Morrowind talk:Larrius Varro Tells a Little Story

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What can I do to avoid getting caught by the guards?[edit]

After killing the people who are liveing near the silt strider.

My bounty was 5,000.I already have spells for this quest but they don't work.--ShakenMike 00:36, 24 February 2007 (EST)

Try taunting them.--Ratwar 00:50, 24 February 2007 (EST)
I killed the "bad people," eliminating two of them via other quests ahead of time. However, a bug has occured- Varro won't anknowledge quest completion. Could I have a console fix? --Guest — Unsigned comment by 72.92.177.27 (talk) at 16:09 on 6 August 2007
Console commands for the stages are on the quest page. --BenouldTC 09:41, 4 April 2008 (EDT)
I am playing the GOTY version, and none of the suggestions work. I successfully taunt and they say something like they're about to attack me, but they don't. Pickpocketing, letting the people pound on me for a while, and then killing them doesn't work either, I get over 5k bounty anyway. I also bribed the bartender up to 100 and he didn't attack me but it was still reported. I also killed the guy next to the door last (he ignored the first fight), the bartender ignored it but still reported (he was the only other person left by then). And I was also getting the mentioned bug where the guards don't stop attacking me after Varro "takes care of it".
The way I finally solved it is that I drank the invisibility potion I got from a thieves guild quest when the guards started running towards me, and I got to Varro that way, without getting attacked, and afterwards it was fine. Which would mean the bug is triggered by the dialog you get when a guard comes close to you and tells you you're about to be killed. So avoid getting that dialog somehow. If you don't have such a potion or high sneak the thieves guild might be able to remove the bounty, I'm not sure, never tried it. — Unsigned comment by 89.172.4.161 (talk) at 06:18 on 4 April 2008
Depending on your level and Reputation, you'll have to successfully taunt multiple times before anyone attacks. Try to alternate between admire, bribe and taunt. Some of them are easier to taunt...--BenouldTC 09:41, 4 April 2008 (EDT)

() The apprehension dialogue is indeed the triggering point of the guards' attack. As long as you can avoid it, you're safe (tested that a few minutes ago, in the vanilla Morrowind).

Also, there is a useful trick not mentioned in the article: guards prefer attacking aggressive beasts over apprehension of the criminal, so if you lure such beast into the Moonmoth Fort, you can sneak in while guards are occupied. Cliff Racers work exceptionally good, because they are hard to hit (i.e. take significant time to kill).

Could someone check this with the GOTY version? If it works there, it might be worthy as addition to the main article. --85.140.146.32 20:52, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

taunt spam[edit]

an other point to add is one could spam a target with taunt. whenever i want somebody to respond i usually just spam the respective action. usually just admire or taunt but i find if i am trying to do anything serious with intimidation, spamming isn't the best way. thanks for the final step tho, i killed the ralen hlaalo murderer and savant, 3 more to go unless the barkeep wants some. — Unsigned comment by Hortator (talkcontribs) at 17:29 on 14 January 2009

Recognition bug?[edit]

I have encountered a stumbling block. I seem to be unable to get Larrius Varro to recognize that I have killed the targets. — Unsigned comment by 75.120.153.117 (talk) at 03:11 on 15 June 2009‎

Make sure you have eliminated all five targets. What does Larrius Varro say, instead of recognizing the kills? --Timenn < talk > 07:37, 15 June 2009 (EDT)
He merely continues to gab about the bloodbath and such. Like right after giving you the quest, and yes, all targets are dead. — Unsigned comment by 75.120.153.117 (talk) at 01:50 on 16 June 2009‎
What happens if you try visiting Thieves Guild members in Balmora (South Wall Cornerclub) and asks them about bad people? That should update the quest far enough that Larrius Varro will at least give a different respone when asked about little story. --Timenn < talk > 09:25, 16 June 2009 (EDT)
A different player here. I'm encountering the same error. I suspect what may have caused it. You see, I was doing the thieves' guild quest to get the manor key, and just "4 teh lulz", I turned in the prick I managed to bribe the key off of to his boss. So, he was not THERE for the "bloodbath". Thing is, after Larrius continued to be oblivious to the fact that they were all dead, I used PlaceAtPC to resurrect the last target right in front of me. I taunted and killed the target right there. Larrius still did not recognize completion. So, I ran back to the Corner Club, PAP'd the target AGAIN, killed him AGAIN, and Larrius still doesn't have a damn clue. I guess I'll just have to use a console command to flag the quest "complete".--76.120.222.82 09:57, 17 December 2010 (UTC)
There is no journal entry for "I have killed all the bad guys", so there is nothing for you to advance it to. The trigger for the reward is that all five bad people are dead. --Brf 12:45, 17 December 2010 (UTC)
I don't know if there is any engine bug involved, but based on the game data this must work. Varro gives the reward (and ends the quest) in the work topic, not bloodbath, or little story. Since there are 5 dead people to check plus the crime level there is no room for more conditions. If they are dead and your crime level is 0, you get the ring and a book. If your crime level is > 0, only the ring. This is of course a bug, the dialog about not giving the quest because they are already dead is unreachable. So, if the right 5 people are dead, (really dead, not just disabled), there should be no problem. Karl1965 10:32, 22 September 2011 (UTC)

At level one can't get the quest[edit]

My character is still level one, a very rich level one, and when I ask people about a little secret in Balmora they don't even mention to me anything about Fort Moonmoth or Varro. Is there anyway to use the console to activate the quest? 76.228.31.141 19:04, 23 January 2010 (UTC)

Can't you just speak to Larrius Varro directly? I believe it's not necessary to hear that rumor first. The console command is Journal town_balmora 1, but I suggest you try updating this quest without console commands first. Talk Wolok gro-Barok Contributions 19:16, 23 January 2010 (UTC)
I tried the journal code and tried speaking to him directly as well, still didn't work. When I asked him about latest rumors he gives me a quest to find some orc or something. 76.228.31.141 19:34, 23 January 2010 (UTC)
I don't know the exact dialogue order, but it has to start either with "work" or "little story". Check if they are present. Latest rumors leads to another quest, so that's unrelated. Talk Wolok gro-Barok Contributions 19:53, 23 January 2010 (UTC)
Ah, got it to work, I only added the 29 one, hope I didn't need to add the ones before it. Thanks for the help! 76.228.31.141 20:06, 23 January 2010 (UTC)
Shouldn't matter much. You didn't miss any action. Talk Wolok gro-Barok Contributions 21:02, 23 January 2010 (UTC)

() I've got similar case with my new char. No one including Varro told me about that little secret till level 6. Then I was up to kill Hlaalu murderer to get a reward, also killed all his friends. I've returned to Varro with faith he will give me that bloody ring for the work done in advance. But he told me something like "My case is solved, I've heard they all died violently, guards investigating the case...", and no ring. Had to kill him in a rage. Cost me 10 days in jail for his lame sword and fortify attack potion. Actually I believe you can kill Varro any time you want, he's no importance. Oxyk 00:46, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

It may depend on who you ask. I was trying to get it, and no one would until I asked the woman on the first floor of the Fighter's guild. This while still lvl 1. --Saelune 04:48, 17 March 2011 (UTC)
You would need to talk to Traven Marvos, Bacola Closcius,Benunius Agrdilius, Ranis Athrys, or Fascil Charascel. There is no level limit, but I think you have to have the "work" topic. --Brf 11:46, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

Internecine Trouble in the Council Club[edit]

While completing this quest, various people in the Council Club assisted me! Very entertaining. I don't know why; here's what I did, perhaps following these steps may reproduce the behaviour.

  1. The NPCs weren't in their starting locations, they were all gathered on the top stairs. I guess I had been in a fight weeks or months before, and have just forgotten about it.
  2. I bribed/admired my way up to >90 Disposition for everyone (I had done this days previously, while training my Personality).
  3. I used Command Humanoid on one NPC, lured her to one of the bedroom on the bottom floor, and shut the door.
  4. I taunted her until she attacked, waited for her to hit me, then killed her.
  5. When she died, I heard the other NPCs shout their usual combat taunts ("S'wit!", "Now you die!", etc.)
  6. I sneaked upstairs, where I saw the bar tender in combat with three others. He managed to kill one before he died.
  7. The survivors were not aggressive, I looted the two corpses and disposed of them.
  8. I taunted one NPC, waited for them both to hit me, then killed them both.

After all this, I had 0 bounty, and Varro recognized the quest as complete. I got the book and ring. As I say, I don't know why the barman attacked the others, or why the survivors weren't aggressive afterwards. Anyone else know? Tenwit 01:31, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

The basic idea sounds like it might be useful for lower-level characters. If you can get better information on how you did it then please let us know! rpeh •TCE 22:22, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

Mark/Recall[edit]

I was having trouble avoiding a capital sentence on my head even when I had gotten the barkeep's attitude up to 100. Several things helped. First, set a "mark" spell in the office of what-his-name who hired me for the bloodbath. This made it simple to avoid being seen getting back to him. Then, I was careful to go downstairs for the first kill. Next, I checked back with the barkeep and bribed him back up to 100 after each additional kill. Finally I "recalled" myself back to the office in the fort, collected my booty, and walked out to have a nice friendly chat with the guards. No bounty on my head and feeling very nice. 173.66.115.205 05:19, 7 December 2010 (UTC) Dan

Moved note[edit]

Another, more sneaky method, particularly useful if you don't have any items or spells to help you is to jump over the fort wall on the north eastern side (near to the bridge) then run along the battlements to the hatch next to the main building. If your timing is right, none of the guards will notice you on the battlements.

This would be more of a note, maybe shorten it, something like that. I just feel the note should go here first, get vetted, and then readded if necessary.--Catmaniac66 01:22, 27 January 2011 (UTC)

"* Marking in Larrius Varro and recalling after the Cammona Tong members are dead allows you to avoid the death sentence bug described above."
I want to add this note, I have confirmed this. I had over 5000 bounty, but had marked in his room. I recalled and he removed my bounty, and it is a good method worth being mentioned because it prevents any soldiers from seeing you and possibly having them continue to attack even after you pay off your bounty. Feel free to discuss, if no one posts an objecting message, I will add this. Also, if someone posts a message that the first note should be in the page, I will readd it as well.--Catmaniac66 01:28, 27 January 2011 (UTC)

Alternate topic to start quest?[edit]

I got this mission by asking about a little secret, not latest rumours as described on the page... is that an alternative choice, or is the text slightly in error? 124.148.132.79 10:25, 8 October 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. I've tidied it up a bit. rpeh •TCE 10:53, 8 October 2011 (UTC)
Both work. Forgot to fix it a while back. Thanks for correcting it. --AKB Talk Cont Mail 16:52, 8 October 2011 (UTC)
Thanks. To clarify, after checking latest rumours all over town every few days, I kept getting the Larrius Varro topics (about how he wants to clean up the town, etc), but I never got the "wants to see you" topic, which I think you need in order to properly start the mission (if you go there before seeing that, he doesn't mention work). I usually like to get this mission done early on, so I came to this page just to check there was no pre-condition I was missing, as it was driving me mad. Mad I tell you! 124.148.132.79 19:53, 8 October 2011 (UTC)
You can hear the rumours from day one, but you need to be level 3+ to hear the secret. I haven't looked into it further, but either starts the quest. rpeh •TCE 21:13, 8 October 2011 (UTC)
What are you talking about? The quest is started by talking to Larrius Varro. The rumors and the little secret are just idle talk. The Larrius Varro dialogs have no special condition to start the quest. You don't need to hear about it first. The only difference is in dialogs of the guards in Moonmoth. They will tell the player that Larrius wants to see him only after the 'little secret' has been told (and before the player has talked to Larrius about it). Karl1965 21:55, 8 October 2011 (UTC)
As far as I can tell (without checking the CS), Larrius Varro does not mention having work for you - the dialogue that opens the mission - unless you have been told he wants to see you (this was at level 8, btw). There are at least two other different rumours about him and the magistrate, but the one you appear to need is that one... unless I am totally wrong, which is entirely possible! I certainly didn't seem to be able to start the mission properly until I'd got that topic, anyway. 124.148.132.79 23:23, 8 October 2011 (UTC)
Karl: no. The quest can be obtained through rumors or secrets. I haven't looked into whether or not you can just go up to Varro, but you can get quest stage 1 or 5 set by talking to people in Balmora. rpeh •TCE 23:34, 8 October 2011 (UTC)
I just realised you might be able to start the mission, bypassing the rumours etc, if you've obtained the topic work from somewhere else... 124.148.132.79 23:59, 8 October 2011 (UTC)

() Sorry, I added to the confusion. Let me explain what I mean:

  1. In my mind a quest isn't started by some rumors, even if they set the journal index. The real quest starts with Larrius telling the player a little story. There are other quests in the game that work like this. Someone gives you something to do, but you can hear about it as a rumor first. A quest is not the same as a journal index. Some quests use more than one journal ID - the story of Ienas Sarandas in Ald'ruhn uses seven (and is a total mess...)
  2. Yes, the talk in town sets the journal index, but Larrius does not check the index when giving this quest. At one point the level is checked, but that is irrelevant (and buggy).
  3. Maybe there is a difference in versions, but in my game every greeting from Larrius contains the word 'work' (well, actually it's 'Arbeit', since I play a german version), and the greetings do not have any quest relevant conditions except the one with town_balmora >= 30 for the time after the quest. Therefore the quest can be given, wether you have heard about it or not.

Karl1965 00:47, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

I just loaded an old save game, and in mine (English version), the first time you meet him he starts with "I don't know you. What do you want?", then it's just variations on "Go ahead, I'm listening" etc. You CAN obtain the careless travellers topic & mission, however. Also I can't believe what a huge discussion this relatively minor point provoked... :D 124.148.132.79 00:56, 9 October 2011 (UTC)
Maybe there is a difference between versions. However, you need a disposition >= 30 to get the greeting, or you fall through to greeting 8 or 9. Karl1965 02:32, 9 October 2011 (UTC)
But my disposition with him is 42! Now I'm more confused than ever! 124.148.132.79 03:25, 9 October 2011 (UTC)
The quest is given when you get a journal update on it, so when you hear the rumors or the secret, that counts as getting the quest. Stop confusing the issue. rpeh •TCE 08:05, 9 October 2011 (UTC)
Yessir! Karl1965 08:40, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

Low Level Method for 6 on 1[edit]

This method is entirely possible at level 1, on 100 difficulty, as I just did it this way with my unarmored 30 HP Bosmer gal. It requires a little bit of gold, but nothing you can't make in Seyda Neen alone.

- First speak with Sirilonwe in the Vivec Mages Guild and buy the Mark spell. You can buy Recall as well but if Mysticism isn't your thing, just buy Mark.

- Next pay a visit to Verick Gemain in Caldera (right next to Shenk's Shovel). This guy has many useful items you can buy, but for now let's just get the Amulet of Recall (unless you bought the spell) and the ring of aversion.

- Now let's head to the Telvanni Canton Waistworks and talk to the enchanter there, Audenian Valius (Telvanni Council House, Sadrith Mora, also has an enchanter in the basement). Buy a couple of Frost Atronach scrolls. Do not get Fire Atronach scrolls since all six of the Council Club members are Dunmer who have 75% resist fire.

- Talk to Varro to get the quest and set a Mark there (it could take a couple of tries...).

- Head to the Council Club in Balmora and place yourself somewhere in the middle of the room with the barkeep, preferably closer to the door that leads downstairs. Summon the frost atronach and attack any one of the Camonna Tong members (I usually use a ranged weapon or ring, but anything works), then quickly equip and use the ring of aversion and run out of the room so your own atronach doesn't kill you, I usually run downstairs, so I can peek in and watch the fun.

- If the first frost atronach gets killed or someone doesn't join in the battle, that's why I always buy a second one. If you're a gambling man, you can make do with just one and reload if it fails. If you're super cautious, get three, more are not necessary.

- Recall and collect your ring of surroundings (no book sorry!). Make sure to remember to loot the bodies in the council club as well!

I usually go out and kill the two guys on the roof too and any guards that may follow us out of town to the hill there, but that's obviously optional. The guards won't give you the death sentence glitch if you attack them before they can get to you.

Scrolls of Frost Atronach run for about 240 gold (500ish for two), the ring of aversion is under 100, Mark and Recall (spell or amulet) are between 100 and 200 gold. This method is also great for the first Ahnassi quest with Daren Adryn and pretty much any close quarters low level Dunmer slaughterfest. Lazy Waysef 22:57, 2 December 2011 (UTC)

Bug - could not get quest started.[edit]

I got stuck at the start of this quest - none of the things I was doing advanced anything in the journal, despite being level 10 or so, and being able to talk about Larrius Varro about "bad people". The only journal entry I had was the first one, could not get any more.

I got around it by using the console : SetJournalIndex, "town_balmora", 10

That moves it on to the point where he talks to you, and you can get journal entries again. Since I've not seen anyone else having this problem, I'm not going to add the bug to the main page, just note it here - if anyone else has had this bug, it may be worth moving there. — Unsigned comment by 81.158.148.53 (talk) at 10:38 on 3 June 2012

I just had this happen to me too, people gave me the journal entry "1" in town by asking about
"little secret" but when I talked to Varro the only quest he gave me was to go check into a
bandit that was attacking people. If it affects anything, I'm pretty sure the character that gave
me the quest was one a mod added (like the NPC mod or something). --67.215.23.83 23:56, 31 December 2013 (GMT)
I also have this problem. I have the journal entry "I hear that the Balmora magistrate..." but can't get farther. I've done the Fjol quest, maybe there's a conflict?
I have the same problem, I can't get Larrius talk about "bad people", only entering "journal town_balmora 10" in the console helped
After talking to Larrius Varro about "bad people", visit South Wall Cornerclub and talk about rumors. Someone will mention that Larrius Varro will have to "work outside the system". So Larrius will now have one more topic named "work" that will start the quest.

I Too have had this issue. The only mods i have that might affect it are the Less Generic Dialogue mods.Warrof (talk) 18:07, 7 June 2017 (UTC)

I've got the same problems. The third "rumour" or "secret" won't come in dialogues neither in South Wall, nor with town people. Larrius also got no "bad people" or "work" dialogue. Lots and lots of mods... — 31.178.27.242 16:03, 12 November 2019 (GMT)