Ebony Blade (Skyrim)

The Ebony Blade is a two-handed weapon found in. Resembling an Akaviri Dai-Katana, the Ebony Blade is a Daedric artifact belonging to Mephala. Killing kindred with the blade bolsters its power. Followers can wield the blade, but cannot fortify the enchantment unless instructed to kill an ally.

History
The blade has changed hands many times over the years. It is believed that the Eternal Champion himself once wielded the blade when it was discovered in Valenwood. Later, it was rewarded to the Hero of Daggerfall sometime after the War of Bretony. In the late Third Era, the Hero of Kvatch was granted the blade by Mephala.

Acquisition
The Ebony Blade is obtained in the Daedric quest "The Whispering Door", which can be initiated by speaking with the barkeep Hulda at The Bannered Mare in Whiterun after reaching level 20 and completing the quest "Dragon Rising". If Hulda is killed, Ysolda will not begin the quest. But it can be started using the command "setstage DA08 10".

Enchantment
This weapon starts with a 10-point Absorb Health enchantment that can be increased by slaying friendly characters. For example, someone whose favor has been completed, or someone who's been won over during any type of quest can be absorbed by the blade.

For every two such characters killed, the weapon's Absorb Health enchantment increases 4 points. Killing ten friendly characters maximizes its power, granting a maximum of 30 points Absorb Health per hit.

Its Absorb Health enchantment has unlimited uses and never needs to be recharged. This makes this weapon ideal for followers, especially if followers are used to sustain massive amounts of damage.

Mephala's voice sounds after every-other friendly NPC kill, commenting on the progress of the blade. Her voice's dialogue, in order, is such:


 * 2nd Kill - "Excellent work, Child."


 * 4th Kill - "I can feel their heartbreak swelling in my blade."


 * 6th Kill - "Their tears shine the ebony to a sharpest gleam."


 * 8th Kill - "Ah, the blood of deceit is a nourishing flow."


 * 10th Kill -  "At last, my blade is returned to its full glory. Now, go forth, child. Continue your tiny subversions against the orders of trust and intimacy."

One can be sure the blade is empowered after slaying allies if the hilt glows red with a radiant particle effect.

Smithing
The blade cannot be upgraded. This is possibly explained in Admonition Against Ebony which states that: "Not even the hottest fires of the Skyforge could melt it; indeed the coals themselves seemed to cool when it was placed within," revealing the sword's immunity to heat or normal forging/smithing techniques.

Weapon classification
The blade behaves as a Two-Handed weapon with the following exceptions:

This sword now benefits from the Two-Handed weapon skill and perks after patch 1.9. Game code confirms that the weapon shares template data from both One-Handed and Two-Handed swords, leading to this mix of traits. It is because of this that the weapon does not stay on weapon racks, once this bug is fixed it will stay on the rack. For PCs a simple adjustment with the creation kit solves this.
 * It only benefits from One-Handed damage effects, enchantments, and potions.
 * It benefits from One-Handed weapon perks.
 * It does swing as fast as most One-Handed weapons.

Usefulness
This sword, in some ways, is an upgraded version of the Blade of Woe. It's two handed and has unlimited charge. Using the Ebony Blade has a very fast attack speed in fact it is the fastest two-handed weapon in the game, making players who want a fast speed, with unlimited enchantment charge making up for the damage, this Blade can be extremely useful in tough situations. The weapon allows for a character to train the two-handed weapon skill without sacrificing damage. However, for characters that use two-handed weapons normally, this weapon is a poor choice because of its skill/perk mismatch prior to patch 1.9. As the Enchanting skill advances, the Blade becomes inferior, as with a Grand or Black Soul Gem and a Fortify Enchanting potion, a weapon can easily be crafted with an Absorb Health enchantment above 30.

Potential kills
Several potential targets are listed. Their deaths will count as a charge towards the sword.

Characters

 * Any beggar - giving them a single septim to gain favor, then killing them.
 * Mercenaries and followers. Characters that are bested in gambling brawls often become followers immediately thereafter and mercenaries can be hired for 500 gold.
 * Dogs that are followers. Tested and confirmed on Meeko and Vigilance.
 * Orc Strongholds - Upon retrieving the Forgemaster's Fingers, simply slaughter everyone in at least two of the four strongholds including the miners.
 * Cicero during The Cure for Madness
 * Amaund Motierre - killed at the end of Hail Sithis! after he reveals where the gold is.
 * Betrid Silver-Blood during the quest The Forsworn Conspiracy. Killing her before her inevitable death will grant a charge, after which the Dragonborn can try yielding and paying the fee, then continue with the quest.
 * Jaree-Ra and Deeja during Lights Out!.
 * Nilsine Shatter-Shield during Mourning Never Comes. Player must have completed Blood on the Ice first.
 * Also any innkeepers or merchants. As long as there are no witnesses, no bounties can be added by the holds.
 * If you decide to kill everyone for the Taste of Death quest it gives you a few charges you can feel no guilt about and if you kill Verulus with it during the quest it counts as a charge.
 * Hroggar during Laid to Rest. Sell some firewood to him before breaking into Alva's house and then kill him there with the Blade.
 * Completing the quest The Chief of Thirsk Hall (Dragonborn DLC) allows select Rieklings to become followers.  Killing these while they are followers counts towards the needed kills without the need to lose potential allies or NPCs. Also, Bujold the Intrepid, maybe the other nords, and maybe the old chief count as charges during this same quest.

Daedric quests

 * Boethiah's Calling - involves both slaying a companion (one charge) and the cult leader who gives the quest upon investigation (second charge).
 * Pieces of the Past - If the Dragonborn chooses to obtain Mehrunes' Razor, Silus counts towards another charge.
 * Ill Met By Moonlight - Killing Sinding, should the Dragonborn choose the Savior's Hide instead of the Ring of Hircine. Killing the dying hunter J'Kier after speaking to him inside the entrance to Bloated Man's Grotto may also charge it, needs confirming though
 * The Taste of Death - The Dragonborn has to kill Brother Verulus at the conclusion of the quest.
 * Walking Nightmare - Much like Mehrunes' Razor, if the Dragonborn chooses to obtain the Skull of Corruption, Erandur counts towards another charge.

Exploits

 * This way only requires one friendly NPC. Simply killing him with the Ebony Blade and resurrecting him by clicking on him in the console and typing "resurrect" (without the quotes) also works. Also the command (xxx is the NPCs ID) works with a friendly NPC. If 10 of the same NPCs are resurrected all together nothing happens. They just walk back to a door and head back for their house.
 * Instead of using console commands, the player can just kill one person who likes the Dragonborn and reanimate them with Dead Thrall or the Ritual Stone. Because these powers don't turn them into ash when they die, the NPC can be repeatedly killed the required number of times. (Tested on patch 1.4.21.0.4) . Death Hound followers from the Dawnguard DLC are a good victim, as they won't fight back and have only few health.
 * Another way to cheat and empower the blade without negatively effecting NPC relationships is to find NPCs like bandits to set to a relationship rank of 3 or higher via the console and then kill them. This is the only way for a player who wants to maintain an unblemished "good guy" radiant story set to empower the blade. Otherwise, such as with the resurrect method, affected NPCs and their affiliations are liable to maintain the negative mark against the player resulting in, among possible other changes, greetings such as, "I should have bashed your face in for what you've done," and "Something you need, you miserable wretch?" (Does not happen with every NPC)
 * To quickly charge the blade, one may conjure a familiar and kill it repeatedly. This provides unlimited charges, as the familiars have very low health, and is not considered cheating. No negative NPC relationships will be incurred. (Doesn't seem to work on ps3 or Xbox 360 post patch for the DLC)

Trivia

 * If the player unlocks the whispering door with a console command before the quest has started, a cabinet will appear on the other side of the door, barring entry to the room.
 * The Ebony Blade has the lowest base damage of all two-handed weapons.
 * If attempted to place on any weapon rack, it will be dropped randomly on the ground.
 * The blade can be obtained through a glitch, by standing on a cabinet near the whispering door and stepping on a platter. This puts the player on the other side of the wall, requiring a second platter to escape again.
 * The Ebony Blade shares similarities with Stormbringer, a black, runed sword from the Elric of Melnibone novels. Stormbringer strengthened its wielder by absorbing souls, including those of friends and lovers. Elric was called the Eternal Champion, a name also shared by a previous wielder of the Ebony Blade.
 * Despite Farengar being allegedly aware of the Blade, you can actually sell it to him.

Appearances


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