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Oblivion Remastered Canvas the Castle Quest Guide

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As you explore Chorrol in Oblivion Remastered, you hear tales of a scandal at the castle, where Countess Arriana Valga has been robbed of a precious heirloom. Make your way up to Castle Chorrol during the day and while the Countess is in attendance, then speak to her about the burglary.

She reveals that a treasured portrait of her lost love, the late Count Valga, has been stolen from her bedchamber. Not only is the theft a galling invasion of her privacy and personal space, but the painting was one of her most beloved mementos of her husband.

Countess Valga asks you to play the role of investigator, collect clues, then accuse the correct culprit. However, her request comes with a warning: accuse the wrong culprit and you will be harshly dealt with yourself.


Canvas the Castle Quest Guide

Putting Countess Valga’s unsettling threat to one side, agree to help and ask her about how you can start to gather clues. She advises that you start by speaking to each of the castle residents in turn, before scouring the area for physical evidence.

There are four retainers to interrogate in total: Chanel and Orgnolf Hairy-Legs are always found in the private quarters as they’ve been told to remain in situ until the painting’s found. Next, Bittneld, the guard captain, can be found on patrol out on the streets or inside the soldier barracks. Then finally, the steward, Orok gro-Groth, will also be in the private quarters or at Northern Goods and Trade, which is found next to the fountain by the South Gate.


Image credit: Bethesda/VG247

Additionally though, you can also question Laythe Wavrick, the castle herald, who should be close by attending to the Countess.

He tells you that Orgnolf Hairy-Legs has difficulty with drink and has taken to asking others for cash to buy strong spirits. Could he have stolen the painting to fund his burgeoning habit?

Armed with that information, make your way upstairs and open the door to the private quarters. Although it’s marked red with a hard lock, you’re allowed to enter with your key.


The player using the Persuasion mini-game to raise Chanel's disposition during the Canvas the Castle quest in Oblivion Remastered.
Image credit: Bethesda/VG247

Before you can interrogate each suspect, they need to trust you first. This means you’ll have to use the Persuading mini-game to raise their rapport. You have four options: Joke, Admire, Coerce and Boast. To raise their rapport, you need to tactically choose the options they like the most while the wedge is fullest and the options they don’t like when it’s empty. You can see which they like and don’t like by the expression on their faces and whether the wedge is red, yellow or green.

It can take some getting used to, but once you get into a rhythm you can do it relatively reliably – even with low Speechcraft and Personality. Alternatively, you can brute force it by bribing them with gold. If you have low Personality, you will likely have to dish out some bribes once you reach max disposition with a character.

First, open Chanel’s quarters with your master key and speak to her inside. Exhaust her conversation options, and she’s largely unhelpful other than giving some sycophantic background on Count Valga. However, once you raise her disposition to 70, she’ll tell you that she was in the courtyard of the castle taking star readings, before eating in the dining hall and heading to bed.


The player using the Persuasion mini-game to raise Orgnolf's disposition during the Canvas the Castle quest in Oblivion Remastered.
Image credit: Bethesda/VG247

Next, enter the second part of the private area and speak to Orgnolf Hairy-Legs, but you won’t get far if you’re not careful. As soon as you begin questioning him, he stonewalls your inquiries and won’t talk to you any further.

Before you can speak to him, you’ll need to raise his disposition. For me he liked jokes and coercion, then at 60 disposition, he tells you he was collecting a shipment of wine for the castle that evening, but the courier had an accident in the rain that broke most of the bottles. After the saga, he apparently went to bed.

Then, while you’re here, grab Orok gro-Ghoth in his chamber. Depending on your disposition, he’ll refuse to speak to you, so, again, this is where you need to turn to the Persuading mini-game. For me, he liked jokes and boasting.

At 60 disposition, he’ll tell you that he didn’t see either Chanel or Orgnolf on the evening the painting was stolen, but does corroborate Orgnolf’s drinking. However, he also corroborate the interesting detail that it was raining heavily that night, which would make it difficult to move a fragile painting out of the castle, especially if the motive was to sell it.

While all the early signs pointed towards Orgnolf, there are inconsistencies in the other accounts too. How could Chanel have been taking star readings outside if it was raining heavily?


Bittneld, the guard captain, being questioned during the Canvas the Castle quest in Oblivion Remastered.
Image credit: Bethesda/VG247

There’s still a lot you need to clear up, so make your way outside to speak to the guard captain, Bittneld. He’s supposed to be wandering around or in the barracks, but I found him right next to the Countess in the great hall.

He says that he was making his rounds, but recently had a run-in with Chanel in the west tower. She was acting suspiciously, apparently practicing spells, but given there are already problems with her alibi, it’s definitely time to investigate what she was doing in the west tower.


The player discovering some suspicious paint tracks during the Canvas the Castle quest in Oblivion Remastered.
Image credit: Bethesda/VG247

But first, go to the dining hall next to the throne room and interact with the paint-stained carpet on the far side. Make sure you interact with both parts to notice the paint on the floor and the footprints. Could this have been tracked by Chanel while she was eating?


The player discovering a trap door in the west tower during the Canvas the Castle quest in Oblivion Remastered.
Image credit: Bethesda/VG247

Next, return to the private area and use your compass at the top of the screen to find the door to the west tower. Behind the crates on your left, you find a trap door leading down to a secret room.

There you find an unusual painting which you can interact with to add another clue to your journal. From the trail of paint in the dining room, you can deduce that Chanel is the secret artist, but to what end still isn’t clear.

Armed with that information, you can search the two prime suspects’ rooms. In Orgnolf’s quarters, investigate his personal chest and you find two fancy bottles of wine. Looks like they weren’t smashed on delivery after all, but it was Orgnolf who was getting smashed in his room while the burglary was taking place – a vital clue and likely proof of his alibi!

Next, in Chanel’s room, open the lectern in the corner and you find a stash of painting supplies, adding further credence to her being the secret painter in the west tower. Now, since you’ve already built up enough trust with her to get her disposition above 70, it’s time for the denouement where you make your accusation.


Chanel being accused of stealing the painting during the Canvas the Castle quest in Oblivion Remastered.
Image credit: Bethesda/VG247

It turns out that Chanel was the original artist of the portrait and that her admiration of the late Count went further than just a profound respect for her former lord – she loved him and became jealous that the Countess kept the painting all to herself. Chanel hands over the stolen portrait as a final admission of guilt.

If you can’t get her to admit to taking the painting, make sure you’ve fully interacted with the paint tracks in the dining room and the painting in the west tower. Your quest log should say you don’t need any more evidence when you’ve done both.


Who should you accuse in Canvas the Castle?

Now you have a decision to make: do you reveal Chanel’s transgressions to the Countess for the reward, or pretend the true criminal escaped somewhere far away, never to be found?

On the one hand, upturning Chanel’s life over a painting is a harsh punishment unbefitting the crime. But on the other hand, her obsession with the Count and her resentment for the Countess has obviously become a problem for everyone.

From a purely selfish perspective, turning Chanel in to the Countess will net you a sizable purse of gold and some randomized flawless pearls and topaz gemstones – decent for crafting or just bartering.

However, if you choose to let Chanel’s crime go unpunished, she’ll give you a much smaller amount of gold (roughly 1/10th of what you get from the Countess). But as a thank you, she’ll also use her skills as an artist to paint you a unique picture which you can display in one of your player-owned houses.

Make your decision, then return to the Countess. If you tell her the truth, she’ll banish Chanel from court, but she won’t go to jail.

If you lie to cover for Chanel though, the quest log will stay open, then after three in-game weeks pass it will update with a message that she has a gift for you. Return to speak to her and you’ll get your new painting.

Either resolution is valid. If you’re in the early game, the cash you get from the Countess will put you well on the way to feeling more flush during your adventure. However, the unique decoration from Chanel is also nice to have and technically priceless since you can’t buy it anywhere.

Also, outwardly failing to solve the mystery will affect your legend in Cyrodiil. In the “Details” tab of the character screen, you can see how much Fame and Infamy your character has. Cracking a high profile case like this will grant you more Fame, while siding with Chanel will give you with nothing.

Only a famous character will be allowed to buy a house in Chorrol (which seems mean given what you’ve done for the Countess), so maybe that will swing your decision one way or the other.

There are plenty more side quests to take on while you’re in the western city of Chorrol. Check in at the dive pub The Grey Mare for a quest where you can get one of the best early game weapons in Oblivion Remastered!





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