Lore:Guardian Spirit

Guardian Spirits are spectral nature spirits found in Skyrim that are associated with the goddess Kyne.^[1]^[2] They are often tied to a specific natural landmark, such as a lake, a hill, or a copse of woods. A guardian spirit "haunts" the area it is connected to, and cannot abandon or wander far from the location. Guardian spirits usually take the form of mortal creatures,^[1] but despite appearances,^[3] these spirits were never mortal.^[2] Certain guardian spirits were known to be curious or mischievous with mortals, while others are outright hostile.^[2]

Kyne's Sacred Trials are an old Nord tradition, where the participant has to hunt and defeat several specific guardian spirits, known as Kyne's champions, in order to prove themselves as a true hunter and receive Kyne's blessing. The tradition had fallen into obscurity by 4E 201.^[4]

Circa 4E 201, a novice necromancer named Seviur established himself at a fishing shack west of the city of Dawnstar in Skyrim. He conducted what he believed to be a pacification ritual to summon waves of mudcrabs to the shore so that he could practice his ability to resurrect the creatures as undead. However, frenzied mudcrabs continued to come ashore long after Seviur's illusion magic faded, and he was ultimately killed by the creatures.^[5] A Riften fisherwoman named Viriya sent the Last Dragonborn to the shack to deal with the mudcrabs, as the frenzied crabs posed a threat to locals.^[6] Although the attacks subsided, the creatures later reappeared in even greater numbers. Guards were sent from Dawnstar by the Jarl to deal with the creatures, but their ferocity had been underestimated. Dawnstar's forces fled when a guardian spirit in the form of an Emperor Crab emerged from the ocean.^[7] Although initially in disbelief at the reports, Viriya summoned the Last Dragonborn to Dawnstar and met up with the city's reinforcements to launch a full attack on the crabs. After several waves of mudcrabs, the spirit Emperor Crab reappeared and attacked the soldiers. It was defeated with the use of flaming catapults, ending the threat.^[8]