The Assassinated Man
Quest Giver	Vicente Valtieri
Prerequisite	To Serve Sithis
Next Quest	My Brother's Keeper
Reward	(based on level) Advance to Eliminator rank Bonus Cruelty's Heart
Faction	Dark Brotherhood

"I must go to Chorrol, break into Francois Motierre's house, and then speak with him. Motierre requested we meet this way, so he is expecting me."

―The Hero of Kvatch^[src]

This mission is different from the other Dark Brotherhood missions in that the Hero of Kvatch doesn't kill anyone, but is instead helping a man fake his death. An underworld crime boss wants Francois Motierre dead, so they are sending an enforcer to kill him. Vicente will give the Hero a Langourwine Blade that will not kill Motierre but will make him appear dead when stabbed. If the Hero kills Hides-His-Heart, the bonus will be forfeit.

BackgroundEdit

This is a unique mission, in that the Hero of Kvatch doesn't actually kill this time, but stages the death of someone. Some people want Francois Motierre dead because he couldn't pay back a loan, and they have hired an assassin, Hides-His-Heart to do the job. However, Francois has hired the Dark Brotherhood to stage a fake assassination. Usually, the Dark Brotherhood will only accept contracts involving a death, but Francois offered them his mother. Lucien takes care of this for the Hero. Vicente will give the Hero the Langourwine Blade, a specially poisoned blade that mimics death but does not kill (the blade is a one-time poison use). Do not kill Hides-His-Heart (so he can report to his boss that Motierre is dead) while doing the job.

WalkthroughEdit

Break into the victim's house in Chorrol. Do not kill him, beat him, stab him, or hurt him in any way. He will explain what he wants to be done. When the enforcer comes, he will go into a little tirade; then when he's done, stab Motierre, and he will fall to the ground like he is dead. Hides-His-Heart will attack but do not fight back and kill him or the bonus will be lost.

Not killing Hides-His-Heart can be tricky. If the Hero hits Motierre with the blade and exits fast enough, Hides-His-Heart will exit the house slightly later giving the Hero more time to run out of Chorrol and therefore secure the bonus.

Wait for 24 hours then go to the Chorrol Chapel's Undercroft and revive Motierre with Vicente's antidote. His dead family members will view this as a desecration and will come to life as zombies and try to send the Hero to their grave. Kill them and take Francois to the Gray Mare.

Return to Cheydinhal to get payment and, if Hides-His-Heart is not dead, another bonus--the Cruelty's Heart.

NotesEdit

• If the Hero of Kvatch breaks into Motierre's house before joining the Dark Brotherhood, Motierre will exclaim that they're not the one that Lachance said would come (to undertake this very mission). He'll tell the Hero that they are free to loot his home without fear of the guards.
• A very easy way to avoid Hides-His-Heart's blade but complete the mission: Once the two start talking, slash Motierre. Don't wait for their chat to finish, just do it and run for the door, and don't stop running until Chorrol is left. Then just wait and return.
• It's not actually necessary to wait a full day. Motierre's body will be moved directly to the undercroft at midnight.
• The zombies that attack in the undercroft will not appear until the revived Motierre has been spoken to. Once you wake him up, he will try to talk to the Hero, so if the Hero backs away from him before he has a chance, he may follow, in which case he can be led right to the undercroft doors before engaging in dialog with him.
• The "dead" Motierre can be pickpocketed in the undercroft for a small amount of gold. If the antidote has already been used but hasn't woken him up, the Hero runs the same risk of being caught as when pickpocketing any other sleeping character. If a risk-taker, the Hero can use this to wake him up. Motierre will still follow the Hero to finish the contract, and the guard who charges into the Undercroft to arrest the Hero can fight off the zombies - an excellent diversion. Just be sure to pay off the bounty.
• The Hero can also run from the zombies, which will cause them to follow outside. Guards and townsfolk will attack them.
• Don't forget to go back later and loot Motierre's house. The house is essentially left open for plundering: nothing is marked as stolen, and the Hero can even sleep in the bed. However, most of the containers in the house will reset, so it is not safe to use this house for storage, unless the display cases are used or simply leaving the things on the floor.
• Do not fast travel immediately after leaving the house as it is possible for Hides-His-Heart to be killed by guards. Simply exit Chorrol through one of the nearby gates.
• Motierre's "corpse", affected by the Languorwine poison, is not the same as that of the NPC in the undercroft. If any items are stored on his corpse, hoping he will wake up wearing/wielding them, they will be lost them forever.
• If the dagger is used on any other NPC, it will still count as assault, and killing them with it will render them permanently dead.

Journal entriesEdit

Trivia Edit

• A Redguard male called Wallace was ment to be part of the quest but never appears in the game.

BugsEdit

• If Motierre becomes stuck after reviving in the temple, tell him to follow you, step back into the undercroft, and back out, he should now follow you. If he still will not follow, hitting him should cause him to chase after you. Lead him to the Gray Mare and then yield.
• If you leave Chorrol while Motierre is following you he may not follow you once you re-enter Chorrol.
• If you steal the key from the Orc in the chapel and don't wait 24 hours you can not open the door.
• Re-entering Chorrol before the 24 hours is up causes Motierre to be left standing in the chapel undercroft; he cannot be interacted with in any way. To avoid this, ensure you wait for a minimum of 24 hours before re-entering Chorrol. If the bug is encountered, waiting for 24 hours anywhere outside the undercroft fixes the problem.