Oblivion talk:Mephala

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Thanks[edit]

Thanks for the tips on this one... I didn't want to be too much of a bad guy and had a problem with killing them. This is a great solution. — Unsigned comment by Blamat (talkcontribs) at 00:06 on 7 August 2006

Required Level[edit]

Tva changed the required level from 15 to 20, but I just reverted that change, because the required level is definitely 15: my character did the quest at level 15 (on xbox, so no mods). --Nephele 12:54, 7 August 2006 (EDT)

In my game the required level is 20. Maybe is a mod, i use Francesco. /Tva 14:31, 8 August 2006

Mephala quest requires Level 20[edit]

I also got the message "you must be level 20 to begin this quest" I too use Francisco's mod. — Unsigned comment by RASMAN (talkcontribs) at 18:53 on 10 September 2006

Must be the mod. I just confirmed in the Construction Set: Mephala's quest requires level 15. --TheRealLurlock 15:14, 10 September 2006 (EDT)
It must have been the mod. I ran back to the shrine at level 17 and tried again. I got the message must be level 20 to complete the quest, so I exited, removed the mod and no problem. The mod also raised the level required for Molag Bal's shrine from 17 to 20 as well. RASMANRASMAN 16:03, 11 September 2006 (EDT)

Take sides, arm one of the families.[edit]

Want to ensure one of the families survives the fued? Pick a side and reverse pickpocket enchanted permanent bound weapons into their inventory before the battle. — Unsigned comment by RumblePen (talkcontribs) at 07:34 on 4 July 2007

Additional Tricks
You can also cast fortify magicka, fortify health, and fire shield (etc) on the allies. As well as heal one side as they dual it out.
You can also pickpocket (albeit a little bit tricky) one families weapons while they sleep.
- KermEd — Unsigned comment by 66.222.235.78 (talk) at 22:54 on 3 January 2008

Plant evidence[edit]

I planted the evidence and talked to the familys but they're not blameing eachother. They both say the just want to find the assassin. Is this a bug? — Unsigned comment by 152.163.100.11 (talk) at 09:47 on 4 July 2007

Where did you plant the evidence? I ask because I initially thought about just planting it in each of their (Hrol Ulfgar's and Nivan Dalvilu's) homes but thought better of it. Glad I did because the evidence actually needs to go on their corpses. Also, (and this is just a thought) did you maybe place the wrong evidence in each of the bodies (The family ring on Hrol and the cerimonial dagger on Nivan)? Honest mistakes, I get ahead of myself sometimes.  :) Quix 10:56, 5 November 2007 (EST)
Solution:
I just had the same problem myself. If you place the items on the corpses before the quest update appears for the killings (ie, planted the Ulfgar evidence on the Dalvilu's body too fast), you will need to take the items off the corpses and put them back. This will trigger a quest update saying you have planted the evidence. Do not worry as they seem to overlook the fact that the evidence didn't appear on the bodys for [x] amount of time. You should still be able to plant the evidence at anytime after the murders.
- KermEd — Unsigned comment by 66.222.235.78 (talk) at 22:51 on 3 January 2008
The Same Thing Happened To Me, But When I Went Back To Replant The Evidence, The Dagger Was Still There But The Ring Was Gone.I Looked Everywhere For It And It Was Just Gone, What Do I Do?? — Unsigned comment by 75.120.255.205 (talk) on 30 June 2010
-Cappin
I had a similar thing happen cept instead of on the bodies I planted the evidence in the leaders rooms. I was using poison apples so I had to wait a few days for Ulfgar to die. For some reason when I went to retrieve where I put the daggar (I think it was in one of his cupboards) it was gone. Looked everywhere for it even back where I first found the dagger and no luck. So am I screwed or is there actually a way to get the daggar back? I'm on the ps3 game of the year edition by the way. — Unsigned comment by 184.174.135.48 (talk) at 00:22 on 24 September 2011

screeching sound[edit]

I talked to the innkeeper and everything seemed fine, then they start taking it to the streetsa and this screeching sound starts. Then my game froze up. What's that about? — Unsigned comment by Thedoggedtruth (talkcontribs) at 17:09 on 8 November 2007

Possibly just bad luck. 58.174.98.29 18:29, 14 January 2008 (EST)
Whenever the game is about to freeze, it makes a screeching sound. The PS3 laser probably reads the disc wrong or something. Ongar the World-Weary 04:16, 8 October 2009 (UTC)

This is madness![edit]

Hehehe! There is a clip on youtube about this quest called "Madness? This is Oblivion!". One of the Dunmer says "Hrol Ulfgar is dead, and his clan believes our side responsible! This is madness!" then you hear the famous line "Madness? This, is, SPARTAAA!!" from the movie 300 and then attacks him. Thought I might just tell some people about this clip. By the way, there are plenty of Oblivion Youtube clips related to 300. — Unsigned comment by 58.174.98.29 (talk) at 09:05 on 12 January 2008

Bugs section[edit]

I've added a bug's section and the first bug. Moersleuteltje 17:02, 12 March 2008 (EDT)Moersleuteltje

One More Way to Fail the Quest[edit]

In addition to those already noted, there is another way to fail Mephala's quest. If you have not murdered anybody up until this point, you will get the usual message about unknown forces witnessing your act. Unfortunately, this counts against you for the Mephala quest, regardless of whether you end up with a bounty or not. — Unsigned comment by 124.199.2.209 (talk) at 20:52 on 15 August 2008

Should be verified and put in the article. — Unsigned comment by Catmaniac66 (talkcontribs) at 19:26 on 21 March 2010
I just ran the quest last night at level 17 with a character that had no prior murders to her record. I got the "unseen observer" message after killing the first victim, planted the evidence, killed the second victim, planted that evidence, notified one of the family members, and watched the Dunmer family slaughter the Nord family. Returned to the shrine, got the closing speech and the reward, journal updated and quest is complete. There were no witnesses to my crimes, and I have no bounty. How exactly is "newbie murder" supposed to "count against you" in this quest? It certainly does not prevent you from successfully completing it. Phelaran 23:54, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

Nightshade / Nachtschatten[edit]

I'm not quite sure where to put this, so I'm putting it up for discussion. Maybe the editors have some suggestions about what we can do with it.

In the "Notes" section, the third main note from the bottom states the following:

In the German version of Oblivion Dredena Hlavel tells you to offer "Nachtschatten", but such a plant does not exist. It is a translator's error: Nightshade (literally translated as "Nachtschatten") is named "Tollkirsche" in the German version.

The statement made here by the contributor regarding nightshade / Nachtschatten isn't really correct. Nightshade / Nachtschatten doesn't actually exist as a single plant in German or in English. Scientifically, it's an entire family of plants called Solanacae (from Solanum in Latin) that contains many well-known plants, some of which can be very poisonous, but of which others are even used agriculturally. Some of the ones we're all familiar with are tomatoes, potatoes, chili-pepper, tobacco, or eggplant. Yup, they all belong to the Nightshade family. The images used in Oblivion actually resemble the blossom of the potato plant, which really is a nightshade growth.

Some plants that locally use the term "nightshade" in their names (or "Nachtschatten" in German), are black nightshade (Solanum nigrum; called Schwarzer Nachtschatten in German) or deadly nightshade (Latin: atropa belladonna), which we often know better as just plain belladonna and is called Schwarze Tollkisrche in German. In German, Tollkirsche actually denotes an entire genus of the nightshade family, of which belladonna is just one.

Since the images of nightshade used in Oblivion don't resemble belladonna at all, the German term "Nachtschatten" isn't so far off the mark, but the specific term "Tollkirsche" would be wrong. So whoever translated the German version of the Mephala quest actually did a good job.

If anyone would like more information on nightshade, the Wikipedia has quite a number of articles on it, both in the English and the German version.

Now, does anyone have a suggestion as to what we do with this? (Sorry, forgot my signature, so I'm adding it now) --OregonPete 21:57, 17 May 2009 (EDT)

The original note is actually correct in the context of the game -- the ingredient is not named Nachtschatten in the game, therefore it is a translator error if the game asks you to obtain an ingredient that doesn't exist. I've tried to reword the note to clarify that point.
As for the more general issue, it's already been brought up once here;Ingredients Translations is the only place where UESP makes comparisons with real-life plants. In general, I don't think that the rest of these details have any real relevance to the game -- the real-life name of the plant doesn't affect how you complete the game's quests, or how you use the ingredient for alchemy, for example. So I'm not sure what else is needed. --NepheleTalk 22:55, 16 May 2009 (EDT)
Cool! I didn't realize we had a translation page for all these ingredients. So the nightshade we use in the game is actually Solanum dulcamara, better known as poisonberry or bittersweet nightshade. Thank you, Nephele, for making this addition.
Of course, this means the German translation used in the game (Tollkirsche) really is wrong. ;-) On the other hand, you're absolutely right when you say using the term "Nachtschatten" is wrong in the context of the game. And my observations aren't relevant in the context of the game, either, but they are interesting, aren't they? :-D LOL --OregonPete 06:38, 17 May 2009 (EDT)

planting evidence[edit]

I killed both of the leaders, but i dont know what to plant as evidence — Unsigned comment by 75.3.234.222 (talk) at 03:15 on 18 August 2009 (UTC)

Check out this section in the article. It can be pretty hard to find something when you don't know what you're looking for. Good luck! –Elliot talk 03:15, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

Relation to Romeo and Juliet[edit]

The First Bit of dialogue from Mephala is a lot like the opening to Romeo and Juliet, im surprised it hasnt been mentioned in the article the same way the horror of dive rock's relation to beowulf is mentioned --SneakyPenguin77 (also my Gamertag) 22:53, 3 October 2009 (UTC)

Nightshade Location.[edit]

I know that the page already says that nightshade locations are detailed on nightshades page, but it may be worth mentioning that the nearest guaranteed location is a chest just inside nearby Fort Chalman. --SneakyPenguin77 (also my Gamertag) 15:27, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

According to the Fort Chalman article, there is no guaranteed sample found there. --Timenn-<talk> 08:32, 9 October 2009 (UTC)
According to the Nightshade article theres a sample there, it has the x marked on the map. I suppose i might have read the map wrong but i didnt think i did, and i found nightshade in there, coincidence? i think not. The only reason i brought it up is because i went to do this quest thinking i already had nightshade on me only to realize that i did not. Im sure this happens to other people and rather hunt for a sample somewhere far away i thought a nearest guaranteed location would be nice to know. If you have someone who is better at this kind of thing prove this then you might want to add it to the fort chalman article as well.--SneakyPenguin77 (also my Gamertag) 23:22, 9 October 2009 (UTC)
You mean this map? It doesn't show a sample on the place where Fort Chalman is. --Timenn-<talk> 17:52, 10 October 2009 (UTC)
Then what is under that turquoise "X" just under the "H" in Heartlands, slightly north of the imperial city Isle? --SneakyPenguin77 (also my Gamertag) 19:45, 10 October 2009 (UTC)
That would be Moss Rock Cavern. –Elliot talk 01:37, 11 October 2009 (UTC)
Elliot found it. Please don't look at me if you can't read maps. --Timenn-<talk> 18:07, 11 October 2009 (UTC)
Guys, it's simple, arcane university if you are mages guild, or the main ingrediant in the market district. I'm suprised no one pointed it out.— Unsigned comment by TheElderScribe (talkcontribs) on 14 January 2010

Self defence[edit]

Moved from article:
I spent a lot of time trying these methods without success (including waiting a day and a half of game time for them to eat my poison apples), and finally it occurred to me to try the "Disposition mini-game" in reverse. First I went to speak to one of them (with my weapon drawn since his disposition was already maxed which prevents you starting the Disposition game). Simply played the Disposition backwards clicking the big wedges on the negative disposition options and the smallest one on the positive ones. When his disposition reached zero I exited the mini-game and he immediately attacked me allowing me to kill him "in self defense". This does not count as a murder! Planted the evidence. Repeated with the other leader. Job done. — Unsigned comment by 168.209.97.34 (talk) on 15 October 2009

This is actually a fairly standard method of getting NPCs to attack you first. It happened because their disposition towards you was at least 5 points lower than their aggression score (20 for both clan leaders in this case). A detailed explanation would be redundant, but I suppose a small addition to the notes stating that your targets both have a fairly high aggression score would be appropriate. Dlarsh(Talk,Contribs,E-mail) 16:00, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

Two Families Enter, One Family Leaves[edit]

Looks like the Dalvilu's defeated the Ulfgar's without suffering a single casualty. Does that line up with everyone else's experiences? Without player intervention, do the dark elves trounce the nords? Scriminal Crum 10:07, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

Since I was curious about this as well, I loaded my save right before the fight and watched it play out seven times. The Davilu's won all seven, though casualties varied. Three times they won without losing any of their own. In another fight Satha died, and in the remaining three Redas died. Some of the fights lasted quite a bit longer than the others, but no matter what, the Dark Elves prevailed. Funnily enough, the Nords died in the same order EVERY fight; first Kirsten, then Beirir, with Ulrika last.
After watching seven fights, I can offer a few reasons the Davilu's always win. First is because it is four on three, so no matter who ends up fighting who, there is always one Nord being double teamed. Once the first Nord dies, the surviving Dark Elves gang up on the remaining Nords even worse. Being attacked by multiple opponents leads to them being knocked down more, where they then get hit like crazy while they struggle to regain their feet. I saw at least two battles where one Nord got knocked down and never managed to get up again because of the relentless assault. Ulrika often attempts to even the odds by summoning a zombie, but one of the Dark Elves usually summons their Ancestor Guardian. The Guardian is a more effective fighter than the Zombie, being faster and with ranged attacks. Again, the advantage goes to the Davilu's.
Keep in mind that some of these details may be specific to my game, and my level when I did this (47). For example what spells Ulrika has access to may be random. But in my experience, it looks like if you want the Nords to prevail, some help from the player is necessary. Just to see how it would go, I went and killed Malyani Davilu before initiating the fight. The deaths went as follows: Kirsten, Redas, Beirir, and Arvin, leaving Satha to duke it out with Ulrika in a lengthy battle which Ulrika won. Finally the Nords win, even if there's only one left, haha! EmmBee 02:43, 6 August 2011 (UTC)

Generic way's to kill[edit]

After reading the note's section and trying my best to clean it up a bit, i was wondering if these suggestions such as poisoned apple's and the skull of corruption are really needed, as they are quite generic suggestions that you can find on alot of pages as a good way to kill someone. KrazorM 20:57, 5 January 2011 (UTC)

I believe the comments on non-murder methods of killing the two targets are helpful because, as the notes section states, this is one of the very few quests (outside of the Dark Brotherhood) where you are required to kill a target(s) that would otherwise result in the game recognizing the action as a "murder" (in reference to your in-game statistics). Guts-87 17:36, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

No Table[edit]

I've done this quest in other games, but in the one I started recently, there is no "low table" and therefore no ceremonial dagger. has this happened to anyone else? — Unsigned comment by 220.244.199.160 (talk) at 01:43 on 31 January 2011

Save everyone[edit]

I felt like trying to keep everyone alive so I don't have an empty town. Particularly Kristin for trading. I thought others might like to know how. Using these console commands I was able to stop them from killing each other.

  • SetFactionReaction 9db29 9db28 100
  • SetFactionReaction 9db28 9db29 100

This makes the "UlfgarFACTIONWar" and "Dalvilu FACTION War factions" to have 100 Disposition with each other so they don't kill each other. Seems to only work before triggering the faction change (talking to someone in town about the murders). They all pull out their weapons and run to the centre of town but don't fight. After completing the quest and returning to town they should all go about their normal business, however always have their fists (or a weapon) out and ready to rumble. the stopcombat command doesn't seem to make them sheath their weapons. Anyone know how to force them to sheath their weapons? Would also be interesting to know how you could do it without killing the leaders either. --Hakase (talk) 05:26, 5 December 2013 (GMT)

'Planting' on bodies[edit]

The article mentions

this dagger should be planted on Hrol Ulfgar's body after you've killed him. ... the ring should be planted on Nivan Dalvilu's body also after you've killed him.

When I first played this, I dropped the items on the bodies. That doesn't work. You must activate the bodies and put the items into inventory. — Unsigned comment by 97.125.88.107 (talk) at 13:39 on 30 August 2016‎