Summary
- Glarthir is too easily written off as a kook.
- The theory that the bosmer has run afoul of a cover-up later revealed in the game is a compelling one.
- Dion, the count and several others could all be involved.
Skingrad is a strange ‘ol town, isn’t it? It has a secretive count, no crime, a lovely castle and, perhaps, a grand conspiracy against an innocent elf everybody labelled eccentric and crazy.
As most Oblivion Remastered players will know, upon entering Skingrad, a strange bosmer named Glarthir will approach the player and request a meeting behind the chapel at midnight. This is how the quest Paranoia, and every good story, starts.
There’s no doubt that Glarthir is somewhat paranoid—he suspects every secret society in Nirn is responsible for spying on him. He name-drops the Marukhati Selective, Ayleid Revivalists, Mythic Dawn and Blades as potential perpetrators of a conspiracy against him.
Accusing all of these important groups of spying on him certainly betrays delusions of grandeur, but that doesn’t mean that nothing fishy is going on. Glarthir is intentionally presented as a kook, so the player doesn’t look any deeper into what’s really happening in Skingrad, or so says DickBallsley, who has presented a theory about what’s truly happening in the town.
The theorist immediately clarifies that he believes Bernadette Peneles is a red herring, a case of Glarthir actually being paranoid as a result of real threats from the other so-called spies. Although Glarthir casts suspicion on Toutius Sextius and Davide Surilie, DickBallsley also believes Davide’s brother Gaston, the captain of the guard Dion, Tilmo the stablehand, the count and Glarthir’s neighbour Shameer are all in on the conspiracy.
All of this information has been gathered by following each of these characters on their schedules. Gaston Surilie begins his day by speaking to Tilmo before continuing on to the vineyard. He leaves work an hour earlier than his brother to tend his garden.
Interestingly, he has an armed helper named Ambroise who seems more assassin-to-be than gardener, and our poster believes Ambroise is the one who is eventually supposed to slay Glarthir. Davide and Gaston then spend their evenings staring out of the window, something Glarthir noted was happening.
Toutius Sextius will deny any knowledge of Glarthir, but he’s lying. He claims to be old friends with the count, which is why he spends a lot of time at Skingrad Castle. If you listen to Toutius speaking to others, he will almost exclusively speak about Glarthir, which means he’s well aware of the bosmer despite him saying otherwise.
After he leaves the castle, Toutius will take a walk that lands him right beside the Surilie Vineyard, where he passes Gaston and stops to talk with Tilmo. The theory here is that Toutius is an informant, feeding information about Glarthir’s movements to Tilmo, who then passes it on to Gaston.
Dion, the captain of the guard, is very hands-on with Glarthir. He immediately approaches the player and warns them of Glarthir’s mental state, and says to report anything Glarthir does to the guards. However, we know from the quest Lost Histories that Dion is corrupt. He turns a blind eye to the actions of the Pale Lady, a vampire who abducts prisoners from Skingrad’s Dungeon to feed herself, the count and the count’s wife, who are also vampires.
This is the crux of the conspiracy. The right honourable DickBallsley believes that Glarthir stumbled across the secret of Castle Skingrad, which has caused the conspirators to target him. The involvement of the vampires, Dion and Toutius, an old friend of the count, is obvious. However, the inclusion of the Surilie Brothers and Shameer is more contentious.
Our poster believes the brothers supply wine to the Pale Lady, who mixes the wine with blood to give to the count. However, there isn’t really any need for her to mix blood and wine, considering the count is knowingly involved in the plot. He also posits that the brothers could be undercover guardsmen, but that seems unnecessary, considering the success of their vineyard.
The participation of Shameer is also far-fetched. He is Glarthir’s next-door neighbour, but, contrary to what the poster says, he actually works for Tamika, not the Surilie Brothers. There’s a somewhat compelling theory as to why Shameer would need to steal food to survive when he has a job, but he is often murdered by guardsmen, so the chances of him being involved in a conspiracy with Dion seem unlikely.
The idea that Glarthir has run afoul of Dion’s cover-up of the Pale Lady’s abductions is an interesting one, though. I’ve always felt Glarthir is too easily written off as an insane person, when, given how eager everyone is to murder him, he could be on to something.