Skyrim:The Taste of Death

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Prepare a feast for the Lady of Decay. Quest Giver: Kleppr, Brother Verulus, Eola Location(s): Silver-Blood Inn, Markarth, Hall of the Dead, Reachcliff Cave Reward: Ring of Namira, Amulet of Arkay, and/or leveled gold ID: DA11Intro, DA11 Suggested Level: 6

The dining hall in Reachcliff Cave

Quick Walkthrough

1. Investigate the desecration of the Hall of the Dead in Markarth.
2. Clear Reachcliff Cave of undead.
3. Bring a fresh kill to Namira's Shrine.
4. Do the unthinkable for your reward.

Detailed Walkthrough

City of Stone

"What are you hiding, priest?"

Markarth, the capital city of The Reach, is a place of misfortune and decay, and the denizens rarely talk to strangers about anything but the endless problems with the natives of The Reach, the Forsworn. Fortunately, the innkeeper at the Silver-Blood Inn will happily share a few local rumors when asked, so enter the tavern near the main gate and find Kleppr behind the bar. One of the rumors may reveal problems with the local Hall of the Dead, that has been closed for unknown reasons. You are told to see Brother Verulus for further information, thus starting the objective that eventually leads to this quest. If Kleppr refuses to talk about the hall, you can find Brother Verulus yourself, as he will openly tell you about current events.

Inside the local, underground palace Understone Keep you will witness a heated argument between Verulus and Thongvor Silver-Blood:

Thongvor: "What are you hiding, priest?"
Verulus: "I'm not hiding anything. It's closed for a reason."
Thongvor: "Typical Imperial lies. First you take away Talos, now you're keeping us from seeing our honored dead? You and the Jarl will answer for any desecration of my ancestors' bodies."
Verulus: "That's enough, Thongvor. We're done."

After the conversation, talk to Verulus and he will deny you access to the hall and will provide a standard explanation. You can bribe, persuade or intimidate him, and only the first two options will get you anywhere. He will then explain the macabre situation in the hall and reveal the truth: "We've discovered that some of the dead have been... eaten. Flesh has been chewed off, bones were snapped to get at the marrow inside." Verulus then proceeds to ask you to investigate the Hall of the Dead and hands you the key to the hall.

Hall of the Dead

Eola in the Hall of the Dead

Moments after entering, a female voice will echo through the hall, saying, "Not many would walk blindly into a crypt, smelling of steel and blood, but not fear. I feel the hunger inside of you. Gnawing at you. You see the dead and your mouth grows wet. Your stomach growls. It's all right. I will not shun you for what you are. Stay. I will tell you everything you have forgotten." After the speech, Eola will then run up to you and continue in the same vein, trying to seduce you with suggestions and accusations. When she is finished, three options are available. If you choose the third option, the quest will immediately fail, as she will attack you, with no option to yield. You can still complete the objective and receive your reward from Verulus, but will never get to experience The Taste of Death.

If you instead pick any of the two other options and Eola will continue her seductive behavior, eventually mentioning the Lady of Decay, Namira, and a so-called safe haven for cannibals like yourself. Regardless of your answer, there is no turning back and the quest will start. If you ask her about the place, she will mark Reachcliff Cave on your map and reveal the truth about the desecration of the hall. Recently, the cave itself saw the dead rise from their graves, forcing Eola to flee and live in the hall and feast on the peaceful inhabitants. She will task you with clearing the cave, and will then cast her invisibility spell, asking you to meet her at the cave entrance. She will also assure you that the hall will see no further disturbances and will then be gone. Go talk to Brother Verulus and tell him the good news. He will be quite happy, hand you his Amulet of Arkay as a reward and return to his duties inside the hall.

Cave of the Dead

"Bring Verulus here. The Lady of Decay will do the rest."

Reachcliff Cave is located east and slightly south of Markarth and can easily be reached by crossing the bridge to the south from Karthspire. As promised, Eola will wait for you near the entrance and will seek you out as you approach. She will reveal that the opposition inside the cave consists of Draugr enemies and the whole cave has to be cleared. You can choose to have her as a follower, so accept and head inside. Watch out for the higher-leveled draugr in the second chamber and carefully proceed forward. Eola is a powerful follower and will not hesitate to summon a flame atronach or revive defeated draugr for extra help. In the catacombs, take a left for a difficult jump to a chest on a small ledge. After a short trek, you will arrive in a room with several draugr, including the boss so dispose of them all and take a look around; the chamber consists of a huge dinner table, and, in the southern end, the very altar of Namira. Eola will now approach you. She will thank you for reclaiming the Shrine and will ask you to bring in a fresh kill for your initiation into the coven, specifically a priest filled with the taste of the easy life, Brother Verulus. She will then hand you 100 gold to cover expenses and show you the way out. A shortcut to the outside world will now have opened in the room next to the Shrine, so exit the cave and travel to Markarth.

Champion of Namira

Death of a priest

Back in the Hall of the dead, the unsuspecting priest has picked up his daily routines and spends most of his time sweeping or praying near the Shrine of Arkay, convinced that everything is all right. Talk to him and ask him for assistance during your travels, which will net you three opportunities. It is very difficult but possible to persuade him to do anything, but will always accept a bribe (unless you don't have enough money in which case he tells you he doesn't feel like it and would prefer a glass of wine), so hand him some gold and he will tag along. Leave the Hall of the Dead and fast travel to the secret back entrance to Reachcliff Cave. When you enter the dining hall, you will find several well-known Markarth citizens seated at the large table, all hungry and ready for the evening feast. The table will be set with beverages, bread, cheese and two pieces of human flesh. A confused Brother Verulus will approach the table, stuttering. Eola will immediately be over him and will use her seductive charms to make him forget where he is and feel incredibly tired. She will then proceed to invite him to take a rest on the altar in front of the Shrine of Namira, something he will do right away. Listening to the guests' private conversations makes it quite clear what they’re all waiting for: the flesh of Verulus. Head to the altar where Eola will invite you to start carving the sleeping priest in front of you.

At this point, you can choose to kill Eola, which will net you a leveled amount of gold from a grateful Brother Verulus and a fight against all the dinner guests, including the quest-related Lisbet, dog seller Banning and Markarth market merchant Hogni Red-Arm. Killing Eola will cause the quest to fail.

Slay the sleeping priest in cold blood, which will make an excited Eola invite you to have the very first bite. Examine the dead priest and choose the option 'eat'. You will then be treated to an animation of yourself feasting on the still warm body of Verulus, and Namira will finally speak to you from her realm. "Mortal. I am Namira, the Lady of Decay. Your consumption of the blood and bile of Arkay’s own is pleasing to me. I give you my ring. Wear it, and when you feast on the flesh of the dead I will grant you my power.” You will then receive the Ring of Namira which increases your stamina by 50 points and allows you to feed on corpses for increased health and health regeneration of 50 points for 5 minutes (Note: If you are wearing the Ring of Namira and receive the Cursed Ring of Hircine from Sinding during the quest Ill Met By Moonlight for curing werewolf, you will forever be able to feed off of bodies and obtain +50 health and +50% health regeneration) Eola will then welcome you to the coven and will be available as a follower should you ever need her. When all is said and done, leave the cannibals to their feast and head out into Skyrim.

Reward

Levels	Reward
1-9	500
10-19	750
20-29	1,000
30-39	1,250
40+	1,500

Notes

• After killing Brother Verulus in the Reachcliff Cave you are able to search his body and thus get back your earlier bribe.
• Though Namira makes no visible appearance, there is an unseen NPC in the cave who apparently acts as her voice.
• After completing the quest you can speak to the other guests, many of whom you might recognize from the market place in Markarth. If you meet the guests later, while they are at work, you can ask about the feast to which they will respond "Only the guests must know." You may also encounter Sigar in the wilderness, feasting on a fresh corpse.
• After goading Verulus into following you to the cave, he will become a follower and will follow you anywhere until you enter the cave. He is a decent battlemage, preferring to attack with frost and lightning spells from afar and don magic armor and a dagger in close quarters. He can be a formidable ally on many quests, so you might want to lay off eating him for a while. If you already have a follower, he won't replace them.
• When wearing Namira's Ring, the guards may randomly mention your bad breath and ask you what you have been eating.
• If you attack any guest after completing the quest and receiving the Ring of Namira, Eola becomes aggressive. Killing Eola—even after quest completion—causes your journal to show all quest objectives as failed.
• If choosing to intentionally fail the quest in the beginning of the quest, especially as soon as you meet with Eola and kill her in the Hall of the Dead, Verulus, when mentioning that the "cannibal problem" has been taken care of, will only reward you with his Amulet of Arkay and his thanks.

Bugs

• If Eola somehow dies in Reachcliff Cave, the quest will end. Your target will no longer be there and the quest will disappear from your journal. There is no trace of you ever having the quest.
• If you carried in an additional follower as well as Eola, after the boss draugr is killed, your original can sometimes start attacking Eola which results in failing the quest. ^?
  • Before taking on the final boss, ask your follower to wait outside the door. After the boss is killed and Eola asks you to get the priest, then you can retrieve your follower.
• If you choose to kill Eola in the Markarth Hall of the Dead, Brother Verulus may become glitched and will continually approach you for conversation whenever you enter the keep.
  • This can also happen if you kill Eola after clearing Reachcliff Cave.
• After killing Verulus while he is sleeping, he may phase through the table so it is impossible to feast on him. ^?
  • Saving the game and reloading will fix this. You can also use the Unrelenting Force shout to get the body out from inside the table.
• The shortcut exit from the chamber next to the shrine in Reachcliff Cave may fail to open, requiring you to take the long way out. However, the shortcut may be open if you exit the cave via the main entrance and re-enter it through the secret entrance. ^?
• You may not be able to find Verulus and therefore cannot complete the quest. ^?
• Taking Lisbet's Dibella Statue from her dead body may cause the statue to become stuck in your inventory as a quest item. ^?
• If you have Dawnguard installed, the game may crash every time you get near Reachcliff Cave. ^?
  • Use the player.moveto command to teleport in and out of the cave.
• If you have the miscellaneous objective to inform Verulus that you've cleared out the Hall of the Dead, be sure to speak to him about this first. Failure to do so can lead to him glitching and not following you. ^?
• If you accidentally attack Eola until she's hostile while clearing Reachcliff Cave of draugr, she will sometimes refuse to yield. In this event, even if you clear the cave and use a calm spell to speak to her, she and all the guests will attack upon your entering with Verulus, and his essential status will not be revoked when he is coaxed into lying on the altar, rendering him unable to be killed, and the quest broken. ^?

Quest Stages

Introduction (DA11Intro)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
5		(Objective is assigned): Speak to Verulus about the Hall of the Dead
10		(Objective is assigned): Investigate the Hall of the Dead
15		(Objective is assigned): Tell Verulus the Hall of the dead is safe
20
200
The Taste of Death (DA11)
10		Eola in Markarth wants me to join her in worshipping Namira, the Lady of Decay, by feasting on the flesh of the dead. She has something planned inside Reachcliff Cave. (Objective is assigned): Clear the Draugr from Reachcliff Cave
20		(Objective is assigned): Speak to Eola
30		Eola wants me to lure Brother Verulus to the Shrine of Namira, so that her coven of cannibals can feast on his flesh. (Objective is assigned): Convince Verulus to follow you
40		(Objective is assigned): Lead Verulus to the Shrine of Namira
50		(Objective is assigned): Kill Verulus
60		Brother Verulus is dead, and I've been asked to feast on his dead body to complete my initiation into Namira's coven. (Objective is assigned): Feast on Verulus
100		I have feasted on the body of Brother Verulus and have been rewarded with Namira's Ring.
250		I killed Eola. Whatever she could have offered me was lost when she died.
500		I killed Brother Verulus outside of the shrine of Namira's presence. The cannabilistic ritual to gain Namira's blessing has failed.

• The following empty quest stages were omitted from the first table: 0, 12
• The following empty quest stages were omitted from the second table: 0, 5, 15, 45, 70, 200, 225, 600

 

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 DA11 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 DA11.