The Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary, also called the Falkreath Sanctuary, is a hidden underground lair just off the road heading west from Falkreath, a little southeast of Roadside Ruins. It is home to the last remnants of the Dark Brotherhood. You won’t find it by knocking politely – the door only opens for people the Brotherhood has already been in touch with.
What you’ll find
- The Black Door: a carved skull with a bloody handprint beside a pitch-black pool, a faint heartbeat in the air and a question – “What is the music of life?” The answer is “Silence, my brother.” Anything else earns you a curt “You are not worthy.”
- A sanctuary that is mostly an ancient Nordic ruin merged with a cave network, with several rooms and a main chamber beside a waterfall.
- The family: Astrid, Nazir, Cicero, Babette, Gabriella, Arnbjorn, Festus Krex and Veezara, the Night Mother, and Lis, a pet frostbite spider.
- A Word Wall for Marked for Death between two staircases in the main chamber.
- Alchemy Lab, Arcane Enchanter, anvil, grindstone, workbench and a wood chopping block.
Quests
- With Friends Like These… – Astrid teaches you the passphrase. Finish it and she hands you the Shrouded Armor.
- Sanctuary – your first proper visit as a new member.
- Destroy the Dark Brotherhood! – if you kill Astrid instead, Commander Maro gives you the passphrase so you can wipe them out.
Notable items
- Shrouded Armor, plus Shrouded Robes, Shoes, Hand Wraps, a maskless Cowl and a Hood on a cupboard in the first room.
- A Stone of Barenziah on a dresser in the bedroom west of the first room.
- Sacred Witness (Sneak) and Sithis (Alteration) skill books.
- An Explorer’s Guide to Skyrim, The Apprentice’s Assistant in Babette’s room, Lost Legends near Astrid’s spot, and soul gems all over.
Tips
Followers wait outside, so plan your inventory accordingly. Don’t use the sanctuary’s containers as long-term storage: anything left there vanishes after To Kill an Empire. Once the questline has run its course, most rooms are sealed off by rubble after the Penitus Oculatus burn the place – unless you destroyed the Brotherhood yourself, in which case everything stays open.
Good to know
The Brotherhood later relocates to an abandoned sanctuary near Dawnstar, whose door asks a different riddle: the answer there is “Innocence, my brother.”
Nearby
Closest places covered on TamrielSaga: Roadside Ruins, Falkreath, Falkreath Watchtower, Halldir’s Cairn, Cracked Tusk Keep.
Location data (hold, map position, editor ID) read from the Skyrim game files; details checked against community wiki articles and summarised in our own words.