Oblivion:Honor Thy Mother

Root out the traitor and end his trail of carnage. Quest Giver: During prior conclusion at Applewatch Location(s): Applewatch, Bravil, the Crypt of the Night Mother Prerequisite Quest: Following a Lead Next Quest: Whispers of Death Reward: Various treasure, Blade of Woe enchanted, promotion to Listener Fame/Infamy: Infamy +10 ID: Dark18Mother

The Night Mother is summoned

Quick Walkthrough

1. Once you are taken to the statue, Arquen will speak with you and open the hidden entrance to the Crypt of the Night Mother.
2. Follow the members inside, where the Night Mother will speak with everyone and declare Lucien innocent, and the traitor present.
3. Once the traitor is unmasked, kill him.
4. The Night Mother will enchant your Blade of Woe per character level, name you as the new Listener of the Black Hand, and permit you to take any treasures from the Tomb.

Detailed Walkthrough

The Lucky Old Lady

Once you are through talking to Arquen at Applewatch, the remaining members of the Black Hand will travel to Bravil and seek the hidden sanctuary of the Night Mother to ask for her dark wisdom. The remaining members do not know the traitor is among them, so you must wait until the time is right to kill him. Once you are in front of the statue of the Lucky Old Lady, Arquen informs you the statue is a mask for the hidden entrance to the Night Mother's sanctuary. She will then recite an incantation to reveal the entrance, and all of the members will enter before you; go with them to meet the Night Mother.

A Foolish Mistake

Once the Night Mother has been summoned, the traitor Mathieu Bellamont will unmask himself and kill Belisarius and Banus. He will then proceed to attack the Night Mother, at which point you will become free to act. Help Arquen, the other surviving Speaker, spill his blood.

Listen Closely

The Night Mother speaks of the unthinkable, but incredibly well-planned and executed, murders that you have managed to complete; she claims to have known about the traitor since he was a child and all things that have occurred since. She tells you that it is "dark fate" that has ended everything and brought you to her this day. You become the new Listener for the Black Hand, who must take orders from the Night Mother and relay them to the Speakers. She will power up your Blade of Woe and allow you to retrieve anything in her tomb. Make sure you take what you want, as the tomb will be permanently closed once you leave.

Notes

• It is advisable to carry little when you start this quest, as it will be your only chance to get anything of value in the Night Mother's crypt; if you become over-encumbered, you will not be able to return to the tomb at a later time to retrieve what you could not carry the first time. You can circumvent this by dropping items next to the Night Mother, collecting whatever else you want from around the tomb, and then picking them up again immediately before talking to her. You will be over-encumbered and immobilized, but this will not stop you from talking to the Night Mother, being transported to the Sanctuary, and then unencumbering yourself by dropping items on the Sanctuary floor.
• The Night Mother is marked as a Ghost, so Mathieu Bellamont's attempt to kill her will always end in vain, simply because damage cannot be dealt to her.
• An achievement will be unlocked after speaking to the Night Mother.

Bugs

• When you speak to the Night Mother after looting the crypt, it is possible to obtain multiple Blades of Woe. Tell her you are ready to leave and she will place it in your inventory. When the screen zooms out before loading, very quickly interact with her again to acquire another one. Rinse and repeat.
  • The Unofficial Oblivion Patch fixes this bug.
• Arquen may not begin her incantation after speaking to the player.
  • Enter the console, click on Arquen, then type resurrect. She should continue with the incantation.^{[verification needed — Does this always work? (see talk page)]}

Journal Entries

Honor Thy Mother (Dark18Mother)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		I should play along for now, until I figure out who the traitor is. I'm sure Arquen will give me further instruction.
20		Arquen has informed me that she will recite an incantation that will allow the Black Hand an audience with the Night Mother. Arquen also realizes this is all very new to me, and told me I'd be fine as long as I just followed along.
30		The incantation has revealed the hidden door to the Night Mother's crypt! I must follow the other members of the Black Hand down into the crypt. Once we're down there, the traitor will surely try to destroy the Night Mother. I must stop the traitor at all costs!
40		The traitor, Mathieu Bellamont, is dead, and the crisis that has plagued the Dark Brotherhood is now over. The Night Mother still needs to name a new Listener. I should wait and hear what she has to say...
50		The Night Mother has named me Listener of the Black Hand! It would appear my days of killing for the Dark Brotherhood have come to an end. When I'm ready, I should speak to the Night Mother again and she will use her power to teleport me to the Cheydinhal Sanctuary.
60		Arquen and I have been teleported to the Cheydinhal Sanctuary. I should speak now with Arquen, who will serve as my servant and guide in the days to come.
100	Finishes quest	I have spoken with Arquen and she has offered her guidance.

Notes

• 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 random order.
• 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.
• It is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage Dark18Mother 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. See SetStage for more information.

Prev: Following a Lead

Up: Dark Brotherhood

Next: Whispers of Death