Lore:Ulfsild

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Archmage Ulfsild
ON-npc-Ulfsild's Echo of Introduction.jpg
Archmage Ulfsild
Race Nord/Reachman Gender Female
Born 1st Era
Druadach Mountains
Died 1st Era
Eastmarch
Resided in Eyevea
The Reach
The Pale
Kyne's Aegis
Appears in ESO

Archmage Ulfsild the Evergreen (also called Ulfie as a nickname by her ex-husband Shalidor)[1] was a gifted witch, healer, and priestess of mixed Nord and Reachfolk heritage. Before she met Shalidor, she had already gardened a significant reputation, with her being obscured as three separate figures such as the Warrior-Witch of Kyne's Aegis, the Pale's priestess of Jhunal, and the Clever-Woman of the Druadach.[2] She had a unique ability thought to have been gifted from Magnus which allowed her to see the flow of magicka on Nirn. This ability led her to the creatures she called Luminaries of Magic, beings of pure magic she likened to the face of Magnus himself.[3] Collaborating with these entities, she developed the art of Scribing, the precursor to the modern Spellcrafing system.[3][UOL 1]

History[edit]

Ulfsild was born during the First Era,[4] where she was active roughly a thousand years before the founding of the Mages Guild.[5][6][nb 1] Her father was a Briarheart and her mother was a Nord, however, she was saved from the nest of a Hagraven and was raised by the Clever Folk of Skyrim. From a young age, she learned she had the ability to see the ley lines of the world, which brought her prestige within her clan.[2] Though she did not know it at the time, Ulfsild had met the Indrik Luminary in her youth, who saved her from being trampled from a herd of mammoths that she had attempted to collect wool from. Her clan laughed at her thinking she had some fanciful dream, with all that was left to show was the Indrik's feather which she kept as an accessory on her hat as a keepsake.[7] In her youth, Ulfsild's clan-mother would bake tarts from stunted wheat and berries as winter approached. One day, tasked with delivering these treats to an elder uphill, she encountered a small fox on the way. Thinking it hungry and lost, she offered it a tart, which it quickly devoured before darting off with the basket. Chasing after the fox through thick snow and tangled woods, Ulfsild stumbled upon a hollowed-out tree trunk where the fox had hidden with its pups and wary mother. After a tense moment, the mother fox relaxed, allowing Ulfsild to retreat slowly. She was eventually found by her clan-mother.[8]

Ulfsild would later meet Shalidor, who wandered into her property through a portal he conjured and inadvertently ruined her alchemy garden. Initially angry and defensive to the strange mage's presence, Ulfsild's interest came about when Shalidor made it evident that he was several lifetimes older than she was when he mentioned the landscape of Hjaalmarch as it was before her time, a glacier and not marshlands.[2] Shalidor spent the stormy winter at Ulfsild's home, where they grew fond of each other. They exchanged information on each other's methods of magic, and Shalidor observed her perform her duties as a witch, healer, and priestess wherever she was summoned, and occasionally served as an aid.[9]

Before leaving Ulfsild, Shalidor offered her the secret to eternal life, however, this resulted in an argument. While Shalidor prolonged his life so his accomplishments were not constrained by time, Ulfsild instead saw the beauty in the passing of time, and saw it redundant that Shalidor didn't stop and enjoy the world due to his overuse of portals despite his immortality. It took several years for Ulfsild to realize what Shalidor meant to her and that she could no longer bear his absence, and so she learned portal so she could open a portal to Shalidor's mage sanctuary of Eyevea.[10] Within Eyevea, she discovered a year's worth of writings such as unsent letters and confessions that were addressed to her. Additionally, she learned that Shalidor had gone to see her in Skyrim, traveling from boat and then from foot from High Rock, taking her advice to not take portals and instead enjoy the journey to his destination. Upon Shalidor's return, he found Ulfsild made herself at home at Eyevea. While in Skyrim, he had discovered that Ulfsild also had her own unsent letters confessing her love. Shalidor was truly in a state of bliss, his smile he shown that day Ulfsild would never forget.[11]

After Marrying Shalidor[edit]

"He wished to offer me eternal life so that we might spend it together. I wished to spend my single mortal life as his partner. You might ask yourself, whose wish was the greater show of the love we'd come to share?" — Ulfsild

With a husband that was lifetimes older than her, Ulfsild was eager to prove to herself that she was an impressive mage. Shalidor was supportive of their relationship, and never made her felt lesser.[7]

During a day out with Shalidor, she encountered a natural Indrik and her fawn in Auridon, which led her to realize what she had saw in her youth. Her memory restored, she sought to learn more about the creatures and purchased an old story called the Fable of the Indrik from a scroll shop in Sunhold.[7] With the ability to see the magical flow of the world, she noticed that certain ancient fables like the one of the Indrik had this same energy leaking out of them, which she followed and discovered the existence of entities of unknown origin she dubbed as Luminaries.[12] These Luminaries would go on to collaborate with her in the creation of Scribing, whose art she hoped would allow others to see the magic she did through technique and focus. She also created the True-Sight Lens so those that did not have her gift can interpret the energies of the Luminaries.[3] Seeking to further perfect her art of Scribing, Ulfsild eventually erected the Scholarium within the caves underneath Artaeum, and bound the domains of the Luminaries within it.[3]

Ulfsild encountered the Gryphon Luminary while studying in the Scholarium. As she was reflecting on a childhood memory, a fox stole her faerite gem and darted through a wall, leading her to stumble into a snow drift. Saved by the Gryphon's protective instincts, Ulfsild came to understand that both the Fox and Gryphon were playful and nurturing creatures. She observed the fox playing with her faerite and later found herself waking up warmly sheltered under the gryphon's wings.[8]

Eventually, the Scholarium was lost along with Eyevea due to a bargain Shalidor made with the Daedric Prince Sheogorath in exchange for the Folium Discognitum,[1] and with it the life work of Ulfsild was also gone. Despite being relocated to the Shivering Isles, it remained untouched and shielded from the likes of mages and Daedric Princes.[3] Before Sheogorath pulled the island out of Nirn, Ulfsild in an effort to preserve her life's work recorded the secrets on how to scribe within the library of the Scholarium.[13] In the event that the Scholarium were to be recovered, she left whoever would don the role as her successor, and emphasized they seek out the Luminaries that would continue guarding the place.[14]

Despite losing the place she invested so much time with, she stayed with Shalidor for a time. However, Shalidor regretted his decision to trade the island and he became obsessed with recovering Eyevea from Sheogorath. This occupied him so much as to cost him the love of his wife. During her pleads for him to snap him back to reality, Shalidor didn't even realize she was talking to him, and he did not answer when she said that she was leaving him.[1]

Ulfild left numerous messages for potential future inheritors of the lost art of Scribing, and creating Echoes. They were magical projections of herself with messages for future spell creators within the Scholarium and Sunnamere. These instructional illusions, scattered throughout the library, were meant to guide the inheritor through the process of contacting the Luminaries.[3] Among the known visages of her were the Flickering Image, and Ulfsild's Echoes of Introduction, the Lens, Regret, the Dragon, Loyalty, Mystery, Charity, the Final Trial, and of the Netch.[15]

Legacy[edit]

Ulfsild's House in Eastmarch
"Create magic the likes of which the world has never seen before. Style your expressions of magic in exaltation or defiance of them." — Ulfsild

As she was about to lose her work to the Shivering Isles, she enacted a ritual where a new being was born from her essence to safeguard the future of the Scholarium, the Crow Luminary.[3] The creation of her own Luminary took an enormous toll on Ulfsild that would take years to recover from.[16] The Indrik Luminary theorized that Ulfsild came to regret not relying on other mortals in her endeavor of Scribing,[17] while others thought she didn't like to dwell on the past.[5] After her time with the Luminaries, Ulfsild became known as a teacher and a healer in the Reach,[5] and a respected hedge mage in all of Skyrim.[16] She found a new purpose in life when things got better for her, and so she took on students, and she took on new life partners. She died of old age in her home in Eastmarch, where her last days she spent writing.[16]

Scribing became a lost art up until the time of the Three Banners War, when it was rediscovered by the Mages Guild's Order of the Lamp. Vanus Galerion was particularly enthusiastic of the possibilities it would open up, with early ideas being altars being installed in every guild hall, or that Scribing will perhaps one day be taught in the wilds.[5] The legacy of Ulfsild's lived on, with Scribing eventually evolving into the modern Spellcrafting systems.[UOL 1]

Despite seemingly being lost from wider history for a while, effigies carved from wood were made to revere a Skyrim hedge witch. Some of them survived to 2E 582, and were found across Tamriel. She was popular for her teachings and power in the First Era.[4]

Notes[edit]

  • 1.  Ulfsild's father was a Briarheart,[11] making her born after Red Eagle, who is said to have been the first person turned into one.[18] The date of Red Eagle's rebellion, during which he became a Briarheart is approximately 1E 1030.[19] Nahlia's research states that she was active roughly 1000 years before the founding of the Mages Guild in 2E 230, putting her around 1E 2250.[5][6]

See Also[edit]

Books[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Arch-Mage Shalidor's dialogue in ESO
  2. ^ a b c Our Story, Part I — Ulfsild
  3. ^ a b c d e f g The Crow's dialogue in ESO
  4. ^ a b Ulfsild the Evergreen Effigy item description in ESO
  5. ^ a b c d e Loremaster's Archive - Scribing — Votary Nahila
  6. ^ a b Mages Guild Charter
  7. ^ a b c Ulfsild's Log: The Indrik — Ulfsild
  8. ^ a b Ulfsild's Log: The Gryphon and the Fox — Ulfsild
  9. ^ Our Story, Part II — Ulfsild
  10. ^ Our Story, Part III — Ulfsild
  11. ^ a b Our Story, Part IV — Ulfsild
  12. ^ Ulfsild's Echo of the Lens's dialogue in ESO
  13. ^ How to Scribe
  14. ^ Ulfsild's Log: Your Discovery, My Farewell — Ulfsild
  15. ^ Flickering Image, Ulfsild's Echo of Introduction, Ulfsild's Echo of the Lens, Ulfsild's Echo of Regret, Ulfsild's Echo of the Dragon, Ulfsild's Echo of Loyalty, Ulfsild's Echo of Mystery, Ulfsild's Echo of Charity, Ulfsild's Echo of the Final Trial, and Ulfsild's Echo of the Netch's dialogue in ESO
  16. ^ a b c Ulfsild the Evergreen's dialogue in ESO
  17. ^ The Indrik's dialogue in ESO
  18. ^ Red Eagle Cave Painting antiquity codex entry in ESO
  19. ^ The Legend of Red Eagle — Tredayn Dren

Note: The following references are considered to be unofficial sources. They are included to round off this article and may not be authoritative or conclusive.

  1. ^ a b ESO 2024 Global Reveal
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