I got the quest "Innocence Lost" and investigated Grelod the Kind and her tyranny. See, I know the chick is a [censored] and all, but I'm a RP-ish player any my guy would never assassinate someone for any reason (sorry Dark Brotherhood, you must look elsewhere).

I'm very annoyed that there is no (or at least I haven't found a) option to spare her and complete the quest. Convince the kid killing her isn't the right option, etc. And now I'm stuck with a stupid quest in my log that I can't get to go away.

Any suggestions/help?

I would also not murder someone just because they are nasty.

But isnt that the whole point of the dark brotherhood? To roleplay a nasty character?

On this playthrough I wont do that questline, on another I might play a less moral character.
But I wish there was an option to convince the boy not to want to kill her as well, even if that meant never getting to do the dark brotherhood.

Just kill her, i found it rather enjoyable and left the building with a smirk on my face and a chuckle as my arrow pierced her face Hahahahaha

Then dont do it.Simple.
Its a precursor to the DB questline anyway.
Honestly,i'm getting a little tired of all this 'i dont wanna be evil' whining.

Why would you want to kill her?

You can choose to execute her instead of assassinate her, if that's more your style.

Ok, for those who think playing a rpg means having endless options, you are mistaken. Anyone who has ever actually played pen & paper games, or even the old text rpg's, or heck even read a choose your own adventure book, know that often you find yourself in situations where you only have a couple of crappy options. You can't complain when a DM tells you why you have only one of two options, you just have to pick one. If you try complaining the DM might decide to perma kill your character with a lightning bolt (I have seen it happen) or an exploding pumpkin (actually happened to one of my characters). In the case of Skyrim, Bethesda is the DM. They have offered you two options in this situation, for whatever reason there are no other options (guards don't care, kid is hellbent on murder, etc..). You have to make a choice, you might not like it but that is what a rpg is about. I have never, in my 29 years of rp'ing, played an rpg of any type that allowed me to do whatever I wanted, especially with regards to the story. So just be happy that you don't have to worry about the pumpkins blowing up in your face.

They don't have to give you 'every choice'. There should be simply a way to say that you don't want to do it and have the quest marked as completed.

so u want a dark brotherhood quest to give u the option of leaving her alive?

you must be new here...

I do agree there should be a way to delete unwanted quests from the quest log. I am really hoping to see that in a future patch.

Speaking of GM's there is an excellent & informative reply by the writer of this very quest that is the last post in this thread: http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1274041-innocence-lost-are-you-kidding-me-bethesda/page__st__120

Yeah was about to say you can kill Grelod and then...

You don't have to complete every quest you get - What if you change your mind later?

Unlike Morrowind, if someone asks for your help and you're busy or unwilling to perform the task at that moment, you're allowed to say "No" but change your mind later. You can always ignore "incomplete" quests.

This quest will only "finish" if Grelod dies, because that's the condition. There's no way to "fail" the quest, unless Grelod somehow finds a way to become even more Immortal than any Daedra: Even if she were to become a god, she can still eventually be killed.

She's so stubborn and intimidating that all demands that she step down from the orphanage have the same answer: "Over my dead body"

As others have said this is the start of the DB storyline.. if an accidently happens to her and she dies (sorry I missed the apple on your head with my arrow, lady) you can do some cool good guy stuff.


As for Grelod the Kind, you can't get her arrested, and I don't think ignoring the fact she beats the children is a terribly good act anyways (most of the kids meantion it if you talk to them). You might be killing her but you're saving the kids.

I plan on joining every single faction I can, including the DB....so that old [censored] has to croak.

I believe you can just command your follower to kill her. This is what I did, and haven't been contacted by the Dark Brotherhood (I slept immediately after to test it).

EDIT: I take it back, a courier just came to me with the Dark Brotherhood note, even though I did not personally kill Grelod. I guess completing the quest just automatically makes you join the DB. Oh well.

She beats the kids. Maybe that will give you the anger to kill her? But no, you can't spare her.

I prefer to say I saved her from living in that crappy town

As others have said, it's the intro DB quest, so you're supposed to be the assassin.

Eh, Emil's a decent writer but he's got nothing on the peeps from BioWare or Obsidian when it comes to moral choices. He's the guy who thought the original FO3 ending was "good" despite all the ridiculous plot holes.

I really enjoy Skyrim, but it's annoying that Bethesda insists on ramming quests down your throat whether you want them or not, especially if you have no idea what you're getting into. Oh, sure, you can just not do them, but then you have this incomplete quest having around your journal for all time. Bethesda needs to learn a thing or two about quest design and player expectations.