A Path of Bones, the fifth quest in the saga of the Darksteel, begins at the shrine of Azura, with the pilgrim Erwen’s warning: when dealing with the Daedra, the path is paved in bones. The same holds true for this quest- for this is the point of no return. For good or for ill, a sacrifice must be made- though the kind of sacrifice will depend on the Player’s choices throughout the quest.

The quest begins with the objective to head to Robber’s Refuge and ask about Sahlene, the Redguard assassin responsible for killing several members of the Dark Steel Cult.

The bartender at Robber’s Refuge will relate a rumor that Sahlene is headed to Dawnstar to visit an old friend (aka Tikrid). Go find Tikrid (she should still be in the tunnels between Nchuand-Zel and Understone Keep) and tell her about Sahlene.

Head to Dawnstar, where Tikrid and the Dragonborn will find Sahlene on the cliffs overlooking the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary. Here the Dovahkiin can either spare her or kill her, but be warned that this choice has a lasting impact on how the quest turns out.

If the Player chooses to spare Sahlene, she will mention that Ortheim told her that her name was on the list of contracts, but that instead of her life, they wanted her sword. The Redguard will then give the Player the Trinity Blade, the only weapon capable of killing Deneris– or at least it would be, were it not in a weakened state. NOTE: If the Dragonborn chooses to kill Sahlene, the Trinity Blade will be on her body instead.

After some more conversation, Tikrid will express her exhaustion and propose that trio retire to the Windpeak Inn for the night. Do as she suggests and sleep in the indicated bed.

Guess who’s baaack?! It’s our ghostly friend Deneris and he is once again trying to kill the PC after he/she wakes up. He fails, though, because Tikrid gets in his way and takes the blade for us.

If you killed Sahlene, it will be little more than a flesh wound, but if the Dragonborn let Sahlene live, Deneris’s blade will be poisoned, and the Player and Sahlene will have to go to the Alchemist’s Shack in search of an antidote.

The alchemist is a rather long winded fellow, and eventually he tells the duo that in order to make the antidote, they will need a black mountain flower, rumored to grow near Arcwind Point. Fortunately for Tikrid, it does indeed grow near Arcwind Point, specifically in a clearing north of the word wall.

Once the Dovahkiin gets the mountain flower, head back to alchemist’s shack, where the Dragonborn is forced to play the role of alchemist’s assistant once again and fetch the pine thrush egg in the bowl on one of the shelves in his house (note that other pine thrush eggs won’t work). When he finally, at long last, gives you the potion, hurry back to Dawnstar.

Tikrid will mention that Soren came by the Inn for his dagger, but left because he couldn’t afford to wait- he was headed for Shadow’s Gulch, in order to kill Deneris. Sahlene then interjects, telling the Player that they should head to Shadow’s Gulch, and that she and Tikrid will follow when- or if- they can. The assassin does add though, that the Player should prepare to go alone. With that, A Path of Bones comes to an end, only for it to lead to The Face Of The Ghost, the final quest in the Darkened Steel questline.

Stages 1 and 65 are set during dialogue or scenes.