Entering the temple felt like a dream. The cloying smell of stale air and dust covered up a place that once had always smelled of incense. Clutching the holy symbol of my new lady, I pushed forward into the darkness.
Behind me was the image I had met outside in the snow. A man with my exact bearing and voice. A cruel image conjured by my old mistress, I assured myself. Something to mock my guilt, to twist my memories until I would no longer be able to tell the past from the present.
The deeper we go, the more the temple dissolves. As I drink the Torpor my other self prepares for me, the line between waking and dreaming snaps entirely. Architecture dissolves, time stretches, and I wonder.
Finally we reach the inner sanctum. As I / we begin the ritual to banish Vaermina’s presence, her voice tears through my mind. Kill the imposter. Take up the Skull and wield the power that had been promised to me so long ago. Mara’s light spills from my hands as I
This build was made for the Event Follow Me, Follow You. When I started workshopping the build I quickly decided I wanted to focus on Erandur. This left the difficulty of what I wanted to do with the original Erandur. In the end, I decided there were two, equally worthwhile options, based on the idea that either PC or NPC Erandur is a creation made by the Skull of Corruption.
In scenario one, Erandur succeeds in his goal of stopping Vaermina. He destroys the Skull of Corruption and continues on. He is the true Erandur, while NPC Erandur is a creation of the Skull of Corruption. However, the blessing of Mara has purified him, allowing him to stay in the material plane and help PC Erandur.
In scenario two, Erandur fails. He is the copy rather than the original. As such, he cannot resist the manipulations of Vaermina and he fights and kills NPC Erandur. Forced to take up the Skull of Corruption as he requires it to stay in the material plane, PC Erandur attempts to make the best of a bad situation by putting the artifact to good ends. NPC Erandur is thralled with the Staff of Worms to represent Vaermina’s undying hatred for his prior betrayal and attempts to use the Skull against him, which are only kept at bay through constant wariness on the part of Erandur.
Personally, my preference was for the second scenario. Both for the larger variety of roleplay options and because it tickled me to see a thrall called Erandur's Erandur.
Version: Anniversary Edition
Playstyle: Mage
Race: Dunmer
Major Skills: Restoration, Conjuration, Alchemy
Minor Skills: Speech, Smithing (optional)
Standing Stone: Lord
Blessings: Mara
Powers: Agent of Mara, Sailor’s Repose, Ancestor’s Wrath, Dremora Merchant
Followers: Erandur, Anneke Crag-Jumper (who's daughter has canonically been healed by Erandur)
Attributes: 3:1 Magicka / Health split
Level: 20+
Roleplay: After choosing a path, whether that is a lighter playthrough or a darker one, a number of roleplay opportunities remain. Perform good deeds around Skyrim, especially ones which support the temples of the Divines. Re-join the Imperial Legion, as Erandur once served there as a healer. Make amends at the Bards college in Solitude, now that you are no longer associated with Vaermina. Investigate rumors of troubled dreams on the island of Solstheim - or a story of people killed by copies of themselves in Eastmarch, both of which you suspect might be caused by the Dark Lady. Or use mods like Sleepwalking into a Nightmare or Demon of Dream to expand your opportunities to face off against Vaermina.
Restoration: This is Erandur’s bread and butter. A means to honour Mara as much as a skill set itself, Erandur has acquired significant power in this school of magic, even unlocking the coveted Guardian Circle. With no perks in armour or alteration, Wards and Healing spells are required to stay alive. Undead are easily turned or dispatched. For normal enemies, Poison Rune is a valuable tool to support summons. Given the heavy focus on this school, all perks were chosen.
Conjuration: Conjuration is Erandur’s second most perked skill tree. A remnant of a darker past, Erandur knows both spells to summon and ward away Atronachs. He also knows how to reanimate the dead and press them into his service. Primary summons should focus on the undead, either Skeletons or Zombies, as these benefit from the Necromancy perk.
Alchemy: Erandur is knowledgeable in the field of Alchemy, but by no means a master. He can create serviceable poisons and potions to supplement his study of Restoration. This is reflected in the Alchemist perks. His most notable achievement is the capability to create Torpor, a potion allowing for the use of the Dreamstride.
Speech: A short stint at the Bard’s College in Solitude in his youth has made Erandur a smooth talker. He uses Haggling perks to buy and sell the ingredients required for Alchemy.
Smithing: While not part of Erandur’s primary skillset, his time as a healer in the imperial legion required him to maintain his own gear. As such, Erandur has some experience with smithing. While Alchemy and Speech are more important as supplementary skills, if Erandur is leveled high enough this skill can be increased as well. In that case, choose to perk Arcane Blacksmith to improve the magical gear of Erandur and (potentially) his companion.
As a companion, Erandur is always found wearing his Hooded Monk Robes. As such, the roleplay starts with acquiring these same robes from the Talos shrine, located to the south west of the Guardian Stones. For boots and gloves, I chose to wear the Remnant Boots and Remnant Gloves. Their pre-enchantments are largely useless given Erandur’s fighting style and they were instead chosen for their aesthetic match with both of the main outfits I employed during my playthrough.
Depending on the roleplay, this outfit might be the main choice of gear that Erandur wears. If Erandur fails his mission to destroy the Skull of Corruption, he will start wearing Vaermina’s Robes. These robes match well with the Remnant Hood and the Storm-Bear Cloak (sadly only acquirable through mods or console commands).
In both playthroughs, Erandur might later pivot to more powerful magical apparel, such as the Archmages Robes.
In a lighter playthrough, Erandur will only acquire Shadowrend as a weapon, which he will give to his companion (i.e. NPC Erandur). On a darker playthrough, he will wield Shadowrend, the Skull of Corruption and the Staff of Worms.
Enchanted equipment in the early game is covered by an Amulet of Mara and the Bonds of Matrimony. Both reduce the cost of Restoration spells, which is Erandur’s primary tool for self-defense. As the game progresses, more powerful options for magic users might present themselves, such as Amulets of Magicka or Rings of Restoration. In a darker playthrough, Erandur might also choose to use the Necromancer’s Amulet.
Erandur also makes use of potions and poisons. Primarily potions of Fortify Magicka, Fortify Restoration and Fortify Destruction (which is used in a special move). For offense, he occasionally uses a Poison of Slow / Weakness to Magic, which can be applied to Shadowrend to increase its effects. This poison is created through the ingredients Death Bell, Salt Pile and Creep Cluster.
Finally, Erandur can create Vaermina’s Torpor, a potion which slows himself but makes the user invisible, fortifies their health and increases their magicka regeneration. This potion can be made by combining Bloodgrass, Fungus Stalks and Green Butterfly Wings. Note that this potion is only available extremely late game, as one of the ingredients requires going to Oblivion through the Cause. I would therefore personally recommend the mod Expanded Ingredient Availability, which adds this ingredient to the inventory of the Dremora Merchant.
Erandur is by nature a rather defensive spellcaster. His focus is on maintaining the health of himself and his companions, with defeating his enemies a more distant concern. As such, he primarily uses summons to attack the enemy, while he himself uses wards and healing spells to protect them. Only undead and dremora are banished directly through the appropriate spells.
This changes somewhat in a darker playthrough. If Erandur keeps the Skull of Corruption, he gets a more direct way to attack his foes. Sadly, the Skull of Corruption is notoriously bad when it comes to damage, as no perk or potion can improve its damage. The only means of increasing its damage therefore comes from stacking weakness to magicka on the enemy, which is rarely worthwhile, but might be worth it for some foes. In such cases, apply the relevant poison to Shadowrend and let loose a barrage of stolen dreams.
Spells: Direct summoning spells focus on the undead, such as Conjure Skeleton Minion, Conjure Skeleton Marksman and Conjure Zombie. His most notable summon is the Skeleton Champion.
To combat undead and dremora, use the appropriate Banish, Turn or Expel spells. Erandur prefers these spells over the more powerful solar powered damaging spells, as they directly pit his knowledge of the dark against that of an enemy summoner / necromancer, instead of requiring him to overpower them.
While Reanimate spells are rarely used in combat, it is a potential part of one of Erandur’s special moves, combined with Soul Split and Necromancer’s Ritual.
For self-defense Erandur has learned Wards as high upwards as possible. Similarly, he has learned all possible Healing spells, both for restoring the flesh of the living and the dead. His most powerful spell in this style is the Guardian Circle.
If required to attack directly on a living foe, Erandur prefers to use Poison Rune, a rare spell that combines his knowledge of Restoration and Alchemy to slowly inflict damage over time.
Shouts: Erandur is not the Dragonborn. If you want him to be, I would recommend a primary use of the shouts Become Ethereal and Whirlwind Sprint to quickly reposition in battle, as well as Battle Fury to enhance his companion.
Special Moves:
Mythal
Requirements: Stendarr’s Aura (Dual-Cast), Ancestor’s Wrath, Potion of Fortify Restoration, Potion of Fortify Destruction.
Stendarr’s Aura and Ancestor’s Wrath can be combined as one counts as a restoration effect and the other as a destruction effect. In the case of Stendarr’s Aura, its size can be increased with Fortify Restoration effects while its damage is increased by Fortify Destruction. Ancestor’s Wrath gets both of these effects through Fortify Destruction. By quickly quaffing potions of both effects, Erandur can create a field of holy light around himself that almost instantly vaporizes even the most hardy undead.
Malconvoke
Requirements: Reanimation spells or the Staff of Worms, Soul Split, Necromancer’s Ritual (optional).
By using a reanimation spell on a corpse that is being raised by an enemy, the ownership of the resultant undead is shifted to you. Through careful study of the arts of necromancy, Erandur has learned how to turn these attempts against his foes by subhorning control even before an undead is fully raised, before exorcising the creature with a quick prayer to Mara.
Dreamstride
Requirements: Vaermina’s Torpor, Guardian Circle.
A useful move in case Erandur needs to regroup during a tough battle.
Drinking Vaermina’s Torpor slows Erandur while making him invisible, simulating his out of body experience. At the same time, his health is fortified and his magicka restores faster. The Guardian Circle meanwhile restores his health faster. These effects portray Erandur entering the dreams of his foes, strengthening his will as he learns more about their pasts. Reposition before the spell ends close to an enemy as you exit their dream.
Thanks for reading!
Replies
Congrats on the build! I believe you've manage to make a rather difficult playstyle viable. Btw with mysticism, and probably other magic mods restoration can be made a proper battle skill significantly expanding this build potential. Just to make sure, both "the better" and "the worse" Erandur would not charge the skull of corruption with stolen dreams, right?
Thanks!
Yeah, I'm aware there's a lot mod that add perks or spells that make offensive use of Restoration more viable. I tend to not go for those kinds of mods in my build because I think limits make it easier to be more creative. In this case it forces 'Better' Erandur to focus on supporting his summons and the NPC Erandur companion. For 'Worse' Erandur it required me to think out ways to at least be able to do some damage directly, which gave an actual reason to use the Skull of Corruption. Which is not a very powerful weapon. Still, offset at least a little bit by Shadowrend and poisons of weakness to magic, which I haven't seen anyone do in a build yet (though I'm sure a build is out there somewhere). But if people are interested in those kinds of mods, its pretty easy to adjust the build for that themselves :D
With regards to the Skull's use - 'Better' Erandur doesn't get the staff in the first place, so no issues there. 'Worse' Erandur can if he wants to. It wasn't a roleplay restriction that I had in mind. Even with him being leery of doing anything that might support Vaermina, he might do it anyways if he's already using the Skull anyway. Besides, Erandur canonically says he doesn't actually know what the dreams the Skull collects are used for - maybe Vaermina just decorates her house with that stuff or something
Ok, well explained. Yeah, I read your beekeeper and icebreaker and I'm not sure it's my cup of tea, but I do like it, so keep it up!