Night Mother The Night Mother ( also known as the Blood Flower or the Lady Death ) is the bride of Sithis , the Dread Father of the Dark Brotherhood . Those who wish to have someone assassinated pray to the Night Mother by performing the Black Sacrament , and she extends their requests to her Listener , who in turn passes the task on to the Speaker s . It is debatable whether she was a real person or if she is the Lucky Old Lady of Bravil . Identity . According to Dark Brotherhood beliefs , she is wife of Sithis , but was told by Sithis to kill her five young children in his name . After the deed was done , Sithis gave her the honor of being his wife and being the head of the Dark Brotherhood . Origin . The Night Mother is likely to have lived during the Second Era , as indicated in the in - game book " The Brothers of Darkness " . In , her tomb is located underneath the Lucky Old Lady statue in Bravil . There are skeletal remains of one adult and five children in her tomb . This takes into account her children in Dark Brotherhood beliefs . The Night Mother might also be the same person as the Lucky Old Lady . One indication of this is that the Lucky Old Lady is surrounded by five children . However , the woman depicted by the statue was said to have lived in the First Era . The Night Mother has also been credited as an incarnation of Daedric Prince Mephala , whereas she is also identified as Severa Magia in Morrowind during the Third Era . Before this , in , the Night Mother is identified simply as an immortal spirit with the likeness of a Redguard woman . While the Night Mother has certainly had relations to Morag Tong , it is questionable if she has even been the same person all along . " The Brothers of Darkness " suggests that The Night Mother is merely a title for the leaders of Morag Tong . She has most definitively made business in the first era , as suggested by " 2920 , vol 07 - Sun ' s Height " , with Sotha Sil , a member of the Psijic Order . Literature of the same year , but in Evening Star , says " " the Night Mother stroking her daughter ' s hair " " the daughter being Corda , a Redguard . This suggests the Night Mother was either a Redguard herself , or has had affections with one . At one point in history , when working with the Thieves Guild to gain popularity for the Dark Brotherhood , she has been described as " a little old lady with fluffy white hair , cheeks like wrinkled apples that still carried the flush of youth , friendly eyes , blue as the Iliac Bay . " by a witness . This suggests a human race , most likely Imperial , Nord , Breton or the like . It is , however , confirmed that she , the one that sacrificed her children to Sithis , lived some time in the second era and was a Dunmer . This is revealed in " The Night Mother ' s Truth " . Guild affiliation . According to " Sacred Witness " , she was a member of the Thieves Guild , around the time when it was just beginning . She was one of many at the time that found it easier to just strangle the occupant of the house , rather than go through the bother of sneaking the entire time . She suggested the Guild have a special group of those who specialized in such a task , just as there were for pickpocket ing , lock - picking , fencing , etc . , but they decided encouraging murder would be bad for business and refused . However , realizing the possible profits from killing for hire , the Night Mother began performing assassinations , and left a calling card of two stones , one white and one black , in each eye . The following she developed did not become the Morag Tong , however . It was at this point that the Dark Brotherhood was born . According to her supposed words , the Morag Tong existed long before her time , and she merely took on those members that split from the group after the murder of the last Potentate , as she was " the only other murder syndicate of any note . " According to the editor ' s note at the end of the book , the book was originally published anonymously , but that anyone can recognize the familiar writing and cadence of Enric Milres . It goes on to say that shortly after the publishing of this book , Milres was found " strangled , and two stones , a black one and a white one , crushed into his eye - sockets . Very brutally . " Ritual . For prospective clients to contact the Dark Brotherhood , they would carry out a ritual called the Black Sacrament . This ritual would inform the Night Mother of their intentions to have someone killed . When the Listener of the Black Hand prays to the Lucky Old Lady statue in Bravil , the Night Mother will inform the Listener about location of those prospective clients . The Listener would then relay this information to Speakers of the Black Hand . Quoting Black Horse Courier on the Night Mother Rituals ! : As documented in the rare and taboo work " A Kiss , Sweet Mother , " the Black Sacrament involves an effigy of the intended victim - - created from actual body parts , including a heart , skeleton and flesh - - within a circle of candles . To proceed with the ritual , one must stab the effigy repeatedly with a dagger rubbed with the petals of a Nightshade plant , while whispering the plea , " Sweet Mother , sweet Mother , send your child unto me , for the sins of the unworthy must be baptized in blood and fear . " As gruesome as this ritual may be , even more frightening is its intention - - the summoning of a mysterious assassin ( who some witnesses claim is always clad in a black hooded robe ) who will then receive money to kill an innocent victim . No remorse . No regret . It is , as the merchant ' s say , simply business . And that ' s what worries Adamus Phillida . Role in history . Cyrodiil . During the Third Era , the Night Mother appears to the Black Hand in ethereal form after the Brotherhood was desecrated by one its Speaker s . Mathieu Bellamont attempted to attack her , to no avail , during this quest . The Hero of Kvatch might have been present during the event , serving as Silencer to Lucien Lachance up until his death and being the sole agent behind the systematic murder of the other Silencers , and the Listener , Ungolim . Although the Hero may have been responsible for the death of so many guild members , the Night Mother knew the Hero ' s loyalty lay with her and forgave them , allowing them to remove whatever treasures they wanted from her tomb . Great War . In 4E188 , the Bravil Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary was raided . Listener Alisanne Dupre and the Speakers were burned to death , though the Night Mother ' s corpse remained intact , and was taken to the Cheydinhal Sanctuary . The fate of her children ' s bodies is unknown . Skyrim . During the Dragon Crisis , the Night Mother is delivered to the sanctuary by Cicero , the Keeper and self - made enthusiastic jester who can be helped before joining the Dark Brotherhood . Years after the death of the last Listener , Cicero brought the Night Mother to Falkreath , where Astrid ' s Dark Brotherhood existed . If the Dragonborn became a member of the Brotherhood , they were spoken to by the Night Mother when eavesdropping on Cicero , thus becoming her new Listener . Although sad that he was not named as Listener , Cicero remains faithful to the Night Mother and the new Listener . Threatened by both the Night Mother ' s authority and the new Listener , Astrid discourages the Dragonborn from fulfilling a contract imparted on them by the Night Mother . Later , Cicero attacked Astrid for defying the Night Mother ' s wishes and fled to the Dawnstar Sanctuary . While the Dragonborn was attempting to kill the Emperor , Astrid contacted Commander Maro , to restore her order , by informing him that the Dragonborn would be attempting to kill the Emperor , where Maro set a trap to kill the Listener . After the failed assassination , the Listener flees back to the Sanctuary , where most of the Brotherhood ' s members have been killed in an attack by the Penitus Oculatus . Although Nazir was saved , there was no way out of the exploding Sanctuary , so the Night Mother asks her Listener to " embrace " her , as this was the only way they would be able to survive . After the destruction of the Falkreath Sanctuary , Nazir pulls the Night Mother ' s coffin from the lake in the destroyed Sanctuary , and the Night Mother tells the Listener to go find Astrid , who is still within the Sanctuary . After being found , Astrid confesses that she is the one to blame for everything that has happened , and for the Listener to kill her , as she made herself the Black Sacrament . Afterwards , the Night Mother speaks to her Listener again , telling them that the contract must still be fulfilled . As the Listener tracks down and kills the real Emperor , Nazir and Babette , who also survived the attack on the Sanctuary , move with the Night Mother to the Dawnstar Sanctuary , where the Dark Brotherhood was started anew .