I noticed today that some items in dungeons have been marked steal for no apparent reason. I found some Lavender that needed to be "stolen" to be picked up at "Cragwallow Slope" today. I thought nothing of it since I was technically stealing it from a dead Conjurer. However, I found more items, mainly alchemy ingredients (including some Bone Meal.) marked steal when I tried to pick it up from a shelf in "Bloodlet Throne" after killing a Vampire Fledgling there. I couldn't find any references to this behavior and if it is a bug or not. The only commonality between these quests is that they were assigned by Enthir, the first as a part of Arniel's Endeavor (I found the Staff of Tandil there.) and the second as part of Onmunds request. It is important to note that I obtained Onmud's request before Arniel's Endeavor. I should also point out that I just became Arch-mage of Winterhold a little while back.
I'm not done playing the game yet, so I'd like to request that you give me no spoilers as part of your answer (at least without tagging it, so I can decide). Of course, you're unlikely to need any such thing, but I've recently had some stuff spoiled for me, so please bear with me.
In sum, my question is, is this normal behavior? If it isn't, what can I do to fix it? I already know of the "setownership" console command that I can use at a pinch, but I'd rather avoid that, if possible.
Update:
I found a youtube walkthrough of "Bloodlet Throne" and some items did seem to be marked steal in that video as well. This is heartening, but I'd really like to know what is going on here. Thanks!
Best Answer
This is most likely because the items belong to someone whether they are dead or not, so it will still count as stealing from them. Also it could have something to do with the fact that you are sent on a mission to steal items from somebody by Enthir.