You remember the Knights of the Nine DLC, right? Back in 2006, Bethesda dropped this expansion for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and honestly, it felt like a weird fever dream compared to the Shivering Isles. It wasn't just a questline. It was a massive lore dump about Pelinal Whitestrake and the Priory of the Nine. If you spent any time wandering the West Weald, you probably stumbled across that crumbling abbey. It looks like a pile of rocks at first. Just a ruin south of Skingrad, sitting there in the middle of nowhere while the Great Forest looms nearby. But for lore nerds, that building is the heart of one of the most tragic, failed, and eventually redeemed stories in Cyrodiil’s history.
The Priory wasn't just a clubhouse. It was a holy site.
Basically, the Priory was founded to house the Crusader's Relics—those shiny pieces of armor that Pelinal supposedly used to massacre thousands of Ayleids back in the First Era. It sounds cool, but the actual history of the order is a total mess of ego, infighting, and failure. Most people think of the Knights of the Nine as these perfect paragons of virtue, but if you actually read the in-game books like The Knights of the Nine by Karoline of Gwylim, you realize they were kind of a disaster for a long time.
The Rise and Messy Fall of the Original Order
In 3E 111, Sir Amiel Lannus founded the order. He was a hero from the War of the Isle, and he had this grand vision of recovering the lost relics of the Divine Crusader. For a while, it actually worked. He set up the Priory of the Nine in the West Weald because it was a neutral, quiet place where knights could meditate and train. They even found some of the gear. They had the Cuirass! They had the Gauntlets! They were the talk of the Empire.
But then things got complicated.
The War of the Red Diamond happened. If you aren't a history buff in Tamriel, this was a massive civil war within the Septim Empire. It tore the order apart. Knights started picking sides. Sir Berich Vlindrel, who was basically the "bad boy" of the group, decided he cared more about politics than the gods. He left. He took the Sword and Greaves with him. It wasn't a clean break, either. It was a bitter, bloody divorce that eventually led to the order’s complete collapse. By the time the Hero of Kvatch (that's you) shows up in Oblivion, the Priory is a ghost town. It’s literally haunted.
Why the Architecture of the Priory Matters
Walking into the Priory for the first time is eerie. Bethesda designed it to feel hollowed out. There’s the main priory house, the stables, and the chapel. It’s a classic Colovian style—sturdy, stone-heavy, and functional. But the real meat is in the basement.
The crypts.
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This is where the game gets clever with environmental storytelling. You see the tombs of the original knights: Sir Amiel, Sir Caius, Sir Casimir, Sir Gregory, Sir Henrik, Sir Joscelyn, Sir Ralvas, and Sir Torolf. Each one of them represents a specific failure or a specific virtue. When you fight their ghosts to prove your worth, you aren't just doing a combat trial. You’re interacting with the physical remains of a failed dream.
Honestly, the Priory of the Nine functions as a moral compass for the player. To even sit at the table in the basement, you have to be "pure." In gameplay terms, this means your Infamy stat has to be zero. If you go out and murder a random traveler on the Gold Road, the relics literally fall off your body. The Priory is the physical manifestation of that "holy" pressure. It’s a quiet, judgmental building.
The Relics You Find There
If you're looking for the gear, the Priory acts as your base of operations. You don't just find everything in a chest. You have to hunt them down across all of Cyrodiil.
- The Cuirass of the Crusader: Found in the Priory itself, but only after you prove yourself to the ghosts.
- The Sword of the Crusader: This one was tainted by Sir Berich’s evil. You have to take it to the Chapel of Arkay in Cheydinhal to purify it.
- The Mace of the Crusader: Hidden in the Shrine of Kynareth. It requires a "trial of faith" which basically means letting a giant bug hit you while you stand still.
The Reconstruction: Turning a Ruin into a Fortress
One of the coolest things about the Priory of the Nine is how it changes. As you progress through the DLC, you recruit new knights. You find Lathon, Thedret, and others who want to restore the order. The building actually starts to feel lived in again. The dust gets swept away. The beds get used.
It’s one of the few times in Oblivion where your actions have a permanent, visual impact on the world map. You aren't just a wandering murder-hobo anymore; you’re a Commander. You’re the Divine Crusader.
But we have to talk about Umaril the Unfeathered.
The whole reason you’re fixing up the Priory is because an ancient Ayleid sorcerer-king has returned from the "waters of Oblivion" to destroy the churches of the Nine Divines. He started by trashing the Chapel in Anvil. The Priory becomes the staging ground for the final assault on Garlas Malatar. It’s the only place safe enough to plan a war against a demigod.
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What Most Players Miss About the Lore
There’s a darker side to the Priory's history that people usually skip over. Sir Berich Vlindrel didn't just leave; he became a wraith. His ghost haunted the Underpall Cave for centuries. When you finally confront him to get the Greaves back, you realize that the Priory of the Nine wasn't just destroyed by external enemies. It was destroyed by the pride of the people inside it.
Sir Casimir, for example, killed a beggar in the Chapel of Stendarr. This cursed him and his bloodline. Sir Henrik died defending the Shield of the Crusader in a remote fort. They all died alone, scattered, and miserable.
The Priory serves as a graveyard of good intentions.
When you restore it, you aren't just building a team to fight Umaril. You’re performing an act of spiritual archaeology. You’re digging up the mistakes of the First and Second Eras and trying to do better.
How to Handle the Priory Today (Practical Tips)
If you’re booting up Oblivion in 2026—maybe on a modded setup or via backward compatibility—there are a few things you should know about managing the Priory.
First, don't rush the quest. The loot in the Priory of the Nine scales with your level. If you finish the quest at level 5, the armor stats will be kind of mediocre. If you wait until level 25+, the Crusader’s Relics become some of the most powerful items in the entire game. Specifically, the "Whitestrake's Wrath" enchantment on the sword is a beast against undead.
Second, use the armor stand. In the Priory basement, there’s a mannequin/stand for the armor. Placing the armor on the stand actually recharges the enchantments and "levels up" the gear to match your current character level. This is a life-saver. You don't need to spend gold on soul gems or repair hammers for this set.
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Third, talk to your knights. Once you’ve recruited the full roster, they have unique dialogue about the history of the order. It adds a ton of flavor that most people miss because they’re just trying to get to the final boss fight.
Moving Forward with the Knights
The legacy of the Priory didn't really last into the Fourth Era. By the time of Skyrim, the Knights of the Nine are mostly a memory. There is a Creation Club pack for Skyrim that brings the armor back, but the order itself is gone. This makes your time at the Priory of the Nine in Oblivion feel even more special. It was a brief, shining moment where the gods actually cared about what was happening in Cyrodiil.
To get the most out of this location:
- Complete the "Pilgrimage" quest first to reset your Infamy. You can't even start the Priory content properly without doing this.
- Search the Priory library. There are copies of The Adabal-a, which is arguably the most important piece of lore regarding Pelinal Whitestrake and the founding of the Empire.
- Check the stables. They are often overlooked, but they provide one of the safest places to park your horse (like Shadowmere) without it wandering off into the woods.
The Priory is a reminder that in the world of The Elder Scrolls, nothing stays gold forever. Even the most holy orders can crumble if the people leading them lose their way. But as the Hero of Kvatch proves, you can always pick up the pieces and start over.
Go to the West Weald. Find the ruins. Talk to the ghosts. Just make sure your conscience is clear before you try to put on that helmet. It’s heavy, and the gods are watching.
To truly master the Priory of the Nine content, your next move should be focusing on the Wayward Knight or the Faithful Knight sub-plots found in the surrounding books—they reveal the locations of the hidden tombs you’ll need to visit before the final battle. Keep your Infamy at zero by visiting the wayshrines periodically, or the Priory's relics will lose their power at the worst possible moment. Look for the "Letter from Sir Amiel" in the basement for the specific coordinates of the Shield of the Crusader; it’s the most difficult piece to track down without the written clue. Once the armor is fully assembled, use the pedestal in the Priory center to auto-level the items every 5 levels to ensure they remain viable for the endgame.