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The Spinners and the Valenwood

  • Member
    July 24, 2014

    Today I want to turn your attention on a very important part of the Bosmer society - the Spinners.

    The Wood Elf priests of Jephre, or "Y'ffre," are known as Spinners (though they may serve other gods, such as Z'en (Journal of a Z'en Priest), in their quest for historical knowledge.). They refer to Jephre as "the Storyteller" and believe he taught them how to live and behave through stories and metaphors.
    As his priests, Spinners emulate Y'ffre by preserving Bosmeri history, culture, and even laws through stories and metaphors. (The Spinners of Y'ffre) They also act as the enforcers of the Green Pact and, if pressed, defenders of the Bosmeri people. (Spinning a StoryThe Wood Elves of Valenwood, events of The Elder Scrolls Online) For such an important position they had to have exceptional powers and they do. Y'ffre granted them a rare gift - they can make their stories come true. To say, it's a powerful gift is an understatement - Spinners can change the whole course of history, the power rivaling Elder Scrolls themselves. Fortunately, Spinners are as peaceful as they are powerful and work to preserve the balance of nature, although this passage can attest to that at least some of them had no problems with lending their power to the First Dominion.

    “… that now, as the crystal eagle swoops to harry the blood-red beast, this instant, and this one, and this one are more important than ever. More precious than ever. When we watch, we see it as the green. We see the writhing snake; we know where each talon will strike and where each coil will bend. We will speak what we’ve seen, we will become wind, pushing the predator into just the right place, offering enough resistance and enough support to ensure the kill. In the bloody aftermath, there is a great feast, one we all can attend.” (ESO Interactive Map: Valenwood/Malabal Tor)

    The most powerful Spinners can weave listeners into their stories as characters and through these powerful illusions change their very characters making them to empathize with strangers, hate enemies or have a compassion for suffering (Tales of the Spinners, events of The Elder Scrolls Online). 

    • Time flows like a river, sweeping away the flotsam and jetsam of history with every moment. If we look upstream, we see the white water of the past and can predict the turbulence of the present and the torrents of the future. All is as it once was. (The Time Is Past)
    • Time is immediate. The clash of arms, the roar of victory, the grief and tragedy of defeat ... they all happen now. Moment-to-moment the world exists, or it doesn't. (The Time Is Now)
    • Time spreads out before us, like the branches of a great tree. But the branches narrow, and the leaves that sprout grow ever thinner. (The Time Will Come)

    These are the three aspects of Spinner vision of time and their power. They can alter the future and present by altering the past as well as they can see the future and alter their actions in present. Spinner's command of time is well shown in Cirantille's Spinning a Story:

    When I arrived in Silvenar, the youngest of the city's three Spinners, Einrel, greeted me at the bridge. There, in the shadow of the Guardian, the young Spinner related to me the tale of my travels right up to the gates and then continued as if the next few days had already happened!

    Spinners can create physical manifestations of their stories imbued with magical power and those items can be used in every manner of ways. They can, for example, block a certain person from visiting a location (events of The Elder Scrolls Online).

    Despite the severe limitations of the Green Pact, some Bosmer readily practice alchemy and Spinners are no exception. They have to be careful though and use only the plants that are already dead, like plucked flowers and fallen leaves found in the forest (events of The Elder Scrolls Online).

    Gettting a Spinner to talk is not at all difficult ... understanding what they're talking about is. They live their lives as if they're narrating a story, and speak in much the same way. Elder Spinners often speak entirely in metaphors, which makes them difficult to understand, even by other Bosmer. Some believe the Spinners go insane as they age and this strange way of speech is merely a symptom of that madness. (Spinning a StoryThe Spinners of Y'ffre)

    In the deepest heart of the Valenwood, where little light reaches the floor, Spinners guard a place called Ouze. This place holds a central place in Bosmeri culture. According to the legend, once there was nothing but formlessness and the Bosmer themselves shifted from form to form. That formlessness was Ooze. Y'ffre took Ooze and ordered it in three steps:

    First, she told of the Green, the forest and all the plant life in it. She gave the Green the power to shape itself as it willed, for it was her first tale.

    The Elves were Y'ffre's second tale. As Y'ffre spun the story, the Elves took the form they have today. Y'ffre gave them the power to tell stories, but warned them against trying to shape themselves or the Green. Shifting and the destruction of the forest were forbidden.

    Finally, Y'ffre told of all the beasts that crawl on the land or swim in the rivers or fly in the air. These, Y'ffre gave to the Wood Elves as sustenance. They were to eat no plants but consume only meat. Y'ffre also told that no Wood Elf who is struck down by another Wood Elf should be allowed to sink into the ground, but should instead be consumed, like the beasts.

    In the end, however, a part of Ooze remained. And with her final tale Y'ffre gave it a purpose -

    Any Wood Elf that violated the Green Pact, either by shifting or by damaging the Green, would be condemned to return to the formlessness of the Ooze. Their names would be scrubbed from the story Y'ffre is telling and replaced with silence.

    Those who are favored by the Green have the power to release the condemned from the Ooze, but where the condemned go and what form they take once they are released is unknown (The Ooze: A Fable). This last part of Ooze is located in the place called Ouze in Malabal Tor.

    Interestingly enough, Bosmer race is not considered whole without those spirits. According to Spinner Indinael, they rest in Ouze until the time of renewal when they will rejoin the Bosmer (events of The Elder Scrolls Online). They hope that in that time these spirits will grow to accept the Green Pact (Oathbreakers' Rest).

    Some Spinners act as gatekeepers to the Wilderking - a mysterious figure said to shape the Valenwood with his/her power. The Wilderking is chosen from mortals born with an unusual power of shaping the land. They can raise islands from the ocean, bring vines out of the ground, travel underground like roots... The Wilderking merges his/her mind with the Valenwood and binds the otherwise uncontrollable nature to his/her will. The forest is then shaped according to the Wilderking's will. The throne of the Wilderking is located in Greenshade - the part of the Valenwood closest to Auridon (events of The Elder Scrolls Online). It is protected by the Hollow - stone guardians created by the Wilderking with certain directives.

    The story of how the Wilderking and the Hollows came to be is an interesting and a sad one. It tells of a boy named Ostion with a rare gift to shape the land and people who tried to control that power. They sent the boy to Valenwood and told him to build a city there. But Valenwood was wild and untamed and didn't simply bent to the boy's will. They fought relentlessly to the point where the boy was consumed by the struggle and didn't notice workers dying in the process. Until Sumiril, who was always kind to the boy, died. In grief, Ostion asked Valenwood to help him bring Sumiril back to life and Valenwood listened, merging itself with Ostion and creating the first Wilderking. With his newfound powers Ostion brought Sumiril back from the dead - the first Hollow (Sumiril's Book). Some people viewed that as a violation of the Green. They call themselves the Shadows Watch and work against the Wilderking (Oath of the Shadows Watch).

    So ends this tale about the humble but powerful priests of the Bosmer and their connection to the great forest of Valenwood. And remember, as many Wood Elves would say, "There is no 

  • Member
    July 24, 2014
    We need a game in Valenwood. :O Loved that article, Vazgen! I was thinking about a potential Spinner build but when I've read the full extension of their powers the idea died because there's no way to create such amount of power! I may try to reanimate the idea later, but it will be hard, very hard. Needless to say, +1
  • Member
    July 24, 2014

    LOL, I was making a build based on them myself, already had the write up, perk spread everything. But then it proved not viable and not really fun on a more focused playthrough and I sat on that idea for quite some time, wanting to make it work. In the end I decided to have this article instead 

  • Member
    July 24, 2014

    Very interesting Vazgen and beautifully laid out  These Spinners are absolutely fascinating! I kind of get the sense that they are an all male group. Are there any female Spinners? In terms of hierarchy, where do theses priests sit on the power ladder?

  • Member
    July 24, 2014
    But... Goddamn, they can make their stories true! That's the most awesome power ever! If they were less pacific Tamriel would be in great danger! P.S - Bosmer can use Dead Vegetation! That means that Faendal being a Lumberjack is not a problem, since he's cutting dead trees! It also means that My Bosmer can use those vegetal ingredients throw around bandit camps and Warlock lairs! I can't thank you enough for that post, Vazgen :D P.S.2 - Wow, that Punishment for breaking the Green Pact is very awesome/cruel
  • Member
    July 24, 2014

    Maybe you could be less focussed and use Ladies of Green by adapting what you have already done?

    Lozhar, we really don't need a game set in Valenwood  Bosmer are the joke race of TES!

  • Member
    July 24, 2014
    There are Spinners of both genders :) As for their standing in society - Treethanes rule individual cities and Spinners are, how to describe it, down to earth court-wizards who are also the scribes, teachers and priests :)
  • Member
    July 24, 2014
    That's a whole different thing, Phil! Green Lady is a warrior, a huntress and a relentless killer. Quite far from a Spinner ;)
  • Member
    July 24, 2014

    Fantastic article, Vaz!

  • Member
    July 24, 2014

    My bad, you know I hate wood elves