Dark Brotherhood ( Oblivion ) The Dark Brotherhood is a guild of assassins who are willing to assassinate anyone ( apart from members of the guild ) as long as the contractor pays enough for their service . They are a perverted offshoot of the " legal " assassins guild , the Morag Tong , who are primarily based in the province of Morrowind ; while the Morag Tong were a respected , if feared , organization of Morrowind society , the Dark Brotherhood are a secretive underground cult that worships Sithis , the avatar of evil and the Void . Recruitment . When a person commits murder in warm / cold blood , it is likely that the Night Mother has been watching from the shadows . The next time the murderer sleeps in a location deemed to be secure , a Speaker will approach the murderer and ask them to join the Dark Brotherhood , and if the offer is accepted , the murderer will then be given a specific target to kill . Secondly , when an Argonian from Black Marsh is born under the sign of the Shadow , they are trained by an order known as the " Shadowscales , " and pending the end of their training , transferred to the Dark Brotherhood . Additionally , the Dark Brotherhood has been known to recruit through proxy . When a spate of murders is committed in cold blood and without an arrest , the Brotherhood instigates an investigation to recruit the killer . Usually the serial killings must only go on so long as it takes the Brotherhood to discover the identity of the killer , at which point they dispatch a courier with a letter requesting the murder of a specific person . Once this murder has been carried out , another letter is dispatched requesting the secret murder ( " i . e . a murder which is untraceable " ) of another specific person . If this is accomplished to satisfaction , the Dark Brotherhood dispatches a third courier to provide contact information . How to join . The first time the Hero of Kvatch kills any innocent ( non quest related or hostile ) NPC , a message will be displayed stating that " " Your killing has been observed by forces unknown . . . " " The next time The Hero of Kvatch sleeps in a safe place , Lucien Lachance , a Speaker for the Black Hand , will visit them and give the quest " A Knife in the Dark " as well as the Blade of Woe . At this point , the Hero is tasked with the killing of an angry old man known as Rufio , who lives in the ironically named Inn of Ill Omen . Once Rufio is dead , the Hero must sleep and Lucien Lachance will visit them and offer a membership . When killing him , if he is asleep , along with anyone else who sleeps , they can pickpocket him and get more gold than if one just killed him . Also , after they have pickpocketed him , a simple knife to the back will kill him . Structure . The Five Tenets . A member of the Dark Brotherhood must follow 5 rules known as ' The Five Tenets ' . If they break one , they will need to defeat " The Wrath of Sithis " to return to the Dark Brotherhood . The five tenets are : A number of books are found describing these tenets within the sanctuary . Breaking these results in the " A Dark Exile " quest being initiated , in order to get back into the Dark Brotherhood . A member undertaking the Ritual of Purification is not beholden to any of the Five Tenets , and may violate any of the Tenets without invoking the Wrath of Sithis . This may apply to members holding the ranks of Silencer or above . It should be noted that , within the boundaries of the games ' programming , Tenets 1 – 3 are impossible for the player to break . Dishonoring the Night Mother is very ambiguous , and is very difficult to pin - point . The player is never given an option to tell any outside source about the Dark Brotherhood ( which appears to only be possible through communication ) , and if the player declines a quest offered by Vicente or Ocheeva , that superior will humbly accept your desire to not accept the mission , and that mission will be available for you to do for the rest of the game . Many members of the Brotherhood are also vampires , and feeding on fellow members is not considered illegal within the guild . Sithis the Dread Father . Sithis is referred to as the Dread Father and is the patron being of the Dark Brotherhood . According to the Dark Brotherhood ' s belief , every soul murdered by a Dark Brother or Sister joins Sithis in " The Void . " His bride is the Night Mother who serves as grandmistress of the Dark Brotherhood . Whenever a member breaks one of the five tenets of the Dark Brotherhood , a spirit called the Wrath of Sithis will attack that person in his or her sleep . The Dark Brother or Sister must defeat this ghost in order to gain re - admission into the Dark Brotherhood . It is unknown whether this spirit is actually from or related to Sithis , or if it is merely a tool used by the Brotherhood to keep members in line . The actual , literal truth surrounding Sithis is very difficult for the player to interpret , as virtually everything said about Sithis is allegorical . He has been defined as definitely not a god , but rather , something " else . " He has been compared to an extremely cold , cloudless midnight , as well as the state of mind involved in the act of cold - blooded murder . He has been associated with Dagoth Ur of Morrowind , and an in - game book within the video game describes Sithis as a twisted corruption of the concept of the " " void " , " viewed as peaceful , safe , and holy by the Altmer . Due to this high level of ambiguity , it could be postulated that perhaps this is an actual aspect of Sithis . Though he is spoken of as an actual entity , he could , in theory , be merely an anthropomorphic interpretation of unconscious , non - sentient thoughts , emotions , or phenomena , as is the case in certain interpretations of several Hindu deities in the real world . He is also called the " " Serpent God of Death " , " and is associated by some scholars with the constellation of The Serpent . Additionally , some players have noted the similarities between some of his alleged features and the Egyptian demon . It is unknown how or even " if " Sithis fits in with the religious chaos / order dualism featured throughout . In the in - game book , " " The Definitive Guide to Daedra " , " Sithis is described as the state of Nothingness before the creation of Nirn . However , Vincente Valteri , a member of the Dark Brotherhood in the game Oblivion , claims Sithis is ' No Daedra ' . In the book " The Annotated Anuad , " it describes a series of events in which creation began . Anu and Padomay were the first " beings , " being Stasis , and Change respectively . The book is highly allegorical , though it is possible that it may be literal . In it , Anu creates a perfect , unchanging universe . Padomay , seeing this and hating it , attacks Anu . A fight ensues , and the blood spilled by the two mixed and created the Aedra and Daedra . As , the book is quite ambiguous in itself , being more of a children ' s story book , it is unknown what actually happened to Padomay and Anu , but many believe that Padomay , who represents change , is also Sithis . This would imply that Sithis is not only NOT the " God of Death " that the Dark Brotherhood so reveres , but is rather the creator of the life of Tamriel as we know it today . This is backed up by the book " Sithis , " found in the official " Vile Lair " expansion , which more or less explains that Sithis is the creator of all life . Obviously , this book is a bit biased as it seems to be written by the Brotherhood , but it would seem that this is not far from the truth . Whether or not Sithis / Padomay is an actual entity as opposed to a concept is unknown , but he is revered by human kind , who ' s philosophy generally sticks with the idea that their own life is a gift , because without Padomay , they would never have existed in the first place . The Elves , on the other hand , seem to despise this idea , seeing it instead as an act of sabotage , with Sithis having stolen the immortality that Anu had bestowed upon his perfect creation . To put it simply , Sithis is everything that " isn ' t , " or the void , as it is put in the game itself . To describe him as a being may very well be incorrect , due to his nature . Since all of his primary characteristics seem to be in some sense , antithetical , it may be more useful simply to avoid rigorously dogmatic pronouncements about him , as many of his own followers seem to do . Ranks within the Brotherhood . The Night Mother . At the real " head " of the Dark Brotherhood hierarchy is the Night Mother , an immortal spirit who is revered and worshiped by the Brotherhood . She is only ever met face - to - face in very exceptional circumstances . When a person prays for the death of another , the Night Mother hears , and passes on the details of the prayer to her Listener . At this point , the Listener informs a Speaker , who then goes to meet the hiring party in order to draw up a contract . It is said that the Night Mother and her five children were the first sacrifices to Sithis many years ago , and that she now guides her Listener through the Statue of the Lucky Old Lady in Bravil . In the book " Fire and Darkness : The Brotherhoods of Death " , the Night Mother is identified with the Daedra Lord Mephala . While in another book titled " " Sacred Witness : A True History of the Night Mother " , " the Night Mother is identified as a former thieves guild member . Listener . The Listener is the highest rank a member of the Dark Brotherhood may receive , second only to the Night Mother herself . The Night Mother speaks directly to the Listener , informing him / her of the names and locations of those who have prayed to the Night Mother for a murder to be carried out . The Listener then gives these names to a Speaker . Beneath the Night Mother are five elite members of the Brotherhood , known as the Black Hand . The Black Hand is made up of four Speakers and one Listener , representing the four fingers and the thumb of the Black Hand . Each of the Speakers gets his / her personal assassin , known as ' Silencers ' . Speaker . When a Speaker has received a name from the Listener , the Speaker must then seek out that individual to work out the details of the assassination . It is also the responsibility of the Speakers to recruit new members into the Dark Brotherhood . Silencer . Outside of the Black Hand itself , the rank of Silencer is virtually unknown by other members . Each Speaker has his or her Silencer , a personal elite assassin employed to carry out the Speaker ' s personal ' business ' . The Silencers represent the " nail / claw / talon " of each finger , or Speaker , of the Black Hand . Other ranks . There are five known ranks outside of the Black Hand . Upon entering the Dark Brotherhood , the new recruit has the rank of " Murderer , " the lowest of the Brotherhood ranks . Sanctuaries . In Cyrodiil , at least four Dark Brotherhood sanctuaries ( a kind of chapter house and place for members to unwind and gain new orders except for Dead Drop Orders ) are known to exist in the cities of Cheydinhal , Bruma , Leyawiin and Chorrol , however , by the time of Skyrim , 200 years after the events in Cyrodiil , all of the Dark Brotherhood sanctuaries except the Falkreath Sanctuary , and later the Dawnstar Sanctuary , have been eliminated . The Cheydinhal sanctuary is under the leadership of Speaker Lucien Lachance . Other people of interest there include : Quests . Several of the Dark Brotherhood quests are unique in that they offer bonus rewards if the quest is completed in a certain way . These generally make the quest more difficult , but at the same time more rewarding . Some bonuses require a certain method of execution ( death by stuffed animal head included ) , while others promote heightened secrecy ( such as in the case of a certain skooma addict ) . Vicente Valtieri ( starting with Accidents Happen ) and Ocheeva offer quests with bonus rewards . Unique quest rewards . The following unique rewards can acquired by the Hero during the questline . Note : most of these unique rewards have leveled enchantments .