Oblivion talk:A Brush with Death

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Note: when I did this quest Tivela and Rythe attacked me for no reason after I received the apron. I killed them both in self-defence (and got the "Your actions have been observed by unseen forces" message) and in searching their bodies afterwards, I found they both had "Bralin's Key". No idea what the use of this key may be yet.

Good call moving this to discussion Hashimashadoo. It was late, I was tired and it just didn't occur to me, heh. Jondrasar 01:27, 6 April 2006 (EDT)

"Bralin's Key" etc[edit]

"Bralin's Key" is the key for the Lythandas house door.. Rythe and Tivela should have one.

I expect it's called Bralin's key because Rythe was going to be called Bralin originally, or maybe the owner of the house was.. There isn't anyone called Bralin in the game now anyway.

Also, the Apron is level-linked.

Hreheh 22:00, 28 April 2006 (EDT)

Bug[edit]

This was a quest I picked up early on but never bothered with. I'm level 20 now and decided to give it a shot but have hit a bug.

The quest marker points to Tivela's house no problem; but when I get inside, it points back outside again...

I've walked around but can't find Tivela anywhere, so I guess there's no chance of my actually doing this quest.

Anybody else had this problem and been able to solve it? (PC version, btw)

- Wite Noiz 14:54, 15 September 2006 (EDT)

I didn't have exactly this happen, but I did have a green quest marker when I was outside the house. It changed to red when I was inside, even though she was obviously standing right in front of me (and the quest worked normally despite the odd behavior of the marker). It might be related?


i know its late however, i had the same problem. MY guess is she died. i cast this spell 4 times: fortify acrobatics, speed 100 pts/ weakness to magic 100 pts/ feather 100pts for as many seconds as your restoration allows and jumped at the banner aabove the laythanda's door. You land on a ledge and jump and run about on that ledge until you are out of the map. You will need to cling to the ledges out side of the house's graphic until you get around to lythe's locked room. You should be able to get close enough to activate the painting. do the quest and exit. Attack rythe until a guard opens the locked door. You will not get the apron but you can get turpentine(semi-useless)and painted fat(The real reward here) i also got the fame for the quest but gained infamy for beating on rythe you will not get the quest finished update. On xbox 360 but im sure it could be done on any console— Unsigned comment by 71.115.44.223 (talk)

Thanks so much! this was one of the first quests i ever started buy then i got caught up in the Dark Brotherhood. Tivela was the person i killed to get into the Dark Brotherhood. I didnt have to do the spell though becuase my acrobatics is 509.

I retrieved your husband and you'd throw me out?![edit]

I had left this quest unfinished because when I was at a lower leve, I found the painted trolls were just too difficult. After becoming Champion of Cyrodiil, it seems as though the majority of NPC's' dispositions were either maxed or very close to it, even if I hadn't persuaded them for a long time. I finished this quest, and upon returning from the painting, Rythe gave me the reward, sat down and painted, and told me I was quite welcome in his house, but Tivela was agitated and telling me to get out...but when I would speak to her, she would express gratitude and her disposition was maxed at 100. My feeling is that this is just some weird bug, if many people experience this outcome. Tivela, I dare you to challenge me in the Arena, hahaha...--CharmSpell 19:28, 22 June 2007 (EDT)

I had the same thing when I had broken in to the house to get the quest (couldn't be bothered waiting until dawn). When I came out of the picture, Tivela still thought I was trespassing and told me to get out. Is it possible time had passed while you were in the picture and were therefore in a place you shouldn't have been? --RpehTalk 11:03, 29 June 2007 (EDT)
When returning to the house it may be in the middle of the night when Tivela has locked it up and it's a trespass zone. Once quest-scripted behavior ends, the trespass AI takes over. I've fixed this for the next UOP by having the quest set the public flag on return to the house and then clear it again once the player exits at which point the quest terminates (this was a pain... had to add conditions to all the dialog as they were just quest-state and the wrong topics would keep appearing if the player talked to them before leaving. :^p ) Kivan 19:49, 22 May 2008 (EDT)

help... bug[edit]

i have been having this problem for a long time now.... i want to get it done but whenever i go to rythes house it tells me to leave the house. when im outside the house it tells me to go in , and so on. does anyone know if i can fix this? what do i do? where is the lady? i would appreciate any help please.

See my comment to the previous question. It (probably) thinks you're trespassing. Try coming back in the hours of daylight or just talking to Tivela anyway. --RpehTalk 16:40, 2 July 2007 (EDT)

Bug[edit]

  • If you accidentally kill Tivela before starting this quest, you may never continue further in this quest. You can open Rythe's study door by using player.additem 0001bc2c 1 code on the script console but that is it. I couldnt move further and enter the painting :( — Unsigned comment by 128.61.82.111 (talk)
-Moved from main page DaedryonTCE 01:13, 4 August 2008 (EDT)

Refusing to talk[edit]

I did the first bit fine, but then Rythes just wouldn't talk to me...? Help — Unsigned comment by 202.36.75.192 (talk) on 5 October 2008

Could you give us more information? What quest stages did you complete, and what does Rythes say to you? --Timenn < talk > 05:47, 6 October 2008 (EDT)
I've had this happen to me. Reloading the autosave from when I first entered the painting fixed the problem. I did a little experimentation and it seems to be related to attempting to talk to him before the quest update message appears.
Exactly. This bug is due to the weird quest stage progression script. It's not updated quickly enough. The quest stage has to be >=40 before the guy will talk to you. So when you enter the painted world, just stand there and wait until it is updated. If this quest is not set as your current quest, it will take ages until the quest stage is updated. It is possible to talk to Rythes before the quest is updated, but the topics list will be empty. To fix: open MS14PortalCanvasScript in TES and add "SetStage MS14 40" before "endif". WRFan 13:37, 21 September 2009 (UTC)

Blocked Nook[edit]

Re the VN tag on "Running straight out from where you first enter this level will reveal a nook in the rocks that you can fit into, yet the trolls cannot. This makes this level extremely easy because you can run through the level attracting all of the trolls, and then simply stand in this nook and use ranged attacks to finish them off": it's definitely there and unblocked on both a vanilla and a fully-patched PC version. I suspect the report of the nook being blocked on the PS3 may be incorrect. –RpehTCE 08:42, 22 December 2008 (EST)

I'm playing on the PS3 version, and it's there and usable. 76.115.32.227 17:21, 20 May 2009 (EDT)

Duplicating through Repair[edit]

(moved from the article)

After receiving the Apron of Adroitness if you repair it beyond 100% sometimes it will duplicate itself.

I've tested this on all six versions of the apron and can't get this to happen. There's nothing in the mechanics of the game that would allow it, and I believe that if it happened at all, it was just a one off. –RpehTCE 08:50, 11 April 2009 (EDT)

Turpentine? Who needs turpentine?[edit]

Painted trolls seem to be exceptionally weak against fire. At level 1 a 20 damage fire spell will take them out in one hit, even if you have low Destruction skill. If you're concerned about alchemy you're likely a magic-type anyway, so there's no reason not to collect all 6 painted troll fat.

I keep the Turpentine for a souviner for the quest. It's unique.--Arch-Mage Matt 01:47, 11 September 2009 (UTC)

It's one of the heaviest poisons in the game, though. They each weigh a pound, which matters a lot if you're a pack-rat like I am. And Painted Trolls are just regular Trolls with a unique mesh file, so they have the Troll's regular Weakness to Fire. --Darkheart 13:38, 12 September 2009 (UTC)
At Level 21 I can take out a Painted Troll with two applications of turpentine on the Umbra, but a 6pt damage fire spell doesn't seem to do much if anything. Guess I need a stronger fire spell? --82.31.164.172 14:36, 19 May 2011 (UTC)
At level 21, the Painted Trolls have 525 hit points. That's why the 6 point fire damage isn't doing anything. (See the Painted Troll page for monster info.) Nikomis 14:48, 19 May 2011 (UTC)

Painted Sky[edit]

After exiting Rythe's house, the sky from the Painted World does not change. This might be attributed to a some-what dirty disc of mine, or perhaps is a glitch. I am on the 360. 76.171.21.162 22:05, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

That could be attributed to the weather transition being somewhat slower than normal. You can try entering and exiting an interior cell again, or just waiting for a little while. --Timenn-<talk> 11:09, 1 July 2009 (UTC)
That might be so. I went outside of Chorrol and the sky was still there. (At 12:03 AM, night-time. It was sunny according to the sky.) I fast-traveled to Chorrol and the weather changed, and the normal sky was brought up again. I did keep a save of it before I did that, though. 76.171.21.162 16:53, 1 July 2009 (UTC)
I can confirm this bug. If I leave while he's talking to his wife (I don't want the leveled reward yet), the sky outside is painted. If I finish the quest and accept the reward, no bug. Redoing Painted World from the beginning, but again leaving before my reward, resulted in no bug. So it seems to be random. I'm on PC, pure vanilla, v1.2.0416. --Segaba (talk) 01:19, 8 February 2014 (GMT)

VN[edit]

  • After returning from the Painted World, you can repeatedly talk to Rythe and get an infinite number of Aprons of Adroitness.

Anyone willing to confirm? --Darkheart 22:44, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

I could not get this to happen. I only receive one copy, no matter how many times I talk to him. I tried repeatedly talking to him before, during and after he is supposed to talk with his wife, but to no avail. I've deleted this bug from the article, because it does not seem likely. It might be a slip-up from your game. Wolok gro-Barok 16:45, 28 July 2009 (UTC)
You use the UOP? --Darkheart 17:26, 28 July 2009 (UTC)
I'm playing on the PS3, so version 1.2 Wolok gro-Barok 18:44, 28 July 2009 (UTC)
I play 1.2 on the PC, and on the same game I went back again a few days later and kept getting Aprons, and at the same time the Rythe Lythandas topic in Cheydinhal still keeps saying he's missing, even though the quest is completed. Weird. --Darkheart 17:45, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Possible Bug Fix[edit]

Hello. I'm new. Just call me Shadegirl if you wish. (I'm a Hassildor fan...but that's off topic) I am merely here because of an interesting fix to a bug that I had encountered. I have not seen anyone mention this bug (so to speak) or this type of possible fix, so I wish to share my experience even if it is a bit late. A bug about getting trapped in the Painted World has been mentioned on the page, but my situation came up when Rythe decided to walk in an endless circle after giving him the paintbrush.

So here we go. I had gone to level 2 and decided to go ahead and do this quest early rather than put it off anymore. I get to the end of it where I have to hand Rythe his paintbrush (having saved before hand due to mentioned bugs), but instead of doing anything he gets stuck walking in a circle at the top of the hill, which meant I was stuck. I re-loaded, the same thing happened, and I thought that I was never going to be able to complete the quest (mind that I still had a save before having ever accepted the quest or gone into the painting just for such a situation).

Rather than give up, I shamelessly youtubed this quest just to be sure that I wasn't missing the door some way, and I discovered something important: the door had to be painted at a certain spot on the hill, which meant if he wasn't in that spot, then he would never paint the door. So to fix my problem, I re-loaded to a point before giving him the paintbrush, attacked him, lured him out of his "circular trap," and yielded to him a little bit beyond the point where he need to be (because he walks off so quickly after accepting the yield). Once there, I quickly spoke to him, gave him the paintbrush, and he FINALLY painted the doorway out of the Painted World. It was as simple as that.

If you just lure him out of "circular trap" will work too.

I do not know if this fix will be helpful to anyone else, but I figured that there was no harm in mentioning it since it did help me. Please excuse me if I happened to miss something aforementioned already since I did skim the topics.

Also, I read that the Painted Troll Fat cannot be duplicated with the Enchanted Chest, so I figured that I would mention that the Duplication Glitch with the scrolls works perfectly fine for cloning Painted Troll Fat where the chest does not; this is handy for people who want more of it. Hopefully, this isn't considered a bad thing though. Shadegirl07 22:57, 27 October 2009 (UTC)Shadegirl07

Nothing wrong your comment, don't worry. Instead, thanks for the detailed and clear post.
Rythe standing on the right spot might indeed be the trigger that is needed for the gateway to appear. Sadly I don't have access to the Construction Set at the moment, but I will look into it. There seems to be a bug note related to this article, but it could definitely be improved by the information provided here. --Timenn-<talk> 15:06, 29 October 2009 (UTC)
Well that's good to hear. ^^ Glad to have helped a little. Shadegirl07 19:18, 29 October 2009 (UTC)Shadegirl07

Stuck @ Paintworld.[edit]

Hi, I'm stuck @ the painted world. Whatever I do I can't go out. I tried everything to help it. When I pickpocket him he doesn't even wear a paint brush or anything. I don't want to go to the previous save cause, I was level 30 and now im level 45. — Unsigned comment by 83.119.201.31 (talk) on 3 November 2009

At what point are you stuck, precisely? Make sure you've seen the Bugs section on this article. --Timenn-<talk> 15:00, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

I was bugged. The portal to go back to the normal world weren't going visible/open. So I thought, Let's pickpocket him and do it self. Now I pickpocketed him, and dropped the brush but it's gone now. He doens't have it anymore. If I attack him and yield, it won't go open. I really want to go to the real world now. Don't wanna go on with my previous save, cause it's so long ago. Thanks in advanced.— Unsigned comment by 83.119.201.31 (talk) at 16:01 on 3 November 2009


Please help me. I still can't play. Can't someone tell me a code or something that I go back to the real world\?— Unsigned comment by 83.119.201.13 (talk) at 21:54 on 4 November 2009

coc CheydinhalMagesGuild . This will move you to the Cheydinhal Mages Guild, buyt you will not be able to complete this quest once you use it. --Darkheart 02:30, 5 November 2009 (UTC)
Thanks man. Does it work on the PS3?— Unsigned comment by 217.149.202.67 (talk) at 10:51 on 5 November 2009
No, because console commands do not work for the PS3. Talk Wolok gro-Barok Contributions 13:30, 5 November 2009 (UTC)
I'm sorry, if you have stolen and lost his paintbrush there is no other solution than reloading an earlier savegame. Rythe actually needs that paintbrush to allow him to create the portal. --Timenn-<talk> 15:26, 5 November 2009 (UTC)


Ok guys, Thanks for everything :). I reloaded and I'm back 45 now.

How many cells are in the paint world?[edit]

I've explored the paint world, and i think it would be a good size for a settlement. i currently only have the game for the Xbox 360, so i don't have access to the construction set. eventually though, i want to mod the game on the computer version and make my own worldspace, but i don't really know how big of a block of cells i would need.Carbonox Infernox 00:02, 19 January 2010 (UTC)


There Is only 1 cell, right? Idk I might be wrong.Obliviongamer 19:38, 27 June 2011 (UTC)

Im stuck in this place.[edit]

okay so i arrived in the painting, looked up how to get passed the trolls so i went over the rocks and only had to kill two and then i reached the body. Got the paintbrush headed back but Rythe wont talk to me, it just says "pickpocket". i tried fighting and yeilding but it still just tries to pickpocket him, i tried killing all the trolls but that did nothing. He just goes around in circles and wont talk. is there any way i can just get out. if there is can you explain the steps in detail because i dnt know how to do cheats on xbox. I cant go back to a save before that because i saved it after i got the paintbrush and thats my only save. 58.107.114.86 02:35, 21 April 2010 (UTC) help or i will have to start again and i refuse to go back to that jail. Im all good now, i attacked Rythe until he was unconscious then repeatedly pressed the A button so that as soon as he woke up he talked to me and im out of that silly place now. *sigh of relief* Hope it helps if anyone else gets stuck like i was. :D

Source of problems with Timescale[edit]

I've just learned what's wrong with Timescale. It's setpackduration command used in the scripts. This quest, along with Where Spirits Have Lease, is the only one where this command is used, even with SI. - ZuTheSkunk 09:52, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

Yup, you're right. Good catch! Robin Hoodtalk 16:54, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

I am STUCK!![edit]

I handed Rythe the paintbrush and he went to his spot to paint the portal. As he began painting I cast "Heal Minor Wounds". Apparently that was a bad thing to do. Now he won't paint his portal and I'm stuck. I went to reload but I accidentally saved over my last save point. I've tried everything that other people have suggested. I really, REALLY don't want to start over. 216.254.233.2 06:49, 19 October 2010 (UTC)

If you're on a gaming console, there's nothing you can do but reload an earlier save. If you're on a PC, you can open the console and try entering the following, though I don't know if it'll work:
set "1BC27".ComeHome to 0
If that doesn't work, you may have to reload. That part of the quest is really, really easy to break. Robin Hoodtalk 07:52, 19 October 2010 (UTC)

dibella[edit]

How can you know that it is made of dibella's hair.(Vvardfell 10:48, 21 October 2010 (UTC))

It's from an in-game description by Rythe Lythandas: "Very well. The Brush showed up several years ago in the possession an artist who was serving in the Arnesian War of 396. It seems an errant fireball had exploded next to him, and he lost the use of both arms. He was a stubborn man who didn't want to give up his talent. Being a devout follower of Dibella, he prayed to her for something that would allow him to express himself once more. She heard his plea, and gifted him with the Brush. It's said the bristles of the Brush are woven from Dibella's own hair. That injured man was my father. He passed the Brush on to me, and I intend to pass it along to my kin one day. Did you want to know how it works?" rpeh •TCE 11:14, 21 October 2010 (UTC)

WHAT PORTHOLE?[edit]

Hey Guys, Ok, I slayed the dasturdly trolls, swiped the paintbrush from the dead guy and gave it back to whats-his-name. I saw green smoke and he appearred to be painting but, guess what, no porthole home. I have talked to him and he just says 'let's go home'. I have gotten through this successfully in another game. What can I do? Thanks, Mingdala — Unsigned comment by 12.52.188.28 (talk) at 15:38 on 4 November 2010

It's a common problem with this quest. Read the second note down in the Bugs section for possible ways you can work around it. If you're not using a PC, your only option is to reload, I believe. Robin Hoodtalk 16:43, 4 November 2010 (UTC)

Stuck in a hole[edit]

So i killed all the trolls, and wanted to explore so i went up onto the rock and noticed on the edge of the plane that their were snowy rock outcroppings. At first i was blocked by an invisible barrier (to keep stupid poeple like me from falling off) but then i fell int an enclosed area. to one side is a rock, on the edge of the plane is a invisible barrier, then blocking my only way back in is another barrier. I'm sure there is a console code for this but i'm using a PS3. i had a save at the begining and have alread gone back and finished it but i was wondering if there was some way to get out.

I got stuck in that as well. It seems like they didn't put the invisible walls in the right places in this area. That's why you should save in a safe place before wandering off! --82.31.164.172 14:38, 19 May 2011 (UTC)

Cant Enter the Unusual Painting[edit]

Im in the room and i cant enter the painting. Im on xbox 360. I have no idea why its happening. Any ideas?

Possible Contradiction[edit]

It says that you can unleash havoc on the city by bringing the trolls back to the real world, but from what I understand, you are stuck there till you get the brush. Either I am wrong, or you can get the brush with trolls alive and have them follow you through the painted exit, or the information in the article is wrong and needs to be changed. I got the red ring of death so I cant check it :-(--68.60.16.174 00:13, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

I'll move the note here for right now, because I am absolutely positive that the portal closes behind you. Good catch. Alpha Kenny Buddy 00:21, 13 January 2011 (UTC)
  • The painted trolls will chase you through doors. Through this, you may unwittingly unleash havoc on the city.

Location Code?[edit]

Hi, does anyone have the location code for this. I would like to go there again. But the list containing (I thought) all locations codes seems to miss this one... Thanks! --217.189.160.224 13:24, 19 May 2011 (UTC)

It is a bit complicated when you say Location Code, as this area is a separate world-space in of itself. The World Space ID is 1BB37. But as a World, it has numerous cells comprising it. The ID for the location containing the Portal is 1BB41. --DKong27 Talk Cont 17:21, 21 May 2011 (UTC)
So... How do I get there? I tried coc 1BB41, player.coc 1BB41, player.moveto 1BB41 (and all those again with 0001BB41), nothing worked.--93.135.229.66 21:19, 21 May 2011 (UTC)

If you are using coc you should use the Editor ID. For the portal area it is DarkForest06. --DKong27 Talk Cont 21:25, 21 May 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. That worked like a charm. --93.133.23.77 22:25, 22 May 2011 (UTC)

"Muthsera" Bugs entry[edit]

I removed the following from Bugs but restored it because I'm unsure.

* After completing the quest, Tivela will incorrectly refer to male characters as "muthsera", a term which is meant to refer to females.

A search for "muthsera" in this wiki will find documents from Morrowind that contradict this:

Morrowind:Hospitality Papers: ...Muthsera Master Angaredhel Mage-Lord, Prefect of Hospitality...

Morrowind:Odral's Land Deed: ...Know all Dunmer by these words that Muthsera Rovone Arvel has agreed...

Both of these are male, and neither are tagged with error indications. However, there are other entries that support muthsera being for females. So I will leave it alone for now and let someone more familiar with Dunmer dialect change it... — Unsigned comment by Kivan (talkcontribs) at 21:21 on 24 July 2011 (GMT)

There's Melisi Daren's greetings, and the HELLO topic for generic Dunmer that both use sera and muthsera in gender-specific ways, but those are the ones you probably found. It seems likely that Tivela's dialogue and the documents in Morrowind are the bugs. rpeh •TCE 08:23, 25 July 2011 (UTC)

Burning Cheydinhal...?[edit]

I heard the rumor "Poor Tivela, I hear she's turning Cheydinhal inside out looking for her husband Rythe..." only this NPC said "burning Cheydinhal" :)

I thought this was hilarious, does all female Imperials say this or just Mariana Ancharia (whom I heard it from)? MrL 22:18, 9 November 2011 (UTC)

Huh, its true isn't it. I listened to the file (MS14Infogeneral...) and the Imperial female voice definitely sounds like they're saying "Burning Cheydinhal" instead of "turning". Just an issue with the voice actor (or actress I should say). Any Imperial female would use that version. Also Breton females, as they use the Imperial female voice files as well. --DKong27 Tk Ctr Em 22:45, 9 November 2011 (UTC)

Hole in the wall[edit]

There's a hole in the invisible wall on the rock just left of the "passage" in the middle north of the map. The Painted World is located on an island surrounded by a sea, surrounded by a lot of mud. —Ruud 12:27, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

Cannot Wait While enemies Are Nearby[edit]

I did the entire mission, got the paintbrush from the body, and then gave it to Rythe. I saw green smoke, but no portal appeared. I searched online, and found that I had to use the console to teleport away, to the abandoned house in Cheydinhal. That worked fine,but then I foolishly respawned Rythe in his house, hoping to get paid. He didn't, and just tried to enter the painting, as did I, but it wouldn't let me enter. I then attempted to wait, but it said that I couldn't while enemies were nearby, even though there were definitely none. This has continued, and I guess the game still thinks that I am in the painted world. Please help with this, I have no other saves!

EDIT I used the cheat "player.coc darkforest6" in an attempt to get back to the painted world. I failed in that, but now everything else is working!

Pacifist Method[edit]

I'm attempting a pacifist run through Oblivion, and was able to successfully complete this quest without killing anything.

It is possible, albeit difficult, to sneak up to the thief's body to retrieve the paintbrush without being noticed by the trolls. When you enter the Painted World, avoid the path. Instead, jump up and over the rocks near Rythe (heading toward the quest marker) to avoid the trolls. Stay up in the rocks and skirt around to the far side of the "icy" area, then sneak in to the thief's body.

I did not have luck with getting Rythe to kill them, due to their regenerating health--they knocked him out, and by the time he got up again, they had already regenerated all their health. Might work if you gave Rythe a strong weapon, armor, and assisted with spells, but I didn't have anything at the time. Alynnidalar (talk) 18:18, 9 September 2017 (UTC)

UI Crosshair on Rythe's Painting[edit]

If you're going to use a screenshot...

Yes, it's true: there's a UI crosshair on Rythe Lythandas' painting. For those who may be having trouble spotting it, I've uploaded an edited version of the painting image. This issue is fixed by this mod over on Nexus, which is how I found out about this hilarious visual gaffe in the first place. Once you've seen it, you'll never be able to look at Rythe's painting without noticing it again... — Wolfborn(Howl) 10:40, 8 May 2022 (UTC)