With Friends Like These...

A Waking Nightmare

This quest begins once you complete Dark Brotherhood Quests: Innocence Lost.

The Dark Brotherhood has their eye on you. You cannot flee from their gaze, a fact that becomes increasingly obvious the next time you decide to sleep. Instead of waking up where you were, you appear inside a strange shack in the northern reaches of Skyrim. Your only option is to converse with a mysterious veiled figure in black.

The woman introduces herself as Astrid, representative for the Dark Brotherhood. Although you’ve demonstrated an aptitude for deathcraft and would be an asset to the Brotherhood, you’ve created a problem. The person you slew—Grelod the Kind—was one of the Brotherhood’s legitimate targets. Therefore, you owe the Dark Brotherhood a kill.

Astrid tells you there are three bound captives in this shack. One of them has a contract on their life. You’re tasked with figuring out which one and then slaying them. Only after the bloodshed will Astrid give you the necessary key to unlock the Abandoned Shack, allowing you to leave.

(Intimidate; Persuade) With each captive, you have a possible Intimidate or Persuade check you can make. Then make your choice and kill the captive you think is guilty:

• Captive 1: Fultheim the Fearless. This giant Nord warrior becomes more of a sniveling coward the more you question him.
• Captive 2: Alea Quintus. This mother of six children has certain anger issues. She’d kill you with her bare hands if given the chance.
• Captive 3: Vasha: A Khajiit crime lord who utilizes both threats and negotiation in order to win his release.

Guilt. Innocence. Right. Wrong. Irrelevant?

Spoiler Alert: Return to Astrid after killing the captive, and she’s impressed by your deductions. But the guilt of the victim you chose wasn’t important—after all, each captive was innocent. It was the loyalty and unquestioning nature of your kill that has repaid your debt. You are free to leave. But why part ways? Astrid officially extends an invitation to join her family and gives you a passphrase to use to enter the Dark Brotherhood’s Sanctuary.

• Abandoned Shack Key

Quest Conclusion

Journey south to the Pine Forest and locate the door marked with the skull. When prompted, reply with, “Silence, my brother.” The door unlocks, allowing you under the road and into the Sanctuary. Astrid welcomes you as part of the Family and hands you the Shrouded Armor. She is preparing a target for you, as well as the arrival of the Night Mother, but for now Nazir has some side missions to undertake for fun and profit. Head deeper into the Sanctuary and meet your new brethren. You can listen in on a conversation where the Family members share some of their exploits.

• Shrouded Armor
• Shrouded Boots
• Shrouded Gloves
• Shrouded Helmet

Postquest Activities

Dark Brotherhood Quests: Sanctuary begins immediately.