In Oblivion Remastered, the Bosmer Glarthir is what they call “a tad whacky”. As you explore the city of Skingrad, he’ll sprint up to you with a proposition: meet him behind the great chapel of Julianos at midnight and he’ll make it “worth your while”.
Ask around about his eccentricities and people will tell you that he’s tolerated by the locals but his paranoia has steadily become more intense in recent weeks.
To see if you can help, make your way to the temple, which is on the southeast side of town near the castle, after dark and Glathir will break down his request. He wants you to tail a group of spies who’re following him and cataloguing his movements as part of a grand conspiracy against him.
Agree to get to the bottom of his suspicions and he’ll tell you to wait outside his house at 6am to tail the first target, Bernadette Peneles.
Don’t worry about remaining unseen regardless of what Glarthir tells you – otherwise this quest would be unbelievably annoying. You don’t even have to tail each target if you don’t want to, you can just wait 24 hours and the conversations will play out in the same way.
Paranoia Quest
Glarthir’s house is just down the street from the temple, conveniently next to the Two Sisters Inn if you’re waiting out the night until 6am.
On the stroke of 6, Bernadette will leave her house for the start of her shift at the vineyard, walking down the street from her house towards the field.
At this point you’ll likely be stopped by the captain of the Skingrad Watch, Dion. He asks why you’ve taken an interest in Glarthir and, whatever you answer, warns you away from getting too deeply involved before asking you to report anything strange he tells you to do. If you tell him about the conspiracy, he laments Glarith’s worsening mental state and tells you to come straight to him if anything escalates.
Remember the offer for later, then get back to tailing Bernadette.
First she visits the Great Chapel for an hour or so before work, then she’ll leave the town walls to till the field for the whole day before eating dinner and returning home.
Wait around until the next midnight, or go off and do something else, then go back to your familiar spot behind the chapel to report in. It’s obvious she had no interest in Glarthir, but you can tell him either way – it doesn’t have much bearing on the outcome of the quest (if you tell him people are spying on him, he’ll hand over 200 gold, whereas if you say they’re innocent he gives you 150).
Whatever you tell him about Bernadette, Glarthir will give you at least 150 gold for your time and set you off after your next target: Toutius Sextius.
Just like the previous day, wait outside Sextius’s house until he leaves in the morning and you’ll find a similar story. He’s not as early a riser as the hard-working Bernadette and won’t emerge until past 9 am.
He turns towards the East Gate from his house and strolls out into the West Weald up to the Castle where he remains all day, nowhere near Glarthir.
Return to your meeting spot behind the Chapel again at midnight and report back. Again, you can tell him his suspicions were wrong or indulge his paranoia for a pittance more gold in your pocket.
Either way, he hands over some more gold and gives you one more target: Davide Surilie.
The proprietor of the famous Surilie Vineyard and apparently ringleader of the conspiracy against Glarthir, Davide, lives with his brother in town, but leaves his house early every morning.
At 7am, Davide strides out and takes the West Gate to his vineyard where he works with Bernadette all day until dinner and bed. Again, as it’s obvious Glarthir is just projecting his paranoia onto his neighbours, you need to report back at midnight. However, this time you have a decision to make.
What should you tell Glarthir in the Paranoia quest?
Detecting Glarthir’s frustration after being told neither Bernadette nor Toutius are spying on him, it doesn’t seem like a good idea to challenge his beliefs a third time. Indeed, if you again tell Glarthir that Surilie isn’t spying on him, he’ll become enraged and attack you, forcing you to defend yourself with deadly effect.
To avoid this, you need to indulge the fantasy just this once and tell Glarthir that Surilie actually is keeping tabs on him. Delighted with the news (or if you told him that either Bernadette or Toutius were spies), he begins the escalation the knight captain, Dion, warned you about.
Swept up in the conspiracy, he hands over a note asking you to murder whoever you accused for a reward of 1000 gold. It’s a high price, and of course you can accept it willingly if you’re an evil-alligned character, but if you’re a goodie-two-shoes it puts you in a difficult spot.
Thankfully you get to end the conversation peacefully without agreeing to take on the hit. But with Glarthir’s set of written instructions, you can then either take that proof to the guard captain, Dion, or Davide Surilie. Each of them will confront Glarthir and you can watch the afterman unfold yourself.
Afterwards, interact with Glarthir and you get the key to his house, which you can pillage for a massive bag of coins inside a basket next to the stairs on the ground floor.
Alternatively, if you wish to carry out the hit, or hits, sneak around after the targets (you already know their daily routine after all) and whack them while they’re alone. Return to Glarthir after the deed is done and the end of the conspiracy is a weight off his mind… for now.
For more twisty quests full of excitement and intrigue, check out our Canvas the Castle Quest guide, or our map of every Deadric Artifact location in Oblivion Remastered.