Skyrim:The Whispering Door

Quick Walkthrough
# Talk to the innkeeper of The Bannered Mare in Whiterun.
# Ask Jarl Balgruuf the Greater about his children.
# Talk to Nelkir.
# Investigate the old wooden door in the basement.
# Talk to Nelkir again.
# Acquire the key from the Balgruuf the Greater or Farengar Secret-Fire.
# Open the door.
# Retrieve the Ebony Blade.

Detailed Walkthrough
A Disturbed Youth
Speaking with the publican at The Bannered Mare about rumors can have them reveal to you that there is trouble in the Jarl's family.

:''Been hearing some strange tales of the Jarl's children. Say the one's turning wicked, and the others have an ill-favored look to them. Best to keep clear."

You can ask the Jarl himself, Balgruuf the Greater, about it. Initially, he is situated within Dragonsreach, but if the player sided with the Stormcloaks in the Civil War, he will be in the Blue Palace basement. He will eventually express concerns that his youngest son, Nelkir, has become exceptionally brooding: "Yes, my youngest son. He's a dark child. I don't know what to do with him. He was always a quiet lad, but lately... something has changed. He's become brooding. Violent. He won't say a word to me, but I don't know how I upset him. If you could speak to him. Draw out the truth. I would be immensely grateful."

Nelkir (who is always in Dragonsreach, regardless of where his father is), will be surprisingly forthcoming if you speak to him.

:Your father said to speak to you.
:"So the disgusting pig sent you to bother me? One day, I'll tear his face apart so he can leave me alone. My father doesn't know anything about me. But I know about him. And about the war. More than he might think."
:What sorts of things?
:"I know that he still worships Talos. That he hates the Thalmor almost as much as the Stormcloaks do. That he worries about being chased from Whiterun. That he... that I'm...  that I don't have the same mother as my brother and sister."
:How do you know these things?
:"This castle is old. Lots of places nobody's been in a long while. Places where you can overhear things. See things. And the Whispering Lady."
:Who's the Whispering Lady?
:"She won't tell me her name. I've gotten good at listening to keyholes. At the door in the basement, I hear her talking to me. I thought I was caught, but she started telling me even more secrets. But I can't open the door."
:Where is this door?
:"In the basement. Trust me, you'll see it. I bet she'll talk to you, too."''
The Whispering Lady
thumb|right|The Ebony Blade
The door is actually well hidden in plain sight off the main hall of Dragonsreach. In order to find it, go into the kitchen. Proceed down the stairs and open the closet door in the small servant's room. At the back of the closet is a locked door which seems to be covered in blood. Activate the door, and the disembodied voice of the Whispering Lady will begin talking to you.

:(Listen at the door)
:''"At last. I've been waiting for someone more fit to carry out my will. The child is spirited, but lacks... agency. 
:Is there someone behind the door?
:"Regrettably, I cannot reach your plane so directly. But I forgive you for not knowing who I am. Few hear my whispers anymore. I am Mephala, the Lady of Whispers. I tug at the web of connections between mortals. Love, hatred, loyalty, betrayal. The boy was good at sussing out secrets. You, I expect to take a more active role."
:What could the boy not do?
:"The boy is good at sussing out secrets, but the corruptibility of children is ultimately too limited for my purposes. You, though, I expect will prove far more malleable."

If you had asked her the latter question, there will be another stage of dialogue before the dialogue paths merge together again.

:Who are you to expect anything?
:"I forgive your not knowing my name. Few can hear my whispers anymore. I am Mephala, the Lady of Whispers. I tug at the web of connections between mortals. Love, hatred, loyalty, betrayal."
:I'm not so easily molded.
:"You may think so. But in the end, you mortals will always flit like fire with the winds of your desires and conveniences. And those winds issue from my whispers."

At this point you will either confirm you are willing to help, or refuse to.

:What do you want me to do?
:"First, you must open this door. A piece of my power has been locked away behind it, and even my eyes cannot see past the seals. I'd much rather it be in the hands of an ambitious and talented person such as yourself."
:I don't want to help you.
:"Suit yourself. But those who listen at doors always wonder what is beyond them. Eventually your curiosity will drive you back to me."

Regardless of your previous choice, you will now only have one option if you continue to speak to the door.

:How do I open the door?
:"The whole of Whiterun is ripe with paranoia and tensions. The Jarl's court is right to fear the power I hold behind this door. The Jarl trusts few, and they will be his undoing. The dark child knows of what I speak. Let him guide your path."

Return to Nelkir to learn how you can go about getting the key to the door.

:Do you know how to open the Whispering Door?
:"I told you, I know everything about this castle. For some reason that door is special. Only two people can open it, Balgruuf and Farengar, the court wizard. How you get it from them is up to you. Nobody would notice if Farengar went missing, I promise you."''

Opening the Door
Nelkir will tell you that only the jarl and the court mage, Farengar Secret-Fire, possess a key to the Whispering Door, and suggests that Farengar will not be missed should he disappear. You can either track down the Jarl, who is either in his quarters or in the Blue Palace, or his wizard. The latter will always be situated in Dragonsreach, even if his master is now a prisoner of the Civil War. As for the key itself, you can pickpocket the Whispering Door key off either Farengar or Balgruuf, or you can follow the child's dark advice to kill Farengar and take it from his corpse. When you have the key, head down to the basement and open the door, which reveals a small room with a sword and a book resting on a table. The book, Admonition Against Ebony, warns you against taking the sword lying next to it; however, to complete the quest, simply ignore the warning and pick up the sword. Mephala will speak to you again.

:''"Excellent work. Now, I trust you're sharp enough to see that the sword doesn't match the description of the Ebony Blade you may know. It has languished too long outside the winds of alliance and betrayal. To return to its past glory, it must first drink the blood of deceit. To return to its past glory, it must reacquaint itself with the hatred of this world. Your world is admirably seeped in lies and inclinations. My blade is a darling leech that feeds on deceptions, and nourishes its master. Seek out those closest to you. The final pluck of their misguided heartstrings will accompany my blade in the song of your grandeur. The blade will feed on the ire of Tamriel. Bathe in your infamy. Feel the weight of their loathing, and my power will course through it once more."''

If you choose to restore the blade, it requires staining with the blood of treachery. However, the blade's restoration is not necessary to complete the quest, simply its retrieval. Also, while you do not receive any further information on Nelkir's condition, if there are any subsequent interactions there seems to be an improvement in disposition. If you do choose to use the blade as Mephala has instructed, she will speak to you again each time you kill a friend.

:"Excellent work, child."
:"I can feel their heartbreak swelling in my blade."
:"Their tears shine the ebony to a sharpest gleam."
:"Ah, the blood of deceit is a nourishing flow."

After you perform the final needed kill, Mephala will speak to you a final time to congratulate you.

:"At last, my blade is returned to its full glory. Now go forth, child. Continue your tiny subversions against the orders of trust and intimacy."

Notes
 
The quest is still available if you have completed Battle for Whiterun for the Stormcloaks. Jarl Balgruuf will move from Dragonsreach to the basement of the Blue Palace, but his dialogue will not change and the quest can still be completed normally.
 
Speaking to the jarl and asking about his kids will not activate this quest.
You must have completed the Dragon Rising quest to receive the rumor from Hulda.
Killing followers or friends will increase the blade's drain health effect&mdash;see the Ebony Blade page for more detail.
Despite Farengar being allegedly aware of the blade, you can sell it to him.
Several elements in the Creation Kit seem to indicate that a portion of the quest was omitted from the final game—it appears that Jarl Balgruuf's children were supposed to fall under Mephala's influence one by one, culminating in them killing Balgruuf in an act of patricide. It seems that his brother Hrongar would have replaced him as jarl upon death, given that he has unused dialogue mirroring Balgruuf's for several quests, and some citizens of Whiterun, like Ulfberth War-Bear have unused dialogue referring to Hrongar as jarl.
If Farengar dies before the quest starts you can not get the key from his urn in the Whiterun catacombs.
If you attempt to enter the room behind the Old Wooden Door using the "Platter Exploit" before you have completed the necessary steps in the quest you will find a floating drawer (labeled "End Table") blocking your entry into the room; this is the source of Mephala's voice before unlocking the door. The sword however can still be seen on top of the table where it usually sits.

Bugs
 
 
 

Quest Stages