Daggerfall:Two Cowards

Fight a duel as a substitute for a coward. Location(s): Any Merchant or Innkeeper Reward: Random Gold Reputation Gain: see Reputation Gain/Loss ID: k0c00y04 Required Reputation: Any Difficulty: Easy

The arena awaits its two challengers

Quick Walkthrough

1. Talk to a Merchant or an Innkeeper.
2. Find your employer's competitor in town.
3. Challenge the competitor to a duel.
4. Head to the specified residence.
5. Enter the house and kill the enemy.
6. (Optional) Skip speaking to the competitor and speak to the lover for a reward.
7. Head back to your employer within the time limit and collect your reward.

Detailed Walkthrough

A Matter of Honor

Speak to a merchant or innkeeper, who says:

"I'm in an embarassing [sic] predicament, I fear. (Lover's name) and I have had ... an understanding, but (his/her) lover is being distressingly old-fashioned about it. I have been challenged to a duel. Luckily, (competitor's name), that's my rival's name, doesn't know what I look like. You could stand in for me. For (random gold) gold pieces, would you? I'd be very grateful."

or

"This (competitor's description) here in (town) has sent me a challenge. I guess the word has gone around that I have ruined the honor of (his/her) lover, (lover's name). Not that most of (region) hasn't been with old (lover's name) first. Basically, I need someone like you to impersonate me in the duel. Would (random gold) gold pieces interest you in this?"

Accept

The merchant or innkeeper goes on:

"Good show, (player's first name). Bring this reply to (competitor's name). You'll find (him/her) over in (building). I'll expect you back in (time limit) days, victorious, for your just reward. Good luck, my friend."

Decline

The merchant or innkeeper answers:

"No? That is too bad. Well, I probably should get someone who looks more like me anyhow."

Pusillanimous Paramours

The competitor is preparing for the duel by hiding in a tavern and drinking

The spellsword will fight you to the death

The object of gutless affections

This is an easy and straightforward quest, which can be done in either of two ways:

If you wish to defend your craven employer's honor, head to the building where the competitor is staying. Your employer gave you a letter when you accepted the quest; you must have this letter in your inventory when you speak to the competitor in order to issue the challenge. It reads:

"I, (employer's name) of (town),

do hereby answer your challenge.

As is my right by the formal rules

of combat, I will call the place

where we shall meet. That place is

here and the time is now.

This contract is legally binding.

To refuse to meet its challenge

without formal apology is to

sacrifice honor evermore.

(Employer's name) of (town)

The competitor proves to be just as spineless as your employer and delays starting the duel, saying:

"You're, uh, (employer's name)? You must be looking for the other person named (competitor's name), a real tough, uh, (Spellsword). You'll find (him/her) in (residence). Good luck, (employer's name). I hope you win!"

or

"If you're (employer's name) ... (Oath), I'll meet you over in (residence). Let me just, ah, get into my (Spellsword) clothes. Bye!"

The competitor will then run off somewhere. Find the residence by asking around. The building may be locked, so be prepared with an Open spell if you don't want to pick the lock yourself. When you gain access to the house, a message appears:

You're in (residence), where (competitor's name) said (he/she) would meet you.

Search the house for your opponent and you will encounter a spellsword. In case you didn't pick up on the clues, your opponent is an impersonator, just like you. Fight the duel; when you kill the enemy, a message appears that spells it all out for you:

In the guise of (employer's name), you have slain a (Spellsword) in the guise of (competitor's name). You have merely to return to your employer and honor is restored.

As it says, return to your employer to restore honor and collect your reward

Alternatively, instead of seeking out the competitor you can go straight to the lover and avoid all the nonsense. Ask around town and you will eventually learn where to find the object of the rivals' affections. Head there and speak to the lover, who will react in one of three ways:

• "This is preposterous! On one hand, (competitor's name) is a perfect boor to challenge (employer's name) to a duel. On the other, what a perfect coward (employer's name) is for sending you in (his/her) place. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Neither shall have me, but you may have (lover's gold) gold pieces since that fool promised to pay you."
• "This is too romantic! Just imagine -- (competitor's name) and (employer's name) tearing each other to pieces over little me. (Oath), as thoughtful a gesture as that is, I cannot let it be. I will leave (town) forever, but first, please accept (lover's gold) gold pieces to replace that which (employer's name) offered you. I can't let you be poor just because no duel will occur. Fare thee well, (player's first name)."
• "Let me get this straight. That idiotic (competitor's name) is jealous of me and (employer's name) and has challenged (him/her) to a duel. And that infernal coward (employer's name) has sent you to pretend to be (him/her) in this duel? Is it any wonder that I don't love either of them? I'll take care of this. Here's (lover's gold) gold pieces instead of what (employer's name) offered you. There will be no duel.

If you tell the lover what is going on, the quest will count as a failure; you will lose two reputation with your employer's faction. However, the gold reward will be a bit larger than what your employer offers, and you won't need to duel anyone to collect it.

Reward

After returning to your employer after a successful duel, he/she will say:

"Honor is restored, eh, my fine (player's race)? Here's your (random gold) gold pieces. And now, I should go visit dear (lover's name) and tell (him/her) of the ordeal ... with certain alterations of the facts, of course."

Reputation Gain/Loss

A successfully completed quest results in a reputation gain according to the table below.

Faction/Person	Reputation Gain
Questgiver's faction	+5
Questgiver's associated factions	+2

A failed quest (time limit expired) results in a reputation loss according to the table below.

Faction/Person	Reputation Gain
Questgiver's faction	-2
Questgiver's associated factions	-1

Enemies

• Quest Target: One Spellsword

Notes

• The NPC that gets designated as the competitor may disappear forever if spoken to during the quest. That means he or she can no longer be found in the building of this town. If this was an NPC who provided a service to the player, this service is also gone forever.
  • You can revert this, however, by deleting from your savegame directory the ATF file that is allocated to this specific town. The downside is that you will also lose all map information for this town.
  • Sometimes, the NPC will still remain (reverted to their non-quest pixel flat), but will refuse to speak to you.
  • While not necessarily a bug, installing DFQFIX will prevent the NPC from vanishing, and allow you to interact with them normally after the quest has ended.

Additional Dialogue

After you have accepted this quest, NPCs may say when asked for any news:

• "(Lover's name), they say, has caused more deaths than any plague."
• "(Lover's name)'s last lover died in (him/her [sic]) arms, trying to satisfy (his/her) ... appetite."
• "If (lover's name) finds out they're finding a duel over (him/her) ... (Oath), that'll be it."

If you fail the quest, NPCs may say when asked for any news:

• "(Lover's name) has left (competitor's name) and (employer's name) too."
• "It's all over between (lover's name), (competitor's name), and (employer's name)."

If you successfully complete the quest, NPCs may say when asked for any news:

• "(Lover's name) and (employer's name) are together again. It's so romantic."
• "(Employer's name) killed a (competitor's description), all for the love of (lover's name)."

If you successfully complete the quest, the quest giver may later greet you with:

• "I'd be honored to help you, (player's first name). And we all know about honor, don't we?"

If you failed the quest, the quest giver will greet you with:

• "You were supposed to impersonate me, idiot! Or don't you remember?"

Quest Log

Two Cowards (k0c00y04)
Stage/ Index	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
0		(Date): (Employer's name) of (employer's building), (town) has been challenged to a duel and has sent me to impersonate (him/her). I am to bring (his/her) reply to (competitor's name)'s challenge and fight the duel. I can find this (competitor's name) in (building) here in (town). After the duel, I am to return and collect my reward from (employer's name) in (employer's building). All for the love of (lover's name).
1		(Date): (Competitor's name) ran off when I gave (him/her) the reply to (his/her) challenge. The duel is still to take place, in one form or the other, at (residence) here in (duel town).