Daggerfall:A Hot Stone

Quick Walkthrough
# Talk to the quest giver at a Thieves Guild hall.
# Go to the town where the guild member is stuck.
# Meet the thief in a tavern there.
# Take the stolen gem and give your contact the metal.
# Return to the quest giver with the stolen gem within the time limit for your reward.

Detailed Walkthrough
Family Business
Speak to a quest giver, who says:

:''"Listen, (player's first name), we got one of our family who's in trouble. You got a couple days to help out one of the family?"

Accept
The quest giver goes on:

:"Good (player's race). One of our best catburglars in (town) is holed up in a rat-trap called (tavern). On (his/her) person is a hot stone (he/she) lifted from the palace. Now the word is that someone saw it on (him/her), and the guards are casing the place. Out of respect for the owner of (tavern), they're waiting (time limit) days before moving in. Get over to (tavern) and give (contact's name) this hunk of (metal) in exchange for the (gem), and then you bring it back here. You understand? Good. Now, hurry, there ain't time."

Decline
The quest giver answers:

:"Alright then. Guess you're countin' on not bein' in a fix yourself some day."

Switching the Stone
thumb|right|The unlucky thief is trapped with the stolen goods
thumb|right|The guards may be onto your scheme
 
Travel to the town where the guild member is holed up. Find the tavern, enter it, and meet with your guild associate, who greets you by saying:

:"(Oath), (player's first name), you're a life saver. Turns out someone saw me with a (gem) and they figure it's the stolen gem. This hunk of (metal) will be my ticket out of here. Remind me to buy you a drink sometime. Now hurry back to (quest giver's name). They're gonna be real suspicious if you're not back in (time limit) days."

Exchange the stolen gem with the metal and return to the Guildhall. On your way back you may encounter some guards trying to get the gem from you. When you hit one for the first time, you will hear:

:"I have it on good authority that you have the (gem) that (contact's name) stole. Hand it over and I'll let you go unharmed."

If you give it to them, naturally you will blow the quest and you will lose a lot of reputation with the Guild.

Reward
When you return with the gem, the quest giver will be pleased and say:

:"Good job, (player's first name). I hear that (contact's name) showed the guards the piece of (metal) they thought was a (gem), and they bought (him/her) a drink as an apology. I tell you, ain't no life like the life of a scoundrel. Here's your share of the (gem) -- (random gold) gold. You earned it, (player's first name)."''

Reputation Gain/Loss
 

Additional Reputation
If you don't bring the gem back to the quest giver in time, you will lose reputation according to the table below.



(Allies/Enemies affiliations for listed factions are not considered in the tables)

If you give the gem to the guard, you will lose reputation according to the table below.



(Allies/Enemies affiliations for listed factions are not considered in the tables)

Enemies
3x One Knight every one hundred seventy-three in-game minutes (5% chance) after picking up the gem

Notes
This quest is identical to A Stolen Gem, the only difference being the required amount of reputation.
Contrary to what your contact says, your time limit will not be extended once you retrieve the gem. You must complete the entire quest in the original time limit you are given.
If you keep the metal or the gem, it will remain in your inventory and won't vanish once the quest is over, as is usually the case for quest items.

Additional Dialogue
After you have accepted this quest, NPCs may say when asked for any news:
''"Well, everyone knows that (contact's name) stole that jewel. Why don't they get (him/her)?"
"There's a lot of poshes at (tavern). Guards aren't wanted in there."
If you fail the quest, NPCs may say when asked for any news:
"The guards finally got (contact's name). Guess (he/she) couldn't hold 'em out forever."
"Yeah, they found the (ruler's title)'s (gem) and arrested that (contact's description) alright."
If you successfully complete the quest, NPCs may say when asked for any news:
"They had to let (contact's name) go after all. Turns out (he/she) was innocent."
"Now how do you mistake (metal) for a (gem)? They're both rocks, but come on!"
If you successfully complete the quest, the quest giver may later greet you with:
"What is it, (player's first name)? Want that (gem) back? I bet you do!"
If you failed the quest, the quest giver will greet you with:
"Don't you remember that you were s'posed to get that (gem) from (contact's name), and give (him/her) the (metal) I gave you? (Oath)! You'd think it was hard science."''

Quest Log