Dark Brotherhood IN-GAME Hints to find the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary?

[mjames1234]

Hey everyone!

 

I was curious if anyone had any in-game information as to where to discover the general location of the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary? I roleplay pretty seriously (compass off, use map sparsely, realistic needs mods, etc) and I only go to locations logistically and directly if I hear about them by word of mouth, or have a general in-game knowledge of their location. Otherwise if the game doesn't give me clear knowledge of the location I have to discover it by myself either through general assumption of the land, books, public hints or knowledge of lore.

 

I'm going to nerd out hardcore for a bit here and share my characters reasoning to support my question with little to no spoilers, so bear with me if you've got the time.

 

Since the Dark Brotherhood were taking bounty claims on the Dragonborn's life on the road, I inevitably wound up on the quest "Destroy the Dark Brotherhood!", giving them a passive warning to stay clear from my business after I took Astrid's life, since my character A) has more important matters to attend to considering the prophecy and B) Isn't a bloodthirsty killer to wipe out an entire guild, since it would be hypocritical and ironic for me to murder every guild member just for them being a nuisance on my head.

 

The Dark Brotherhood assassins have been quiet after my warning, so I figured they learned their lesson to stay clear, but after I was attacked by a group of crazy Dunmer Cultists on a clear afternoon in the market district blabbering about my falseness to the public and worshipping a crazy made-up prophet Miraak (play along), my character has suspicions that after his heroism of the dragonborn has been spreading, and considering that the cultists were Dunmer and coming from Solstheim, that perhaps the Dark Brotherhood (splinter group of the Mornag Tong) were secretly siding with and sending shameful payments and political agendas to a smaller defunct operation of the Morang Tong since the Dark Brotherhood are helpless in order to spread lies and assassinate the Dragonborn for a silent revenge.

 

Now, finally to my question for anyone who's still interested and reading: Since my character has suspicion that the Dark Brotherhood has ties with this, his ambitions to find the Sanctuary is growing, so is there ANY information regarding the whereabouts to their Sanctuary in-game (i.e through a book, NPC, etc)? I find it ridiculous that Bethesda EXPECTS the playable character to know the exact location of a guild that wants to stay hidden, which is why I refuse to rely solely on my map since it gives away too much misinformation. I know there are countless quests that suffer from this same problem, but if anyone can direct me to a specific book or NPC that speaks of the general location or if anything of this matter even exists in-game, I would appreciate it. It's not spoiling anything for me really since I use the game's outside knowledge to my advantage when I need a directive, I just need a subtle marker to look out for. Perhaps I missed some information?

 

Thanks everyone! ;D

Edited March 6, 2013 by mjames1234

[Guy97]

I can't remember the exact quote, but if you are in Dawnstar, the citizens there will sometimes speak of a Black/Dark door that is scary and bothering them.

Edit: Nevermind, just remembered that that was for later quests.

Edited March 6, 2013 by Guy97

[mjames1234]

@Guy97

 

Thanks anyway for trying! I appreciate it! :smile:

 

It just puzzles me that Bethesda barely put in the effort of any in-game hints (at least to my to my knowledge) on the Santuary's whereabouts if you chose to rid of them. Even when you go to Commander Maro he's grateful to you, but in his speech he gives no vocal incentive on where it's located. I suppose since Maro knows the phrase to the door and that it's marked on your map, that he does have knowledge of the location himself, so he must of passed it on to you, just in an indirect manner. It would have been a nice gesture if they added some contrasting dialogue to Maro's gratitude, like "...however, in light of the situation for ridding their leader, there base is discreet among Skyrim - nowhere to be found. A squadron of our soldiers heading south were recently informed of a murder on the road near Falkreath Hold, but it could be a mere coincidence. Skyrim's roads are full of bloodshed these days..." I suppose I'm getting ahead of my own problem here.

 

and yes, I am aware on where the Santuary is in the game, but again, if my character doesn't know, then neither do I.

 

Regardless, it actually poses an interesting challenge if there IS any information in Skyrim you can find on your own that leads you to it even if you weren't given the direction by Commander Maro. I suppose it's logical to not have much info if your guild was dying out and you wanted to hide any trace of information, but to me It's pretty unrealistic for a roleplayer to search every nook and cranny like a metal detector if you really were that ambitious to wipe out a threat/or join it without a spec of information.

 

Does anyone else have any info on this? I'd be curious to know. Thanks!

Edited March 7, 2013 by mjames1234

[neiljwd]

I've not done ANY DbH stuff yet bar an assassin that was dispatched after me.

So I WILL keep an eye out for you, see if I notice anything when I get on it, and update, could be a while of course, big game. Not that I remember anything like that from 1st play throughs a year ago.

 

Out of interest, I take it you 'did' the activator quest for the DbH?

[mjames1234]

@neiljwd

Wow! Thanks! That would be very considerate of you to look out for anything during your next play-through, though it's hardly necessary for my sake. :smile: I was just curious since there isn't much info on any of the wikis about it. I'll definitely keep an eye on this thread if you decide to.

If by 'activator quest' you mean the one with

Aventus Arentino

then yes.

I naturally felt sorry for his loss, and because my character has a history of bloodshed having worked as an agent for the Thalmor, I played along and did his wish after what I saw of the Orphanage. I did it for his own safety and health, since killing isn't everything when you seek revenge for someone or even yourself. The way I saw it, it's better for myself to take care of the dirty work than for someone innocent with a whole life ahead of him to.

Fun Fact: Depending on the Era of the next Elder Scrolls and how many years have passed since the civil war, I'm actually considering to play as

Aventus Arentino

when he is an adult for my first playthrough, becoming inspired by the Dragonborn's actions, be it good or bad. Although, I have a hunch that Bethesda could use him again...

Anyway, thanks for the lookout! If anyone else finds anything or is aware of any lead ins, please be sure to post!

Edited March 7, 2013 by mjames1234

[neiljwd]

Lol, 1 month later, and Im back. Said I would be.

an nup zero, my characters found nothing on the dark brotherhood location - I've yet to talk to aventus - the lil boy, so you know where I'm at.

 

LOCATION FOR DB SPOILER::

 

 

I did though, randomly wonder into the DB door last night, while I was jsut meandering out of Falkreath. I'd genuinely forgotten where it was, saw a weird small pool jumped down to it, and boom, door.

So I guess it is possibly to randomly find it.

And if it's possible for me, it's possible for any NPC in Skyrim to stumble across it, and for word to get out that 'something' is up.

After all the citizens of Dawnstar know about their black door, and mention it in hushed tones.

[Anska]

This might be a little late and I'm not sure if your still interested in it. But if you have killed Astrid, you did get the follow up quest "Destroy the Dark Brotherhood", didn't you? Now, I know that if you are hardcore RPing yourself through Skyrim, walking up to the target of an invisible quest (in other words a quest that wasn't given to you by someone but just popped up) is out of the question, but if your character is looking for hints about the DB, asking a city guard doesn't seem so far off for me - and just about every guard in Solitude will point you the right way. (If you have "Destroy the DB" in your log)

Edited April 7, 2013 by Anska

[Deleted6503705User]

Yeah. Not sure how your character feels about guards, but after having killed Astrid, telling a soldier or something would make sense. Though, (and even though Im not as hardcore as you and just playing it through) I noticed the shack is a far ways away from ANY nearby town. So by the time you get anywhere, the character would have no reason to tell a random guard in a random city about a random assasin he killed. (though if you were to talk to any towns guard, the dialogue might eventually lead there anyway)

[Juranas]

You do get the Blade of Woe from Astrid after she bites the big one. A weapon like that that can claim to have taken so many lives over the course of the Brotherhood's existence has to reek of evil, or at the very least of power. (Yes, I know the actually weapon's not that great. Shut up. You're missing the point.) Makes sense that someone carrying it would have to be pretty damn important in the Brotherhood's hierarchy. Stands to reason that you'd mention it to local law enforcement.