The Forsworn Conspiracy

Overview

 * Prerequisite: N/A
 * Quest Giver: Eltrys in Markarth
 * Reward: ?
 * Reputation Gain: N/A

Background
Eltrys has asked me to uncover evidence surrounding the murder of a woman in Markarth's marketplace, who was attacked in broad daylight by a man claiming to be a member of the Forsworn.

Locations

 * Markarth
 * Nepos’s House
 * Shrine of Talos
 * Silver Blood Inn
 * Margret’s Room
 * The Treasury House
 * The Warrens
 * Weylin’s Room

Sub-quests

 * Read Eltrys’ Note
 * Go to the Shrine of Talos
 * Find evidence about Margret
 * Find evidence about Weylin
 * (Optional) Obtain the key to Margret’s room
 * Read Margret’s Journal
 * Find evidence about Thonar
 * (Optional) Obtain the key to Weylin’s room
 * Read Weylin’s Note
 * Find out who “N” is
 * Find evidence about Nepos
 * Return to Eltrys

1. Read Eltrys note
Upon your first entry to Markarth you witness an argument on the market. After a man shouts something about Forsworns, he kills a sales-woman. The Markarth City Guard fights and slays the murderer. You can quickly speak to the other traders about the incident until Eltrys approaches you and secretevely hands you a note saying you'd dropped something. The note tells you to meet him in the Shrine of Talos.

(NOTE: Before you head to the shrine, search Margaret's body. You’ll find the key to her room in Silver Blood Inn)

2. Go to the Shrine of Talos
When you arrive to the shrine, Eltrys tells you that his father was killed by the Forsworn and that he has been trying his whole life to find out why. He tells you that the Forsworn are the remnants of an ancient ruling class of Markarth who hold strictly to old and mostly ignored Nord traditions, customs and laws. He tells you that you are the perfect tool for investigating this murder and the Forsworn connections to it. He tells you that Margret stayed at the Silver Blood Inn and the location ofWeylin inhabitat in The Warrens. From here you need to investigate both their deaths.

3. Silver Blood Inn - Margaret's Room
Since this is the first stop on your way through the quest, you go inside and ask the bar-keeper Kleppr about Margaret. He tells her not to talk about her because it's bad luck. Here is where you get the optional sub-quest of obtaining the key to her room. If you haven't taken the key off of her body, you can just rent the room for 10 gold here and youll ger the key to hers, as well.

Go into the room and look through the dresser. You will find Margret's journal that will update your log to reading it. It mentions Thonar Silver-Blood and her suspicion of him being a Stormcloak sympathizer. She expresses her worry that she is being watched after confronting him. Your log tells you to "Find evidence about Thonar".

When you leave the Inn, you will be approached by a guard who tells you to keep your nose out of things that aren't your business. He will not give you any information about who sent him, but just tells you that the guards keep the peace and you wouldn't want to be seen as a threat to that peace.

4. The Warrens - Weylin's room
Head down to the Warrens and talk to Garvey (the first person you encounter upon entry). He will tell you that Weylin lived here and that his room probably belongs to someone else now. If you ask for the key, he says he can't give it to you so you need to use bribe, intimidation or persusaion to get it.

Weylin's room is the last on the right side. Look into the chest and fet Weylin's note. Once you read it, it will write something about Weylin needing to go to the market and knowing what to do. The signature is "N". Now your quest log updates and tells you to "Find out who N is."

When you exit, a guard will approach you and tell you to quit nosing around in things that aren't your business. No matter what you say, he will fight you. When you beat him, you can get information out of him about who sent him to take care of you. He tells you that he was sent by Nepos the Nose and your quest log updates to finding information about Nepos.

5. Find evidence about Thonar
The Treasury House is where you need to be. Talk to the Rhiada there - the woman behind the counter. You learn that Thonar doesn't want to be disturbed so you need to use one of your special techniques to get to him. I used persuasion, but it didn't work so I switched to Intimidation and I got to see him. His room is to the lefft and then straight ahead. Once inside, you should see Thonar sitting at the table. He'll say something aboutnot wanting visitors. No matter what you choose to say to him, he will tell you that you shouldn't be snooping into things that aren't your business and to get out. As soon as the conversation is finished, you hear a commotion and Thonar gets up and runs down the hall where there is fighting going on.

If you chose to get engaged into the fight, be careful not to hit Thonar or else the city guards will come after you. There are three people that you should (and safely can) kill - Nana Idene, Donnel, and a conjured person. Once they are dead, you can talk to Thonar who tells you that his wife is dead and its Madanach's fault - the King of the Forsworn. Madanach can be found in Cidhna Min from where he controls all the Forsworn agents. You can offer to take care of Madanach if you want, but Thonar will simply order you to get out of his house and will not talk to you anymore.

(His journal can also be pickpocketed, in which case the attack does not occur, but you still complete the objective to find evidence about Thonar)

6. Find evidence about Nepos
Our next stop is Nepos' house. To find it, go up the stairs a long way - there should be a quest marker on the door. When you go inside you will be greeted by a woman named Uolie who tells you to go away, but Nepos calls from the background and overrules her. She then tells you to go ahead and go in to talk to him. He tells you that he has been receiving messages from Madanach for 20 years and has been following the orders. If you continue talking to him he will reveal that he does not plan to let you leave the house alive, but make sure you make him tell you everything there is about Madanach and his plan. When you're done talking, you will be attacked by everyone in the house.

Now that you've become a mass-murderer, be sure to look around in the house for valuable objects. There is a descent amount of gold scattered around as well as a book in the bedroom called Mystery of Talara, Part 4 that gives one point to Illusion skill. There is also a Steal Dagger of Dismay in a display case in the room with the fireplace in it. The case opens if you have the key that you are able to loot from any of the corpses. Once you are done looting, you can leave the house.

7. Return to Eltrys
Back in the Shrine of Talos, you will see a guard who will tell you that you have caused a lot of trouble and a lot of work for the guards who will now be pinning all the murders on you. He tells they had a nice little deal going and now you screwed it up, but you wanted to find out who was in charge and now you'll have plenty of time to talk to "The King in Rags" (Madanach) while you're in Cidhna Mine. At this point you can choose to go quietly or to fight with them. If you choose to fight him, you will fail the mission so temper your ego and head on quietly, which will end this mission and start another one called No One Escapes Cidhna Mine.

Inoukai (talk) 15:31, November 19, 2011 (UTC)

Bugs
 * Sometimes the guards will be in the Temple of Talos after the quest is completed and will attack the player regardless of the conversation choices that the player takes. In this case it is advisable for the PC players to use console commands to turn off the AI or force kill the NPCs and then erase their bounty.
 * If you didn't kill Nepos but just ran away during the quest, he will not be found in his house after you complete No One Escapes Cidhna Mine. You will find him in the Temple of Talos. Be careful, he and the guards will attack you. (see bug above)
 * For console players experiencing the forementioned bug or "hardcore" PC purists, another solution is to pull the NPCs out of the temple and make a run for it. Then come back later after a few in game days have past.
 * I returned to the Shrine of Talos and Eltrys was dead? The City Guard standing beside him didn't say anything except the usual pleasantries.
 * Another bug may occur when encountering the guards in the Shrine of Talos. They may treat you as if everything were normal and will not attempt to arrest you. For PC users, open console and type "setstage ms01 100". This will complete the The Forsworn Conspiracy questline and send you to jail. Once you wake up, type "setstage ms02 0", which will force the next quest (No One Escapes Cidhna Mine) to begin. Xbox and Playstation users be warned, this bug is not fixable on consoles

Spoilers
It is possible to save the first woman (in the market). If you speak to Thonar, it is not possible to save his wife; her death is scripted even if you pre-emptively stealth-kill the three assassins.