Misdirection

Overview
Prerequisites: Faction: Thieves Guild Quest giver: S'krivva Reward: 300 gold

Walkthrough
Step 1: This mission is based around trying to give Lex a run for his money, and get the guards out of the Imperial City Waterfront. To do this, the plan is to steal 3 things at the same time (though you only need to steal one) to get them to thin out the guards. Your job is to steal the Hrormir's Icestaff from the Arch Mage at the Imperial Research Academy. This is a rather simple mission, as you only need to sneak into his room between 1am and 7am and steal the staff. Return to Methredhel and she will say you did a good job.

Step 2: Now you must spy on Hieronymus Lex to find out if he's going to get the guards out, so get to the Waterfront, near the NorthWest gate, and get close. You'll go into "cut-scene" mode where you can't move, as a Mage's Guild missionary comes to bring Lex a note. He'll drop it, and you need to bring it back to Methredhel.

Step 3: She'll congratulate you on a good job, but now you must return the staff. Since the Guild will be on the lookout for thieves, you must plant it in a strongbox belonging to Ontus Vanin, a former Mage's Guild Member. He lives in the Talos Plaza district - as always, the marker knows all. Simply sneak in at night, and place the staff in his strongbox upstairs, return to Methredhel and you're done.