Daggerfall:The Escort

Quick Walkthrough
# Talk to a Merchant or an Innkeeper.
# Escort your employer to the indicated destination town.
# Be prepared for an ambush there.
# Turn over or defend your employer.
# Escort your employer to the destination building within the time limit and collect your reward.

Detailed Walkthrough
thumb|right|The guards have a warrant, at least
thumb|right|The Mages Guild searches for your employer
thumb|right|You may have to sneak past the Thieves Guild
thumb|right|The Dark Brotherhood takes their contracts seriously
 
Escort Service
Speak to a merchant or innkeeper, who greets you with one of:

''"I am (employer's name). I am in need of an escort. Would you protect me on my journey to (destination town)? It's less less than (time limit) days from here."
"My name is (employer's name). I have to get out of (current town) right away. I want to hire you to guard me on my journey to (destination town). I can pay you (random gold) gold pieces."
"You have to help me! My name is (employer's name). I need to get to (destination town) within (time limit) days and I need an escort."

Accept
The merchant or innkeeper goes on:

:"Blessings upon you (player's name). I travel light, so I'm ready to go. I know you don't work for free. Take me to (building) in (destination town) and I'll pay you (random gold) gold when we get there."

Decline
The merchant or innkeeper answers:

:"I guess I'll have to find someone else to protect me on my journey."
or
:"Heartless oaf!"

Protecting the Employer
Escort your employer to the destination town. When you arrive, you will be ambushed by a faction that is interested in capturing your employer. There are four possible groups that can be after you: warriors from the Town Guards, Mages Guild mages, thieves representing the Thieves Guild, or assassins belonging to the Dark Brotherhood. Each has a 25% chance of appearing as the ambushing faction. Depending on which faction is after your employer, your attackers will say when hit:
Town Guards: "Halt! I have a warrant for the arrest of (employer's name) in the name of (region). We don't want you, just (him/her). Turn (him/her) over and you can go free.
Mages Guild: "There is no need for us to fight. Our quarrel is with (employer's name). The Mages Guild does not accept treachery lightly. Give (him/her) to us and you can be on your way.
Thieves Guild: "Out of the way (player's race). We want (employer's name), and you can't stop us. Just turn (him/her) over. Hey, (employer's name). You didn't think you could cheat the Thieves Guild and live, did you?"
Dark Brotherhood: "Stand aside, (player's race). (Employer's name) is wanted by the Dark Brotherhood. You aren't such a fool as to try to protect (him/her), are you?"

This will be followed by:

:(Employer's name) says, "Ha! I hired this (player's race) to protect me from this. (Player's name), are you going to turn me over?"

If you hand over your employer your opponents will cease attacking you, but you will be unable to complete your given objective. Thus, the quest will end here. Immediately following this, another message pops up:

:(Employer's name) is slain right before your eyes.

If you choose to defend your companion, the attacker replies:

:"Have it your way. Kill them both!"''

Fight off any enemies and loot the corpses if you wish, then proceed to the target building to complete your mission.

Note that whatever choice you make here could be considered both success and failure; depending on which faction is after you, it may be to your advantage to betray your employer. If you manage to get your employer into the destination building without engaging your pursuers, your reputation with them will not be touched. However:
If you turn your employer over to the ambushing faction, you naturally won't receive any reward or gain reputation with your employer's faction. The quest will count as a failure three hours after you have surrendered your employer to the pursuers. You will, however, gain 10 reputation with the ambushing faction and 5 reputation with its associated factions.
If you don't turn your employer over when you are commanded to do so, you will lose 20 reputation with the ambushing faction and 10 reputation with its associated factions.

Reward
When you enter the destination building, your employer parts ways, saying: 

:"Ah! (Building)! You have fulfilled your part of the bargain. Here is the gold I promised you."

However, if you fail to make it to your destination in time, your employer leaves in a huff without paying you:

:''"Are you lost, (player's name)? I guess I'll have to find my own way to (destination town). Thanks for nothing, worthless wretch."

Reputation Gain/Loss
 

Additional Reputation
If your employer is wanted by the Town Guards, your actions will influence your Regional Reputation as shown in the table below.



If you turn your employer over to one of the other factions, you will gain reputation according to the table below.




If you defend your employer you will lose reputation according to the table below.



Enemies
Town Guards: 5x Two Warriors every five in-game minutes (20% chance) until the quest is over
Mages Guild: 3x Two Mages every five in-game minutes (25% chance) until the quest is over
Dark Brotherhood: 3x Two Assassins every five in-game minutes (25% chance) until the quest is over
Thieves Guild: 3x Two Thieves every five in-game minutes (25% chance) until the quest is over

Notes
Your employer will be gone forever after the quest. That means he or she can no longer be found in the building of the town where you started the quest. If this NPC provided a service to the player, this service is also gone forever.
You can fix this, however, by deleting from your savegame directory the ATF file that is allocated to this specific town. The downside is that you will also lose all map information for this town.
This is one of only two quests in the entire game that can improve your Regional Reputation. The other quest which can do this is A Mix-Up.

Additional Dialogue
After you have accepted this quest, NPCs may say when asked for any news:
''"I hear the guards are looking for (employer's name). (He/She) had to flee the town."
"Don't you know? The Thieves Guild is after (employer's name). Or was it the Dark Brotherhood? I forget."
"I heard (employer's name) has been forced to marry. (He/She) has to get to (destination town) before the pregnancy begins to show."
If you fail the quest, NPCs may say when asked for any news:
"They caught (employer's name). (He/She) will stand trial next week."
If you successfully complete the quest, NPCs may say when asked for any news:
"Did you hear? Some (player's race) smuggled (employer's name) out of town just in time. Otherwise they would have beheaded (him/her) for sure."
If you successfully complete the quest, the quest giver may later greet you with:
"Thanks for getting me out of that town, (player's first name). I have recommended you to several of my friends."
If you failed the quest, the quest giver will greet you with:
"You! Because you wouldn't help me get out of town, the Thieves Guild took my shop! Go away."''

Quest Log