Shadowmere (Skyrim)

Shadowmere is a horse in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Characteristics
Shadowmere is given to the character at the beginning of the tenth quest of the Dark Brotherhood quest-line. During "The Cure for Madness," the Sanctuary-Leader Astrid wants you to follow Cicero, the Night Mother's Keeper, to the Dawnstar sanctuary as swiftly as possible. To that end, she gives you Shadowmere, whom she calls "one of us," (oddly enough, Astrid calls Shadowmere a "he" even though Shadowmere is identified as a "she" by Lucien Lachance). Most likely this is because Shadowmere is a spirit and takes on the form of a male, due to the horse breeds being different to those in Cyrodiil). His first appearance outside the Sanctuary is very dramatic, and clearly shows that Shadowmere is no common horse. If you have summoned the Spectral Assassin, (which is the spirit of Lucien Lachance), he will greet Shadowmere as an old friend. Shadowmere is the hardiest horse in Skyrim and will fight in the same manner as a companion, killing an Imperial Soldier or Stormcloak with ease. As with any horse, Shadowmere allows the player to climb hills that are normally unscalable.

Unlike in his previous incarnation, Shadowmere can be killed if he suffers a long fall or in an extreme matter of combat. Shadowmere has quite a lot of health, and regenerates health very quickly.

Trivia

 * If you run off a small cliff, (enough to kill a horse, but not you), Shadowmere will die. He can also die from any other cause of damage, weapons, magic, etc. If Shadowmere dies on the PC version of Skyrim, a new one can be spawned at the player's location by using the console command, (without quotes), "player.placeatme 0009CCD7". Another option is to target Shadowmere's body and typing resurrect in the console command box.
 * If Shadowmere is killed, waiting in a main city for 10 days then returning to where he died should respawn him on both PC and console versions.
 * Shadowmere appears to be daedric or vampiric, as suggested by her living 210-some years. Glowing red eyes and immortality both suggest that she could be either although Shadowmere's entrance in Skyrim by coming out of a bubbling black pool suggests a daedric summoning.
 * Shadowmere is, in fact, male in Skyrim. Although Lachance refers to Shadowmere as a "she," in Oblivion and when he sees Shadowmere when summoned. This brings up the theory that Shadowmere was reborn or has no gender due to having daedric origin.
 * Shadowmere's near invincibility can be exploited to increase the Dragonborn's combat skills. Simply turn the difficulty up to master and continually attack shadowmere with any weapon or spell. Be careful however, as Shadowmere can be killed in this way if not paying attention.
 * There is a certain glitch that if you mount shadowmere the dragonborn will float in the air in the sitting position with the player still controlling shadowmere giving the impression of becoming shadowmere, The player will also move and rock back and forth while floating in the air. This seemed to happen only at the Peryite Shrine, Riften Stables, and just outside Whiterun. (confirmed)
 * Mehrune's Razor is also capable of killing Shadowmere.
 * Shadowmere can be killed by a good hit from a giant or direct hit from a strong trap.
 * Death by falling off a cliff can be avoided for Shadowmere or any other horse by walking very slowly down the cliff. Usually the horse will just walk at the angle of the cliff. This will work for any cliff except for straight 90 degree falls.
 * If in water deep enough to force Shadowmere to swim get off then back on (while in the water) then Shadowmere will be able to sprint in the water as if on the land. (console)

Bugs

 * Do NOT hit Shadowmere with the Marked for Death shout. It will cause a glitch where Shadowmere will die very easily to attacks from everything and anything, including you. His health becomes arguably worse than that of a normal horse. There is currently no known fix for this bug.
 * On occasion, when you are standing in front of the pool from which Shadowmere is supposed to spawn during The Cure For Madness, you will hear Shadowmere rising out of the pool and then neighing, but he will not actually rise from the pool, effectively making him impossible to ride or otherwise be unable to ride as he will be trapped. However, Shadowmere wasn't actually prevented from spawning; the scripted event that makes him rise from the ground never occurred. So a good fix for this would be to wait until the quest Death Incarnate when there are enemies near the pool and bring one of them close to Shadowmere. With luck, the enemy you are fighting will lure Shadowmere out of the area he is trapped in and you will be able to climb on his back and then ride him whenever you wish.
 * Sometimes Shadowmere will just fall over dead. (I parked him outside of Tolvald's Cave while doing No Stone Unturned and after using the quick exit at the end walked outside to witness Shadowmere falling over, no enemies/traps anywhere nearby.)
 * This glitch can also be fixed by simply fast traveling to where you bought your current/last horse. Shadowmere should be there for a split second before teleporting to the pool in front of the sanctuary. Just fast travel back to the sanctuary and get on him. He will then fast travel with you and behave normally as if this never occurred. If this doesn't work, just try going to all of the stables before going back to the sanctuary. An easy way to do this without paying for a horse is to go to Riften inside the Bee and Barb and talk to the guy in the corner at the entrance. he will give you a quest to ask Sibbi Black-Briar in prison about a horse. By the end of the quest you will have a persuade option to get the payment and the horse as well.
 * Shadowmere is a great way for leveling, using mid to lower level spells like flames or courage are a slow but easy way for such leveling as it does not take much magicka and players of all levels can use them. Stronger spells will level faster but take more magicka and if you do not have Morokei or the Arch-Mages Robes (you get when you become the Arch-Mage) might end up taking longer. The Restoration school does not necessarily work for leveling on Shadowmere as he heals quite fast, as for conjuration simply use soul trap.

Appearances

 * The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
 * The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim