Oblivion:Where Spirits Have Lease

It's your chance to buy a large manor, cheap! There's only one little snag... Quest Giver: Velwyn Benirus in Anvil Location(s): Anvil (The Count's Arms, Benirus Manor), Elven Gardens District Reward: The curse on Benirus Manor is lifted, and fixes itself with all upgrades. Fame/Infamy: Fame +1 ID: MS02

Haunted Benirus Manor, Anvil

Quick Walkthrough

1. Purchase Benirus Manor from Velwyn Benirus for 5000 gold.
2. Sleep at the manor just once, triggering an attack by ghosts. Kill them.
3. Read the scrap of paper on the ground floor of the manor, next to the glowing, broken vase.
4. Track down Velwyn and convince him to help you break the manor's curse.
5. Take Velwyn to the manor's Sealed Portal so he can unseal it.
6. Awaken Lorgren Benirus and defeat him to lift the curse.
7. Benirus Manor will fix itself now that the curse has been lifted; it is fully upgraded automatically.

Detailed Walkthrough

Too Good to be True

Anyone in town may tell you the rumor that Velwyn Benirus has a manor for sale right in town. He can be found at The Count's Arms inn between noon and midnight (at other times of day, he will be in his room upstairs). Velwyn will offer his grandfather's house, Benirus Manor, to you for 5000 gold and says you can take a look at it first.

Benirus Manor is located in the east of town, but you need the key to enter, which you will receive only after having bought the house. It is a large, though rather dingy place, but don't worry, as it will be better once you complete the quest. The manor is indeed haunted: sleep in the bed upstairs and you will be rudely awoken by three Benirus Manor Ghosts. As with all ghosts, they are immune to normal weapons, so be prepared with silver, daedric, or enchanted weapons, or magic. Your fists will also damage them provided you have reached at least Journeyman level in the Hand to Hand skill.

A Dark Secret

"The hand and note of Lorgren"

Head downstairs to the main floor to find that a jar has fallen from a cupboard (the jar only falls after you have defeated the ghosts upstairs.) The broken jar has spilled its contents onto the floor: a Skeletal Hand holding a Scrap from Lorgren's Diary. Be sure to take both items, or else you will have to come back for them later. More Benirus Manor Ghosts appear, and you can put them to rest or just escape the manor; there will be new ones after your return.

Where's Velwyn?

Now you have to find Velwyn Benirus once again. Make sure you bring the scrap from the diary with you, to convince him that he's the only one that can open the secret door in the manor. Ask around Anvil and you'll be sent back to The Count's Arms. Speak with the bartender and he'll tell you that Velwyn went to The Imperial City. Go to the Elven Gardens District, and look for him in The King and Queen Tavern. It may take Velwyn some time to arrive at the tavern; your quest marker will point to the tavern even if he is still in transit. Once he arrives, speak with him to learn the sordid details and find out that he feels guilty selling you the place. Make sure you have the piece of Lorgren Benirus' diary with you. His disposition must be raised to at least 60, otherwise he just says "Sorry. But how is this my problem?" He agrees to meet you back at The Count's Arms in Anvil to help you lift the curse.

Who You Gonna Call?

"The Sealed Portal"

Meet Velwyn at the inn (you may have to wait a few hours until he returns), and follow him to the manor's basement, fighting or ignoring the ghosts you meet on the way. At the far end of the basement there's a Sealed Portal, which Velwyn will open. Once open, the remaining ghosts disappear and Velwyn runs from the manor in fear, leaving you alone to face what lies beyond the portal. Behind the wall there's a secret room. In it, you'll find the Tome of Unlife (worth 350 gold). In the open sarcophagus at the south end are a Weak Potion of Healing and a Sack containing a leveled piece of enchanted jewelry (plus four gems and an unenchanted ring). Lorgren's Altar dominates the middle of the room, with Lorgren's Skeleton lying on top of it.

Lorgren's Deception

"Lorgren's altar"

Stand inside the seal next to the altar and touch it to activate it. Lorgren's dead voice will ask you to lift the curse by returning his hand. With the Skeletal Hand in your inventory touch Lorgren's Skeleton. It turns out that you've been deceived and Lorgren Benirus rises from the dead to live again as a lich. At the same time, the portal closes behind you, so you cannot retreat. When he's killed for good, he leaves the unique Staff of Flame. Head back to The Count's Arms, and speak with Velwyn. He thanks you and returns to The Imperial City, ending the quest. If you return to your no longer cursed home, you will discover that it is fully repaired and cleaned. Having lifted the curse you are granted immediate access to all of your home's facilities without having to pay for upgrades, unlike the other homes you may purchase.

Notes

• The manor ghosts don't open doors; you can force them out of the bedroom and shut the door, allowing you to heal and then venture out to strike before retreating behind the bedroom door.
• If the first time you sleep inside the manor coincides with the activation of the quest A Knife in the Dark, Lucien will interrupt your fight with the manor ghosts and leave once the conversation is done without offering his assistance as the ghosts will not attack him.
• Lorgren is a leveled lich. At low levels he is a very challenging opponent, but he actually has much less health and weaker spells than a standard lich. Because he is leveled, his soul can range in strength from lesser to grand. His Staff of Flame is not leveled, however.
• Once the quest is complete, Carahil will congratulate you and thank you for finishing the task that she was unable to complete.
• Sleeping in the bed the first time, when you are awoken by the ghosts, will not level you up.

Bugs

• Sometimes when you take Velwyn to the "Sealed Portal" in the basement, he just keeps waving his hands and never opens the door.
  • The Unofficial Oblivion Patch fixes this bug.
  • Activating the "Sealed Portal" or casting a Charm spell on him may fix this. You can also just wait one hour, after which his behavior should be reset.
  • If this does not work, you can use the SetStage console command setstage MS02 90 to advance the quest and the tcl command to pass through the wall and come out the other side. Once there, you can proceed with the quest as normal and activate the altar. At which, the portal should open and Velwyn should leave.
  • Similar to the portal animation failing at the end of A Brush with Death, this problem can be caused by setting the default 30:1 timescale used by the game to something else. If you have used mods or console commands to change the default timescale, put the following in the command console before Velwyn starts opening the portal:

set timescale to 30

After the animation has completed, you may set the timescale back to your preferred value.

• Sometimes Lorgren's skeletal hand does not appear next to the note.

• setstage MS02 45 may be entered into the command console to advance the quest.
• Reload a previous save.

• Lorgren mistakenly refers to Carahil as being male.
  • The Unofficial Oblivion Patch fixes this bug.
• After defeating Lorgren, the cupboard in the dining room will disappear, including anything stored therein.
  • The Unofficial Oblivion Patch, version 1.6.0, fixes this bug.
• If you go to jail after you started following Velwyn to the manor, he will appear outside of whatever jail you went to, and you will have to follow him even from a distant city.
• The opening and closing animations of the sealed portal suggest that when closed it shouldn't be glowing (when opening it blinks off then slowly glows, when closing it slowly stops glowing then blinks back on) ^?

Journal Entries

Where Spirits Have Lease (MS02)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		I've overheard a rumor that Velwyn Benirus wants to sell a manor here in Anvil, and that he's selling it cheap. I should go find him and see what he has to offer.
20		I've met Velwyn Benirus. He has a manor house for sale here in Anvil. I should question him further to see how much he wants for it.
30		I've purchased the manor from Velwyn. He gave me a key and the deed of ownership. I can now move in there at any time.
35		I've arrived at my new house in Anvil, Benirus Manor. Looks like the place may need some work, but it was a great deal I just couldn't pass up. I can now make myself at home.
40		Benirus Manor is haunted! I was awakened by ghosts that attacked me as I slept. As I awoke, I thought I heard a crash from downstairs. I should search the house and investigate.
45		I've found a skeletal hand next to a page from a diary. The diary makes mention of a secret room in the house that only a true-blooded Benirus can open. I am going to need to talk to Velwyn about this. I may have to ask around town to find out where he's gone.
50		I've discovered that Velwyn has left town and made his way to the Imperial City. If I am to find out why Benirus Manor is haunted, I need to find him there.
60		I've been told that Velwyn stays in the King and Queen Tavern here in the Imperial City. I should go there to find him.
70		I've found Velwyn at The King and Queen Tavern in the Imperial City. I should speak to him further about the manor and the strange goings on within.
75		After questioning Velwyn, I've learned that his grandfather dabbled in necromancy and was killed when the townspeople of Anvil found out. Strangely, the body was never recovered. Since then, the house has been cursed. I need to convince Velwyn to come back with me to Anvil and lift the curse.
80		Velwyn agreed to meet me back in Anvil at The Count's Arms. I should return there as soon as possible.
85		I've met Velwyn at The Count's Arms Tavern. He's agreed to escort me to the house and open the secret room.
87		Velwyn and I have arrived in Benirus Manor. I must proceed cautiously to the secret room's entrance and prevent any harm from befalling us if the curse is to ever be lifted from this place.
88		Velwyn and I have arrived at the secret door.
90		Velwyn successfully opened the door to the secret room, which has stopped the ghosts from attacking. He then ran off, leaving me to clean up the mess. It's up to me, and me alone, to investigate what's beyond the mysterious portal.
100		After touching the altar, I heard the voice of Lorgren Benirus. He said he wished to atone for his past and make peace with the Nines [sic]. All he wished was to be whole again. This must be the way to lift the curse from Benirus Manor. I should touch his skeleton while I carry the bony hand and put an end to this madness.
110		Completing the skeleton was a ruse and Lorgren rose from the dead! I had no choice but to destroy him. With his destruction, the curse of Benirus Manor was lifted. I should return to The Count's Arms and speak to Velwyn.
120	Yes	I have met Velwyn back at The Count's Arms. He congratulated me and then told me he would be off again to live in the Imperial City. Now I can truly call Benirus Manor my home.

Notes

• Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
• Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in random order.
• If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
• It is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage MS02 stage, where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages. See SetStage for more information.