This is a rewrite of my earlier post, so can a mod close that topic and leave this one open please.



I've made my character something of a "noble" thief. He will kill in self defence, he will kill those who are a threat to the defenceless, but he will not kill in cold blood, so it seemed only right to have my character wipe out the Dark Brotherhood. Sadly, this means missing out on an epic quest chain, and is kind of anticlimactic when you're essentially told "Great job, bye!" and just go on your way, with no kind of follow up to having wiped out the very last sanctuary.

I want people to treat this as an open discussion, feel free to leave suggestions and/or criticism, I can take it. My hope is that this will develop into an idea that Bethesda will take seriously, and implement into the game in a future patch.


Quest: To slay the mother!

Pre-requisites - You must have destroyed the Dark Brotherhood sanctuary near Falkreath, completed the Thieves Guild quest line and completed Waking Nightmare in Dawnstar.



Now, as we know, Cicero and the night mother are inside the Dawnstar Sanctuary, and will be until a little while after you start working for the brotherhood, which is what brings me to my idea.

Some time after completing all the necessary quests, you receive a letter from the Jarl of Dawnstar, asking for you to return as he requires your aid, as you helped the city once before. You travel to Dawnstar and are told of a murderer who has been seen at night, and has claimed two victims already. Nobody has seen the mans face, and despite following the sound of bells and insane laughter, none of the guards could catch him. You are then sent to investigate the latest murder, and recognise the black hand as the symbol of the brotherhood, which an npc helpfully says is impossible, as you wiped out their last remaining sanctuary near Falkreath not long ago, and mentions that even Babette was finally found and executed in Dragon Bridge as she tried to make her way to Solitude to escape by ship.

A couple of days go by, and the steward writes to you again, saying that they have been reading up on old sanctuaries, just in case one is nearby, and it turns out that one is, and they know where. You are then instructed to go there find the killer, and if possible, finally destroy the wicked night mother.

You travel there, go through the whole zone, meet and kill Cicero, who is even more types of crazy because of what happened to the last remaining sanctuary, and I've even thought of what abilities he could have (this needs to be epic enough to properly replace the DB quest chain you lose out on if you go this route).



Boss fight: Cicero

Spells:

Insane laugh - A burst of laughter that has the same effect as unrelenting force.
Shadow storm - He can make the room go pitch black, in this time he will retreat to a wall and start to regenerate health, darkness can be dispelled with max level fire or frost breath, dispelling the darkness stuns Cicero for a few seconds.

Skills:

Shadow step - Cicero steps backwards and disappears, reappearing behind you to do a backstab, cannot be blocked, but can be avoided if the player moves forward fast enough.
Hysterical Fit - Cicero screams in rage and begins launching a flurry of powerful attacks that can kill the player if not blocked or avoided, lasts for ten seconds.



After Cicero dies, he makes a comment about finally being able to hear the laughter again. The room goes dark once more, and a skull appears before you. A low, shrieking voice issues forth, warning you of your folly, and of your doom. The darkness fades, and the night mother stands before you, her form is as hideous as you would expect. She curses you for killing her poor, sweet Cicero, and for wiping out the last remnants of the dark brotherhood, before vowing to rebuild it all after tearing you apart.



Boss fight: Night Mother

Spells:

Dark Covenant - at 75%, 50%, 25% & 5% health she will disappear, and six assassins will appear, you need to kill them all to make her reappear.
Will of Sithis - She screams and you are sent flying into a wall, losing 25% of your health, and an extra one percent every second until breaking her spell by casting unrelenting force and successfully hitting her (yes, she will be moving).

Skills:

Soul strike - She jumps back, screams and lunges at you, taking 50% health if you don't block or avoid it.
Insane Wrath - Same as Cicero's Hysterical fit, but significantly harder to survive.



After she dies, a loud shriek of pain and fury is heard as her soul is torn from her body and flung into the void, and her body melts into a puddle of black goo. The ground shakes and you are brought to your knees, your vision blurs and Sithis speaks again, you can't move, and it seems Sithis is about to crush you, but a familiar voice demands that he stop, he refuses, and then screams in pain and rage as the entire room is filled with a brilliant blue light, and then everything goes black as you pass out.

You reawaken inside the room, and see Nocturnal standing over you, her face as emotionless as ever. She tells you that this is the only time she will step in on your behalf, and it was only to repay her debt to you, as you were the one who slew Mercer Frey and returned the Skeleton Key to the Twilight Sepulchre. She then instructs you to claim this place as your home, to remind Sithis that Nocturnal, and her servants, are not to be trifled with, and also to let him know that she is watching him, and will be ready should he return.

Why don't you mod it in

Not trying to be sarcy, but don't you think I'd do that if I could?

I can write the story, sure, I'm a writer by nature, but when it comes to coding and the like, I'd have no clue where to even begin.

There's also the fact that this kind of thing really should have been in the game from the start, the destroy the dark brotherhood quest was a collossal let down considering the quest chain you miss out on.

Yeah, I kinda agree. But I also think there should be an option in which you only kill Astrid and tell that general to solve his own business, since you've got no interest in killing the rest of them.

For example, my present character never really had any beef with the Dark Brotherhood as an organization. She only wanted to get Astrid, because she's sent assassin after assassin after me for no apparent reason. So instead of completely wiping out the entire organization, she only killed Astrid, freed her hostages and put Astrid's belongings plus a little trademark item in the DB sanctuary. As if to say "I survived multiple assassin attacks, so I just killed your leader, I also know where to find you, and I even managed to sneak into your home base undetected. So if you're smart, you'd better forget about sending any other assassins after me. Retribution can and will be dealt accordingly."

I never met any assassins anymore. (Of course, the quest still remains active, but I'm quite happy with this situation, so yeah. Makes me feel superior too. xD Besides, there are other quests which will never get solved either.)

/Edit: Also, on a side note; you say you're playing as a noble thief. How do you manage that? I'm truly interested. Because that was easily done in Oblivion, but in Skyrim the Thieves' Guild spreads corruption and is more of a thug organization. You're literally driving other people out of business. they may be saying they won't kill anyone, but ruining someone so they can't get money for bread anymore is about the same as killing someone, albeit indirectly. Certainly not a noble cause imo.

Yeah, Bethesda should've got writers like Salvatore, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, James Herbert and so on to give them ideas on really developing the story, with multiple paths the player can choose, consequences for various actions or inactions, and so on.

I'm being serious there btw, if you wanna fill your world with good stories, get help from people who do it for a living

Your plan isn't very well thought out.

Seriously though: that would be sweet because I run the DB on one character, but killed Astryd on the other. I'd like to see a questline in an expansion (all expansions actually) for both sides.

Have you done the DB questline on another character?

@ Members: Well, if my character ends up as the guild master, he can redirect them toward less thuggish things, that's how I see it anyway.

As for being a noble thief, I already explained a little. He will kill in self defense, but never in cold blood. He will steal from the rich , but never from the poor (he also always gives money to beggars, too). And as for collecting debts owed, he sees it as "They shouldn't have borrowed money from the Thieves Guild in the first place." My character has a backstory, I'm thinking of submitting it to the guy who is doing the Dovakiin's Hideout mod so people can read it.

Oh, he also has a searing hatred for anybody that threatens the weak and/or defenseless, which is why he killed Sibbi Black-Briar in his cell after finding out the truth about Svidi.

Yes, I have done the DB questline on another character, and found myself liking the Emporer far more than I expected to XD

Yep. I'm killing Maven as soon as the game lets me. I often beat her down to her knees after saving, but right before I log out many nights.

I refused a bunch of Vex's/Delvin's jobs if I liked the mark.


OK then. I thought it was a cool storyline - I hope they add to it in expansions. I respected the Emperor for accepting his death with dignity, but I didn't like him (the whole White-Gold Concordat thing). I told him I would consider killing Motierre so he could die with some peace of mind, but I didn't actually kill Motierre because it's not what should be done in the course of the DB's business. That being said I was sure that the drop was a setup so I saved right before the last conversation with Motierre (in case I had to reload and 'dispatch' him ), but when I got to the drop location I wasn't ambushed - I was shocked.

Derp, I saw "Members" under your profile pic and thought it was your username, epic fail XD

Yeah, but it's not like he had a choice when signing the treaty, the empire was already on its knees, would you rather have your people be utterly wiped out or enslaved in favour of foolish pride?

I didn't answer the emporer when he asked me to kill Motiere, cos I was playing my assassin as the silent type, but you can be sure I killed him, and yes the drop is still there (you need to learn its location first though, I think).

I just figured you were addressing all of us.

I'm a bit more stubborn. I would rather see every last one of my people killed while being free than for them to live subjugated by a foreign dictatorship. Distasteful for most I realize, but I'm old. Also, if an enemy is offering a treaty then they are most likely not at their strongest so I would've kept fighting by hook or by crook at that point. It may just be kinda' bad now (ban of Talos worship), but the Aldmeri Dominion isn't finished - it'll get way worse as they regain their strength. Aw crap, I fear I may have turned this into another Aldmeri Dominion history thread.

You are correct, but the empire can also regain their strength (or they could, if Ulfric wasn't a power-hungry [censored]. Seriously, listen to how he sounds, he sounds braindamaged, especially when he says "For Skyrim" after you do a mission, with literally no emotion whatsoever).

I actually like Ulfric. He just seems more sincere and less condescending than Tullius in his looped dialogue in the Palace of Kings.

Sure he sounds nicer, but see how he treats non-nords? Yeah, he's a racist scumbag, and I have a hard time believing his actions are anything less than entirely self-serving. He isn't after a free skyrim, he's after the high kings throne, and will kill anybody who stands in his way. He's a megalomaniac, and very hard to like as you learn more about him.

Tullius is an arrogant [censored], sure, but at least he has the sense to realise that a divided Skyrim is exactly what the Thalmor want, and says as much if you side with Ulfric.

I've never witnessed any of Ulfric's alleged racism - just what a few NPCs claim, but plenty of the NPCs lie or make statements on their narrow scope of knowledge and people often blame racism for their own lack of success. For better or worse: I just can't get past the ban of Talos worship. Most (if not all) repressive regimes persecute one or more religious groups so I'll side with the Stormcloaks on my 2nd character if I do the civil war questline at all. Lesser of two evils at best and if one emperor can be taken out so can the next. Eventually we'll get it right - I'm the Dragonborn, damn it!

Hmmm, guess I hadn't thought of it like that. I did choose Ulfric first, then I chose Tullius, and now I'm gonna have to re-evaluate my opinion on them both

Damn. What have I done?

At the end of the day remember this: it's all made up.

Well, it's more that I was just thinking about the way they end it, depending upon who is the victor. Ulfric knows Tullius must die if the fighting is to stop, and allows Elisef to remain in power as he wants no more bloodshed, whereas Tullius takes genuine pleasure in killing Ulfric and crushing the remnants of the Stormcloaks.

And you make a valid point about freedom, too, sometimes it is better to fight for freedom than to declare peace in favour of the illusion of freedom.

I still say the Stormcloaks aren't open-minded enough, however, and need to adapt to a new way of life if they want to avoid a war with every race in Tamriel.

Oh wow, I really love the idea to battle Cicero and the Nightmother after dealing with the DB. Only one of my many characters slaughtered the DB, I usually really enjoy the DB questlnes and this one wasn't any different. I feel that the DB quests are usually challenging, different, fun and quite intriguing. Skyrim's DB didn't disappoint. However, it was rather dull and disappointing when you decided to get rid of the DB. You miss out on some cool gear (ancient assassin armor, which one of my toons wears the whole game) and you miss out on some interesting missions.

I would even go so far as to maybe add a few more quests, BEFORE you enter the Dawnstar sanctuary. Maybe someone should still give you the location of the Ancient Assassin Armor etc.

You should post your idea in the MOD section of the forums. Maybe a modder will be able to run with this and make a cool mod

Fantastic story. Was very nice to read and it is very well planned out.

Noooo! I'm on PS3 and can't 'do' mods - this needs to be in an expansion proper.

Nice to see people like my idea

I would agree with the expansion idea, btw, I'd rather this was included in a patch or DLC so that non-pc users could also get access to it.