Skyrim: How to Get Shadowmere

Shadowmere, once the loyal horse of the Lucien Lachance, is an obtainable Mount in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for the Dragonborn. While Shadowmere cannot sprint as fast as Arvak from Dawnguard or many of the new Creation horses available in Anniversary Edition, they are still one of the exceptionally unique Mounts available in vanilla Skyrim. To acquire Shadowmere, players will need to join a covert yet well-known faction known as the Dark Brotherhood of The Elder Scrolls V.

The Dark Brotherhood is a cohort of assassins that carry out execution contracts like a business yet do their actions in a cult-like fashion under the name of Sithis. Whether the Dragonborn shares this group’s values or empathizes their cause, they must complete a large portion of the Dark Brotherhood’s questline if they are to unlock the Shadowmere Mount in Skyrim. However, their members cannot be contacted directly like The Companions or Thieves Guild. Instead, players will need to gain the attention of the Sithis followers through murder.

Fortunately, the required target isn’t random, and the player can commit this murder without even needing to begin the faction’s questline in Skyrim. The marked NPC is Grelod the Kind, a caretaker of the Honorhall Orphanage in Riften. Once she is dead, players must visit a boy named Aventus Aretino in Windhelm. He can be found inside the Aretino Residence, east of Windhelm’s central courtyard. After speaking with the child about the Dark Brotherhood, the Dragonborn will need to wait several hours or days before receiving a Mysterious Note from the Courier. Once this happens, head to any bed or bedroll and go to sleep. Upon waking up, the player will awake in a ramshackle cabin with the leader of the assassin faction, Astrid. Complete her instructions to progress into the main segment of the Dark Brotherhood questline.

How To Get Shadowmere in Skyrim

From this point, players will need to complete several main quests followed by Radiant Quests given by members of the Dark Brotherhood. These Radiant Quests include the elimination of specific Contracts across Skyrim. Progress naturally through every objective until reaching “The Cure for Madness,” a quest where Cicero is being accused of turning against the Dark Brotherhood. Astrid will task the Dragonborn to go to the faction’s old headquarters at the Dawnstar Sanctuary and take him out.

Before leaving, she will entrust her personal horse, Shadowmere, to the player. Exit the sanctuary and approach the dark pool of slime nearby the entrance. After the pond bubbles, Shadowmere will emerge from the mire, and from here on, Skyrim players can take the horse as their own and ride it wherever they please.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition is available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC.

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