FOREWORD: As based on the build’s title itself, this character is inspired by the Dragon Age’s heroine, Leliana, which in the Dragon Age Inquisition’s version where she becomes a full-time spymaster. But their main similarity lies in their skills, personality and job class. The Spymaster build is a femme fatale type of character that I am a big fan of mainly because of the air of mystery around them that makes you want to know more about them.
The Spymaster is a skilled tactician and a very intellectual warrior. She took the responsibility of being the “blade in the dark” of the Stormcloaks as he serves Ulfric behind the shadows whether its assassination, sabotage, infiltration or other that requires a subtle yet very deadly approach. Because of her role, she tends to keep her emotions in check and rather be the cold-blooded person just to execute any operation without any fail for the sake of rebellion and her “king”, Ulfric.
Backstory
She is originally from Riften, an orphan of the Great War and one of the few Nords who were saved in the war in Cyrodiil. Not much known about her past but she has an Imperial lineage but unknown if it’s her mother or father.
After being sent to Skyrim she was sent to the orphanage called the “Honorhall” where she stayed most during of her childhood, but not long after, she fled the orphanage as she became fully aware of the orphanage mistress’ “true personality” and left Riften for good. She then smuggled herself into a travelling merchant carriage that was heading north and got kicked out after being discovered by the owner in snowy fields of Eastmarch.
Injured, and starved she proceeded towards a great city filled with stone walls and being blanketed by white snow, the oldest city of Skyrim, Windhelm. At first, she was pushed away by the town guards and stayed outside the city’s great bridge for roughly two nights after that some of the Argonians who were working at the docks of Windhelm was kind enough to be able to aid her and thus she began her life as an urchin in the streets of Windhelm.
As she was in her teenage years, she began to do petty thievery just to make do for her everyday life. She is considered to be a very head-strong young lady and made a name for herself as a troublemaker in the streets but suddenly her luck runs out as the town guards was able to capture her, she fought back and was able to get away from them. She became wary now that she become a wanted criminal in Windhelm but that didn’t stop her as she saw another mark in the street. Little did she know that her victim is the young Jarl of Windhelm, Ulfric Stormcloak after his return from the training in the mountains of High Hrothgar. She snucked into Ulfric’s back and was able snatch his weapon but Ulfric effortlessly dispatched her and finally captured her. She was then sent in the Jarl’s Throne room to be judge for her crimes but an unexpected turn of events happened as the Jarl took a liking this young lady and applaud the young woman’s skills on going toe-to-toe against him. Ulfric then declared that she would be working under his wing as a Stormcloak believing that it would be waste to kill or imprison someone with skills and tenacity. Many in Ulfric’s court loathe the idea of taking someone like her into his ranks but nonetheless the Jarl’s decision is final. She then was trained rigorously to become a full-pledged soldier and was given proper education as well as she displayed remarkable talent not only in martial training but also in strategy and academics. She then rose up to become one of Ulfric’s greatest asset in his ranks became the “shadow” of the Jarl.
Character Info
Name: Cathriss Ice-Veins
Class: Rouge Infiltrator
Race: Nord, Female
Level: 66
Powers: Shadowcloak of Nocturnal
Shouts: Marked for Death, Slow Time, Aura Whisper, Ice Form (Optional: Whirlwind Sprint, Become Ethereal and Elemental Fury)
Specialty/Personality
Having a very dark childhood, Cathriss tends to keep to herself be efficient as possible and never lets her emotions sway her. In her time as a street urchin, she was an idealist and headstrong, for her it’s always survival to the fittest and she strives to be at the top no matter what. She always relied on herself alone and tends to get the job done alone, but after being under Ulfric’s command she was trained as a soldier and taught how to coordinate as well with others but obviously she’s more effective on being a one-woman army and thus she became Ulfric’s greatest infiltrator. She’s not the sociable sort but she is great in putting up a “facade” as her role as a Spymaster, especially when going undercover or infiltrating an enemy. In terms of her combat prowess, she is unrivaled when it comes to a one-on-one confrontation and very smart when fighting in disadvantage. She tends to go for the first strike that either immediately kill her foe or badly injure them to deal a finishing blow with her twin daggers or a shot from her bow. She’s also good at brewing poison that can either paralyze her victim or inflict a deadly lingering venom. Due to the fact the she was a petty thief in her teenage years, she’s very good at hiding her presence which tends to even scared her fellow Stormcloaks and known her for being “the blade in the dark.” Overall, she is a very gifted child and can do anything on her own.
Stat Distribution (0-1-2) = (Magicka-Health-Stamina)
As an infiltrator and agile rouge, she makes use of her stamina on moving quickly as possible. When confronting an enemy with her melee weapons, she overwhelms them with a flurry of blows and a dual-wield power attack to render their guard. She makes use of her Steady aiming to dispatch her targets with her bow very accurately from a very long and safe distance. Her stamina is her key stat and followed only by health and as for being under Ulfric’s and Galmar’s influence she tends to distrust magic and for the “true” Nords of Skyrim don’t depend on much to it that’s why she doesn’t have a priority over the magicka stat.
Skills and Perks
Due to being a rouge, most of her major skills are under the benefit of the Thief Stone making it her early standing stone and to quickly master her Sneak and Alchemy skills as for her minor skills, it is also good to grind it early since its not much high compared to some of her major skills.
Standing Stone:
The early standing stone is the Thief Stone but as she further developed some of her thief skills, a good replacement is the Lover Stone for early-mid game to help grind the other non-thief skills she has. While for her late-game stone, the Lady Stone is going to be her backbone for a quicker health regen and more importantly the stamina regen in which this will be the key for a more threshold of stamina.
MAJOR
One-handed – Armsman 5 / Fighting Stance / Dual Flurry 2 / Bladesman 3 / Savage Strike / Dual Savagery
Sneak – Stealth 5 / Muffled Movement / Backstab / Light Foot / Deadly Aim / Silent Roll / Assassin’s Blade / Silence
Archery – Overdraw 5 / Critical Shot 3 / Eagle Eye / Steady Hand 2
Alchemy – Alchemist 5 / Physician / Poisoner / Concentrated Poison / Snakeblood / Purity
Light Armor – Agile Defender 5 / Custom Fit / Unhindered / Windwalker
MINOR
Smithing – Steel Smithing / Elven Smithing / Advanced Armors / Arcane Blacksmith / Glass Smithing
Enchanting – Enchanter 3 / Soul Squeezer / Insightful Enchanter / Corpus Enchanter
Equipment:
Early
Stormcloak Cuirass – To be more efficient as possible, just stick with Stormcloak armor until reaching a decent level of smithing.
Thieves Guild or Dark Brotherhood Armor – It’s also good get either of these of two faction armor since both of them have a good stat especially for rouge characters
Late-game
Grand Master Armor – It is a must to complete the Thieves Guild questline since the greater version of the Thieves Guild armor is only obtainable after restoring the Thieves Guild’s former glory in Skyrim.
(optional) Hentai’s Karliah Armor (Light) – This is an armor mod that I took a liking since the vanilla thieves’ armor is too bumpy for a female character and the stats of this armor is also very good.
-If going for this armor mod, I recommend crafting the (Light) version of this and enchant it with the following: (renamed it as “Spymaster”)
The Spymaster Set
Spymaster Armor – Fortify Health by 30+
Spymaster Gloves – Fortify One-Hand
Spymaster Boots – Fortify Stamina by 30+ or Sneaking
-The armor mod doesn’t have a headpiece so the Grand Master Hood is the only choice or you can substitute it with Linwe’s Hood or if you have the Dragonborn DLC installed, the Black Guard’s set is a good choice too.
Accessories:
Necklace – Fortify Stamina by 30+ or Health if using Grandmaster Armor set
Ring – Fortify Archery
(Optional) Amulet of Articulation – This is also a best piece for a more roleplay-friendly build since a spy or rouges tend to have a silver tongue and thanks to its unique enchantments, it boosts the success rate of some persuasion or intimidation checks. This unique jewelry also counts as a Light Armor so it can benefit to the perk as well.
Weaponry:
Chillrend – The blade forged in ice that can freeze someone who are cut by this very sword. An artifact that was stolen from the former Thieves Guild Master, Mercer Frey.
Mehrunes’ Razor – The Daedric artifact of Lord Mehrunes Dagon himself. With the help of a surviving descendant of the Mythic Dawn cult, the dagger is restored to its former glory and now it is your arsenal in putting an end to your victims’ life in an instant.
Firiniel’s End – The very bow that killed the emperor’s cousin. A great tale for a bloody bride as the Spymaster used this as her main bow.
Factions:
Stormcloaks – The Spymaster’s primary faction is the Stormcloak rebels. She is one of the driving forces of the revolution that will free Skyrim on the hands of the falling Empire and soon drive the Thalmor threat for real once and for all.
Thieves Guild – This is one of the guilds that the Spymaster will manage as she rose to become its new Grand Master and become one of her sources of information network all across Skyrim.
Dark Brotherhood – The Spymaster will become the new Listener of the Night Mother and thanks to the contract for the emperor’s life, she will be able to cripple the Empire’s power as she takes the life of Emperor Titus Mede II causing a power struggle that will put the Imperials at a disadvantage.
Optional: Technically all other factions are optional but for DLC Dawnguard, you can either side with Dawnguard to get a cool crossbow or with the Volkihar Clan for an edgier and evil-oriented Spymaster.
Roleplay: Cold-blooded Heroine
As for the roleplay, the Spymaster is a woman of action. She prefers getting the job done as efficient and effective as possible and she never hesitates to kill if she has to. She is also great at reading people’s intention and behaviors as these what makes her a very intimidating woman and yet she also has a way with words but prefers the subtle and a stealthier approach.
For example: in the quest “In My Time of Need” the Spymaster can read through “Saadia’s” deceit and she will straight up inform the Alik’r mercenaries about her.
When doing miscellaneous quests, the Spymaster always consider her own benefit when it comes to helping certain people as she always makes sure that she will receive something in return that either gold or something worth of value.
Despite of her cold persona, she appreciates helping the helpless and poor at some times due to the fact that she also started like them before being taken by Ulfric. All an all, her alignment can be considered “Chaotic Neutral.”
Gameplay
The Spymaster’s main strength lies on her agility and quick wits. She wields Chillrend on her right-hand and Mehrunes’ Razor on the left, where Chillrend can have a chance of freezing her victims, the Razor can put them into their misery. She also coats her blade with a very deadly poison that can either deal massive damage or severely paralyzing her enemies. Having a very fast attack speed, the Spymaster overwhelms any adversary with a barrage of blows but she only does this when her position is compromised or in a duel.
Most of the Spymaster’s enemies never see her coming due to her accurate bow and arrow shot which also coats with a deadly poison and paralysis effect and when she’s infiltrating a fort or dungeon, she can easily sneak upon her victims’ back with her deadly backstabs. Since this is mostly a stealth build, companions or followers are not required.
Dance Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee
When dual-wielding, the Spymaster does not only swing her blades randomly but she demonstrates a very graceful footwork and side-stepping because while attacking she also evades and read her foes movements to effectively deliver accurate and killing blows. Zigzagging or strafing is her most effective way of countering her enemies and really took me awhile to do a no damage or no-hit run but being able to master such combat movement can really make her OP.
Second Wind
The Spymaster’s another amazing trait is that she has a very high stamina which allows her to maneuver endlessly and quickly deliver a power attack rush. She makes use of her lengthy stamina to execute many power attacks and she sprint at a very long distance as a benefit for the Lady Stone’s blessing and Stamina enchantments.
Signature Moves
The Spymaster doesn’t have any specific move set or signature attack but as stated on her gameplay, she is keen on doing ambush or preemptive strikes rather than frontal assaults. She also coats her weapons with poisons before battle to gain immense damage output or to deal killing attacks while preferable shouts that she uses are the Marked for Death to fully render and enemy’s defenses, Slow Time for crowd control if she’s surrounded by many enemies and the Ice Form shout to disable groups of enemies ahead.
Recommended Mods:
Karliah Armor 2 by Hentai – CBBE3 By NAUSICAA
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/13581
Oblivion Chillrend by Araanim
Replies
Quick note: it's rogue, not rouge. Rouge is a type of makeup used as a blush. Otherwise, looks good.
thanks! one of my most common mistakes lol