.  While still
sneaking, hit that pillar and the wall will drop down.  Careful now, as a guard
is usually stationed just to your right.  Head to the left and you'll be right
there in front of Dairihill's office.  Pick the lock on the door and head in.
Go straight to her desk, pick that lock and you'll find the list of canidates.
One part done, now we have to go find a forger.  Sneak back through the secret
passage to the Smithy, and make your way back to the town there.
When you get back to town, look for your friendly neighborhood beggar.  When
you ask about a Master Forger, they'll let you know theres one in town that
goes by the name "The Stranger."  They'll mention he lives near the Chapel, in
the Abandoned House, but occasionally hes running errands in the morning.  Look
for your quest marker and seek the forger.  Ask him about a forged letter, and
he says it can be done.  It will take 24 hours though, and 500g.  We have to do
this, so go ahead and accept.  He'll take the list of canidates from you, but
will accept the payment once the job is finished.  If you want, go outside his
shack and wait for 24 hours, then go back in.  He may not be there, I've seen
him coming back from the castle the next day, or one time he wasn't even done
after 24 hours.  Nevertheless, keep waiting some more, and eventually the copy
will be finished.  Pay him the 500g, and get ready to depart for the Imperial
City.  Our next task is to get the letter sealed by the Imperial Watch.
Once you return to the Imperial City, head to the Imperial Prison in the
north-western part of city.  To your left you'll see two doors that lead to
the Offices of the Imperial Legion.  Make sure you save now, this may get
a bit hairy with the guards inside.  One door will probably have a very tough
lock on it, the other door's lock will be very easy.  The first time I tried to
get inside I chose the very hard door to the right, and walked right into the
Captain himself, Adamus Phillida.  That was bad, I had to reload...but this is
the room we're looking for.  On my next attempt I stealthed over to the easy
lock, picked it, and found myself in a lobby.  From there I went up the stairs
to the left, and right into the Imperial Guard sleeping area.  It sounds bad,
but if you sneak through you'll be ok, as long as all the guards inside are
asleep.  Once you get to the other side, you'll find a door back to the
Imperial Legion Offices.  You'll now be in the room that was on the other side
of the very hard lock outside (The right door).  If Adamus Phillida is at his
desk, you can stay stealthed at the top of steps and keep an eye on his shiny
shoulder.  When you see him leave the room, nows your chance to hit the desk.
Stealth down the steps, and in the far left corner of the desk you'll see the
seal.  Hit it to seal your new list of recommendations, and stealth out the