Highlights
- The Dark Brotherhood is an elite group of assassins, feared and infamous across Tamriel, who worship the deity Sithis.
- The Listener is the leader of the Black Hand and can telepathically communicate with the Night Mother, guiding the rest of the Brotherhood.
There are many factions in Skyrim for the player to join, but the darkest and most mysterious one is the cult-like Dark Brotherhood. Known as the elite assassins and worshipers of the deity of dread himself, Sithis, they are feared and infamous all across Tamriel.
However, little is truly known about the inner workings of the Brotherhood. Due to its exclusive nature, only those who swear their allegiance and have proven their capability to kill without remorse are accepted into its ranks. If players are looking to join the Dark Brotherhood in Skyrim, they might want to know these facts about the group's background and inner workings.
Updated on August 8, 2023, by Jake Fillery: The Dark Brotherhood is illusive, dangerous, and elite when it comes to killing. If a black hand letter has been sent, then whoever receives it in Skyrim should understand that their days are numbered. The Dark Brotherhood is a faction of assassins and the best in Tamriel. Yet, by the time players meet them in Skyrim, they are past their prime, and in need of a Dragonborn to help them return to their former and feared glory. The player can encounter the Dark Brotherhood in Skyrim a few ways before ultimately deciding to join them or not. Whether they choose to align themselves with the assassins or not, there are some important things to know about the Dark Brotherhood in Skyrim to make the journey as their ally or enemy all the more meaningful.
15 The Importance Of The Listener
The Listener is seen as the leader of the Black Hand, the ruling bodies of the Dark Brotherhood faction. If one is a Listener, then they will able to hear the Night Mother, who will telepathically communicate to them, providing them with her wisdom and intellect that will help to guide the rest of the Black Hand.
There’s an intimate relationship between Listener and Night Mother, which is pretty telling, considering the Listener will be letting their thoughts open to that of a decaying corpse. To those that are Listeners, they will be at the forefront of the Dark Brotherhood. However, there have been some False Listeners, and their treachery means death.
14 Lucien Lachance, Spectral Assassin
A member of the Black Hand during the Third Era, Lucien Lachance was a brilliant assassin for the Dark Brotherhood and the one that recruited the Hero of Kvatch. Despite Lucien’s intellect and loyalty to the Dark Brotherhood, he was framed as a traitor, and violently murdered and mutilated. However, the Night Mother knew just how loyal Lucien was, and thus, he would be given the privilege of serving Sithis.
As a server of Sithis from beyond the grave, Lucien Lachance was able to appear as a Spectral Assassin, a summoned spirit of death that could continue to serve the Dark Brotherhood on the mortal plain. This means that Lucien was able to serve both the Hero of Kvatch and the Last Dragonborn.
13 Shadowmere, A Faithful Steed
The lore behind Shadowmere is a mysterious one. It can be assumed that this horse has some influence from Sithis. Otherwise, there could be no other explanation for its glowing red eyes and seeming immortality, as it’s a horse that is well over 200 years old from Oblivion to Skyrim. Shadowmere seems to have a mystical mane and fur, rather than just a black coat.
Shadowmere is extremely hard to kill and rises from the ground when it is summoned. Players would have first seen Shadowmere as the steed to Lucien Lachance, and then later, as a gift from Astrid to the Last Dragonborn. Shadowmere can be killed, but they will only return days later, proving that this steed can never be gone.
12 Astrid The Betrayer
Traitors are to be expected in the Dark Brotherhood. Not everyone can handle the pressure of being a murderer, who kills silently and for coin. With a contract to kill none other than the Emperor of Tamriel, it was inevitable that one of the members of the Dark Brotherhood would crack. Sadly, it seemed to be the leader of the Black Hand in Skyrim, Astrid.
Astrid betrayed the Dragonborn and the Dark Brotherhood for political immunity. Astrid will go down as one of the largest traitors to the Dark Brotherhood and will be remembered for all the wrong reasons to the assassin cult. After all, if Astrid was successful, one of the last Dark Brotherhood structures in Tamriel would fall.
11 Emperor Slayers
The Dark Brotherhood of Skyrim will surely go down in Tamriel's history as the only Dark Brotherhood that has managed to kill an Emperor. Hail Sithis! is a quest in Skyrim in which the Dragonborn and the Dark Brotherhood act upon their plot to kill Emperor Titus Mede 2nd. It’s part of the Dark Brotherhood's main quests in Skyrim, and essential to the future of the Fourth Era.
With the death of an Emperor, Tamriel further descends into chaos. Not only has Skyrim been plunged into civil war and lost its High King, but now Tamriel is without an Emperor. The Dark Brotherhood has changed the course of history, all for some gold coins and recognition of their illusive power.
10 Morag Tong Enemies
The Morag Tong was a rival assassin faction that was actually sanctioned into the law by Morrowind. The First Era was filled with assassinations, due to the Morag Tong embarking on acts of violence to prevent further violence, and balancing politics to stop them escalating into wars. The Morag Tong were responsible for the end of the Reman Dynasty and brought about the Second Era.
As an assassin faction, Morag Tong was rivals to the Dark Brotherhood. The two cults had a shadow war, and the Morag Tong succeeded in assassinating some key figures, like the Night Mother. However, with the Fourth Era, the dwindling numbers of Morrowind’s assassin group were wiped out by the Last Dragonborn, leaving the enemies of the Black Hand dead.
9 The Great War’s Impact
Despite the success and fear factor of the Dark Brotherhood across the eras of Tamriel’s history, by the time of Skyrim, they are just a rumor that people seem not to care about. The Dark Brotherhood is so weak now that it’s likelihood that people won't even know who Sithis is. Yet, why is this? What happened to the Dark Brotherhood to make them so weak?
The loyal Keeper, Cicero, details in his journal the events of the Dark Brotherhood, and how the Great War ravished their sanctuaries and left many of their members scattered, dead, and without Listeners. By the end of the Great War, the Dark Brotherhood had very few members left in Tamriel, with Cicero believing that he was one of two outside of Skyrim.
8 The Five Tenets
A long time ago the Dark Brotherhood was founded upon the idea of the Five Tenets, which are guidelines that rule over the members of the Brotherhood. A member is to never dishonor the Night Mother, never betray the Brotherhood or its secrets, never refuse an order from a superior, never steal from a fellow member, and never kill a fellow member.
If any of these rules were to be broken, the Brotherhood believes it would enrage Sithis and bring disfavor upon the perpetrator and possibly the sanctuary itself.
7 The First Listener
Initially, the Night Mother was not a corpse, but a living entity that supposedly ruled over and guided the Dark Brotherhood. However, when the last of her died, the Brotherhood's mode of operation changed.
Rather than being directly under her command, the Brotherhood would now appoint Listeners. These people can hear the Night Mother speak in their minds and tell them who needs to be killed next. The First Listener is an unknown man who claimed to hear the voice of the Night Mother in his head almost thirty years after the last of her passed away.
6 They Were Nearly Destroyed
In Skyrim, it's very apparent that the Brotherhood is long past its heydays and is suffering in ruins. Cicero especially claims that the Brotherhood has abandoned its old ways and strayed too far from what it was meant to be, relying on rumors rather than a Listener to find out who had performed the Black Sacrament.
This is because, during the Oblivion Crisis, many of the Brotherhood's Cyrodiil sanctuaries were destroyed and ransacked, weakening the faction's forces. In Skyrim, Cicero even states that he witnessed the fall of a previous sanctuary that became the victim of raiding corsairs. However, with the help of the Dragonborn, the Brotherhood is once more restored.
5 Sithis
Sithis, the deity that the Brotherhood worships, is a being shrouded in great mystery. It's said that he's the birthed incarnate of Padomay, which represents the forces of chaos and darkness in the Elder Scrolls series, constantly in balance and equal with the opposite force of Anu.
Sithis is a deity of dread and death, often associated with evil and darkness. His worship is often looked down upon across Tamriel, but he still holds a place in the Brotherhood's beliefs, as well as in some vampire groups and parts of Argonian culture.
4 The Night Mother's Identity
It is unclear who the original Night Mother was, but theories state that she was an assassin working for the Morag Tong, who then established her cult, the Dark Brotherhood. How she became the Night Mother is unclear. However, what is known is that a woman once birthed five children and was then offered to be the wife of Sithis if she killed all of them in sacrifice to him.
The woman agreed, and she became his wife. Yet, her cruelty resulted in her neighbors shunning her, and her house was burned down as punishment, hence her remains.
3 Details Of The Black Sacrament
When a person wishes to commission an assassination from the Brotherhood, they must perform a ritual known as the Black Sacrament. This ritual requires contact with the Night Mother, who will then speak directly to the Brotherhood's Listener to inform them of a new contract.
To perform the Sacrament, human remains must be used to build the skeletal structure of the victim, surrounded by candles. Nightshade must be rubbed on the blade of a dagger and a certain chant must be performed to invoke the Night Mother.
2 What The Black Hand Means
Visible everywhere in the sanctuaries of the Dark Brotherhood is the black hand symbol the faction has adopted for itself. This symbol has a very specific meaning behind it. The thumb of the hand represents the Listener of the Brotherhood, able to communicate with the Night Mother and find out what the next contract is.
The four fingers represent the assassins that will execute the word of the Night Mother after the Listener has spoken her will.
1 Falkreath Sanctuary's Destruction
The Falkreath Sanctuary in Skyrim is one of the last beacons of the Dark Brotherhood. However, as the player joins the ranks of assassins, he will soon be given plenty of clues about its imminent destruction. For one, Gabriella can be heard stating in a conversation that she has already foreseen her death, and, due to this, she doesn't mind engaging in risky contracts.
For two, if the player receives a reading from Olava the Feeble in Whiterun, they will be foretold of great destruction occurring within the Sanctuary.
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