Oblivion:Honor Thy Mother

The UESPWiki – Your source for The Elder Scrolls since 1995

[edit] Quick Walkthrough

Once you are taken to the statue, Arquen will speak with you and open the hidden entrance.
Follow the members inside, where the Night Mother will speak with everyone and declare Lucien innocent, and the traitor present.
Once the traitor is unmasked, kill him.
The Night Mother will enchant your Blade of Woe per character level, name you as the new Listener of the Black Hand, and permit you to take any treasures from the Tomb.

[edit] Detailed Walkthrough

[edit] The Lucky Old Lady

Once you are through talking to Arquen at Applewatch Farm, the remaining members of the Black Hand will travel to Bravil and seek the hidden sanctuary of the Night Mother to ask for her dark wisdom. The remaining members do not know the traitor is among them, so you must wait until the time is right to kill him. Once you are in front of the statue of the Lucky Old Lady, Arquen informs you the statue is a mask for the hidden entrance to the Night Mother's sanctuary. She will then recite an incantation to reveal the entrance, and all of the members will enter before you; go with them to meet the Night Mother.

[edit] A Foolish Mistake

Once the Night Mother has been summoned, the traitor Mathieu Bellamont will unmask himself and kill Belisarius and Banus. He will then proceed to attack the Night Mother, at which point you will become free to act. Help Arquen, the other surviving Speaker, spill his blood.

[edit] Listen Closely

The Night Mother speaks of the unthinkable, but incredibly well-planned and executed, murders that you have managed to complete; she claims to have known about the traitor since he was a child and all things that have occurred since. She tells you that it is "dark fate" that has ended everything and brought you to her this day. You become the new Listener for the Black Hand, who must take orders from the Night Mother and relay them to the Speakers. She will power up your Blade of Woe and allow you to retrieve anything in her tomb. Make sure you take what you want, as the tomb will be permanently closed once you leave.

[edit] Notes

It is advisable to carry little when you start this quest, as it will be your only chance to get the artifacts in the Night Mother's crypt; if you become over-encumbered, you will not be able to return to the tomb at a later time to retrieve what you could not carry the first time. You can circumvent this by dropping items next to the Night Mother, collecting whatever else you want from around the tomb, and then picking them up again immediately before talking to her. You will be over-encumbered and immobilised, but this will not stop you from talking to the Night Mother, being transported to the Sanctuary, and then unencumbering yourself by dropping items on the Sanctuary floor.
You will not be able to receive the Lucky Old Lady's blessing after this quest is concluded.
From now on, you can visit the statue once a week to hear about an out-of-Cyrodiil contract. When you report the contract to your speaker at the Cheydinhal Sanctuary, you will receive 200 gold. This is optional, as there is no penalty for not visiting the statue; it is simply an easy way to make money.
In addition to your duties as Listener, new Dark Brotherhood recruits will appear in the Sanctuary.
The eighth dead drop instructions that Enilroth leaves in the barrel refer to Arquen, the High Elf, who is part of the Dark Brotherhood. It is impossible to kill her at any point in the game without using the console or construction set.
When in the tomb, Mathieu seems more interested in you than the Night Mother. This is strange, given that he has spent so long trying to get to her.
In the secret shrine beneath the statue, in front of the large sarcophagus, there is a sample of lichor, which is a rare Alchemy ingredient normally only found in Mankar Camoran's Paradise and Frostcrag Spire.
When the traitor begins fighting with Arquen, it is possible to speak with the Night Mother. She will behave like a normal citizen. You cannot talk to her about anything, but you can persuade her.
Do not give Mathieu a damage-dealing cursed item before you leave Applewatch. He will don it as soon as he enters the Night Mother's tomb and die during the speech, freezing you there. You will need to load a previously saved game to circumvent this.
Although there are no children in Oblivion, for numerous reasons, there are corpses of children near the rotted skeleton in the Night Mother's crypt. There are also three figures of children on the statue above the entrance to the crypt.
It is possible to yield to Mathieu. He will accept your surrender, and turn his attention to Arquen and the Night Mother.
The Night Mother is marked as a Ghost, so Mathieu Bellamont's attempt to kill her will always end in vain, simply because damage cannot be dealt to her.
When in the tomb, if you attempt to pickpocket The Night Mother, you will speak to her instead.

[edit] Journal Entries

Honor Thy Mother (Dark18Mother)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		I should play along for now, until I figure out who the traitor is. I'm sure Arquen will give me further instruction.
20		Arquen has informed me that she will recite an incantation that will allow the Black Hand an audience with the Night Mother. Arquen also realizes this is all very new to me, and told me I'd be fine as long as I just followed along.
30		The incantation has revealed the hidden door to the Night Mother's crypt! I must follow the other members of the Black Hand down into the crypt. Once we're down there, the traitor will surely try to destroy the Night Mother. I must stop the traitor at all costs!
40		The traitor, Mathieu Bellamont, is dead, and the crisis that has plagued the Dark Brotherhood is now over. The Night Mother still needs to name a new Listener. I should wait and hear what she has to say...
50		The Night Mother has named me Listener of the Black Hand! It would appear my days of killing for the Dark Brotherhood have come to an end. When I'm ready, I should speak to the Night Mother again and she will use her power to teleport me to the Cheydinhal Sanctuary.
60		Arquen and I have been teleported to the Cheydinhal Sanctuary. I should speak now with Arquen, who will serve as my servant and guide in the days to come.
100		I have spoken with Arquen and she has offered her guidance.

Notes

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 random order.
If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
On the PC, it is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage Dark18Mother stage. Where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages. See SetStage for more information.