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Character Build: The High Priest of Sithis

Tags: #Character Build Nightblade  #Character Build Assassin  #Character Build Villain  #Race:Argonian  #Rank:Bloodworks 
  • June 5, 2015

    Hello everyone, and welcome to my second (and very late) build. I had intended to upload this sooner but due to my job, school and other things it had to wait, so enough of this and let's get to it.

    "The High Priest of Sithis"

    "Dread father Sithis, patron of my destiny, I offer you this, the blood and souls of those who have marked by your mistress and have invoked your wrath and those of the innocent, may this damned souls embrace your grace in death as I do now".

     


    Introduction

    Closing-Section.jpg

     There is a priesthood in Black Marsh, an order dedicated to the worship of the Dread Father Sithis. Worship of this Deity is common in common in the providence, but this priest differ from the others because they have kept their ties with the almost forgotten Dark Brotherhood and perform certain tasks aside from their worship of Sithis, such as promoting the influence of the broterhood in Black Marsh and finding and training those born under the sign of the shadow known as "shadowscales".  Recently in the chaotic years of the 4th era, a young priest has been chosen to restore the glory of the broterhood and kill in the name of the dread lord.

    This build plays pretty much like a nightblade with a few twists. This character is essentially a mix between a mage and an assasin, using bound weapons like bows and daggers, destruction, conjuration and illusion as offensive skills along with sneak and enchanting but we'll discuss it later.


    Roleplay


    Backstory: 


    19th of Frostfall, 4E 202

    I sit in my chambers at the Dawnstar Sanctuary as I write this, it will serve as a record for this chapter in the history of the Dark Broterhood. My name is Apep, current Listener of the Broterhood under the service of Sithis and his mistress, the Night Mother. I will address the facts that occurred in my life as well as the events occurred during my time now and then.

    There is an order of priests in Black Marsh and like most of them they worship our lord, Sithis or Padomay, but our order has a standard feature that separates us from those other orders, we have ties to the dark brotherhood and perform certain duties for them. I was born in this priesthood twenty-three years ago, my father being a high ranking member, and as such I was taught the ways of serving and appeasing our lord but I also spent time training young Shadowscales and overseeing religious aspects in our providence, I also spent much time in meetings with speakers of the Black Hand.

    My life in the priesthood changed one day when I turned twenty one years old. We were prepared to make the sacrificial offering, which consist on offering the heart of a sacrificed individual of any race along with some hist sap mixed in dremora blood to Sithis, I was told to approach the altar by one of my elders, he said I would have the honor of performing the ritual. I took the sacrificial knife and plunged into the victim's chest and pulled it's heart out, I then put the organ into the mixture of hist sap and dremora blood and raised it over my head while I knelt, as soon as I did this everything turned dark, I couldn't see anything or anyone anymore, Then out of the dark came some sort of ancient assassin spirit, his ethereal form covered in speaker's robes.

    " You seem to have taken great pleasure in your sacrifice, that's good, you'll need a clear conscious for what you're about to hear", He said in his bone chilling yet comforting and soothing voice, I just in silence.

    "You prefer silence then?, as do I my dear child as do I. For is silence not the symphony of death, the orchestration of our father Sithis himself and of his mistress, The Night mother?". She's been watching you and is most pleased with your service and that is why I stand before you.

    "The Night Mother? What does our mistress wishes from me?", I asked, still a bit shocked

    "The Night Mother has chosen you child, on behalf of Sithis she has chosen you to carry out a most important task, she wishes you to restore the Dark Broterhood to it's former glory".

    "What must I do?", I asked.

    "You must go to the land where humanity first stepped foot in Tamriel, the land of eternal snow, where blood spills in Civil War and Dragons shout, a land cold as bone and bloody as an assassin's blade, you must go to Skyrim, once there, venture to Windhelm.", he said.

    "If this is our lady's will then I will phurpil it as she wishes?, I said.

    "Excellent, now go dear child and may Sithis be with you", He said before turning around and living. As he disspared so did the darkness and I found myself surrounded by the other members of the order, they seemed to have known what had happened but still questioned me about it, as I told them, they quickly acknowledged that I had to make this pilgrimage. I said goodbye to everyone the next day and climbed in a carriage that would take me to Cyrodiil. I arrived there with no trouble in about a day. While I was there and making my way to Skyrim I found myself stopped by two Thalmor agents who where questioning me about my motived, I however simply unleashed a torrent of lighting volts on them, poor fools, as inept as any other political power that has set foot on Tamriel.

    I crossed the border and by the night I set camp somewhere between Riften and Kynesgrove, near a small mining settlement known as Dark Water crossing. As I opened my book and began to read, my lecture was interrupted by numerous shouts and screams and it wasn't long before I found out what it was: the Imperial Legion fighting the rebels I heard so much about in Cyrodiil, The Stormcloaks. I was caught in their battle and fell unconscious. I woke up the next morning and I was being taken to Helgen, as I was about to be executed a dragon appeared and attacked the city, in the confusion I managed to escape and after doing a bit of research into this matter for the Jarl of Whiterun I returned to my mission and headed to Windhelm. I wasn't aloud to pass due to the Jarl's xenophobia, but what can be expected from some of this primates?. I waited till nighttime and sneaked inside the city through what is known as the argonian assemblage, my egg-brothers don't seem to have much love for this people so they didn't set me up, I walked into the Grey Quarter and entered what the Dunmer call a corner club, the innkeeper, seemingly having no disliking for my people pointed me to what I was looking for: A little boy was performing the Black Sacrament here in Windhelm, knowing this and having eaten enough to keep me with energy for a long while I made my way to the house. I heard the chanting of the Black sacrament and saw the boy performing the ritual to the letter, I approached him and he informed me of the situation. His name was Aventus Arentino, he had recently lost his mother and was sent to live in an orphanage in Riften run by a sadistic, cruel woman known as Grelod "the kind", he asked me to kill her. I am a servant of Sithis with the mission to restore the brotherhood so I would gladly carry out this contract. I traveled to Riften and entered the Orphanage when everybody was asleep and entered Grelod's room, I casted a muffle spell into the room and woke her up.

    "What do you want, you have no business being her least at this hour damn lizard?", She scolded me.

    I simply smiled, "Aventus Arentino says hello.....", I said.

    "Arentino?, the little bastard, you tell him I'm going for him and he's getting the beating of his life", She yelled, thank god for the muffle spell I thought.

    "You didn't let me finish, Aventus says hello and Sithis says goodnight", I said as I conjured my bound dagger and plunged it on her throat. She let out one last mourn before falling to the floor covered in blood. I left the Orphanage and Riften, even though no one suspected I preferred not to stay to long.

    I spent the night at an abandones fort somewhere near Ivarstead.

    I woke up nine hours later not inside the fort but inside a ruined and abandones shack and sitting in front of me in a bookshelf was a woman, clad in the armor of the dark brotherhood. She had told me of the kill that I took from them, despite having killed for Sithis I was still not a member of the brotherhood and so I had to repay by taking another life. The candidates: a nagging imperial housewife with six children to feed, a cowardly nord barbarian and a khajiit brave enough to threaten us with his contacts. I talked to all of them and after hearing their stories I killed them all.

    Astrid was pleased and I was welcomed in the dark brotherhood.

    As I finish the chapter the Night Mother calls me, I must attend. The events that happened later I will discuss them in later chapters..............

    Personality and traits:

    As the servant of a dark and evil entity such as Sithis, the motive of the build is being as evil and cruel as possible, you're a evil and bloodthirsty priest and you want to please your master. To do this you will kill as much people as possible even outside of contracts for the brotherhood, everyone you kill is sent to the void where it will serve your lord.

    As mentioned he is evil, cruel, fanatical and very proud of it, yet he's bound by a sort of code, he is bound by the tenets by which the brotherhood stands nd also dedicates all your kills to Sithis and The Night Mother. Being extremely devoted the priest will not take quests for Aedra (The hearth of Dibella, The Book of Love, etc), Daedric quests can be done without a problem because they are the children of Sithis, except for the Whispering Door which is Mephala's quest, the dark brotherhood hates Mephala and so he will not seek her.

    As said before the priest is a follower of the five tenets and also to the culture and old ways of the brotherhood, because of this the High priest is not very fond of Astrid, he doesn't consider her true to the dark brotherhood's culture and will like Cicero, who is a truly devote follower, a whole lot more and for role paying purposes don't kill him and he can be used as a follower. He will also use the spectral assassin (Lucien Lachance) as a follower as he considers him to be his advisor and mentor.

    Never break the tenets, this is very important.

    Quest and Guilds:

    Dark Broterhood: Obviously a devotee of Sithis would join them, do the quest line, become the listener, restore the brotherhood to it's past glory, fix the mistakes Astrid did and punish her.

    Dawnguard (either side): The dawnguard quest line can be done and pick either side: You can join the Dawnguard to destroy the Volkihar because you want the brotherhood to be the only threat or you can join the Volkihar to gain more followers, so yes, being a vampire in an option for this character.

    Within the Dawnguard quest line you will acquire summon Durnehviir shout. Recruting followers for Sithis include everyone, even dragons and a dark specimen such as Durnehviir is perfect to be your ally.

    Dragonborn: You can do the Dawnguard questline mainly to get the bend will shout and travel to Solstheim to get spells like the bound dagger. Removing Miraak is also a choice.

    Served Cold: There are reports of Morag Tong activity in Solstheim, find more about it and kill them so you can eradicate their influence forever.

    Main Quest: It's mainly done to obtain a bonus with Paarthurnax but can be done to remove the threat of Alduin.

                     The Build:

    Race: Argonian, the choice was made because they are the race in Tamriel known for worshiping Sithis whether of being aligned to the Brotherhood, they also gain a bonus to sneak that is helpful at the beginning of the game.

    Stone: Theif Stone at the beginning of the game, Switch to the lady stone for quick leveling. Finally pick the Lord Stone which gives you extra armor rating which is quite useful considering the character wears no armor and uses no alteration along with magical resistance or the Ritual stone, that gives you the ability to raise the undead once per day.

     Skills:

    Sneak: A basic skill for an assassin and regarded as they way of Sithis, a proper member of the Brotherhood makes good use of this.

    Perks: Stealth 5/5, Backstab, Deadly Aim, Assassin's Blade.


    Destruction: 
    Destruction is a main source of offense when the character is not sneaking and must resort to open combat but it can be used in stealth mod with the Illusion perk quiet casting and with the correct enchantments it can be used and not be discovered. The character focuses mainly on shock and frost, using runes, ranged spells and cloaks. If you have a PC and want to use mods for stealth magic use this one.

    http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/60796/?

    Perks: Apprentice, Adept, Expert, Augmented shock 2/2, Augmented Frost 2/2, Dual Casting, Impact, Rune Master, Deep Freeze.

    One Handed: Used in stealth mod with bound weapons, the blade of woe, etc. Also used in open battle.

    Perks: Armsman 5/5..

    Conjuration: Necromancers are known to worship Sithis and your order allows necromancy and summonings. It will be used to raise corpses to do your biding and summon spirits as well, use only undead and spirits such as familiar, bondman, mist man, etc. Summon bound weapons.

    Perks: Apprentice, Adept, Expert, Master, Mystic Binding, Soul stealer, Oblivion Binding, Necromancy, Dark Souls, Summoner 1/2, Twin Souls.

    Illusion: Fooling your opponents with the art of Illusion is art of an assassin and a chaotic priest such as yourself, make your deadly spells silent, force others to cower at your presence or do your biding, turn invisible.

    Perks: Novice, Adept, Expert, Animage, Aspect of Terror, Rage Quiet Casting, Master of the Mind, Hypnotic Gaze.

    Archery: Killing from afar is the greatest art of an assassin, being a member of the brotherhood you've also learned this.

    Perks: Overdraw 3/5, Critical shot 2/3, Eagle eye, Steady Hand 1/2.

    Enchanting:


    Perks: Enchanter 3/5, Frost Enchantment, Shock enchantment, Fire enchantment, Insightful enchanter, Corpus enchanter, Soul squeezer, Extra Effect, Soul Siphon.

    Restoration:


    Perks: Novice restoration, Regeneration, Necromage.

    Spells: Icy Spear, Thunderbolt, Ice rune, Shock rune, Lighting Cloak, Frost Cloak, Chain Lighting, Ice spike, Frenzy, Rout, Invisibility, Muffle, Pacify, Bound Sword, Bound bow, Bound Dagger, Death Thrall, Summon Familiar, Summon mistman, Summon wrath man, Summon spectral assassin 

    Shouts: Become Ethereal, Summon Durnehviir, Soul Tear, Drain Vitality, Dismay, Marked for Death.

    Stats spread: 4/2/2

    Equipment:

    If you don't have a PC or mods:

    Shrouded Hood:  Sneaking is 25% better 

    Shrouded Robes: Destruction spells cost 15% less to cast

    Shrouded Hand wraps: Backstab does more damage.

    Shrouded shoes: Muffled Movement

    Embrace of the Void: Black Robes, enchanted with fortify magic reg and fortify destruction

    Sithis's Guidance: Silver amethyst/sapphire necklace enchanted with fortify conjuration and fortify illusion:

    Shadowscale's band: Silver amethyst ring enchanted with fortify one handed and archery damage.

    Claws of Pitiless justice: Vampire gauntlets, enchanted with reduce cost for illusion and destruction

    Steps of shadow: vampire shoes, fortify sneak and destruction.

    Blade of Woe: Absorb ten points of health.


    Or if you have mods:

    Use the tribunal robes and masks mod: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/20077/?

    pick the black unarmored robes with the argonian masks, give the same enchantments and names mentioned previously and there you go, oh and about the mask: enchant it with fortify archery and illusion.

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    Recommended mods:

    Tribunal Robes and Masks: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/20077/?

    Lost Grimoire: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/60796/?

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    I hope you enjoyed my buyd, more

  • Member
    June 5, 2015

    It appears that all of your images are broken.

  • June 5, 2015

    I'm trying to fix this

  • Member
    June 5, 2015
    Awesome in my opinion.
  • June 5, 2015

    You know, this is a pretty good start. It has good spelling and grammar, and you explain the build well, but there are some things that could be improved.

    The backstory is incredibly long and could almost be made into a Story in the Story Corner, which you could then link back here, or maybe you could put the backstory towards the end and summarize it at the top. In either case, the wall of text is a turn off for a lot of people, especially if you start off a  build like that.

    I adjusted your tags for you (you had just missed the "", which meant they weren't working, like "Character Build Assassin") and I suggest you take a look at the spacing because there are some strange white blocks in places. That might be the pictures, but I don't know. I'm not entirely sure what you did with the pictures, but you're working on it, so that's alright.

    I love the Lost Grimoire, it's a fantastic mod and I love the stealth-based spells in it, but most people here play on console and are unfamiliar with it or how the spells operate. Assume the reader doesn't/can't use the mod and explain in detail how this particular mod enhances your build, which spells are used in certain situations or stuff like that.

    I'm not personally a big fan of Argonians or stealthy characters, so the mechanics and lore are really out of my depth, but the rest of the build looks really solid if a bit shaky presentation-wise. Play around with headers and the bold/italic/size/colour options a bit more. When you sort out the pictures, you could also justify them, so that text can run alongside them, like the pic on the left. Just select a different layout; it makes equipment lists look more dynamic.

  • June 7, 2015

    This is great, will play it. But, when it comes to the equipment section there's two options, right? The first one begin the Dark Brotherhood robe set and the other the black robes and the vampire gear?

  • June 8, 2015

    Yes, I put two options in case you felt the enchantments on the brotherhood robes weren't good, you can choose whatever you like friend. I'm glad you liked it.

  • June 8, 2015

    I appreciate the advise, it has been useful to make adjustments and for future builds. 

  • June 8, 2015
    Thief is spelled wrong. You spelled it like "Theif" :3 Good build, +1
  • Member
    June 10, 2015

    I agree with what others have already said: this is a good build, but it has some presentation issues. I think some of the best advice on presentation I ever got was from Mason, who told me to work on eliminating the dead white spaces in my build. For example:

    Images to illustrate equipment are especially problematic (which is why so many people go to the art request thread to request Equipment Spreads):

    Cutting out the excess empty spaces will do a lot to improve your presentation, and it usually isn't too difficult to do (just hit 'delete' ;D). Justifying your images will help with that to some extent too, but in the case of your equipment images, it still might not be quite enough.

    Again, good build... you get a 'like' from me ;D