Summary
The Temple of Mara is one of the most pleasant places inSkyrim, but it hides a surprisingly dark secret. It isn’t a place that players are required to visit, but if aSkyrimplayer intends to get married, then they’re guaranteed to make at least one trip to the location. Even though it’s in the infamously corrupt city of Riften, it’s hard to name many things to dislike about the temple. However, beneath all the temple’s brightness and positivity, there is something rather unexpected to find, and the main question is what this discovery could mean regarding the temple.
Marriage is one mechanic thatplayers who want to roleplay inSkyrimcan benefit quite a bit from. First, they have to perform a favor for their spouse of choice, then obtain an Amulet of Mara and propose to them properly in order to have a ceremony. After marriage, the player can set up a house,and with the Hearthfire add-on, they can even adopt children. Aside from their partner effectively becoming a merchant, there is not a lot that directly benefits the player from marriage in regard to regular gameplay. However, the sentimental value is high for players who love getting invested in the game.
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Skyrim’s Temple of Mara Hides a Connection to One of its Darkest Factions
The Temple of Mara is in Riften, argued to be theworst city inSkyrimby some, and it is the only place in the game where players can get married. In addition, the priestess of the temple, Dinya Balu, is one of the nicest characters in the game, even offering a quest to help some couples from across Skyrim get together. Considering that their neighbors include the Thieves' Guild and the Black-Briar family, the overall pleasantness of the temple is a welcome surprise. However, if the player explores a little further, they will find something in the temple that seems startlingly out of place.
Inside the temple is the book “A Kiss, Sweet Mother”, which is used to contactSkyrim’s iteration of the Dark Brotherhood. Considering that the player will only go to the temple to get married or do one of Dinya’s quests, a book of rituals to summon an assassin feels like it should not be there. It’s worth questioning how the book ended up at the temple in the first place. It could be the property of Dinya or her husband, or a visitor could have left it there. Either way, it opens up some dark questions about its purpose at the temple.
Dinya Balu and Maramal don’t seem to have any enemies, so them calling the Dark Brotherhood on someone seems unlikely. However,dark secrets inSkyrimhave appeared in unexpected places, so it’s possible that they could have used the Brotherhood’s services sometimes in the past. Likewise, a visitor to the temple could have taken the book and forgotten about it, which has its own set of possibilities. Someone could have come to the temple to get married, only to target their new spouse for assassination, possibly for money. It’s a disturbing thought, but withSkyrim’s many criminal elements, it’s a possibility.
The mystery of the Dark Brotherhood ritual book in the Temple of Mara will likely never be solved, so it will remain unclear if someoneordered an assassination inSkyrimfrom the Temple. However, it’s hard to imagine that the book was there by mere coincidence. After all, there are an astonishing amount of books inSkyrimthat the player could have found instead, so it’s hard to imagine that “A Kiss, Sweet Mother” was put there by chance. Whatever the case may be, one may have to wonder what use the Temple of Mara would have forSkyrim’s Dark Brotherhood.
Skyrimis available now for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
