Boethiah's Calling

Overview
"If in the reading, your blood boils in your veins, and your mind blazons with fire, then Boethiah calls you. It is then most wise to heed her call. Find her on the mount which overlooks Windhelm. Meet us there and be tested."

- Boethiah's Proving - by Anonymous

Objectives

 * Find the shrine of Boethiah.
 * Find the cult of Boethiah.
 * Lead someone to become trapped by the shrine and slay them.
 * Speak to Boethiah's Conduit.
 * Slay the other cultists.
 * Speak to Boethiah's Conduit.
 * Slay everyone at Knifepoint Ridge stealthily.
 * Retrieve and equip the Ebony Mail.

Walkthrough
This quest begins once the player is at least level 30. Once there, the book Boethiah's Proving will spawn in various locations:
 * Septimus Signus's Outpost on the bookshelf (the location of Discerning the Transmundane)
 * Found on a Boethiah Cultist during a random encounter
 * Abandoned House in Markarth, under a bookshelf in the second room.
 * Found in Hob's Fall Cave
 * Sold by Urag gro-Shub at The College of Winterhold.

After finding the book, one should read it and the quest will activate. The player will then need to find the Shrine of Boethiah.

After finding the Shrine, one of Boethiah's followers (usually the priestess) will speak to the player asking to lead someone to sacrifice. At this time, the Blade of Sacrifice will be given to the player. Any follower can be taken to the Pillar of Sacrifice to be killed except for essential characters, Dark Brotherhood Initiates or any of the dog companions. The player should then bring the chosen victim to the Pillar and tell him or her to use it. The victim will become stuck to the pillar allowing the player to perform a sacrifice. Blade of Sacrifice can be used, but any other weapon or means of attack will do.

Boethiah will use the sacrificed body as a conduit. The body will stand up after death and speak in Boethiah's voice. After listening to her and following her downstairs (along with the rest of the cultists), the player will be forced to fight each and every one of Boethiah's followers. However, they will also fight amongst each other, so waiting for them to kill each other and finishing the rest can reduce the difficulty of the fight; otherwise, Boethiah's cultists are fairly difficult. After defeating them, Boethiah will use the last killed person as a conduit, saying she is bored of her current champion, who now runs his own gang at Knifepoint Ridge. She orders the player to kill them all silently, without giving the current champion time to defend himself (however, it does not matter whether the player silently kills everyone or not).

Here are some tips to help with killing the gang silently:
 * It is useful to kill at long range with a bow
 * The player can go traditional, and kill from behind by jumping off the walkways and landing right behind them
 * Invisibility and Muffle can be used to approach the gang members while being hidden. Note that enemies will be alarmed if Invisibility is cast near them without Quiet Casting perk
 * In order to defeat Boethiah's champion without him noticing, the player can jump on top of the boxes behind the house he is in and fall through the hole in the roof

The champion is wearing Ebony Mail, a unique armor that excretes poison, but the poison effect does not begin until he notices the player. Once he is defeated, Ebony Mail can be looted off his body and equipped. Boethiah will speak to the player (as an undefined voice, the player will not need to return to her Shrine) one final time and the quest will end.

Trivia

 * Killing all of Boethiah's followers will cause Boethia to speak with the Dragonborn: the last follower to be killed around the shrine will be her conduit. However, the Dragonborn will still have to lead someone to the shrine and kill them for the quest to progress.
 * Being detected does not fail the quest since stealth is optional and there is no difference in dialog or any special reward.
 * Boethiah's Champion, when found, will actually be aggressive to the bandits and will attack them. This suggests that Boethiah lied to the Dragonborn and to her Champion in an effort to get them to battle to the death, the victor being able to claim (or retain) the title of Champion of Boethiah. (This theory is supported by many events in which Boethiah forces her followers to fight for the death and only allowing for one to remain standing, as well as her penchant for lying and meddling in the affairs of mortals.)
 * Boethiah's Champion will immediately restore himself to full health after the Dragonborn either dies or becomes hidden, this is not caused by a spell or potion. (He can do this ad infinitum.)
 * Typing "setstage da02 20" in the console will advance the quest without requiring any follower's death.
 * If a companion is resurrected after the fact by targeting them and typing "Resurrect" in the console, there's a bit of odd behavior. After slaying the companion, Boethiah will take over the body briefly to talk to the player. Once she's vacated, the companion can be resurrected successfully, but talking to them will simply re-start the conversation with Boethiah. Once the quest is completed, the companion should be alive, normal, and waiting at his home (or possibly their recruitment point). This does not work with any Housecarls that were brought along with the Dragonborn.
 * An assassin holding Boethiah's Proving might attempt to kill the player. Reading this book will begin the quest. This is random encounter for players level 30 and above.
 * It is possible to skip the step where a follower must be killed, and instead kill all of Boethiah's followers, which will cause her to appear.
 * Boethiah will still demand a sacrifice before bestowing the rest of the quest to retrieve the Ebony Mail. However, doing it this way can be easier for archer and stealth characters, who can kill the cultists from the cliffs overlooking the shrine without being seen, rather than finding themselves in the middle of the general melee Boethiah declares with no real chance to hide or seek cover.
 * Once upgraded, the Ebony Mail value is 6666 exactly (upgraded to superior), and 10833 (legendary).
 * Upon completing the quest, if all of the Champion's apparel is taken, before resurrecting him (dead thrall) and exiting the mine, he will be fully equipped again. He can then be killed and looted him again. This can be repeated.
 * Works with the ritual stone power as well but is more time consuming if you want multiple copies of the armor.
 * If the companion's armor is looted after his death but before his revival and possession, then when the possession stops, the armor can be looted again.
 * The spiral of Daedric script around the Pillar of Sacrifice is mirrored, but reads from edge to center: "I am alive because that one is dead I exist because I have the will to do so," as quoted in the book "Boethia's Proving."
 * If a dog is brought to Knifepoint ridge it will immediately begin attacking the bandits. Sneaking player will be noticed, but the bandits will not attack. Killing the dog, dismissing it, or letting the Bandits kill it are several ways to resolve this.
 * If the Dragonborn is detected outside the cave where the champion is held, it does not affect the sneaking part of the quest. He can kill all enemies that have detected him, and as long as he sneaks into the cave the quest will not be disrupted.
 * Jarl Siddgeir may send the Dragonborn to Knifepoint Ridge well before level 30 in his "kill the bandits" quest.