The land of Tamriel is full of fascinating and sinister occurrences. Many of which are brought about by the rampant vampires, werewolves, and daedra roaming the lands, but they are not the only ones to blame. The Elder Scrolls series is no stranger to giving gamers opportunities to play as they desire, regardless if that means being an upstanding citizen or a deplorable fiend.
In The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, players get many options to delve into the darker side of being the Dragonborn. Great power comes with great responsibility, but those obligations can very well be for power by any means necessary.
10 Joining The Dark Brotherhood
Not only is the initial quest to join the assassin's guild very macabre, but all other quests in this line are as well. After all, the contracts one gets after joining this bloodthirsty group are all about murder. How one goes about ending their targets is up to them, which leaves the player with many options on how to dispatch their unsuspecting victims. Dagger in the back or fireball to the face, it's all well and good to the followers of Dread-Father Sithis.
9 Bolstering The Ebony Blade
For those aiming at a potent greatsword build and have companions to spare, this would be a suitable weapon. This daedric artifact is connected to Mephala, a deity of obfuscation and secrecy, and has many interesting traits. Firstly, from a functional standpoint, it is the fastest two-handed weapon in terms of attack speed, making it capable of high damage-per-second. Secondly, it drinks the blood of foes, granting the user health recovery on every strike. Most importantly though, it can be upgraded to be even more powerful. By killing companions. That's right, this sword grows more powerful with each ally slain.
8 Answering Boethiah's Calling
After traveling the northern province for a time, the Dragonborn may come across a strange book called Beothiah's Proving. Upon reading it, a quest will start that will lead the player on a dark and depraved path to please the daedric prince of treachery. Part of this questline involves leading a trusted ally to the Sacellum of Boethiah: a beautiful, yet hideous, shrine atop a cliff. Here, the player will be instructed to bind those they lured and sacrifice them in the name of the patron of sedition. All for the sake of some nice ebony armor.
7 Blood Of Mer
There's a clear trend that indicates the daedric princes being a bad influence on the player through all Elder Scrolls games. Though they are not necessarily evil, they just serve their own needs and care not for mortals. But from the perspective of lesser beings, their actions and directives are understandably interpreted as malevolent.
Another quest where the player can acquire a great boon, in the form of reading a unique book for instant level-ups, can be found in the far north of the game. After finding and speaking with Septimus Signus, the Dragonborn will be tasked with collecting blood samples from different races in order to complete an arcane experiment to gain knowledge from the daedric prince Hermaeus Mora.
6 Sunder A City With A Storm
One of the most powerful dragon shouts one can acquire is Storm Call. It summons a storm above the Dragonborn that creates a heavy downpour accompanied by powerful bolts of lightning that strike friend and foe alike. The indiscriminate electricity can be useful for outdoor battles with many foes. Or for the mass murder of innocents. Since the range of the called-up storm is so wide, it can wreak immense havoc if used in a highly-populated city. If, for whatever reason, the player wants to rack up over twenty-thousand Septims worth of bounty in under a minute, Storm Call is the shout to use.
5 Taste Of Death
Another daedric prince quest, this one offers the player a chance to become a cannibal. To the pleasure of the deity of darkness and shadow, Namira, one can join a cult in Markarth's Hall of the Dead and consume corpses. Like in many Bethesda games, there are pros and cons to cannibalism, so whether or not it would be worth it to join this group in their deplorable dinner is up to the player and what build they are using in that particular playthrough. Just keep in mind this is completely separate from vampirism and related bloodthirsty quests.
4 Sanguinare Vampiris
There are a lot of vampires in Skyrim. They seem to be everywhere, especially if the Dawnguard DLC is active. There are various strains of vampirism throughout the Elder Scrolls series, but the one that is most relevant in the northern province can lead to one changing over the course of three in-game days, during which the player will become increasingly thirsty for the red life essence of the living.
One can treat this as a disease and seek to cure it through various means, or they can embrace it and become a Vampire Lord with unique and terrifying powers.
3 Lycanthropy
For those who abhor vampires, there is another route one can take if they desire to become a creature of the night. One that does not leave the player vulnerable to daylight. Becoming a werewolf through the Companions questline can make the Dragonborn a deadly adversary for enemies. And since this questline is available so early in the game, it can be used to great effect. Being in beast form prevents one from using armor and weapons, but with ferocious, wild strength and a collection of other powerful perks, one may very well not need them.
2 Snaring The Souls Of Foes
If one is looking to enchant items, they are going to need some souls. The best ways to acquire these valuable resources are to cast the conjuration spell Soul Trap on a target before killing them or slaying them with a weapon enchanted with the Soul Trap effect. Most don't ponder upon what happens to the captured souls, even after expending them on enchanting endeavors, as at that point they are mere ingredients. Though there is information that can be found that implies those captured within soul gems are not dead but are actually imprisoned in another dimension.
1 Raise The Dead To Do One's Bidding
If merely trapping a soul for enchantments is not necromantic enough for the player, they can always reanimate corpses instead. The Raise Dead conjuration spell allows one to bring a fallen being back from beyond and enthrall them for a limited time. This is a great way to throw a pawn at stronger foes as a distraction while one heals or buffs. As the player's proficiency in this area of magic increases, they can even begin to reanimate much larger, and stronger, corpses. No one is safe, in life or death, from a master of conjuration.