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- For other uses, see Arrow of Extrication.
Arrow of Extrication is a quest in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Amusei will meet the Hero in a major city and ask them to meet the Gray Fox at the home of Malintus Ancrus in Chorrol.
The Gray Fox wants them to steal the Arrow of Extrication from Fathis Aren's room in Castle Bravil.
Walkthrough[]
It is advised to bring many healing potions and lockpicks or the Skeleton Key that is gained from the "Nocturnal" quest, as this is a long quest.
Bravil Castle[]
After speaking to the Gray Fox, head over to Bravil and enter the castle. From the Great Hall, head up the stairs and into the Lord's Manor North Wing. It will be hard to gain undetected access to it at night, since two guards stand by the door all night. Either use invisibility when picking the lock at night, or wait until daytime hours when the guards move away from the door to other duties. This movement of the guards happens around 7 AM.
Go down the hallway a bit and enter the first room on the left; this is Fathis Aren's room. The Hero will not find the Arrow in his room, but they may notice that there is a movable pillar straight across from the door one entered. Activate it to enter the Bravil Wizard's Grotto.
Note that this is a good time to fence off anything stolen from Aren's room or other goods. As noted above, this is a long trip and it is best to reserve as much carrying capacity as possible. When returning, the North Wing door will still be unlocked.
Bravil Wizard's Lair[]
Location Notes[]
The lair consists of two zones, the Grotto which exits to the Lair and the Lair which exits to the Tower.
Bravil Wizard's Grotto: First level.
The Grotto is a long winding set of tunnels and rooms that are filled with conjurers, mudcrabs and enemies scaled to the Hero's level, such as spider daedra and frost atronachs.
There is a large pool of water at the point where the cursor on the map image is. This pool is roughly hourglass shaped in vertical cross-section. The upper and lower parts are joined by a hole in the bottom of the top section that is also the top of the bottom section. The top portion consists of normal slaughterfish and the exit to the Wizard's Lair. The bottom section contains a giant slaughterfish and the exit to Niben Bay.
There is also a door northeast of the pool which requires Aren's Strange Key to open, though the key is not necessary as the other side of the door can be reached from the corridor leading from the upper exit of the pool.
Walkthrough[]
Head straight ahead and the Hero will be confronted with a leveled dremora. Kill him and keep going straight through the gate. Follow the water-filled tunnel until one gets to a deep pool of water. Kill the slaughterfish and swim down (past a few rock ledges). Looking to the left (roughly northwest), one will notice an opening in the wall. It is slightly to the west of the where the map indicates the path of the tunnel and about half-way down to the hole. Swimming too far down one will pass it: if the hole is reached, one has gone to far. As the water is dark and murky, visual assistance from either light or night-eye effects will help to spot the exit. Swim through that and back onto land.
If one desires to confront the giant slaughterfish, swim to the bottom of the top section and through the large hole. The fish will be waiting on one side. There is a secret exit after a small tunnel (roughly west) that leads to a trapdoor. The fish will drop a large amount of leveled loot, including an enchanted item. The trapdoor comes out underwater in the southern end of Niben Bay. Next to the trapdoor, is a chest with a small amount of gold.
Bravil Wizard's Lair: Second level.
One will need to be an Argonian or possess some form of water breathing such as potions, the Jewel of the Rumare the Hero got after doing Go Fish, or the Fin Gleam that can be found near Anvil in order to reach the trapdoor and thence to the surface without drowning.
After going through the opening, follow the tunnels and rooms (there is only one main way) to the Bravil Wizard's Lair. On the way they will pass a nirnroot plant. The Hero may come across more conjurers, rats, or dremora. Follow the hallways and rooms, either fighting or sneaking past enemies.
Secret entrance from Niben Bay.
Use the minimap to find the secret trap door.
Alternatively, one can enter the grotto via the trapdoor described above, using the minimap to help navigate to the spot on the floor of Niben Bay where it is. This will skip sneaking through the castle and the west side of the Grotto. This is easier, but will cause the Hero to miss out on some loot, sneaking experience and so on. It also makes the fight with the giant slaughterfish mandatory as the Hero will be coming up through its lair.
Fathis Aren's Tower[]
Fathis Aren's Tower: Last level.
Once entering the Tower the Hero will be met with multiple Oblivion-type monsters depending on level, along with anything else the Daedra conjure and often at the same time.
Kill them all and get up to the third floor of the tower exterior where they will find a small room with a chest containing the Arrow of Extrication and the tower key in a chest on the far side of the alchemy table from the entrance. It is labeled with Aren's name. Fathis Aren will be here if he has not attacked earlier.
One can take all the contents of the labeled chest (the only chest that does not belong to Fathis), but they will be suspended from the Mages Guild if caught stealing anything else. Exit the tower's large door using the key from the chest. If the Hero is spotted, Fathis will attack (note that killing him will also result in suspension from the Mages Guild).
An alternative solution to sparing Fathis is if the Hero is the Arch-mage, as he will not even look up from his work and ignore the Hero or simply run towards the chest, plunder the contents and run out of the tower.
Return to the Gray Fox in Chorrol for the reward. He will give the Hero 500 gold.
Journal[]
| Journal Entry |
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Amusei sought me out and delivered a message from the Gray Fox. I am to meet him at the home of Malintus Ancrus in Chorrol. He has another task for me. It seems Amusei has finally straightened up and joined the Thieves Guild. He is even trusted enough to deliver messages for the Gray Fox. |
The Gray Fox will pay me 500 gold coins to steal the Arrow of Extrication. It was recently recovered by Bravil's court wizard, Fathis Aren. There will be no bloodprice for killing Fathis, so long as he doesn't die in the castle. I should start my search in Bravil. |
A beggar in Bravil told me that Fathis Aren has claimed the ruined tower southeast of the city for himself. The door to the tower is impenetrable, but rumor has it that Fathis uses a secret passage from inside the castle to get to it. |
I found Fathis Aren's rooms in Castle Bravil. Now to locate the Arrow of Extrication. |
I've searched both chests in Fathis Aren's room. Neither had the Arrow of Extrication. I'm beginning to think it isn't here. This room doesn't seem to have enough wizardly stuff for a wizard of Fathis stature. I wonder if there is a secret chamber where he keeps his more valuable treasures? |
I didn't find the Arrow of Extrication in his room. I should explore this secret passage though. It would be very much like a wizard to hide his valuables in some dark hole filled with monsters. |
I found a key shaped arrow head, but not the whole arrow. This must be what the Gray Fox is looking for, or at least as close as I am going to get. I should take it to him. |
The Gray Fox accepted the key shaped arrow head. Apparently it is all that remains of the Arrow of Extrication. He is going to try and get it reforged. He thanked me for my efforts and promoted me to Master Thief in the Thieves Guild.
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Trivia[]
- If the Hero is part of the Mages Guild, it is best not to kill Fathis Aren as this will kick them out of the guild. The easiest way is to annihilate the rest of the mobs and quickly run in and take the arrowhead, then run out through the big door.
- Even if they are just a Wizard, (after sneak killing all the enemies in the area) they can still walk up to Fathis Aren and speak with him and then walk over to the chest not marked as stealing, and grab the items and then calmly walk out.
- If the quest "Sins of the Father" has been completed, and one made the choice not to give Fathis Ules the Honorblade, he will refuse to speak to the Hero.
Bugs[]
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This section contains bugs related to Arrow of Extrication (Quest). Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following:
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- During the transition from one quest to another the Gray Fox may not move to give you the new quest. The quest arrow however will move. After the quest is completed the Gray Fox may resume at the correct house. If one follow the arrow and cannot find him, go to the last house the Gray Fox was in.
- Sometimes, killing Fathis Aren will give the Hero a blood price.
- The Grey Fox will still tell the Hero that Fathis is his new fence, even if Fathis is dead at that point. The quest dialog has the same bug.
Appearances[]
