Gray Cowl of Nocturnal
From the OblivioWiki – your guide to everything Oblivion
The Gray Cowl of Nocturnal is worn on the head, and is given to you by the Gray Fox after the completion of The Ultimate Heist quest.
| Base Value | Weight | Enchantments |
|---|---|---|
0 
| 2 
| Feather 200 pts Detect Life 120 ft |
| Apparel ID: 00022E81 | ||
- Base Value refers to the value without factoring the effects of mercantile skill or NPC disposition.
The cowl is classified as clothing, not armor, so it has no armor value, nor a condition rating. It is unbreakable.
[edit] Special Effects
Become the Gray Fox
Bounty fixed at 500 gold; can be paid off, but only temporarily.
Infamy becomes 100
[edit] Usage tips
- The cowl is an excellent aid when dungeon-crawling. The permanent Detect Life effect makes finding creatures easy, especially when combined with a Night-Eye spell.
- Be careful when fast-traveling while wearing the cowl. If you have the cowl equipped and fast travel into a city, you'll "appear" just inside the city gates, usually only a few feet from the local guards, who will notice you almost instantly.
- If you need to walk through a populated region, be stealthy. If a guard notices you, run all the way to where you are traveling (for example, to trader or fence to sell your loot, and you are over-encumbered without the cowl). Remove the cowl from your head. After the guard speaks with you, resist arrest, hold Block (Right Mouse Button or Left Trigger or L1 button), point your cursor at the guard and press Use (Space/A Button/X button). The guard will calm, because without the cowl on your head there's no bounty on you. Make sure none of your allies (guildmates, etc.) are around, because if a guard attacks you, they'll attack him and the guards will kill them.
- The cowl may also be used as a second identity when gaining either fame or infamy. If you invoke any action that will increase either your fame or infamy rating it will be applied to your Gray Fox persona and not your "main character". This is very useful for completing quests such as those in the Dark Brotherhood; just wear the cowl as you are talking to the assigned NPC to complete your quest and the infamy will be applied to your alter ego (no more being denied healing from altars!). Be warned, as this works the other way around as well; make sure you take the cowl off when you complete quests that increase your fame (such as grabbing a Sigil Stone to close an Oblivion Gate) or else you will miss out on receiving increased fame.
- You can also use this if you decide to kill a few guards and once you're done killing simply remove the cowl and yield until the guards stop. Make sure you don't have any reflect damage or spell effects, since the guards will count that as an assault when they attack you.
- You can also get rid of the Gray Fox's Bounty by finding out what prison cell you'll be in. Example: Imperial City prison, drop your cowl in the cell you would be in when you get a bounty on your player, you will go into that cell, pick up the cowl, wear it and serve your time, when you get out, you will find none of the guards run up to you saying their line "You're the Gray Fox...", if you talk to them they will, simply yield them to stop fighting, and they should walk back to their places.
Note: For reasons unknown, the Gray Fox's infamy has apparently not yet reached the Shivering Isles, because if you wear the cowl in the Isles, guards will not arrest you, and you can even talk to them. Stranger still, if you take a quest from Sheogorath with the cowl on, complete the quest, take off the cowl, and talk to him again, he will still recognize you and you will still be credited for completion of the quest. This feature is useful when you are in need of extra inventory space in the Isles.
[edit] Lore
The Gray Cowl of Nocturnal was stolen, from Nocturnal herself, by the first Gray Fox, A.K.A. Emer Dareloth. The cowl is cursed such that the identity of whoever wears it is forever lost to history and they are known as nothing other than "Gray Fox". One of the in-game books details how the original theft was carried out, from the point of view of the master thief's apprentice.
If you examine one of the Gray Fox "wanted" posters hanging throughout the Imperial City, notice how vague the description seems. The Cowl of Nocturnal is really the only distinguishing characteristic of the Gray Fox, and can be clearly seen in the posters.
The Daedric letters on the cowl in the poster translate to "Shadow Hide You", and the one you receive translates to "Shadow Hide Yuo." The Elder Scrolls, when written, have an effect on reality, so the Gray Fox needed it to rewrite history and become the Count of Anvil again.
