Oblivion talk:Ontus Vanin

Hostile Ontus

Ontus attacks me on sight. Does anyone know the reason for his dissatisfaction with me? I thought maybe it was because I was carrying skooma but after dumping my entire inventory into a nearby barrel, he still attacked me. — Unsigned comment by Cardgage (talk • contribs)

Two possible reasons - Either you commited a crime against him and he witnessed it (picking a lock or a pocket, taking something or opening a container that belonged to him, possibly tresspassing) or, since he's Mages Guild, he saw you wearing a Necromancer's Robe - that will get you attacked by anyone in the Guild. The skooma doesn't matter. Unlike Morrowind, nobody in Oblivion cares if you're carrying skooma. --TheRealLurlock ^Talk 11:16, 7 December 2006 (EST)

In my games he seems to get killed by guards a lot, although possibly he was attacking me and they intercepted him before I actually noticed. There is no way i have ever commited a crime against him though, and I have never worn necro robes. — Unsigned comment by Jadrax (talk • contribs)

It's possible for him (or any NPC) to attack you on sight just because you've lowered his Disposition too far. Any chance you practiced the Speechcraft minigame on him and left him with a disposition below, say, 20? If you've done the Thieves Guild quests, you have broken into his house (during Misdirection), which would also lower his disposition. He is not actually part of the Mages Guild faction so he won't react to Necromancer Robes; instead he actually dislikes Mages Guild members (-5 disposition to all members). So there are actually a few reasons why he might dislike you, start attacking, and get intercepted by the guards. --Nephele 14:37, 10 January 2007 (EST)

I have never used the Speachcraft minigame on him (or indeed anyone.) and he was dead long before I did the thieves guild quest. (Indeed I haven't done the thieves guild quest with most characters, and hes still dead on I would guess over half.) May well be the Mages Guild hit though, is that multiplied by your rank? Jadrax 02:56, 6 February 2007 (EST)

I don't know that any of the disposition modifiers are affected by your rank in the guild. From what you're describing (and having just realized that there are two separate questions being asked here), it's not clear that Ontus was actually trying to attack you. It sounds possible that Ontus got killed trying to jump into and help some other conflict that erupted in the Imperial City. I don't know for sure what stats control whether or not townspeople get involved in general brawls, but Ontus does have reasonably high responsiblity (75) and confidence (75). But without really knowing how he died, any explanations are going to be pretty speculative. (And he's not always suicidal... I don't think he has ever died for any of my four characters). --Nephele 14:10, 6 February 2007 (EST)

(←) As an FYI to this discussion. I never had any interaction with Ontus at all, and he attacked me on sight when I walked into the Mystic Emporium in the Imperial City. Since it was me and vendor as the only other people there, I can be reasonably sure I was the target. I was the Mage Guild Arch Mage at the time, so perhaps that lends some weight to the assumption that perhaps rank in the Mages Guild is taken into account. I have also had random conjurers attack me at various, seemingly peaceful locations. I don't know if this is related or not. — Unsigned comment by 65.204.19.171 (talk) at 16:44 on 22 March 2007 (GMT)

That sounds like an answer... I just became Arch-Mage in my game for the first time since buying oblivion. It is also the first time I have seen Ontus charge down the street and get wasted by guards in many play throughs. Also I have never been attacked at any time for wearing Necromancer robes, the most reaction I have seen is fellow mage guild members calling me crazy and asking me to take them off. -- Necaradan666 07:08, 18 April 2007 (GMT)

Same here, I never got enar him before and I am the arch-mage. I belive a note on the article would be helpful, as now I ahve to amek an effort to avoid him so I can do the theive's guild quests.--68.192.188.142 17:29, 12 May 2007 (EDT)

Me too, now that i think about it, when I became arch mage i was walking into rindir's staffs and he turned around, said I had crossed him for the last time or somthing like that and tried to kill me, then the guards killed him, wierd! — Unsigned comment by Arch Mage (talk • contribs) at 00:21 on 17 July 2007 (GMT)

I finally got around to testing this using the console and was able to definitively confirm that his -5 disposition modifier is multiplied by your Mages Guild rank, and therefore there is a -50 modifier once you become Arch-Mage. That is then what makes him attack you on sight. I've added information to the article, as well as some suggestions about how to deal with it. --Nephele^Talk 03:45, 31 July 2007 (EDT)

Stopping Ontus Vanin's attacks

If you're having problems with Ontus attacking you, it is possible to fix it. I was having this issue as well, and I discovered that it was because his disposition towards me was too low, for whatever reason. All I did was wait until I saw him in Imperial City, but kept my distance. I used sidestreets to get behind him, and then turned on sneak and chased up right behind him. You don't have to walk or be quiet at all as he won't turn around. As soon as you're behind him, cast a raise disposition type spell such as Convalescense (that's what I used). This will raise his disp enough that he won't attack you. Take this time to talk to him and either bribe or use the mini-game to raise his disposition up again, so that when your spell wears off it will still be high enough that he won't attack you. This solved the attacking problem perfectly for me. I suggest somebody put a note of his attacks and this solution in the main page. — Unsigned comment by 144.132.20.191 (talk) at 10:24 on 18 May 2007 (GMT)

Convalescense is a heal other spell, isn't it? I've never noticed healing someone causing their disposition to increase towards me. 86.44.221.166 15:04, 8 June 2009 (EDT)

Necromancer?

(moved from the article)

• There is some evidence suggesting he might be a necromancer. He may have retired due to the ban of Necromancy and his disposition towards you when you become arch-mage could be explained by the death of Mannimarco and destruction of necromancy in Cyrodill.

He doesn't just dislike the Arch-Mage - it's just more pronounced when you get there. If there's evidence of necromancy please can you tell us what it is? –Rpeh^{•T•C•E•} 02:41, 3 February 2008 (EST)

Yeah there is no evidence, it is either negligence by the developers, or due to the "You've crossed me for the last time" thing it may be an extra tidbit by the developers because of how fast you climb up the ranks, while he has spent 40 years there & never been as great as you. What the first poster said is only assumption. Puddle 02:46 April 19, 2008.

I think he could be a necromancer. he spawned a deadra on me when he attacked me.-Jgreniggle

Daedra summoning isn't proof of Necromancy. If he'd summoned say, a headless zombie, you might have something. Darkle 22:57, 25 July 2008 (EDT)

In terms of his spell list, he has the same spell list as Fithragaer, Idrolian, and a couple of monster Battlemages (primarily Vampire Battlemages). So at least from the spell-list perspective, there's nothing suggestive of him being a Necromancer there. --Robin Hood (Talk • E-mail • Contribs) 18:38, 31 July 2008 (EDT)

(←) AHA! I've got it. He spawned a zombie for me, and I had just become Archmage, and I had met him before. But yeah, he spawned a zombie. he must be a Necromancer. - smudgethekat

Just looking quickly, it appears that at least the Alchemist and Battle Mage (which Ontus uses) spell lists include the various Summon Undead spells, neither of which is a Necromancer. For that matter, so can your character if s/he gets the appropriate spell. --Robin Hood (Talk • E-mail • Contribs) 03:04, 8 December 2008 (EST)

Sewers?

I saw him wandering him into the Market Sewers through the Main Ingredient entrance, and I followed him, still following him now. Any idea why he does this and where he is going? 90.197.229.234 17:19, 25 May 2009 (EDT)

Okay, after following him so far, I discovered he just got to a bit in the Sewers, and wandered about for a bit in a circle. Maybe a mistake in his coding that makes him wander about there? 90.197.229.234 17:23, 25 May 2009 (EDT)

Yes, I can see something like this happening. He's got a fairly complex schedule, some of which includes random locations (one of which is The Main Ingredient). It could well be that he went to TMI, then decided to go somewhere else and found the quickest path there was through the sewers. Then when 2 o'clock rolled around, he chose to wander in place for 6 hours (another possibility in the random schedule). There does seem to be a bug where characters will ignore faction ownership on a door (in this case, the GenericOwner faction for TMI's basement door) and go through it anyway, so that's probably what happened here. --Robin Hood (Talk • E-mail • Contribs) 19:45, 25 May 2009 (EDT)

Dialogue

I only got it from him once. He said something along the lines of "I used to think you were a hero. A holy night and all that. I guess I should have known better." What caused that? I never heard that until now. — Unsigned comment by 97.96.29.140 (talk) on 6 May 2010

It's from Knights of the Nine. If you become the Divine Crusader then gain infamy, various people will start to say that line. rpeh •T•C•E• 05:05, 9 May 2010 (UTC)

Alright cool, thanks. 97.96.29.140 06:15, 9 May 2010 (UTC)

Other suggestions for having Ontus Vanin not attack on sight

My Argonian has low Speechcraft and Personality, but bribing to the limit and having fame around 20-30 was enough to keep Ontus peaceful, even as Arch-Mage. Doing other quest chains, like the Fighter's Guild, and the Shivering Isles Main Quest should provide enough Fame to keep him docile. 24.156.216.144 11:24, 3 October 2011 (UTC)