"Sate your thirst for knowledge in the endless stacks of my library."
Hermaeus Mora
Background:
Tscaern left Blackmarsh decades ago, in search of knowledge... The darkest secrets are the most useful. It was in the Sea of Ghost that he settled... A glacial ruin carved into a range of icebergs, stone and ice mixing in unending corridors and dark, damp rooms. He grew accustomed to the cold, after a while, eating algae and horker meat.
The Argonian had amassed a massive library, making makeshift tables and outposts created from shipwrecks within the ancient walls. Lost records of the previous kalpas, mummified specimens of extinct races, forgotten by people and history. Sacrificial daggers and black books on pedestals, he gazed into the two pupils of the Gardener of Men. But fate and time were clashing... His dragon blood, under the influence of Akatosh meeting the rotten ink from Apocrypha's scrolls. His mind descended into darkness, his memory confused yet immense, and his magic strenghtened by the nature of his soul and the whispers of the Daedra.
On a fateful night, he unvailed the cover of an ominous book, the contents of which unknown even by the many eyes of the Woodland Man. When his eyes fell upon the first page, the ruin cracked. At the second page, it sunk under the icy waves of black water. When he read the third, he was ripped from the world, by a maelstrom of incomprehensible and crawling terror, and on the fourth... Everything disappeared. He woke up on land... At the border between Skyrim and Cyrodill, stripped of his powers and research.
Personnality, appearance, and roleplay:
The Abyssherald is a cold, calculated with a rare intelligence and interest in knowledge. Collect spell tomes and books, as well as scrolls whe you find them. His mind is, however, prone to anger outbursts, manifesting through wild magic attacks and unleashing abilities.
He is an Argonian with dark scales and piercing, bright blue eyes. His connection with the Hist partially severed, his daily regeneration comes from dark magic.
Notable quests you can complete are the College of Winterhold, Dark Brotherhood, Dawnguard on either side, Dragonborn, Mora's Daedric Quest. These will give you access to a lot of interesting things, I also recommend you build yourself a home, to store your books or dark items and artifacts.
You can travel with companions but you're definitely not marrying anyone.
Standing Stones:
Mage Stone/Thief Stone: Leveling up during early game
Atronach Stone/Lord Stone: Useful for staying viable in combat at higher levels... But you can do without.
Serpent Snake/Ritual Stone: Great for RP reasons, and they're useful.
Stats and skills:
The Abyssherald is first and foremost a spellcaster, but uses the occasional enchanting and alchemy to strengthen his abilities. As such, the stat distribution goes like this:
6/2/1
Your main Skills are:
-Destruction (Thunder and Ice spells)
-Conjuration (Reanimated Undead, Ice and Storm Atronachs and Seekers. Soul Cairn summons are also useful)
-Alchemy (Poisons and Potions make my day go)
-Alteration (Paralysis, Flesh spells, Detect life/dead)
Secondary Skills include:
-Restoration (Poison Rune, Interesting Perks, healing)
-Enchanting (To keep up with level scaling, but no extra effects or full perks. Highest skill level i used was 60. Also good for weapons, and enchanting staves is good)
Equipment:
In early game, basic robes aren't too hard to find. If you can get cultist robes and a hood, you have a good starting equipment with acceptable fashion. A cultist mask is great as well.
In midgame, you'll be able to find a set of falmer armor in a locked room in Mzinchaleft, a Dwemer Ruin south of Dawnstar. Wear a cultist mask with it and enchant the set and you'll be rocking a great cultist look. Daggers and bound weapons are also a good addition to the overall look, and are useful for poisoning and trapping souls.
During late-game, Dragon Priest Masks and especially Miraak are your go-to. Get yourself a set of hardened/heavy Falmer Armor and you will become a battling, eldritch bulwark of a cultist. Miraak's sword and staff are essential to your armement. You can also use the Prison Exploit to equip Miraak's robes with the Armor, to cause an explosion of tentacles on impact. Azhidal's ring of arcana and boots of waterwalking should complete your equipment, you can walk on water or breathe under it: the entire Sea is you weapon! That said, especially troughout Solshteim, using the Sea as a platform is actually extremely powerful because of the inability of enemies to fight under water. It's also pretty fun.
Powers, Potions, Abilities and Combo-action:
The Abyssherald is a powerful sorcerer. As such, he's created some strong spell combinations:
-Tidal Ravage: Unrelenting Force, Ice Storm
Waves upon waves of glacial water jump forth, crushing and drowning the enemy.
-Stormborn Summoning: Cyclone, Wall of Storms, Summon Storm Atronach
The call of razor sharp winds and thunderous sparks tear apart the enemy, summoning a dark spirit of the storm.
-Crawling Devourer: Drain Vitality, Mora's Agony/Staff, Poison Rune
Absorb and annihilate your foe's body and soul under a sea of acid tentacles and poisonous ink.
-Glacier Rising: Ice Spike/Freeze/Icy Spear, Summon Frost Atronach, Ice Rune
Pierce and freeze your enemy with ice and snow, and bring with you the Spirit of the Frost to crush their bones and flesh.
-Terror Vortex: Intimidation, Wall of Storms, Wall of Frost, Summon Seeker (Blizzard - Optional)
Unleash an eldritch Storm and summon a spirit of knowledge and dark secrets.
-Gaze of Mora: Slow Time, Secret of Arcana, Lightning Storm
Piercing through time and space, a ray of eldritch lightning obliterates the enemy.
-Dreadplague: Mass Paralysis, Miraak's Staff/Agony, Poison Rune, Various Poisons, Marked for Death, (Ritual Stone - Optional)
Annihilate and corrupt all living life, with a burst of fatal illness and deadly gas.
-Aspect of the Abomination: Lightning Cloak, Bones of the Earth, Root of Power, Histskin
Using dark powers, boost your regeneration tenfold and augment your power and durability while eating away at enemies.
-Aspect of the Frostwyrm: Dragon Aspect, Frost Cloak, Flesh spells, Dragonhide
Using your blood and soul, channel draconic energy into your body to enhance your powers and resistance. Your freezing soul destroys the enemies who get too close.
These are some of the abilities i have used the most, but you can always make more.
As for concoctions:
Disaster Blood:
Ectoplasm + Tundra Cotton + Glowing Mushroom
Fortify Destruction/Magicka
Alkahest:
Skeever Tail + Impstool + Scathecraw
Ravage Health, Lingering Damage Health, Damage Health
(Thanks Blackblood for this one, love your Alchemist's Apotheosis build!)
Brainkiller:
Gleamblossom + Netch Jelly
Paralysis, Fear
Bulwark Elixir:
Yellow Mountain Flower + Boar Tusk + Garlic
Fortify Health/Stamina, Resist Poison
Rejuvenating Grace:
Eye of Saber Cat + Charred Skeever Hide
Restore Health/Stamina
And with these potions, we're finishing up the build! Thanks for reading.
This is actually a Contest Build for the Witches and Warlocks Events, but I got caught up in schoolwork and couldn't get it out in time. I'm glad I got to draw an illustration for my build, and i also want to thank Furrion for getting me all the screenshots here! Playing on PS3 doesn't give you the luxury of decent screenshotting, ahah. This also means that this is a Vanilla Build, so feel free to spice it up with mods!
Have a nice day, all :)
Replies
Really well done! I love the creative names here for his powers & potions.
Pretty good build! Really like the screenshots. I think it would be even better if we could get a list of the perks you used (also the enchantments you found useful) and maybe how you dealt with different types of enemies.
I don't know if it's on my end, but some of the images look funny when they are one after the other. You may rearrange the layout by putting text in between them so that it's less noticeable. I'll be on the lookout for your next builds.
Yeah i spotted some mistakes and the screenshot layout isn't perfect, i'll fix these when i get the chance. I'm also going to put out a list of perks and the way i dealt with specific enemies. Enchants are mainly just fortify magicka, destruction, resist Magic... Simple stuff, mainly.
Thanks for the feedback, i appreciate it
nice. I have to ask why no Illusion spells?