Boethiah - Elder Scrolls

Boethiah, or Bothiea, is the Daedric Prince of deceit, conspiracy, treachery, and sedition. Boethiah is known for enjoying the suffering of mortals. Like all of the Daedra, Boethiah has no gender, but is known for being strong, and seen normally in a stance holding his golden battle axe.

There are three artifacts related to Boethiah, the first is Ebony Mail. This is given to the player after completing Boethiah quest across each game in the series. It first makes its appearance in Elder Scrolls: Arena and the only game in the main series that it did not make it into to is Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. It generally is black and has different magical effects.

The next artifact is Goldbrand, generally seen as a golden katana. The backstory of this sword is a mystery. The tale is known only by thieves and it is said that the sword was made by ancient dragons from the north. The tale says that the knight to whom the sword was given was sworn to protect dragons. The sword gives the wielder the power to do fire damage to their enemy. In the fourth era, the sword was said to be wielded during the Titus Mede II in the taking over of Imperial City.

The last artifact is a shield that was given to Lyrisius by Boethiah, no one really knows why. But he is known for using the shield in his battle against Akaviri and his invasion. Though the shield is now destroyed after Lyrisius fought Wyrm, the dragon. But there are other legends where the shield was locked away in the tomb of the Champion of Boethiah, though no one knows the actual location of the tomb.

To start the quest you must be at least level 30, after that there are a few ways to start the quest. The book Boethiah's Proving can be found in multiple places; in Septimus Signus’ Outpost, on a Boethiah Cultist, in the abandoned house in Markarth, in Hob’s Fall Cave, and in the black book Untold Legends. After finding and reading the book, the quest will begin. You will be sent to the Sacellum of Boethiah. You will be asked to lead a sacrifice to the shrine. You are also given a ceremonial blade, although you can use any weapon to kill your offering. This means you must use a follower so you can tell them to activate the shrine. If you are currently using a follower you would like to keep, you can send them home and find one that you are willing to sacrifice. As a recommendation, there is a guy you can find in Markarth, at the Silver-Blood Inn. His name is Vorstag and he can be found behind the counter near the fire. You can hire him to follow you for 500 gold.

After he begins to follow you, you can lead him to the shrine and tell him to activate it. Boethiah will possess your dead follower’s body once you kill him and speak to you in a feminine voice. She will tell you that all of the cultists must fight to see who is worthy. After all the members are defeated, Boethiah will speak to you again. She will tell you that you must go kill her current champion and retrieve her artifact from him, the Ebony Mail. After collecting the Ebony Mail and putting it on, Boethiah will name you her champion and you get to keep the Mail.

Fun Fact: There was originally going to another quest after completing the original. The quest involved killing the Jarl of Solitude, Elisif. The new Jarl would be Eirkurl, though the quest was never added and is known as a broken quest. Some believe the main reason it was never finished was for the fact that it conflicted with the civil war questline.