Online:Retainer Balver

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Retainer Balver
Home Settlement	Ald Isra
Race	Dark Elf	Gender	Male
Reaction	Friendly
Other Information
Faction(s)	House Telvanni

Retainer Balver

Retainer Balver Bemis is a Dark Elf member of House Telvanni who can be found on a path to the Great Arm Wayshrine, southwest of Necrom. He works for Oathman Llaro Ralas, and is seeking assistance to help his master.

Related Quests

• Llaro's Headache: Help Retainer Balver brew a tincture for his superior Llaro Ralas.

Quest-Related Events

Retainer Balver can first be encountered along the roads of the peninsula, where he will call out to you:

Retainer Balver: "You there! You look like a capable forager! I need some help. Can we talk?"

Speak with him to see what he wants:

"Thank the ancestors you stopped!
Right. Well. I'm in a bit of a predicament here. I need to collect ingredients for a medicinal tincture, and I simply don't have time. I need someone to help."

A medicinal tincture?

"Ah yes! I am Balver Bemis, retainer to Oathman Llaro Ralas of House Telvanni.
Llaro suffers from beastly headaches, and I'm making a tincture to address his malady. I need some hard-to-attain ingredients. If you aid me, I'll pay you well."

What are these ingredients?

"I need the musk gland of a bull netch—I spotted some netch remains around Kemel-Ze. Also, a plant called the volcanic stinkhorn, from near Sailenmora. And lastly, fungal blooms from a dead shroom beetle. The best ones skitter around Tel Dreloth."

All right I'll get those ingredients.

After you agree to collect the reagents, you can ask Balver some more questions:

"Once you collect the ingredients, I'll make the necessary preparations at my work station in Ald Isra. You know, getting the viscosity right and all that."

Tell me about these ingredients.

"Well, they're vital to the recipe. I don't want to bore you with the details, but the stinkhorn provides a binding catalyst, while the bull netch musk gland balances the humors. They're very important. Yes, definitely."

And the fungal blooms from the beetles?

"They provide a nutty, hay-like flavor. Covers up the bitterness of the brew, you see."

Tell me about Oathman Llaro.

"He's a very … demanding individual, even at the best of times. Commands with an iron fist, you know? And when these headaches strike, he is positively tyrannical."

And this tincture will cure those headaches?

"Yes, yes. I think it will address his malady fully. I mean, I hope so. He's terrible when he's like this."

Retainer Balver at the laboratory

Once you have collected the three ingredients, you can head to Ald Isra where Balver will be waiting for you at the outdoor alchemical lab.

Retainer Balver: "Ah, welcome! You returned at just the right moment. I assume you brought the ingredients?"

Speak with him to hand them over:

"Ah, excellent! Yes, I see you've found the remaining ingredients. Knew you could do it. Knew you could! Give them to me, if you please. Everything else is prepared."

Here you go.

"Well done. Hmm. Yes, just needs a bit of finessing. Brilliant. Should be all ready now to give to Oathman Llaro.
May I ask one more favor? Could you give it to him in my stead? Last I saw him, he was meeting with Spellwright Varsva."

What will you be doing in the meantime?

"Oh, you know. The usual. Cleaning this, tossing that. Busy, busy!
I also, uh … I need to avoid the mushrooms. Yes, that's it—the mushrooms. All those spores in that area are murder on the sinuses!"

[Alchemy] You know, I'm familiar with these ingredients. They're toxic.

"What? In large doses perhaps, but ….
Oh, all right. It's poison. But understand, Llaro is dreadful! A violent bully, totally unfit for his station! You'd be doing a favor to all House Telvanni. It is up to you, but please, deliver the tincture."

What happens if I tell him?

"You wouldn't! Would you? No, please. If you did it would be very dire for me. And maybe you too. I wouldn't recommend that option. In fact, perish the thought of it all together!"

Right …. So, what is it you do for Oathman Llaro, exactly? / So what do you do for Oathman Llaro exactly?

"To be honest, I try to keep a good distance from Oathman Llaro. I do some apothecary work for him and gather any ingredients he needs for his own work. But best not to get underfoot. He's a yeller, you know."

Do you talk to him about how he treats you?

"B'vek, never! I could never …. He would strike me dead for speaking out of turn. With spells and such!
I mostly keep my head down and stay out of his way whenever possible. That's why you should deliver the tincture, not me."

If you return to Balver after getting him to admit the truth about the tincture:

"You're not going to, ehm- tell him about this, are you?"

You can then head across Ald Isra to deliver the tincture, and you have the option of telling the truth about it if you are aware. This will affect how things ago.

In the case that you warn Oathman Llaro beforehand, he will have Spellwright Varsva summon Retainer Balver before them:

Oathman Llaro: "Hah! Well, Spellwright. If you will, do the honors and bring the accused poisoner to us!"

Spellwright Varsva: "I take no orders from you, Oathman. But my duty to House Telvanni demands I summon the offender to us."

<Spellwright Varsva casts a spell and in a flash of red light, Retainer Balver is suspended in the air with chains.>

Retainer Balver: "What? How? No. This is some sort of mistake!"

Oathman Llaro: "Not even the courage to deliver the poison yourself! Balver Bemis, you are a cretin to the last breath!"

Speaking with him after this:

"Why would you? You know what this means, right?"

After you turned in Balver, he will beg for a way out:

"Let me explain! The ingredients were faulty! I got the dosage wrong! Yes, I'm certain there's a way out of this!"

On the other hand, if you don't say anything about the tincture and hand it over, the following happens:

<Oathman Llaro snatches the tincture from you and guzzles it down, immediately after he falls down dead. Spellwright Varsva kneels beside the body.>

Spellwright Varsva: "Careless fool. Didn't even take a whiff before guzzling down a vial from a stranger. Well, I suppose his seat is empty now. I wonder who will claim it?"

<Retainer Balver approaches quickly.>

Retainer Balver: "It worked? It worked! Is he …? Oh, he is quite dead. Good! Ah ha! I did it! Ahem. I mean we did it! Thank you so much!"

Talk to Balver to complete the quest:

"It feels as though a great weight has been lifted from my chest."

Looks like your poison worked.

"I can't thank you enough for playing your part. You did wonderfully and I am freed from my terrible predicament now!
I don't know how to repay you. Or wait, I do. Here's the coin I promised."

With the quest completed, Spellwright Varsva will speak to Balver:

Spellwright Varsva: "Well, we need a replacement. By the power granted me by House Telvanni, I bestow upon you, Balver Bemis, the rank of Oathman. Now begone, before someone poisons you."

Retainer Balver: "Oathman! Well, if you say so, Spellwright! I promise to bring pride and glory to House Telvanni!"

Speaking with him after completing the quest:

"Oathman Balver Bemis. I like the sound of that, don't you? You were instrumental in my ascent to my new station. If you need any favors from House Telvanni, well, ask Spellwright Varsva. But I can guarantee you, I'll put in a good word for you."

So what do you plan to do now?

"You know, I hadn't thought about it. Frankly, I didn't expect to get this far. I'll have to think about my next moves.
Yes, I'll be making moves. I feel a change coming. A big one!"

How did you know you could trust me to give him the poison?

"I didn't. I just hoped you wouldn't do it and it seems as though I was right. I shudder to think what might have happened had you sold me out."

No matter what decision you make, you will be rewarded gold and a fragment of Seeker's Almalexia Deck.

Notes

• Part of his journal can be found and read.

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