Lore:Clavicus Vile

"You think you lose, you die, and that's the end. It's not." - Clavicus Vile, Redguard

Clavicus Vile is the Daedric Prince whose sphere is the granting of power and wishes through ritual invocations and pact.^[1] Clavicus has a companion named Barbas. While capable of selective shapeshifting, the form it assumes most of the time is that of a dog. Clavicus himself is depicted as a small jovial fellow with horns protruding from his forehead. He is aptly described as a Daedra who likes souls for the sake of having them.

Clavicus's plane of Oblivion is an unnamed, tranquil countryside populated by deadly yellow Daedra. His enemy is Ebonarm and his summoning day is the New Life Festival. The relic Bittercup is associated with the Prince.^[2] Clavicus is famous (or perhaps infamous) for his widespread meddling in mortal affairs and in the past has worked through mortal representatives to gain what he desires. It is possible, though by no means certain, that Clavicus Vile assisted Jagar Tharn in his temporary procurement of the Imperial throne. Clavicus Vile purportedly granted the Cyrodiil Vampyrum Order the ability to blend into mortal society undetected.^[3]

Not all of Clavicus's machinations are necessarily insidious; he often rewards followers who, at his direction, eliminate threats to the general public. However, he is certainly self-serving. When Cyrus the Redguard came to him seeking his sister Iszara's soul, Clavicus kindly gave him an opportunity to have it- the two gambled, Clavicus wagering the soul of Iszara, and Cyrus wagering his own.

Umbriel, the floating island, is said to be a piece of Oblivion from Clavicus's realm, torn away by Vuhon and his new ingenium.

[edit] Barbas

Barbas is the Hound of Clavicus Vile. He is a shapeshifting daedra, although he most commonly takes on the form of a dog. Barbas acts as a repository for half of Vile's power. According to Vile, he likes being a dog—as well as many other things—on sunny days. "When he's like this, I think he's somewhere else. It's all quite significant, of course... But who knows what it means."

Although Vile is always depicted along with Barbas, the Prince often grows tired of him and abandons him. While Barbas seems to be subservient to Clavicus Vile, he also often warns people against Vile's plots, suggesting he has some discretion and free will. When Cyrus visited Vile's realm in 2E 864, Barbas showed a fondness for the Redguard and shapeshifted his face to imitate Cyrus'. Circa 3E 427, Barbas took the form of a musically talented scamp merchant named Creeper. Creeper lived and traded with a group of orcs in Caldera, Morrowind. In 3E 433, Vile tasked the Champion of Cyrodiil with recovering the Umbra Sword. Barbas foresaw the ruin that the sword would bring to Vile's realm of Oblivion, and left Vile's side to manifest himself as a dog statuette. Through the statuette, Barbas communicated with the Champion in an attempt to dissuade the Champion from bringing Vile the sword, although this attempt proved futile. Umbra later stole much of Vile's power and created Umbriel, leaving the Prince's realm crippled. When Sul and Prince Attrebus Mede visited Vile's realm to bargain with the Prince, Barbas helped in negotiations.

By 4E 201, Vile had forsaken Barbas out of annoyance. Barbas, in the form of a dog, was left wandering the Pine Forest of Skyrim. This limited the Prince's power, making it so that he could only manifest in Tamriel close to one of his shrines. Residents of Falkreath took notice of the stray mutt, and when the Last Dragonborn approached him, Barbas revealed his identity and asked the Dragonborn to help him reconcile with Clavicus. The two journeyed to the Prince's shrine in Haemar's Shame. After killing off the vampire worshippers, Vile had the Dragonborn retrieve the Rueful Axe, an artifact of the Prince's. Vile then presented the Dragonborn with a choice: keep the axe and kill Barbas in his mortal form, banishing him for a few centuries and allowing Vile to use his full power; or continue with the original deal, forcing the Prince to take both the axe and Barbas back. It is unknown which option the Dragonborn chose.

[edit] The Masque of Clavicus Vile

The Masque of Clavicus Vile is a helm which makes the wearer more popular where ever he or she might go. Much like other Daedric artifacts, Clavicus seems to retain ultimate control of it and may recall it without warning.^[4] The Hero of Daggerfall received the Masque of Clavicus Vile in exchange for assassinating a rogue Werewolf.^[5]

A decade or two later, in 3E 427, the Masque was in the hands of Sorkvild the Raven, a Nord sorcerer who had been terrorizing the village of Dagon Fel in Morrowind. The Nerevarine purportedly claimed it from Sorkvild's corpse.^[6] At the time of the Oblivion Crisis several years later, the Masque was offered up by Clavicus to the Champion of Cyrodiil in exchange for finding and returning the sword Umbra.^[7] The last known time Vile offered up the Masque, it was to the Last Dragonborn two hundred years later.^[8]