What's the best way to earn money?
Here's a very popular infinite gold glitch. It doesn't work if you have installed the Oblivion 1.1.511 patch.
Step 1: Contract Porphyric Hemophilia via one of three methods:
A. Eat the "Beating Heart" item found on Msirae Faythung's body if you have the Mehrune's Razor DLC.
B. Let an NPC vampire hit you enough times.
C. Complete the "Darkness Eternal" quest for the Dark Brotherhood.
Step 2: Wait for three days and then sleep to become a full vampire.
Step 3: Speak to Raminus Polus at the Arcane University about a cure for vampirism. He will direct you to Count Jstar fish Hassildor of Skingrad.
Step 4: Go to Skingrad Castle and speak with Hal-Liurz. She will tell you to wait in the county hall while she brings the count to you.
Step 5: Speak with Jstar fish Hassildor about a cure for vampirism. He will tell you of his wife's infection with vampirism and how she fell into a coma from refusing to feed, and that the cure is not for him, but for his wife. He will then tell you to go to the settlement of Drakelowe, just north of the small fork in the Reed River's east side.
Step 6: Go to Drakelowe and speak with Melisande. She will tell you to acquire five empty grand soul gems. This quote from the
UESPWiki will tell you where these soul gems can be found:
* Calindil at the Mystic Emporium in the Market District has one, which can be bought or pickpocketed.
* With the exception of Skingrad, the merchant in each city's Mages Guild has one which can either be bought or pickpocketed.
* You can steal one from Melisande's basement (accessible through the fireplace next to her bed).
* There is one in the Arch-Mage's Lobby of the Arcane University. It is in a locked display case along with two more Grand Soul Gems that are not empty.
* There is one in a locked display case in the Mage Quarters of the Arcane University at the bottom of the staircase on the left as you enter.
* The Chorrol Mages Guild has an empty one in a locked display case in a room just left of the front door, and another one in a display case beside the stairs. If you are a Guild member, picking the locks and taking the gems will not count as a crime.
Step 7: Give Melisande the soul gems, and she will ask you to then acquire six cloves of garlic, five nightshade leaves, and two shoots of bloodgrass, the blood of an Argonian (acquired with an enchanted dagger provided by Melisande), and the ashes of the vampire Hindaril who lives in Redwater Slough.
(And a partridge in a pear tree). Note that there is a common glitch where the "Bloodgrass" topic does not appear when you talk to Melisande. Try saving before you collect the ingredients and loading that save if this happens. The bloodgrass must be fresh from the planes of Oblivion (or in the alchemy garden if you have the Wizard's Tower plug-in), otherwise Melisande will not accept it. To collect Argonian blood, you need only stab or kill an Argonian with the enchanted dagger and bring the dagger back to Melisande. Hindaril's ashes will be in his inventory when you kill him.
Step 8: Give the ingredients to Melisande, and she will tell you to wait 24 hours until the potion is complete. Be sure not to wait inside her house or she will become hostile as it counts as trespassing. There is a mine northeast of Drakelowe up the cliff, called Squandered Mine. Wait there until the potion is ready.
Step 9: After 24 hours, return to Melisande. She will give you two portions of the cure: One for you and one for Jstar fish Hassildor. Return to Skingrad Castle. Save your progress, as the next part of the quest is very, very buggy. Speak with Hal-Liurz again, and she will lead you to the entrance of the Chamber of the Lost in the courtyard. Jstar fish Hassildor will be sitting on a stool next to his wife Rona, who is sleeping in a bed in the far end of the chamber. Melisande will too be standing there and resurrect Rona long enough to administer the cure. Rona will speak with Jstar fish and then she will die, and at this point you can heartlessly loot her dead body. Do not leave the Chamber until this scene has played out fully.
Step 10: Jstar fish will ask you to wait for 24 hours while he sets Rona's affairs in order. Save, then come back in 24 hours. Talk to Hal-Liurz one last time, and she will go and get the Count. There are some cases in which Hal-Liurz will tell you to wait for the count, but she will not get him. You can either reload your last save, or break into the Castle Skingrad Lord's Manor and see the Count yourself. He will thank you for the cure, and give you a level-depended amount of septims if you select the topic "Reward".
HERE'S WHERE THE INFINITE MONEY COMES IN.
Step 11: You can keep selecting the "Reward" topic, and Hassildor will keep giving you the cash reward. Repeat as desired to keep obtaining money.
More info on the bugs and finer details of this quest
here.*phew* God damn, that took me a long time.
