Dark Brotherhood

The Dark Brotherhood The Dark Brotherhood is an organization of highly trained assassins who carry out assassination contracts. The Dark Brotherhood is called upon by those who wish to utilize their deadly services through a ritual called “The Black Sacrament”. They were once the most highly feared organization in all ofTamriel, but have lost their reputation over time. At one point, they were governed by The Five Tenets, which set the ground rules for being in the Brotherhood, but those Tenets have long since been abandoned. The Dark Brotherhood has been operating in Tamriel for many centuries, at one time having many clandestine sanctuaries across the Empire. They revereSithis, the avatar of entropy and chaos, as well as the Night Mother, who is the spiritual leader of the Dark Brotherhood. However, the Night Mother has not spoken to anyone for quite some time…

Joining or Destroying the Brotherhood

“Sweet mother, sweet mother, send your child unto me for the sins of the unworthy must be baptized in blood and fear”

―The Black Sacrament ritual

Any man or woman may join the Dark Brotherhood. Initiates must also display the ability to kill mercilessly, without regret or sorrow. As a result, their ranks include Vampires, Werewolves and Banditsas well as Mages. The player can go to any inn and ask for the latest gossip from the innkeeper. The innkeeper may tell the player that Aventus Aretino is trying to perform the Black Sacrament in Windhelm. Or, if in Riften, the player should speak to a man named Maul. He can usually be found standing against a post off to the left at the entrance of the city. After sharing some tough words, he can give information on both the Thieves Guild, and the Dark Brotherhood; for a price, of course. (Upon intimidation, persuasion or upon being shown an unusual gem, Maul’s information is free). The children at the Honorhall Orphanage will also speak about Aventus’ attempts to summon the Dark Brotherhood, which will give the player a miscellaneous objective as well. Speaking with Aventus Aretino initiates the questInnocence Lost and starts the Dark Brotherhood questline. After accepting Aretino’s proposal, the player is directed to visit the Honorhall Orphanage. Upon speaking to the children there, and they will tell the player Aventus Aretino escaped and planned to kill their Headmistress, Grelod the Kind, by summoning the Dark Brotherhood. Kill Grelod (the children will cheer and celebrate once she’s dead.)

24 hours after Innocence Lost has been completed, a courier will appear to the player in any city, with a note with a black hand and the words “We Know”. After receiving the note, sleeping in any bed will begin the next phase of the quest (the acquisition of this note is optional). After some restful slumber, the player is seemingly abducted by a Dark Brotherhood Assassin in their sleep, and wakes up in an Abandoned Shack. (This is where the decision to join or destroy The Dark Brotherhood can be made). There, the player is asked byAstrid to kill one of three people in the room, initiating the quest With Friends Like These. Killing one, two, or even all of the potential victims will earn the Dragonborn an invitation to join the Dark Brotherhood. The Dragonborn may also take the opportunity to destroy the organization by attacking the Dark Brotherhood representative, Astrid. This will initiate the quest Destroy the Dark Brotherhood! (This is the only chance to destroy the dark brotherhood because after joining, the Brotherhood members are otherwise unkillable.)

Killing a Dark Brotherhood Assassin (when attacked randomly, at a random location) holds no ramifications as the 5 Tenets have been abandoned.
There are no repercussions for sacrificing a Dark Brotherhood Initiate in Boethiah’s Calling.

A Werewolf can still sleep in any bed, initiating the quest.
Killing Astrid, or pickpocketing her with the Perfect Touch perk (which will allow the player to join the Dark Brotherhood), yields a pair of boots enchanted with the Muffle ability. (This armor feature is also obtainable by joining the Thieves Guild and becoming a Nightingale. The Nightingale Armor features boots with the muffle ability. You could also disenchant a pair of muffle enchanted boots (randomly found throughout the game) and then enchant any boots you choose.)

Joining the Dark Brotherhood requires a high sneak skill. Jobs done for them often need the Dragonborn to remain stealthy, and kill an enemy without being detected. A very useful perk to obtain in doing so, is Assassin’s Blade. To get this, the Dragonborn must have a level 50 sneak skill (along with the other perks leading up to it). It will allow sneak attacks with daggers to do x15 damage to the unsuspecting enemy. This will likely initiate a killcam of the Dragonborn slitting the throat or stabbing the other character in complete stealth (or there will just be a slash and the other character will just fall over dead).