Template:SkyrimNPCs Astrid is the leader of the Dark Brotherhood in Skyrim. She resides in the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary, near Falkreath. Married to Arnbjorn, a fellow Dark Brotherhood assassin, she holds the responsibility of finding new recruits in the Night Mother's absence. She offers the Dragonborn many of the Dark Brotherhood's main quests. She is usually found in the first room of the Sanctuary.
Personality
Astrid decrees her unbeatable dictatorship, comparable and stronger than even the The Five Tenets. She tires of the laws and restrictions that limit the Brotherhood, deciding that a sort of family-like unity benefits the members of the Brotherhood better than structure.
Interactions
Innocence Lost
Astrid sends the Listener on a contract.
Successfully killing Grelod the Kind for Aventus Aretino causes Astrid to kidnap the Dragonborn while they sleep. She brings them to an abandoned shack and asks them to kill one of three hostages. Regardless of whom the Dragonborn kills, Astrid gives them directions to the Sanctuary, and invites them to join her "family".
Should the Dragonborn choose to kill Astrid instead during this encounter, Commander Maro learns of the deed, and tasks the Dragonborn with eradicating the remaining members of the Dark Brotherhood.
Whispers In The Dark
Astrid asks the Dragonborn to spy on Cicero, as she suspects that he is plotting with another member of the sanctuary to destroy the brotherhood. The Dragonborn obeys, hearing the Night Mother speak and becoming her Listener. Threatened by the Night Mother's choice, Astrid reclaims her authority by sending the Dragonborn on off-handed contracts until she investigates the contract the Night Mother told to the Listener.
Death Incarnate
Astrid performs The Black Sacrament on herself.
Upon the attack on the Dark Brotherhood's sanctuary, many of the Assassins of the Dark Brotherhood fell, including Astrid. She begs the Dragonborn to kill her by performing The Black Sacrament, dubbing the Dragonborn her replacement as leader of the brotherhood and admitting she was wrong for defying the Night Mother. She also explains that she negotiated with the Penitus Oculatus, Commander Maro, into revealing the identity of the Dragonborn in exchange for political immunity. Maro went back on his word, attacking the Sanctuary. She asks to be killed with her Blade Of Woe, but it doesn't matter what you do it with. After Astrid's death, the Dragonborn and the remaining assassins move to the Dawnstar Sanctuary, where Cicero fled and can still be found if you chose to let him live.
Quests
- With Friends Like These...
- Sanctuary
- Mourning Never Comes
- Whispers In The Dark
- The Silence Has Been Broken
- Bound Until Death
- Breaching Security
- The Cure for Madness
- Recipe for Disaster
- To Kill an Empire
- Death Incarnate
- Destroy the Dark Brotherhood!
Trivia
- Astrid is voiced by Cindy Robinson.[1] Robinson is best known for her role as the voice of Amy Rose in the Sonic the Hedgehog video game franchise.
- The quests With Friends Like These... and Destroy the Dark Brotherhood! are the only times that Astrid can be killed. Otherwise she is dubbed as an essential character and cannot be killed. Because of this, she can be exploited for fast skill leveling.
- If she is killed in "With Friends Like These...", she says to the Dragonborn, "Well done," as her last words.
- Astrid can be reanimated as a Dead Thrall after killing her, and she keeps her original dialogue; however, she only retains one point of health.
Bugs
- Sometimes Nazir mentions Astrid waiting at a pool, after completion of the questline, even if she's dead.