The Taste of Death

The Taste of Death is a quest available in in which the Dragonborn must assist a cult of Namira worshipers for their cannibalistic feast.
==Background==
Eola in Markarth wants me to join her in worshipping Namira, the Lady of Decay, by feasting on the flesh of the dead. She has something planned inside Reachcliff Cave.
==Objectives==
#Speak to Verulus about the Hall of Dead
#Investigate the Hall of the Dead
#Tell Verulus the Hall of the Dead is safe
#Clear the Draugr from Reachcliff Cave
#Speak to Eola
#Convince Verulus to follow you
#Lead Verulus to the Shrine of Namira
#Kill Verulus
#Feast on Verulus
==Walkthrough==
Rumors in Markarth say that the Hall of the Dead has been closed, preventing the people from visiting their dead. Brother Verulus, a Priest of Arkay, closed the hall because some of the bodies were defiled.
Rumors about the hall closing can be heard from Kleppr at the Silver-Blood Inn. He will say that after closing the hall, Verulus has become rather unpopular around town, mostly with the Nord citizens who fear they are being purposely kept from their honored dead. If Kleppr refuses to divulge information, you can instead find Verulus yourself directly and he will update you about the circumstances.
===Hall of the Dead===
On the way to the hall, Thongvor Silver-Blood and Brother Verulus are accosting each other rather intensely. After the argument, both men will return to their normal routines and Verulus can be confronted. He will deny entrance to the Hall of the Dead but can be bribed, persuaded or intimidated to explain the situation. He will explain that dead bodies in the hall have been found desecrated, and will permit the Dragonborn to enter and investigate.
Inside, an unknown woman's voice will be heard talking to the Dragonborn, believing they have eaten flesh. Soon after, Eola will reveal herself. She reveals that she worships Namira, Lady of Decay, and is the one who has been eating the dead.
The Dragonborn can listen to what she has to say or confront and kill her. Listening to her and allowing her to leave will start the quest. Eola will become invisible, leave the Hall of the Dead and go to Reachcliff Cave, where she will wait for the Dragonborn. Alternatively, killing her will fail the quest immediately.
Either way, the Dragonborn can report back to Brother Verulus and tell him that the Hall of the Dead is safe; Verulus will give the Dragonborn an Amulet of Arkay as a reward.
===Reachcliff Cave===
If allowed to live, Eola will be waiting for the Dragonborn outside Reachcliff Cave, where she asks the Dragonborn to defeat the Draugr inside. She will follow the Dragonborn in combat if asked.
After the cave is cleared, Eola will thank the Dragonborn and propose a feast to celebrate the victory. She will ask the Dragonborn to lure Verulus into Reachcliff Cave to be eaten, as part of an initiation ritual. She will give 100 to cover expenses.
Once back in the Hall of the Dead, Verulus must be convinced to follow the Dragonborn to the cave through dialogue. Note that he cannot be asked to follow the Dragonborn if they already have a follower.
===The Feast===
When the Dragonborn returns with Verulus, there will be a feast laid out in the final chamber, with other cannibals – Sanyon, Lisbet, Banning, Nimphaneth and Hogni Red-Arm – seated around the large table. Eola talks to Verulus and convinces him to lay on the altar "to rest" before dinner starts.
Eola asks the Dragonborn to kill Verulus and feast on his flesh. After killing him and eating, the voice of Namira will sound, telling the Dragonborn she is pleased with them. She will grant them the Ring of Namira, which allows them to feed on dead human bodies, conferring +50 stamina and +50 health, and health regeneration that lasts for five minutes.
"Mortal. I am Namira, the Lady of Decay. Your consumption of the blood and bile of Arkay's own is pleasing to me. I give you my ring. Wear it. And when you feast on the flesh of the dead, I will grant you my power."
:Thank you, my lady. "Wallow in your wretchedness, my newest champion."
:That's a lot of work for such a little thing... "Your mockery will be the end of you. And on that day, another servant will feast on your entrails and discover a ring clenched in her teeth. Be grateful for what time I give you until then."
At any time before eating Verulus, it is possible to betray the members of The Coven of Namira during the feast. This will cause the quest to fail; however, if Verulus survives, he will give the Dragonborn a leveled amount of gold and head back to Markarth. The dead coven members can also be looted for gold, keys, and other items.
===Alternate walkthrough: kill Eola===
Instead of siding with Eola, the Dragonborn can simply kill her in the Hall of the Dead. Since she turns invisible immediately after the dialogue ends, it is easier to escape out of the dialog windows and attack immediately. A unique dialog option will then appear with Verulus: instead of saying "The Hall of the Dead is safe," the Dragonborn will be able to say "The cannibal has been dealt with." Verulus will thank the Dragonborn, but request they spare him the grisly details. This is also the only way to betray Namira's Coven without them becoming hostile, though obviously the Ring of Namira cannot be obtained this way. The Dragonborn will get an Amulet of Arkay from Verulus as a reward.
==Journal==
Investigate the Hall of the Dead – DA11Intro	Investigate the Hall of the Dead – DA11Intro
ID 	Journal Entry
5 	
*Objective 5: Speak to Verulus about the Hall of the Dead
10 	
*Objective 10: Investigate the Hall of the Dead
15 	
*Objective 15: Tell Verulus the Hall of the dead is safe
20 	
*Quest complete
200 	
*Quest complete
The Taste of Death – DA11 	The Taste of Death – DA11
10 	Eola in Markarth wants me to join her in worshipping Namira, the Lady of Decay, by feasting on the flesh of the dead. She has something planned inside Reachcliff Cave.
*Objective 10: Clear the Draugr from Reachcliff Cave
20 	
*Objective 20: Speak to Eola
30 	Eola wants me to lure Brother Verulus to the Shrine of Namira, so that her coven of cannibals can feast on his flesh.
*Objective 30: Convince Verulus to follow you
40 	
*Objective 40: Lead Verulus to the Shrine of Namira
50 	
*Objective 50: Kill Verulus
60 	
Brother Verulus is dead, and I've been asked to feast on his dead body to complete my initiation into Namira's coven.
*Objective 60: Feast on Verulus
100 	
I have feasted on the body of Brother Verulus and have been rewarded with Namira's Ring.
*Quest complete
250 	I killed Eola. Whatever she could have offered me was lost when she died.
*Quest failed
500 	I killed Brother Verulus outside of the shrine of Namira's presence. The cannabilistic ritual to gain Namira's blessing has failed.
*Quest failed
==Trivia==
*Betraying the cannibals will cause several important characters, including shopkeepers, to turn hostile. The reward given may not be worth the lost ring and merchants.
*An alternative is to wipe out the coven after gaining the ring, allowing the Dragonborn to keep it.
**Killing Eola upon entering the cave the first time (to clear it) will not turn the shopkeepers hostile.
**Killing Lisbet will result in Imedhnain taking over her shop, however Banning and Hogni will not have replacements. As Hogni is only a butcher, it is not a big loss, but Banning sells the war dog Vigilance. It is recommended to buy Vigilance before killing Banning.
***Instead of having to pay for Vigilance, it is also possible to have a free dog, like Meeko, or to trigger a random world encounter with a stray dog. The player can also delay "A Daedra's Best Friend" for as long as desired. This allows Barbas to be an extremely useful companion, as he possesses massive damage output and infinite health.
**Killing Lisbet and Banning will make Imedhnain and Cedran's disposition drop by 2. Killing Hogni is safe, as no one will comment on his death.
*After completing this quest by feeding on Verulus, Sigar may be encountered in the wilderness. He will greet the Dragonborn and ask them to feed on the corpse of an Altmer lying next to him.
**If Eola is killed instead of Verulus, he will turn hostile to the Dragonborn.
*Feasting on Verulus in werewolf form or as a vampire will not update the quest.
*Brother Verulus is a useful second follower, as he is a competent mage. Therefore, it may be beneficial to delay completing the quest.
*Killing Verulus will count as a charge towards the Ebony Blade, as he is considered a follower.
**This quest in particular provides a number of kills to restore the Ebony Blade's enchantment. The player can first side with Eola at Reachcliff Cave and clear the zone, then agree to recruit Verulus. Bring him back to the feast, and slay him, then turn on the cannibals. This provides almost 4 kills in total, along with the ring of Namira and the gold Eola provides to cover your expenses for recruiting Verulus.
*Killing Brother Verulus whilst he rests for the feast is not counted as a murder.
*The placeholder for Namira's voice is a Bosmer female called Voice of Namira, placed behind the wall. She can be found with the Alteration spell Detect Life or Console Commands.
*Voice of Namira character model is also identical to the Dealer of Redwater Den, who reused this exact character model.
*Even if the Dragonborn is an Argonian, Khajiit, or Mer, Eola will still state that they are a cannibal for eating human flesh.
==Bugs==
Click to show
*Sometimes when Eola approaches the Dragonborn in the Hall of the Dead and starts talking, the disembodied voice will keep on talking over her, making it difficult to understand what she is saying.
* Eola will not always reveal herself once the dialogue is finished. To fix this, leave out of the back door (next to the Markarth Ruins door) and enter again. She should appear just inside the doorway, but the previous dialogue will repeat itself, so it might be difficult to hear Eola.
* If the Dragonborn kills Eola the first time she is encountered in the Hall of the Dead, Brother Verulus may glitch, never leave Understone Keep, and constantly stop the Dragonborn for conversation while he is in the Keep.
**Oddly, the Dragonborn will still have the option to say "You were at Namira's Feast, weren't you?" to the cannibals in Markarth, even though they did not attend.
*Entering the cave will sometimes cause the game to freeze.
*If Eola is killed upon entering the cave, the quest will fail, the feast will never occur, and the shopkeepers will not be hostile, yet the dialogue option "You were at Namira's feast, weren't you?" will still appear.
*When finished clearing the cave of draugr, Eola may not engage in conversation, rendering the quest incompletable. Leaving the cave and coming back in fixes this.
*If Eola is killed within Reachcliff Cave after accepting "Convince Verulus to follow you," some citizens of Markarth will speak to the Dragonborn as if they are a member of the cannibal cult.
*After bribing Brother Verulus to follow, he may not, and the quest will be impossible to complete. He will also become essential, so killing him is not an option.
* Brother Verulus may not follow if asked before telling him that the Hall of the Dead has been cleared.
*If Lisbet is killed before returning her Dibella Statue, the quest can never be completed and the statue cannot be dropped. If she is killed after returning the statue and it is looted from her corpse, it will be impossible to drop as well.
* After acquiring the miscellaneous mission "Speak to Verulus about the Hall of the Dead" or "Tell Verulus the Hall of the Dead is safe," if the Dragonborn does not report the information to him before sacrificing him on Namira's altar, the mission will remain incomplete and will not be removed from the quest log.
** To fix this, type the console command setstage da11intro 20.
*If Verulus is killed when he is laying on the altar, he may fall through the altar. He can still be searched and eaten from the sides of the altar.
* Verulus will sometimes stand still and not move when told to lay down by Eola. Only known fix for this is to leave the dungeon and then re-enter (confirmed on PC).
*If the Dragonborn brings Verulus back with them and then goes to kill the group of cultists, Hogni cannot be struck, but he can strike the Dragonborn.
*Sometimes if Eola is killed before reaching the shrine, Brother Verulus will go and lie on the shrine but will not be able to be killed, preventing quest completion.
* If Eola is killed after successfully completing this quest and receiving the ring, the quest will update as being failed. The journal states: "I killed Eola. Whatever she could have offered me was lost when she died." even though the artifact is already in the Dragonborn's possession.
* If Thongvor becomes Jarl of the Reach before you enter Understone Keep for the first time, he will not argue with Verulus. This can happen if you have completed Season Unending or sided with the Stormcloaks in the Civil War, rendering this quest essentially void and making it impossible to complete. There is no change in Verulus' dialogue if you speak to him in this case.
==Appearances==
*
de:Der Geschmack des Todes
es:El sabor de la muerte
it:Il Sapore della Morte
pl:Zadanie:Powiew śmierci
pt:The Taste of Death
ru:Вкус смерти
Category:Skyrim: Daedric Quests
Category:Skyrim: Markarth Quests