Better Cities:The Baron von Zarov Files: The Plot Thickens

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Investigate Lord Baldor Varian himself following the disappearance of the body of his recently deceased wife Quest Giver: Automatic after certain dialogue choices with Lord Baldor Varian and Elizabetha Salene in Skingrad or after finding the hidden door in Baldor's house Location(s): Fort Carmala, Grayrock Cave Prerequisite Quest: The Baron von Zarov Files: The Case of the Missing Body Concurrent Quest: The Baron von Zarov Files: Trail of Blood Reward: If Baldor lives, 1000 gold; if he dies 1500 gold Fame/Infamy: If Baldor lives, Fame +2; if he dies, Fame +1 ID: BANSkingradThePlotThickensQuest

Quick Walkthrough

1. After talking to Lord Varian for the first time during The Baron von Zarov Files: The Case of the Missing Body you will receive a quest update saying he is evasive and definitely hiding something, so you should investigate his house while he is sleeping.
2. Return to his house after Elisabetha leaves for the night and Baldor himself goes to bed (after 11pm). Activate the tapestry on the left wall behind the dinner table.
3. You will end up in a... pantry of a sorts. Examine everything, be sure to take some Suspicious Meat and linger until you receive a message that you've triggered an alarm. Choose to run.
4. Ask around the Mages Guild to find out who can analyze the strange meat.
5. Give the meat to Falanu Hlaalu in All Things Alchemical and return the next day after 7pm to talk about her findings. Turns out your suspicions were very much correct...
6. You can talk to Elisabetha about her employer, or try to report him to the guards, but this isn't going to do you much good at this stage. Time to follow the other lead and visit Fort Carmala (or proceed to The Baron von Zarov Files: The Case of the Missing Body further to get that lead first).
7. Find Lucy inside Fort Carmala and question her. She will again confirm that her husband is not what he seems and point you to Grayrock Cave where you can find further clues.
8. Explore Grayrock Cave until you find an open area and a table with some strange-looking potion bottles and a large book. Try to read the book.
9. Once again, go ask around the Mages Guild to find out who can help you to translate from an unknown language.
10. Pay a visit to Boderi Farano in the Arcane University. She will ask you to return in a week. You should receive an automatic update when the week passes.
11. Good news - Boderi Farano can give you enough proof to arrest Lord Varian properly. Go to Skingrad and talk to any guard, who will direct you to Captain Dion, who in turn will direct you to the Count's steward.
12. Wait until the next morning, and you'll receive a message that the guards should be arresting Lord Varian any time now. Go to his house and see Albeci Calleius and some random guards approaching. Wait again until they ask you to lend them a hand. Go inside and deal with "Baldor", who is a spellcasting ogre now.
13. Go to the Steward Hal-Liurz for your rewards. While you are there, try to tell her about Baron von Zarov as well. She is unconvinced and demands proof, but allows you to investigate and gives you back the key to Baron's house.
14. Go to Baron's house and try to open the secret passage to the sewers - it stopped working, so you have to backtrack through the sewers. Once you do, click on the bottle stands to find the empty, and go down to where the corpses were to receive the last message about the proof mysteriously vanishing.
15. Speak to Miaren Girendas to find out she remembers nothing about the Baron or your previous conversation.
16. Return to Hal-Liurz and admit your defeat. This officially concludes the quest.

Journal Entries

The Baron von Zarov Files: The Plot Thickens (BANSkingradThePlotThickensQuest)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		After speaking with Elizabetha and Lord Baldor Varian, I have become suspicious of Baldor. Was his wife's death really just through illness, or did he do something to cause her death? I should investigate by exploring Baldor's home when he is sleeping.
12		I have had my suspicions about Lord Varian and this hidden door is one more piece to a puzzle I should try to solve. Maybe I can investigate the place later on, when Baldor is asleep.
20		I have entered the room behind the hidden door. The room is some sort of food closet filled with desiccated human flesh! What sort of monster can do that? I have to get to the bottom of this.
30		I have taken some of the prepared meat from the hidden room in Baldor's house. If I can prove that this is human flesh, then this will be evidence that Baldor is killing people! I triggered an alarm while I was investigating, so Baldor knows now that somebody has discovered his secret. I must move quickly to gain enough evidence to report him to the guards. Perhaps someone in the Mages Guild can help?
40		Falanu Hlaalu, the alchemist who owns All Things Alchemical in Skingrad, has agreed to test the sample for me. I should meet her tomorrow evening to get the results.
50		The meat is in fact human flesh prepared for eating. I have to understand what it was doing in a secret room in Baldor's house. Maybe I can ask his maid a little more about him. Or perhaps I should inform the guards?
60		I spoke with Elizabetha, but she could not think of anything which may help me. Perhaps I should just report him to the guards.
65		I tried to report my findings to one of the town guards, however he threatened to arrest me for trespassing in Lord Varian's home and stealing from him. I do not have enough proof for the guards to investigate a nobleman. Perhaps Elizabetha will be able to help.
70		Having spoken with Elizabetha, and tried to report Baldor to the guards, it seems I have come to a dead end. For now.
80		Lady Lucy Varian suspects that her husband is some sort of monster. She asked me to investigate her husband Baldor, and suggested I explore Grayrock Cave.
85		I have reached the entrance to Grayrock Cave. Something related to Baldor Varian may be found inside.
90		I have found some suspicious books written in a language unknown to me. I should try to talk to someone in the Mages Guild to see if they can make sense of this.
100		According to the mages in Skingrad, the books are written in the language of the Ogres. I need to take them to Boderi Farano in the Arcane University to get them translated.
101		Boderi has taken the books I found in Baldor's hideout and will translate them for me. She said it will take about a week, and then I should return to the Arcane University to retrieve the books.
105		It has been a week now since I gave the ogre books to Boderi, she should have translated them by now.
110		I have been given a scroll with the Mages of the Arcane University seal for the proper authority of Skingrad, which explains that Lord Baldor is in fact an Ogre impersonator who is preying on humans to eat them. I should contact the Skingrad guards immediately.
120		The steward of Skingrad will present all the evidence to the Count for review. The matter should be resolved tomorrow.
130		The guards should have arrested the imposter by now, perhaps the castle steward will offer a reward for my involvement?
140		The castle steward rewarded me with gold for my efforts. But I never tracked down Baron von Zarov; where did he go? Will he be angry with me for bringing eternal rest to Lady Lucy Varian?
150		I have been asked to provide proof that the baron is a vampire by the steward of the Count of Skingrad. I have access to the baron's house for as long as my investigation can take. The bodies in the pit in the sewer should be good evidence, as well as the racks of bottled blood at the bottom of the ladder leading from the sewer to the secret entrance into the baron's house. Also, Miaren from Magh-Gra's Tack and Supplies may be able to help again.
160		I could find nothing in the baron's house to prove he is a vampire. I should speak to Miaren now, perhaps she remembers something unusual about the baron which may persuade the steward to take this further.
170		All the proof is gone. The baron must have known I was onto him and cleaned everything - somehow he even managed to wipe Miaren's memory. I have no proof to present to the steward but I must try to talk to him anyway.
180	Finishes quest	The Baron von Zarov escaped with his secret. Perhaps another day I will come across him.

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 BANSkingradThePlotThickensQuest 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.