First of all I have to steal a letter intended for the countess of Anvil, which recommends a new guard captain for her. Lex is not in the running, but I need to change that.
I don't think I've been to Castle Anvil before. The courtyard, above, is probably my favourite place in Cyrodiil. Nay, Tamriel even! I especially liked it in the evening but couldn't get a good picture there due to screen glare, so I went back during the daytime to get a picture. The screen glare is still there unfortunately but it's not as bad due to the brighter on-screen colours.
I steal the recommendation letter, which she hasn't seen yet, from the castle, with the help of a blacksmith traitor working for us. I then find a master forger living in an abandoned shack in Anvil, and he agrees to forge the letter for a good bit of gold. He says it will take him a day, and it's little touches like this which really flesh out a lot of Oblivion's quests. Of course, I could just 'wait' 24 hours and go back to him, but the set-up sort of prompts you to go off and do some other things rather than just pressing 'wait' - it feels more natural and a nice jumping-off point to get other matters sorted. I remember I am low on lockpicks so I head off to the Imperial City to find Shady Sam, who sells them. Along the way I speak to the stablehands at the Imperial City stable and they both complain about losing all their horses. However, the stable seems to be fully stocked with horses - an oversight, perhaps? An abandoned side-quest that Bethesda forgot about?
I return to Anvil and get the forged letter, which now highly recommends Lex. This quest has already been more involved and interesting than practically any of the quests in Skyrim, but it goes one further still. The letter must be sealed with the official imperial seal - so I head back to the Imperial City and infiltrate a guards' office there, and use one of their stamps to seal it. I am seen by a guard and chased out, but I find Armande Christophe in the Waterfront District and pay off my fines and bounty.
Finally, I head back to Anvil and deliver the letter to the Countess. She assumes I'm a courier (even though I'M THE ARCHMAGE -_-) and thanks me, asking me to deliver the news to Lex myself. Altogether a fairly involved and satisfying quest, with no combat whatsoever, and a good bit of travelling round between two cities.
After returning to Bravil to inform Skriiva of my success, she tells me I should expect to be contacted by the Gray Fox soon. Awesome!
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