Oblivion:Boots of Springheel Jak

Quick Walkthrough
# Fence at least 800 gold to receive the quest from Amusei.
# Talk to the Gray Fox for further details.
# Locate Jakben, Earl of Imbel.
# Uncover the truth about Springheel Jak.
# Defeat Jakben and retrieve the Boots of Springheel Jak.

Detailed Walkthrough
The Gray Fox
After you have fenced 800 gold worth of stolen goods, Thieves Guild messenger Amusei actively seeks you out, reporting that the Gray Fox will be waiting for you at Ganredhel's house in Cheydinhal. The Gray Fox tells the tale of a famous thief, Springheel Jak, who died 300 years ago and was put to rest still wearing his enchanted boots. He then asks you to locate Jak's final resting place and retrieve the boots. The only known descendant of the famous thief is The Earl of Imbel, who goes by the name of Jakben and lives somewhere in the Imperial City. The Gray Fox finally tasks you to locate the Earl and search his house for clues.

Search for the Earl
thumb|right|Oblivion:Jakben Imbel's House|Jakben's house in the Imperial City
As always, the eyes and ears of the Gray Fox will help you out and map markers pointing to them will be added to your in-game map. Travel to the Imperial City and speak to any of them who will provide the information you want: "The Earl of Imbel has a home in the Talos Plaza, on the inner wall. He is an odd one. Keeps to himself mostly. Only goes out after dark. A real night owl." A second source is harder to find but is also more informative. On Sundas, Tirdas and Turdas, a man named Gemellus Axius roams around the Market District between 8am and noon. Speak to him and it turns out that he is the Earl's manservant. He will provide the same location info as the beggars but will also provide some suspicious info: "He is a very private man and does not leave his home often. He has a rare skin condition that forces him to sleep during the day." Travel to the Talos Plaza District and locate the large mansion described by the citizens. It is placed between Umbacano Manor and the Tiber Septim Hotel.

Searching the Mansion
:''Note: Due to a bug that causes Jakben to skip his sleep during the day, this next section is much more complex than intended.''
The front door of the mansion will always be locked with a hard lock and it is difficult to know beforehand when it is safe to enter. Jakben himself will take an evening stroll for four hours at 10pm on Morndas, Middas and Fredas, and manservant Gemellus Axius will go to bed at that time, so that is your cue. At 10pm, watch Jakben leave the house, then pick the lock and enter. The Gray Fox told you to look for clues, so head upstairs and locate the dining area. A staircase will lead you to Jakben's study, so head up there and examine the desk. In there, you will find a book entitled Imbel Genealogy which is the only clue available, but is of no help. You need to face Jakben himself for more information.

Jakben, Earl of Imbel
Whether or not you found the Imbel Genealogy, you will have to face Jakben and ask him about his ancestors' tomb. At this point it is possible to ask his manservant about the tomb as well, and he will reveal a bit of information about the family crypt: "Only the Earl has a key. I have been warned never to enter it, on pain of death." Time to chat with the Earl himself; with the exception of the above mentioned times, Jakben will be strolling around the second floor of the mansion, at times visiting his study. When you approach him, the esteemed nobleman turns out to be a coward: ''"What do you want? I'll do anything you ask!"'' When asked about Springheel Jak's tomb, the scared Earl hands you the key to the crypts with the words: ''"The family crypts are under the house. They give me the creeps. I have the key. Take it. Just don't hurt me!"'' The Earl will then seek shelter in his study, wondering why he is still alive.

thumb|right|180px|The Family Crypt
The Catacombs
With the key in hand and the Earl trembling in his study, it is time to head down into the basement and explore this "creepy" crypt. Before doing so, make sure you have the Skeleton Key or a healthy number of lockpicks in your inventory as you will face a good number of locked doors on your way. Alternatively, you could pick pocket Gemellus while he's sleeping and grab the house key, which will unlock all but two doors. Pick the eastern basement door and head downstairs. Pick another door open and approach the Wood Door to Catacombs with the key given to you by the Earl.

Upon entering, it becomes apparent that something is seriously wrong with the crypt underneath the mansion, as the place is crawling with leveled vampires, who will all attack you on sight. The Crypt, entitled Catacombs on your map, is actually a semi-large cave filled with treasure and leveled enemies and you will have to face a long and exhausting battle before you reach Springheel Jak's Coffin in the far eastern area. The cave itself is fairly linear so just keep heading east and fight any vampire you meet, and wait for them to unlock the doors for you. Keep your eyes on the prize until you reach a wooden door in the far eastern section. Use your lockpicking skills one last time and you will locate Springheel Jak's Coffin in the last room.

Springheel Jak
Pry open the coffin and search through it, only to find out that there are no boots to be found. Instead, pick up the Diary of Springheel Jak and read it. Oddly, the diary is written by Jakben himself; he claims to be the famous thief who died 300 years ago, but obviously didn't due to vampirism. He also hints at a former friend who dared to steal from Nocturnal. You barely get the chance to close the book, before Jakben comes rushing in, now wearing a fully leveled suit of light armor, attacking you with an equally leveled, and possibly enchanted, long blade. You will have no choice but to fight back. When all is said and done, search Jakben's corpse and find the Boots of Springheel Jak. For some, you may have to travel all the way back to the Dining Room area before Jakben attacks you. You can also charm him and then steal the boots off him without killing him. Time to leave the mansion and return to the Gray Fox.

Capital!
You will find the Gray Fox in his chair back in Cheydinhal, trying his best to avoid Ganredhel's two dogs, Daisy and Luna. When you hand him the boots he will be overwhelmed with joy as he can see his master plan fall into place; "Capital! This may be the last piece of the puzzle." He then hands you 500 gold, hints that he will contact you again and suggest you both leave Ganredhel's house. Finally, the newest edition of the Black Horse Courier reveals that Jakben's manservant Gemellus Axius finally gave in and reported the crimes of his master to the City Watch.

Blood Price
Killing the following NPC while this quest is active will require you to pay a blood price to Armand or S'Krivva:
Gemellus Axius

Notes
Amusei will not seek you out and initiate the quest if you are in jail or in Cheydinhal.
An alternative method of finishing this quest is by killing Jakben after interrogating him. You can then avoid visiting the crypt and many of the bugs mentioned below. Simply kill him and search his corpse for the Boots, then return to the Gray Fox for the reward.
It is possible to pickpocket Jakben's equipment from him while he is crouching in the study: this will make the fight with him a lot easier.

Bugs
 
 
  You can fix this glitch by typing   in the command line, in order for the quest to finish. Once you've fenced 1000 gold, the next and final quest will be enabled.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  You can fix this with the console commands   and  .
  You can also use   followed by  , which will move Jakben to your location so you can fight him. 
Waiting may also fix this.
 
 
  To fix this enter the console command  , which will initiate the quest.
You can also go to Ganredhel's house in Cheydinhal and roam around, which should update the fence quest, therefore letting you continue on with the Gray Fox. If that doesn't work, roam around a city for a couple of minutes; hopefully the quest will update. Setting Independent Thievery as your active quest also helps with this.
 
  You can use Console command to fix this problem:  .
 
 

Journal Entries