Daggerfall:Research Notes

Quick Walkthrough
# Talk to the Guildmagister at a Mages Guild hall.
# Travel to the town the Guildmagister mentioned.
# Possibly receive a letter from the Dark Brotherhood.
# Meet the scholar and get their research notes.
# (Optional) Deliver the notes to the Dark Brotherhood, and possibly receive fake notes.
# Deliver the research notes (or fake notes) to the Guildmagister within the time limit.

Detailed Walkthrough
Dangerous Research
Speak to the Guildmagister, who says:

:''"As the premier research institution in the Empire of Tamriel, the Mages Guild employs a number of mystics and scholars all over the land. If we can get a representative of the Guild over to a place within a reasonable distance of here, the eminent scholar, (scholar's name),   has agreed to share (his/her) research. Would you be available for this?"
or
:"The Mages Guild of (Guildmagister's town) has an exciting opportunity to benefit from the work of the renowned researcher and scholar, (scholar's name). (He/She) has agreed to donate some of (his/her) research to the Guild if we send someone to (scholar's town) to pick it up. Not surprisingly, (he/she) fears Necromancer intervention. I take it that you're as excited about this possibility as I am, (player's guild rank)?"

Accept
The Guildmagister goes on:

:"Grand, just grand. Now, (scholar's name) is staying in (scholar's town) in a place called (building) for just a few days. The danger is the Necromancers. Those reprobate spellslingers are interested in getting to (scholar's name) and (his/her) research. I will give you (time limit) days to get to (scholar's name) and back before I send someone else. Good luck."

Decline
The Guildmagister answers:

:"That's rather disappointing, (player's guild rank). If I were in better condition, I'd jump at the chance to meet the great (scholar's name). You're wasting your youth, (player's guild rank)."

An Alternate Offer
In truth, it is not the Necromancers who are after the research notes, but the Dark Brotherhood. If your reputation with the Brotherhood is less than or equal to ten, there is a 50% chance of getting a letter from them shortly after you start this quest. You should receive the letter at the latest one day after starting the quest. The letter reads:
 
If your reputation with the Brotherhood exceeds ten, you will always get a letter from them, with somewhat friendlier wording.  You should receive this letter about thirteen hours after you started the quest at most. This letter says:
 
Meeting the Scholar
Travel to the town specified by the Guildmagister and locate the scholar, who says:

:"You're the (player's race) the Mages Guild sent over to protect my work, yes? Marvelous to meet you, my child. Here's the bally thing. Good luck getting past those infernal Necromancers with it. I certainly couldn't."''

The scholar hands you the research notes. If you received the Dark Brotherhood's letter, choose whether you want to accept the Brotherhood's offer or return the notes to the Mages Guild. In the latter case, simply return the notes to the Guildmagister and collect your gold.

(Optional) Help the Dark Brotherhood
thumb|right|The Dark Brotherhood appreciates your assistance in this matter If you want to accept the Dark Brotherhood's offer, travel to where the Brotherhood's contact is waiting for you. Ask around town until you know their location, enter the building and talk to the contact. Hand over the research notes, and the contact says:

:''"What a thoughtful gift. I hope your Mages Guild pals aren't too upset about losing it. What would they know about practical application of dry research anyhow? Here, take (random gold) gold for your trouble. Buy yourself something nice."

However, there is a 50% chance that the contact will also give you a fake copy of the original research notes, in which case they say:

:"How kind. The Dark Brotherhood would gratefully offer you (random gold) gold pieces for your service. In addition, here's a little something I whipped together that should keep you from getting in trouble with (Guildmagister's name) and the other Mages Guildmembers. All research notes look alike anyhow. When they don't yield results, the Guild will just throw more assistants at it or give up the project in  . The Mages Guild is simply a tedious pack of researchers who don't have to worry about gold and thus are never happier than when they are doing pointless work."

If you deliver these fake notes to the Mages Guild Guildmagister, you can still successfully complete the quest and receive your Mages Guild reward. If you are not given the fake notes, the quest counts as a failure once its time limit expires.

Reward
Return either of the two research notes and the Guildmagister says:

:"Oh, this is brilliant stuff. I guess those damned Necromancers were not too difficult to handle, at least, not for you. Spiffing job, (player's guild rank)."

You receive a random amount of gold in return.

Reputation Gain/Loss
If you return any of the research notes to the Guildmagister, the quest counts as a success.
 

Additional Reputation
If you give the research notes to the Dark Brotherhood, you will gain reputation with them as shown below.



Enemies
None

Notes
The text of the scholar's research notes reads like this:
 
The text of the fake research notes is as follows:
 
Additional Dialogue
If you ask an NPC about the scholar, you may be told:
''"(Scholar's name) is only one of the most respected scholars in Tamriel"
"(Scholar's name) is a (scholar's description), a very well-respected scholar"
"(Scholar's name) is only going to be visiting (region) for a short time"
"One of the finest minds of the third era, so they say"
"(Scholar's name) would definitely agree that (he/she)'s a genius"
"(Scholar's name) is a typical intellectual. No idea of what's going on"
"(Scholar's name)'s very clever, but (his/her) brains sometimes go to (his/her) head"
If you ask an NPC about the scholar when the Dark Brotherhood is involved, you may also be told:
"Talk to (contact's name) over in (contact's town) -- (he/she)'s been asking about (scholar's name) too."
"A (contact's description) in (contact's building) was asking about (scholar's name) as well."
After you have accepted this quest, NPCs may say when asked for any news:
"Maybe that (scholar's name) is a celebrity to scholar types, but (he/she)'s just a (scholar's description)"
"It's an honor for (scholar's town) to host the renowned (scholar's name)'s visit to (region)."
If you fail the quest, NPCs may say when asked for any news:
"The Necromancers will be the dominant magical power in Tamriel in a few years."
"The Mages Guild is unable to defend itself against the Necromancers."
If you successfully complete the quest, NPCs may say when asked for any news:
"(Scholar's name)'s research will help the Mages Guild in a number of ways."
"The Necromancers didn't seem to get their hands on (scholar's name) ... or did they?"
If you successfully complete the quest, the quest giver may later greet you with:
"Well, if it isn't the (player's race) who brought us that manuscript. How are you?"
If you failed the quest, the quest giver will greet you with:
"As you haven't got the manuscript you swore you would retrieve, I see little point in conversing with you. Take your business elsewhere."''

Quest Log