Hail Sithis ! Hail Sithis ! is a quest available in . After a failed assassination attempt on Emperor Titus Mede II and the near - destruction of the Dark Brotherhood , it is time to finish the Brotherhood ' s greatest contract in centuries . This is the final contract - based quest in the Dark Brotherhood questline ; however , it is not the final quest . Walkthrough . Preparations . The quest begins by talking to Nazir and telling him the Night Mother has spoken , and thus the contract is still on . He will direct the Dragonborn to Amaund Motierre , who is hiding out in the back room of The Bannered Mare in Whiterun . Amaund will reveal that the Emperor is on " The Katariah " , which is a ship about to leave Skyrim . He also mentions that Commander Maro will be at the East Empire Company Warehouse docks , should the Dragonborn wish to pay him a " visit . " ( Optional ) Kill Commander Maro . Maro can be found on the docks of the East Empire Company Warehouse , near an unnamed docked ship . He will be surprised that the Dragonborn is alive and will turn hostile . It is possible to walk onto the archway over the water and shoot him from afar , but unless he is killed with the first shot , he will start moving around , fighting with Shadowmere . A more direct way is to go down to the docks and kill him , then flee from the guards towards " The Katariah " . However , this will earn a bounty if witnessed , and there are very few hiding places on the docks for sneak attacks . Another tactic is to approach the warehouse from the west , starting from either Katla ' s Farm or Solitude Sawmill . Go down the wooden stairs / walkway , but rather than going all the way to the dock , jump off into the water and swim toward the dock staying close to the rocks on the left . Upon reaching the area that is under the last landing before reaching the dock , there is a section of land large enough to stand upon . From this position , the Dragonborn can get a clear view of Maro , and can easily shoot him unobserved . Also , as already mentioned , one will need to kill him with the first shot , so it is best to use a high - damage bow and arrow . One can also wait until nightfall and sneak up behind Maro from the inlet and knife him from behind . If one is wearing Shrouded Gloves or Shrouded Hand Wraps and has a good One - Handed skill , he can be killed in one stab . The simplest way is by talking to Maro with a clean bounty — he will attack , and the guards may help kill him ( at the least , they will be indifferent and no bounty is incurred unless a guard is accidentally hit ) . If the Stormcloak quest line is finished , there will be Stormcloak Guards on the docks that will help kill Maro . Kill the Emperor ! The next step is to swim to " The Katariah " , which is anchored in the water under Solitude . To get inside , the Dragonborn should swim around the hull to the anchor chain , then activate it . If is installed , and the Dragonborn knows all three words for the Bend Will shout , riding a dragon and landing it on the ship is also an option . On board the ship , there will be several low level Sailors and more dangerous Penitus Oculatus agents . The winding , narrow passages inside the ship offer ample cover for a stealthy approach , but none of the ship ' s occupants are especially powerful . Alerting one will not necessarily alert the rest of the ship , but only those enemies who happen to be close by . Proceeding south through a dining room leads to stairs up to the main deck . A locked door ( expert ) to the aft ( north ) cabins is at the top of these stairs . The key to this door ( and all doors on the ship ) is held by Captain Avidius , who can be found in a forward cabin ( in the southwest corner of the ship ) . The key can also be obtained by killing the lieutenant who is in the room directly below the Emperor . Either the key can be used or the lock picked to allow entrance to the aft cabin area . Upon entering , there is a room to the left with one Penitus Oculatus agent , and one to the right with two that has smoke rising from the floor . At the north end of the area is another room with Lieutenant Salvarus . Up the stairs in either the northwest or northeast corner is a master - level locked door to the Emperor ' s Quarters ( that can be opened with the key ) . Once inside , the Emperor will start talking . He accepts his death , stating that this is destiny . He will ask a favor however : kill whomever assigned the contract . He gets up from his chair and turns his back to stare out a window , allowing an easy kill . Before leaving , the door to the left should not be overlooked . It leads to the Emperor ' s sleeping quarters with jewelry , gems , and armor to be taken . Two sets of Emperor ' s Robes can be looted — — one off of the Emperor and one set in the bedroom . It is a possible location for Meridia ' s Beacon . Report to Amaund Motierre . After the Emperor has been killed , there is a conveniently placed door to his right that leads outside . After jumping off and escaping the ship , the Dragonborn should return to the Bannered Mare to talk to Amaund . He reveals the payment is in a dead drop in Volunruud . In the same chamber where Amaund was first met , there is a 20 , 000 payment in an urn . ( Optional ) Kill Amaund Motierre . Once Amaund gives the location of the reward , he can be killed . This can also be done after returning from Volunruud , or at any later date . This will yield no particular reward , except a handful of valuable gems which can also be pickpocketed from his inventory without killing him . If he is killed , his dying words are " But we had a deal . . . " echoing the deal made between Astrid and Maro . Report to Nazir . After returning to Nazir at the Dawnstar Sanctuary , he asks how much Amaund left as a reward . The Dragonborn can lie about the reward , but it does not change anything . Either way , Nazir will suggest speaking to Delvin Mallory in Riften about repairing the Dawnstar Sanctuary with the gold from the reward . In return , Nazir says that once the repairs are complete , he will start recruiting new members to the Dark Brotherhood . This completes the quest and begins the next , " Where You Hang Your Enemy ' s Head . " The gold is kept as the Dragonborn ' s reward — upgrading the Sanctuary is optional . When climbing the stairs to exit the Sanctuary after the quest is complete , the Night Mother will speak to the Dragonborn , asking them to come close to her to receive her words . This then begins the quest " The Dark Brotherhood Forever . "