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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Hints
Clavicus Vile
1 of 17: Clavicus Vile's shrine is at location 40 on the Great Forest map.
2 of 17: You'll have to be at least level 20 to get this quest.
3 of 17: Talk to Ma'Raska about "Shrine of Clavicus Vile" and ask about business.
4 of 17: Thankfully, this guy only wants 500 gold, which should be fairly easy to get by looting, selling stuff, etc.
5 of 17: Give the statue the gold to receive a quest to go after the Umbra sword. (You'll also get a statuette of a dog.)
6 of 17: You need to go to Pell's Gate (location 49 on the Heartlands map) to start the search.
7 of 17: NOTE: At some point, the dog statuette will talk to you and advise you to forget the whole thing. Naturally, you shouldn't listen.
8 of 17: Find Irroki the Wide either in his house or wandering about town and get his disposition up to 60.
9 of 17: Talk to him about Umbra to learn that his former apprentice has it, and is probably in the Vindasel ruins (location 50 on the Heartlands map).
10 of 17: Enter Vindasel and explore cautiously, watching out for traps near the centers of the first two large rooms, until you reach the third large room.
11 of 17: In the approximate center of that room, on the lower floor, is the new Umbra.
12 of 17: She's wearing ebony armor and is undoubtedly one of the toughest melee fighters in the game, so you'll want to have one heck of a strategy here.
13 of 17: When she's finally dead, you can pick up her wondrous Umbra sword and then loot her body of all her great ebony armor (though you may have to come back for some of that later since it's so heavy).
14 of 17: When you pick up the Umbra sword, the talkative dog statuette will warn you once again not to give the sword to Clavicus Vile. And it has a point -- who wouldn't want to keep a powerful soul-trapping weapon like Umbra?
15 of 17: Whatever you decide, return to the shrine and click on the statue.
16 of 17: If you choose to hand the Umbra sword over, you'll get the Masque of Clavicus Vile in exchange. It's a pretty good heavy armor helm that constantly fortifies Personality by 20 points, but most players would probably prefer to keep the wondrous sword even if they're able to make a cheaper soul-trapping weapon via enchantment (see the Combat Tips).
17 of 17: NOTE: If you want to keep the sword, you should put off reporting back to Clavicus Vile as long as possible. That's because the sword weighs nothing until you officially refuse to give it to Mr. Vile, after which it will weigh 45 pounds. Just remember that if you ever want to get Hermaeus Mora's shrine quest, you'll have to finish this one.
