Dark Brotherhood (Skyrim)

The Dark Brotherhood is a group of assassins who are willing to assassinate anyone that they are paid to.

Background
They are a perverted offshoot of the "legal" assassins guild, the Morag Tong, who are based in Morrowind. While the Morag Tong are a respected, if feared presence in Morrowind society, the Dark Brotherhood are a secretive underground cult who worship Sithis, the avatar of death. and die by you when you kill the sacred chicken and it poops on you.

Characteristics
It has been revealed that the Dark Brotherhood is an available Faction that can be joined in Skyrim.

Joining / Destroying the Dark Brotherhood:
While on your travels in Skyrim, go to any innkeeper and ask for rumors. Then that innkeeper will then tell you that there is a child trying to summon the Dark Brotherhood in Windhelm.

Finding the Child:
The child's is named Aventus Aretino, he is located within the Aretino residence in the White House, (you do not need the aforementioned rumor quest to seek him out). The door to the residence is locked, break in and you will find him inside crouched over human remains praying for the Dark Brotherhood.

The Quest:
When you seek this child out, he will tell you he summoned The Dark Brotherhood because his mother died and he was sent to an orphanage where the matron was so mean he ran away, afterwards, he will give you a odd and disturbing quest in Riften, where you have to kill 'Grelod the Kind', the matron at Honorhall Orphanage who treats the children badly. After you finish the quest, a courier will appear and give you a note with a black hand in the middle, beneath this black hand is written: "We Know". If you do not receive the note, wait a couple of days and then sleep at an Inn, you will be taken in the same fashion.

Once you receive the note, rent a room at an inn and sleep in the bed.

You will awake in an unknown location talking to a Woman named Astrid. She will tell about the woman you've killed, and how it pleases the Brotherhood. when you walk outside of your bed, you will see 3 people tied up. You are told that on one of them, there is a contract, and you have to figure out who by talking to them.

To join, simply kill any of the three. It doesn't really matter which person you choose here; you'll be rewarded with an initiation to the Brotherhood.

The Night Mother Returns:

To destroy, kill Astrid. You will then fail the quest With Friends Like These... and begin the quest Destroy the Dark Brotherhood!

Note: If you kill a prisoner and leave the shack then Astrid teleports back to the Dark Brotherhood sanctuary. If your plan was to find the Sanctuary and kill them there then be aware that Astrid is unkillable within the sanctuary (if brought to zero HP her health bar disappears and she falls to one knee and rests for a bit only to get up back with full HP).

The Contracts Upon visiting the Brotherhood's secret sanctuary, you will have to speak to one of the "brothers" - who will then give you three contacts to complete. These three contracts are of low priority and have no time limit. (To be updated soon.)