When I took 2hrs to defeat the black dragon, the only thing I found on the dragon was a Bladesinger Chain and some trinkets. There was no gold cup. I scan that whole area with my mouse and could not find it. Is there a secret for this?

Not sure. Golden cup should be on it's body. If you're sure it's not there you can either reload and try again or create it via CLUAConsole. Not sure which code it is, but you can find a list.

Probably one of the other members will tell you the code.

Try MiscB2, but like Flaming Fist Enforcer ... I'm not sure how it happened either.

I would suggest Reloading and trying again, because if you took two hours to defeat a Dragon, chances are you could use more practice on the subject. ;) Although I am just as befuddled as the others about why the Goblet wasn't with the other loot, it should be dropped in exactly the same pile. Are you sure you didn't confuse it with the other "trinkets?" It doesn't exactly look like the way that *I* picture a goblet.

I've heard that if you kill a creature using Disintegrate or another spell that turns it to dust, it can destroy items it's carrying. I didn't think it could happen with quest-critical items, though! :scared:

Quest items (including the Goblet of Life) and gold pieces cannot be destroyed.

Did you trigger the appropriate quest before going after the dragon?