The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is filled with quests that can keep a player occupied for hours. Some, however, are more unsettling than others. While many of Skyrim’s quests require the player to act benevolently — the main questline being one example of this — there are others that allow for evil actions.
Many of these evil-leaning quests are Daedric in nature, wherein the player speaks to otherworldly beings who then offer them power or riches in return for their service. Some of these are pretty tame, following Skyrim’s usual fetch quest format. Though some are downright disturbing, primarily because of what the quests require the player to do.
Boethiah's Calling — Boethiah
Boethiah is the Daedric Prince of conspiracy, deceit, sedition, and treachery. They are known to favor battle and bloodshed, which is why they are commonly viewed as one of the most evil Daedric Princes in the pantheon. They even revel in the conflicts of their followers, as suggested by the book Boethiah’s Proving. Now, should the player chance upon the book on their travels, it will trigger the Daedric quest, Boethiah’s Calling.
At the Sacellum of Boethiah, the player will find the Daedric Prince’s followers gathered around the shrine. A Boethiah Priestess will then instruct the player to sacrifice a follower at the shrine. Doing so will awaken the Daedric Prince and summon them to the mortal plane. Should the player agree, they’ll be given the Blade of Sacrifice and sent on their way to deceive a trusted follower. Any humanoid, non-essential follower can be taken to the shrine and sacrificed.
Once a follower has been killed, Boethiah will take on their form and speak, informing the cultists of their need for a new champion. Though only the most ruthless, cunning, and agile will do. This causes Boethiah’s followers to turn hostile, and the player will have to slay them all. Once they’ve been defeated, Boethiah will once again speak to the player, asking that they slay the Daedric Prince’s former champion. The remainder of the quest then has the player clearing out a bandit camp and acquiring one of the best pieces of heavy armor in the game.
Sacrificing a follower is largely what makes this quest so disturbing. The player is given plenty of autonomy in terms of whom they want to sacrifice, and it’s a bit unnerving. Though, admittedly, the generic dungeon run at the end of it takes away from the overall experience. That said, the game’s files reveal that another Daedric quest was planned for Boethiah. In it, the player would be tasked with assassinating Elisif the Fair, the Jarl of Solitude, with “guile, deception, and stealth” – a task worthy of the Daedric Prince’s champion.
The Taste of Death — Namira
Namira is the Daedric Prince of dark, shadowy spirits and is also commonly associated with repulsive creatures. Although, they are most known as the patron of cannibals who revels in their followers’ consumption of human flesh. They also dislike the God Arkay and his priests, as hinted in their Daedric quest, The Taste of Death.
In the quest, the player will be tasked with investigating Markarth’s Hall of the Dead, a large mausoleum where the city’s fallen lie in stone crypts. The hall had since been closed because the priests noticed that some of the bodies were defiled. When the player enters the hall, they’ll meet a woman named Eola, who openly admits to cannibalizing the corpses and even invites the player to meet her in Reachcliff Cave.
Should the player choose to let her go and head to the cave, Eola will then ask that they clear the place of draugr. After which, Eola will organize a feast and request that the player lure a priest of Arkay from Markarth to Reachcliff Cave. When the player returns with the priest, a feast will be laid out, as Eola promised, and there will be other people taking part in the festivities. To end the quest, the player must kill the priest and feast on his corpse, prompting Namira to reward them with a Daedric ring.
Similar to Boethiah’s Daedric quest, The Taste of Death involves luring an unsuspecting innocent to their death. However, what makes this just a bit more disturbing is the fact that the cannibals sitting around the table are all NPCs from Markarth, and talking to them reveals unique dialogue. For example, Hogni Red-Arm, who sells meat will joke that his is “the bloodiest beef in the Reach.” Even worse is Banning, who sells the trusty pet, Vigilance. When spoken to, he’ll comment, “There's a reason why my hounds are so eager to bite into people.”
The House of Horrors — Molag Bal
Molag Bal is the Daedric Prince of domination and enslavement of mortals. They’re known for the creation of vampirism as well as their desire to spread conflict and strife across the mortal realm. They also have a strong disdain for the Daedric Prince Boethiah, their archenemy. In Skyrim, they will exact vengeance on one of Boethiah’s followers during The House of Horrors quest.
When wandering Markarth, the player can opt to join a Vigilant of Stendarr named Tyranus in investigating an abandoned house for Daedric activity. When exploring it, they will find a shrine to Molag Bal in the basement. The Daedric Prince will then lock the door and speak to the player, commanding that they kill Tyranus. Once this is done, Molag Bal will call them down to the basement and trap them in a spiked cage. The Daedric Prince will then chastise the player for believing that they’d be rewarded so quickly.
Should the player agree to help Molag Bal, they’ll be told to rescue a Boethiah Priest named Logrolf the Willful from a random dungeon and send him to the abandoned house. Back in Markarth, the player will find Logrolf trapped in the same spiked cage they were trapped in. Wanting the priest to submit to their will, Molag Bal will instruct the player to beat Logrolf. This will kill the priest, but the Daedric Prince will simply resurrect him and have the player beat him again. Only when Logrolf pledges his soul will Molag Bal finally allow him to die.
The haunted house set piece and Molag Bal’s manipulative actions already make for an unsettling experience. Though what makes this quest all the more disturbing is the fact that the player essentially tortures another person to death — multiple times. Not to mention, if the Dragonborn becomes the champion of a Daedric Prince who wants to terrorize the entire mortal realm, is it really worth it?
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
