The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion/Unused, Changed & Altered Quests

This is a sub-page of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Arenas

Originally, there was going to be an arena in every city in the game. These arenas were pretty much complete, with the Bruma arena even being indirectly shown off in the official Oblivion E3 2005 trailer and the Cheydinhal arena being briefly shown in the Making of Oblivion documentary. The only reason all the other arenas were removed is because of disc space. According to the writer of the arena questline, Emil Pagliarulo, there were too many voice lines and they needed to cut down on some, so he offered to sacrifice the majority of his arena content, including around 800 lines of dialogue relating to it, for the betterment of the project. In lieu of the arena cuts, only one arena was kept in the final game and it wasn't the Imperial City arena. Actually, the arena that was kept was the Chorrol arena. If you type coc chorrolarena into the console on PC in the final game, you'll end up in the Imperial City arena. Additionally, Owyn and Hundolin both also used to reside in Chorrol, with unused Chorrol dialogue hinting at the fact. The reason for why the Chorrol arena was kept isn't clear. It's possible it was the most developed at the time, or perhaps it was the writer's personal favorite out of them all. It's also not entirely clear if the original Imperial City arena was finished or not, and Emil simply replaced it with the Chorrol one as his preference.

There are bits and pieces of dialogue for random conversations regarding the unused arenas in each city that survived, including some that reference deleted characters, like the Leyawiin Arena Blademaster, "Vanashti". There are also references to the deleted Arena Blademasters in scripts for each city. There is a goodbye line of dialogue stored in the arena dialogue quest that was supposed to be unique to Arena Bookmakers, yet in the final game, a few seemingly random NPCs other than Hundolin also have this dialogue. These NPCs, namely Didier Aumilie of Anvil, Andragil of Bravil, Istirus Brolus of Bruma, Shelley of Cheydinhal, J'bari of Leyawiin and Graklak gro-Buglump of Skingrad, were all actually originally arena bookmakers themselves, for their respective cities. The Imperial City bookmaker, named Victoria Delacroix, was deleted, and exists only in AI package names now. Unfortunately, it seems all these arenas were cut in vain, as Bethesda decided to hire a separate actor for the Male Bretons sometime after this, so all of the thousands of lines of dialogue recorded by the original Male Breton actor (which was the same as the Male Imperials), were simply left in the files, taking up unnecessary space.

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  Bruma's arena, as seen in the E3 2005 Trailer. Note the second entrance.

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  Cheydinhal's arena as seen in the Making of Oblivion documentary. Note the second entrance.

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  Skingrad's arena, briefly visible in the early version of Oblivion's menu found in the files.

Early Blood of the Daedra

There are traces of an earlier version of the main quest "Blood of the Daedra" (MQ08). There are two blank dialogue topics linked to a removed Ayleid ruin named Lissalda; LissaldaTopic and MQ08LissaldaTopic. Its exterior cell LissaldaExterior also still remains in the final game, placing it south of Kvatch. In retail, the player only has to acquire any Daedric artifact for Martin by completing a quest at a Daedra shrine, rather than do a dungeon crawl. Its proximity to Kvatch suggests Martin could have been familiar with the site and whatever was needed there to open a portal to Mankar Camoran's Paradise, possibly tying into Martin's backstory as a Daedric magic practitioner. An unused dialogue topic internally known as MQ08GiveBook mentions... a book, as well as an artifact called "Skeftskin". The book might refer to the book "Modern Heretics" which does still get used in the final version, but it might've been a different book. Whatever Skeftskin might've been is unknown, as it's only ever mentioned in this dialogue. It might've been another previously-unknown Daedric artifact that was once meant to be the item to be offered up, rather than just any Daedric artifact.

Early MS05

If you have not yet received the quest "Through a Nightmare, Darkly", Gilgondorin of Silverhome on the Water will offer you the following line of dialogue: "My neighbor, Dro'shanji, has seen creatures around the house. Why don't you talk to Dro'shanji, see if you can help?" His dialogue implies there was a quest involving Dro'shanji's home being overrun by some sort of creatures, however, no such quest exists in the final game and Dro'shanji himself is not used in any quests. The only other traces of this quest are an AI package called "MS05DroshanjiStayHome" which keeps Dro'shanji locked in his house inbetween quest stages 10 and 50 of Through a Nightmare, Darkly, and a marker present in the cell BravilPlaza that's named "MS05DaedraMarker". These facts seem to imply that either MS05 originally was either a completely different quest than in the finished game, or that it was majorly rewritten at some point.

Early MS12

The innkeeper of Bruma's Jerall View Inn, Hafid Hollowleg, will offer you this line of dialogue when asking for rumors: "Lyra Rosentia collects Akaviri artifacts. She might have a project in mind. Her house is west of the chapel." While Lyra Rosentia does not offer you any unique dialogue at all, there is a collector of Akaviri artifacts in town, the Countess. It is very likely that Lyra's dialogue regarding the quest was repurposed for the Countess. Her herald, Tolgan, is also actively involved in the quest, but it is possible that once he was a servant or acquaintance of Lyra, as he owns a bed in her house without otherwise ever going to it.

Imperial Express

Upon entering the Imperial City Market District for the first time, the game will notify you that a new topic is available for discussion with NPCs: "Do you need couriers?". There are no NPCs who will discuss this topic in the game. The topic itself is one of the few remnants of the Black Horse Courier questline that was cut from the game. Originally, the Black Horse Courier was a delivery service that employed couriers to deliver packages to people. This questline would've involved the player making deliveries to certain individuals in each city. This questline and almost all traces of it were removed however, and the Black Horse Courier itself was changed from a delivery service to a newspaper in the final game. There are a few lines of dialogue that were accidentally left in the files relating to the Black Horse Courier being a delivery service, but only lines recorded for the Female Nords/Orcs remain. There is also a list contained in an unused script, as well as a faction called "Eight Cities Courier Customers", both of which list the customers that you would've delivered to and for.

Legacy Lost

This quest would've originally had the option of having Reynald Jemane die during the trek to Weatherleah. This is impossible because both brothers are essential during the quest in the final game. This variant of stage 100's journal entry goes unused as a result:

Quest Stages	Journal
100	I've brought Guilbert Jemane safely to Weatherleah. Unfortunately, Reynald was killed along the way.

MS17

MS17 is a removed miscellaneous quest that would've been started by talking to Jirolin Doran in Chorrol. MS17 is the quest's editor ID, as its actual name is left blank. Jirolin would've believed that Ogres were distantly related to his family line. He wanted to try and get close to some local Ogres and in order to do so, asked you to place an offering at Spy Rock, an old Imperial watch. The player would return in a week's time to see if Jirolin had made any progress, only to find that he went and contacted the Ogres already by himself. Jirolin and the Ogres would be found at Rock Bottom Caverns where Jirolin would be in need of rescue. The player would then need to escort Jirolin out of the caverns and back to Chorrol.

In the final game, Jirolin remains in his house all day, lacking any special AI packages and unique dialogue. Rock Bottom Caverns also makes an appearance, but does not have any Ogres inhabiting it, being filled with Goblins instead. All of Jirolin's voice files remain in the files, as well as rumor lines for the FemaleNord/FemaleOrc voicetype, which were likely going to be used for one of Chorrol's local innkeepers, Emfrid. Two player dialogue lines remain that were meant to be used at the start of the quest, either discouraging Jirolin or encouraging him to follow up with his plan. A single unique quest-related AI package is placed in Jirolin's AI list but goes unused of course, it was meant to send Jirolin back to Chorrol after being rescued from Rock Bottom Caverns. A simple script also remains which was meant to be used by Jirolin. The intended quest stages and journal entries also remain, and can be seen below:

Quest Stages	Journal
10	Jirolin Doran of Chorrol believes that ogres are somehow distantly related to his family line. As such, he's asked me to take an offering of gems and gold to Spy Rock in an effort to establish communications with the ogres.
20	I've placed Jirolin's gems at Spy Rock. I should return and let him know I've completed the task.
30	I should return to Chorrol in one week's time to see if Jirolin has made any progress with the ogres.
40	Jirolin Doran took it upon himself to check back at Spy Rock; I should head there and find him.
50	Jirolin is not at Spy Rock. He left a note stating the ogres were escorting him to their home at Rock Bottom Caverns. I should go there and find him.
60	I've found Jirloin Doran trapped in Rock Bottom Caverns. I'll need to help him escape the ogres.
70	I've freed Jirolin from his confines. I need to make sure he returns safely to Chorrol, which means getting him out of Rock Bottom Caverns.
80	Jirolin will head back to Chorrol on his own. I can either head there myself, or go back into Rock Bottom Caverns to raid the stores of treasure the ogres have collected.
100	Jirolin thanked me for saving him from the ogres, and gave me some of his offering to the ogres as a reward.
200	Jirolin Doran is dead.

MS17FIN

A follow-up to the previous quest, this one goes unnamed as well. The "FIN" part of its editor ID shows that it was meant to affect something after MS17's completion. MS22 and MS38 have similar quests, they are not to be seen by the player but only serve to affect the world. In this quest's case, it was meant to change Jirolin's Chorrol topic after the completion of MS17.

MS19

MS19 is a deleted miscellaneous quest that would've been related to Teekeeus of the Chorrol Mages Guild and a certain unknown book. This quest was repurposed into the Mages Guild quest Fingers of the Mountain.

MS25

A Cheydinhal rumor in the final game goes as follows: "Dervera Romalen is very proud of the Newlands Lodge. She seems especially happy that the Red Queen drinks there." No NPC by the name or alias of "Red Queen" can ever be found in-game or in the game's files. It is possible, albeit unlikely, that this "Red Queen" is related to a cave between Bruma and the Imperial City called Unmarked Cave. Most of this cave is inaccessible and therefore unused in the final game, with only a portion of the first zone being accessible. The second zone, Unmarked Cave Mazeway, is locked behind a door which requires a unique key to open, the key does not exist in-game or in the game's files, and there is no way to actually open the door. The third zone is called Unmarked Cave Black Queen's Hall, this name being the only possible tie to the "Red Queen". Within this zone is a chest with the internal name of ChestMS25DungeonMythicEnemyRare01.

The chest is empty and does not yield any other information, other than confirming that this dungeon was related to a deleted miscellaneous quest with the internal ID of "MS25". While it is unknown if the Red Queen and Black Queen were to be related in some way, the Black Queen was definitely related to Unmarked Cave and MS25.

Radiant Quests

Oblivion was originally meant to have radiant quests, similar to those that would eventually be seen in Skyrim. There are three known types of radiant quests that would've appeared: item fetch quests, rescue missions and treasure hunts. All of the parameters would be randomized and the dialogue from questgivers and related NPCs was kept deliberately vague, so as to allow it to be used within these randomized parameters. All of this dialogue was removed from the files and the radiant quest system was totally scrapped. The only remaining lines of dialogue are those of the FemaleElf voicetype. Oblivion's DLC later reused some of the lines, albeit with snippets missing sometimes. The Orrery uses three lines, Horse Armor uses one line and Fighter's Stronghold re-used another three.

Skingrad Recommendation

Originally, the player would've had the option to pay guild mage Sulinus Vassinus in order to basically complete the quest for them and retrieve the missing mage Erthor. All the AI packages, scripts and dialogue are in place for this event, but are deliberately commented out. These three quest stages and journal entries go unused due to this:

Quest Stages	Journal
20	Sulinus Vassinus has offered to complete my task at Bleak Flats Cave for me, at a price. If I'm going to take him up on the offer, I need to bring him 300 gold. Otherwise, I should speak with the other guild mages to find where Erthor is.
30	I've paid Sulinus Vassinus, and he has agreed to go to Bleak Flats Cave and perform the task I was given. Once he returns, I can take credit for it.
40	Sulinus Vassinus has returned, and says that Erthor is safe. I need to go to Adrienne Berene, and tell her I saved him.

Unknown Chorrol Quest 1

A quest involving doing some sort of job for a removed Imperial with the last name "Strantus" was removed from the game. All that remains is dialogue of townsfolk discussing the work Strantus is offering and references to him in Chorrol-related scripts.

Unknown Chorrol Quest 2

A Chorrol rumor that can be heard in-game states: "I could be wrong, but it seems to me there's something shady going on at the Oak and Crosier." Despite this fact, nothing ever leads to a quest or even a reference to these shady goings-on. The inn's basement does have a small clue though, as it plays the dungeon music when entering. Unused dialogue topics seem to imply that innkeeper Talasma was either a member of the Khajiiti crime organization Renrijra Krin, or she was associated with them. This all seems to indicate that criminal activity was at one point meant to be present in the inn's basement.

Unknown Chorrol Quest 3

Inhabitants of Chorrol will often discuss the strange behavior of Eugal Belette. Visiting his house will reveal a basement full of humanoid skulls and Mythic Dawn paraphernalia. He, however, cannot be reported, nor will discuss the subject. Upon looking through the Construction Set and various unused dialogue topics, one will be able to get some idea of what Bethesda had planned for Eugal Belette. It seems he was to have written or been in possession of a book called the "Mythic Dawn Postulates" and that you'd find it at a camp in Sancre Tor, perhaps where Eugal was staying at some point. Additionally, he was to have attacked the player and somebody was to ask you about it.

Unknown Elder Council Questline

At one point in development, there was to be an Elder Council questline, where players would attain ranks such as the Count of Kvatch and ultimately becoming the "Duke of Colovia". It is said by Todd Howard to have been deleted because it "detracted from the main questline". Not much is left in the final game relating to this questline however. The few remnants there are include: an early Elder Council faction icon for the player's Faction page in their journal, the Nobility faction, which is now solely used by NPCs and the sudden and the abrupt ending to the events at Kvatch, where all of the surviving guards simply stand in place forever at the end of the quest chain. The Kvatch quests' internal names are "MS48" and "MS49". The next quest listed in the Construction Set is "MS51". This shows that the quest "MS50" was deleted and could've potentially been the quest that would've made the player the Count of Kvatch.

Unknown Possible Imperial City Quest

The Chestnut Handy Stables is an odd location in the final game, only serving true purpose to the player with the infamous Horse Armor Pack installed. Two of the three characters present (Snak gra-Bura and Restita Statlilia) weren't originally meant to appear there, and all other stables in the game have only two people operating them. All of the dialogue for the characters working at this stable, from looking at dialogue notes in the Construction Set, seem to have been re-recorded and re-written during development. Some of their current dialogue suggests that the stables' missing horses were eaten by Snak gra-Bura, the stable owner. However, this appears to be a hasty re-write and that originally, that were actually able to be found by the player. There are a few random wild Chestnut horses around Fort Alessia, which is just south of the Imperial City. The breed of horse in relation to the stables' name, combined with the evidence of dialogue re-writes and the horses' proximity to the city, seem to suggest that these horses were actually the missing stable horses.

Baeralorn the Necromancer

Anvil's castle mage Baeralorn is a Necromancer: His class is Necromancer, he's a member of the NecromancerFaction faction, and is equipped with a set of leveled Necromancer spells. Furthermore Baeralorn has an AI package named BaeralornNecrmoancy where he'll sit at a table in his quarters upon which sits a chunk of Mort Flesh. In his inventory is a bone and shears. His personal chest also contains one of the only copies of N'Gasta! Kvata! Kvakis! a book written by a Necromancer, and also a random Necromancer alchemy ingredient. Yet despite all of this, Baelorn's Necromancy is never brought up in-game by other NPCs. There's an unused cell named Anvil Castle Caverns consisting of a 2x2 castle room with a door, a candelabra, and an X marker. Its Editor ID is far more intriguing though; AnvilCastleNecromancerLair. It's hard to imagine this cell being linked to anyone but Baeralorn. Ironically, Carahil, the head of the Anvil branch of the Mages Guild is a notoriously outspoken critic of Necromancy and Baeralorn has an AI package to seek her out specifically.