Oblivion:The Desolate Mine

This article is about the quest. For the place, see Desolate Mine.

Deliver a weapons shipment to the Desolate Mine. Quest Giver: Burz gro-Khash at the Cheydinhal Fighters Guild Location(s): Desolate Mine Next Quest: A Rat Problem or Unfinished Business Reward: Gold (amount depends upon level and outcome), possible promotion Fame/Infamy: Fame +1 if all 3 other members survive ID: FGC06Courier

Fighters Guild members awaiting their delivery

Quick Walkthrough

1. Speak with Burz gro-Khash. He needs you to bring a weapon cache to some guild members at the Desolate Mine.
2. Make your way to the mine and take care of any enemies guarding the entrance.
3. Once inside, speak with Rienna.
4. After discovering how each member prefers to kill goblins, distribute the weapons appropriately.
5. Head into the bowels of the mine with the other three guild members and eliminate all standing resistance.
6. Once the mine is clear, return to Burz gro-Khash for your reward.

Detailed Walkthrough

This first Cheydinhal Fighters Guild quest - together with the first Anvil Fighters Guild quests, A Rat Problem and The Unfortunate Shopkeeper - is required for advancement in the guild and proceeding to Unfinished Business, but it is completely independent of the other two in terms of order of completion. You can receive this quest before, during, or after any of the Anvil quests.

A Simple Weapon Drop

Burz gro-Khash asks you to deliver a weapons shipment to some Fighters Guild members in the Desolate Mine to the northwest. He gives you a bow, a longsword and a warhammer, all three made of steel and completely weightless. The location will be marked on your map. When you get close to the mine, you may be attacked by goblins - a sign of things to come. Inside the mine speak to Rienna, who will reveal that the mine has become infested with goblins. She takes a bow for herself and instructs you to give the other weapons to the two fighters (Elidor and Brag gro-Bharg) standing by the fire. Be sure to give the appropriate weapon to each fighter: Brag gro-Bharg prefers the warhammer, while Elidor prefers the sword.

The Foul Beasts

Once you have distributed the weapons, get ready to immediately fight the goblins. Follow the three fighters into the mine and dispose of any goblins you encounter. You will also notice several dead miners. All three fighters subscribe to the school of "rush head first into battle without a strategic plan", which may well end up getting some or all of them killed. Keep up and help them as best you can. In particular, it is recommended you quickly deal with the log trap in the back of the mine; see the Notes section for more detail.

As your companions tend to split up after the first room, it will be impossible to follow all of them. It is recommended to remain with Rienna, as she is armed with only a bow and more likely to be swarmed than the two other fighters. Elidor is also not well-suited to combat and may require additional supervision; Brag on the other hand is a hardy Orc and has the most damaging weapon of the three, thus requiring less attention. Targeted Fortify and Restore Health spells can be useful in boosting your companions.

Once all of the goblins are dead, return to Burz gro-Khash for your reward and possible promotion. Your reward is dependent upon how many of the other three fighters survived:

• If they all survived, you will get double the usual quest reward (200 to 1200 gold) and one Fame point. In addition to this, people will begin talking about how the Fighters Guild did a good job in the Desolate Mine.
• If one or more persons died, you will get only 80% of the standard quest reward (80 to 480 gold). You will not receive any Fame points. You will also have to endure various negative rumors about what happened at the mine.

You may also be in line for a promotion from Burz. If this is the first Fighters Guild quest that you have completed, you will be promoted to the rank of Apprentice. You will then need to see Azzan in Anvil for your next quest, A Rat Problem. If you have already completed both of Azzan's quests, then you will be promoted to the rank of Journeyman. In that case, your next stop will be Chorrol to talk with Vilena Donton and Modryn Oreyn for your next quest, Unfinished Business.

Notes

• Make sure to trip the log trap in the back of the mine before the three fighters do, as this is likely to kill them almost instantly. You can simply rush ahead while others fight the goblins in the first room, activate the trap and then fight your way back.
• You can also pickpocket the key from Rienna and kill the goblins yourself before speaking to her, although this requires a relatively high Sneak skill. This ensures no casualties and thus a higher reward, though it comes with the risk of being expelled from the Guild if Rienna catches you. If you plan to do this, make sure of two things:
  • Do not give any of the fighters a weapon.
  • Close the door behind you after using the key, as otherwise the fighters and goblins will run towards each other and meet in the first room, proceeding without any weapons, which practically guarantees that they will all die.
• The weapons you can take from fallen members' bodies might be handy, since they have a weight of 5, compared to 10, 24, and 39 respectively for a standard Steel Bow, Steel Longsword, and Steel Warhammer. Burz will remove any of these weapons when you speak to him about your reward, however, so make sure they are not in your inventory at that point. The armor of fallen comrades may similarly be valuable, as at low levels you may thus be able to acquire chainmail or steel armor earlier than you might otherwise.

Bugs

• After completing this quest, if you are arrested for committing a crime, the fighters who survived the mine may appear beside you upon your release from jail.
  • The Unofficial Oblivion Patch, version 1.0.0, fixes this bug.
• If the Fighters Guild members are killed after the quest is completed, rumors regarding the quest may reflect you having failed the quest.
  • The Unofficial Oblivion Patch, version 3.4.0, fixes this bug.

Journal Entries

The Desolate Mine (FGC06Courier)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		Burz gro-Khash has given me a contract to deliver a weapons shipment to Fighters Guild members in the Desolate Mine northwest of Cheydinhal.
20		I've spoken with Rienna, one of the fighters in the Desolate Mine. She tells me that the cave has been infested with goblins, and we should clear the place out before leaving. I will have to give them each weapons, though.
30		I have given weapons to the three Fighters Guild members. We should now clear the Mine of goblins.
40		The Desolate Mine is now clear of the goblins infesting it. I should return to Burz gro-Khash for payment.
100	Finishes quest	Burz gro-Khash was pleased with my efforts, and has paid me for completing the contract.
110	Finishes quest	I returned to Burz gro-Khash, who was not happy I allowed other guild members to die. I was still rewarded for delivering the weapons.

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.
• It is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage FGC06Courier 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.

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