Oblivion:A Stranger

A Stranger (RefID: 0000C230)
Home City	Anvil
House	Abandoned House
Race	Imperial	Gender	Male
Level	40	Class	Gray Fox
RefID	0000C230	BaseID	0000A2A5
Other Information
Health	235	Magicka	157
Responsibility	50	Aggression	5
Essential	Until The Ultimate Heist
Faction(s)	Anvil Citizen; Thieves Guild Cat Burglar(Cat Burglar )

A Stranger in the Abandoned House in Anvil

The Stranger is a rather suspicious Imperial and a member of the Thieves Guild, currently living in the shady abandoned house in Anvil. As you may guess from his personality, he's a rather mysterious person that prefers to keep to himself. He will casually dismiss any question about him or the guild and, contrary to his fellow thieves, he doesn't seem very impressed by the Gray Fox.

Like other members of the Thieves Guild, he prefers to live in seclusion and will spend most of each day inside the abandoned building in Anvil. Due to his lack of a bed, he will spend all night wandering aimlessly around the house until early in the morning at 6am, when he will break off this routine to have a short breakfast. During the weekdays he will keep his meal to one hour and depart for Castle Anvil at 7am. Once he has arrived there, he will look for an available seat in the throne room, where he will spend the next five hours. At midday, he will return to the abandoned house to resume his usual routine, taking another break from 6pm to 8pm for dinner. On Loredas and Sundas he will skip his trip to Castle Anvil and will instead spend the whole day in seclusion wandering around the house, only stopping at 6am and 6pm for his meals.

The Stranger wears a set of lower-class clothing which consists of a patched vest, sack cloth pants and sack cloth sandals. He is armed with a leveled shortsword (unenchanted) and also carries around a small amount of gold.

Related Quests

• Taking Care of Lex: Get Hieronymus Lex reassigned.
• The Ultimate Heist: Steal an Elder Scroll for the Gray Fox, and for glory!

Dialogue

If you happen to run into him while you still haven't joined the Thieves Guild, you can ask him about the infamous Gray Fox, to which he'll respond:

Gray Fox

"He's a most mysterious fellow. In many ways I admire him. Most of the time I just feel sorry for him."

Once you have joined the guild, you be able to ask him about himself, though he'll give little away:

Who are you?

"I am The Stranger. That is all you need to know. That, and I am no-one to be trifled with."

Quest Related Events

Taking Care of Lex

During your quest to get rid of Hieronymus Lex, you will be directed to him by beggars. If the beggar's disposition toward you is at least 70, they will point you directly to The Stranger, saying:

"Well, only because I like you. Look for a man known only as the Stranger. He lives here in Anvil, down the road from the Chapel of Dibella."

Otherwise, you will have to pay the beggar 15 gold to learn how to locate the mysterious man:

"That will do. Look for a man known only as the Stranger. He lives here in Anvil, near the Mages Guild. He's out and about in the morning, so I would wait until afternoon or evening to go visit him."

Once you locate him, he won't prove very happy to see you:

"What do you want?"

"Do I know you?"

"You're bothering me."

You will then have the opportunity to choose from a handful of topics:

About the Thieves Guild.

"I don't have time to gossip about the guild right now."

Gray Fox

"Everyone wants to know about the Gray Fox. Gray Fox this, Gray Fox that. He's just a man, not a Daedric lord. I've heard it all. They say he's immortal because he's led the Thieves Guild for over 300 years. No-one has ever seen his face because he always wears that gray cowl. Oh, and speaking of the Gray Cowl, did you know he stole it from Nocturnal herself? You'd think he was Saint Nerevar the way they talk about him."

As long as you are at his hideout, you can also ask him about his work:

Forge this letter.

"Hmm. Yes, it can be done. I can change it to give Lex the highest recommendation. I'll need a full day to properly forge this letter. Return then. And of course I will expect payment in full at that time."

He will take his leave simply with:

"Hmmph."

You will then have to wait for a full day before you are able to receive the forged letter from him. If you return before then, he will say:

"Don't interrupt me."

Forged letter

"Why are you bothering me? It isn't done yet. Now get out of here and let me finish."

Once twenty four hours have passed, he will hand over the forged letter, provided you have 500 gold:

Forged letter.

"Do you have my fee?"

I'm short on coin right now.

"Then what are you doing here? Come back when you have the money."

Here is your fee.

"Here is the new List of Candidates. Hieronymus Lex has a glowing recommendation."

Once you've completed the quest, if you ask him about the Gray Fox he will comment:

Gray Fox.

"The Gray Fox and I are closer than brothers. We share a desire to remain unknown."

He will disappear from the game as soon as you start Turning a Blind Eye.

The Ultimate Heist

During the final stage of The Ultimate Heist, The Stranger will be found sitting on a bench in the Castle Anvil Great Hall. If you talk to him, he will give the Gray Fox's typical in-quest reply:

"You should be on your way by now!"

He will be carrying the Gray Fox's standard equipment (but wearing the rings), giving the player a chance to pickpocket his rare-ish boots and cuirass.

After you speak to Millona, he will reveal himself as both the legendary Gray Fox and Corvus Umbranox, the missing Count of Anvil.

Notes

• When sitting in Castle Anvil for the final time at the end of The Ultimate Heist, the Stranger will actually be the NPC The Gray Fox (with his proper RefID of 00014702), but with the name "The Stranger" (as opposed to the usual "A Stranger").
• The Stranger also had a unique line to discuss Hieronymus Lex after the quest but it will always be overridden by the generic faction line, so you never hear it:

Hieronymus Lex

"A neat bit of work we did to reassign him to Anvil. One of my better forgeries."