Skyrim:Destroy the Dark Brotherhood!

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Finish the Dark Brotherhood and rid Skyrim of their kind. Quest Giver: Automatic after killing Astrid Prerequisite Quest: Failing With Friends Like These... Reward: 3,000 gold ID: DBDestroy Suggested Level: 8

Destroy the Dark Brotherhood

Quick Walkthrough

1. While in the Abandoned Shack during the quest With Friends Like These..., kill Astrid instead of a hostage.
2. Travel to any city and talk to a guard.
3. Speak to Commander Maro in Dragon Bridge outside Solitude.
4. Travel to the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary and kill all Dark Brotherhood members inside.
5. Return to Commander Maro and collect your reward.

Detailed Walkthrough

Complete Innocence Lost by killing Grelod the Kind. When you are kidnapped by the Brotherhood and brought to Abandoned Shack, kill Astrid instead of a hostage and this quest will begin.

After Astrid's death, travel to any city and speak to a guard. Inform them that you killed the Brotherhood's leader, and you will be directed to speak to Commander Maro in Dragon Bridge outside Solitude. He can be found in the Penitus Oculatus Outpost.

After speaking to Commander Maro, you will be given the passphrase ("Silence, my brother") to their hideout and directed to kill everyone inside. He says that you should "have the honor" of clearing out the place, meaning you'll be going in alone.

Travel to the Brotherhood Sanctuary and kill everyone inside. It should be relatively simple, as this quest will have them spread out between each room (As opposed to them being gathered and chatting when you first enter as an actual member.) Loot what you please - an Iron Battleaxe of Chills on Arnbjorn, many poisons lying around, four different soul gems, a Word of Power in the Marked for Death shout and the Dark Brotherhood armor if you choose to take them.

Return to Commander Maro in Dragon Bridge, and he will be overjoyed and reward you with 3,000 gold. He will also make sure that the Emperor himself hears of your accomplishments.

Notes

• Astrid has a rather lengthy animation when she jumps off the bookshelf. She is able to be attacked, but will not attack during it, making her quite an easy kill.
• If your pickpocket skill is high enough, you can rob Astrid of her gear before you kill her, making her extremely easy to kill.
• Naturally, beginning this quest forever bans the character from joining the Dark Brotherhood.
• Babette and Cicero won't be in the sanctuary during the attack.
• Destroying the Dark Brotherhood prevents access to a number of lucrative quests. It does yield a good amount of valuable loot, though most of it is also available if you join them.
• Both joining the Dark Brotherhood and destroying it will prevent further assassination attempts against you.
• All members of the Dark Brotherhood are rather difficult to fight, so attacking only one or two at a time is advised.
  • In addition, it is not possible for followers to pass through the black door, meaning they cannot enter the sanctuary with you.

Bugs

• The quest may not trigger upon Astrid's death. ^?

• Typing setstage dbdestroy 10 in the console resolves this problem, and starts this quest.

Quest Stages

Destroy the Dark Brotherhood! (DBDestroy)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		I have killed Astrid, the leader of the Dark Brotherhood. I should report her death to a guard. (Objective is assigned): Report Astrid's death to a guard
20		I've spoken to a guard about Astrid's death. He told me I should share this information with Commander Maro, in the village of Dragon Bridge. (Objective is assigned): Speak with Commander Maro
30		Commander Maro has tasked me with killing every assassin in the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary! He has provided me with the pass phrase that will allow me to enter. (Objective is assigned): Kill everyone in the Sanctuary!
40		I have killed every assassin in the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary. I should now report back to Commander Maro. (Objective is assigned): Report back to Commander Maro
200		After killing Astrid, the leader of the Dark Brotherhood, I was commissioned by Commander Maro to wipe out the assassins' Sanctuary. I did so, and was rewarded for my efforts. Of course, it will now be impossible for me to join the shadowy organization...

• The following empty quest stages were omitted from the table: 0, 35, 255

 

Notes

• Any text displayed in angle brackets (e.g., <Alias=LocationHold>) is dynamically set by the Radiant Quest system, and will be filled in with the appropriate word(s) when seen in game.
• Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
• Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in any order. Some stages may therefore repeat objectives seen in other stages.
• If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
• On the PC, it is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage DBDestroy stage, where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages, but it is possible to clear all stages of the quest using resetquest DBDestroy.