The Ebony Blade, Sword of Deceit.

A basic guide consisting of information about the Ebony Blade, along with assistance to accquiring it.

General Information

The sword itself is said to be a daedric artifact, belonging to Mephala[elderscrolls.wikia.com]. One of the more dark Daedric Princes, Mephala is known for being seductive and sly, as her area of interference with mortals focuses around lies, sex, murder, fear and plots.

The design of the sword resembles a katana, more specifically a Kanmuri-otoshi style katana, as one can see the back of the sword thins out as it extends further from the hilt. With regards to the lore of Skyrim, the blade resembles an Akaviri Dai-Katana[elderscrolls.wikia.com].



The sword is mostly black in colour with tinges of grey being seen along the blade. The handle has engraved white designs such as circles and runes. The same white patterns can be seen along the hilt of the sword as well as extending up the blade itself. Due to the enchantment of the sword inherently being a life stealing effect, it has red blowing effect which will pulse occasionally.

As for game related information, the sword has a low base damage, being only 11. Sadly the blade cannot be upgraded via smithing either, as it can be read in " Admonition Against Ebony[elderscrolls.wikia.com]" which states that: "Not even the hottest fires of the Skyforge could melt it; indeed the coals themselves seemed to cool when it was placed within," revealing the sword's immunity to heat or normal forging/smithing techniques.

With a weight of 10 the sword is reasonably light for a two-handed weapon, as compared to other greatswords found in the game.

For any wishes to experiment in console with the Ebony Blade, its FormID is 0004A38F.

Strengths and Appeal.

In the last section I mentioned that the sword has a lifesteal passive. To be technical it is actually a health absorbtion passive. Basically what this is means is, instead of taking the damage you deal (For example 11), then healing for a percentage of that damage (A sword that does 10 damage and has 70% lifesteal, would heal you for 7hp per hit), this sword does a seperate amount of damage done as health absorbtion.

To put it simply, every time you hit an enemy, the sword will deal its base damage of 11, plus the level of the enchantment also drained as health for you. (11 Damage Base, 10 Damage Health Steal, 10 HP Gained from the Health Steal).



The sword starts with a base HP-Drain of 10 points, this then scales at 4 additional points of damage for every two friendly characters killed. This might not make much sense now but we shall get into it soon. The maximum amount of HP-Drain stacks at 30 points, making it deal a base damage of 11, plus the additional 30 points of HP-Drain damage, which will also heal you for 30 points of your HP.

For a weapon that you can accquire fairly easily at the low level of 20, it does a mediocore amount of damage, but has the ability to sustain you incredibly well through most early game fights and encounters.

As well as being an exceptional weapon for sustainability for the player himself, it can also be utilised as making companions tank even more than we expect them to. If we are being honest with ourselves majority of us will use companions as nothing more than a distraction and punching bag for our enemies, while we deal the true damage.



With the Ebony Blade equipped, your followers relentless attacking will also net them a large amount of health absorption, resulting in longer distraction and more overall DPS from your part.

Accquisition.

The sword can only be brought into the players possesion once they reach level 20 and have completed the Dragon Rising[elderscrolls.wikia.com] quest. Being such a unique weapon, it can only be obtained through a quest line which can be started by speaking to Hulda in the Bannered Mare, Whiterun.



When beginning the dialogue with Hulda, the Dragonborn should ask to hear about any rumors that may have surfaced. After pursuing this option a few times the player should accquire the quest to ask the Jarl about his children's strange behaviour.

Upon speaking to the Jarl the player will then proceed to speak to the son of the jarl, Nelkir. Upon listening to what Nelkir has to say, the Dragonborn will learn of a Whispering Door in the basement. This is the room in which the Ebony Blade is contained. Following some irrelevant dialogue, which ultimately leads to the stealing of the key to the door from either Farengar Secret-Fire[elderscrolls.wikia.com] or the Jarl himself.

Once the key has been accquired, the door is able to be unlocked, revealing the Ebony Blade on the table inside along with a book, which has been mentioned in this guide before, which will warn of the dark side of the blade.



Tolerating some more dialogue, the blade will finally be in your possesion and free for your use.

Upgrading the Blade.

As I have before mentioned in this guide, the Ebony Blade begins at a base HP-Steal of 10. This will then increase by 4 for every 2 friendly or trusting NPCs that the player kills. This amount can be stacked to a max HP-Steal of 30, meaning that one needs to kill 10 friendly NPCs to unlock the sword's max potential.

Friendly and trusting NPCs can be identified by a number of things. They can count as follower or companion that has been assigned to you by the Jarl, they can also be mercenaries you have just hired in a tavern. NPCs that you have assisted with favors will count as friendly, as one would be able to tell if they say things such as "Its a fine day with you around." etc.

Another option which I personally was not aware of until recently, is that NPCs who you sell Chopped Wood or Alchemical ingredients via the dialogue screen (Not the bartering screen) will count as friendly.

I shall draw up a short list of potential targets, taken from The Elder Scrolls Wikia. Refrences and bilbiography shall be made at the end of the guide.

Potential Targets

• Carlotta Valentia, after helping her with Mikael.
  
• The Chief of Thirsk Hall (Dragonborn DLC) allows at least seven Rieklings to become followers.
  
• Most Beggars after giving them a single gold piece to gain favor (an exception is Noster Eagle-Eye).
  
• Animal companions
  
• Orc Strongholds – Upon retrieving the Forgemaster's Fingers. Killing everyone in at least two of the four strongholds, including the miners, will charge the blade fully.
  
• Cicero during "The Cure for Madness."
  
• Amaund Motierre – killed at the end of "Hail Sithis!" after he reveals where the gold is.
  
• Aicantar in Calcelmo's Laboratory.
  
• If the Dragonborn chooses to slay Astrid instead of any of her captives during the "With Friends Like These..." quest and the members of the Dark Brotherhood during the "Destroy the Dark Brotherhood!" each provide a charge.
  
• Lucan Valerius and his sister Camilla Valerius after the Golden Claw is returned.
  
• Owned horses.
  
• Madanach and his followers during "No One Escapes Cidhna Mine". This can only be achieved if the Dragonborn decides to play both sides and attack Madanach as he is leaving the ruins. Killing followers can grant charges as well.
  
• Mercanaries that are hired will be counted as a friend and therefore will give a charge when killed.

As a personal prefrence though, I enjoy using NPCs that can be hired for your house with the Hearthfire DLC. It is in my opinion the easiest way as they can just be re-hired, and you never know if the bard is sleeping with your wife.

Sources, Bilbiography and Conclusion.

Throughout this guide I have used much information along with screenshots and imagery which I did not develope myself. These shall be listed below.

• For starters, majority of the information in this guide was taken from the Elder Scrolls Wikia[elderscrolls.wikia.com]. Most notably the page on the Ebony Blade[elderscrolls.wikia.com].
  
• Further hyperlinks I have put into the guide will all lead to articles on the aforementioned wikia. It is definitely a solid source of information and any queries can probably be answered with a bit of research using their site.
  
• For the Khajit holding the Ebony Blade, I took the screenshot from a build known as the Regenerator Build. This build can be viewed here[www.nuka-scrolls.com]. To be honest I would actually reccomend checking it out, as it puts the blade to its full use.
  
• The screenshot of the blade laying on the table is taken from here[www.justpushstart.com]. The source from which I took the screenshot is actually an extensive article on how to accquire the Ebony Blade, so if this guide did not satisfy you, be sure to give them a look.
  
• The screenshot of Lydia is taken from here[foldedtight.blogspot.co.za]. From what I can tell it seems to be a blog about Skyrim dotted with some good humor here and there, feel free to give it a look.
  
• Hulda's screenshot is taken from a gaming blog run by a girl known as Rebecca, she takes a large amount of screenshots mainly from the Elder Scrolls Series. The blog seems to have been inactive for quite some time, but can still be viewed here[elderei-blog.tumblr.com].
  
• The "lifesteal" icon is taken from Heroes of Newerth, specifically the wiki page about lifesteal. This page can be viewed here[hon.gamepedia.com].

As from me, I appreciate the support from anybody who viewed this guide. Any form of feedback is appreciated. I hope that it may have been helpful to you and I wish you all the best of luck in your Skyrim endeavours.

- Sincerely, Matzi and Rak-Rak.

[shogun459]

Tks 8 )

[Matzi]

@Shogun459, Although the lore implies it, sadly it does not Would have made for an interesting game changer

[shogun459]

But, does it have any negative effects upon the wielder? Such as the " Admonition Against Ebony[ elderscrolls.wikia.com ]" states concerning madness?

[Ket Leg Kieth]

you have to be atleast level 20 for her to give you the quest lads

[BBCgoth]

i can kill my memes

[squiddy101]

i cant find the kid the marker says to go to the dungeon but then it says to go back throught and i cant find him.

[a-ghost-fox]

'Tis a cruel blade, indeed. Lydia is my wife, I can't kill her!!

[Pegged Nog]

You cant upgrade it at forges

[Flameless Soul]

it maxes out dosn't it?

[elspeth]

Isn't there a requirement? She doesn't say that for me. I have gotten this sword before but i can't remember how i got her to tell me....