Taking Care of Lex
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Quest Giver	S'krivva
Location	Anvil Imperial City
Prerequisite	Lost Histories 500 Independent Thievery
Next Quest	Turning a Blind Eye
Reward	1000 Orrin as a Fence
Faction	Thieves Guild
Type	Thieves Guild Quest

BackgroundEdit

Hieronymus Lex is still a constant thorn in the side of the Thieves Guild. As the rules of the guild forbid killing, the plan is to have him restationed to Anvil where he can do little harm to the guild.

WalkthroughEdit

Countess Millona Umbranox in Anvil is looking for a new Captain of the Guard. As this is a perfect opportunity to get rid of Lex from the Waterfront, S'krivva has made a plan. You are to steal the List of Candidates for the new position in Anvil and rewrite Lex in as the top candidate. The list is currently in possession of Dairihill, the castle steward.

Go to Anvil and ask the beggars about the castle. It may cost you a little but if you talk to Penniless Olvus (typically through the main gate on the left), he will tell you for free. Any beggar will tell you that Orrin, the blacksmith in the castle, is associated with the Thieves Guild. Talk to Orrin in the castle and he'll show you a secret passageway.

Traverse the secret passage. You can't wait while trespassing so plan ahead. At the end is a door to be picked. Do so. On getting out of the secret passage, you'll need to pick another door into Dairihill's room, hopefully when she's asleep. Detect life and invisibility spells will be useful here as she is sometimes sitting at her desk. If you are caught, simply run up and pick one final lock on her desk to steal the List of Candidates. If you are arrested, the List of Candidates will not be removed from your inventory even though it is considered a stolen item because it is a quest item.

On a side note, there is also a Nirnroot through the other door in Dairihill's quarters.

Now that you have the note, you must forge a new one. Bribe the beggars (Olvus tells you for 15 gold) and they will tell you about the Abandoned House. It is rumoured that a Master Forger lives there. Follow your quest marker to a man called The Stranger. (There is a bug here where it will say he's in his house even though he is not. This can be fixed by waiting a very long time [only proven on PS3 version, others please verify]. It has been suggested that if he does not appear in the Abandoned House to look in the castle of Anvil.)

Though he won't tell you the cost, he'll forge the note for 500 gold and it will take 24 hours; so make sure you have the coin and come back in 24 hours. (There seems to be a bug here; if you do not come back for 2+ days sometimes the green location marker will show him being in his house but he is not there and will never show up in his house, the chapel, the docks, or the castle. One can only fix it by reloading before you talked to him about forging the letter.)

The letter isn't ready yet. To make it look official, you need to seal it using the Imperial Legion Seal. Go back to the Imperial City and enter the Prison District. (While the quest marker points at the first door on the left, it might be easier to enter the second door on the left, though it has a harder lock.) If you enter the first/quest marker door, sneak across the room to the door on the right and break in. You will now be in the Commander's Office. On his desk is the seal. Simply use it and get out. If you have bad timing, a guard (the commander of the guards no less) will be in the chair; it's not recommended to try to sneak by him, however, the spell Remote Manipulation works wonders in snatching the seal right under his nose. (Note - if you find the commander sitting down in front of the desk, you should be able to simply use the seal on the desk without raising an alert.)

Now that you have everything, go back to Countess Umbranox and deliver the message. Wait until she is in the audience chamber. While you can approach her during her meals, she will not accept official documentation. She gladly accepts Hieronymus Lex as her new Captain of the Guard. Before you leave with Lex's Transfer Orders, collect a 20 gold tip from Dairihill (along with a nasty remark about how her cousin was supposed to assume Lex's new position).

Now you get to tell Lex! Go back to Imperial City and find Lex. As Lex does wander from time to time, it is best to follow the marker. He'll rant on that Gray Fox had something to do with it but is honor bound to leave. Go back to S'krivva and collect your reward!

BugsEdit

• If you go to receive your tip from Darihil before you show Count Umbrinox the orders, she won't accept them at all.
• If you're asked by the Gray Fox to complete a quest, do so first so that he will go to the abandoned house.
• If you have cheated to get a forged list of candidates you will not be able to use the imperial legion seal, if you have done so just use the command "player.remove item 0C229 [number]".

Thieves Guild Quests
Armand Christophe	May the Best Thief Win • Untaxing the Poor • The Elven Maiden • Ahdarji's Heirloom
S'krivva	Misdirection • Lost Histories • Taking Care of Lex
Gray Fox	Turning a Blind Eye • Arrow of Extrication • Boots of Springheel Jak • The Ultimate Heist
Other	Finding the Thieves Guild • Independent Thievery • Cast out of the Thieves Guild