[edit] Quick Walkthrough
- Once you have reached level 8, give Sanguine an offering of Cyrodilic Brandy to start the quest.
- Go to Leyawiin and play a prank at the countess' dinner party using Sanguine's spell.
- Get out of Leyawiin, as there are some consequences to your prank.
- Return to Sanguine to receive your reward: Sanguine Rose, a staff that summons random Daedra.
[edit] Detailed Walkthrough
It is advisable to save your game at various points through this quest as many aspects of the quest that are, or appear to be, bugged can be remedied by playing through in a different way, or merely attempting it a second time. See the talk page for bugs and possible solutions. Some of these require confirmation.
[edit] Location
See the Oblivion Map for the location of this shrine. The Shrine of Sanguine is located in the Imperial Reserve, north-northwest of Skingrad. You can add a map marker to your map by:
[edit] The Shrine of Sanguine
At the shrine, Engorm will tell you that you need to give Sanguine some Cyrodilic Brandy to get an audience. Cyrodilic Brandy can be stolen from many nobles' houses; it can also be bought at the Main Ingredient or the Gilded Carafe in the Imperial City. Also, Bogrum Gro-Galash in the Lonely Suitor Lodge in Bravil has a chance of having it in stock. Three samples can be found inside the Odiil Farm just outside of Chorrol, and one sample is found at Cloud Ruler Temple in Jauffre's room, next to Martin's room. With the preliminaries taken care of, approach Sanguine and offer the brandy. He will say:
- Ah... another mortal come to beg Sanguine to add a bit of spice to an otherwise drab existence. I would have you perform a service for me. The Castle Leyawiin is a dull, dreary place. The mistress is an especially somber soul, and tomorrow she will hold another excruciating dinner party. I want you to liven it up. Use this spell on the Countess and her guests. I think it will make the party much more interesting. You should probably try to be inconspicuous. Or they might kill you. Oh, and the party is by invitation only. You'll have to find a way in. Have fun!
[edit] Preparing for the Prank
There is in fact no rush to get to Leyawiin; the dinner party will only get underway whenever you make it there, even if it takes you several weeks. The Countess is dining with four others: Britta Invel and her husband Jaras; Termanwe and Vlarimil Orius. When you go to Castle Leyawiin, you will find that you cannot enter the dining room (located to the right of the main audience hall). At night the door will be locked; in the morning a guard will be posted there. The guard confirms that there will be a dinner party, but that it is invitation only.
In fact, an invitation is not necessary. Once the party starts (about 6 pm) the guard will let you in if his disposition is high enough (greater than 70); or if you are wearing "valuable" enough equipment (which includes jewelry) or an "upper class" outfit.
[edit] The Prank
Before proceeding, it is strongly recommended that you save your game. When you cast the Stark Reality spell, things are likely to become somewhat chaotic. Furthermore, there are a few bugs (still not fixed in version 1.1.511 in the game) that you may encounter.
When you cast Stark Reality, you will discover that:
- The dinner guests are stripped down to their undergarments and start running around hysterically.
- The guests aren't the only ones affected: look at your inventory and you will discover that all your possessions, including all of your gold, have vanished (don't panic: you will get everything back at the end of the quest).
- Casting the spell is considered to be an assault, because the spell has a Drain Health 1 component. The guards will immediately try to arrest you. Since you just lost all your gold, you can not just pay a fine: you must go to jail or run.
- Stark Reality must affect all five people (the four guests and the Countess) for the prank to be considered a success. If you are having trouble with this (see Bugs), aiming at Termanwe will reliably affect everyone.
[edit] Dealing with the Consequences
There are several general approaches to dealing with the quandary of being arrested and being unable to pay your bounty. Each is discussed separately below. Note that although using the Gray Cowl of Nocturnal seems like it should be a viable option here, it is not. When the spell takes effect and the Cowl is removed, even if you do it manually, you still retain all of the bounties associated with the Cowl, unlike the effect of manually removing the cowl at any other time.
[edit] Use The Guards To Your Advantage
This is generally the easiest way to escape the dinner party; the only negative consequence is that your journal will show that you at one point had a bounty on your head. If you get the Disposition of the arresting guard (typically the same guard standing at the door) to be greater than 90, he will claim that since the two of you are such good friends, he'll just pay your bounty for you; you are immediately released. Getting his disposition to over 90 will generally require a Charm spell. This option will only work if your total bounty (including the bounty from the dinner party attacks) is less than 1000; therefore paying off any pre-existing bounty before starting this quest is recommended. After getting your fine paid off, avoid any other guards for a couple of seconds until the game has fully registered that your bounty has been reset to zero; if another guard talks to you immediately afterwards you may still be sent to jail.
If you do this, make sure your first cast of the Stark Reality spell hits the countess. If you have to cast it a second time, there's a good chance the guard will witness it as he is running in and/or you may hit the guard with the effect which will lower his disposition.
[edit] Avoid Detection
Avoiding detection is difficult; the moment the spell hits, the guests and guards are pretty adept at realizing where it came from, even if you are in Sneak mode. Various corners (out in the great hall, in the alcove leading to the Servant's Quarters) have been found by some players to allow them to avoid detection. However, success at hiding does vary from player to player. Even with 100 Sneak and being in shadows and casting Invisibility after the spell hits will not save you from the guards in most, if not all, cases.
You can use an Invisibility spell, if you can cast it before the spell hits (if you cast after the spell hits, you will still be assigned a bounty). If you are far enough away when you cast the Stark Reality spell, you can quickly drink an Invisibility potion before the Stark Reality spell finds its target; you will not be assigned a bounty, and NPCs dispositions to you will not change.
Another option is to wear a 100% Chameleon Suit and cast the spell. It is removed after the spell hits - so no blame is assessed to you, but you are now visible and naked. If you do not have a 100% Chameleon Suit you can always use potions with Chameleon effects. Make sure that the potions have a sum effect of 100% Chameleon or more; less will not protect you, and the guards will try to arrest you.
[edit] Go directly to Jail
See also Go to Jail
If you go to jail, you have the standard options: do the time and risk losing a skill point or try to break out of jail. Bear in mind that lockpicks are removed from inventory and the Skeleton Key, which you may decide to drop on the ground to avoid having its bonus permanently attached to your character, will not open cell doors. Prison break preparations might include dropping a lockpick on the floor before casting the spell, then quickly picking it back up, or accepting arrest to discover what cell the guards will place you in, then returning to your save point beforehand, and hide your lockpicks and/or gear in the cell. Note that if you are arrested and do not resist arrest, you will be unable to witness the aftermath of the spell.
You may choose to resist arrest and simply escape, either by skillfully maneuvering around guards (difficult) or by protecting yourself with a magical effect (invisibility, shield, restore health, etc). Note that you can only take advantage of spells and powers; if you want to count on any equipment or potions you must drop it on the floor or place it in a container before casting the Stark Reality spell; because what is placed inside is not on your person when casting the spell, it can be retrieved and used. This method results in a bounty for assault, the guards attempting to locate you, and NPCs attempting to retaliate (which may be desired, depending on player).
[edit] Cast on a Summon
You can summon a creature and provoke it (e.g., with weak hand to hand combat, so you don't kill it before it becomes hostile). Once it is hostile, cast Stark Reality on it before the guards kill it. As you did not assault anybody directly, you will not be attacked by the guards or dinner guests, although you will get a small bounty. If your total current bounty is still low, guards will not try to arrest you on sight, so you can just walk out of the castle.
[edit] Frenzy
Similar to the Summon method, you can cast Frenzy on the Countess. Wait a couple of seconds for everyone to start brawling, and then cast Stark Reality. The guards will be too busy trying to maim everyone else to worry about you, and you won't get a bounty if done correctly. Make sure you hit the countess or one of her guests, and not one of the guards or Hlidara Mothril. It might take a couple of tries.
[edit] Back at the Shrine of Sanguine
You'll probably want to return to the Shrine of Sanguine right away. Not only will you receive your reward, the Sanguine Rose, but Sanguine will also have all of your vanished gear waiting for you in a chest at the Shrine. His parting message is:
- A rousing success, mortal! And it appears you joined in the festivities as well. Good for you. You need to lighten up a bit. You'll find your equipment in that chest over there. And here's a little something for your efforts. Maybe we'll celebrate again sometime....
- The map marker for the "Shrine Of Sanguine" is named differently from all of the other daedric shrines; the other shrine markers are named, for example, "Peryite's Shrine" or "Meridia's Shrine".
- Performing this quest while other Leyawiin Quests are active could cause unwanted consequences.
- In particular, the quests Mazoga the Orc and Knights of the White Stallion can become unavailable or terminate early if Mazoga comes to your aid and gets killed by the guards.
- This is only a problem if you choose to run from the scene. If you plan on fleeing, it is recommended that you either complete both these quests before starting Sanguine's quest, or not start them until after (More information is found on the Mazoga the Orc quest page).
- After you complete this quest, a special edition of the Black Horse Courier is published: "Pranks Spoils Society Gathering!".
- After Ahdarji's Heirloom is completed the Countess is no longer marked as essential. The longer you put off completing this quest after that, the more likely it is that she will die and you will not be able to obtain the Sanguine Rose (except by console command on the PC). You do still get credit for completing the quest, and you can still qualify for the Hermaeus Mora quest. Your items will be returned to you immediately upon leaving the Castle Hall zone or serving your prison term (no need to return to the "Shrine of Sanguine"). If you play on a console version of the game and want the Sanguine Rose consider doing this quest very soon after Ahdarji's Heirloom. Otherwise, there should be no long term impact on getting 100% completion if that is your goal.
[edit] Quest Items
Stark Reality's removal of gear has noteworthy effects on quest items in the character's possession that players should consider.
- If quest items are equipped, or the Skeleton Key is in inventory when Stark Reality is cast, there is a glitch where the character retains the items' bonuses, and cannot re-equip or drop them when they are returned to inventory. It is strongly recommended that the Gray Cowl of Nocturnal not be worn during this quest for this reason.
- Any quest items assigned to hotkeys at the time of casting Stark Reality will not reappear in Sanguine's chest. However (so long as you do not reassign the hotkey) simply pressing that hotkey will cause the item to reappear.
- This is "fixed" in the PS3 Game of the Year Edition. Attempting to remove unwanted Quest Items from your inventory using this method will not work. The items remain on your character even after casting Stark Reality.
- It has also been "fixed" in the Xbox 360 Game of the Year Edition. Regardless of whether or not they are hotkeyed, quest items appear to be hidden in the inventory, but not removed. They reappear in your inventory as soon as you leave Leyawiin and/or Five Rider Stables. On the other hand, the glitched Security bonus from having the Skeleton key in inventory when casting Stark Reality is removed when entering the Shrine of Sanguine cell.
[edit] Finding the Countess
For the Stark Reality spell to be considered a success, the Countess must also be affected by it. The problem is that the Countess doesn't like to stick around. She will always leave the dinner party relatively early in the evening, about 8 pm (the other four guests will stick around indefinitely). It is also possible that she won't even show up in the first place: the Countess visits other towns in the middle of the month and does not even bother to come home for her own dinner party.
- Talking to the guard in front of the door after the Countess leaves the party may prevent her from ever coming back. You can fix this if you manage to get her to the main hall of the castle and push her into the room.
- If the Countess isn't around when you start the quest, keep checking once a day around 6-8 pm (wait in 24 hour increments). It may take several days, but should not take more than a week. (Yes, those four guests will stay there the entire time).
- In very rare cases, the Countess may never reappear. It is possible for her to be killed while traveling the roads from city to city. If you can find her corpse you can reanimate it and lead it to the castle, where it will work as usual for the quest.
- On the PC, you can use console commands to find the Countess, namely:
prid 35334
moveto player
Do not use the placeatme command because it will not work (see NPC Console IDs for an explanation of why placeatme should not be used with NPCs).
- Although Stark Reality's description in your spell list says it has a radius of 300 feet, it is possible for all five required targets to be in the dining room when it is cast, and receive the failed quest message, "I failed to affect all the guests with the Stark Reality spell".
- If the Knights of the Nine expansion pack is installed, and you posess the crusader's relics, an exploit is available which can duplicate the relics. After using Stark Reality, the relics will be unequipped on you, and sent to the chest at the Shrine of Sanguine. However, if you return to the Priory of the Nine before collecting your equipement from the Shrine, and select "Place all relics" on the armour stand, they will appear on the stand, and can be taken as normal. When you return to the Shrine, a second copy will be in the chest. However, the original set of relics will no longer interact with the stand, so can not be recharged/ upgraded.
- If you visit the Countess in her dressing room while she is under the effect of the Stark Reality spell she may never re-dress. It is possible for her to spend the rest of the game (doing all of her usual rounds) wearing only her underwear. On the PC, you can do one of two things using the Console:
-
- Resurrect her using the commands:
prid 35334resurrect 0
- Manually re-equip all of her items:
- From the Console, type
prid b123c
- Type
RemoveAllItems 35334
- Type
player.moveto 35334
- (This will move you to wherever the countess is. Careful, you may end up in forbidden territory. If you're not very stealthy, wait until a time when the Countess should be in a public area.)
- Go into Stealth Mode and "rob" the countess, only to note down her various clothing and jewelry. If you're not very stealthy, save the game before-hand and then re-load it afterwards if your attempt is noticed.
- Look up the IDs here for each item. As an example, she might have the following: an Ebony Emerald Ring (38025), a Green Brocade Doublet (229b0), a Green Silk Garment (229b1), and Green Velvet Shoes (229b2).
- Open the Console.
- Click on Alessia or type
prid 35334
- For each of the items you noted above, type in
EquipItem xxxxx (each on a separate line). Using the above example, it would be:
EquipItem 38025EquipItem 229b0EquipItem 229b1EquipItem 229b2
- Close the Console.
[edit] Journal Entries
| Sanguine (DASanguine) |
| Stage |
Finishes Quest |
Journal Entry |
| 10 |
|
The follower of Sanguine have told me that, in order to summon the Daedra, I will need to leave an offering of Cyrodilic Brandy at the statue. [You must be level 8 to begin this quest.] |
| 20 |
|
After I provided the offering to Sanguine, the Daedra Prince spoke to me. Sanguine believes that the Countess of Leyawiin is too stuffy, and wants me to do something about it. She will be hosting a dinner party tomorrow, and I am to sneak into the castle undetected and cast the spell of Stark Reality on her. |
| 25 |
|
I have convinced the guard to let me into the Countess Caro's dinner party. |
| 30 |
|
I have succeeded in casting the Stark Reality spell on the Countess of Leyawiin and her company. I should return to the Shrine of Sanguine. |
| 90 |
|
I was detected while attempting to cast the spell of Stark Reality on the Countess of Leyawiin and her guests. I should return to the Shrine of Sanguine. |
| 100 |
 |
Sanguine was pleased with my efforts. He has given me the Sanguine Rose as a reward. I may retrieve my belongings in the nearby chest. |
| 105 |
|
I failed to affect all the guests with the Stark Reality spell. The spell has worn off, and my items have been returned to me, but I have failed my quest for Sanguine. |
- Notes
- Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
- Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in random order.
- If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
- On the PC, it is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering
setstage DASanguine stage, where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages. See SetStage for more information.
