Dead Drop Quests

Affairs of A Wizard

When you first visit the Dead Drop at Hero's Hill, you'll be told to head to Leafrot Cave and kill Celedaen, a necromancer who's initiated his transformation into a Lich. You're warned of Celedaen's power, and told to search out his writings in an attempt to find a weakness before engaging him. Leafrot Cave is well, well off the beaten track. It's going to take a while to get there, unless you've already been in the area, so warp as close as you can with Shadowmere and get going.

When you do hit Leafrot, start poking about. Obviously enough, there's going to be plenty of undead roaming the halls, so be ready for them. You can find an Art of War Magic book in the first little set of shelves after you enter the cave; it'll add one point to your destruction magic. Also in this first area, you can find The Path of Transcendence, which will reveal Celedaen's one true weakness: he keeps a magical hourglass on his person at all times. While he has the hourglass, he's likely immortal, but if you can take it from him, such as by pickpocketing it, he'll die instantly.

For such a powerful necromancer, Celedean sure is a pushover.

Pickpocketing Celedaen is a difficult matter, since he never really stands still, preferring to pace around his lair like a hyperactive kid looking for sugar. It's certainly possible to get behind him and pick his pocket, but you'll need a fairly high Sneak skill to do so. Even if you can't pickpocket him, though, he's not all that tough to beat in normal combat. He wields fairly standard mage spells, will turn invisible as soon as he's spotted you, and will somehow manage to summon his own ghost to attack you. If you let him know you're there, wait for him to turn invisible, then stand so that the central pillar is between you and he, he'll eventually come back into sight. At this point, you can either poison him with a Silence poison and go to town, or just use a Damage Health poison to finish him off. Or just get up close and personal with a magical weapon and take him down! He doesn't have much health, so any of these options will work.

When you're done with Celedaen, loot anything you like from the cave, then head to Chorrol, where your next dead drop is located.

Next of Kin

Try to finish off Matthias in one shot, but don't be surprised if it doesn't kill him.

When you find the Old Sack in Chorrol, you'll get a new mission: kill every single member of the Draconis family. Unfortunately, you only know the location of Perennia Draconis, who resides on a farm called Applewatch. You have to head to her location, pump her for information about her family, then find and slaughter the lot.

Applewatch is near the Cloud Ruler Temple, so feel free to fast travel there and head out to the farm. Talk to Perennia and tell her you're looking for her children, and she'll give you a list of all of the children, along with some gold. Apparently she thinks that you're going to help her buy them gifts...poor girl. Kill her as best you can before moving on to her children.

Matthias Draconis - Talos Plaza District, Imperial City Matthias is arguably the easiest of all these hits. Simply find his house in the Talos Plaza District, wait outside until it's midnight or later, then pick the lock and head on in in Sneak mode. There's another resident of the house, one Collatinus Vedius, whom you'll have to sneak past and head up the steps to Matthias' room.

Now, if you wish to avoid getting pinched, you'll have to kill Matthias with one powerful blow, which can be difficult, since he has a lot of health. Obviously enough, the sleeping sneak attack is the way to go, preferably after you've poisoned your weapon with a Poison of Illness or something similar. If you can't get this guy in one shot, consider coming back after dropping off any stolen goods in your safehouse, then just paying the fine when the guards nab you.

Andreas Draconis - Drunken Dragon Inn, Northeast of Leyawiin The Drunken Dragon is off the road that leads northeast of Leyawiin. You can head there any time to speak to Andreas, but killing him is another matter, since there'll often be an Imperial Guard standing around inside. Your best bet here is to just hunker down with all of your Sneak gear on, then start waiting for one hour at a time until the Guardsman is far enough away for you to take down Andreas. This is easiest if you can hit him while he's sleeping, which usually occurs between one and six or so in the morning, but be sure to save your game before you whack him, as the Guard has a good shot at detecting you if he's anywhere nearby. Again, though, if you don't have any stolen items, you can just pay the fine right then and there and move on.

Killing off Caelia in one shot is going to be almost impossible unless you're a Master of Sneak.

Sibylla - Muck Valley Cavern The Muck Valley Cavern is east of the Imperial City, near the Shrine of Vaermina, on Lake Poggad. Perennia's letter warns you of the animals in the area, and indeed, the cave will be populated with beasties of a level-appropriate nature. It's all one big cave, though, with no sub-areas, so you should eventually find Sibylla. She has no armor on, so she shouldn't be a very difficult target.

Caelia - Castle Leyaiin Barracks Caelia is a soldier in the Leyawiin Guard, who roams around town during most of the day, and presumably sleeps in the Barracks at night. During the morning, though, from around 7:00 AM to noon, she'll be in the Three Sisters Inn, in a private room on the second floor. If you can break into it, then hide in the room behind her and sneak up on her, you should be able to make a heck of a sneak attack. She's outfitted with a ton of armor, though, so it'll be difficult to kill her outright. You may need to finish her off with poison, then sneak out to your nearest Thieves Guild contact to pay off half of your fine for murder.

Your next quest is given in the Castle Skingrad Courtyard well.