Auriel's Shield is an artifact used by the elven god Auriel, the Altmeri Akatosh, Dragon God of Time.[1][2] It takes the form of a small shield, sometimes rounded, made from either ebony or moonstone. It has several magical abilities that help to make its wielder nigh invulnerable. Its known enchantments include resistance to fire, shielding from either magical or physical attacks, healing properties, magical armor enhancement, and spell reflection.[3] Sometimes it also appears to be seemingly unenchanted.[4]
The shield has the ability to absorb the power of blocked attacks; this energy can then be released by bashing an opponent with the shield, delivering a devastating physical blow.[5] Its shielding ability is supposedly unsurpassed. The shield is twinned with Auriel's Bow.
Like many great artifacts, the shield has a life and personality of its own, and does not feel bound to its user. A popular fable tells of it abandoning its owner in her greatest hour of need, but this story is thought to be apocryphal.[3] Legend says it was created by Anuiel at Auriel's request so that the latter could use it in his campaign against the forces of Lorkhan during the Dawn Era.[6]
HistoryEdit
Sometime in the late Third Era, the warrior named Cormelik the Elder was interested in Auriel's Shield, gaining a following, and prophesizing the shield's whereabouts. Each location that Cormelik had prophesized was documented on a map, that was spread between his followers. Cormelik was close to acquiring the shield but was unsuccessful, and his followers had disbanded. However, one of his followers came into contact with the Eternal Champion, who was able to obtain Auriel's Shield.[7]
In the events leading up to the Warp in the West, a clue to the shield's location was discovered by a Glenmoril Witch living in the Iliac Bay region. In return for kidnapping the witch's great-granddaughter to become the witch's successor, she revealed the clue to a questing member of a knightly order, who retrieved it from the dungeon where it lay. However, there are conflicting accounts that the artifact centered around this story was actually a different one altogether, with Auriel's Bow or the Lord's Mail taking its place in the story.[8]
Near the end of the Third Era, the shield was recovered by Drelyne Llenim, a Dunmer Buoyant Armiger stationed at Ghostgate, a small military settlement along the Great Ghost Fence on Vvardenfell. In 3E 427, the shield is said to have been forcibly taken from Llenim by the Nerevarine,[9] who then sold it to Torasa Aram. Aram put the shield on display in her Museum of Artifacts in Mournhold.[10]
By 4E 201, the shield had come to the Forgotten Vale of Skyrim, once the stronghold of the Chantry of Auriel. Through unknown means, the shield was obtained by an anonymous Falmer Warmonger, a member of the Betrayed, whose ancestors had been blinded by the Dwemer and crippled by centuries of living underground. The Falmer used the shield to fight many frost trolls in a secluded forested region of the Vale. The Last Dragonborn used the Ruby Paragon to teleport across the vale, where they located this Falmer and reclaimed the shield.[11]
Previous Owners:Edit
- Unknown female user
- Drelyne Llenim
- Torasa Aram
- Anonymous Falmer Warmonger
GalleryEdit
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Arena (male)
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Arena (female)
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Daggerfall
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Morrowind
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Skyrim
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ESO
See AlsoEdit
For game-specific information see the Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, and Skyrim articles.
ReferencesEdit
- ^ Knight-Paladin Gelebor's dialogue in Skyrim
- ^ Varieties of Faith: The High Elves — Brother Mikhael Karkuxor of the Imperial College
- ^ a b Arena/Daggerfall in-game description
- ^ Auriel's Shield in Morrowind
- ^ Auriel's Shield in Skyrim
- ^ The Monomyth
- ^ Artifact Dialogue — The Imperial Library
- ^ The Artifact in Daggerfall
- ^ Drelyne Llenim's possession of the shield in Morrowind
- ^ The Museum in Morrowind: Tribunal
- ^ Falmer Warmonger's possession of the shield in Skyrim: Dawnguard