Daggerfall:Hermaeus Mora's Quest

Quick Walkthrough
# Summon Hermaeus Mora on the 5  of First Seed.
# Head to the town named by Hermaeus Mora.
# Enter to the palace and kill the noble.
# Travel to the second town Hermaeus Mora named.
# Meet his worshipper there within the time limit and receive the Oghma Infinium.

Detailed Walkthrough
The Price of Knowledge
thumb|right|The Daedra Prince wants this spellsword dead
thumb|right|The noble will send barbarians after you if you decline to help...
thumb|right|...and you will also be pursued by archers if the noble dies
thumb|right|Hermaeus Mora's worshipper is fittingly found in a library
thumb|right|Hermaeus Mora's Worshipper
thumb|right|The Oghma Infinium
Upon a successful summoning, Hermaeus Mora appears and speaks to you:

:"Power, yes, is an allusive but eloquent prosecution. One of my minions possesses an ancient tome called the Oghma Infinum, which bequeaths great power on those who read its pages. If you exterminate a certain scrofulous patrician who has aroused my displeasure, I will arrange a meeting between you and the book. Is this agreeable?"

Accept
Hermaeus Mora goes on:

:''"Very well. This socialite I referred to resides at the palace of (town). For the record, the name of your quarry is (noble's name). Kill (him/her) and proceed to (contact's town), where my servant (contact's name) will wait for you in a library. I do not think there is anything to be gained by continuing this interview. Fail me not in this, (player's first name), and the power thou craves will be thine."

Decline
Hermaeus Mora responds with disappointment:

:"You answer negatively. Am I to understand that you sought power, but seek it for free? You ought to have sought wisdom instead, for that is what you need. I bid you a very disappointed goodbye."

Cornering the Noble
Travel to the city named by the Daedra Prince and enter the palace. Find and attack the noble, who appears as a spellsword. When hit for the first time, your opponent says:

:"No! Wait! I swear, I meant to pay Lord Mora back. Don't kill me, I beg of you! Here, spare my life and take this (magic item) back to him as a token of my goodwill and a down payment on what I owe. Please, will you?"''

You have three options:
Decline the offer and kill the noble.
Accept the offer and don't kill the noble.
Accept the offer, but kill the noble anyway.

If you kill the noble, a message appears:
:''Hermaeus Mora will be pleased-- you have slain (noble's name).''

In this case, simply report to the contact for your reward. However, if you accepted the offer, you will receive a magic item to deliver to the contact.
Bring the magic item to Mora's worshipper, who will take it but give you no reward in return.

Alternatively, you can accept the magical item but kill the noble anyway. Travel to Hermaeus Mora's worshipper, who will take the item from you and give you your reward as promised.

Reward
Regardless of your choice, head to your contact's town. Ask around and eventually you will be given their location, a local library. Enter the library and speak to Mora's worshipper to complete the quest.

If you accepted the noble's magic item, the worshipper will begin by saying:

:''"Hmm, well, thanks for the (magic item), I guess... Now, let's get down to business."''

If you spared the noble's life, the quest ends with no reward, only these words:

:''"You're telling me you let that little worm live, and you bring me this pathetic (magic item) instead of (noble's name)'s blood on your hands? Hermaeus Mora will be very unhappy with this news."

If you killed the noble, your contact will be pleased and say:

:"(Player's first name), I underestimated you. I told Mora you couldn't do it, but here you are, and all (region) is in an uproar over (noble's name) death. As promised, the book. Remember: you can only read it once. See you later, maybe."''

The Oghma Infinium will be found in your inventory.

Reputation Gain/Loss
 

Enemies
Quest Target: One Spellsword NPC
5x One Barbarian every two in-game minutes (35% chance) if you decline the noble's offer
5x One Ranger every three in-game minutes (50% chance) once the noble is dead
 

Notes
Although Hermaeus Mora does not give you a time limit, there is still one. You can check it in your journal.
This is one of two Daedric Quests that doesn't involve dungeon crawling. However, there will be some enemies guarding the quest target.
Despite the situation, the noble is not considered an innocent citizen. You won't get into legal trouble for killing him/her.  
Hermaeus Mora's worshipper is a member of the Mages Guild and therefore will very likely wait at a library in the current region. If the current region doesn't have a single library (like some of the smaller regions of the Iliac Bay) then the worshipper will be missing from the quest. Thus, you will be unable to receive your reward.

Bugs
The conversation options for Hermaeus Mora and the Oghma Infinium may display as a random NPC name and book title, respectively. However, this does not otherwise negatively affect conversation about these topics.
The spellsword's dialogue may appear twice, with the choice prompt absent the first time.
According to the questfile, the noble is supposed to disappear once he gives you the magical item. But since this doesn't work as originally planned, you have the option of both getting the item and killing the noble.
DFQFIX changes this so the noble vanishes immediately upon being spared.

Additional Dialogue
If you ask an NPC about Hermaeus Mora, you may be told:
"The Daedra Prince of Forbidden Knowledge, the wisest of the infernal ones."
"Hermaeus Mora has a mind as old as Tamriel. And a body of slime."
If you ask an NPC about your Mora-worshipping contact, they may say:
''"Just a (contact's description) who deals with the daedra."
"Some (contact's description) who practically lives at (library)."
If you ask an NPC about the Oghma Infinium, you may hear:
"The Oghma Infinium is the book of knowledge. But knowledge can be forgotten."
"It is the book that gifts its reader with stronger bodies and abler minds."
After you have accepted this quest, NPCs may say when asked for any news:
"They say (noble's name) got all (his/her) power direct from the daedras themselves."
"(Noble's name) must have made a deal with the daedra. No one can be that lucky."
If you fail the quest, NPCs may say when asked for any news:
"(Noble's name) left (region) quick as you like. I guess (he/she)'s past caught up with (him/her)."
"You can cheat the daedra. (Noble's name) did. Had to run away, but (he/she)'s still alive."
If you successfully complete the quest, NPCs may say when asked for any news:
"What goes around, comes around. (Noble's name) tried to cheat fate, so they say."
"I can still hear (Noble's name) bragging about cheating the daedra. What a fool."''

Quest Log