Morrowind:The Death of Ralen Hlaalo

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Solve the murder of Ralen Hlaalo in Balmora. Quest Giver: Nileno Dorvayn in Balmora Location(s): Balmora Prerequisite Quest: Delivery for Bivale Teneran Next Quest: Epony Trade Reward: 1,000 gold Disposition: +15 (Nileno Dorvayn) Reputation Gain: +10 (Hlaalu), +1 Reputation ID: HH_Retaliation

Murder most foul

Quick Walkthrough

1. Chat with Nileno Dorvayn about business and Ralen Hlaalo.
2. (Optional) Ask around town about Ralen Hlaalo, and you'll hear rumors that Nine-Toes the Argonian killed him.
3. (Optional) Chat with Nine-Toes, who will deny killing Ralen Hlaalo.
4. Take the key you received from Nileno Dorvayn and enter Hlaalo Manor; chat with Ralen's servant, Uryne Nirith.
5. Ask around Balmora about the murderer's description, and you'll be informed that Thanelen Velas meets the description.
6. Kill the offender, and report back to Nileno Dorvayn to complete the quest and receive your reward.

Detailed Walkthrough

The Death of Ralen Hlaalo

Nileno Dorvayn at Balmora's Hlaalu Council Manor will ask you to find the murderer of House noble Ralen Hlaalo in town and kill him. If you are a member of House Hlaalu, she will also give you a key to the manor.

If you ask around town, you'll receive conflicting information.

• Ralen Hlaalo:
  • [Hlaalu] "Why not ask Ralyn Hlaalo's servant? She's probably still in Hlaalo Manor. I don't think she has anywhere else to go."
  • [Altmer] "I heard an Argonian murdered Ralen Hlaalo."
  • [Dunmer] "I heard that Nine-Toes the Argonian killed him."
  • [Argonian] "I have heard only false rumours. Nine-Toes cannot be the murderer."
  • [Imperial] "I heard that a red-haired Dunmer was seen leaving Hlaalo Manor the day that Ralen Hlaalo was murdered."
  • [Khajiit] "%Name has heard nothing of the murder. %Name minds %Name's business"
  • [Breton] "Yes, it's just terrible."
  • [Redguard/Bosmer/Nord/Orc] "Who?"

Talk to Ralen's Servant (Optional)

If you investigate Hlaalo Manor, you can find a witness to the crime: Uryne Nirith, Ralen's servant. Once you locate Uryne, who's sequestered in a small bedroom on the second floor of Hlaalo Manor, chat with her and she informs you that she witnessed the murder. She gives you a description of the murderer, whom she identifies as a young Dunmer with red hair, bonemold armor, and a Dwarven War Axe. With this information, you can ask around town again and you'll be pointed towards Thanelen Velas (of the Camonna Tong) in the Balmora Council Club.

Confronting Nine-Toes (optional)

Nine-Toes is in his house in town and will deny any involvement in the crime. You can choose to kill Nine-Toes and report back to Nileno Dorvayn to complete the quest, or you can choose to give him the benefit of the doubt and investigate further. If you choose to kill Nine-Toes, just take note that he is a member of the Blades, which means that you may get expelled from the Blades, thus making it harder to finish the Main Quest.

Confronting Thanelen Velas (optional)

Thanelen Velas is on the first floor of the Balmora Council Club. If confronted about Ralen Hlaalo, he says that you are mistaken, and that Nine-Toes is the murderer. If confronted with the description of the murderer, he'll say it's just coincidence, and reiterate that Nine-Toes is at fault.

Bringing a Murderer to Justice

At this point, you have a couple of options. You can kill either Velas or Nine-Toes, or both if you want to make sure. Nileno will accept either or both deaths as sufficient vengeance.

Return to Nileno in Balmora to finish the quest and receive your reward of 1,000 gold septims, and a House Hlaalu faction reputation increase of +10.

Notes

• You can get this quest whether you belong to House Hlaalu or not. If you have gotten the discussion topic "Ralen Hlaalo" via other means (such as the Thieves Guild quest to steal his Vintage Brandy), you may talk to Nileno and she will still ask you to find the murderer. However, if you are not a member of House Hlaalu she will not give you the key to the manor, meaning that you will need to break in if you wish to gain access.
• Note that if you ask Nileno about Ralen Hlaalo before joining, she won't give you the key even if you ask her about Ralen Hlaalo after joining. Therefore, if you are planning on joining House Hlaalu and don't want to have to break in to Hlaalo Manor, don't ask her about Ralen Hlaalo until after you join.
• It is possible to get this quest without having completed any prerequisites. Simply break into the Manor and talk with Ralen Hlaalo's servant, who will give you the murderer's description when asked about the "murderer's description" topic.
• Thanelen Velas is one of the targets for Larrius Varro's quest, so you can complete both of these quests. Nileno will still pay you the thousand gold reward and may ask you to join House Hlaalu at that point if you are not a member. This quest will be instantaneously completed, if you have already killed Velas.
• If you kill Nine-Toes you will complete the quest and not get a bounty on your head. In order to kill Thanelen Velas without receiving a murder bounty, you will need to provoke him into a fight.
• Hlaalo Manor makes a pretty good free house at the beginning of the game. Large and centrally located with plenty of storage space, the only occupant is Uryne Nirith, and she never leaves her room. As a quest item, Hlaalo's body never goes away, and basically amounts to a container with infinite capacity, although you can use the console command 'disable' to remove it.
• There is a small key upstairs, dropped from the vase but it can be hard to see. It's useless and opens nothing.

Bugs

• If Velas is already dead when you talk to Nileno, she will give you the faction reputation and her disposition will increase, but you receive none of the other rewards.
• Nileno may keep giving you both the gold and reputation rewards each time you mention Hlaalo.
  • The Official Morrowind Patch, version 1.1.0605, fixes this bug.

Quest Stages

The following Journal ID and Index codes can be used with the Journal console command to manually update the quest to a certain point.

The Death of Ralen Hlaalo (HH_Retaliation)
Index	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
5		I found the body of Ralen Hlaalo.
10		Nileno Dorvayn told me that a Redoran [sic] noble, Ralen Hlaalo, was recently killed. I must find out who killed Ralen Hlaalo and retaliate so that no one dares murder a Hlaalu noble again.
15		Nileno Dorvayn told me she is looking for the murderer of Ralen Hlaalo. If I bring the murderer to justice, I should let her know.
30		There are rumors here in Balmora that Nine-Toes is the murderer.
40		Nine-Toes told me that he is not a murderer.
50		Uryne Nirith, a servant of Ralen Hlaalo, told me that the murderer was a Dunmer with red hair in bonemold armor wielding a Dwemer War Axe.
60		I was told that Thanelen Velas at the Council Club here in Balmora meets the murderer's description.
100	Finishes quest	I killed Nine-Toes and reported back to Nileno Dorvayn.
110	Finishes quest	I killed Thanelen Velas and reported back to Nileno Dorvayn.
120	Finishes quest	I killed both Nine-Toes and Thanelen Velas and reported back to Nileno Dorvayn.
150	Finishes quest	Even though I don't belong to House Hlaalu, Nileno Dorvayn rewarded me for finding Ralen Hlaalo's murderer.
200	Finishes quest	Nileno Dorvayn thanked me for killing Thanelen Velas for Larrius Varro. Apparently Thanelen was the murderer of Ralen Hlaalo.

Prev: Delivery for Bivale Teneran

Up: House Hlaalu Quests

Next: Epony Trade