Strife:More than Business (Dark Brotherhood)

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Overview
''We are the same. We are betrayed. We are decieved...''
 * Quest Giver: Movis Darys.
 * Location(s): Habinbaes.
 * Prerequisite Quest:  Demented Revenge.
 * Next Quest: Ritualistic Risk.
 * Reward: None.
 * Optional Bonus: None.

Quest start
After leaving the general area of Ald Sotha, the front door to Ald Sotha is now locked entirely, and cannot be unlocked by any means.

Movis has told the party there is no work and to enjoy their time away, and that they will be contacted. Little does the party know Dandras and Movis' plan is in full swing, and Lucien Lachance has been misdirected to kill the party through purposeful miscommunication of information by Dandras in a different location. Lucien thought the party will be joining them in a new location, only to be told the party has broken Tenets and he will now have to deal with them, supervising another assassin in collecting a tithe for breaking tenets, being the only one able to take the party. But as it turns out the assassin collecting the tithe is actually the aggressor, framing the party to the still skeptical Lucien...

Lucien's confrontation
After one party member levels up and the party rests, they are visited by a Dark Brotherhood Assassin, which is levelled to the players with their health being:

$$HP = 100 + 4 \times (Highest\ player\ character\ level)$$

The assassin attacks them interrupting their rest, and as the fight is ending, ''Lucien bursts into the room and without even being hit, the assassin dies in-front of the party and Lucien. Recovering from shock as to what he has just seen, Lucien starts to shout: "What have you done! I had respect for you, when I was told you broke tenets I didn't believe them, but to think you'd betray in-front of my own eyes is..." He trails off. "Do you have anything to say... Traitors?"''

The party has now a time to explain; Lucien's responses are improvised by the GM. After some calming down, Lucien reaches the conclusion that ''"Nothing is certain; I do not know who I can trust. After I figure out this situation, I will contact you with a dead drop, it should take me a couple days." Lowering his tone to a whisper: "Varla Stone." He starts walking out the room. "And if I find that I cannot trust you, I WILL kill you."''

Lucien's "Varla Stone" direction was referencing where they found the Varla Stone in the Varla Stone quest; Habinbaes. The party must first go there to get their orders.

Habinbaes and finishing the quest
Upon return to Habinbaes it is locked, unless two days have passed as Lucien had told the party. As it turns out, the entire cove has been overrun with a plethora of wild animals after the smugglers had been cleared out by the party.

The party finds the hole they dug to originally to find the Varla Stone is now covered with fresh ash soil, and after digging they find the first dead drop note; it reads:

''“Punishers, I am of the belief that I can trust you; we have BOTH been tricked. The Ald Sotha sanctuary LOCKED, NONE of my prior allies in contact, and no sign of any Dark Brotherhood ANYWHERE. I do not know why this has happened, maybe we could not be trusted, but I believe the fact that you were framed to turn us against each other.''

''In the while that I find out more, I would like you to protect important assets; with the risk of a rogue chapter of the Dark Brotherhood, there is the risk they can harness the power of the Blade of Woe for interests not shared by our organisation. I need you to acquire the Blade of Woe from Almurbalarammi. Scouting this area has allowed me to confirm this location. Agents of Sheogorath had captured it years ago, but we have never been able to retrieve it without a Morrowind base of operations. With this new sanctuary, Dandras and I had been planning on retrieving it; he knows where it is and if he is so truly against us, be prepared for a fight.''

Burn this letter."

The party now has completed this quest and has now moved onto quest Ritualistic Risk.