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Event Build: The Blacklight Mercenary

Tags: #Character Build Spellsword  #Race:Dunmer  #Rank:Event Recognized  #Motty Build  #Event:FollowMeFollowYou 
  • Member
    June 29, 2017

    I'm proud to present the versatile Dunmer Spellsword, Teldryn Sero for the Follow Me, Follow You Event.

    The Blacklight Mercenary

    (Art Credit: Teldryn Sero by Yukiyanagii1111)

    We know a bit of his backstory because of some extra dialogue gained while traveling as your companion. He hails from Blacklight, the capital city of Morrowind and has spent time in the Grey Quarter of Windhelm prior to settling in Raven Rock on Solstheim. He will tell of a harrowing tale of his former employer, a "true" Nord with an un-healthy thirst for blood.

    He's a spellsword with a twist, using one-handed blades, fire based destruction magic and notably, flame atronachs. In fact, he loves initiaiting combat with the angelic atronach. The presence of some conjuration skill opens up interesting options for game and roleplay, with a strong likelihood of visiting fellow Dunmer conjurer on Solstheim, Talvas Fathryon for additional training. This will help round out a story for our Mercenary from Morrowind. 

    Character Creation

    Race: Dunmer 

    Level Cap: 10-60

    Major Skills: One handed, Destruction, Conjuration, Light Armor

    Minor Skills: Restoration, Archery 

    Spells: Flames, Firebolt, Flame Atronach, Ash Guardian, Fast Healing, Steadfast Ward

    Shouts: Fire Breath, Whirlwind Sprint, Unrelenting Force, Dragon Aspect

    Stats: M - 2 H - 1.5 S - 1 (cap Stamina at 150)

    Stone: Mage or Warrior to Level, Lord to simulate his heartiness 

    Gear: (Early) Leather Armor/Novice Hood, (Late) Full Set of "Blacklight" Chitin Armor (aka Morag Tong), St. Juib's Locket, Ring of Destruction, Elven Sword, Dagger, Bow, occasionally don the Apprentice Hood which blends seemlessly with Morag Tong Armor.

    The Path of the Blacklight Mercenary (Roleplay) 
    I began immersing myself in this character to makes some decisions prior to playtesting. Why had Teldryn left Blacklight? Behind every great story is a inciting event. Certainly the eruption of Red Mountain could have been part of his story. But maybe there's more to it...

    "The trouble with with Morrowind is that's it's full. Full of ash, full of man and mer and memories I care not for.
    If I am to be, it is up to me. And it's up to me to find a life to call my own.
    It's time to see more of Tamriel. On to Skyrim!" 

    You love and miss Blacklight. You sneer at Whiterun in comparison to your magnificent home. But, you can't return. The details are too painful to be uttered. There's a tale of heartbreak lingering and never to be told. Regardless, that life in Morrowind is no more. 

    Part 1: The Wanderer - When you ask to trade things with Teldryn he says "Whatever gets us get moving faster." I get the feeling he's one of those guys that just can't settle down. He's not happy unless he's moving. On your way to Windhelm through the Dunmeth Pass, a patrol of Imperials pick you up on false charges of conspiracy. Off to Helgen! Once free, your path is a mix between survival, making a few septims and figuring out what to do next. Time will be spent in Whiterun and then Windhelm, making a name for yourself and possibly making early and intriguing dragonborn discoveries. 

    Part 2: The Merc - Once you have your feet about you and finding Windhelm full of "bitter Dunmer", proceed to Solstheim where you'll work for more serious coin and retrieve your proper armor. An interesting opportunity to both work for the Dawnguard and visit the Soul Cairn to pay your old friend St Juib a visit to retrieve his locket ensues. 

    Part 3: The Dragonborn - The plan to leave Blacklight has taken a big turn. You've been richly rewarded with coin, but now you've made a new discovery. You're Dragonborn! But Main Questing will proceed slowly, after all, you are the Blacklight Mercenary! No turning down well paying jobs.

    Perks Notes:

    I took a little liberty with adding a few restoration and conjuration perks. Teldryn will infrequently cast fast healing and steadfast ward, thus the apprentice level. His prowess as a caster makes it fairly easy to surmise his magicka regeneration capacity is better than average. While I rarely dual casted, I enjoyed the added oomph when toe to toe with Dragons and such. I opted to avoid the game breaking stagger effect of the impact perk. Finally, adding Ash Guardian helped me flesh out his conjuration story and beef up late game combat. While the real Teldryn doesn't cast this spell, one could easily imagine him progressing his talents on Solstheim with the help of Talvas Fathryon. Therefore, adding Expert Conjuration wasn't too far of a reach. Plus, one can now summon an atronach plus a guardian without needing to perk twin souls. 

    Notable Quests:

    Served Cold - Running a few well paying jobs around Solstheim leads to the only way to acquire Morag Tong Armor, which will be used to make the Chitin "special"

    "You like my chitin armor? It was specially crafted for me by Grendis Rolovo... one of the finest master armorsmiths in Morrowind."

    Impatience of a Saint (Dawnguard) - having been questioned on the veracity of your claim by a bafoon in the Retching Netch, you venture into the Soul Cairn to acquire proof of your friendship with Saint Jiub. As a follower, I always marvelled at Teldryn's stamina and carry capacity, so the locket makes for a perfect match.

    "I wonder what became of Saint Jiub? I met him once, you know."

    From the Ashes - Visit Talvas Fathryon later in the game to train conjuration and gain a powerful new spell!

    The Telvanni are amazing. Look what they've grown from the ash... have you ever seen anything like it?

    Main Quest - by Azura, I'm Dragonborn! (optional)

    "Nerevar, guide me!" and "Dragons eh? Good, I was looking for a challenge."

    Game Play & Combat: 

    Ahhh, the familiar and perfect flow of a spellsword! It's the one playstyle I never tire of. I originally planned to hold off on the Solstheim quests because of how trecherous the foes there can be (especially the fire-restistant Ash Spawn). But, I hired a powerful spellsword in Raven Rock (he certainly seems familiar) to speed up the process of obtaining Morag Tong armor...your Blacklight Chitin. Combined with an opening Flame Atronoch, things get awfully hot for your foes in a hurry. Pepper them with firebolts and feel free to rush in for finishing blows from an Elven sword (easily found on Solstheim at The Old Attius Farm beginning "March of the Dead".) 

    There are few situations that challenge this approach, but carry a matching Elven bow in case you need ranged attacks while magicka recovers. Later in the game, Shouts can beef up offense (Fire Breath, Unrelenting Force) and defense (Dragon Aspect) in cases of fire-resistant or powerful foes. I added Whirlwind Sprint for a repositioning / recovery option. An underated shout that creates space and time for magicka to recover and cast another Atronach. 

    The only weakness in this combat setup is against foes who are heat tolerant. For the likes of ash spawn, one must rely on positioning and blade work. This is one reason you'll see me wielding an Ebony sword. I can't imagine someone as resourceful as our dumner friend spurning the beauty of ebony. The added kick really helps in these situations.  

    Final Thoughts:

    I have to say this was one of my favorite building experiences. Many thanks to the hosts for a great concept. I hope you all feel lots of love toward Teldryn Sero. I know I do! Thanks to Vargr for the Morag Tong suggestion and everyone else for chiming in on the WiP. Headshot of Taldryn Art Credit goes to JLHilton's site.

    You like Skyrim Builds? Check out the "Motty Build" tag for all of my tamriel characters. 

     

  • Member
    June 29, 2017

    Smooth as Ashfire Mead, Teldryn rocks! He's had it rough, but that mer is a survivor. I like the video and demonstration of Whirlwind Sprint. U can't touch this. Break it down. Stop Hammer time.

  • Member
    June 29, 2017
    Love me some Mr. Sero! Nice job Motty and a good homage to a great NPC!
  • Member
    June 29, 2017

    Paws said:

    Smooth as Ashfire Mead, Teldryn rocks! He's had it rough, but that mer is a survivor. I like the video and demonstration of Whirlwind Sprint. U can't touch this. Break it down. Stop Hammer time.

    Thanks! He is pretty great :)

  • Member
    June 29, 2017

    Loving the look of this! I've been meaning to start a new Dunmer Character for a while now, and this is just perfect.

  • Member
    June 29, 2017

    Amornar said: Love me some Mr. Sero! Nice job Motty and a good homage to a great NPC!

    Thanks Amor! 

  • June 29, 2017

    I was hesitant to click the Like This button at the top of the page because I really wanted to click Love This <3

    Having had Teldryn as a companion for 400+ in-game hours, I've been eagerly watching the WiP of this build. I'm very familiar with Teldryn's combat methods and dialogue and think that you've done an awesome job with his build and backstory. :)

    While I'm not a builder, the shouts, perks, and Ash Guardian spell you've added seem to suit his existing skills perfectly. I love your use of the Morag Tong armor as Teldryn's specially crafted Chitin armor and I really love the look of the Apprentice Hood with it.

    Your video demonstration is amazing, and not in the way that the fabled College of Winterhold is amazing. ;) Watching it made me feel as if I were fighting alongside my favorite companion.

    I love that you've added just enough backstory to fill in some gaps but not too much. This preserves Teldryn's aura of mystery which is a huge part of his appeal (he's full of suprises).

    Mottyskills said:

    I hope you all feel lots of love toward Teldryn Sero. I know I do!

    So much love towards Teldryn Sero, that I can't even begin to imagine. :)

  • Member
    June 29, 2017

    Gail - I appreciated your WiP support all the way through!  Means a lot you enjoy the final product. cheers

  • June 29, 2017

    Sorry I didn't comment before Motty but I caught this just as I was heading to sleep. Anyway, I'm loving the final build, Teldryn has to be one of my absolute favourite companions (well, top 10 for sure) and this is a really cool build based off of him. I'm also really liking the video, love it when people can show off their builds with a little gameplay video or things along those lines so that's just really awesome. 

    Right, and thank you for your participation in this Event Motty, its been absolutely great watching your build progress throughout the last month and this is a really awesome build :D

  • Member
    June 29, 2017
    Very kind words Deebs. Thank you!