Lore:Auriel's Bow

Auriel's Bow (Dawnguard)

Auriel's Bow, (also spelled Auri-El's Bow) is an artifact used by the elven god Auriel. Although it takes the form of a modest elven moonstone bow, it is one of the most powerful weapons on Tamriel.

The bow draws its power from Aetherius itself, channeling it through the sun. It has the ability to turn any arrow into a "missile of death", although its enchantment effects vary: it has been known to cause magical fire or shock damage, drain an opponent's stamina and magicka reserves, or harness the power of the sun. It can also make the wielder immune to lesser attacks, and is especially devastating when used against the undead. Occasionally it can be seemingly unenchanted. Without Auriel's power behind it, however, the bow uses its own store of energy for its power. Once exhausted of this energy, the bow will vanish, abandoning its owner to reappear elsewhere.

Because of its link to Auriel, the bow can manipulate the sun in various ways. It was involved in a prophecy recorded in the Elder Scrolls, which foretold that the bow would be used to block out the sun. The bow is twinned with Auriel's Shield and presumably Auriel's Quiver. It purportedly smells like ash yams, a vegetable native to Morrowind.

History

Legend says that in the Dawn Era, the bow was created by Anuiel for use by Auriel against the forces of Lorkhan during the Ehlnofey wars. When Trinimac defeated Lorkhan and tore out his heart, Auriel fastened it to an arrow and shot it long into the sea, where Red Mountain eventually formed.

The bow was traditionally held by the Chantry of Auri-El, the epicenter of the Snow Elf religion which was based in the secluded Forgotten Vale of Skyrim. The Snow Elves had discovered how to use the bow's ability to harness the power of the sun to greater effect, through the use of Sunhallowed Elven Arrows. These arrows could be fired at an enemy for massive sun damage, or could be fired directly at the sun to use its rays to strike down all foes in the surrounding area. Due to its isolation, the inhabitants of the Chantry avoided being enslaved by the Dwemer or killed by the Nords.

The bow's involvement with the Tyranny of the Sun prophecy began when Vyrthur, the Arch-Curate of Auriel, was infected with vampirism by one of his own initiates. Despite Vyrthur's devotion to Auriel, the god turned his back on him when he became undead. He swore revenge against Auriel; unable to kill a god, Vyrthur instead sought to destroy his influence on Nirn by blocking the sun. To achieve this, he needed to corrupt the bow itself with the blood of a Daughter of Coldharbour, i.e. a pure-blooded female Vampire Lord who had received the disease directly from its creator, Molag Bal. Vyrthur allied himself with the Betrayed, the degenerated Falmer who had been crippled by the Dwemer and by centuries of living underground, and killed most members of the Chantry, claiming control of Auriel's Chapel to lay in wait for the prophecy to come true.

For hundreds of years, the bow appeared throughout Tamriel, with its most recent appearances being the subject of gossip. The bow was uncovered by the Eternal Champion during the Imperial Simulacrum, in the province of Valenwood, Skyrim or Elsweyr (accounts vary).

In the events leading up to the Warp in the West, a clue to the bow's location was discovered by a Glenmoril Witch living in the Iliac Bay region. In return for kidnapping the witch's great-granddaughter to become the witch's successor, she revealed the clue to a questing member of a knightly order, who retrieved it from the dungeon where it lay. However, there are conflicting accounts that the artifact centered around this story was actually a different one altogether, with Auriel's Shield or the Lord's Mail taking its place in the story. A fake copy of Auriel's Bow also appeared in the region around this time; it was created by a mage in an attempt to bribe an agent of Nocturnal who was sent to assassinate them. The fake bow functioned identically to the true artifact, but after several days it crumbled to dust. This account is also shaky, as some accounts claim Staff of Magnus or the Warlock's Ring was offered in its place.

Later in the Third Era, the bow was claimed by Ralyn Othravel, a Dunmer Ordinator and member of the Tribunal Temple stationed at Ghostgate, a small military settlement along the Great Ghost Fence on Vvardenfell.

In 3E 427, Mistress Therana, an eccentric Councilor of Great House Telvanni, discovered the bow's location through unknown means, although she claimed she could smell its ash yam scent. A member of House Telvanni forcibly took the bow from Ralyn Othravel and gave it to Therana, who grudgingly accepted it. Later that year, Therana's luck would run out, as someone hated her enough to issue a writ of execution for the sum of 10,000 gold, and requested the Grandmaster of the Morag Tong execute her. She was finally slain, and Auriel's Bow would be retrieved from her corpse and later be sold to Torasa Aram, who put it on display in her Museum of Artifacts in Mournhold.

In 4E 201, the Tyranny of the Sun prophecy was realized with the awakening of Serana, an ancient Daughter of Coldharbour, by the reformed Dawnguard. Serana was the daughter of Lord Harkon, the leader of the Volkihar vampire clan, who had spent centuries attempting to fulfill the prophecy. The prophecy brought Serana and the Last Dragonborn to the Forgotten Vale, where they encountered Knight-Paladin Gelebor, the lone survivor of his brother Vyrthur's attacks on the Chantry of Auriel. The two ventured into the ruins of the Snow Elf chapel and defeated Vyrthur, who had planned to use Serana's blood to fulfill the prophecy. Auriel's Bow was retrieved and subsequently used to slay Lord Harkon.

Previous Owners:

• Chantry of Auri-El
• Ralyn Othravel
• Mistress Therana
• Torasa Aram
• Lord Harkon
• The Last Dragonborn

Gallery

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  Arena

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  Daggerfall

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  Morrowind

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  Unused Icon (ESO)

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  A Bloodcursed Sun

Notes

Mantellan Crux

• Based on the precedence set in Mantellan Crux dungeon as depicted in Daggerfall, which had a giant sword and crossbow sort of floating in Aetherius, Michael Kirkbride pitched to Kurt Kuhlmann that a mythically sized-up and extraplanar Auriel's Bow should be used by the Thalmor like a Death Star Laser to shoot and kill the god Talos out of heaven. As a mythic consequence of this occurring, a pandemic of esoteric mental anguish incidents for men occurred, as any time men would attempt to depict the Red Diamond symbol, the Red Diamond would physically crack or even explode, ultimately causing morale to fall and for the Thalmor to gain more power. The idea as presented didn't find purchase, but was retooled for the plot development of Dawnguard. Emil Pagliarulo pitched that vampires were attempting to extinguish the sun forever, and that if you joined the vampires the rest of your playthrough would be permanently sunless. While that pitch was picked up, the designers chose to make the change to the sun a timed temporary thing in-game, rather than a permanent change to the player's save state. That idea nugget was then attached to Auriel's Bow being vampirically corrupted and used to shoot out the sun, which is what appears in the final version of the add-on.

See Also

• For game-specific information see the Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, and Skyrim articles.

References

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.