Beyond Skyrim:Cyrodiil/The Screeching Songman

Rid the good people of Bruma of a talentless singer's screechings. Quest Giver: Reln-Tei Location(s): Bruma, Capstone Cave Reward: Leveled gold or leveled enchanted sword ID: CYRBrumaMS04

Renod performing with artistic flair at the Jerall View Inn

Quick Walkthrough

1. Learn of Renod Even-Toned's disturbances and speak to Reln-Tei.
2. Speak to Renod about his neighbors' complaints.
3. Go find Renod's lute OR convince Grushnag gro-Arkul to hire Renod.
4. Return to Reln-Tei for you reward.

Detailed Walkthrough

Howling in the Night

When first visiting the Jerall View Inn, you will be treated to the scene of the resident bard, Renod Even-Toned, howling his way through his compositions with no respect for key or tone. After he is chased out for having disturbed the guests, speak to Dar'taqto about him and you will be told to speak to the beggar Reln-Tei, who is leading the effort to convince Renod to shut up.

The Argonian will complain about the bard's awful singing at unsocial hours of the night and ask you to intercede with him on behalf of the people of the city, warning you that he does not want the singer killed. When you confront Renod in his house near Northern Arms, he will be enraged at the townsfolk's lack of appreciation for his musical talents. He is very confident about his abilities and will refuse to halt his singing. When pressed, he will agree to consider it if you can return his prized lute, which was recently stolen. He suggests heading to The Restful Watchman and asking around there for any clues.

A Comedian for Capstone Cave

Renod's new home?

Speak to Crouches-In-Crevices about Renod and intimidate or persuade him (respectively an Average and Easy Speech challenge) to reveal that he did steal it and sold it to a friend of his who resides in Capstone Cave. He maliciously suggests you present Renod with the chance to ply his trade there, now that he's been ejected by the two main inns in Bruma. You can now choose one of two paths for the quest: finding Renod a new job or retrieving the lute, though the former can be affected by a bug.

If you decide to go along with this charade, head to Capstone Cave. Once you arrive at the entrance, you will be greeted by Grushnag gro-Arkul, the bandit ringleader, and three of his thugs. Negotiate a deal with him to have Renod perform there and then head back to Bruma. The wannabe bard will reluctantly agree to follow you to the cave and take up employment there. Once you arrive at the entrance, Grushnag will demand an on-the-spot demonstration from Renod before he accepts. Once the bard has finished his awful rendition, Grushnag will slice his throat open, causing the quest to fail.

Music to My Ears

If you instead decide to retrieve Renod's lute from the bandits, head over to Capstone Cave on your own and be prepared to fight the bandits on sight. Once you've defeated them, take the lute from Grushnag's body and head back to Renod. Reunited with his prized instrument, he will agree to restrict his practice to the daytime. Return to Reln-Tei, who will offer you a reward of leveled gold which he's gathered up from members of the local community. You can take the gold or tell him to keep it, in which case he will thank you and give over his old sword (a leveled enchanted one or two-handed blade) instead.

Levels	Reward
1–9	250
10–19	400
20–29	500
30–39	600
40+	750

Notes

• Killing Renod will fail the quest and result in Reln-Tei refusing to speak to you, as he says he knows you're the assassin.
• If you chose to let Reln-Tei keep the gold reward in order to "start a new life", he will mention moving to Leyawiin or Black Marsh. However, he never ends up leaving Bruma.

Bugs

• After Crouches has suggested his malicious plan, it is possible for the optional quest objective 26 to fail. The quest marker will still point to Capstone Cave and you still receive quest objective 30 but on arrival you will be attacked on sight by Grushnag and his thugs, meaning you can only complete the quest by killing them and retrieving the lute. ^?
• Both Reln-Tei's dialogue if you propose killing Renod and Crouches' dialogue if you fail to persuade him to divulge information will always refer to Adius Vilius as the Bruma guard captain, regardless of the outcome of Service Rewarded. ^?

Quest Stages

Screeching Songman Misc Obj (CYRBrumaMS04Misc)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
30		Objective 30: Speak to Reln-Tei about Renod Even-Toned
100	Finishes quest

• The following empty quest stages were omitted from the table: 10, 20, 21, 50, 200.

The Screeching Songman (CYRBrumaMS04)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		The citizens of Bruma have grown tired of a bard called Renod-Even-Toned whose poor quality performances are becoming a great irritant. Reln-Tei, an Argonian beggar, said he would try to reward me if I got him to shut up - but warned me that he would inform the authorities if I killed the screeching songman. Objective 10: Convince Renod Even-Toned to stop being a noise nuisance
20		Renod indicated that he would be willing to tone down his constant performances if I returned his prized lute to him, apparently stolen by thieves. He didn't give me much to go on. Perhaps I should ask him if he has any idea of the culprits' identities? Objective 20: Find Renod Even-Toned's missing lute Objective 25: (Optional) Ask Renod for any further information about his stolen lute Objective 26: (Optional) Ask about Renod's lute at the Restful Watchman
30		Crouches-in-Crevices, an Argonian at the Restful Watchman, admitted that he stole Renod Even-Toned's lute, and told me that he had sold it to some 'business partners' at Capstone Cave. I should go there to retrieve the lute. The Argonian also suggested that I could convince his 'partners' to hire Renod as entertainment, which would lead to him being permanently out of Bruma. Objective 30: (Optional) Get the bandit ringleader to hire Renod instead
40		I've negotiated a deal to get Renod to work at Capstone Cave instead, as the bandits' entertainment. I should go inform Renod about this. Objective 40: Tell Renod about the "job opportunity" at Capstone Cave
50		Renod is following me to his new 'venue' of Capstone Cave, as he refuses to travel the 'unclean' Jerall wilderness without a guide. I should lead him there. Objective 50: Lead Renod to Capstone Cave
100	Fails quest	Renod followed me to his new 'venue' of Capstone Cave. The bandit leader killed him after hearing his... unique performance.
140		I've retrieved Renod's lute from the bandits in Capstone Cave. Time to return it to Renod. Objective 140: Return the lute to Renod Even-Toned
150		I've returned Renod's prized lute to him and he has agreed to stop being such a noise nuisance. I should return to Reln-Tei and see about the payment he promised. Objective 150: Inform Reln-Tei of your success
160	Finishes quest	I've returned Renod's prized lute to him and he has agreed to stop being such a noise nuisance. I received my reward from Reln-Tei.
170	Finishes quest	I've returned Renod's prized lute to him and he has agreed to stop being such a noise nuisance. I received my reward from Reln-Tei, but refused to take his gold as he needed it more.
300	Fails quest	The citizens of Bruma have grown tired of a bard called Renod-Even-Toned whose poor quality performances are becoming a great irritant. Renod is now dead and Bruma will never hear his screeching again.

• The following empty quest stages were omitted from the table: 15, 17, 35, 45, 55, 310.

Notes

• Any text displayed in angle brackets (e.g., <Alias=LocationHold>) is dynamically set by the Radiant Quest system, and will be filled in with the appropriate word(s) when seen in game.
• 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 any order. Some stages may therefore repeat objectives seen in other stages.
• 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.
• On the PC, it is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage CYRBrumaMS04 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, but it is possible to clear all stages of the quest using resetquest CYRBrumaMS04.