Oblivion:The Necromancer's Amulet

Find the Necromancer's Amulet and return it to the Arcane University. Quest Giver: Arch-Mage Traven at the Arcane University Location(s): Arcane University, Fort Ontus Prerequisite Quest: A Plot Revealed Next Quest: Ambush after completion of concurrent quest Concurrent Quest: The Bloodworm Helm Reward: Promotion to Master-Wizard upon completion of concurrent quest Fame/Infamy: Fame +1 ID: MG16Amulet

Caranya: what's her story?

Quick Walkthrough

1. Speak to Hannibal Traven a few days after completing A Plot Revealed. He wants you to retrieve the Necromancer's Amulet from Fort Ontus.
2. Find Caranya in Fort Ontus and kill her when she refuses to hand over the amulet.
3. Fight your way out with the amulet and return to Arch-Mage Traven.

Detailed Walkthrough

Council in Ruins

A few days after completing A Plot Revealed, the Arch-Mage will inform you that the Council is in ruins after the events of the previous quest (after having just fallen into disarray upon being informed of the return of Mannimarco). As a part of this more recent upheaval, two artifacts, the Necromancer's Amulet and the Bloodworm Helm, were removed from the University by Caranya and Irlav Jarol, respectively. Having continued misgivings for the safety of the items and their current caretakers, the Arch-Mage wants you to retrieve the items back to the University for safekeeping.

Being approximately equal in ease and difficulty, length and reward, and being unable to proceed until both are completed, there is no clear advantage of doing one or the other first and so the choice of which to complete first and which to complete second is up to you.

Good Girl Gone Bad?

According to Caranya, she took the Amulet to Fort Ontus in order to keep the University and Imperial City safe from being a target. The Arch-Mage will mark the location of the fort on your map, which is to the southwest of Chorrol.

While the Arch-Mage does not disagree with Caranya's claims that the University and the City would be safer with the artifact elsewhere, he has reservations about the genuineness of her intentions.

Mysterious mages have occupied the fort

Inside the Fort

When you get to the fort, the mages inside will direct you straight to Caranya, who can be found in the center of the Ontus Understreets. When you get to her, Caranya will reveal that she is a necromancer and that she desires to recruit you to her movement. After it becomes clear that neither side will agree to the other's wishes, she attacks. Because Caranya is unarmored and allows you to get near her, she should not prove to be too difficult an opponent. She does however have powerful spells that could cause some serious damage when used in rapid succession, so using Silence and Resist Magic against her is recommended. Another strategy is to initiate the fight, then retreat back through the gate. You may then safely use ranged attacks, as the gate makes her spells inaccurate. When she has been killed, take the Necromancer's Amulet from her body.

Make Your Escape

The mages of Fort Ontus will now reveal themselves to be Necromancers and attack on sight. Individually, they are far weaker than Caranya, but can be deadly in groups. Killing them one at a time before you face Caranya is one way to avoid complications here.

After finding your way past the necromancers, return to the Arcane University and speak with Traven to complete the quest. If you have also completed The Bloodworm Helm, per usual, Traven will direct you to Raminus Polus for advancement to the next rank.

Notes

• If you have started the Thieves Guild quest Misdirection, you will be required to pay a Blood Price when you kill Caranya.
• The Necromancer's Amulet will disappear from the game once you turn it in at the end of this quest.
  • The Unofficial Oblivion Patch, version 1.5.0, addresses this issue. The amulet (along with the Bloodworm Helm) will be placed into the Arch-Mage's Night Stand, from which you may retrieve them when you become the Arch-Mage at the completion of Confront the King.
• An achievement will be unlocked upon being promoted to Master-Wizard.

Bugs

• Even after speaking with Caranya and causing the mages attack on sight, killing them will still count as a murder if you strike first.
  • The Unofficial Oblivion Patch, version 1.5.0, fixes this bug.
  • This can be avoided by talking to all of them before talking to Caranya.
• The corpses of mages killed before talking to Caranya will still change into Necromancer's Robes.
  • The Unofficial Oblivion Patch, version 1.5.0, fixes this bug.
• The Necromancer's Amulet is technically leveled. However, Caranya is always level 30 and the amulet takes its cue from her statistics rather than yours. Therefore, you will always receive the same reward (a level 25+ Amulet) no matter when you complete the quest.
• You can obtain multiple copies of the Necromancer's Amulet by resurrecting Caranya via a spell and killing her again.
  • The Unofficial Oblivion Patch, version 3.5.2, fixes this bug.
• If this quest is active during Light the Dragonfires, Caranya will run back to the Arcane University from Fort Ontus when the Imperial City is attacked.
  • The Unofficial Oblivion Patch, version 3.5.2, fixes this bug.
• Knocking Caranya unconscious before speaking to her will cause the camera to glitch and aim at the ceiling when the player eventually initiates the conversation. ^?
• If you wait or go to jail in order to start this quest, Caranya may still be in the Arcane University when you initiate it. If you speak to her, she will confront you as if you were in Fort Ontus, and immediately disappear. ^?

Journal Entries

The Necromancer's Amulet (MG16Amulet)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		I need to travel to Fort Ontus to retrieve the Necromancer's Amulet, and return it to the Imperial City.
20		I've arrived at Fort Ontus. I need to find Caranya, and get the Necromancer's Amulet from her.
30		Caranya was a traitor to the Mages Guild, and intended to deliver the Amulet to the King of Worms. I need to get out of Fort Ontus and take the Amulet back to the Arcane University.
100	Finishes quest	I've delivered the Necromancer's Amulet to Hannibal Traven.

Notes

• Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
• Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in random order.
• If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
• It is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage MG16Amulet stage, where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages. See SetStage for more information.

Prev: A Plot Revealed

Up: Mages Guild

Next: Ambush after completion of concurrent quest