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A chance encounter outside a Markarth home brings you in contact with the Daedric Prince, Molag Bal. As the Prince of Domination and Enslaving, his presence might be one of the most intimidating in Skyrim. While that may be enough to deter the curious, the power-hungry will find an opportunity here.
Molag Bal needs to find a champion to help him take his revenge on a rival Prince. If you step up and help him, you will be richly rewarded with a powerful and unique weapon to help you break down and dominate your foes just as its maker demands.
Updated November 17, 2022, by Nicolas Ng: This article has been updated to work with the rest of the walkthrough, refined, and improved to help you dominate your enemies.
Starting House Of Horrors
To begin this quest, head to the Silver-Blood Inn in Markarth and speak with the innkeeper, who will tell you that a member of the Vigilants of Stendarr has been spotted in town. This person is Vigilant Tyranus, a witch hunter. Supposedly, he's been pestering the locals with questions, specifically about an abandoned house in the city.
Alternatively, you might see Tyranus outside the Abandoned House talking to a local under the right conditions.
As a Vigilant of Stendarr, his order will be diminished after you start the quest Dawnguard.
Tyranus will bombard you with questions too, and unless you completely shut him down, he'll introduce himself and ask for your assistance. Agree, and he'll bring you to the abandoned house.
Inside The Abandoned House
Once inside, Tyranus will be a bit perplexed, as he notes that there are no signs of the house aging, and fresh food is sitting out. Shortly after this, a loud noise will spur him on, and he will try to investigate its source. Unfortunately, there will be a locked door in the way.
Once you interact with the door, a voice will begin speaking to you, and the furniture will begin floating. Tyranus will be frightened and run away, just to find you are both locked inside the house.
Again, interact with this door to hear the voice speak to you again. It'll continue telling you to murder Tyranus, now threatening that if you don't, it might be your life on the line instead.
However, it quickly becomes apparent that Tyranus is hearing the same voice — and it's telling him to do the same thing to you. He'll succumb to the voice and attack you in hopes of keeping himself alive.
You will not be able to continue the quest unless Tyranus is killed. He uses some spells, like sparks, and defensive Alteration spells. He is not particularly dangerous.
Win the fight, and the voice will tell you that you have earned a reward, so head into the tunnel where you're directed.
Meeting Molag Bal
On the other side of this tunnel, you'll find an altar with a rusty mace atop it. Once you try to claim it, you'll be caged. The voice, it seems, is Molag Bal, the Lord of Domination. His main priority as a Daedric Prince is harvesting mortal souls. He'll ask you what you see.
Choose any of the three dialogue options, and he'll tell you that the mace was once powerful, but it and the altar on which it stands were desecrated by Boethiah's priests.
Molag Bal will then explain (after the next dialogue prompt) that the priest of Boethiah typically comes to desecrate the altar but hasn't shown up in a while. He's imprisoned somewhere else. Molag Bal wants you to find him and bring him back.
Finding Logrolf The Willful
This priest is named Logrolf the Willful, and he'll be imprisoned in one of six random locations, all of which are in the Reach and filled with Forsworn.
The location where he'll be found will be marked on your map, but can be any of the following: Broken Tower Redoubt, Bruca's Leap Redoubt, Deepwood Redoubt, Druadach Redoubt, Hag Rock Redoubt, or Red Eagle Redoubt.
Once you find him, you'll want to make sure you've dealt with all the Forsworn, because they'll attack Logrolf as makes his way out. He'll be a bit hesitant to believe that you just came to rescue him out of the pure goodness of your heart.
You'll have to either persuade, bribe, or intimidate him. You'll need a Speech skill of at least 50 to persuade him successfully. Once you untie him, he'll run off to Markarth and the abandoned house.
The quest will fail if Logrof dies, so be sure there are no Forsworn in his way and that you don't harm him yourself.
Getting The Mace Of Molag Bal
Once back in the house, Molag Ball will imprison Logrolf. A conversation will begin, ultimately leading to Molag Bal telling you to do something horrible. You'll need to attack Logrolf. You'll find the rusty mace is equipped, and you need to use it to beat him repeatedly. Every time he dies, Molag Bal will revive him, and you'll have to do it all over again.
Eventually, Logrolf will submit and revoke his pledge to Boethiah. The Daedric Prince will task you with finishing Logrolf off one final time, and once you do, he'll turn the rusty mace into his signature Daedric Artifact. This is the Mace of Molag Bal. The quest will then finish. Whether it was worth it is up to you... and your conscience, of course.
Is The Mace Of Molag Bal Good?
Also known as the Vampire's Mace, the Mace of Molag Bal is a Daedric Artifact.
Every time you strike an opponent with it, they'll be drained of Magicka and stamina (25 points each). It is also enchanted with soul trap, inflicting it on the target every three seconds.
If you want to upgrade it, you'll need an ebony ingot and the Arcane Blacksmith perk.
Like other unique items, the Mace of Molag Bal does not become more powerful as you level up. It will become increasingly obsolete as you gain experience and strength.
If you walk around Skyrim with the mace equipped, bystanders will comment on it, asking you to get it away from them.