Character Build: The Last Sorcerer Queen

Since I recently (yeah... "recently") bought Oblivion during the Steam holiday sale, I’ve been incredibly fascinated with the Ayleids and their lore. So, I decided to take some liberties with their religion and history, creating…

THE LAST SORCERER QUEEN

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El’Wel av Merid-Nunda
The Divine Child of Meridia

Tamriel believed your race long-dead. Men believed they drove your kind to extinction for revenge on the acts of your ancestors. They were wrong. Many Ayleid survived the slaughter, developing isolated cities in the mountains of High Rock and the deep forests of Valenwood that have since shrunk to small tribes of traditionalists who refuse to be absorbed into the elven communities.

Since their defeat before the Age of Man, the Ayleids were ruled by Royal Sorcerers, the representatives of their Ten Ancestors. These Sorcerer Kings and Queens were crowned in the Temple of the Ancestors, where their patron divinity would save them from certain death and choose them to lead one of the ten capitals of the Ayleid Empire known as Tam-Rielle.

After the genocide at the hands of men, the Ayleids were far too few to be led by their Royal Sorcerers, relying instead on meager chiefs. Priests and sorcerers no longer put their names forward, losing faith in the gods who had forsaken them, no longer believing in their protection.

You are a young apprentice, a sister of a prominent warlock who is the first to put his name forward in a thousand years. Your great ancestor was the last Sorcerer King of Merid-Nunda and he seeks to claim the title for himself. The altar was prepared and the incantations read, but when the bonfire was lit with white fire and he stepped forward, there was no sign and he burned to ashes. Disappointed, the council turned back but a mysterious courage filled your heart and you calmly walked into the flames.

A brilliant light flashed through the forest, a light that men would talk about in taverns the next day. “Did you see that shooting star? That asteroid? I’m sure them wizards will want to take a look at it.” Little did they know of the creature that walked forward, her eyes aglow with the light of the Coloured Rooms, her hair a pale white, and on her lips were the words of the first children of this world. Even at that moment, she couldn’t possibly realise that in a few weeks, in tribes and homes and caves all across the land, drinks would be raised in secret and words spoken in the tongue of their forefathers, toasts made in silent celebration.

“An El’Wel av Merid-Nunda, an belle Mala-Oran av noue math aldmeris, av Cyrod, av Tam-Rielle!”

To the Divine Child of Merid-Nunda, to the thunderous Empress of our ancestral home, of Cyrodiil, of Tamriel!

Race : Ayleid (female high elf with dark gold skin, pale hair, white eyes)

Standing Stone : Advanced Atronach / Advanced Apprentice

Stats : 2 / 1. While magicka and health are most important, stamina is used primarily with shield bashing Auri-El’s Shield and Eagle Eye, so keeping it at 150 is plenty.

Alignment : Lawful Neutral

Key Shouts : Fire Breath, Unrelenting Force, Animal Allegiance, Bend Will, Clear Skies, Storm Call, Become Ethereal, Call Dragon/Durneviir, Dragon Aspect, Storm Call

 Mala Agea
(Major Skills)

RyjHZaW.png?width=237Conjuration – Lesser daedra can be summoned from Meridia’s Coloured Rooms, a realm of everlasting starlight. Certain Ayleids are also renowned for raising armies of powerful dead in a ruthless pursuit for power, and the Queen can use necromancy to bring the souls of previous Regal Sorcerers to inhabit the bodies of her powerful enemies.

One Handed – Wielding the blade of her patron, the Queen is quick on her feet and, best of all, can attain her end-game weapon from level 12. Until then, Bound Sword is more than good enough.

Archery – Bows find their place with Auriel’s, an absolutely fearsome weapon against undead, but until we can get it, a Bound Bow will be far more than enough. Our key aim with this weapon is pure agility, the ability to ping off arrows without a thought.

Restoration – Concentrating Merid-Nunda’s hatred of the undead and her praise of the Queen into pure magicka, the Queen is able to restore her attributes and rebuke all undead who try to lay a hand on her.

 

 

 

 

 

Racu Agea
(Minor Skills)elY7G92.jpg?width=213

Block – Auri-El’s Shield fits the look and lore excellently but isn’t perked due to enchantments being more effective and Auri-El’s Shield’s innate ability more useful than any perks (in my opinion).

Destruction – The Ayleids were known for weaving great firestorms in combat and this allow us to unlock the infamous Ayleid ability to change shape and form. In this case, we can become a holy dragon of Light and Fire.

Alchemy – To empower our magical abilities and our oneness with the stars above (Advancing the Atronach and the Apprentice), we raze the land of mountain flowers and level Alchemy to 100. Poisons don’t really fit majesty of the character, so I didn’t invest in it.

Enchanting – As an aspect of Meridia, the Queen can bend the light and beauty of natural and supernatural souls. Leveled primarily with staff enchanting, I didn’t even go to a table until I was enchanting my suit of Elven battlewear. Remember to redistribute the perks when you’re done crafting.

 

Extremely Minor Skills

Light Armor – Since we are wearing it, I threw a few points in there. We won’t be hit very much, but the extra AR is appreciated.

(Smithing) – I couldn’t resist the extra two perks to smith our Elven Armor and, frankly, Sunhallowed Arrows are just impractical without the perk to fletch our own. I moved the perks over to magic (Destruction’s Master and Conjuration’s Twin Souls) at the end of Dragonborn in the fairly late game, because I had about 2300 arrows. That’s enough, really…

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Karan
(Armor)

I used a mod to get a retextured Elven Armor, to distinguish “Ayleid armor” from Altmer armor and Falmer armor, but otherwise the in-game Elven Armor (or Falmer Armor, for higher AR) is sufficient.

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(HELMET) Aldmeris Adonai – { Fortify Magicka + Magicka Regen }Renaming the Nords’ precious Jagged Crown to the traditional name of the crown of the Regal Sorcerers, the Lordly Elves serves the Queen’s mental endeavours. 

(ARMOR) Mathmeldimer – { Fortify Restoration + Fortify Destruction } On the night the remaining Ayleids left Cyrodiil forever, Merid-Nunda commanded the stars to fall from the heavens to serenade the exodus of her favoured people. Forging this starlight-made-steel and cooling the metal in the bitter tears of the Ayleids who fled the violent purge of the Alessian Order, the plates of this armor whisper its name to whoever wears it, bringing images of fire and war, so the Ayleid warrior might never forget he is a Home-Driven Elf. 

(GAUNTLETS) Par av Wendelbek – { Fortify Archery + Fortify Block }Named for the ancient altar of Necromancy that resided outside the city of Wendelbek, these grips were recovered by a clan of Ayleids who retreated to Black Marsh, now coming out at the sound of a new Sorcerer Queen. 

(BOOTS) Oiobala – { Fortify One Handed + Fortify Stamina } Once created by an Ayleid mage-smith who believed the boots would grant him Eternal Power, they were plucked from his skeleton by wayward bandits and eventually ended up in the hands of a certain Khajiit merchant, selling it to a certain dark-skinned elf who recognised the craftsmanship. 

(RING) Abagaianye Naril Nagaia – { Fortify Conjuration + Fortify Health } Forged with the promise of the Last King of the Ayleids when he and his followers were absorbed into House Direnni of High Rock, the letters writ on the inside of the gold band read, “I do not fear my final death”. 

(NECKLACE) Varlalatta – { Fortify Magicka + Fortify Magicka Regen } Before leaving her Ayleid settlement, the Queen was gifted a golden amulet dusted with the ashes of her coronation, creating an eternal link to the magic of Starlight. 

The Spell Absorbtion-Summon Glitch

I have since gained a new appreciation for people who suffer through Skyrim’s buggy mayhem on console. I did two primary playthroughs of this build, one with the Unofficial Patches installed (which fix the glitch that causes Conjuration summons to be absorbed) and one without.

If you don’t have the patch…

  • Level Conjuration early on and then get the powered Atronach Stone around level 25, when you can comfortably use the Ash Guardian spell (the only Conjuration spell, to my knowledge, that can’t be absorbed) as your sole summon, using necromancy from then on in.
  • Another option is to store the Atronach in the Aetherial Crown and stockpile some Fortify Restoration potions for when you want to use the Ash Guardian.
  • One way or another, this also allows you to use the "Staff of Restore Magicka". Any summoning staff, once you have 100% spell absorbtion, will confer you magicka relative to the cost of the summonining charge on the staff. I'd suggest you use it sparingly, as a special move or daily ability.

If you do have the patch…

  • Don’t be afraid of the timing when you pick up the Atronach, since Conjuration can level naturally and the Ash Guardian can still do its job. I picked it up at level 12 and continued to buff it throughout my gameplay, ending up with it being 100% at around 20-25.

Combat & Powers

Av molag anyammis, av latta magicka.
From fire, life; from light, magic.

The sublime Star-Lit daughter of Magnus, Merid-Nunda is an uncorrupted Divine, the extent of what the Aedra would have become if they hadn’t surrendered themselves to create Mundas. Auri-El, on the other hand, is an elven warrior hero, a war general and a direct ancestor of the Ayleids, considered to be Merid-Nunda’s eternal lover. The Queen pays homage to her elven patrons with three distinct combat styles.

 

Auri-El’s Powers of Fire and Life

sPXp7bN.jpg?width=200Weapon : Archery (Bound Bow à Auriel’s Bow)

Fire : Flame Atronach, Ash Spawn, Fire Spells, Whirlwind Cloak

Life : Healing Spells, Animal Allegiance, Bend Will (2 words), Necromancy

Combat : The first time I’ve ever played a necromancer who wasn’t cackling evil, the Queen is able to command life wherever shade it might be in. Auri-El’s gift of the Language of Dragons gives her a command over the energies of life and fire, controlling even the ash that remains. The Flame Atronach can provide cover fire with you, while your army charges forward, chasing enemies far into the dungeons. The two playstyles gel together perfectly—the agile ranger who can pop arrows off almost without a thought (due to both the bows’ high firing rates and the fact that bound arrows can’t get shot back in your face and Sunhallowed ones cause an AOE explosion, so 100% accuracy isn’t necessary) and the “army maker” (taking control and creating allies, it’ll be rare we need to enter CQ but a quickly cast Whirlwind Cloak will throw away anything in melee range, ragdolling them for you to shoot at), since the rate we create bodies as a ranger is perfect for the necromancer, who is always in need of fresh corpses.

Special Move : Auriel’s Sun Storm

Fortify Destruction Potion + Auri-El’s Bow and Sunhallowed Arrows + Whirlwind Cloak + Fire Storm

Instantly throwing away any in range (a long range with a hefty potion of Fortify Destruction; I tested it with a potion of 1000% and the entire dungeon ended up in a windy blender), the Queen has a few moments to unleash a fiery vision of life as Auri-El’s own hand strikes down any who resist with powerful beams of sunlight. The potion will affect both the Bow's sun damage, the beams of sunlight, and everything's stackable taper damage, allowing shots and the Hand of God sunlight strikes to literally drain away enemy health as they melt before you.

 

Merid-Nunda’s Powers of Light and Magic

WBrE3Nwk.jpg?width=200eapon : Dawnbreaker, exploding corpses

Light : Storm Atronach, Lightning Spells, Auri-El’s Shield

Stars : Clear Skies, Storm Call, Become Ethereal, exploding corpses

Combat : Mages are very susceptible to lightning, depleting their magicka, while a Storm Atronach can take shots at archers or other enemies in the back. A very strategic combat style, we want to be the polar opposite of the smelly, charging, screaming, fur-wearing, greatsword-wielding drunken Nords. Stunning warriors with a paralysis poison or a good shield bash (or even the incredible glitch of Clear Skies, a stagger with an almost unperceivable cooldown), we can run behind them and smack them with Dawnbreaker. Swapping out a shield for a spell is so fluid and effortless, we can hit close to mid-range targets easily with Lightning magic. Mages are no problem, due to our ability to absorb everything they throw at us, and Become Ethereal and Auri-El’s shield bash will save us from being surrounded with warriors. This combat form, though, obviously shines against undead with a barrage of Restoration magic and Dawnbreaker’s effect “Meridia’s Retribution” that sends lesser undead fleeing. A Storm Atronach, summoned with skill or a staff, also makes for good cover and has a decent melee attack, acting as a distraction to compensate our AR.

Special Move : Merid-Nunda’s Light of Calm

Necromancy + Dawnbreaker + Advanced Atronach + Ahzidal’s Ring of Necromancy

The Queen draws on the evil magic her blade works against and lets Merid-Nunda send out a vicious wave of frozen starlight to ravage her foes, while replenishing her own soul.

Raising a corpse with Ahzidal’s Ring of Necromancy, you can damage it, where it’ll explode for 50pts of Frost Damage and potentially send a wave of anti-undead light, and anything that can hit you will be absorbed to restore your magicka. Bonus points if you get multiple explosions (a c-c-c-combo glitch that happened about 6-7 times in my entire playthrough, but I still don’t know what triggers it).

 

IuPjBu3.jpg?width=200El’Wel av Adae
Holy Child of the Gods

Weapon : the Voice, Destruction Spells

Fire: Ash Guardian, Fire Magic, Fire Breath

Dragon : Call Dragon/Durneviir, Dragon Aspect, Storm Call, Bend Will (2-3 words), Necromancy

Light & Stars : Lightning Magic, Become Ethereal, Healing Spells, Aetherial Crown (Apprentice)

Combat : The embodiment of a human dragon, the Child plays as a pure Destruction mage, embodying the qualities of the first elves as the champion, the elf all men should fear. Think of her as the elven version of Ysgramor, returning to her ancient land to kill all the men, as the original Ayleid Empire stretched beyond the boundaries of today’s Cyrodiil. This is an aspect I rarely utilized, as it would certainly scare the crap out of the Nords and show them exactly who they’re dealing with. Whenever you activate this form, make sure you leave no survivors.

Utilizing Fortify Destruction potions instead of Dual-Casting allows us to distribute our magicka more efficiently, using more spells more powerfully.

vB5LFeP.png?width=64Fortify Destruction, Restore HealthNightshade + Wheat + Glowing Mushroom

Our favoured potion, fully growable in a Hearthfire house, it can be harvested whenever you drop back home to stack up on it.

We are literally baring our dragon souls, but we don’t have their scaly hide, which gives us access to tremendous power but almost no defence (I wore the Mythic Dawn robes, since they look particularly fiery and cool). The Advanced Apprentice combined with the Advanced Atronach nullifies the disadvantages of both stones, allowing you to regenerate magicka twice as fast as the mere mortals in a great display of mastery of the stars. We also have complete cooldown reduction, giving us unrestricted access to powerful shouts, with classics like eternal Slow Time or repeated Fire Breaths or the effortless and graceful Become Ethereal dodge. We become the ultimate glass canon, able to be taken out with little more than a single arrow, but also able to take over an entire bandit fort without raising a sword.

This form particularly excels with massive (and I mean HUGE) amounts of crowd control, and it was this combat form that inspired the entire build. As many know, Bend Will is like a wave, affecting multiple enemies, acting as an irresistible Illusion spell to turn a swathe of enemies into allies. Combine this with raising the strongest dead to fight for you again, in addition to Odahviing flying overhead (or riding him into battle) and you have an army almost fighting each other for the chance to kill everything else. Charmed animals will also charge their damndest (try leading an army of bears), but isn't terribly practical to plan out. Turning Falmer pets on their masters, though, is exceedingly useful.

lF9U07H.png?width=50Shadows’ Slice

Damage Magicka Regen, Fortify and Restore Health
Blue Mountain Flower + Nightshade + Wheat

A favoured tactic of mine, since this build only ever has temporary followers (read: charmed mortals and thralls), I kept a healthy supply of a “buffing poison”. Apply with a dagger (not your mythical sword) whenever you feel like it or don’t want to waste the magicka on a Restoration spell.

 

Special Move : Elemental Roar

Durnehviir + Storm Call + Hostile Ash Guardians + Advanced Atronach + Flame Cloak + Lightning Storm

Having the soul of Auriel’s great Children, the Queen can ascend to the plane of Aetherius and embrace her birthright, tearing stars from the heavens and commanding the red-hot sparks of life and death. Having infinite magicka through the hostile Ash Guardians (basically, having Highborn on for as long as you want), you can keep up Lighting Storm for a ridiculous duration on demand. Durnehviir also summons the Soul Cairn summons, but will be dispelled through other summoned or raised creatures.

Roleplay & Quests

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“A new day is Dawning, and you shall be its herald.”

As a messianic figure for those who desire a return to the old rulers of Tamriel, the Queen has to be equal parts politician and warlord, but she knows that some wars can be won without a single army raised. She isn’t a cruel ruler and hasn’t inherited her ancestors’ love of slavery or racial superiority. Rather, she feels the Ayleids, as the original rulers of Tamriel, would be better suited to the crown and, now that it’s all clear that the men are mediocre kings at best and bumbling fools at worst, now is the time to take back what is rightfully hers.

 She seeks to make her racial identity well-known, rather than hiding it from her enemies. Although many Nords would like to mount her head on their wall, she wants to win the hearts of the people of Skyrim. She joins them in their fight against the Empire (Civil War – Stormcloaks) to weaken the empire already on its knees, she saves them on the road or during their travels (Frostflow Abyss), and takes various companions and mercenaries who can spread the word of her deeds (Nordic followers). Because, as the great Kodlack Whitemane once said, even an Elf can be born with the heart of a Nord.

Though none of the Ten Ancestors were chosen by Auri-El, the Queen has been blessed by Auri-El to lead the surviving Ayleids to glory, much as he led the armies of Magnus against the forces of Lorkhan. This gift manifests in the ability to wield his weapons, gotten through her questing in Merid-Nunda’s name to save Skyrim (Dawnguard), and in the ability to speak with his children, the dragons. Listening to Merid-Nunda’s quests, she follows her patron’s directions to ancient lichs and barrows of evil magic-users (UnearthedDragon Priest hunting), claiming for herself their treasures.

With her first displays of Merid-Nunda’s great gift, the Nords proclaim her to be DragonbormOdIgZB.png?width=250n and she follows the path the people expect of her (Main Quest, Dragonborn), earning the respect of the local Nords and dispelling any suspicions of her intent.

She puts forward an air of forgiveness as a rich and influential benefactor, but it’s all a lie. A Daedra worshipper in her own right (Meridia’s, Hermaeus Mora’s, Azura’s quests), the Queen plays the long game, intending to dispose of the jarls when the time is right, when she sits the Ruby Throne of old Cyrod. She cares little for the men and women of Skyrim, but feels greatly for the elves who suffer, as all Mer are kin in some light.

The Nords have a prolific history of elven hatred, genocide, and general rudeness but the ultimate insult to their ancestors, who sundered the Ayleids and hunted the race like animals, would be to accept the Last Sorcerer Queen of the Ayleids as their ruler (Thane quests). She keeps her membership of the College under wraps, due to the Nords’ distrust of magic (don’t finish the questline), but openly flaunts her status as a Companion and, eventually, as the greatest insult to the ancient Nords, she approaches the Nordic hero Tsun and proclaims, “By right of glory, I lead the Companions of Jorrvaskar.” (Companions).

For, when the day comes that Elisef or Ulrfic come to Solitude to claim the Jagged Crown, they will find that the people of Skyrim demand a different ruler.

 

Final Words

Mods

  • Elven Armor Retex : The armor retexture I used in the above screenshot to represent Ayleid Armor, rather than other elven sets.
  • Ayleid Castle : An extremely well-made house mod that fits explicitly well with the build.

YyQAC3C.jpg?width=300Credits

Anyone who's been on the blog for more than 20mins can attest to the incredible work Boro puts into his builds' presentations and all the credit for the top image goes to the combined Photoshopping skills of himself and Billy Mays. I'd also like to thank Noodles for giving me another chance to post when the Internets conspired against me (Ning has all of my hate right now), as well as assuring me that the build was in fact "good".

Inspiration

Long awaited, this is my interpretation of the Song of Ice and Fire / Game of Thrones character Daenerys Targaryen. This build went through many different incarnations, since staying 100% true to the character would involve becoming an illusion/buffing master for her loyal followers but I really hate that kind of playstyle. I like hitting things with lightning bolts and swords a lot more. But I still tried to stay true to the character's journey and her history as this last proud, exiled princess of a brutal and power-mad regime and the "rightful" queen of a country who barely even knows she exists. I'll also leave you with my favourite piece of Dany fanart. It's just a shame I couldn't fit it in above.

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Replies

  • Sorry for deleting your build. :<
    • What better way to grace the first build ever posted on this site.
  • Awesome build Elysium, it would be great to see your other ones which were on the old site too. I feel the Snow Prince is cooler :P
  • This is really cool! I'm a really big fan of the A Song of Ice and Fire book series, so I'll defo be playing this build. Good job.

  • Wow, simply amazing. I feel like I learn something new about the lore everytime I read one of your builds.

  • Ah Boro, I miss that dude

  • Hey Elysium! God damn, this is one of my top favorites of your Builds. Btw, you hit Rank:Expert

This reply was deleted.