The Elder Scrolls IV : Knights of the Nine The Elder Scrolls IV : Knights of the Nine is the first official expansion for the fourth installment in " The Elder Scrolls " series , . Announced on October 17 , 2006 for release on November 21 , 2006 , the expansion was developed , published , and released in North America by Bethesda Softworks . In Europe , the game was co - published with Ubisoft . The expansion , along with , was later included in the , as well as the of Oblivion . The Windows version is available either as a download from the company website or as part of the retail - released Oblivion Downloadable Content Collection CD — a release that also includes all official downloadable content available for " Oblivion " . The Xbox 360 version is available via Xbox Live Marketplace , and the PlayStation 3 version of " Oblivion " includes Knights of the Nine in its packaged release . Knights of the Nine centers around a faction of the same name , devoted to locating and preserving a set of " Crusader ' s Relics . " Once found , these relics must be used to defeat the sorcerer - king Umaril , who seeks revenge on the Nine Divines . Knights of the Nine was generally well received in the gaming press . Although it made little change to the basic mechanics of Oblivion , it was praised by some reviewers as a brief and polished addition to the game ' s main plot . Gameplay . " Knights of the Nine " changes little of " Oblivion ' s " gameplay ; it includes a new quest line , enemies , items and explorable regions , but nothing of the game ' s engine , interface or basic design . " Knights of the Nine " is an example of open - ended or sandbox - style gameplay ; the main quest may be delayed or completely ignored as the player explores the game world , follows side quests , interacts with NPCs , and develops a character according to his or her own taste . Furthering the goal of open - ended gameplay , " Knights of the Nine " , unlike Bethesda ' s prior content packs for " Oblivion " , begins with no explicit prodding towards the newly introduced content ; players must seek out and find the game ' s quest without external aid . Plot . Knights of the Nine ' s central quest begins as the player approaches the Chapel of Dibella . The Chapel is the site of a recent attack ; its priests and priestesses have been cut down , and its altar desecrated . The player proceeds to consult a local prophet for guidance . The prophet reveals that the man responsible for the attacks is Umaril , an ancient revenge - seeking sorcerer - king . Umaril , the prophet states , may only be defeated by a divinely - favored Crusader bearing the relics of the man who had first killed him , Pelinal Whitestrake . Although he had killed Umaril ' s body , Pelinal had not finished the job : he did not destroy Umaril ' s spirit . The player pledges to the prophet that he will quest for the relics and destroy Umaril completely , accomplishing what Pelinal had failed to do . The player commences on a journey to retrieve the relics ; taking the helmet , cuirass , boots , mace , shield , gauntlets , greaves , and sword of the Crusaders in succession . Along the way , additional characters join the player ' s quest . Together , they recreate the titular Knights of the Nine , a faction once pledged to defend the relics but whose former members are all long dead . With the relics united and the order reborn , the player sets off to fight Umaril in his temple at Garlas Malatar . The Knights fight and defeat Umaril ' s minions , and the player slays the mortal body of Umaril . The player then follows Umaril into the spirit realm , and destroys Umaril ' s soul . Returning to the land of the living , the player is greeted with the grateful cheers of the Knights , praising the gods for their grace . Production , Release , and Availability . Prior to any announcement regarding Knights of the Nine , Bethesda had pursued a somewhat novel plan to distribute downloadable content through micro - payments , priced from US $ 0 . 99 to US $ 2 . 99 , instead of the more common practice of releasing expansion packs . The program was initially met with criticism by customers due to its alleged low value , but later releases — at a reduced price , and with more content — proved more popular . The releases , in addition to stirring controversy , raised questions regarding Bethesda ' s future content release plans , and as to whether expansion pack releases were necessary at all . In August 2006 , one Bethesda employee wrote in a post to Bethesda ' s Elder Scrolls forums that the company had " no plans to make an expansion for Oblivion " . Further questions were raised by a product listing found on game retailer GameStop ' s website September 11 , 2006 , listing a Knights of the White Stallion Expansion Pack for Oblivion . The game had a listed shipping date of November 21 , 2006 and a US $ 19 . 99 asking price . The title was kept on the website only briefly — removed after gaming news site GameSpot sent Bethesda a request for comment on the product . Knights of the Nine began its life as a supposedly " exclusive " quest for the PlayStation 3 release of " The Elder Scrolls IV : Oblivion " . Along with the confirmation of the PlayStation 3 release on October 9 , 2006 , some gaming news websites reported that the release would contain " a huge , exclusive quest " focusing on " a new faction , The Knights of the Nine " . Some reports prefixed " allegedly " onto statements that the release would be exclusive . Suggestions of exclusivity , in any case , did not last long : an October 17 , 2006 Bethesda press release announced that Knights of the Nine content was also scheduled for PC and Xbox 360 releases , eliciting commentary from Joystiq remarking on " how finicky " the word ' exclusive ' had come to be , and Kotaku remarking on how " Oblivion PS3 content didn ' t stay exclusive for long . . . or at all " . Other sites saw no incongruence in the announcement : GameSpot assumed that Knights of the Nine was simply the earlier " Knights of the White Stallion " by a different name , and 1UP . com had anticipated the move ever since an IGN interview with Oblivion ' s Executive Producer Todd Howard , where Howard had described Bethesda ' s general aim " to have all our content available across all platforms " ; the final announcement served only to confirm their suspicions . The October 17 press release set November 21 , 2006 as the North American distribution date for the Xbox 360 and PC versions of Knights . The European release for the Xbox 360 and PC was set two days later , on November 23 . The European release was co - published by Bethesda and Ubisoft . On November 9 , 2006 , Bethesda clarified earlier statements regarding PC releases , declaring that , although the boxed retail PC edition of Knights of the Nine was set for release on November 21 , the PC release downloadable from the company website wouldn ' t be available until December 4 . This caused some consumer complaints , for although the Xbox 360 release was available on the Xbox Live Marketplace for 800 Microsoft Points ( the equivalent of US $ 10 . 00 , or GB£6 . 80 ) , for the time being , PC owners had only the US $ 19 . 99 boxed retail edition of the game . The increased price of the PC ' s boxed retail release resulted from its inclusion of Oblivion ' s other downloadable content : Horse Armor , The Orrery , Wizard ’ s Tower , Vile Lair , Thieves Den , Mehrunes ’ Razor , and Spell Tomes . Such content was not included in either the downloadable PC release , the Xbox Marketplace download , or the PlayStation 3 edition of Oblivion . The downloadable release was ultimately issued on December 6 at the price of US $ 9 . 99 . According to IGN Entertainment ' s GamerMetrics , a service based on compiled visitor activity information on IGN ' s website , the pack was the fourth most anticipated release of its release week , following Tom Clancy ' s Rainbow Six : Vegas , Superman Returns and College Hoops 2K7 . Reception . " Knights of the Nine " was generally well received in the gaming press . Metacritic , an aggregate review site , scored the PC version of the game with an 81 out of 100 , and the Xbox 360 version of the game with an 86 out of 100 . GameSpot recommended the game for its value ; although it made few improvements over the basic Oblivion experience , Knights of the Nine provides " a good day or two ' s worth of questing for a low price " . Similar comments followed from GamePro , who found that the " polish " and " affordable price " of the pack excused the fact that the pack ' s content " doesn ' t really change [ Oblivion ' s ] gameplay " . Eurogamer praised the game for its memorable plot and new , unique content . They concluded that if " more of the same is what you ' re after , you can ' t really argue with what Bethesda ' s served up for its hardcore fans . " The review encouraged caution nonetheless ; for if consumers were to fully accept individually priced content releases , Bethesda might just begin charging for all its quests .