A Shadow over Hackdirt

The Hero is asked to go to the small hamlet of Hackdirt to discover what happened to Dar-Ma, the Argonian daughter of Seed-Neeus, a Chorrol merchant. Upon arrival, the townspeople will act suspicious, and the villager the Hero is sent to says the girl never showed up.

Chorrol
At the Hero's first arrival in Chorrol, Dar-Ma will enter a conversation with them, prompting two options, to send Dar-Ma away, or to be friendly to her. After three days, if the hero leaves town and returns, there will be rumors that she is missing. Wait two more days and then talk to Seed-Neeus, Dar-ma's mother.

If the hero was friendly to Dar-Ma, Seed-Neeus will have a disposition of over 50 and will plead for help, saying that Dar-ma was kidnapped while making her delivery to the village of Hackdrit. Seed-nus also mentions that Dar-ma was with her horse, Blossom. If the hero was unfriendly to Dar-Ma, rise Seed-Neeus' disposition or go out and hear more rumors, at which point Seed-Neeus will ask for help.

Hackdirt
Travel to Hackdirt, a small ruined town outside Chorrol. After locating Blossom, talk to the townspeople. All of them will be hostile, with their dispositions ranging from three to five. In conversations with the townsfolk, they only give surly responses. The quest target will point to the inn. Renting a room for 30 from the innkeeper will allow the option to sneak into the room Dar-ma stayed in.

In the room, there is a ransacked dresser, and Dar-Ma's Diary. The diary tells about her sudden disappearance, and characterizes the innkeeper as nasty, as well as giving some of Dar-ma's back story. The Hero can then choose to go downstairs and confront the innkeeper, who will be angry saying that Dar-ma left the diary at the inn. If the diary is taken, it will show as stolen and it cannot be given back to her.

Ask around the town and, eventually, find Jiv Hiriel who will say to meet him in his house after dark. Do so, and he will explain the situation, and provide a key to the caverns beneath the town. He advises entering the caverns through the trapdoor in the inn.

Going this way can avoid all of the enemies, as the girl's cell is right next to the ladder. It is best to do this between 1 AM and 5 AM as all the townsfolk will be occupied in the Gathering. The only people in the caverns are the Hackdirt Brethren. Then all that has to be done is to get her back to Chorrol unharmed, while the entire town turns hostile. She can be helped to get her horse, Blossom, but this is optional.

In the cavern, where Dar-ma is imprisoned, there are three crates stacked together in the middle of the room. The large crate will contain a random, leveled blunt weapon or bow.

Heading back to Chorrol
Escort Dar-Ma to Chorrol and speak with her mother, but after Dar-Ma retrieves her horse, she will approach to talk. After the conversation, she will head toward home and the Hero is forced to follow her. She tends to walk directly toward any creatures without concern, which makes escorting her difficult. However, if she is never allowed to get close enough to talk, she will continue to walk towards the Hero, allowing her to be lead around enemies. Only let her speak at Chorrol's gates.

Alternately, once the Hero has talked to her and agreed to take her back to Chorrol, fast travel to Chorrol and she should be there as well.

Once the quest is finished, Dar-Ma's disposition towards the Hero will be 100 and she will give them free mercantile training.

Alternative
Without knowing anything of the captured girl or her mother in Chorrol, the Hero can pick the lock on any of the trap doors in the village and find the imprisoned girl in the caves, who asks to be taken back to her mother, at which point the quest proceeds as above. This method tends to have a higher body count in terms of generic villagers underground.

Trivia

 * First, purchase The Argonian Account, Book 1, which increases the athletics skill, from the Moslin Dry Goods in Hackdirt, as after this quest has been completed, the whole town will be hostile.
 * The "Bible of the Deep Ones" is in the village church, though this seems to serve no purpose other than indicating that something strange is going on in the village, and taking it counts as stealing.
 * This quest may be a homage to the H.P.Lovecraft short story 'The Shadow Over Innsmouth', featuring a very similar plot; i.e. a man visits a strange, semi-deserted village full of ugly, xenophobic villagers, who turn out to be cultists that worship the god Dagon, and eventually chase the man out of town. This story was written in 1927, and has also been adapted into a movie ("Dagon"), as well as a game ("Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth", also distributed by Bethesda). It is also arguably the inspiration for Resident Evil 4 (Biohazard 4), among many other works.
 * Most of the houses of Hackdirt have a trapdoor in the cellar. This trapdoor is unlocked, so it is possible to sneak into a basement and use the trapdoor to get into the Hackdirt Caverns. Most of the Hackdirt Brethren in the caverns have a key to Dar-Ma's cage in their inventory, so they can be killed or pickpocketed to get one.
 * Under normal circumstances, nearly all of the town will become hostile towards at the end of this quest. However, if avoiding a fight is desired, maximize every villager's disposition beforehand. If this is done, they will act as if nothing has happened.
 * If you listen closely while in the caverns, you can hear a strange, footstep-like sound that lasts for a few seconds, the only indication of the existence of the Deep Ones.

Bugs

 * It is possible that instead of getting the mercantile skill bonus, the mercantile skill may appear locked at whatever level it was at when the quest was finished. However, the mercantile skill may actually not be locked, but instead just appears like it doesn't move. The mercantile skill must still be raised through buying and selling those five points in order for mercantile to continue to raise normally. So for while those five levels are being raised while the bar does not move.
 * Fast traveling after rescuing Dar-Ma may causes the quest to hang. Dar-Ma headed off on Blossom towards home. Now her mother thinks the quest is over, Dar-ma thanks the hero for saving her, but the quest is still active, waiting for them to be reunited.
 * If the hero runs on ahead of Dar-Ma to her mother's shop after fast traveling to Chorrol, when she enters she may stop moving and both her and her mother act like the quest is over and Dar-Ma's disposition remain unchanged. (May be due to rescuing her with the Gray Fox Cowl on.) The quest doesn't end and the bonus isn't received.
 * The two bugs above can be fixed by talking to her mother about "missing daughter", which remains grayed. Once asked, she will ask if she is safe, at which time a yes answer gets the reward.
 * Once Dar-Ma gets on her horse and gets a little outside Hackdirt, do not speak to her, go directly to her mother or the quest may not be able to be completed.

Тень над Хакдиртом