may i ask what the dark brotherhood is??
The Dark Brotherhood is a fraternity of assassins dedicated to Sithis and the “Night Mother” (otherwise known as the “Bloody Flower” or “Bride of Sithis”) who was the original founder of the Dark Brotherhood. Those who wish to have an assassination take place must issue the “Black Sacrament”, a call to the Night Mother, and it is interpenetrated through the Listener, the only person who can hear the voice of the Night Mother. Either the Listener or another Dark Brotherhood assassin is then required to take on the target given by the quest giver (typically in Skyrim its taken on by the Listener, I’m not so sure in Oblivion??? Since I haven’t played Oblivion but I know the lore really well.)
A Listener is found when the Night Mother communicates with them telepathically and tells them the Binding Words, to which they must tell to the Keeper in order to affirm their status a new Listener.Listeners are the sole authority of the guild, functioning only beneath the Night Mother herself. Listeners command the Dark Brotherhood and the Black Hand; they choose who to promote, who to recruit, and how. It is presumed that each branch of the Brotherhood has its own Listener to complete more contracts.
Originally, the Night Mother was actually a member of the early Thieves Guild and found it easier to kill the occupant of the house rather than sneak around. (Thieves Honor Code is you don’t kill the target of your larceny, since it is bad for business, and one target today might be your customer tomorrow.) She broke away when they told her she couldn’t kill those she robbed.
When she dedicated herself to Sithis, he told her to kill her own five children and it gave her powers beyond her imagination, and she gained the title of the Bride of Sithis. Origins of the Dark Brotherhood are debated, since its possible the Night Mother lived in the 1st or 2nd Era; but its known that they’ve existed since before Talos (Tiber Septim) was alive in the 3rd Era.
In the AU I would be running, Ja’far is the Listener (since I have broke off and branched each of the major story lines to different Magi characters in my written Skyrim AU) of the last branch of the Dark Brotherhood in Skyrim, maybe even Tamriel, since the Brotherhood lost many members after the Great War.
