in order to destroy Cyrodiil. The prophet reveals that Umaril can only be defeated by a "Crusader" favoured by the gods and bearing the relics of Pelinal Whitestrake, the knight who had originally slew Umaril and banished his spirit to Oblivion. The player must then make a cleansing pilgrimage to nine shrines across Cyrodiil to show their devotion to the Nine, the gods of Cyrodiil. Upon completing the pilgrimage, the player receives a vision from Whitestrake, who reveals the location of his tomb beneath a lake surrounding the Imperial City. Upon travelling to the tomb, the player discovers the Crusader's Helm, one of the Crusader relics which had belonged to Whitestrake. The player also finds the corpse of Sir Amiel, a Knight of the Nine, a member of an order dedicated to protecting the Crusader relics. Sir Amiel's diary, found on his body, reveals the location of the Priory of the Nine, which houses the Crusader Cuirass. Upon arriving at the priory, the player must prove themselves worthy by defeating the ghost of the each old Knight of the Nine in single combat. Upon completing this trial, the player is given access to the Crusader Cuirass, and the ghosts then reveal clues about the last known location of each of the remaining relics. After collecting all eight Crusader relics, representing each of the original eight gods, the prophet gives the player the blessing of Talos, the ninth god, indicating that the blessing will allow him to completely destroy Umaril rather than simply re-banish him to Oblivion. The player, joined by new NPCs who have offered their assistance and now make up the new Knights of the Nine, attack Umaril's stronghold. The player then duels Umaril in the physical realm, before using the blessing of Talos to pursue Umaril into the spirit world and destroy his spirit. The player then wakes up in the priory among the new Knights of the Nine, who reveal that they had found the player's corpse in Umaril's stronghold. It is concluded that the Nine had resurrected the player, and the quest is complete. Development Prior to any announcement regarding Knights of the Nine, Bethesda had pursued a somewhat novel plan to distribute downloadable content through micropayments, priced from US$0.99 to US$2.99, instead of the more common practice of releasing expansion packs. The program was initially met with criticism by customers due to its alleged low