Daggerfall:A Mix-Up

Quick Walkthrough
# Talk to a merchant or innkeeper.
# Fight your way out after being accused of the crime.
# Read the letters sent to you shortly after starting the quest.
# Find a witness who can help prove your innocence.
# Get a note from the witness and read it.
# Speak to the witness at his or her house in town. 
# Get a letter which proves your innocence from a building in town.
# Give the letter to the adversary of the true culprit.
# Travel to the dungeon mentioned in the witness's and culprit's letters and retrieve the gem.
# Return the gem to your accuser within the time limit and collect your reward.

Detailed Walkthrough
Mistaken Identity
When speaking to a merchant or innkeeper, he or she may say:

''"(Oath), you look like that (player's race), (player's name). Is that you, (player's first name)?"
"You're not by any chance (player's name), are you?"
"Wait a minute. You're not (player's name), are you?"

Accept
Your prospective employer then makes a startling accusation:

:"Thief! You're the one who stole my (gem)! (Warrior)! Kill!"
:As you hear the accusation, you know it to be false. Mayhap you have filched a gem from time to time, but there is no way this one should be pinned on you.
or
:"You've got a lot of nerve coming back here after taking my (gem)! My associate (guard's name) will take care of your business now."
:Something is clearly wrong. This person has no reason to be upset with you.

Decline
The merchant or innkeeper answers:

:"All right then. Just curious."
or
:"Good. No offense."

On the Run
thumb|right|The owner of the stolen gem hired some extra security
This is one of the most complex quests in the game, not because of its difficulty but because of the various combinations of NPCs involved. As soon as you are done talking to your would-be employer, three things happen. First, your Regional Reputation will drop by 200 points (to a minimum of -100). Second, a warrior appears in the building and immediately attacks you. Third, about ten seconds after the conversation ends, a message appears:  

:You notice (employer's name) sneak out of the door.

Your employer will be gone for most of the duration of this quest; if they provided a service, that service will be unavailable during that time. Deal with the guard and get out of there. 25 to 50 in-game minutes, after starting the quest a notification will appear (the notification will be either of the following two):

A) "A ragged beggar boy suddenly thrusts a letter in your hands and disappears before you have a second to question him."

You will receive a letter from one or more groups, depending on your reputation with them. 



or

B) If your reputation with the above factions is lower than 10, you will instead receive a letter from an anonymous "friend" who will direct you to a person they suspect to be the true mastermind behind the robbery.

The Usual Suspects
thumb|right|The Merchant
thumb|right|The Noble
thumb|right|The Priest
thumb|right|The Thief
thumb|right|Sometimes suspects will call for help...
thumb|right|...but the witness will call for the guard
The messages and letter will point you to at least one of four suspects in the robbery: a merchant, a noble, a priest, and a thief'''. One of these four is a witness to the crime and another is the culprit, determined randomly. The letters sometimes give you the suspect's location, but these letters are often inaccurate due to an oversight in the quest (see bugs). Therefore, it is often better to search for the witness on your own. 

Ask the locals to tell you about any of the suspect's names you have discovered. Most of the time it will be idle gossip, but eventually someone will know where the individual can be found. You can also learn the names of the other suspects this way, asking about each suspect may reveal the names of two others.

Once you know an individual's location, go and speak to them. If the suspect is not the witness, you will hear one of the following:

''"You're the thief (witness' name) told everyone about! Guards!"
"Guards! It's the (player's race) (witness' name) identified as the thief!"
"I have nothing to say to a common jewel thief. (Witness' name) told me all about you. Guards! Guards!"''

The suspect just revealed the name of the witness, and you can now ask for the witness' whereabouts if you haven't already discovered this information. The bad news is that a rogue will appear in the building and attack you. Fight or escape, and find the witness. If you try to speak to any of the other suspects at this point, they will not respond.

Once you know where the suspect is located, head inside the building and locate your quarry. When spoken to, the suspect will raise the alarm and flee, saying:

:''"It's you! You're the one who robbed (employer's building)! Guards! Guards!"
:(Witness' name) slips you a note as (he/she) flees
or
:"It's the (player's race) who robbed (employer's building)! Somebody help me!
:(Witness' name) slips you a note as (he/she) flees''

The witness' cries summon a knight, who attacks you. Take care of this enemy and read the note you were handed before the witness fled the scene. It reads:

:''(Player's name),
::    Meet me at (witness' residence).
:::(Witness' name)

Follow up on this invitation and head over to the building named in the witness' note. The doors to this building may be locked; you will need some means to gain entrance if they are. Once you are inside, talk to the witness and you will learn the true culprit's identity, along with other important information. The witness' response depends on which suspect is the culprit:

If the culprit is the merchant:
''"Thank (random god) you got my note. I'm sorry about calling the guard, but I couldn't be seen talking to you. Listen, I can't talk long, but I know now that you didn't do it. I told the truth when I said I saw a (player's race) like you stealing the (gem) at (employer's building), but then I saw something else. There's this (merchant's description) named (merchant's name) who, I guess, found out that you were in town and hired someone who looks a lot like you to steal the (gem) and hide it away. If you want to clear your name, get the gem out of (dungeon), where (merchant's name) has it stashed, or see if you can find any other evidence in (culprit's residence), where (merchant's name) hangs out. Now, I gotta go. Good luck."
"You got my note, I see. Listen, (player's first name), I know that you didn't burgle (employer's building), but you have to understand that my life won't be worth a silver if they see us talking. I work for (merchant's name), which may not mean anything to you, but believe you me, (he/she) practically runs (merchant's town). If you want to clear your name and implicate my boss, you're going to have to get some hard evidence. If I were you, I'd either leave the region, or look for something on (him/her) at (culprit's residence), (his/her) house in town, or (dungeon), (his/her) secret treasure trove. Now, I gotta go. You never saw me, (player's first name)."

If the culprit is the noble:
"Listen, you gotta believe me. I really saw a (player's race) like you take the (gem), and I thought it was you. But that's before I saw (noble's name)'s cousin in (noble's town). That kid looks almost exactly like you, and I happen to know that (noble's name) sent (his/her) cousin to (dungeon) just recently. It'd be a great place to stash a (gem). The only other good choice would be (culprit's residence), where (noble's name) stays at night. As soon as I saw that cousin, I knew you were innocent. But you're going to have to get the evidence yourself. I have to go now. Good luck, friend."
"Listen and listen carefully, (player's first name). This is what happened. I witnessed the burglary at (employer's building), but I knew that if I told the truth about who really did it, no one would believe me and I'd probably get hanged for treason. So, I told everyone a stranger did it. Specifically, you. The real burglar is someone beyond suspicion -- (noble's name) of the royal house of (region). You're going to need some evidence to prove it and I'm not going to stick my neck out anymore. The only other thing I can tell you is that, during the weekends, (noble's name) spends (his/her) time at (dungeon) and at night, at (culprit's residence). Hope you can find some evidence in one of those places. Good luck and I'm sorry."

If the culprit is the priest:
"I wasn't lying when I said I saw someone who looked like you steal that (gem) from (employer's building). Then I saw that (player's race) again at (priest's building), talking to (priest's name), one of the priests there. I overheard the two of them say something about (dungeon), and I then followed that (player's race) down to (culprit's house). From there, the (player's race) went to (dungeon). A few minutes later, you came into my tavern. No one will believe your and my word against (priest's name). You're going to have to find some evidence, either at (dungeon) or (culprit's house) to clear your name. Now, I must go. Good luck."
"Hi, (player's first name). I couldn't talk to you at the tavern -- it was too public. I really was a witness at the burglary at (employer's building). In fact, I did it. But the one who paid me to do it and the one who said I should blame a stranger for it was (priest's name), a priest of (temple). Obviously, no one's going to believe you if you just come out and say it. You're going to need evidence. I can tell you that I stashed the (gem) in a place called (dungeon), but just getting the gem back isn't going to convince anyone. Check out (culprit's house) -- (priest's name) spends a lot of time there at night. Maybe you can find something on (him/her) there. Now, I have to go. I'll deny all of this conversation, but right now, I'll wish you good luck."

If the culprit is the thief:
"I guess you got my note. I'm really sorry all this happened, (player's first name), but I really did see someone who looked exactly like you steal the (gem) from (employer's building). The person who did it was a master of disguise -- a master thief named (thief's name). Shortly after the burglary, I was walking past (culprit's house) when I heard a voice which I recognized as the thief's, saying something about a stash in (dungeon). When I saw who was speaking, I recognized the renowned (thief's name). These days (he/she) is a respectable member of the community and it will take evidence to convict (him/her). I can't help you there, but I imagine what you need is in (culprit's residence) and (dungeon). Good luck."
"No, I know you didn't do it, (player's first name). It was a (thief's description) by the name of (thief's name). Most people in (thief's town) know (he/she) used to be a thief, but they all think (he/she)'s retired to a life of public service. I can tell you (he/she) hasn't. You see, (he/she) picks a stranger in town to blame all (his/her) burglaries on so (he/she) remains above reproach. I'd love to see (him/her) caught, but you're going to need some hard evidence. Most nights (he/she) stays at a place called (culprit's residence), so I'd look either there or (his/her) old hideout, (dungeon). Watch yourself, (player's first name), and good luck."''

In each case, you are told of a dungeon where the gem is located and a building in town which will contain exonerating evidence. You must obtain both to complete the quest, though the order does not matter.

The Evidence
thumb|right|To clear your name you need to find something incriminating on the culprit...
thumb|right|...and also find the stolen gem
 
Ask around to locate the culprit's residence. Gain entry to the building where the evidence is located from 02:01 to 23:59. Inside you will find an incriminating letter. Pick it up and a message pops up:

:''This does seem to be some incriminating evidence. Now you must consider to whom you'll give this letter.''

The letter mentions the true culprit's plan, and names one of the other suspects as the culprit's adversary. Ask around town to find their location if you don't already have it. Once you have learned which town and building to go to, travel there and speak to the adversary with the culprit's letter, and (depending on who the culprit is) be told:

''"(Noble's name) was behind that burglary? Well, well, well. Here's what you need to do. I'll talk to (his/her) family -- they'll be eager to diffuse this situation as cleanly as possible. You get the (gem) to (employer's name) in (employer's building), so (he/she)'s happy. What an amateur burglar that (noble's name) is."
"So (thief's name) was behind the burglary that nearly ruined my business, eh? And now (he/she)'s trying to frame you. Well, I'll speak to the authorities and this friend of (his/hers). All I need from you is that (gem). Bring it to (employer's name) in (employer's building) and that'll not only clear you, but improve your reputation with (him/her)."
"Blessed (random god), this is no forgery! The writer is correct. (Merchant's name) has reason to fear me. (Temple) will see to it that (merchant's name) is brought to the proper authorities, but we must see to it that you are not considered to be any kind of accomplice. If you get the (gem) and bring it to (employer's name), we can be assured of (his/her) goodwill, which we need. Hurry to (employer's building) with that (gem), (player's first name).
''"You got this out of (priest's name)'s cell in (culprit's residence)? (Oath), it's priceless! Quickly, now, (player's first name), get that (gem) to (employer's name) and I'll make spread the word around that the true thief of (employer's building) is a priest of (temple)!"

The next step is to travel to the dungeon the witness directed you to and find the gem within. When you have found it, a message appears:

:You have found the (gem) that was stolen from (employer's building).

Head back to the quest giver with all the evidence for your reward.

Reward
When you return the gem to the merchant or innkeeper, you will be told:

:''"So, it wasn't you who stole my (gem) at all. (Oath), I feel ashamed for wrongly accusing you. Here, please accept this (jewelry) as my apology. I'll make certain that the (town) guards know that you're an innocent (player's race)."
:You know in your heart that even if (employer's name) speaks on your behalf, your reputation will never be the same.

If the time limit runs out, however, you will not get a reward and your reputation will remain at -100. You will get a message:

:After all this time, there is nothing you can do easily to salvage your reputation in (town). You would be best to give the place a wide berth for some time.

Reputation Gain/Loss
Your regional reputation for the province you undertake the quest in will be affected by your actions in this quest according to the following table:

 

Enemies
Random Dungeon Monsters
One Warrior as soon as the quest is started
One Knight when you speak with the witness
One Rogue if you talk to any of the quest relevant NPCs without the letter proving your innocence
One Spellsword if you talk to the quest culprit after you have given the letter proving your innocence to his/her adversary

Notes
The quest giver will be absent until you bring the culprit's letter to his or her adversary. If the quest giver provides a service to you, this service will be gone as well.
Many string variables in the quest dialogue are used incorrectly, resulting in false or no locations being given for certain quest-related NPCs.
This quest is affected by an occasional bug which causes certain quest locations to be withheld. See here for further information.
This is one of only three quests which can influence your Regional Reputation. Because regional reputation can never go below -100, this quest can restore your reputation in a certain province to a slightly positive value if it is 0 or below. However, you should not accept this quest if your regional reputation is already above 0, as the reputation gain from completing the quest is significantly lower than the penalty for accepting it.
If you don't return the gem to the quest giver, it will remain in your inventory after the quest is complete, unlike most quest items.
The Unity version of this quest drastically reduces the reputation loss and gain for this quest (-15, +20).
Unity players who can't finish this quest can use the console command "clear_negativelegalrep" to set their regional reputation to zero, avoiding the most grievous consequences.

Bugs
This quest is broken in the original game. The game crashes to DOS as soon as you save after accepting the quest due to an internal error 1000 (Duplicated Map ID).
This is addressed by DFQFIX; the quest location picking is adjusted to resolve this error.
Due an oversight in the quest dialog, the town where the noble stays will not be revealed. If the noble is the adversary of the quest culprit, then the quest cannot be completed.
This issue is resolved by DFQFIX, together with another minor dialog issue regarding the first location of the witness.
The player can ask for the witness' second location (the house) from the start of the quest.
Fixed by DFQFIX; now the player can only ask for this location after talking to the witness at the first location.
Due an oversight in the questfile, the anonymous letters you may get have a 75% chance of containing misleading information. The letters are not checked against who the culprit is, and one of the four letters gets always picked randomly regardless of the quest set-up.
Fixed by DFQFIX; you will always get a letter which contains accurate information on the identity and location of the culprit.
Many of the journal entries for the quest are not used, e.g. when you get the various letters or what they say.
Fixed by DFQFIX; some unused quest variables were repurposed to allow the journal entries to be seen.
If you fail to deliver the evidence to the culprit's adversary before the quest ends, the quest giver will never return. Any service offered by this NPC will also be gone forever. This can be reversed by deleting the .ATF file associated with the quest giver's town, however this would also result in the loss of all map data for that town.
Fixed by DFQFIX; the quest giving NPC will return when this quest ends if he or she has not already done so.
DFQFIX also makes several further adjustments to the questfile:
Beginning with v3.2, the quest code has been tweaked to remove some of the bugs associated with the randomness of the quest.
To avoid missing quest location issues, the locations for all quest related NPCs are explicitly defined. 
The chosen new locations reflect each NPCs profession (merchant->general store, noble->type1 house; a palace doesn't exist in every region, but every region has at least one type1 house, priest->temple, thief->inn).
The building where the witness arranges your meeting is changed to a general store. This and the step above should resolve any remaining issues regarding missing quest locations.
The quest text is adapted to work with these modification and some remaining errors are fixed.
The notice given when the employer leaves the building is sometimes broken. In these cases, when the NPC vanishes the only notification you get is a blank message box.
The quest dialog for the witness points to a wrong location, due this error the inn, the witness is staying, will not be revealed to the player.

The Letters
Letters from Factions
 
 
 
Anonymous Letters
 
 
 
 
Incriminating Letters
 
 
 
 
Quest Dialogue
If you ask an NPC about the quest giver:
"Poor (employer's name) lost (his/her) (gem). A witness saw a (player's race), like you, at (employer's building)."
"(Employer's name) is still trying to track down the (player's race) adventurer who stole that gem."
If you ask an NPC about the witness after they have fled home:
"(Witness' name) is the name of that (witness' description) who saw the theft at (employer's building).
''"(Witness' name) is just a (witness' description). You can find (him/her) over in (witness' residence).
If you ask an NPC about the suspects:
''"(Merchant's name) is a hard-working, basically honest (merchant's town) merchant."
"Not one to overcharge customers, that (merchant's name). At least not too much."
"(Merchant's name), eh? You'll find (him/her) over in (merchant's building) this time of day."
"If you listened to (priest's name), (merchant's name) is a blight on all of (region)."
"Merchant's name) gets along with most everyone, but (he/she) doesn't like (thief's name)."
"(Noble's name) is of the royal house of (region). (Oath), (his/her) family has ruled forever."
"(Noble's name) is a typical member of (his/her) class -- decadent, ruthless, arrogant."
"(Noble's name) spends (his/her) time over in (noble's building) this time of day."
"(Thief's name) isn't too fond of (noble's name), but most everyone else is."
"(Noble's name) has had a longstanding disdain for (temple) and (priest's name) specifically"
"(Priest's name) is a cleric of (temple), of course, and quite a zealous one too."
"(Priest's name) has risen above the scandals that plagued (his/her) early days in (temple)."
"(Priest's name) usually can be found in meditation at (priest's building) right about now."
"Most everyone in (priest's town), except (noble's name), greatly respect (priest's name)."
"The only person (priest's name) obviously dislikes is that (merchant's description), (merchant's name)."
"(Thief's name), well, (he/she)'s a retired jewel thief. Or semi-retired, as I understand."
"(Thief's name) used to be quite a jewel thief in (thief's town) once upon a time."
"Someone told me that (thief's name) lurks about (thief's building) this time everyday."
"(Merchant's name) doesn't believe that (thief's name) has reformed (his/her) life at all."
"(Thief's name) dislikes (noble's name), despite the (noble's description)'s aristocratic blood."

Additional Dialogue
After you have accepted this quest, NPCs may say when asked for any news:
"They always have the best information in (tavern)."
"(Tavern) is the only place I'd go for really choice information."
"When they find that (player's race) thief, there's going to be a real hanging party."'
''"Poor (employer's name), but that (player's race)'s gonna pay twice the price of that (gem)."
If you fail the quest, NPCs may say when asked for any news:
"All evidence definitely points to (player's name) as the (town) thief."
"(Employer's name) is continuing the search for that (player's race), almost obsessively."
If you successfully complete the quest, NPCs may say when asked for any news:
"It turned out that (player's name) was innocent of the (town) robbery."
"That (player's race) mercenary was proven innocent of the (town) robbery."
If you successfully complete the quest, the quest giver may later greet you with:
"I still feel terrible about wrongly accusing you, (player's first name)."
If you failed the quest, the quest giver will greet you with:
"Thief! Thief! Get out or I'll call the guards!"''

Quest Log