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The Elven Maiden
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Quest Giver	Armand Christophe
Location	Imperial City Waterfront
Prerequisite	Untaxing the Poor 100 fenced
Next Quest	Ahdarji's Heirloom
Reward	100 2 infamy Advance to Bandit rank
Faction	Thieves Guild
Type	Thieves Guild

BackgroundEdit

Armand wants you to steal a bust from the chapel undercroft in Cheydinhal. However, what seems like a straight smash-and-grab job turns into something much more complicated.

WalkthroughEdit

This quest requires you to steal the bust of Llathasa Indarys from Cheydinhal. Travel to Cheydinhal and speak with the beggars marked on your map(make sure your disposition is good). He/She will tell you to look in the chapel.

Head to the Cheydinhal chapel and enter the chapel Undercroft. Be cautious; there is a guard posted so you'll have to be sneaky. Steal the "bust" (follow the map indicators). The best way to do this would be to let the guard make two runs in her route, then when she walks away, grab the bust and run out. If you are noticed by the guard, she will attack you. If you run out and leave, the guards will attack the chapel guard, so it's best to grab the bust and run. The undercroft guard is wearing some decent armor, so you can come back later and kill her if you wish.

Avoid looting the chest of Llathasa Indarys, as her ghost will come out and attack you.

Fun Fact: If you get caught by the chapel guard, she will attack you. In this instance you would have to restart the quest. Wrong. Put your shield up and steal from the coffin that the Bust is in front of, Llathasa's Ghost will pop up to defend the valuables because you "robbed" the grave. Keep your shield up and maneuver the chapel guard in between you and the ghost. Once the ghost hits the guard with its attack, the guard will turn and attack the Llathasa's Ghost in turn. There's a pretty decent chance that the ghost will kill the guard keeping your hands clean. After the guard is dead, you can now kill the ghost. Take the Bust after you take care of Llathasa's Ghost and you're home free. Also, if you do take this route when the chapel guard catches you, a guard of Cheydinhal will stop you outside the Chapel. Pay the fine. The Bust will still be in your inventory even though the guard takes the rest of your stolen goods.

Travel back to the Imperial City Waterfront where it is discovered that guards including Hieronymus Lex have overrun the place, and have issued an arrest warrant for Armand, who has gone on the lam.

If you hurry to speak with other Thieves' Guild members, they will tell you that Methredhel is looking for you. She is actively seeking you to update you on the situation, and can come inside the Shack for Sale or other houses to find you, but can be found inside her own house if necessary. As you question her, it becomes clear that your job was an elaborate charade designed to expose and in turn, frame a traitor in the Thieves' Guild, a Dunmer named Myvryna Arano (the same woman who delivers the invitation to the Thieves' Guild). The same stolen item that revealed her treachery is now to be used to turn Lex against her; Methredhel wants you to frame her for the crime by placing the bust in a cupboard at her house. The swarm of guards continues to bolt to and fro throughout the Waterfront area, and Lex remains in constant line of sight, so a very high sneak skill would be required to enter Myvryna Arano's house unseen. The guards thin out but do not disperse entirely, even after several days. Be careful that the guards do not see you break into her house; Invisibility and/or Chameleon effects may be preferable to Stealth alone. Once inside, place the statuette in "Myvryna's Cupboard", which is the cupboard nearest the door and next to her bed. Should Hieronymus Lex's disposition not be high enough, he will not believe your story, but once it is at least 71, you can convince him that Myvryna Arano stole the bust, and to search Myvryna's house. A short cutscene takes place, and then the quest is complete.

The waterfront tax records stolen in the quest Untaxing the Poor show that Myvryna Arano was "exempted" which gives a clue for this quest.

Note that there are two cupboards, the one to the right of her bed is the correct one!

Journal entriesEdit

BugsEdit

• At the point where Lex confronts Myvryna Arano, there is a bug where he goes in, check the cupboard, starts talking, and then walks out. You are stuck because it's meant to be a cutscene but it doesn't have an ending, so you have no choice but to reload. Always save before doing this part. On the PC version of the game, you can open the console (~ or `) and type in "enableplayercontrols" (without quotation marks) to re-enable your movement. Armond might not show sometimes. If this happens you can try looking for him in either the basement of the westernmost warehouse on the waterfront or in his house, north of where he's supposed to show. PC users can also use the console command "player.moveto 352A0" to move to wherever Armand is.
• Another bug is after you have told Lex about Myvryna and he goes in the house he randomly disappears and ends up somewhere near Bravil.
• If caught stealing the bust you will receive a bounty, however no guards are hostile. You cannot fast travel, rest, or sleep though.
• Sometimes Lex seems to be sucked into an alternate Oblivion. This happens when you resist arrest when getting caught trying to break into the house and run for it. If you are playing on PC you can fix this by using the console. The commands are:  <~> prid <refID> <enter> MoveTo Player <enter> <~> Replace <refID> with 34879 (also to note <> should be removed). This causes Lex to spawn dirrectly infront of you and you will be able to complete the quest.

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