Spell it Out for Me

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Spell it Out for Me
Quest Giver Cassock
Locations Winking Skeever, Skyrim
Prerequisites Speaking to Fironet
Related Quests None
Enemy Level PC x 1 Class CombatMageDestruction
Quest ID Cassockquest Editor ID XX23D691
NPCs Cassock, Fironet, Various NPCs
Reward Cassock as a Follower

Spell it Out for Me tells the story of a vampire named Cassock who has grown weary of immortality. Instead of feeding on the most available victim, the Orc devises various games and conditions to make the hunt more enticing.

A Stranger at the Skeever
The quest begins when the player meets Cassock at the Winking Skeever. The Orc offers to play a game where he and the PC will race to kill 6 mortals. In the spirit of the Civil War, however, the first letter of the Orc’s victims must spell out the name Elisif, whereas the player’s must spell out Ulfric. The game can be played by paragon players as well, as Cassock hints that there are bandits and Forsworn that meet the criterion.

Notes:
– The quest is designed so that no vanilla, interesting or undeserving NPCs have to be killed, with a paragon target being spawned for each corresponding letter.
– Cassock appears via a trigger box placed near the door of the Winking Skeever. The only condition is that the player is at stage 1 or higher of DialogueFironet. Speaking to Fironet about a variety of topics will raise her stage number.

Spelling it Out
Once the terms of the game are accepted, the player has the option to kill anyone with the corresponding letters, although the letters L, F, R, and I cannot include Nords. The non-vanilla or mod targets are as follows:

– Uvra at Broken Fang Cave
– Lenos at Swindler’s Den
– Finkro at Faldar’s Tooth
– Runal at Bleakwind Bluff
– Irsa at Fort Greymoor
– Capri at Valtheim Keep, Cassock or Culves at the Winking Skeever

C is for Cassock
The quest can end in a number of different ways. If the player kills the final “C” target outside of the Skeever, the quest will end with the vampire’s victory. Once the player returns to the inn, the Orc will inform the player he has already finished. Since killing Cassock is the fastest way in terms of distance traveled to complete the race, any other “C” target outside the Winking Skeever implies that the player took a slower route, since Cassock himself chose to kill Fironet.

However, if the player decides to either target Cassock or speak to him after killing the penultimate “I” target, he or she will be presented with a set of options which are reflected in the dialogue choices. The player can either kill Cassock, kill the vanilla innkeeper Corpulus, or the kill a quest-spawned sellsword named Culves. 

Regardless of what the PC chooses, Cassock will also inform the PC that the race is still very close, and that his final victim, Fironet, is nearby.

– If the player opts to kill Cassock, the game is over with his death. Cassock will still attempt to kill Fironet, but may turn his attention to the player when attacked.
– Winning the game relies on the player acknowledging they must kill a “C” target in the Skeever, regardless of whether they wish to kill Cassock or spare Fironet. In this instance, space is a substitute for time.
– If the player decides to kill Culves or Corpulus, Cassock will turn hostile on Fironet upon exiting the dialogue. At which point, the player must kill Culves or Corpulus prior to Cassock killing Fironet to win the game. However, it is important to note that killing either target before speaking to Cassock will result in Fironet’s automatic death and loss of the game. The player must first speak with Cassock and start the race legitimately via the dialogue. In terms of narrative, in these instances it is implied Cassock kills Fironet in the seconds before you kill Corpulus or Culves.

If Fironet dies first, the quest ends with Cassock winning the game. If Culves or Corpulus is killed first, then Cassock will immediately stop combat and forcegreet the player to congratulate them for winning. Finishing the quest in this manner will open up Cassock as a follower. Regardless of the ending, if Fironet survives, she will thank the player.

Notes:
– Fironet may retreat to the basement, giving the player ample time to kill Cassock, Culves or Corpulus.
– The exclusion of Nords is due to the logistical difficulty of adding hundreds of Nords as potential targets. In other words, I got lazy.
– Fironet is disabled and cannot be targeted by the player for narrative reasons.
– Speaking to Cassock at various points in the spelling portion will net different responses regarding his progress.
– In version 3.03, the urns of Cassock’s victims are added to the Hall of the Dead should the player lose.
– In old saves, Fironet may have been set as “protected” instead of “essential.” This may result in her surviving the automatic kill script. Version 3.03 has added an additional line to remove protected status in the event this occurs.

Spell it Out for Me (Cassockquest)
Stage Information
0 If DialogueFironet is stage 1 or higher, the trigger box at the entrance of the Winking Skeever will set Cassockquest to stage 5.
5 Cassock is enabled.
10 The game is started. Uvra the vampire is enabled.
20 Target “U” is killed. Lenos is enabled.
30 Target “L” is killed. Finkro is enabled, Fironet is disabled.
40 Target “F” is killed. Runal is enabled, Fironet is enabled.
50 Target “R” is killed. Irsa is enabled.
60 Target “I” is killed. Capri, Culves are enabled. Cassock’s essential status is removed.
65 Player informs Cassock of last target, and he turns hostile on Fironet. Fironet’s essential status removed.
70 Target “C” is killed prior to speaking with Cassock. Fironet is killed and Cassock wins the game.
75 The player kills Culves or Corpulus, prompting Cassock to stop fighting and forcegreet the player.
80 Cassock is killed, the player wins the game.
85 Fironet is killed first, Cassock wins the game.
90 Having won the game, Cassock asks the player to kill Uvra. If Uvra is already dead, the quest advances to 100 and completes.
100 Cassock agrees to follow the player, quest is complete
110 Killing Uvra after Cassock has won the game will disable Cassock and end the quest.
200 Speaking to Fironet after killing Cassock will end the quest.

Note: In older versions, some endings did not stop the quest from running. A line was added to the trigger box at the entrance to stop the quest in this instance. Cassock’s follower dialogue is placed in a separate location and is unaffected by stopping the quest.