The Heretic

The Heretic is a Temple quest available during the events of. The Agent must investigate the claim of a potential Prophet for one of the Eight Divine Temples, a claim that is considered dubious at best.

Background
After joining one of the Eight Divine Temples scattered throughout the Iliac Bay, the Agent will be assigned randomly determined quests to complete by one of the Temple's missionaries.

Objectives

 * Speak with a missionary of a joined Temple.
 * Discover the identity of the prophet's lover by:
 * (Either) Speaking with the cleric identified by the missionary.
 * (Or) Finding and speaking with the priest(ess) after searching through the suspect dungeon.
 * Track down the prophet's lover and speak with them:
 * (Either) Take the letter from the lover to the missionary to complete the quest.
 * (Or) After receiving a denial, leave the lover and await the arrival of one (or two) potential messages.
 * (If messages are received) Investigate the messages received by:
 * (Either) Searching for the priest(ess)' remains in the specified dungeon.
 * (Or) Taking the religious artefact from the replacement cleric to the lover.
 * Return to the missionary before the time limit expires with either the priest(ess)' severed finger, or one of the two letters, to complete the quest.

Walkthrough
According to one of the temple missionary there has been some discontent growing within, caused by the claims of a potential prophet to have heard the voice of their favoured Divine. An investigation involving some of the temple's priest(ess)es and clerics is already underway, although the missionary still requires the Agent to do some digging.

Accepting the quest will reveal the name of the prophet, their current location, and the location of their supposed epiphany. However, the Agent is tasked with speaking with one of the temple's clerics, who has been doing some investigations in the prophet's hometown.

A Loving Link
The entire investigation revolves around the prophet's lover, who is hidden somewhere in the region. Two options are open to the Agent: the first being to follow their original instructions and speak with the cleric; the second to find the priest(ess) going through the prophet's dungeon of revelation.

Clerical Considerations
The cleric can be found in the inn of the prophet's hometown, and will expect the arrival of the Agent immediately. Speaking with them will that they have been in contact with the prophet's lover, but they need the Agent to speak with the lover face to face to try and get a confession. The cleric will also produce a copy of the prophet's tract so the Agent will "know what this [prophet's name]'s all about.

Revealing Revelations
Instead, the Agent can head into the dungeon where the prophet allegedly spoke to the temple's God in order to speak with the priest(ess) who had already been sent there. After finding the priest(ess) they will reveal that there were some letter fragments detailing the prophet's lover in the dungeon, although there is little else to aid the investigation. They will therefore task the Agent with finding the lover, in hopes of getting a confession from them.

The Torn Heart
After one of the two paths has been followed, the Agent will have to ask around the lover's town to find them. Once found the Agent will receive one of two responses from the lover, based on the Agent's reputation within the lover's faction.

A successful reputation check will see the lover hand the Agent a letter detailing the prophet's deception, as well as the following response:

"[Prophet's name] would kill me if [he/she] knew I was talking to you. But I know that you couldn't be working for [him/her]. Here's a letter [he/she] wrote to me about a month ago. I think it explains everything."

- A prophet's lover

On the other hand, a failed reputation check will result in the following dialogue:

"Whatever they say, I never knew that [prophet's name]. Tell [cleric's name] [he/she] has the wrong [lover's description]."

- A prophet's lover

If the letter was handed to the Agent, then they may return to the missionary who gave them the quest in order to complete it. If, however, the lover denied knowing the prophet, then a new avenue of investigation must be opened.

Mysterious Murders
Between two and twenty two days after the quest was started by the Agent, one (or potentially two) messages will be handed to them. They will detail the deaths of either the cleric or the priest(ess), and it is up to the Agent to visit the scene in order to complete the investigation.

A Clerical Correction
The first letter received will be addressed from the tavern that the cleric was staying in. The letter itself reveals that the cleric was found dead, and that a replacement had been sent to continue the investigation. The Agent must head to the tavern and speak with the replacement cleric.

The replacement cleric will greet the Agent accordingly, detailing their predecessor's gruesome death. They will also hand the Agent an artefact, which was found buried in the former cleric's chest. They suggest that the Agent take the relic to the lover in hopes that they will recognise it.

Returning to the lover and showing them the artefact will cause them to respond with shock, as well as acceptance that the prophet was not acting in their best interest. They will hand the Agent the letter, stating:

"A prophet's lover"

- The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall

The letter may now be shown to the missionary who gave the Agent the quest in order to complete it.

Ritual Remains
The second letter will reveal that the priest(ess), originally sent to the dungeon the prophet supposedly had their revelation, has failed to report their findings. The missionary has therefore decided to countermand the Agent's former orders, and instead sends them to try and find the priest(ess), or their remains, before reporting back directly to them. With little else to go on, the Agent will have to enter the dungeon and track down the lost priest(ess).

A thorough search of the dungeon will reveal that the priest(ess) has vanished, although a single part of their anatomy remains. Indeed, a "ritualistically stripped" finger has been removed from their body, evidence that the priest(ess) has been killed.

Taking the finger to the missionary will complete the quest.

Reward
Successfully completing the quest within the time limit will see the agent given a random Precious Gem, which may be enchanted with an unknown power. The success or failure of the Agent in undertaking the quest will also affect their reputation in the Temple:

Trivia

 * The Agent may speak with the prophet at any time during the quest.
 * If spoken to with evidence the prophet will disappear and the Agent will be attacked by a warrior. The prophet will also take and destroy the evidence as they go.
 * If spoken to without any evidence, the prophet will ignore the Agent's claims.
 * The prophet will disappear from the game regardless of whether the quest ended in success or failure.
 * The Agent will always have the same time limit whenever they are given this quest: 26 days, 9 hours and 20 minutes.
 * NPCs will have a variety of responses when asked for any news during and after the quest:
 * Acceptance:
 * "Say what you want about [prophet's name]'s religion, but [he/she]'s a persuasive writer."
 * "[Temple] is real nervous about having a revolutionary like [prophet's name] around."
 * "I read about [prophet's name]'s miracle in [his/her] tract. I must say, it's persuasive."
 * Success:
 * "That [prophet's name] was a charletan [sic] who found some fools in [town]."
 * Failure:
 * "[Prophet's name]'s gone on to preach [his/her] evangelium [sic] to the heathen folk of Tamriel."
 * "[Prophet's name]'s left the Bay, but [his/her] work is not yet complete."

Bugs

 * The letter received after the murder of the priest(ess) may display the Agent's name twice, rather than list their rank as it should.
 * When asked about the prophet during the quest, NPCs will respond with one of the "failed" quest replies.