Reset "Blood on the Ice"?

[xTrogdorx]

So, apparently this quest is set up in such a way that it starts via a 'counter' which increments based on the number of times you visit Windhelm.... or the area surrounding Windhelm, apparently.

 

So it's entirely possible that you will quest around Windhelm and trigger the quest without ever having set foot inside. Then when you finally do walk in for the first time, the quest immediately starts and Susanna is already dead.

 

At this point in my playthrough, Susanna has already been killed and disabled offscreen, and the first time I walk into Windhelm, the graveyard scene is playing no matter what time of day it is.

 

I could do the quest starting from this point. Susanna is a minor character with little to say. However, the fact that I never got to meet her on this playthrough, and that the game decided to just go ahead and progress a quest under the table, really gets under my skin.

 

So I'm wondering, can I completely reset the progress of this quest, and if so, what would be the correct process? I know I'll need to:

 

• re-enable and resurrect Susanna
• reset any flags associated with Susanna having died (so that the innkeeper etc still refer to her as being alive)
• disable the graveyard scene in such a way that it can be re-enabled by the quest later
• reset MS11EnteringWindhelmCount back to 0

resetting MS11EnteringWindhelmCount and resetting MS11, MS11kicker and MS11preessentializing are apparently insufficient. Halp?