- For other uses, see Daedric Quests.
Daedric Quests are tasks performed for Daedric Princes. Their appearance has become somewhat customary for games in The Elder Scrolls series, and have returned in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
Many of the quests are given when the Dragonborn discovers the Prince's shrine. Some Daedric Princes, however, will not give their quests from their shrines. These quests can, instead, be found at specific places or specific times. Upon completion of each quest, the Dragonborn is claimed by the Daedric Prince as their champion, their emissary on Nirn, and is rewarded with a Daedric artifact.
These Princes are Azura, Boethiah, Clavicus Vile, Hermaeus Mora, Hircine, Malacath, Mephala, Meridia, Molag Bal, Namira, Peryite, Sanguine, Sheogorath, Vaermina, and Mehrunes Dagon. Nocturnal does not give any quest, rather she plays a major role in the Thieves Guild questline. The Skeleton Key is a Daedric artifact which belongs to her and can be gained through the Thieves Guild questline, but does not contribute to the Daedric Influence or Oblivion Walker achievements/trophies. The only Prince that has no artifact or presence in Skyrim is Jyggalag.
Azura: The Black Star/Azura's Star
The quest at the Shrine of Azura asks the Dragonborn to retrieve the defiled Azura's Star, an 'infinite' soul gem. The Dragonborn must recover Azura's Star from Ilinalta's Deep and, upon success, will have two options: A) Bring it back to Azura's shrine, or B) bring it to Nelacar, a resident of the inn at Winterhold, who helped earlier in that quest. Depending on what you choose you'll either receive Azura's Star or the Black Star.
Either choice will require the Dragonborn to enter the Star and defeat the necromancer that is defiling Azura's Star from within. If the Dragonborn brings Azura's Star to Azura, they will be rewarded with the purified variant of the Star, which can only absorb the souls of lesser creatures (Aranea Ienith, the Priestess of Azura who gave you the quest will also become a follower). Bring the Star to the necromancer that helped the Dragonborn, and they will be rewarded with the Black Star, which can absorb the souls of NPCs. (The souls of NPCs count as Grand-level souls).
Level Requirement: None
Boethiah: Boethiah's Calling
The Ebony Mail is a variation of the Ebony Armor chestpiece. The quest requires that the Dragonborn sacrifice one of their followers, after which Boethiah will speak to the Dragonborn and her followers. She commands the Dragonborn and her followers to fight each other to the death, with the last man standing having the honor of completing a task in her honor. The task is to hunt down and kill her champion, at Knifepoint Ridge, taking the Ebony Mail from him and wearing it thus making the Dragonborn her new champion.
Level Requirement: Level 30
Clavicus Vile: A Daedra's Best Friend
The Masque of Clavicus Vile is a Heavy Armor helmet, which is given by Clavicus Vile after returning the Rueful Axe. The quest begins in Falkreath after acquiring the task of luring out a stray dog the blacksmith is interested in. Upon finding the dog, to the Dragonborn's surprise, it talks.
The dog then leads the Dragonborn to Clavicus' Shrine at the back of Haemar's Shame. Clavicus agrees to take back Barbas, if the Dragonborn collects the Rueful Axe from Rimerock Burrow for him.
After acquiring the axe, he offers a deal: to let the Dragonborn keep the axe if the Dragonborn kills Barbas with it. If the Dragonborn chooses not to kill Barbas, he or she will receive the Masque of Clavicus Vile instead. Note: The Rueful Axe does not count as Vile's Daedric artifact.
Level Requirement: Level 10
Hermaeus Mora: Discerning the Transmundane
The quest "Discerning the Transmundane" awards the Dragonborn with the Skill Book, the Oghma Infinium. To begin this quest, the Dragonborn must go to Septimus Signus' Outpost (It doesn't matter whether you visit the outpost during the main quest or not; it will not hinder the Dragonborn's progress in either case). After recovering the Lexicon Signus gave to the Dragonborn and transcribing it, Septimus will give the Dragonborn the Essence Extractor which must be used to gain samples of the blood of the Falmer, Bosmer (Wood Elf), Dunmer (Dark Elf), Altmer (High Elf), and Orsimer (Orc).
However, one can not collect blood from those who suffer from vampirism even if they are the correct race, this could be because their blood is not pure. Upon doing this, return to Septimus who will unlock the Dwemer lockbox to reveal the Oghma Infinium. However, upon the Infinium being revealed, Septimus tries to take it and is immediately disintegrated by Hermaeus Mora (who appeared earlier in the quest). Hermaeus Mora then allows the Dragonborn to take the Oghma Infinium, which will allow the Dragonborn to choose to increase all of the Mage, Thief, or Warrior skills by 5 points each.
Note: A glitch has been found for the Oghma Infinium allowing the Dragonborn to read it several times, thus leveling up as much as they please. (see Oghma Infinium - Exploit section) This glitch has been fixed as of patch 1.9.
Level Requirement: Level 15
Hircine: Ill Met by Moonlight
The quest "Ill Met by Moonlight" awards the Dragonborn with either the Savior's Hide or Ring of Hircine (or both). To begin this quest the Dragonborn must travel to the jail underneath the Falkreath Barracks and speak to Sinding. He will give the Dragonborn the Cursed Ring of Hircine. He tells the Dragonborn that the beast in the woods must be killed. The beast reveals to be Hircine, who then tells the Dragonborn they must go to Bloated Man's Grotto and choose to either kill Sinding for the Hide or spare him for the Ring.
Note: Both reward items (The Savior's Hide and the Ring of Hircine) can be retrieved following these steps. First, when the Dragonborn begins the hunt, Sinding will speak with them. The Dragonborn must select the option to spare Sinding's life. Next, after all the hunters have been killed, the Dragonborn should speak to him. After the quest complete notification has appeared, Sinding should be killed. He should not be skinned yet. The Dragonborn must then go outside and Hircine will speak to them, where they should select the option "I failed to bring down Sinding" and wait for the dialogue to finish. The Dragonborn should now have the Ring of Hircine, with the curse removed. The Dragonborn should now go back in the cave and find Sinding's body, skin it, and Hircine will appear again. After the dialogue, the Dragonborn should now have both the Savior's Hide and the Ring of Hircine.
Level Requirement: None
Malacath: The Cursed Tribe
To obtain Volendrung the Dragonborn needs to approach the orc stronghold Largashbur. There, a female Orc, Atub, requests assistance with lifting a curse from the settlement. The first part of this sidequest requires Troll Fat and a Daedra Heart. This quest eventually leads to killing a leader of the giants and then either killing or letting the Orc chieftain die.
Level Requirement: Level 10
Mehrunes Dagon: Pieces of the Past
Mehrunes' Razor is the dagger from Oblivion that was previously used by the Mythic Dawn. It can be obtained by completing a simple chain quest. The first part of the quest involves visiting with a descendant of the assassins of Uriel Septim VII, Silus, who runs a small museum dedicated to the Mythic Dawn. It holds several items from Oblivion: the Commentaries, Mythic Dawn outfit, the sheath to the Razor, and the page from the Mysterium Xarxes. The first portion of the quest has the Dragonborn gathering the pieces to Mehrunes' Razor. After that the Dragonborn must then meet Silus at the Shrine of Mehrunes Dagon, speak to Mehrunes Dagon himself, and kill Silus to complete the quest and earn the reward.
Level Requirement: Level 20
Mephala: The Whispering Door
Asking Hulda the bartender at The Bannered Mare in Whiterun about rumors turns up gossip about Jarl Balgruuf's son, Nelkir. Talking to the Jarl reveals that Nelkir is troubled and he asks the Dragonborn to speak to him. Nelkir explains that a door in the basement is telling him secrets. Going to the door, a voice orders the Dragonborn to open it. Nelkir will explain that the Jarl and Farengar Secret-Fire are the only people who have keys. The Dragonborn must pickpocket the key from one of them in order to gain entrance to the door. Inside they will find an Ebony Blade, along with a book providing a warning to whoever uses the weapon.
The quest then completes. Mephala will explain, however, that the weapon needs to be recharged with the 'Blood of Deceit' in order to increase its power. This will require the Dragonborn to kill friendly NPCs - for every two NPCs killed by the Dragonborn, the weapon increases in power, adding 4 to the strength of the Absorb Health effect (up to the maximum of 30); killing 10 friendly NPCs will max out the strength of the Absorb Health Enchantment.
Level Requirement: Level 20, completion of main quest "Dragon Rising".
Meridia: The Break of Dawn
Dawnbreaker, a one-handed enchanted sword, can be obtained by speaking to Meridia at the Statue to Meridia and completing her quest. This is a simple quest that requires the Dragonborn to find her beacon, and then to "lead Meridia's light" through the dungeon underneath her Shrine. In order to do this, the Dragonborn must activate pedestals with little glowing balls of light, in sequence throughout the dungeon.
The dungeon itself is filled with Draugr and Corrupted Shades, and is somewhat complicated to navigate. At the end the Dragonborn will have to defeat a powerful necromancer, Malkoran, who apparently is defiling her Shrine. Upon defeating him, the Dragonborn will retrieve the sword, Dawnbreaker, and receive Meridia's blessing.
A glitch can occur that will drop you to your death. On PC: to survive the fall, open the command bar (~) then type TGM to activate God mode. After you survive the fall, you can type TGM again to deactivate it and continue playing legitimately. This quest is also good for gathering gold as the many Desecrated Corpses in the shrine can hold up to 100 gold each.
There is an 'exploit' to get a copy of the Dawnbreaker before retrieving it from the pedestal. If you are able, cast a rune spell just under the pedestal, then set it off with sparks or some other spell, if there are no more enemies around. A copy of the Dawnbreaker will be seen flying from the pedestal, and can be picked up without completing the quest, then you can retrieve the one in the pedestal, and you will leave the room to talk to Meridia.
Level Requirement: Level 12
Molag Bal: The House of Horrors
The Mace of Molag Bal can be found in the city of Markarth. Once walking through the main gate, outside of the "Abandoned House", a Follower of Stendarr will ask the Dragonborn if they have seen anyone entering or leaving. Going through the conversation will trigger the quest "The House of Horrors". You have to enter the house, then go through it until you get to a small shrine which contains the Rusty Mace (Mace of Molag Bal). The shrine will speak to you and tell you to find a certain priest, who has been captured. Once you get back to the shrine with the priest the shrine will speak, then the priest will turn hostile, and then you have to kill him with the Mace of Molag Bal. Once this is complete the Dragonborn will be allowed to keep the mace.
Level Requirement: None
Namira: The Taste of Death
To begin the quest the Dragonborn must go to the bartender in the Silver-Blood Inn or talk to Brother Verulus at the Understone Keep Hall of the Dead entrance. Something has been eating the dead and he needs someone to investigate. Verulus will give the Dragonborn a key. The Dragonborn will then meet Eola in the Hall of the Dead in Markarth, where she will accuse them of being a cannibal. She then asks the Dragonborn to meet her at Reachcliff Cave where they have to clear the cave of Draugr.
Afterwards Eola will have the Dragonborn bring Brother Verulus from Markarth to the shrine. Once there, the Dragonborn must kill Verulus and eat his flesh. Namira will then speak to the Dragonborn and grant them her ring. The Ring of Namira grants the user with 50 extra points of Stamina and feeding on corpses grants a bonus to health regeneration. Eola becomes a follower after the quest.
Level Requirement: None
Peryite: The Only Cure
Upon finding the shrine, Northeast of Markarth, the Dragonborn should speak to Kesh the Clean. He will ask for a silver ingot, a Deathbell flower, Vampire Dust and a Flawless Ruby. Once these items have been obtained, the Dragonborn should talk to Kesh again to have him make the incense. The Dragonborn will inhale the incense and begin talking to Peryite. He will ask for the Dragonborn to travel to Bthardamz and kill an elf named Orchendor. After he is slain, the Dragonborn can return to Peryite and claim Spellbreaker.
Level Requirement: Level 12
Sanguine: A Night to Remember
This quest gives the Sanguine Rose, which is a staff that summons a Dremora for 60 seconds. This quest can be prompted by entering a drinking contest with a mage named Sam Guevenne in a bar/tavern. Upon finishing the Drinking Contest the Dragonborn will wind up in Markarth, in a temple. However, the Dragonborn has to find or get approached by certain people in the game - most of the time causing an inconvenience to the Dragonborn as they will be asked for money as reparations for what the Dragonborn did as a result of the drinking contest.
Level Requirement: Level 14
Sheogorath: The Mind of Madness
Wabbajack is a staff, given by the Daedric Prince of madness, Sheogorath. "The Mind of Madness" quest is started in Solitude when talking to an apparently insane homeless man, named Dervenin, who claims his master is on vacation in the Pelegius wing of the castle (Note: If the Dragonborn cannot find Dervenin, they can go to The Winking Skeever and ask the Bartender if he has heard any rumors. He will then tell about a weird old man walking Solitude.
When the Dragonborn investigates, they are transported inside the mind of the mad king Pelagius. There, they find Sheogorath who offers the Dragonborn a bargain: escape Pelagius' mind, and he will return. At the completion of the quest, he rewards the Dragonborn Wabbajack, a staff that when cast transforms the target into another creature, summons a minor creature to attack the enemy, summons a lightning cloud or, in one case, completely destroyed the enemy, scattering coins all around, and more.
Level Requirement: None
Vaermina: Waking Nightmare
Speaking to Erandur, a follower of Mara, in the Windpeak Inn in Dawnstar will begin a quest to end the nightmares, Waking Nightmare, which involves a visit to the Nightcaller Temple.
After following all the quest updates, the Dragonborn will reach the end scene, as Erandur casts a spell to destroy the Skull of Corruption, a Daedric weapon which has been causing the nightmares.
Here the Dragonborn can kill Erandur as Vaermina commands and take the Skull as a reward, or let him complete his spell to destroy the Skull. In the latter case, he can become a follower.
Level Requirement: None