What'd you do in Markarth?

[Stephrodas]

I killed the King, took the key, went out and at the exitThonar silver blood was there to thank me, give me his ring as a reward and give me my stuff back.

 

So either way you get your stuff back or it's a bug

[bpestilence]

I did everything the Foresworn asked me to do, got the "Armor of the old gods" (which is good looking armor), had my bounty removed and completed the quest. But everytime I encounter a Foresworn they fight me. Guess they didn't get the memo.

[InuyashaFE]

My Orc went through with Madanach's plan but didn't help them slaughter anyone.

 

My Khajiit, who was much more impulsive, killed Madanach and took his key and note. x3

[skaller]

On my first character, a default-difficulty conjurer, I resisted arrest all the way. I killed the guards that tried to frame me in the temple of Talos (except the invible captain who kept getting up). Then I was forced to kill all the guards in the city (which none of the other NPC's seemed to notice). Then I had to kill every guard I encountered in the region until no one was left to bother me. At that point I was several same-games into it and knew I had made a mess, so me and Lydia and Meeko just went home to Whiterun and blocked-out the whole memory of Markarth.

 

Later, after I was done with the MQ line, I went back to Markarth and found the whole thing was taken over by Stormcloak guards and I had no bounty. I guess that was because I arbitrated the city-swap at the treaty at High Hrothgar. So maybe I did-it-wrong but I have no lingering quests on my list and it was a good story.

 

Now I'm on my second character, this time in master difficulty mode. I don't think I could plow through all the guards this time.

[dubyrunning]

Killed Madanach. Plan on assassinating Thonar later, for making the mistake of trying to frame me.

 

I just don't buy the whole Forsworn sob story. Honestly, eff them.

 

I've ran into too many Briarhearts and seen their rituals and their associations with witches. I've seen Forsworn running around and killing unarmed folk. On top of that, they attack unprovoked, and attack savagely. They don't produce anything of value, because they have no technical skills. They don't know the first thing about stonemasonry, or even proper metallurgy, as evidenced by their stone-age weapons and tools. The Dwemer built Markarth, and the Nords built most of the forts and structures they squat in when they're not in their silly little tents. In the intervening years, couldn't they have bettered their lots by acting like normal people and picking up job skills instead of whining about which lands belong to whom?

 

The Nords buy the ground out from underneath them so they can do something useful and productive with it, and instead of working up enough coin and enough influence to buy it back, all the Forsworn can do is rub those two little peas in their noggin together and rise up against the landowners. When that fails, they start murdering passers-by. Ulfric was right; these jobless, purposeless, tree-hugging squatters need to be wiped off the face of Nirn. Or, better yet, driven into High Rock where they belong; across the border west, they'll be right at home with all the other crazies.

 

I tended to agree with you, until I talked to Madanach and actually learned the history of the Forsworn. It's true they don't "produce anything of value" in the sense that we think of it - but is capitalism, stonemasonry, metallurgy, etc. really the best way of life, or only one of many?

 

I was ready to kill Madanach when I walked in the jail, but as he talked, it hit me: the Nords are doing the same thing to the Forsworn as the Imperials and Altmer are doing to the Nords. The Nords keep the Forsworn under their bootheels, and prevent them from practicing their religion. By the same token, Nords complain about the ban on Talos worship, and I understand that. Who are the Altmer, or their puppets, the Imperials to tell us Nords who and how to worship?

 

So how can we reconcile that desire the Nords feel to buck at the yoke of oppression, and feeling justified in putting down the troublesome and rebellious Forsworn? The Nords took their lands, cast them down and made them slaves, and now keep them from worshipping their gods, just like the Altmer do to the Nords. If I were a Forsworn, I'd fight like a cornered sabercat to get my way of life back too.

 

As for their primitive, savage religion - hey, it's their prerogative. Who are the Nords to say the Forsworn's old ways are any worse than Talos worship, which is seen as barbaric by the Altmer?

 

Anyway, that's just my two cents on the issue. I found it pretty cool how the writers were able to change my mind.

[skywyze]

I hated the Forsworn before this quest, but ended up siding with Madanach in the end. Here's why:

* Freeing Madanach puts him in a position to keep a tighter rein on his Forsworn lackeys, thus reducing the number of random killings and ultimately saving innocent lives.

* I'd choose death (forsworn) over slavery (Thonar) any day.

* It gives my character a useful and powerful ally in the Forsworn, rather than making my character the puppet of a cruel, selfish and narcissistic slaver like Thonar.

* I do not see TES Necromancy as evil, so the Briarheart ritual does not bother me, nor their association with witches and hagravens.

* Siding with Madanach means taking charge of your life, rather than being swept along by whoever's in charge. Noone throws me in prison. Noone.

* I see no evidence that siding with Thonar would actually reduce the number of innocent victims to Forsworn attacks. He's been too ineffectual so far.

* Since I deliberately waited until evening before leaving the prison, only guards were out on the streets. As such, the only people to die were the guards, and as we've already seen, death is the least of what they deserve for their willful public deceit and abuse of power.

* I refuse to side with a person who willfully lies to the public, recklessly abuses his power, frames me for murder, blackmails the innocent, dooms innocent people to death and slavery for life just so he can make a buck. THAT is what doing otherwise means.

* The only thing about the whole affair that I didn't like was shivving someone to prove my loyalty.

* I'd rate Thonar as Chaotic Evil, while Madanach is more Lawful Evil. Since I love Lawful characters, that makes the choice easy too.

 

Just my $.02.

[Khorak]

I didn't totally disregard the tales Madanach told me, and certainly not the one of the guy he sent me to talk to. The Forsworn have a legitimate grievance.

 

A legitimate grievance they crapped all over when they turned to evil creatures like Hagravens and murder innocent people just trying to scratch out a living. And even worse, Madanach was so enormously principled he sent his followers to butcher more innocent people at the request of a power hungry scumbag. Yeah, Madanach talks big, but he's a self-serving piece of garbage who didn't have the sack to accept martyring instead of doing the murderous bidding of another so he could have another chance to do his own murderous bidding. Now the Forsworn are happy to feed us tales of their suffering while blithely creating such tales not just for their Nord enemies, but anyone who walks the road. They destroy their own moral high ground, so they can shove it. At least the Nords aren't so completely full of s*** in their civil war against the Empire, "The Empire has turned into a huge sack of balls, we're out!". They don't have a moral high ground to dump on. Just enforcing their own sovereignty.

 

Madanach was my means to an end. I want out of Cidhna and to clear my name. Working with him is the only way I can do that (because in roleplay terms, your character could never know he had a way out....murdering him in his room is petty and meaningless, and just happens to work out for you).

[ZenMonkey47]

After carefully listening to the plight of the Foresworn, I gave into my werewolf side (about the ONLY time in the game it's actually useful) and savaged the King in Rags and all his cronies, exited the mine I listened to the Silver-Blood go on about how cunning he was to manipulate me into doing his bidding. So, I shot him in the back of the head with a forsworn arrow and threw his body off the waterfall to let it be uncermemonisly eaten by fish. After which, I went back to the mines and killed all the guards for good measure.

 

The Dragonborn is not a pawn to be moved by lesser men. :verymad:

[Nomad42]

First I listened to Madanach and followed him out of Jail until I realized what I did and kill him and his entire little army before they could kill anyone. I then reloaded and went straight to killing him and escaped on my own. This was without looking it up on the Wiki, I was suprised when me killing him actually did something.

[CptConN]

This is about the story that happens immediately when you first enter Markarth. The Forsworn Conspiracy

 

 

I usually go about quests by what it tells you to do and also helping the good guys. That ended up with me going to jail. In order to not fail any part of the quest, I had to talk to and listen to Madanach's story. My first attempt lead to Madanach and company slaughtering a bunch of people in Markarth, which I didn't want to happen considering this is literally the first quest I had in this city. So instead, as soon as Madanach unlocked the door to the city, I attacked him and killed all of his supporters.

 

 

What did you choose to do? Is there another quest from them afterwards?

 

Thonar and Madanach are both terrible people, so I allowed Madanach and his cronies to break out and kill Thonar, and when we got to the gates I stabbed Madanach in the back.