In the DB mission where you are hunting Cicero in the Dawnstar Sanctuary, you will come upon a part where you are descending a curving flight of stairs, and right before you turn left into a large circular room (the lower floor to the only bridge in the Sanctuary) there is a table with random junk and a Skill book, and a wardrobe/cabinet that you can raid. The "blank" set of Shrouded Armor is on that wardrobe/cabinet.

Dark Brotherhood:

Pros:
- Easy money early on in the game.
- Enjoyable (if somewhat predictable) guild quest.
- 20000 Reward after completion of guild quest.
- Cool Armour.
- Access to advanced trainers (Alchemy and others I can't remember).
- Access to a follower if he survives and you can stand him.

Cons:
- Too much "Hail Sithis" religious crap. I'm a cold blooded killer not a priest.
- You have to get into a coffin with a many thousand year old corpse. I kid you not.
- Said corpse becomes your task giver after all is done. It's creepy.
- All the said trainers end up dead except the Alchemist at the end of the quest.
- Awfully boring side quests given by the dead lady. Go to location x. Speak with person so and so. Go to location y. Kill person so and so. No conditions, no prefered ways of killing them just kill them. Yawn.


Thieves Guild:

Pros:
- Plenty of Merchants and Fences at the end of the line which makes for easy money later on.
- Can eventually bribe guards to pay only half your fine and not lose any stolen goods.
- Guild quest can be tough at low levels. Fun but also (sadly) predictable.
- 4 Merchants inside your HQ eventually. Blacksmith, General, Alchemist and Mage.
- The coolest lloking armour in the game at the end of the guild quest. Especially for female characters. Personal opinion though.
- Advanced skill trainers (Archery, Sneak and Lock Picking if I remember correctly). They don't end up dead.
- Varying side quests that pays less that DB but is more fun to do. You even get to choose which you want to do.

Cons:
- Religion gets dragged into it too albeit to a much lesser extend.
- NPCS lack depth. Then again, I guess thieves are not deep people.
- You have to resort to common thuggery at points to progress. Luckily it stops after a certain point. So if you feel sorry for poor NPCS this one will get under your skin.
- Riften is almost as ugly as Windhelm. It's depressing to live here.

Of course if you just want the DB armour you can always kill Astrid instead of a hostage when she kidnaps you at which point you get tasked to wipe out the entire DB. Let the hunt begin.

1. you'll become rich very early in the game. This is a nice perk if you haven't started the MQ yet and looking to buy a house to store your loot.[/color]

2. You'll get some of the best enchanted light armor in the game, first as a guild member and then as the TG master.

3. Training: The only master level trainers in Skyrim for the sneak, pickpocket, archery, and lock picking skills are in the TG. And 2/4 of these trainers always hang out in the Cistern area which is accessible only to TG members.

4. You'll get access to a total of 10 guild fences all across Skyrim (also note that these fences increase the number of vendors you can sell the stuff you loot from dungeons btw). Four of these are in Khajiit caravans and become accessible after the TG grows to stage 3 in city influence in the holds. So you'll always have ready access to a buyer who will take your stolen loot. You also get a special price discount on all items and stolen loot if you barter with Tonila in Riften. The amount of gold Tonila has to barter grows from 1,000 to 4,000 gold as the TG increases in city influence to stage 4.

Stage 0 = Riften only
Stage 1 = Riften + 1 city
Stage 2 = Riften + 2 cities
Stage 3 = Riften + 2 cities
Stage 4 = Riften + 2 cities

Finally, to spread the TG influence, you need to do the city influence quest by doing a minimum of 5 jobs for Delvin and Vex in a given city.

5. Becoming a member gives you a place to live until you can afford to buy a house. The Cistern is also convenient place to eat, sleep, store all your loot. (note: if you're storing your junk in the Cistern, use only the chests near your bed)

6. You'll have a ready supply of cash from access to loot caches in the 4 city holds that you spread the TG influence to. Three barrels containing random leveled loot in gold/gems/weapons etc. are stored in certain locations in the 4 city holds. Check the barrels you come across in these holds for the Thief "Loot" Shadowmark. These barrels periodically spawn some really good stuff you can use.

7. You'll have ready access to the TG master's chest which contains leveled cash rewards/loot. This chest is located in front of Mercer's desk in the Cistern after you become guild master. But note that if you'll never become guild master if you DON'T return the Skeleton Key to the Nocturnal!

8. You'll probably get to own the 2 most expensive gems in the game--the eyes of the Falmer Snow Prince--after you beat and loot Mercer's corpse in the final boss fight. A bug in my game prevented me from giving one of these to Delvin. So I've kept both and displayed it in my manor at Proudspire ever since

9. After completing the final quest "Darkness Returns" by returning the Skeleton Key to Ebonmere, the Nocturnal will gift you the choice of 3 super powers. You're free to use these (but only one power at a time and once per day). You'll have to return to the Twilight Sanctum to switch between these powers. A shrine of the Nocturnal will also appear inside the TG. This is conveniently located in the Cistern to cure/heal illnesses and give a sneak blessing.

10. You'll get access to the Skeleton Key if you do the final quest. But I highly recommend NOT keeping this,--doing so will stop you from getting the 3 super powers from the Nocturnal in #9 above

11. If you complete the radiant quest and find all of Barenziah's gemstones, Vex will reward you with the Prowler's Profit perk. This vastly increases your odds of finding priceless/flawless and expensive gems when scavenging in dungeons.

12. Bandits will recognize you as a TG member when traveling on the road. They will no longer try to rob or attack you (assuming you use persuasion option when talking to them).

13. After doing 125 jobs for Vex and Delvin, you'll get access to the TG master safe behind Mercer's desk. This gives you random leveled gold/gems/useful potions

14. Crime Amnesty in the 4 city holds you extend the guild's influence to. As long as you're not busted for murder, you'll get 2 additional options
--bribe that particular guard to look the other way (but bounty doesn't go away with this option)
--pay your bounty on the spot at 50% of your bounty cost

If you complete the final quest, you'll earn 20,000 gold for all your trouble. That's on top of all the other gold you'll earn from doing the DB quests and side contracts.

If you opt against going the narcissistic route and choose to refurbish the DB instead, then you'll get access to the following perks/bonuses:

1. Access to a refurbished DB:

--a very LARGE master suite you can call your own. You'll get a weapons rack, storage, and special magical equipment for being the new Listener.
--an Alchemy Lab stuffed with potions and reagents
--a torture chamber where you can "interrogate" 4 victims into revealing where they've hidden their loot. This ranges in value from 1,000 to 4,000 gold for each victim, and so is quite profitable in the long run.

2. As DB master, you'll have an infinite supply of DB disciple groupies that are just dying to accompany their beloved master on his dark adventures. After you complete the final quest, Nazir will recruit 2 initiates. You can pick one of these as a follower. If one dies, just return and get the other one. If you manage to kill them off while adventuring, Nazir will recruit 2 more. Just return to the DB to rinse and repeat this process as many times as you like.

3. As the DB master---and the Nightmother's new Listener---you'll receive an endless supply of lucrative assassination contracts that you can perform whenever you feel the need to go on a killing spree. Simply approach the Nightmother and you'll be directed to meet upstanding citizens of Skyrim who have performed the Black Sacrament. Meet with these esteemed citizens to get some really lucrative assassination contracts (note: the NPC targets are random and unessential. The gold reward payment for these contracts is also leveled).

4. You'll gain the Cierco as a follower. Resist all temptation to send this particular Village Fool to Sithis. For fun and giggles, keep him around as a follower for a particular Daedra quest….