Oblivion:Mephala

Current Best Route

Quest stages are indicated in parentheses at the end of each step when they are updated. Keep in mind that these optimized steps are within the context of the 100% speedrun route, meaning that certain items and setups are sometimes assumed to have already been performed prior to the start of the quest.

1. Reach level 15 and acquire Nightshade from the Anvil Mages Guild Library.
2. Fast travel to Mephala’s Shrine, which is NE of the Imperial City.
3. Dupe your Nightshade so that you have 6 of it.
4. Activate the shrine between midnight and 6am.

   Select “Yes.” (This offers the Nightshade.)

5. Wait for the cutscene to end. Fast travel to the Quest Marker. (20)
6. Go into Nivan Dalvilu’s House, directly behind where you spawned. Make a save outside the front door. This will be called Temp_Save later.
7. Kill Nivan Dalvilu.
8. Take the Dalvilu Ceremonial Dagger off the low table on the east wall. (40)
9. Enter Hrol Ulfgar’s House, which is the big house SW of Nivan Dalvilu’s House.
10. Take the Ulfgar Family Ring off the table on the second floor that has a book and various utensils on it. (50)
11. Kill Hrol Ulfgar, who will most likely be up in the attic area, then wait for the quest to update. (70)
12. Place the Dalvilu Ceremonial Dagger in Hrol Ulfgar’s corpse. (75)
13. Quicksave, load the Temp_Save, then Load Warp the quicksave through the door.
14. Place the Ulfgar Family Ring in Nivan Dalvilu’s corpse. (80)
15. Go to the Bleaker’s Way Goodwill Inn, East of Nivan Dalvilu’s House.
16. Talk to Kirsten. She may be sleeping on the floor behind the counter.

    ↳ Hrol Ulfgar. (90)

17. Fast travel to the Quest Marker to activate the shrine again. (✔ 100)
18. Drop the Ebony Blade weapon quest reward.

Bugs

• Finishing the quest as described above and then returning to Bleaker's Way to kill NPCs related to the quest will result in the quest failing after already having been completed. This does not actually alter the Quests Completed statistic, but rather it internally counts another Daedric Shrine quest as complete internally when determining if the player can start Hermaeus Mora yet. This exploit is not considered useful for the 100% route currently since it acts as a way to make up for failing Namira or skipping another Daedric Shrine quest, which would cause the player to be unable to get all of the Daedric Artifacts anyway as part of the requirements.
  • The game checks if the player has completed exactly 14 quests before allowing them to start Hermaeus Mora, so this exploit can actually cause the value to be too high, preventing the quest from being able to be started anyway.

Route Logic Considerations

• Kirsten is a merchant and can potentially die after this quest is completed, so she should be invested in during this quest.
• This quest can be failed in several different ways, such as killing NPCs related to the quest, which will result in you not getting the Daedric Artifact, preventing you from getting 100% completion.
• An efficient source of Nightshade is in the Anvil Mages Guild Library since it is next to Dragon's Tongue, which we need for both the Mages Guild Suspension quests. See the Nightshade item page for more details.
• Nightshade is also needed for Vampire Cure, so 5 extra copies of it should be duped for later.
• Since a specific player level is required to start this quest, it is best done after the first instance of Power Leveling in the route logic.
• Like most Daedric Shrine quests, there are unskippable cutscenes that we need to find a way to avoid.

Script Analysis

No script analysis has been done for this quest.

Quest Stages

Mephala (DAMephala)

Stage	Finish	setstage Scripts	Journal Entry
5
10			Mephala's followers have told me that, in order to summon the Daedra, I must first leave an offering of nightshade at her statue between midnight and dawn. [You must be level 15 to begin this quest.]
20			Mephala has told me about the settlement of Bleaker's Way. She would like me to kill the leaders of the two families, and leave evidence that the murders were done by the other family. I am to allow no one to see me commit the crimes.
30			I have learned Nivan Dalvilu is the head of the Dalvilu family, and Hrol Ulfgar the leader of the Nordic clan.
40			I have found a Dalvilu ceremonial dagger. This might be useful to leave as evidence.
50			I have found the Ulfgar family ring. This might be useful to leave as evidence.
60			I have killed Nivan Dalvilu. I should leave something in his corpse to implicate the Ulfgar clan.
65			I have left the Ulfgar family ring in the corpse of Nivan Dalvilu.
70			I have killed Hrol Ulfgar. I should leave something in his corpse to implicate the Dalvilu clan.
75			I have left the Dalvilu dagger in the corpse of Hrol Ulfgar.
80			I've placed evidence on both bodies of the family leaders. Now I must tell someone I saw them attack each other.
85			I reported the 'attacks' on the family leaders. Soon the families will be at each other's throats. Now I must return to the shrine of Mephala.
90			I've been detected committing a crime in Bleaker's Way. I will not be able to continue my task for Mephala.
100	✔		Mephala was pleased with the strife I have caused. She has rewarded me with the Ebony Blade.
105	✔		Mephala was disappointed in my failure.
110	✔		Something I did in Bleaker's Way apparently spoiled Mephala's schemes, so she refused my offering.
115	✔		By killing everyone in Bleaker's Way, I've spoiled Mephala's scheme, and spoiled any chance of gaining her favor.