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The Tools of the Gray Fox

Seek out the tools that the Gray Fox has left you so that you can avenge Nocturnal. The set includes Nocturnal's Cowl, bracers, armor, boots, a dagger, a bow, and a spell. Obviously, this is a thief's questline. The quest begins close to the Helgen cave. I hope you enjoy.

I've included this guide to help those poor souls that are tearing their hair out and would like to have a chance to pull mine as well. If you don't wish to read it because you like to figure stuff out on your own, please stop. If you wish to use it as an occasional reference, please feel free.




The Tools of the Gray Fox Guide

Beginning:
The questline begins almost immediately outside of the Helgen cave from which you emerge when you escape Helgen at the start of the game. There is a shrine to Nocturnal as well as a thief who is fighting off a pack of wolves. The thief will attack you if he isn’t killed by the wolves. Either way, search his body when he is dead. You will find a letter from M.F. (Mercer Frey is the leader of the thieves guild. In the letter, the thief is instructed to search Embershard Mine, which is just down the road from the shrine. If you activate the shrine, Nocturnal will direct you to pick the pocket of the shop owner’s sister in Riverwood to get the key to her blessing. Go to Riverwood. There is only one shop there. It’s the guy who gives you the Golden Claw quest. His sister is there too. Pick her pocket. (There has been a glitch with the sister. If you can't find the key on her, check the upstairs bedside table. I placed one there as well.) Take the Key to Nocturnal’s Blessing. Go to the Embershard mine. There is a pool of water at the bottom beneath the suspension bridge and beyond the guy working at the forge. The chest is just beneath the water at the foot of the shrine. Open it. Inside is a spellbook that gives you Nocturnal’s Blessing.

Part Two: The Touch of the Gray Fox

In the chest is also a journal written by The Gray Fox himself. The Fox has left the Imperial City and traveled north in his old age. Nocturnal has instructed him to leave his armor, dagger, bow, her spell, and her cowl for the future Gray Fox (which would be you). She wants her champion to gather the tools to help him or her reclaim her key (Thieve’s Guild Questline). He provides a riddle at the end of the journal entry.

Seek out the waters where the bard did dive,
And the fox's touch you'll master.
With it's fingers you'll reach into the night
And steal away the world's treasure.

There is only one location in Skyrim that is named Bard’s Leap. It’s in western Skryim southeast of Markarth. However, you must also activate the shrine. The shrine tells you that the key to the chest is located in Markarth itself. Go to Markarth’s treasure house. Break into the vault. There is a safe inside it. Open it and steal the key. Go to Bard’s Leap. At the base is a deep pool. The shrine and the chest is hidden beneath the water. Open the chest and take The Step of the Gray Fox.

Part Three: The Spirit of the Gray Fox

In the chest is another journal entry. The Fox provides you with another riddle.

Beyond the Tower of Stone in the North
The drowned pilgrims now broken lie.
Become the thief who bears the Fox's Spirit
And, unlike them, you will not die.

The Tower Stone is located in the North of Skyrim between Dawnstar and Winterhold. North of it is Pilgrim’s Trench, which is located at the bottom of the ocean. Next to all of the shipwrecks, you’ll find another shrine and chest. But the key to that chest is not located there. The shrine at Bard’s Leap told you to go to Skyrim’s oldest city: Windhelm. There you were to find a Dunmer who has stolen a ring and wishes to return it. Find Revyn Sadri at Sadri’s Used Wares. He’ll ask you to return a ring to Viola Giodorna’s house. In the place where you have to place the ring, you’ll find the key. Go swimming in the northern seas and claim The Spirit of the Gray Fox

Part Four: The Step of the Gray Fox

In the next journal entry, the Fox provides another riddle.

Seek the high summit above of the Rift
Where dragons once caused alarm.
And near that crag you'll find a Fox's Step
That'll save you from what would cause harm.

The Northwind Summit overlooks Riften from the North. If you have already started the main quest and have awoken the dragons, you’ll find one there along with a Word Wall. If you’re facing the wall and look to the right, you will see a mining shack. Go to it and then around it. There you will find the shrine and the chest. The shrine at Pilgrim’s Trench tells you to find the Jarl who has two sons at war and that the key will be on the weaker one. Only the Jarl of Riften fits this description. Go there. Find the whiny son. Pick his pocket. Get it and claim the Step of the Gray Fox from the summit.

Part Five: The Distraction of the Gray Fox

The next riddle will lead you to Solitude.

In the forgotten halls of the mad king,
Amid web and dust and decay,
The Fox's Distraction waits to sing
Each one of your foes away.

There is only one mad king that anyone talks about. Pelagius’s Wing is sealed off in the Blue Palace. The only way you can get access to it is with permission from Falk Firebeard. If you haven’t done the first section of the Potema questline, you’ll have to do it now. You’ll also have to do the Sheogorath quest if you haven’t. There is a blind man walking around Solitude asking for your help. That’s the start of it. Once you finish both of those quests, you’ll be able to access the back rooms of Pelagius’s Wing where the shrine and the chest sit next to a bedroll in a trashy room. The shrine at the Northwind Summit tells you to find a historian who is bent on destruction and is located at a star by the sea. In Dawnstar, Silus Vesuius has opened a museum that celebrates the Mythic Dawn and Mehrunes Dagon. Inside the museum, he has a lot of cases that are locked with goodies. One has an elder scroll in it. The key is beside it. Grab it, face Sheogorath, and claim The Distraction of the Gray Fox.

Part Six: The Vengeance of the Gray Fox

The next riddle will lead you to Whiterun.

Go to where the stream has run its course
And men would turn iron to gold.
Vengeance is nestled in a pit of death
Awaiting its master's hold.

The Halted Stream Camp is located north of Whiterun. The shrine and the chest are located in the mine just before you get to the pit trap at the very back. The shrine at the Blue Palace has told that the key is with Nocturnal’s sister and a Jarl’s troubled son. That’s the Mephala questline. Find the whispering door in Whiterun, open it, claim the Ebony Blade and the key to the chest that will give you The Vengeance of the Gray Fox.

Part Seven: Nocturnal's Cowl

The last riddle leads you Blackreach. There will be seven chests. Each chest will contain the key and the location to the next chest, so you have to find them in order to open them. Blackreach is big, and this will take time. Use your map and your eyes. The first chest is located right at the entrance to Blackreach on the stone platform before you descend onto the the dirt. I made the chests really big to help you out. The key to the first chest is not located in Blackreach, though. The shrine at the Halted Stream camp tells you that it's in Solitude with the mourning mother, the old alchemist. Pick her pocket to get the key. The last chest is in the Tower of Mzark with the elder scroll. Open it, claim Nocturnal's Cowl, and become the new Gray Fox. I hope this guide helps.