Cicero

"...Is there singing in the Void? Dancing...? Surely the Dread Lord will at least allow poor Cicero to caper..."

- Cicero

Cicero is a lethal jester and the Keeper of the Night Mother's coffin. He is found on the road north of Whiterun, near Loreius Farm, transporting the coffin of his "mother." Thereafter, he may be found within the Falkreath Sanctuary or the Dawnstar Sanctuary, depending on the Dragonborn's progress through the Dark Brotherhood questline.

Personality


Widely regarded as bothersome, obnoxious, strange, and mad, Cicero sports flamboyant attire and often speaks with a high-pitched voice. Cicero often speaks to both himself and the Night Mother's remains, and as such, he is considered insane. As Keeper of the Night Mother, Cicero takes his vocation very seriously, willing to wound and kill anyone who questions or ignores the Night Mother's authority, although he was not always like this; as evidenced by his first two journals, before becoming Keeper, Cicero was quite sane, comparatively speaking. His final contract involved killing a jester, and slowly, Cicero descended into madness, obsessing over his kill, and adopting aspects of the jester's persona.

Delayed Burial
While traveling north of Whiterun, the Dragonborn may encounter a peculiar man in a jester's outfit with a broken-down cart. It turns out his name is Cicero and he will beseech them to aid him, stating he needs repairs for his wagon wheel to move his mother's (The Night Mother's) corpse to a new burial site.

Whispers In The Dark
Cicero is suspected of treason against the Dark Brotherhood when he continuously locks himself in a room with the Night Mother. He can be heard mumbling, but no one can hear what he is saying. Suspecting that Cicero and another member of the brotherhood are conspiring to betray the other members, Astrid sends the Dragonborn to investigate. The Dragonborn hides in the Night Mother's coffin, eavesdropping on Cicero and his conspirator. While hiding, the Dragonborn learns that Cicero is, in fact, speaking to the Night Mother's remains, although she does not speak back; his private sessions with her were his attempts to verify himself as being the Listener, the one person who can hear the Night Mother speak. Shortly after this discovery, the Dragonborn hears the Night Mother's voice, becoming the Listener. Exiting the coffin, Cicero at first suspects the Dragonborn of defiling the Night Mother's remains, but soon realizes that she has selected the Dragonborn as the Listener. Bitter that he was not made Listener, he still congratulates the Dragonborn.

Astrid barges into the room, accusing Cicero of conspiring against the Brotherhood. Cicero explains that the Dragonborn is the new Listener; however, despite this Astrid gets ready to attack him. Violence is averted when the Dragonborn explains that the Night Mother spoke to them. Astrid sends the Dragonborn on several contracts, until she can sort out the mess.

The Cure for Madness
After killing Gaius Maro on his inspection route, the Dragonborn returns to the Falkreath Sanctuary, finding Veezara wounded, Arnbjorn missing, and Astrid quite disgruntled. In a fit of defiance, Cicero attacked Astrid for challenging the Night Mother's authority, but was intercepted by Veezara. Surviving the skirmish, Cicero fled to the Dawnstar Sanctuary, Arnbjorn following close behind. Arriving at the sanctuary, the Dragonborn finds Arnbjorn bleeding heavily and searches the sanctuary for Cicero. Battling through several Spectral Assassins, the Dragonborn finds Cicero, wounded and babbling. The Dragonborn has the option to kill Cicero, but if they decide not to, Cicero remains at the Dawnstar Sanctuary, even after the Penitus Oculatus destroys the Falkreath Sanctuary.

Cicero's Journal
Cicero has five journals that are scattered throughout his room at the Falkreath Sanctuary, telling the story of his slow descent into madness.

Background
As is detailed by his journals, Cicero was an accepted member of the Cheydinhal Sanctuary, renowned for his cloak-and-dagger killing style. He mentions riots in Bravil leading to the death of Alisanne Dupre, the Night Mother's previous Listener, and the desecration of the Night Mother's crypt beneath The Lucky Old Lady. Voted Keeper of the Night Mother by the remaining brotherhood members, Cicero fulfilled one last contract before transporting his Unholy Matron to Skyrim; he was scheduled to kill a jester, with whom he became obsessed. His attire and flamboyant manner mimic this jester. Trapped alone in the Cheydinal Sanctuary, Cicero grew insane trying to talk to the Night Mother and become her Listener. He killed another assassin of the guild, who falsely claimed to be the next Listener.

As a Follower
If the Dragonborn chose to spare his life, Cicero is found upon exiting the Dawnstar Sanctuary after "Hail Sithis!," where he becomes a possible follower. Cicero is flagged as essential before "The Cure for Madness." If he is spared, he becomes essential again, making him unable to be killed.

While following the Dragonborn, he makes several off-beat jokes and humorous observations about the current location or quest. While not following the Dragonborn, he lurks around the sanctuary near the Night Mother's sarcophagus, talking to himself and tending her.

Cicero is a unique follower in the fact that he will often, for no reason, start to dance if he is a follower. This can happen at any time, anywhere, regardless of what outfit Cicero is wearing.

Cicero is also unique in that he is the only named Follower, other than Serana, who cannot be recruited into the Blades. The only other followers who cannot join the Blades are the Dark Brotherhood Initiates.

Equipment
His default outfit has no defense, and as such he will wear any armor given to him.

It is still possible to get Cicero's clothes after sparing him. Although it is not possible to take his clothing while he has it equipped, even with the Perfect Touch perk, by telling him to follow and then giving him any armor. He equips it, making it possible to pickpocket his clothing if he is relieved as a follower, but in this case the inventory tells that the chance to pickpocket the hat, the shoes, and the clothes is 0%. Having him follow the Dragonborn once more allows for their armor to be retrieved. This can be used to get multiple sets of Cicero's clothes since each time armor is removed from him, his original clothes return.

Installing Patch 1.4 causes a copy of Cicero's default equipment to appear on a table in the Dawnstar Sanctuary, meaning it is no longer necessary to kill, pickpocket, or use console commands to obtain the outfit.

Trivia

 * His name may be a reference to Cicero, a Roman politician, writer, and philosopher known for his linguistics.
 * During the quest "Destroy the Dark Brotherhood!" Cicero and Babette are the only members of the Dark Brotherhood to not be killed by the player.
 * The Specter of Lucien Lachance warns against killing Cicero, because the "Keeper" is a sacred position in the Dark Brotherhood and, in another quote, that Sithis does not want him dead. After completing the questline for the Dark Brotherhood, Cicero becomes a Follower if left alive. If Cicero is slain, his unique clothing can be looted.
 * In one of his journals, Cicero states that he posed as a "Starstruck fan" to the Grand Champion during "the Arena contract," and then later killed said Champion. This is a reference to the Adoring Fan of.
 * If the Dragonborn returns to the Loreius Farm after joining the Dark Brotherhood and reports Cicero to a Hold Guard in the quest "Delayed Burial," the inhabitants can be found dead -- likely from Cicero murdering them.
 * If Cicero is resurrected as a Dead Thrall, his mannerisms stay intact. Unlike other undead, he continues to dance and comment as he would if he were a follower.
 * If one manages to get Cicero up to his feet during "The Cure for Madness," he is considerably smaller than he was previously. Often this makes the player character have gargantuan properties.
 * Like most named Imperials in Skyrim, the name Cicero derives from Latin. The meaning of Cicero is "Farming Peas."
 * Like Anska and Barbas, Cicero has a tendency to bump into and subsequently push the player forward. This can be dangerous around traps or deep precipices, so care should be taken.
 * When speaking, Cicero almost always refers to himself in third person.
 * Unlike most followers, Cicero has no dialogue for finding Dwemer Ruins, caves, or Nordic Tombs. He also has no dialogue when being healed or when Illusion spells are cast on him.
 * Unlike most followers, Cicero does not have a default bow and arrows. If one wishes him to enter ranged combat, a bow and arrows must be given to him. However, unlike other followers, Cicero uses up arrows given to him, so his supply of arrows should be checked occasionally.
 * Although he accepts that the Dragonborn is named the Listener, Cicero still has delusions that he is hearing the Night Mother's voice, as evidenced by one of his quotes.
 * During the player's trek in the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary during "The Cure for Madness," Cicero shouts to the player that "Oh, but this isn't at all what Mother would want," that "You kill the Keeper or I kill the Listener. Now that's madness!" This is similar to Lucien Lachance's comments about Sithis not wanting Cicero to be killed.
 * If Astrid is asked during the beginning of "The Cure for Madness" why the dilemma can't just be "worked out" she will reply that The Dark Brotherhood has always taken "rejects of society" and that she had no problem with Cicero's madness, just his adherence to "outdated" ways.
 * Although Cicero states in one of his journals that the Keeper of the Night Mother can not carry out contracts or otherwise kill again, this does not prevent him from fighting if he is a follower.
 * When told to return home, he actually runs back to the Sanctuary, unlike other followers, who when dismissed merely walk back to their homes.
 * When Cicero is told to "wait here," but then moves away from his original spot, such as when detecting a nearby enemy, afterwards he will walk back to the place he was told to wait originally, unlike other followers, who will continue to wait in another spot if they moved away from the place where they were originally told to wait.
 * When max level, (50) Cicero had 132 Magicka. This is odd, considering that he does not cast any spells whatsoever.

Bugs

 * When told to stop moving, Cicero continues to follow the Dragonborn only if his "waiting" dialogue is disrupted. This can also happen if told to wait with the "I need you to do something" command; he will wait where told to, but as soon as the player exits the command (by pressing "talk" while he's waiting, or backing out of the command), he will run over to the player.
 * If Cicero is a follower, and is attacked while Shadowmere is nearby, Shadowmere will attack the Dragonborn.

Appearances


Цицерон Cicero Cicerón