Online:The Wrath of Sithis

Ensure that the Black Hand's will is done at Knightsgrave. Zone: Gold Coast Faction: Dark Brotherhood Quest Giver: Astara Caerellius in the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary; Grazda Location(s): Knightsgrave Prerequisite Quest: A Ghost from the Past Next Quest: Filling the Void Reward: Unidentified Sithis' Touch Leg Armor 1 Skill Point Average Leveled Gold 10 Reputation XP Gain: Standard XP ID: 5598

"The stories were true! Sithis, have mercy!"

The Black Hand has decreed that Lyra the Black Dragon must die for her crimes against the Brotherhood. Green-Venom-Tongue has gone to Knightsgrave to perform the task. Astara has asked me to back him up.

Quick Walkthrough

1. Talk to Astara inside the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary.
2. Travel to the ruins of Knightsgrave and find Green-Venom-Tongue.
3. Hunt down the Black Dragon and deal with her once and for all.
4. Report back to Astara in the Sanctuary.

Detailed Walkthrough

Speak to Matron Astara in the Sanctuary and she will tell you that it is time to make a move against the Black Dragon. Green-Venom-Tongue has been given the assassination contract, and it is your job to provide backup and ensure the task is completed. Before you leave the Sanctuary, you can find Tanek up and about in the sleeping quarters, who will be able to give a bit of advice on your target location, Knightsgrave.

Leave the Sanctuary and head northwest. One option is to follow Varen's Wall all the way around until you reach the Colovian Revolt Forge Yard, and then just drop down to the coast. As Tanek suggested, the exterior of the ruin is guarded by Minotaurs.

Once inside the ruins, you need to locate Green-Venom-Tongue. Examine the statues of Cavor Merula, Justia Desticus, Rusio Olo and Amminus Entius on your way in for some background to the Order of the Hour's formation. At the bottom of the stairs, you will find the Argonian pondering how to open the door; you will need to light the braziers in the same order as the statues on the stairs: Cavor Merula, Justia Desticus, Rusio Olo, Amminus Entius.

When you enter the Path of the Order, a shadow of the Black Dragon will taunt you: "They sent you to hunt me down? I suppose that's what happens when all the good assassins have already been eliminated."

Green-Venom-Tongue explains that Lyra is using shadows to track your progress. Your objective is now to hunt her down, so proceed onwards past the minotaurs towards the Overlook of Time. As you approach the door, you may see the Wrath of Sithis float through the door, before the shadow of the Black Dragon appears again:

The Black Dragon: "You'd kill me, Venom? You were my Brother once. Join me and forget your obligations."

Green-Venom-Tongue: "Join you? I'm going to send you to the Void, traitor!"

The Black Dragon: "The Brotherhood is a pox. It deserves to be destroyed."

Green-Venom-Tongue: "What lies did Artorius fill your head with, Lyra?"

In the middle of the Overlook, Venom spots the Wrath of Sithis as well: "Assassin, did you see that? That wasn't one of Lyra's shadows. Like something out of the old stories we scared the initiates with …."

Lyra then appears to taunt you again:

The Black Dragon: "The Brotherhood. The Order. I'm done being used, Venom. Just leave me alone!"

Green-Venom-Tongue: "I can't do that, Lyra. You brought this on yourself."

When you enter the Chamber of Enduring Flame, Lyra pleads with Venom to turn back. Venom however climbs over a gate and continues without you.

Green-Venom-Tongue: "Hmm. Interesting. It seems that gate blocks our way. One moment. I think I can get through that break in the bars."

Green-Venom-Tongue: "Let's see if this switch opens the gate …. No, but it did open this other door. This is still my kill, Assassin. When one door opens, the best course is to leap right through."

Green-Venom-Tongue: "Try to find another path. If you hurry, maybe I'll let you help me make the kill."

After Venom disappears through the door, the shadow of the Black Dragon appears again: "Follow me and you die, assassin. You can't defeat me."

As she fades away, two minotaurs break through the wall and you will need to defeat them before continuing. Circle around through the Order Armory to the other side of the gate that Venom disappeared through. Lyra and the Wrath of Sithis both appear again as you make your way through the room.

The Black Dragon: "You are a determined one, I'll give you that. You must have really bought into the Brotherhood's lies."

The Black Dragon: "I believed the lies once, when they told me we were family. Then they made me kill them."

When you leave the Armory, you find Venom lying on the ground, a sword through his chest.

Green-Venom-Tongue: "I almost had her … but Lyra was always a step faster than me …."

Green-Venom-Tongue: "I saw the Wrath of Sithis, Assassin. The Dread Father hunts her, too. Just like in … the old stories …."

Green-Venom-Tongue: "You're the blade of Sithis … kill her and the Dread Father … will claim her soul …."

Pick up Venom's Sanctuary Marginalia from the floor beside him and continue into the Chamber of Shadow. Lyra continues to taunt you, hunted by the Wrath of Sithis, as you pass through the Chamber of Shadow, and the Path of Light and Paragon's Crown beyond.

The Black Dragon: "What did the Brotherhood give me? Nothing but guilt and shame."

The Black Dragon: "The Order? They offered me redemption. But in the end it was just more lies."

The Black Dragon: "And you know whose lies hurt the most? Primate Artorius."

The Black Dragon: "Artorius isn't as pious as he pretends. You know, he even had me murder his beloved mentor."

The Black Dragon: "And now I killed Green-Venom-Tongue, too."

The Black Dragon: "I wonder, if we betray the Brotherhood, does the Wrath of Sithis really claim our souls?"

After this last line, a door into a large circular chamber opens up, and you will now need to fight the Black Dragon's shadows.

The Black Dragon: "Green-Venom-Tongue challenged me and failed. What hope do you have? Even my shadows are more substantial than you!"

Once the last shadow is defeated, another appears to taunt you again, and you must continue onward through the ruins.

The Black Dragon: "Primate Artorius manipulated all of us. He led us to this cliff. Will you leap and continue to follow his lies?!"

The Black Dragon: "I told Artorius the location of your Sanctuary. Brema was good enough to reveal it to me before I slit her throat."

The Black Dragon: "The Order of the Hour will purify your Sanctuary. You cannot stop it."

At the bottom of the stairs, the ruins open out above a large cave with a dragon sculpture in the middle. The Black Dragon awaits beneath it.

The Black Dragon: "And here we are. I'm ready to die. Let's see if you're good enough to kill me."

You will have to contend with the Black Dragon herself, as well as more shadows, during the fight. Once you have defeated her, the Wrath of Sithis claims her soul, dragging her down into the Void.

The Black Dragon: "No! What's happening? The stories were true! Sithis, have mercy!"

You now need to escape Knightsgrave and head back to the Sanctuary to warn Astara that the Order knows its location. A ladder at the rear of the temple leads out to the Gold Coast.

After reporting in, the remaining members of the Brotherhood give their take on the events:

Tanek: "So the New-blade brought down the Black Dragon? And I didn't expect you'd survive your first contract!"

Hildegard: "All our Brothers and Sisters murdered. But we're safe now, right? The Black Dragon's dead."

Astara Caerellius: "The Assassin ended the threat of the Black Dragon, but we won't be safe until Artorius joins her in the Void."

Hildegard: "But the Primate speaks for Akatosh! Isn't that blasphemy?"

Kor: "It can't be blasphemy if we don't adhere to that religion, Hilde."

Tanek: "I want to plunge my dagger into him, once for every Brother and Sister he's killed."

Astara Caerellius: "Artorius will die. You have my word on that. And you'll each have a hand in the slaying. Now move. We have preparations to make."

Astara confirms that she needs to talk to the Speaker before you can move against the Primate. The final quest unlocks at Dark Brotherhood Rank 8.

Notes

• Prior to Update 39, this quest required you to have reached Dark Brotherhood Rank 7.
• Brema, Hildegard and Kor are not present in the sanctuary at the start of the quest.
  • Brema's absence is later explained during the quest.
• While investigating the statues are displayed as hint needed to progress the quest, it's not mandatory to do so, considering the order of braziers can easily be discerned via trial and error.
• The readable plaques on the statues lack the typical golden glow, and they don't count as lorebooks when having acquired Arch-Mage Shalidor's power.
• Lyra Viria's shadows, and later Lyra herself, don't give experience or loot when defeated.

Bugs

• During the objective to examine the statues, their markers don't appear on the local map. ^?
• After completing this quest, the next main quest won't appear right away. You must leave the central chamber and return to make it appear. ^?

Quest Stages

The Wrath of Sithis
Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
	Grazda informed me that Astara has requested my presence in the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary. I should go and talk to her. Objective: Talk to Astara
	I need to travel to Knightsgrave and follow Green-Venom-Tongue into the ruins to make sure he's able to complete the kill. Objective: Enter Knightsgrave
	I entered the ruins of Knightsgrave. Now I need to find Green-Venom-Tongue. Objective: Find Green-Venom-Tongue Objective Hint: Examine Statues
	I should listen to Green-Venom-Tongue and help him figure out how to open the door that leads deeper into the ruins. Objective: Open the Sealed Doors Objective Hint: Examine Statues
	The doors leading deeper into the ruins have been opened. I should follow Green-Venom-Tongue and help him hunt down the Black Dragon. Objective: Hunt Down the Black Dragon
	The chamber ahead might contain a clue as to where the Black Dragon is hiding. I should explore it. Objective: Explore the Chamber of Enduring Flame
	Two minotaurs smashed through the wall. I'll need to defeat the minotaurs before I can follow after Green-Venom-Tongue and proceed with the hunt for the Black Dragon. Objective: Defeat the Minotaurs
	Green-Venom-Tongue was able to scale the gate and continue on without me. I'll need to find another path and meet up with him deeper within the ruins. Maybe the path the minotaurs opened is the way to go. Objective: Find Green-Venom-Tongue
	Green-Venom-Tongue reached the Black Dragon before I could get to him. She killed him. That's one more death I owe her for. Now I have to finish this on my own. Objective: Find the Black Dragon
	The Black Dragon has decided to send her shadow forms against me. I need to defeat them before I can continue my hunt for the Black Dragon. Objective: Defeat the Black Dragon's Shadows
	I defeated the Black Dragon's shadow forms. Now I can resume my hunt for the Black Dragon. Objective: Find the Black Dragon
	I tracked the Black Dragon to an even more ancient ruin beneath the ruins of Knightsgrave. It appears the Order of the Hour built its original headquarters atop a temple to the Dragon God of Time. Now we can have our final confrontation. Objective: Defeat the Black Dragon
	I defeated the Black Dragon and the Wrath of Sithis has claimed her soul. Now I need to find my way out of these ruins. Objective: Exit Knightsgrave
	I need to return to the Sanctuary and tell Astara what happened with the Black Dragon and Green-Venom-Tongue. She also needs to know that Artorius now knows the location of our Sanctuary. Objective: Talk to Astara in the Sanctuary
Finishes quest	I should talk to Astara and find out what she thinks we should do about Primate Artorius and the Order of the Hour. Objective: Talk to Astara

Notes

* Any text displayed in angle brackets (e.g., <Alias=LocationHold>) is dynamically set by the game and will be filled in with the appropriate word(s) when seen in game.

• 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 any order. Some stages may therefore repeat objectives seen in other stages.