The Exiled Duke's Affair

Quick Walkthrough
#Rumors about   make mention of the Duke of Deshaan's love for a prisoner.
#Ask the Duke in Ebon Tower's High Chambers about the 'Duke's affair'.
#Speak to   in the Legion Dungeons.
#*Offer to help her or decide not to interfere - she cannot be persuaded to love the Duke.
#Bring Beru the Drain Personality poison.
#Return in a day to see if she has been successful.
#Spread rumors around the city about Beru, and return to her.
#*(Optional) Inform the Duke of Beru's plan.
#Give Beru a Scroll of Almsivi Intervention or beat her unconscious.
#*If beating unconscious, wait a day.
#Report to Raleth (if you did not inform the Duke), or the Duke (if you did), for a reward.


Detailed Walkthrough
Asking about latest rumors, particularly around the Ebon Tower, will reveal talk of the Duke of Deshaan having an affair. You can challenge him on this, and if he has a high disposition (75+) he will open up, and ask you to get involved. The Duke himself can be found in the high chambers of Ebon Tower's Palace.

If you offer to help, he will give you papers enabling entry to the prison. Here you can speak to the object of his affections, Beru Veseri, She is held in the castle dungeons, in the first cell on the right after entering. Regardless of her disposition towards you, she will flatly refuse to accept the Duke's advances. You can either drop the matter here, or offer to help her with her predicament. Offers of scrolls of Divine or Almsivi Intervention will be turned down (although she will bring up Almsivi later if you mention it). Instead, she requests you help by bringing her a Drain Personality potion. The Duke himself will not be overly upset at your failure to persuade her - he was not expecting a positive outcome.

Bring Beru the Drain Personality potion to proceed. Speak to any alchemist (e.g. Narusya at Narusya's Fine Potions in Old Ebonheart) to get this, although you will need a high disposition of 80+. It will cost 300 gold, unless you have Mercantile over 40, in which case you can successfully bargain the price down to 175. Once Beru has the poison, she will ask you to return in a day or speak to   if she is not in her cell.

Unfortunately, she is - the potion plan having failed*. She'll ask you to spread rumors about her instead. You can only do this successfully if the people you are spreading rumors to have 75+ disposition towards you, or if your Speechcraft exceeds 30. Certain individuals (like Raleth) will simply disbelieve you. You'll also need to talk to a variety of people - a poor, a common and a rich person in Old Ebonheart itself, along with one individual in the Ebon Tower (excluding the dungeons themselves). Return to Beru once you have got four individuals to believe you.

(*You can report back to the Duke at this point that she is trying to run away, but he will refuse to believe it.)

If you offered Beru a Scroll of Almsivi Intervention on your first meeting, she will ask about it here. Giving it to her will allow her to teleport out and complete the quest, but not before rewarding you with Beru's Amulet. Given that this reward heftily fortifies personality and was worn by Beru, it probably goes some way to explain why the Duke had become so infatuated.

Without Almsivi Intervention, Beru's last and final request is that you beat her unconscious (in gameplay terms, drain her fatigue to 0). You can report on this plan to the Duke before completing it, and he will promise to reward you if what you say turns out to be true - this will net 1000 gold if you return to him after Beru makes her escape attempt - it will also make her escape fail utterly. Otherwise, he will be somewhat irritated, and summon you to account for yourself.

A few punches is all it takes to knock out Beru. Once down, wait a day, and report in to Raleth, a Dunmer walking the streets outside of the Empress Katariah, or the Duke if you warned him of Beru's plan.

Needless to say, if you take the Duke's money, Beru is not best pleased - and will be stuck in her gilded cage for an unknown time to come.

Quest Stages