The Daedric Quests are fifteen quests that are each completed at the request of one of the Daedric Princes, and offer a Daedric artifact as a result. All of the Daedric Princes have a shrine hidden somewhere in the wilderness of Cyrodiil, where people gather to worship them, although Mehrunes Dagon's shrine in the Lake Arrius Caverns does not provide a quest. Although contrary to the state-sanctioned religion of worshipping the Aedra (the Nine Divines), Daedra worship is not illegal in Cyrodiil.
Once your character is at a sufficiently high level, you can visit a Daedric shrine and provide an appropriate offering (levels and offerings are provided in the following table). At that point, the shrine's Prince will give you a quest. The nature of the quest generally reflects the nature of the Prince who provided it. This means that some of the quests may involve requests to do illegal or immoral acts. As with all quests in the game, it is your choice whether or not you wish to complete the quest. Although being caught doing something illegal for a Daedra may lead to a bounty or Infamy, the quests themselves will increase your Fame (one point for each quest, except for Namira's due to an oversight).
As part of the Main Quest, you will be required to complete one Daedric quest in order to provide Martin with a Daedric artifact. Although Martin will point you towards Azura's quest, you can choose to complete any of the quests; in fact, you certainly should not give the artifact from this quest, Azura's Star, to Martin, since it is one of the most useful items which can be obtained in the game.
Finding the shrines can be difficult. Many of them can only be found if you stumble across them in the wilderness; they all have the map marker seen to the right, so keep an eye out. However, a few people know the location of a Daedric shrine, and talking to them will put a marker on your map. For a few of these characters, Daedra cults simply shows up as a possible conversation topic when you talk to them. In most cases, however, the topic Daedric shrines only appears if you have previously read Modern Heretics: A Study of Daedra Worship in the Empire. You will find a copy of this book next to Martin at Cloud Ruler Temple during Blood of the Daedra; it can also be found in the Mystic Archives, and at First Edition.
For locations of all the shrines see the (map) or the Daedric Shrines Map.
- ^ With few exceptions (noted), you must either have read Modern Heretics or have spoken with Ulene Hlervu about Cheydinhal in addition to any other requirements before anyone will talk to you about the shrines.
- ^ a b You must have read Martin's copy of The Refugees (no other copy will do).
- ^ This quest can be completed at level 1 by getting the quest from Ma'Raska and then talking to Clavicus Vile with Umbra already in your inventory. This requires killing Umbra before you are directed to.
- ^ a b You must raise Luther's Disposition to 60 or higher before he will speak to you about the shrines, but you do not need to have read Modern Heretics or spoken with Ulene Hlervu.