Auriel's Bow

Exquisite Longbow 2d10+6 Pen: 18 Range: 40/140/240/440 Qualities: Dire Proven (5) Exquisite Precise Reload (2) 2handed
Enchantment: 7d10 Fire with Sunlight quality, Pen (31)

Manufacturing process

Created by the god Auriel

History

Auriel’s Bow is an artifact created and used by the Elven god

Auriel, an aspect of the Imperial Akatosh, the Dragon God of

Time. Although it takes the form of a modest Elven Moonstone

bow, it is one of the most powerful weapons in Tamriel.

The bow draws its power from Aetherius itself, channeling it

through the sun. 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. It purportedly smells like Ash Yams, a vegetable

native to Morrowind and Solstheim.

In the Dawn Era, the bow was said to have been carried into

battle by Auriel himself, against the forces of Lorkhan during

the Ehlnofey wars. When Trinimac defeated Lorkhan and tore

out his heart, Auriel fastened it to an arrow shot it long into

the sea, where Red Mountain eventually formed.

For hundreds of years, the bow appeared throughout Tamriel,

with its most recent appearances being 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

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. A fake copy of

the bow also appeared in the Iliac Bay around this time; it was

created by a mage in an attempt to bribe an agent of Nocturnal

who has been sent to assassinate him.

Later in the Third Era, the bow was claimed by Ralyn Othravel,

a Dunmer Ordinator and a 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 Councillor 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

took the bow from Ralyn Othravel and gave it to Therana, who

grudgingly accepted it. Later that year, the bow was 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

single survivor of his brother Vyrthur’s attacks on the Chantry

of Auriel. The two ventured into the ruins of the Falmer chapel

and defeated Vyrthur, who had planned to use Serana’s blood.

Auriel’s Bow was retrieved and used to slay Lord Harkon

Item type

Unique Artifact

Current Holder

Jarl Tolsirion MacLyon the Dragonborn

Owning Organization

Holdings of Tolsirion MacLyon

Rarity

Unique

Raw materials & Components

Moonstone

Tools

Elven Design