A Shadow over Hackdirt A Shadow over Hackdirt is a quest in . Background . The Hero is asked to go to the small hamlet of Hackdirt to discover what happened to Dar - Ma , the Argonian daughter of Seed - Neeus , a Chorrol merchant . Upon arrival , the townspeople will act suspicious , and the villager the Hero is sent to says the girl never showed up . Walkthrough . Chorrol . At the Hero ' s first arrival in Chorrol , Dar - Ma will enter a conversation with them , prompting two options , to send Dar - Ma away , or to be friendly to her . After three days , if the hero leaves town and returns , there will be rumors that she is missing . Wait two more days and then talk to Seed - Neeus , Dar - Ma ' s mother . If the hero was friendly to Dar - Ma , Seed - Neeus will have a disposition of over 50 and will plead for help , saying that Dar - ma was kidnapped while making her delivery to the village of Hackdirt . Seed - Neeus also mentions that Dar - ma was with her horse , Blossom . If the hero was unfriendly to Dar - Ma , raise Seed - Neeus ' disposition or go out and hear more rumors , at which point Seed - Neeus will ask for help . Hackdirt . Travel to Hackdirt , a small ruined town outside Chorrol . After locating Blossom , talk to the townspeople . All of them will be hostile , with their dispositions ranging from zero to five . In conversations with the townsfolk , they only give surly responses . The quest target will point to the inn . Renting a room for 30 from the innkeeper will allow the option to sneak into the room Dar - ma stayed in . In the room , there is a ransacked dresser , and " Dar - Ma ' s Diary " . The diary tells about her sudden disappearance , and characterizes the innkeeper as nasty , as well as giving some of Dar - ma ' s back story . The Hero can then choose to go downstairs and confront the innkeeper , who will be angry saying that Dar - ma left the diary at the inn . If the diary is taken , it will show as stolen and it cannot be given back to her . Ask around the town and , eventually , find Jiv Hiriel who will say to meet him in his house after dark . Do so , and he will explain the situation , and provide a key to the caverns beneath the town . He advises entering the caverns through the trapdoor in the inn . Going this way can avoid all of the enemies , as the girl ' s cell is right next to the ladder . It is best to do this between 1 AM and 5 AM as all the townsfolk will be occupied in the Gathering . The only people in the caverns are the Hackdirt Brethren . Then all that has to be done is to get her back to Chorrol unharmed , while the entire town turns hostile . She can be helped to get her horse , Blossom , but this is optional . In the cavern , where Dar - ma is imprisoned , there are three crates stacked together in the middle of the room . The large crate will contain a random , leveled blunt weapon or bow . Heading back to Chorrol . Escort Dar - Ma to Chorrol and speak with her mother , but after Dar - Ma retrieves her horse , she will approach to talk . After the conversation , she will head toward home and the Hero is forced to follow her . She tends to walk directly toward any creatures without concern , which makes escorting her difficult . However , if she is never allowed to get close enough to talk , she will continue to walk towards the Hero , allowing her to be lead around enemies . Only let her speak at Chorrol ' s gates . Alternately , once the Hero has talked to her and agreed to take her back to Chorrol , fast travel to Chorrol and she should be there as well . Once the quest is finished , Dar - Ma ' s disposition towards the Hero will be 100 and she will give them free mercantile training . Alternative . Without knowing anything of the captured girl or her mother in Chorrol , the Hero can pick the lock on any of the trap doors in the village and find the imprisoned girl in the caves , who asks to be taken back to her mother , at which point the quest proceeds as above . This method tends to have a higher body count in terms of generic villagers underground .