Lore:Ash Creature

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Concept art of Sixth House ash creatures

Ash creature (or Red Mountain monster)[1] is a term that applies to disperate creatures linked to the ash (or "Blight")[2] of Red Mountain, and the power of the Heart of Lorkhan.[3][4]

The blighted ash of Red Mountain is associated with live-giving powers and immortality. According to Vivec and various other sources, the Dwemer once utilized the ash of Red Mountain, the Blight, to make themselves immortal.[2][5] Vivec refers to this sharing of the Heart of Lorkhan's power, as the crime of benevolence, and the sin of the Dwemer.[6][7][8]

Sixth House[edit]

The Heart of Lorkhan

Dagoth Ur through rituals of his own devising,[9] succeeded in establishing an irreservisble connection to the Heart of Lorkhan for himself and his followers. Doing so seemingly transformed his very soul into the Heart, allowing him various abilities typically associated with the Blight, Immortality, and more.

Dagoth Ur would broadcast the divine influence of the Heart via the Ash Blight, reaching the dreams of the people of Vvardenfell to recruit them.[8][10][9] The Ash Blight was also responsible for infecting them with the "Divine Disease", Corprus. Those that received this "gift" and were deemed weaker, became deranged Corprus beasts, such as Corprus Stalkers and Lame Corprus. The Dunmer who were worthy enough to follow him in the Sixth House instead began bizarre mutations, evolving through various stages of enlightenment.[9][8] His blight and corprus was seen as a gift by him and his followers,[8][11] the mutilation of the bodies of the Dunmer he viewed as them shedding the cursed skin brought to them by the Tribunal.[12]

Chief among Dagoth Ur's servants were his seven brothers, the Ash Vampires, a unique type of ash creature described as powerful Heartwights and cunning sorcerers of old.[13][14] Similar in appearance to Dagoth Ur himself, possessing sharp claws and a third eye, they served as the nobility of House Dagoth.[15] They were known to have slept alongside Dagoth Ur under Red Mountain for thousands of years.[16] Dagoth Ur was able to give portions of his power and immortality to these few individuals of his original House.[13][16] As such when they appeared to die, they would eventually be revived at the Heart.[13][17] While they are referred to as "vampires", they are not actually a form of undead.[18][19]

The lowest of the ash creatures are the Ash Slaves and Ash Zombies. Ash Slaves have lost their eyes and can cast a variety of minor spells including spell reflection.[20][21] They often had bizzare obsessions with stacking furniture.[20] Ash Zombies have hollowed out upper faces,[22] said to have burst from enlightenment.[UOL 1] The Ash Zombies created by Erden Relvel had their faces manually carved and their lips stitched into smiles.[23] They are hostile and attack indiscriminately, although they can be calmed using spells. When spoken to, however, they can only repeat a few agonized phrases.[22]

Ash Ghouls are seemingly the next mutation of Ash Zombies, a strange trunk-like tentacle growth emerging from the hole in their head. They are more coherent than their lesser brethren, and can rank higher in the Sixth House. However they are still considered among the least of Dagoth Ur's servants.[14] Ash Ghoul heart tissue harvested from their remains is used as an ingredient in alchemy.[24][25] Ash Salts can be collected from the remains of all the lesser ash creatures,[26] and they are collectively known as the Children of His Flesh.[14]

Ascended Sleepers are the final and most powerful mutation of these ash creatures,[9] ranking highly within the Sixth House.[14] They are highly intelligent beings with faces covered in strange tentacles filled with holes,[27] these tentacles are seemingly used as musical instruments.[UOL 2] They can afflict their opponents with a variety of deadly Blight diseases as well as damaging frost and fire attacks.[27]

After the Nerevarine killed Dagoth Ur and his Ash Vampire kin, the remaining Ash Creatures and Corprus beasts survived and still had to be hunted down and destroyed.[13] Dagoth Ur's followers largely fell into despair after his death.[11] Many years later, circa 4E 201, the Tribunal cultist Erden Relvel became influenced by the lingering influence of the Sharmat in his mask. From listening to his master's words, Erden became a priest of Dagoth Ur and learned how to spawn Corprus. He used this knowledge to create new Ash Zombies, transforming his fellow Temple priest Arthamis and others into unthinking minions of Dagoth Ur. He then sent these creatures to attack the temple at Ashfall's Tear. Ultimately, he hoped to spread his master's "cure" across the entire world.[23]

  • Dagoth Ur

  • Ash Vampire

  • Ash Slave

  • Ash Zombie

  • Ash Ghoul

  • Ascended Sleeper

Heart Stone[edit]

A Heart Stone
"I feel its heartbeat rattling in my head like a loose rock. Rattle, rattle, rattle. A curious song. Not a heart of blood, but stone."
—Priest Arthamis describing Dagoth Ur's lingering influence[28]

Heart Stones are molten rocks that are believed by Master Neloth of House Telvanni to have layed next to the Heart of Lorkhan for millennia, and as a result some vestige of its power has seeped into them. Deposits of them surfaced on (or landed on the surface of) Solstheim during the cataclysms of the Red Year; the eruption of Red Mountain also being responsible for covering much of the island's southern coast in ash.[4]

Ash Spawn are seemingly undead creatures that emerge in the Ashlands of southern Solstheim. They are created from the Heart Stones giving life to the bones of Solstheim's dead found buried in the wastes, infused with the ash of Red Mountain. They are immune to poison and highly resistant to fire, but have no particular weaknesses.[29] The Telvanni studied these creatures and developed a conjuration spell capable of summoning them.[4][30] A prior apprentice of Neloth, Ildari Sarothril, was killed during an experiment and brought back to life due to a Heart Stone having been grafted to her.[4] Ildari learned that a stone could be used to prevent necromantic spells from wearing off. She used them to bolster her necromantic spells used to revive Falx Carius.[31]

Ash Guardians are golems resembling Storm Atronachs, created by the Telvanni during their study of the Ash Spawn.[32] They can be summoned from the ash, but will attack indiscriminately unless controlled with a Heart Stone.[33]

  • Ash Spawn

  • Ash Guardian

  • Ildari Sarothil

  • Falx Carius

Gallery[edit]

  • Ash Slave concept art

  • Ash Slave (Morrowind)

  • Ash Zombie concept art

  • Ash Zombie (Morrowind)

  • Ash Zombie (Skyrim)

  • Ash Priest concept art

  • Ash Ghoul (Morrowind)

  • Dagoth Oathman (Legends)

  • Ascended Sleeper concept art

  • Ascended Sleeper (Morrowind)

  • Ash Vampire concept art

  • Ash Vampire (Morrowind)

  • Ash Spawn concept art

  • Ash Servant (Legends)

Notes[edit]

  • Wulfharth is known by the moniker "Ash-King",[34] and was said to have been remade from ash by Shor.[34]

See Also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Erur-Dan's dialogue in Morrowind
  2. ^ a b 36 Lessons of Vivec, Sermon 36 — Vivec
  3. ^ Ash Creature creature type in Legends
  4. ^ a b c d Neloth's dialogue in Skyrim: Dragonborn
  5. ^ Nerevar at Red Mountain — the Tribunal Temple
  6. ^ 36 Lessons of Vivec, Sermon 15 — Vivec
  7. ^ Vivec's dialogue in Morrowind
  8. ^ a b c d Dagoth Ur's dialogue in Morrowind
  9. ^ a b c d Dagoth Ur's Plans — Tribunal Temple
  10. ^ Yakum Hairshashishi on the topic of Soul sickness in Morrowind
  11. ^ a b Dreamer dialogue in Morrowind
  12. ^ Dream dialogue during Sleepers Awake in Morrowind
  13. ^ a b c d Vivec's dialogue in Morrowind
  14. ^ a b c d Dagoth Gares' dialogue in Morrowind
  15. ^ Ash Vampires in Morrowind
  16. ^ a b Plan to Defeat Dagoth Ur — Vivec
  17. ^ Dagoth Odros' dialogue in Morrowind
  18. ^ Vampires of Vvardenfell
  19. ^ Legions of the Dead
  20. ^ a b Ash Slaves in Morrowind
  21. ^ Servant of Dagoth card in Legends
  22. ^ a b Ash Zombies in Morrowind
  23. ^ a b Erden Relvel's Note — Erden Relvel
  24. ^ Generic dialogue on the topic of Ghoul Heart in Morrowind
  25. ^ Ghoul Hearts in Morrowind
  26. ^ Generic dialogue on the topic of ash salts in Morrowind
  27. ^ a b Ascended Sleepers in Morrowind
  28. ^ Priest Arthamis' Note — Arthamis
  29. ^ The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: Prima Official Game Guide — David Hodgson
  30. ^ Conjure Ash Spawn spell in Skyrim: Dragonborn
  31. ^ Ildari's Journal — Ildari Sarothril
  32. ^ Talvas Fathryon's dialogue in Skyrim: Dragonborn
  33. ^ Events of From the Ashes in Skyrim: Dragonborn
  34. ^ a b Five Songs of King Wulfharth

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. ^ Ash Zombie Concept Art
  2. ^ Ascended Sleeper Concept Art
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