Lore:Auriel's Shield

Auriel's Shield is an artifact used by the elven god Auriel, the Altmeri Akatosh, Dragon God of Time. 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. Sometimes it also appears to be seemingly unenchanted.

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. 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. 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.

History

In the Third Era, prior to the Imperial Simulacrum, a man named Cormelik the Elder sought to obtain Auriel's Shield, and during multiple expeditions in his attempts to find it gained a number of followers. Cormelik prophesized that the Shield would return to particular locations whenever it reappeared in Tamriel. Described as a mighty warrior, he was nevertheless unable to enter the Shield's new resting place and ultimately failed to obtain it. However, Cormelik made a number of maps during his travels, documenting all of the possible locations he had prophesized where Auriel's Shield might be found, and it was one of these maps which would later surface during the Imperial Simulacrum.

Circa 3E 389-3E 399 during the Imperial Simulacrum, the Eternal Champion began to hear rumors about a man who knew the location of Auriel's Shield and tracked him down to a tavern for more information. This man was in fact one of Cormelik the Elder's former followers from years ago, when Cormelik was attempting to find the Shield. It transpired that a group of acolytes had been traveling across High Rock when they discovered a cave, which upon further exploration turned out to be the likely location of one of Cormelik's maps. These acolytes then approached the former follower for information, knowing of his history with Cormelik, but were evidently murdered by the follower to silence them. Now as the sole individual with knowledge of the map's whereabouts, the follower was willing to strike a deal with the Eternal Champion and bartered the map's location, warning that - as evidenced by Cormelik's failure - simply knowing where Auriel's Shield and the map leading to it were would not be enough to obtain it. Nevertheless, the Eternal Champion traveled to High Rock and recovered Cormelik the Elder's map, which in turn led to a dungeon in another province outside of High Rock and where the Eternal Champion successfully acquired the Shield.

In the events leading up to the Warp in the West (circa 3E 405-3E 417), a clue to the location of Auriel's Shield was discovered by a Glenmoril Witch living in the Iliac Bay region where the Shield had now reappeared. 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, the Agent, who then retrieved it from the dungeon where it was now located. 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.

Near the end of the Third Era, Auriel's 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, who then sold it to Torasa Aram. Aram put the Shield on display in her Museum of Artifacts in Mournhold.

By 4E 201, Auriel's Shield appeared in the Forgotten Vale of Skyrim, once the stronghold of the The Forgotten Vale is massive and sprawling secluded ice-encrusted land dotted with the remains of Snow Elf architecture. Located in the Druadach Mountains, it is viewed on maps as being within the borders of High Rock and bordering northwestern Skyrim's Haafingar area. It is a glacial valley, with icy crevices, forests, a river and a large frozen lake. Its seclusion from the rest of Tamriel has resulted in unique forms of bioluminescent flora and fauna, seemingly adapted for subterranean dwelling.

The vale is difficult to reach, requiring the navigation through the Darkfall Cave systems to enter from the outside world. It was chosen by the ancient Snow Elves as the site of the Chantry of Auri-El, the civilization's center of worship of Auri-El. The elves built a large sanctum into the mountains, overlooking the valley, as well as five Wayshrines of Auri-El. Magical teleportation in the form of portals were used to navigate and link the area. In order to reach enlightenment and "become one with Auri-El", initiates of the Chantry made a pilgrimage to each of the five Wayshrines, navigating the treacherous vale with a ewer of water to gain access to the temple's inner sanctum. Due to the Chantry's isolation, it remained unaffected by the invasion of the Nords, though the Falmer somehow spread to the vale and overwhelmed the Chantry by their sheer numbers, wiping out the final bastion of Snow Elves.. 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 Auriel's 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.

Previous Owners:

• Unknown female user
• Drelyne Llenim
• Torasa Aram
• Anonymous Falmer Warmonger

Gallery

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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 Also

For game-specific information see the Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, and Skyrim articles.