Beyond Skyrim:Cyrodiil/A Stormcloak in Chains
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Quick Walkthrough[edit]
- Talk to Legate Precilius Varro about his interrogation worries.
- Interrogate Bjarni Shatter-Stone.
- Beat back the Stormcloak assault and decide whether or not to hand Bjarni over to the Penitus Oculatus.
OR
- Break Bjarni free from his cell and lead him outside.
- Slay the Legate and the Penitus Oculatus agents and escape the fort.
Detailed Walkthrough[edit]
A Sullen Stormcloak[edit]
Upon arriving at Fort Pale Pass, you will witness a soldier delivering a report to Legate Precilius Varro: the recently captured Stormcloak prisoner has not been cooperating with interrogators. Ask the Legate about this and he will reveal a Stormcloak was caught crossing the border from Skyrim but that he has proved utterly cooperative under questioning. If he can't get the prisoner to talk soon, the Penitus Oculatus, who are on their way, will. He asks for your help and sends you off to the prison with a Letter of Permission.
Once you arrive at the prison, the guard will check your letter and then open the door for you. All exterior doors leading outside will now be locked right across the fort, the main entrance door being the only exception. Head inside and make your way to the cell holding Bjarni Shatter-Stone, the Stormcloak prisoner. From here, you can take two routes: either helping Bjarni escape or aiding in his interrogation.
Enhanced Interrogation Techniques[edit]
When first speaking to Bjarni, his cooperation will depend on how you approach the conversation. If you claim to be part of the Legion he will brush you off. You can then choose to either persuade, intimidate or use Illusion on Bjarni to get the information. To be successful you will require a Speech skill of 50 for the first option; a combination of a Speech skill above 40 and at least level 12 for the second; and an Illusion skill above 50 for the third. You can also get him to spill the beans by simply tricking him into thinking you're a Stormcloak. Either way, he will confess his plan: invade Cyrodiil and strike at the Imperial City, the heart of the Empire. At this point, the jailer approaches and asks for a quiet word in his quarters: he wants you to keep pressing the prisoner to find out who sent him and how many accomplices he has.
Extracting both pieces of information will require even higher levels of Speech or Illusion to persuade or mind-read: a minimum 75 for the first bit of information and 100 for the second. Intimidation skill and level requirements remain the same. Eventually, Bjarni will admit he's part of a splinter group, the Stormcloak Breakaways, and that he made his way through the Serpent's Trail along with six other companions. Report back to the jailer, and you will hear a commotion in the cells; rush back to find a Stormcloak soldier trying to free Bjarni. Dispatch him and head back into the fort to warn the Legate, battling your way past a number of Stormcloaks.
Once outside, help the Legate defeat the Stormcloak assault party and witness the arrival of two Penitus Oculatus agents, who will ask you to share all your information with them. If you refuse, they will attack you. If you agree, Bjarni will be brought out in front of them and plead to you to rescue him. If you decide not to intervene, the agents will teleport away with the prisoner; alternatively you can attack the agents. In both instances where you fight the Oculatus agents, the fort garrison will not take sides. Regardless of your choices, Varro will reward you with some leveled gold, though if you fought the agents he will mention he is now worried that an investigation will lead to him being relieved of command.
Pale Pass Redemption[edit]
If you instead decide to help Bjarni, which you can do so at any point until your final set of interrogation questions, he will ask you to either pick the Master lock on his cell or to steal the key to the cells from the table in the jailer's quarters and open his cell door. Once he is free, he will immediate fight and kill the jailer. You can now choose to either attempt a sneaky exit from the fort, or go for a full-blown prison break.
If you choose the former, it is better to wait until night time, when most of the fort will be asleep, and to avoid freeing the other prisoners. If you're going for the rampage option, then freeing the three other prisoners and providing them with equipment from the nearby armory is advisable. Regardless of either option, breaking into the Legate's private quarters and blowing his warhorn from the top of the fort tower is also recommended, as it will provide you with a reinforcement of three Stormcloak soldiers to aid you in the final confrontation. To reach the tower, keep going east past the main entrance of the fort and follow the stairs upwards.
Once you step outside the fort, you will be met by the Legate and two Penitus Oculatus agents, flanked by a number of other soldiers. The Legate accuses you of being a traitor and will then proceed to attack you. This is a tough fight, with the Legate and the agents in particular providing stiff resistance, so having the extra reinforcements and the other prisoners can be of great value. Once the Imperials are all dead, Bjarni will say his goodbyes and ask for your name. If you give it to him, a few days later you will be approached by a courier with a letter from Bjarni and some leveled gold (slightly less than Varro's reward).
Notes[edit]
- While the quest objective will simply tell you to escape the fort in the event you choose to stage a prison break, simply running away won't do - you will need to kill all Imperial soldiers before the quest can be completed.
- If you chose to help Bjarni, after the quest is complete the Skyrim Border Gate will be staffed by Stormcloak soldiers, rather than Imperial ones.
Bugs[edit]
- Once you've freed Bjarni he will attack and kill the jailer, but won't do the same to the other Imperial soldier nearby, who instead will simply loiter around.
Quest Stages[edit]
{{ Template:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|!|A Stormcloak in Chains|CYRFortPalePassMS01New}}
{{Template:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=5|2=|3=The commander of the Imperial forces stationed at Pale Pass to watch the Cyrodiil-Skyrim border, Legate Precilius Varo, has hit a dead end with his interrogations of a recently-captured Stormcloak prisoner. He offered to reward me if I'm able to get useful information out of him. Alternatively, I could, of course, free the prisoner...
}}{{Template:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=6|2=|3=The commander of the Imperial forces stationed at Pale Pass to watch the Cyrodiil-Skyrim border, Legate Precilius Varo, has hit a dead end with his interrogations of a recently-captured Stormcloak prisoner. He offered to reward me if I'm able to get useful information out of him. Alternatively, I could, of course, free the prisoner... But first, I must present my letter of permission to the prison guard before I can enter the prison wing.
}}{{Template:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=200|2=|3=At the behest of Legate Precilius Varo, I've successfully interrogated Bjarni Shatter-Stone, the Stormcloak prisoner held in Fort Pale Pass's jail. The jailer is hearing sounds coming from the jail. I'd best take a break from speed-writing journal entries to check it out.
}}{{Template:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=210|2=|3=After interrogating the prisoner, a Stormcloak appeared in the jail and began an ill-fated attempt to rescue Bjarni Shatter-Stone, the prisoner I interrogated. While the rescuer has been slain, the threat is not yet quelled - it appears that Stormcloaks have breached the fort. I need to fight my way to the front and report back to Legate Varo.
}}{{Template:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=231|2=|3=I fought my way through Fort Pale Pass and reached Legate Varo, who was commanding the forces from the courtyard. While we've broken the immediate threat, Legate Varo warned us all to stay on alert.
}}{{Template:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=250|2=|3=After crushing the Stormcloak attack on Fort Pale Pass, the Penitus Oculatus appeared. Legate Varo had feared that the Penitus Oculatus would extract the prisoner and subject him to their particularly brutal interrogation techniques if I wasn't successful. However, I was successful - and so it now falls to me to choose what information to divulge to the agents, and what information to keep to myself.
}}{{Template:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=251|2=|3=I complied with the Penitus Oculatus in their demands for information, at least to a point. The garrison troops are currently escorting the prisoner, Bjarni Shatter-Stone, out of the jail, to the Penitus Oculatus. }}{{Template:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=252|2=|3=I complied with the Penitus Oculatus in their demands for information, at least to a point. The prisoner is pleading with me to free him and not allow the Penitus Oculatus to take him. The choice now falls upon me - do I intervene and save him from untold hours of torture, even if it means endangering Cyrodiil, or do I stand by and allow the Oculatus to interrogate him their way?
}}{{Template:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=255|2=|3=The Penitus Oculatus have successfully teleported the prisoner away - my choice has been made for me. It's now time to debrief with Legate Precilius Varo.
}}{{Template:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=400|2=fin|3=After being contracted to help interrogate a Stormcloak prisoner at Fort Pale Pass, I was able to successfully extract the information requested. However, when the time came, I refused to allow the Penitus Oculatus to hand over the prisoner. They attacked me, and I was forced to defend myself. The Imperial commander of the fort, Legate Varo, refused to attack me, explaining that while he regretted my choice, he understood my reasons.
}}{{Template:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=410|2=fin|3=After being contracted to help interrogate a Stormcloak prisoner at Fort Pale Pass, I was able to successfully extract the information requested. When the time came, I chose not to intervene - I allowed the Penitus Oculatus to take the prisoner into their custody. The Imperial commander of the fort, Legate Varo, rewarded me for my efforts. }}{{Template:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=500|2=|3=The commander of the Imperial forces stationed at Pale Pass to watch the Cyrodiil-Skyrim border, Legate Precilius Varo, has hit a dead end with his interrogations of a recently-captured Stormcloak prisoner. He offered to reward me if I'm able to get useful information out of him. The jailer is now dead, so I have no other options than leaving quietly, hoping the Legate doesn't notice, or freeing the prisoner.
}}{{Template:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=513|2=|3=The commander of the Imperial forces stationed at Pale Pass to watch the Cyrodiil-Skyrim border, Legate Precilius Varo, has hit a dead end with his interrogations of a recently-captured Stormcloak prisoner. He offered to reward me if I'm able to get useful information out of him. I chose to start a prison break instead.
}}{{Template:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=515|2=|3=The commander of the Imperial forces stationed at Pale Pass to watch the Cyrodiil-Skyrim border, Legate Precilius Varo, has hit a dead end with his interrogations of a recently-captured Stormcloak prisoner. He offered to reward me if I'm able to get useful information out of him. I chose to start a prison break instead, and now I must escape from Fort Pale Pass.
}}{{Template:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=532|2=|3=The commander of the Imperial forces stationed at Pale Pass to watch the Cyrodiil-Skyrim border, Legate Precilius Varo, has hit a dead end with his interrogations of a recently-captured Stormcloak prisoner. He offered to reward me if I'm able to get useful information out of him. I chose to start a prison break instead, and now I must escape from Fort Pale Pass. We blew the horn to call in more Stormcloak reinforcements.
}}{{Template:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=549|2=|3=The commander of the Imperial forces stationed at Pale Pass to watch the Cyrodiil-Skyrim border, Legate Precilius Varo, has hit a dead end with his interrogations of a recently-captured Stormcloak prisoner. He offered to reward me if I'm able to get useful information out of him. I chose to start a prison break instead, and now I must escape from Fort Pale Pass. When I exited the fort with the prisoner I was confronted by the Legate and two Penitus Oculatus agents. I should talk with the Legate.
}}{{Template:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=580|2=|3=After being contracted to help interrogate a Stormcloak prisoner at Fort Pale Pass, I chose instead to free him. The prisoner, Bjarni Shatter-Stone, and I mounted a daring jailbreak that culminated in the death of Legate Precilius Varo, the Imperial commander of the fort.
}}{{Template:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=600|2=fin|3=After being contracted to help interrogate a Stormcloak prisoner at Fort Pale Pass, I chose instead to free him. The prisoner, Bjarni Shatter-Stone, and I mounted a daring jailbreak that culminated in the death of Legate Precilius Varo, the Imperial commander of the fort. Bjarni thanked me for my aid and promised that, while he was unable to reward me immediately, he would set right his debt to me in time. }}{{Template:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=9998|2=fail|3=The Legate has died. }}{{Template:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=9999|2=fail|3=The jail guard died before she could open the door to the jail wing for me. With a bad first impression such as this I doubt the legate would let me go inside the prison, so I will take my leave. }}
| Stage | Finishes Quest | Journal Entry |
|---|
- The following empty quest stages were omitted from the table: 0, 1, 2, 3, 10 , 20, 90, 100, 102, 110, 112, 190, 201, 205, 215, 230, 235, 277, 280, 415, 510, 511, 512, 520, 521, 522, 523, 525, 530, 531, 550, 560, 565, 570, 575, 601.
<Alias=LocationHold>) is dynamically set by the Radiant Quest system, and will be filled in with the appropriate word(s) when seen in game.
- 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 any order. Some stages may therefore repeat objectives seen in other stages.
- 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 CYRFortPalePassMS01New stage, wherestageis the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages, but it is possible to clear all stages of the quest usingresetquest CYRFortPalePassMS01New.
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