Oblivion:Mercator Hosidus

Mercator Hosidus (RefID: 0003564A)
Home City	Skingrad
House	Castle Skingrad
Race	Imperial	Gender	Male
Level	PC+2	Class	Noble
RefID	0003564A	BaseID	00035649
Other Information
Health	40 + (5+1.4)x(PC+1), PC=3-41
Magicka	100 + 1.5x(PC+1) (max=250)
Responsibility	50	Aggression	5
Essential	Until Ulterior Motives
Faction(s)	Skingrad Castle; Skingrad Citizen

Mercator Hosidus in the hall of Skingrad Castle

Mercator Hosidus, an Imperial noble, handles appointments for Count Janus Hassildor at the Skingrad Castle. It seems he moonlights in another profession, however. During the related quest, Mercator turns out to be a Necromancer and attempts to lure the player into an ambush together with his two similar minded friends: Arterion and Mondrar Henim.

At the castle, Mercator shares his duties with Hal-Liurz, but is clearly the more arrogant of the two. Even though he hides a dark secret, he lives his life at ease. Every day at 6am, he gets out of his bed in the Castle Living Quarters and enters the County Hall, where he will wander around all day long. As the count never wants to see anybody, his job is extremely easy; therefore, as early as 8pm, Mercator retires to his room for ten hours of sleep. The only exception to this routine is at stage 30 of the related quest, when he will set off at 10pm to the high pastures, just west of Tamika's Vineyard and wait for you to make your appearance.

He wears typical upper-class attire: a green brocade doublet, a green silk garment and a pair of matching shoes. He also carries a leveled piece of upper-class jewelry, a sizable amount of gold and two keys, which are however removed from his inventory at the start of the related quest.

In combat, he relies on an iron dagger and leveled set of standard Necromancer spells. However, due to his Noble class and the NPC skill leveling mechanism, he will actually only be able to cast a single novice-level Destruction spell, even at higher levels. He will never be able to cast his other major-leveled Destruction, Restoration and two Summon spells as these are all at least apprentice level.

His room is located in the midst of the Castle's Living Quarters and contains a few items not suitable for a steward, two books on Alchemy and a complete set of Alchemy Apparatus.

Dialogue

Not the most polite steward in the game, he will greet you with the following insult:

"The Count will not see you now. Not now, not ever. He sees no one. I'm Mercator Hosidus, his steward. I believe that's all you need to know."

Skingrad

"Wander the streets, fields, and public places of Skingrad to your heart's content. Just don't include me in your social explorations."

Buy a house in town

"You'll have to speak with Shum gro-Yarug about that. He's the only one that can handle the deed."

Related Quests

• Allies for Bruma: You are asked to bring in reinforcements for Bruma from the other towns.
• Ulterior Motives: Retrieve a book from the Count of Skingrad.

Quest-Related Events

Allies for Bruma

Should you ask him about securing support for Bruma, he will say:

Aid for Bruma

"I believe that the Count may want to handle this matter personally. Wait here. I will tell the Count you are waiting to see him."

He will then head off to fetch the Count and will return with him to the hall shortly thereafter. After Count Hassildor has tasked you with closing the Oblivion Gate near the city, his responses will change:

Aid for Bruma

"The Count left very specific instructions. He does not want to see you again on this matter until the Oblivion Gate outside Skingrad is closed."

Skingrad

"The Count has ordered the Guard to defend the city to the last man. There will be no panic here."

Once the gate has been closed he will state:

"The Count has dispatched soldiers to Bruma, as he promised."

Ulterior Motives

Once you arrive in Skingrad on your mission from Raminus Polus, nearly anyone asked about the Count will point you to Mercator:

"All appointments to see the Count must go through Mercator Hosidus"

"He's the person to talk to about an audience with the Count. You'll find him in the County Hall."

"He's the person to talk to about an audience with the Count. He's not available right now. You can either wait here for him, or come back later."

Hal-Liurz will confirm that:

"I'm afraid that's not my arena. You'll have to speak to Mercator about seeing the Count."

Mercator will be just as impolite as ever:

"Yes, the Mages Guild, you say? Oh, the Count is quite aware of your presence here. He simply has no interest in granting you an audience at this time. Now that I've seen you myself, I can't say that I blame him. Nevertheless, I shall endeavor to change his mind on the subject. Return tomorrow - perhaps he will see you then."

Should you speak to him before the day has passed, he will be annoyed:

"Has a day passed yet? No? Then, as I told you, I don't have any new information for you, do I?"

When you return the next day, he will start his little scheme to get rid of you:

"You there. I have an update for you. The Count has agreed to see you, but not here. He wishes to meet with you north of the Cursed Mine outside of town, after 2am. It would be wise of you to be on time. Follow the road west out of Skingrad, through the High Pasture. The mine entrance is south of the road. The Count will meet you just outside it."

If you speak with him again he will repeat his instruction:

"I've told you all you need to know. Follow the road west out of town and through the High Pasture; the Count will meet you there at 2 AM."

When you meet him and his three companions outside town, he will reveal his true identity and plans. If you are early to the meeting he will say:

"Well, well. You're early, Mage. I'm afraid I mislead you."

If you arrive between 2am and when he leaves, he will instead say:

"Just in time, Mage. We've been waiting for you."

Either way, he will then proceed:

"The Count won't be arriving – in fact, he doesn't even know you're here. We're not about to let the Guild interfere with our plans, for the Count or otherwise. So, you'll have to die. Don't worry. We'll put your body to good use, I assure you."

After this, he and his fellow Necromancers will proceed to attack you, with Count Hassildor making a late entrance into the fray. Once he is dead, Count Hassildor will shout:

"You impossible fool. What possessed you to think I would suggest a meeting here, of all places? At least your gullibility served some useful purpose. I knew about Mercator, but not his friends. Now none of them are a threat any longer."

Why was Mercator a threat?

"Do you not recognize a Necromancer when you see one? I suspected Mercator was involved in their cult, but was unwilling to move against him without knowing the identities of his allies."

After the quest, puzzled citizens may say:

"Do you know what happened to Mercator Hosidus? I haven't seen him at the castle lately."

Notes

• Attacking Mercator at the meeting before speaking to him will count as an assault and will give you the relevant bounty.

Bugs

• When being directed to the location of the meeting for stage 30 of the quest, you are told "He wishes to meet with you north of the Cursed Mine outside of town, after 2 AM." except the meeting location is actually south of the mine. Both the audio and subtitle are incorrect.
  • The Unofficial Oblivion Patch, version 3.4.0, fixes this bug.
• Poor quest scripting for Ulterior Motives causes a number of issues regarding Mercator and his attire:
  • If you met Mercator at the meeting point on the same day you spoke to him, he would not be wearing Necromancer's Robes but rather his normal attire.
  • If you failed to show up on the same day, Necromancer's Robes would be added to his inventory and he would continue wearing them even when he returned to the Castle for the day.
  • Waiting additional days before meeting him at the designated time and place could result in him carrying multiple Necromancer's Robes, as the script updated daily.
    • The Unofficial Oblivion Patch, version 3.3.6, fixes this bug.