Skyrim: Dark Brotherhood thoughts

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

snip

I'm fairly sure that it mentions a relocation after the Great War destroyed the tomb in Bravil. How she looks could just be a redesign to make her look creepier.

But that seems kinda sloppy. I mean, since it is established fact that there has been more than one Night Mother, if you want to retain the illusion of a continuous Night Mother you can't go mucking about with said Night Mother. The Night Mothers as seen and indeed met in Daggerfall, Morrowind and Oblivion have all been totally seperate entities, as well as books in these games describing yet more Night Mothers - so surely if Bethesda want to reinforce the belief that TES IV and TES V Night Mothers are one and the same they would have left her unchanged?

Like I said, if I am remembering that right, they mention her body being relovated from Bravil. That establishes her as the same Night Mother. Besides, the one in Morrowind was mortal, this one is a spirit. From the wiki,

The Night Mother appears in Oblivion and Skyrim. However, in Morrowind, Severa Magia is the local Night Mother of the Dark Brotherhood. Despite this, the Night Mother in Oblivion identifies herself as the only Night Mother.

So it is a mystery.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

I am at

Spoiler

The Dawnstar Sanctuary, to either kill Cicero or not. I hope I do not have to kill him because I agree with him, I don't want to be the boss, but if you summon Lucian he tells you that there is something wrong and he doesn't want to kill Cicero as it will piss off Sithis.

Do you have to kill Cicero?

Nope, you don't have to.

Spoiler

You get him as a companion later if you don't.

So if you don't

Spoiler

Does it piss off Astrid? Does everyone turn against you, or do they end up respecting my authority?

Cause really I would rather not piss off Sithis.

Spoiler

You lie, of course. Besides, for me, Sithis>Astrid on the authority ladder.

 

[Nudu]

Haven't played it yet, though the companions was really bad. Okay, they're not gonna make it as big and extensive as the fighters guild. That's fine. But come on, don't pretend like you have.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

snip

I'm fairly sure that it mentions a relocation after the Great War destroyed the tomb in Bravil. How she looks could just be a redesign to make her look creepier.

But that seems kinda sloppy. I mean, since it is established fact that there has been more than one Night Mother, if you want to retain the illusion of a continuous Night Mother you can't go mucking about with said Night Mother. The Night Mothers as seen and indeed met in Daggerfall, Morrowind and Oblivion have all been totally seperate entities, as well as books in these games describing yet more Night Mothers - so surely if Bethesda want to reinforce the belief that TES IV and TES V Night Mothers are one and the same they would have left her unchanged?

Like I said, if I am remembering that right, they mention her body being relovated from Bravil. That establishes her as the same Night Mother. Besides, the one in Morrowind was mortal, this one is a spirit. From the wiki,

The Night Mother appears in Oblivion and Skyrim. However, in Morrowind, Severa Magia is the local Night Mother of the Dark Brotherhood. Despite this, the Night Mother in Oblivion identifies herself as the only Night Mother.

So it is a mystery.

The exact nature of the Night Mother is deliberately shrouded by the TES lore, but that there have been many Night Mothers over the course of history is indisputable. Now, perhaps there was once an original Night Mother, and since her existence leaders of the Dark Brotherhood have used the name as an honorific (indeed this theory is presented in the lore), but one cannot argue that there has only ever been one Night Mother:

It is unclear who the Night Mother is exactly. In the book Fire and Darkness: The Brotherhoods of Death, the Night Mother is identified as the Daedra Lord Mephala. In another book entitled Sacred Witness, the Night Mother is identified as a former Thieves Guild member. And in the well known 2920 series of books she is seen as head of the Morag Tong, because the Dark Brotherhood only split well into the second era. The Night Mother is likely to have lived during the Second Era, although the woman represented by the statue in Bravil lived in the First Era, which strongly suggests the two are not the same person.

Also, in your own quote Savera is described as the local Night Mother. Kinda implying that in other areas there are other Night Mothers.

 

[ShindoL Shill]

And I felt that the quest to get into the Brotherhood (Innocent Lost) was really railroaded. It's impossible to role-play an interested yet good character in it.

why are good people becoming assassins. plus, it was totally in-character for my RP.

the questline was a bit short...

 

[SomeBritishDude]

The quests are less stealth focused which hurts them alot IMO. It makes them far less creative, I missed stuff like sneaking poison to a war lord, none of the missions so far are that cleverly put together. I can understand the reasoning, and clearly all the different guilds have gotten a make over so that any player with any play style can still do them (with the possible exception of the thieves guild). The Dark Brotherhood is now simply a group of people who kill for money, as long as the player is willing to do that they can get though every mission with ease.

I probably like the story a lot better though, and I prefer the Dark Brotherhood when the religious aspect is down played. I especially like how at times the Brotherhood almost seems admirable, many of the people they kill seem to be perverts or vicious bastards, it's kind of satisfying. There's the odd innocent thrown in ofcoarse...well, more than the odd but still.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

It was too short, but what I find most disturbing is the fact that Dark Brotherhood characters are the most fun bunch in the game. And they're all cold-blooded killers.

 

[Vrach]

Story is pretty good, gameplay falls short. Most of your targets don't fight you until you attack them and they're mostly located in cities (ie. unguarded). With the double damage backstab gloves and the sneak talent that gives you x15 with dagger sneak attacks, it makes every target an easy one shot kill that you don't even have to sneak around them for.

That said, while the story is good, I much preferred the real Dark Brotherhood. But that's the feeling I have with all the factions in Skyrim. I get what the goal was - to make something different and break from the norm. And they succeeded in that, but I still prefer the old factions (particularly the illegal ones, Dark Brotherhood/Thieves Guild) that were more "honorable" and structured.

 

[The_Blue_Rider]

I thought all the faction quest lines(apart from Stormcloak/Imperial, haven't done those yet) were extremely underwhelming. Every time they ended and I got appointed the new chief I couldn't understand why they made that choice. Didn't feel like I had proven myself.
Don't remember how long the quest lines were in Oblivion, but here they seem to average on about six quests. Feels really dull.

Well heres why:

Spoiler: The Companions

You prove to Kodlak that you clearly have the biggest balls, and are the most competent

Spoiler: The Dark Brotherhood

You prove to Sithis/The Night mother that you have the biggest balls and the most competent

Spoiler: The College of Winterhold

Havent finished this one yet but you probably prove to someone that you have the biggest balls and are the most competent

Spoiler: The Bards College

Havent finished either but you probably prove to Bard Jesus that you have the biggest Bongos and you're the only one that can play Through Fire and Flames on Expert

Or at least thats my reasoning

Thanks for making my day bro.

Spoiler: Thanks :D

Aw thanks

It was too short, but what I find most disturbing is the fact that Dark Brotherhood characters are the most fun bunch in the game. And they're all cold-blooded killers.

I think its because out of all the factions theyre the most lively bunch, as much as I love the Companions their whole honor in battle thing is something too many fantasies do.

Plus bad boys(amd girls) are sexay
(God i have issues)

 

[SJFrK]

You should really read more of the books lying around in Skyrim.
The journals 1-4 of Cicero state how Cicero became the Keeper, how the Night Mother was moved, how the old Listener died (in 4E 188, 12 years prior to TES V) and so on.

So clearly the last listener isn't THAT long gone. Not like 40 years or so but only 12.

It also states that Cicero was a normal Brother once and not a jester. The jester was his last kill (after being appointed as Keeper) and while he went mad he first heard the laughs of the jester and eventually "became" the jester himself.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Cicero's_Journal_-_Volume_1
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Cicero's_Journal_-_Volume_2
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Cicero's_Journal_-_Volume_3
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Cicero's_Journal_-_Volume_4

 

[pokokiri]

Reading this thread cheered me up a bit;D

I started with thieves guild's quest line, which was awesome (i didn't play oblivion, so can't compare), but it felt cut off... I missed sugarcoating. Anyways, after that i decided to join the dark brotherhood. I thought of it as a continuation of the thieves guild, just doing a bit darker stealing jobs (stealing lives haha), so the atmosphere seemed ok, but the fact that i finished TG storyline and nobody cared WAS kind of disappointing.. I had a great fun nevertheless. And then again, just now doubled: i'm the master of thieves and assassins and NOBODY CARES, except few guards tossing light comments while passing.. I look like a total badass and the kids are still saying ''I thought travelers are supposed to look tough!''................

I mean OK the quest lines were short, it's sad, i can accept that, however the continuation could have been the reputation itself! Now i can't do any more main quests with my character, nothing seems fitting. The only solution to continue having fun with this game while questing is to create another hero, which would be more straightforward... THEY REALLY SHOULD program the game in a way that quest finishing order would influence the later quests. I know its a lot of job to do, but it would make gaming so much more enjoyable! You would never get bored of that kind of game! If you are making a RPG, then go to the ends of it!

The only thing to do now is to assassinate every high positioned person in skyrim. Who knows, maybe after all that killing my character will realize, that helping people is the right way to go?

 

[ArbiterX13]

Skyrim's overall storyline was far better, and the characters were at least characterized a bit more (Babette's a vampire, Nazir's sarcastic and awesome, Astrid is paranoid, the mage is bitter, Astrid's husband is a werewolf, Gabriella is a dark elf, and Veezara apparently is good with a sword and spends much of his time sitting on the floor whether he wants to or not). I didn't think that the Skingrad manor quest could be topped to begin with, so I didn't even bother with comparing the quests themselves. The overarching plot was predictable but still held my attention, if not for the reason I thought--instead of wondering what the next contract was going to be, I was wondering what was happening with the characters themselves.
So...good overall.

Spoiler: My own suggestion

The quest where you kill Cicero is one of the best if not the best quest in the storyline, but it should've been a bit longer or expanded into its own questline. Cicero reminded me a lot of the Joker of Batman fame when you were hunting him down, and I would've liked to see more of that macabre humor.

 

[Kopikatsu]

Skyrim's overall storyline was far better, and the characters were at least characterized a bit more (Babette's a vampire, Nazir's sarcastic and awesome, Astrid is paranoid, the mage is bitter, Astrid's husband is a werewolf, Gabriella is a dark elf, and Veezara apparently is good with a sword and spends much of his time sitting on the floor whether he wants to or not). I didn't think that the Skingrad manor quest could be topped to begin with, so I didn't even bother with comparing the quests themselves. The overarching plot was predictable but still held my attention, if not for the reason I thought--instead of wondering what the next contract was going to be, I was wondering what was happening with the characters themselves.
So...good overall.

Spoiler: My own suggestion

The quest where you kill Cicero is one of the best if not the best quest in the storyline, but it should've been a bit longer or expanded into its own questline. Cicero reminded me a lot of the Joker of Batman fame when you were hunting him down, and I would've liked to see more of that macabre humor.

So I'm not the only one who was reminded of The Joker during that quest. Wonderful!

Spoiler

You aren't really supposed to kill Cicero, though. If you have Lucien Lachance with you, he'll tell you that Sithis wants you to spare Cicero and will imply that Astrid has betrayed you. Also, if you spare him, he'll rejoin the Brotherhood once you finish the main questline. Which is good, because without him, who would bathe/care for the Night Mother?