Completing All Dark Brotherhood Quests

How to Complete the Dark Brotherhood Quests in Oblivion Remaster

This guide is made for new players or those who haven’t played in a while and need a refresher. It walks you through every step — from your first kill to the final mission. Follow along to become a full-fledged member of the Dark Brotherhood and uncover all its secrets.

A Watery Grave

First Dark Brotherhood Contract

Your target is Captain Tussaud, the pirate leader. Sneak aboard his ship docked in the Imperial City Waterfront and eliminate him.








There are three ways to get on the ship:

1. Walk up the main ramp — not very subtle for an assassin.

2. Climb onto the balcony behind the crates — but the lock is difficult.









3. Easiest method — hide inside the crates on the dock. You’ll end up directly inside the ship.








Once you're in the cargo hold, just move forward. You'll soon encounter two pirates guarding the entrance to the captain’s cabin. The staircase leading to the cabin is on their left.








Captain Tussaud sits at the table directly across from the entrance.








Approach him — after a short dialogue, kill him. Act quickly: you’ll hear a knock on the window — the pirates heard the fight and are about to break in. You have two options: either fight them or avoid combat entirely by escaping through the balcony behind the table.








If you're fast enough, you can get away unnoticed. (I didn’t make it in time and got spotted.)

Don’t forget to loot the captain — he holds the key to the balcony and to a chest filled with valuables. Check the chest and grab the treasure before leaving the ship.

Accidents Happen

In this quest, you need to kill the wood elf Banelin from Bruma. The bonus condition is that everything must look like an accident, and Banelin's guard, Grom, must not be killed. There are two ways to complete the quest:

1. Simply enter the house and kill both Banelin and his guard, Grom.

2. Stage an accident, as Vincent Valtiere will ask you to do.

The best way to enter Banelin's house unnoticed is to go through the basement. The door is locked with a medium lock, and the entrance is located at the back of the house.








(You can complete the quest without the basement. The first time I did it during the day, I simply entered through the main door. The key is to enter the house in sneak mode. If you're lucky, the household members may be in another part of the house and won't notice you.)

After descending into the basement, continue until you reach the stairs on the first floor. From here, everything depends on the time of day when you chose to do the task. If it's daytime, be cautious as you move upstairs, as household members may be on either the first or second floor. If it's evening, you should still be careful because there may be people sleeping in the areas you're heading to.









We need to climb the stairs in front of the basement entrance and proceed into the nearest room. There, we’ll find a hidden entrance where we can remove the trophy holder. Enter the secret room and wait for the time specified in the quest when the elf sits in his seat. (For convenience, you can buy a Life Detection Amulet from the Khajiit in the Dark Brotherhood to make sure the target is seated.) Once the elf sits, we cut the holder.









After completing the task, leave in any way. You can sneak out through the basement or simply run out the front door. The key is to avoid killing the elf's guard. Sometimes, he may bug out and start searching for you through walls, but don’t worry — just make sure to escape without killing him.

Scheduled for Execution

At the beginning of the game, the hero is in a prison cell, and across the hall sits a Dunmer named Valen Dreth, who taunts the player. Later, Vincente Valtieri gives the quest to assassinate him.

Bonus objective: Do not kill any guards.

Once you enter the sewers, turn right and follow the tunnel all the way to the end. You'll see a barred gate directly ahead, and to the left of it, a canal with closed grates.










You must pass through the barred gate (as shown in the photo). It has a medium-level lock, so make sure to bring plenty of lockpicks — there is no other way forward.

You can also open the side grates using a lever (see photo). Behind them, you'll find a chest with gold and useful loot.

After unlocking and passing through the barred gate, just follow the corridors ahead. The path is straightforward — you’ll eventually reach the only exit leading to the prison block, where Valen Dreth is being held.

Once you enter the abandoned prison block, you’ll hear two guards talking ahead. Don’t rush — wait for them to finish their conversation and leave.









Then sneak down the corridor until you reach the columns — stay in stealth to avoid being detected.

(Here, just like in many other Dark Brotherhood quests, the “Detect Life” spell is extremely useful — it helps track guard movements behind walls and around corners to avoid detection.)

After the hallway where the guards were talking, you’ll enter a room with large columns. Move carefully, staying hidden — the guard ahead randomly patrols the area.

🔹 Best strategies:

+ Use Invisibility magic.

+ Or sneak along the right wall toward the stairs — there's a lower chance of being seen.










After climbing the stairs, you’ll enter another room where a guard awaits. Like before, his movements are random.

The guard can behave in different ways in this room. He might approach you as you enter the new area. Or he might stay where he is by the table, then move up to the area you need to go.










🔹 Tips for this part:

+ Ideally, use an invisibility spell or potion.

If that’s not an option, try this:

Wait until the guard walks behind the staircase leading to the upper level. Then, jump onto the table, then onto the ledge, and from there reach the desired floor.
This is safer — if the guard reaches the upper level first, it’ll be much harder to sneak past him in the next room.

(In the screenshot, the red circle marks a spot where the guard might move to. You can go up the stairs, but there's a risk that the guard might bug out or get stuck in the wall. So, it's better to follow the path I showed you earlier.)











Once you pass through this area, you'll enter a new location — the prison where your target is held.

🔹If you continue down the corridor, you'll end up back in your cell.

🔹You'll need to wait here as the guard is talking to your target, Valen Dreth.

Wait for them to finish the conversation, and once they leave, exit the cell, ready for the next step.











As soon as you exit the cell, turn left. There will be a table with the keys to the cell. Take them to unlock the door and kill Valen. After the kill, you can calmly leave through the corridor and go upstairs.

Don't worry, no one will chase or harm you, as it's perfectly normal for an assassin to leave the prison cells, and no one understands how he even got in there in the first place.

The Assassinated Man

This time, Vicente Valtieri gives you a mission not to kill, but to save. He gives you the Dagger of Lethargy, coated with a special poison that puts the target into a deep sleep instead of killing them.

Francois Motierre is in debt and a hitman — an Argonian named Hides-His-Heart — has been sent to eliminate him. When you speak to Francois, he’ll reveal his plan: as soon as the assassin enters the house, stab Francois with the poisoned dagger. The killer will think he’s dead and leave. However, he’ll attack you, so you must escape the city fast.

🔹 Important:

+ Do not kill the Argonian.

+ Do not let the city guards kill him either.

+ Run straight for the city gates — once you're outside, the pursuit ends and the quest advances.

The next day, head to the chapel crypt in Chorrol. Francois will be moved there. Give him the antidote to wake him up. Then, fend off some zombies and escort him safely to the inn.

The Lonely Wanderer

After completing Vicente Valtieri’s contracts, the Hero is sent to Ocheeva, who gives a new assignment — to eliminate Faelian, Faelian lives in the Imperial City, in the Talos Plaza District and has a serious skooma addiction.

🎯 Bonus Objective: Kill Faelian in a secluded location without witnesses.

Talk to a familiar Altmer merchant in the Imperial City — he’ll tell you that Faelian lives in the Tiber Septim Hotel, located in the Talos Plaza District.












Go to the hotel and speak with the innkeeper. She’ll say she doesn’t know where Faelian is, but she’ll tell you how to find his wife, who can give you more information.

After you find his wife, use Persuasion to make her like you. She’ll reveal that Faelian goes to Lorkmir’s House to take skooma.

He’s there between 11 AM and 5 PM. During this time, you can kill him in private — if you meet the contract conditions, Ochiva will reward you with the Bow of Shadowhunt.

Bad Medicine

After completing the previous task, Ochiva will tell the hero about a retired general who suffers from health problems. He lives in a castle, under guard by a garrison, and only stays alive thanks to medicine. Ochiva will give you poison to kill him in such a way that it looks like a natural death from illness.

Bonus condition — you must avoid detection by any guards and kill the general with poison, so that the death appears to be natural.

Before starting the quest, if you talk to Teinava, he will tell you about a secret passage that leads to the fortress ruins. The passage is located near the fortress, hidden among the trees, and it is locked with a medium-level lock.














When passing through the passage, there might be issues with the guard. The passage is narrow, and it is impossible to hide from the guard because he will quickly spot you. After several restarts, I encountered a situation where the guard would patrol the entire route from the target to the passage entrance, making several rounds. If you don’t hide in time, he will definitely see you.

(Perhaps the guard's behavior is normal)

To fix this issue:

Save your game before entering the passage. This will help you avoid bugs during the process.

Use an invisibility potion or invisibility spell to pass unnoticed.

Besides this guard, there are no other obstacles. Just move through the corridors until you reach the room with the target. The cabinet where you need to swap the medicine will be marked on the map.

Whodunit?

One of the easier quests, in my opinion. Detective is one of the contracts given to the hero by Ocheeva in the sanctuary under Cheydinhal. The task is to eliminate five guests invited to the 'Summitmist' mansion in Skingrad. The guests were told that a chest with gold and a key to the front door is hidden in the building, which will remain locked until the end of the quest. However, there is no gold in the mansion, and Fafnir, the gatekeeper, will be the one to give the key to the assassin from the Dark Brotherhood, disguised as the sixth guest. Like other contracts, this one can provide not only money and career advancement but also a special reward. For eliminating all the guests without revealing the assassin’s identity, the hero will receive the unique blessing — 'Blessing of the Mother of Night'.

The best time to arrive is late at night. Most guests go upstairs one by one to sleep, making them easy targets. Dovesi Dran and Nels the Naughty may stay on the first floor, but they move around — wait for a moment when they’re not watching each other. Most importantly, don’t let Neville reach his armor in his room. If he puts it on, he becomes much harder to kill.

Permanent Retirement

Ocheeva gives you a contract to assassinate Adamus Phillida, a longtime enemy of the Dark Brotherhood. To earn the bonus, after killing him, cut off his finger and place it in his successor’s desk in the Imperial City.

Adamus Phillida usually spends his time at home with his lover. He’ll be wearing armor, and his partner will be nearby, making a stealthy kill nearly impossible.












You can stealthily kill General Phillida around 3 PM, when he’s bathing in the pond without his armor. Equip the Rose of Sithis arrow, aim carefully, and shoot — one shot will be enough. After the kill, swim to the body and retrieve his finger and the official service keys.










To earn the bonus, head to the Imperial City. The best time to break into the Imperial Legion office (where Phillida used to work) is at night. You can enter the Imperial Legion office during the day using the keys, but be aware — the place will be heavily guarded, and there’s a high chance you’ll be spotted. For a safer approach, break in at night. For example, when I went there in the afternoon, I had this picture











There’s another way in that works both day and night. Instead of entering through the main door, use the one to the left of it. Inside, on the ground floor, there’s an inner connecting door that leads directly to the target room. Using this route significantly reduces the risk of being spotted.












Pick the lock or use the key you found on Phillida’s body. Once inside, place the finger in his successor’s desk. After that, return to Ocheeva for your reward.

The Purification

After completing another contract, Ocheeva will hand the protagonist a letter from Lucien Lachance. In it, he requests a meeting at Fort Farragut. Upon arrival, the player must fight through skeletal guardians. Inside, Lachance will reveal that a traitor is hiding within the Dark Brotherhood. Since the hero joined after the first suspicions arose, they are beyond suspicion. Thus, the hero must carry out the Purification ritual — eliminating all members of the current sanctuary to root out the betrayal.

It's unclear whether it's a bug or intentional, but when I attacked one of the Brotherhood members, the others just watched without interfering. I was able to kill them one by one without issue. This might be patched in the future, but for now, the quest is quite easy. The best approach is to wait until the target goes to sleep and perform a stealth kill.

If you're having trouble killing the Brotherhood members in direct combat, here's a secret: Lucien Lachance gives you one poisoned apple and a scroll to summon a wrathful spirit. But that's not the only apple — there are 10 more in his stash. Near his table, there's a barrel locked with a hard lock. If you pick it, you'll find 10 poisoned apples inside. It’s said they even respawn over time — worth checking.














Take the apples and sneakily place one into each Brotherhood member’s inventory. Then simply wait — the apple will do its work, killing the target without raising an alarm.

As a reward for completing the Purification ritual, Lucien Lachance will grant you his horse — Shadowmere, a dark steed known for its high endurance and speed.

Affairs of a Wizard

This is the first contract from Lucien Lachance, received after reading the dead drop letter. Your target is the powerful necromancer Celedaen, hiding in the cave "Putrid Grove." Inside, you'll face leveled undead guarding his chambers.

Deeper in the cave, find Celedaen’s journal, Path to Transcendence. He placed his soul into an artifact — the Sand of Resolve. As long as it’s nearby, he lives. Steal it, and he dies instantly.













You can complete the quest in several ways:

🔹 Fight Celedaen head-on.

🔹 Sneak in and steal the Sand of Resolve — he’ll die instantly.

🔹 Paralyze him and steal the artifact while hidden.

Next of Kin

According to the contract, the hero must eliminate all members of the Draconis family. Start by traveling to Applewatch Farm, near Bruma, where the matriarch Perennia Draconis resides. When approached, she’ll mistake you for a courier and hand you a list containing the names and locations of her four children: Andreas, Mathias, Caelia, and Sibylla.

Alternatively, you can loot the list from her body after killing her.

The best time to kill Perennia is at night while she’s asleep. During the day, she might try to flee, forcing you to chase her around the area. To avoid the hassle, eliminate her in her sleep — it’s the safest and most reliable option.

Andreas Dracoenis is one of the sons and the owner of the tavern "The Drunken Dragon." The tavern has become a favorite spot for an Imperial Legionnaire, probably the only patron keeping the place afloat. There are several ways to kill him. You could wait until he goes to sleep, for example. However, the best and simplest way to eliminate him is to approach him during the day, in the presence of a guard, and say: "Your mother squealed like a pig when I cut her." This will provoke him to attack, but the guard will intervene and kill him, protecting the protagonist from the assault.













The guard placed Andreas's corpse on a chair, and seemingly, it was such a shock to him that he started drinking from an invisible cup.

Matthias Draconis is one of the sons, living in his house in the Imperial City. The easiest way to kill him is when he's asleep, as there won't be any penalty for the kill. The key is that he shouldn't be wearing armor, as it will reduce the damage he takes, making the kill harder, even if he's asleep.













Keylia Draconis is not an easy target because she is the captain of the Leyawiin guards. She spends her time walking the streets or at the "Three Sisters" tavern. A penalty will be applied for her killing, regardless of whether there are witnesses. She is the most difficult target in the quest.

If the protagonist has received a recommendation from the Leyawiin Mages Guild, his fellow mages can kill Keylia for him. To do this, wait until she is passing by the guild building, and select the dialogue option, "I'm afraid you're needed dead." After her response, lure her into the guild building and watch the show. At the end of this event, no penalty for the kill will be applied. An important condition. You don't have to hit her.












Additionally, if the protagonist wears the Hood of Nocturnal during the assassination of Keylia, the penalty will be applied to the Gray Fox, not the protagonist.

Sibilla Draconis — one of the daughters, leads a unique lifestyle, living in the Dirty Hollow cave with wild animals. This actually works in the hero's favor, as the only witnesses will be the animals, and they are unlikely to testify. Killing her is no problem — the easiest target.

Broken Vows

This quest is the third task that can be obtained from hidden caches scattered across Cyrodiil. The hero must kill the hand-to-hand combat expert, the Khajiit J'Gasta. J'Gasta lives in his own house in Bruma, he expects an assassination attempt and is skilled in hand-to-hand combat, so caution is advised. He spends most of his time training in a secret room, the entrance to which is blocked by rolls of cloth. You can go straight to this room and kill him there. Alternatively, you can sneak up on him and plant a poisoned apple.

Final Justice

The next target is a Khajiit huntress named Shaliz, who hides in the Sunken Mine to the north of Bravil. As the name suggests, the mine involves a lot of swimming through flooded water tunnels. However, there are enough air pockets in the tunnels to avoid needing water breathing potions or spells. Shaliz is the only inhabitant of the Sunken Mine, but she doesn't stay still and swims through the tunnels, meaning she could be anywhere in the mine. She will attack as soon as she spots an intruder.

The main challenge lies in the fact that the Khajiit wields an enchanted sword, which could be enough to quickly deal with the protagonist. The type of sword is determined randomly: an unenchanted short sword (only on levels 1–2), an enchanted short sword, or an enchanted long sword.

I haven’t tried, but you might want to try slipping her a poisoned apple. It might help eliminate her without engaging in combat.

A Matter of Honor

The new target is the Dunmer Alval Uvani, a merchant who travels across Cyrodiil. In the cache, you will find a schedule of his travels, which will make it easier to locate him. From the death order, you will learn that Alval Uvani suffers from a rare condition — an allergy to honey. A small sip of honey paralyzes him, making him completely defenseless. You can use this to your advantage by slipping him some honey in a tavern. Once he drinks it, he will fall and be unable to resist your attempt to kill him. Alternatively, you can wait for him to be alone, like when he's traveling between cities, and kill him then.

I killed Alval Uvani when he was in the tavern. Although there was no honey with me, there was a poisoned apple. If you slip it to him, he will eat it and die, and you won't receive a penalty for the murder.

The Coldest Sleep

This time, the hero must kill a Nord named Havilsten Frost-Blood, who lives in a camp on the Gnoll Mountain. In the camp, there is him and his trained wolf, both of whom are aggressive and attack as soon as they spot someone. Havilsten is skilled with an axe, making him a dangerous target.

Havilsten Frost-Blood doesn't eat, so poisoning him with apples won't work.

A Kiss Before Dying

The protagonist needs to go to Bravil and kill the Bosmer Angolim, who prays every night in front of the statue of the Happy Old Lady. He used to refuse to talk, but now he will attack. Unfortunately, the guards have been bribed by Angolim and will not react to the protagonist's actions. The hero should prepare well: Angolim is an expert in Archery, and he has a 15-point fire enchantment bow.

Angolim is a very tough opponent, almost like the final boss of this questline. His enchanted bow combined with paralyzing arrows deals significant damage and makes it impossible to attack him directly. The optimal strategy is to shoot him from the house, which can be accessed by climbing the beams, avoiding direct confrontation.

The house is located next to the statue of the Old Lady.











The method of shooting from the house turned out to be effective but dangerous. If Angolim hits you with a paralyzing arrow while you're near the edge, you could fall, and he will shoot at you multiple times. There's also a bug that prevents you from opening the menu after killing Angolim. This happens because Lashans can't reach us, but due to the script trigger, we can't move or interact with the game. As a result, it causes "eternal waiting," and the issue can only be resolved by closing the game through the task manager or terminating the program.












Trying a different method, I decided to have the guards deal with Angolim. If you hide behind the guard as a living shield, he won't shoot. There's also a chance that if you step away and immediately run behind the guard, Angolim will shoot and hit the guard, causing the guard to attack Angolim. Both options work well. You can either kill Angolim by shooting through the guard or have the guard deal with him.













But then something incredible happened that Bethesda didn't prepare me for. Angolim hit me with a paralytic arrow, and I fell, soared into the air, and landed paralyzed on a wall. After that, I flew up again, but so high that the entire city was beneath me. It was unexpected and, to be honest, pretty strange.












The key here is to pull yourself together and plan your landing in the water near the castle. If something like this happens to you, be sure to take note of it.













We landed in the water, climbed out onto the shore, and headed towards that bastard. He killed our friend, the guard. Now it's time for revenge. We shoot him with arrows full of rage. We've been through so much that we're no longer afraid, and now we charge straight in.













As soon as we kill him, Lashans scares us with his sudden appearance. He’s clearly frightened and accuses us of betrayal. However, seeing that the protagonist doesn't understand, he explains that his last orders were for the necromancer and the Drachonis family. Since then, there have been no further orders. Shaliz, Alval Uvani, J'Gasta, Havilsten, and Angolim were actually members of the Black Hand. Moreover, Angolim was their leader — “The Listener.” After this revelation, Lashans disappears into an alley, ordering us to urgently head to Anvil, where a new fake order awaits. Thus begins the search for the traitor.

Following a Lead

Lashans will order the protagonist to watch who will replace the contract in the next cache in Anvil, which is located in a barrel behind the statue. Lashans himself will head to the Applewatch farm, as he believes Fort Farragut is no longer safe.

In Anvil, the protagonist must hide behind the statue by the pond and keep an eye on the barrel. Soon, a Bosmer named Enilrot will approach and place the fake contract there (the "contracted" target is Arkwen — don't kill her!). To make the script work, you need to stand behind the lighthouse.












After speaking with the protagonist, he will reveal that he received the order to replace the contract from a "man in a robe," who lived in the basement of a nearby lighthouse until recently. Heading there, the protagonist will find the living quarters locked. The key is with the lighthouse keeper. The lighthouse keeper was on the very top of the lighthouse for me. If he's somewhere else, make sure to climb to the top later and enjoy the beautiful view of the city.












The path leads to the recently abandoned dwelling of the traitor. In the last room, you can find his journal on the table. After taking it, head to Lucien. Unfortunately, the surviving members of the Brotherhood found Lucien before the protagonist. Judging by the scene, Lucien's death was agonizing. After talking to the protagonist, Arquen will elevate him to the rank of "Informer" and ask him to return for a conversation between midnight and 3 AM. After waiting, and talking to the elf again, the protagonist, along with the other Brotherhood members, will go to Bravil to perform the ancient ritual at the statue of the Happy Elderly Lady. Arquen wants to learn the name of the new Listener from the Mother of Night, and she will explain the ritual of awakening the Unholy Matron. In Bravil, the protagonist and Arquen, with the other Brotherhood members — Mathieu Belamon, Banus Alor, and Belisarius Arius — will head to the sanctuary-tomb beneath the statue. After the ritual, they must descend into the tomb and listen to a conversation between Arquen and the Mother of Night. The Mother of Night angrily declares that Lucien Lachance was faithful to Sithis until his last breath, and the real traitor is still alive — Mathieu Belamon! At that moment, Mathieu kills Banus and Belisarius, then attacks the Mother of Night (the scene is scripted, and nothing can be done, leaving only to observe). With the joint efforts of the protagonist and Arquen, the traitor will be defeated. The Mother of Night will thank the protagonist, proclaim him her Listener, and transform the useless Blade of Woe into a beautiful enchanted dagger.

End

That's it. I hope you enjoyed this guide, as its purpose was for convenience and task verification. I’ve pointed out some bugs, and you may encounter them as well, but now you'll be prepared if you read through it. Thanks for reading it to the end. If it was helpful, I’m glad I could help!

Lastly, I can only say one thing: the Dark Brotherhood questline in Oblivion is one of the most interesting in the game.

[✟ᗫieᕼard✟]

This is most likely a bug. The best solution is to load a save made before starting the quest or at least before entering the city. I’ve had similar issues in some quests — NPCs would sometimes stay armored or refuse to sleep when they were supposed to. Only loading an earlier save helped.

[adth.]

Hello, unfortunately at the quest where we need to kill Phillida with the rose of sithis he doesn't take off his armour in the pound