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Event Build: The Bull of Kyne

Tags: #Race:Nord  #Character Build Barbarian  #Character Build Warrior  #Character Build Hero  #Rank:Event Exemplar  #Event:Artifacts  #Phil  #Dragonborn1721  #Kyne 
  • Member
    March 4, 2016

    Perrif spoke to the Handmaiden again, eyes to the Heavens, "Morihaus, your son, mighty and snorting, gore-horned, winged, when next he flies down, let him bring us anger." The Song of Pelinal

    This build, a collaboration between Dragonborn 1721 and Phil, explores the idea that sometime in 4E 201 someone spoke that same prayer to Kyne's Handmaiden, echoing the words of Alessia thousands of years prior. The Artefacts Event gave us the opportunity to explore and bring back the "real Morihaus" as he may have been before legend and myth became fact, letting us chart his course from pit fighter to hero to demigod and being awarded The Lord's Mail from Kyne herself.

     

    Race: Nord

    Standing Stone: The Lord

    Major Skills: Block, Heavy Armour, Two Handed and Enchanting

    Minor Skills: One Handed

    Shouts: Unrelenting Force, Elemental Fury, Cyclone, Dragon Aspect, Fire Breath, Frost Breath, Slow Time, Storm Call  and Kyne's Peace

    Equipment Set 1 - Phil:

    Orcish Battleaxe - Un-enchanted for Elemental Fury

    Orcish War-Axe - Un-enchanted for Elemental Fury

    Targe of the Blooded - Pre-Enchanted with Bleed Damage

    General Tulius' Armour - Fortify Health Regen and Resist Poison

    Stormcloak Officer's Boots - Fortify One Handed and Stamina Regeneration

    Stormcloak Officers Gauntlets - Fortify Two handed and Block

    Helm of Yngol - Pre-Enchanted with 30% Resist Frost

    Amulet of Talos - Pre-Enchanted with Fortify Shout Cooldown 20%

    Equipment Set 2 - DB: '

    Ancient Nordic Battleaxe (Mor's Deadly Axe) - Un-enchanted for Elemental Fury

    Orcish War-Axe (Mor's Cracked Horn) - Chaos Damage and Absorb Stamina

    Targe of the Blooded - Pre-Enchanted with Bleed Damage

    Blades Armour (Lord's Mail) - Fortify Health Regen and Resist Poison

    Blades Boots (Mor's Vicioius Stompers)- Fortify Stamina and Stamina Regen

    Blades Gauntlets (Mor's Hardened Claws) - Fortify Two-Handed and Block

    Helm of Yngol - Pre-Enchanted with 30% Resist Frost

    Amulet of Talos - Pre-Enchanted with Fortify Shout Cooldown 20%

    Our two sets are quire similar, but Phil's provides a more powerful offense with the Orcish Battleaxe providing a higher bleed damage, while mine provides a more powerful, stable defense with a full set of Heavy Armour, which provides a tonne of bonuses including Extra AR, reduced Fall Damage and less Stagger Chance.

    Depicted in Imperial City statues as a pit-fighter from the slave pens of the Ayleids, the Mor of our build starts off in a similar vein as a gladiator in the Imperial Arena. Because of his dedication to Kyne and his Nordic roots, Mor was nicknamed "Breath-of-Kyne" or "Bull of Kyne" like the original Morihaus by spectators and fellow combatants alike. Mor heads north to Skyrim, following a whisper on the wind...

    Block: No other shield screams "pit-fighter" than the Targe. As we chose to make the most of bleed and bash damage to accentuate the Song's depiction of Mor as being gore-horned and bloody, the Targe of the Blooded seemed perfect in every way. An honorary mention goes to the Hjaalmarch Guard Shield with it's triskellion motif, incredibly fitting when thinking in terms of the Morihaus myth.

    Heavy Armour:  The Lord's Mail, awarded to heroes by the Goddess Kyne, is recreated by using General Tulius' Armour. Indeed, by the time part one of our build is complete our pit-fighter Morihaus has become Skyrim's Champion and ended the bloody Civil War. Sorry Imperials but Morihaus is a Nord myth too. An honorary mention goes to the easier to acquire Blades Armour which can also serve as the armour of choice until GT's is looted from his bloody corpse.

    Enchanting: In order to get this concept in lore terms it is important to shift the perception of souls from magic to wind and air. In the old texts the Tongues were said to make enchantments from the tongues of their enemies, use the thu'um to sharpen swords and carried a wind with them always. The only way to recreat this in game is by using enchanting and shouts. We did both.

    Two Handed: Nothing says minotaur like a massive axe so this skill is another nod to the myth of Mor. Although our version is real and human we liked to think how easy it would be for this great warrior with his horned helm to be associated with the bull when truth fades into legend. Using the Orcish Battle Axe and taking the Limsplitter perks, we continue that theme of being froth-bloody and bellowing from excitement. Two Handed is used when our Morihaus is all about maximum offence.

    One Handed: A seasoned warrior, Morihaus knows when to charge in and when to go on the defensive, just like the Mor of legend for the man-bull fought magnificently, led men well and never resorted to Madness. The Orcish War Axe with it's high bleed damage when used with all three ranks of Hack and Slash is a thing of visceral beauty even on high difficulty settings. When used with the Targe of the Blooded to bash out yet more blood we have a fitting recreation of a pit-fighter from the Arena.

    By using both One Handed and Two Handed Mor has plenty of offensive options depending on the enemy or the circumstances of the battlefield. Mor's skill with a shield allowed for defensive options thanks to the perks Elemental Resistance and Arrow Defelction, perfect against magic users and archers respectively.

    The complete build sees the demigod Morihaus recreated before the power of myth shaped his legend into a literal bull. This Mor is a Tongue, a master of the thu'um, and forever associated with Kyne. Due to his unending loyalty, deeds on the fields of valour and his role in defence of Skyrim, the goddess herself gifts him with The Lord's Mail. This is not an arbitrary decision because the armour looks good, rather we interpreted Mor's slaying of Tulius and taking his armour as a mythically symbolic event, in much the same way rebuilding the Staff of Sheogorath was for the Champion of Cyrodiil. The setting has a theme of making something from another's skin, like the Saviour's Hide. Taking Tullius's "skin" and having it become blessed by Kyne who turns it into The Lord's Mail seemed thematically appropriate.

    We used the old Shout Reduction trick by buying Potions/Philters and Droughts of the Healer and using them before equipping an Amulet of Talos to simulate Mor's mastery of the ancient Nord art. This, of course, is purely optional but when playing on legendary it is great fun and not too overpowered. We then used these shouts to play with the bleed damage our enemies accumulated, either by using Dragonborn Frost to let them bleed out over time and strategically removed from the field. We chose not to use Marked for Death.

     

    According to Yaggy Baggy in his book Tamrielic  Lore, The Lord's Mail was originally owned by Morihaus, Breath-of-Kyne and was also known as The Armour of Morihaus. The legendary Morihaus took as his device the constellation of The Lord, and wore the Lord's Mail. We ran with that, the idea that the mythical Breath of Kyne was either The Lord come to earth or literally took the stars and wore them was too good to pass up. So we translated it into what the real Mor would be about. We kept the Health Regeneration and Resist Poison Enchantments from it's earlier TES game incarnations, but we also added in The Lord Stone with it's +25% Magic Resistance and +50 Armour Rating; and the Agent of Mara perk which provides +15% Magic Resistance. Seeing as it was to Mara Alessia prayed, we thought it fitting that she should be part of his armour. They're all linked, Kyne and Mara; The Lord and The Lord's Mail. An honorary mention goes to Stamina Regeneration for those who want Kyne woven in there too.

     

    The Main Quest: This is a fitting quest for a Nordic legend like Morihaus to pursue and is the logical jumping in point. Mor has come to Skyrim from the Arena after hearing Kyne's voice on the wind. Getting as far as Skyhaven Temple is key because it nets the Blades Armour which we used both before and after getting Tulius' set because it looks so badass.

    Thane of Morthal: Morthal is said to be named after Morihaus. Further mantle the Bull of Kyne by completing Laid to Rest and assisting the good folk of the town. Buy a plot of land to make your home and try and get a Hjaalmarch Guard's Shield. Look at that triskellion image on the boss and think of Alessia, Pelinal and Morihaus.

    The Book of Love: Perrif spoke to the Handmaiden again, eyes to the Heavens. Kyne's Handmaiden, Mara, was the deity Alessia prayed to way back in the mythic day. It is thus only proper that this beautiful quest be completed by our Mor. We took it a stage further and actually incorporated Agent of Mara into Morihaus' armour as if the goddess herself is part of his skin. Morihaus was a romantic figure in the myths, his  loyalty and love of Alessia shines down through the ages as an example to all. Our Mor is no different and loves his own Alessia with all his heart.

    The Companions: Romantic inclinations aside, our Mor is a figher at his core. What better group to fight with and collect Shouts along the way than The Companions? Plus, they feature in our accompanying skald's tale, Morthal and Morihaus.

    The Civil War: When the Slave Rebellion broke out and Alessia led her armies against their alien masters, the former slaves looked to Morihaus for military leadership. Our Mor follows in these footsteps by joining the Stormcloak Rebellion to drive the Aldmeri Dominion form Skyrim and becoming a respected war leader in his own right. Killing General Tullius and taking his armour was the symbolic highlight and almost completes The Bull of Kyne's ascension to demigod.

    Dragonborn: Besides the fact that it leads to some of the best shouts in the game, the whole dlc's main quest is heavy with thematic links to wind and Kyne. Allmaker aside, the myth of Aevar Stone-Singer is loaded with mythic symbolism, perfect for any Kyne associated character. Getting the last word of Dragon Aspect and defeating Miraak marks the completion of this build. Wearing The Lord's Mail and being able to call upon his divine blood, The Bull of Kyne is now a true son of Kynareth worthy of his demigod status in song and legend.

    Well, it's been fun working on this together, this is Phil and DB signing off on a pretty damn awesome build, well that's our opinion anyway  I'd like to send my thanks to Relycs for the absolutely awesome Perk Spreads, and Mason for allowing us to use his Lord Mail picture for his old Artifacts Project and to Legion and Edana for their inspiring Breath of Kyne which was like a breath of fresh air and really brought that goddess to the forefront of our minds. And of course the Workshop Gang for their advice and encouragement, without them we'd never have gotten this out in time. 

    Don't forget to check out Dragonborn's builds here

    Last but not least, thank you for reading.

  • March 4, 2016

    According to Yaggy Baggy this build is absolutely amazing! I absolutely love those pictures! You two are certainly great team and I hope I´ll see more lore based builds from you. 

    Now that Mor is out, we need Alessia!

  • March 4, 2016

    Thanks Karver, I'm hoping Phil and I will work on at least a few more, cause it was way too much fun here.

    This build was a lot of fun, so I'm really glad you liked it so much, oh and we do have Alessia already, I believe Arma posted it 

  • March 4, 2016
    But it's not Phil's Alessia. His Alessia is hot. xD
  • Member
    March 4, 2016

    Awesome build, guys! I like the equipment (especially the helm; brings out the bull really well) and the recreation of the Lord's Mail. The roleplay and lore are spot-on, and really bring the ancient gladiator back to life. Love it

  • Member
    March 4, 2016
    +1
  • March 4, 2016

    True that 

  • March 4, 2016

    Thanks Doc, the Armour Combos, both of them were really awesome to work with. That's why we had to add them both, we just couldn't pick a great one.

    Yeah the Roleplay and Lore were mostly Phil so he definitely get's the credit for it, I agree it's awesome 

  • Member
    March 4, 2016
    Excellent art guys! :D Very nice!
  • March 4, 2016

    Thank you Noodles