Skyrim: Here’s Who To Kill in an Abandoned Shack During “With Friends Like These” Quest

Dark Brotherhood is a faction well-known for its exciting storylines and engaging quests, and Skyrim is no different. The Dark Brotherhood storyline begins with you, kidnapped in an abandoned shack, with Astrid, the Dark Brotherhood leader, instructing you that you need to eliminate one of the hostages as part of your initiation to the Brotherhood. She likewise insinuates that only one of the hostages is the true target of the Dark Brotherhood. Since all three hostages are quite rude when you attempt to talk to them, numerous players have been wondering who to kill during the “With Friends Like These” quest? 

With Friends Like These forces, you to make a decision with limited information 

As we all know by now, Dark Brotherhood is not a faction you join like most other factions in Elder Scrolls games. There is no “guild hall” that you simply walk into and demand to speak with the chapter leader in order to submit your application. With Dark Brotherhood, you are observed and located by the dark forces, and you are contacted by the Brotherhood when they are ready to take you into their order. 

Skyrim was no exception to that rule, and soon after receiving the telltale note with the Black Hand on it, you know that the next time you sleep, you will be approached by the Dark Brotherhood recruiter. 

Skyrim puts a twist on this, and you are instead kidnapped, and when you wake up, you are in an abandoned shack with three blindfolded hostages kneeling on the floor. Astrid, the current leader of the Dark Brotherhood, informs you that you owe a life to Sithis, the dread father, the life that you had taken when you murdered Grelod the Kind in cold blood.

You get a moment to acquaint yourself with the hostages. There are three of them. Alea, Fultheim and Vasha. Only Fultheim seems to regret the actions that led him to this position, but when it comes to Alea and Vasha, they are horrible and despicable human beings (from what we can gather from their few lines of dialogue.)

Who is the real target of the Dark Brotherhood during the “With Friends Like These” quest? 

Speaking with the hostages, you will realize that all of them might have a pretty long list of people who might want them killed. Fultheim the Fearless is a Nord mercenary, he is a sellsword by profession, and due to the nature of his profession, it doesn’t surprise us that somebody decided to put a fine on his head. He is, at first, “clueless” as to who could have put a Dark Brotherhood contract on him before you decide to pry further. At that moment, he reveals that there might have been times when he “got carried away” by performing his duties, but he doesn’t reveal any specifics. 

The second hostage is Alea Quintues, an Imperial woman. From the moment she opens her mouth, you realize that he rude attitude might have annoyed people in her past (or present) and that somebody might want her dead due to her “smart-ass” attitude and downright insulting remarks. I mean, it makes sense you have been hired to kill people for less in the previous games.

The third hostage is a Khajiit “merchant” under the name of Vasha. Vasha seems to be accustomed to situations like these due to his colorful past. He makes no secret that he deals with pretty shady stuff, scams people, and defiles daughters on the regular. He remains calm throughout the ordeal and is not afraid of you. He does not beg that you spare his life since he was in these situations before and managed to sweet-talk his way out of them.

Vasha is the natural choice for many people and Astrid comments that one of the hostages has a bounty on its head. But who is it? 

In truth, all three of them were targets of the Dark Brotherhood, and no matter who you kill, you will perform your end of the bargain. There is no “wrong choice” during the With Friends Like These quest since all three hostages were scheduled for murder; the Dark Brotherhood normally doesn’t target people on their own accord. Since murder is more than a business transaction to the Dark Brotherhood, it’s ritualistic in nature. They would never resort to kidnapping random people on the street to initiate you into the faction.

You can kill one of them, two of them, or even all three of the hostages, and the quest will be finished successfully. No matter who you decide to “spare” during the quest, you will never encounter those NPCs in the game again unless you return to the abandoned shack once again. In that case, you will find survivors still kneeling on the floor. 

Don’t forget that eliminating Astrid is always an option as well 

If Dark Brotherhood goes on your nerves and you are tempted to end the organization once and for all, you can always turn on Astrid and eliminate her in cold blood. In that case, the alternative quest will start. It’s called “Destroy the Dark Brotherhood!” and it’s pretty self-explanatory that this path will lead you toward rooting the organization from Skyrim (and perhaps all of Tamriel) once and for all. 

However, you should note that killing Astrid means that you don’t get to change your mind later. There is no way to restart the Dark Brotherhood storyline once Astrid is dead except by reloading the previous save. Destroying the Dark Brotherhood will lock you out of several hours of content and some important loot you would be able to get along the way.

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