Name: Arnvidr Frost-Weaver
Race: Nord
Age: 32
SKILLS
"Well met, mage of Skyrim. The Nords may have forgotten their forefathers' respect for the Clever Craft, but your comrades throng this hall. Here in Shor's house, we honour it still."
-Tsun, greeting the Last Dragonborn before the Whalebone Bridge of Sovngarde
-Frost-Weaver, A. (4E 165) Rediscovering the Ancient Nords: Reclaiming the Lost Arcane Heritage of Skyrim. Haafingar, Solitude: Shalidor’s Folio Destruction - MasterThe school of magic which concerns itself with dealing damage to all forms of matter, most commonly by wielding the elements. For the ancient clever man, frost magic is the primary way they practice the Destruction school, as anyone who had gone to ancient Nordic burial sites can attest to, by virtue of facing down draugrs slinging frost spells at them. Arnvidr, following this tradition, specializes in frost magic.
Conjuration - ExpertSometimes known as the art of summoning creatures and items from another plane. The ancient Nord mage makes great use of conjuration, as evidenced even today by Draugr Scourge who summons frost atronach, to Shalidor who made Conjuration part of the test in Labyrinthian, even before it was acknowledged as a mainstream magic school. Post the Dragon Cults era, aside from summoning daedric creatures, nord mages also bound spectral weapons when they need to get into close combat, for Clever Men might be wielders of magic, but as Nords, their sword-arm is not something to be scoffed at. Arnvidr is able to bind weapons from Oblivion, with a quality comparable to Ebony, able to turn raised creatures and banish summoned Daedra. Although Arnvidr is also capable of summoning daedric creatures, he is only Adept at it and his true skills lie in Necromancy. Necromancy—as evidenced by the draugrs—has been a part of Nordic culture, and though its usage dwindled after the era of the dragon cult, while Nords view necromancy negatively when used on them, if used against one’s enemy, it is a tool to achieve victory, nothing more, nothing less. The College of Winterhold itself does not ban necromancy practices and thus was one of the subjects Arnvidr studied. With the recent Empire-wide ban on necromancy, Arnvidr has stopped using them in compliance, but the skill remains.
Alteration – ExpertThe Magical School that ‘deceives’ reality to bring about an alteration of its rules. For the ancient Nord mages, alterations are often used to complement their fighting prowess, by transforming their skin to be as hard as ebony or to conjure a shield, or other defensive utility. Arnvidr focuses on these very aspects, focusing on the battle application of Alteration School rather than its more mundane uses such as mineral transmutation.
Restoration – AdeptRestoration spells heal, restore, and fortify the body's attributes and abilities, cure disease, and protect it from other malign influences. While healing is its primary purpose, as a culture steeped in battle, the Nord magi of old often focused more on using restoration to fortify their body or to protect them in battle by creating wards. Arnvidr is an adequate healer, having skills in restoration in the rank of an apprentice, but he mostly uses them to fortify his body in battle.
Two-Handed – AdeptThere is perhaps no image that is seen as the quintessential Nord of a warrior wielding a great axe. From Wulfharth to Ysgramor there are no ends of iconography of Nord heroes depicted with an axe, and thus the axe holds great significance in Nord culture. Even as magi, the Clever Men in old Nord culture were still a warrior, often trained in the use of at least a single weapon. For Arnvidr, that weapon is a great axe.
Enchanting – ExpertOne of the two-part duties of the essence of being a Clever Man. In ancient Nord culture, while remarkable warriors in their own right, their real role is to be the one who changes the tide of battle, primarily with their superb craftsmanship of weapons of war. When we are talking of Nord craftsmen, there is, of course, the famed Ahzidal who is said to be the first human who mastered elven enchanting. But even after the Dragon Cult Era, this practice of Nord craftsmen being also master enchanters remains, as seen from the famed Wuuthrad, the axe of Ysgramor, is known to be an enchanted axe from fragments that had been discovered and studied by enchanters. Arnvidr possesses various magical daggers enchanted with various effects for utility use, as well as the ability to create expert-level enchanted items.
Smithing - ExpertThe other half of the essence of being a Clever Man. Enchantment is only as good as the durable weapons or armour they are used on, and is enhanced by the inherent quality of the items. Thus, a Clever Man was often both enchanter and smith, typically imbuing the forge with magical properties, such as using fire salts to kindle the flames. Arnvidr is able to work with common materials and exotic ones such as ebony, glass, and moonstone. He carries an Ebony Shield enchanted with the effect of fortifying its wielder’s blocking skill.
Thu’umThe ancient magic art of the Nords, practiced by warriors called the Tongues. Arnvidr had always thought that Thu’um is a vital part of Nordic culture, and Jurgen Windcaller banning its use for battle was what started the downfall of the Nords. Despite the knowledge of shouting having been lost except to the Greybeards, there are enough records of legends describing shouts, as well as some people who at one point learned with the Greybeards but left High Hrothgar. After finishing his apprenticeship in the College of Winterhold, Arnvird dedicated his research to discovering how Thu’um works in the theory of modern magic. He tracked these Ex-Greybeards, poured over records of legend, and scoured Nordic ruins for ancient tomes or other secrets. Eventually, he managed to learn Thu’um on his own and published an academic paper on it.
Available Thu’um: Become Ethereal (2 Word), Ice Form (1 Word), Whirlwind Sprint (1 Word)PERSONALITY
Arnvidr is someone who can be described as a rather ‘traditional’ or ‘conservative’ Nord, having great regard for Nordic tradition. However, he is also someone who sees the current Nord culture as watered-down Nordic Culture, and that most have no idea about the actual culture of the Nords that has been lost. The culture of the Nord’s golden age. This could range from something that is easily accepted by many Nords, such as restoring the veneration of Shor and the rest of the Nordic pantheon, Kyne instead of Kynareth, and so on. But it could also be something that causes many Nords to raise their eyebrows, for example, Arnvidr sees the Greybeards as a blight on the Nordic culture, stripping away the use of Thu’um from the Nords as how Kyne originally intended them. Though he is rather passionate and opinionated on these topics, rather than a firebrand, he typically discusses them with the calmness of an academic.
BIO
Arnvidr was born in 4E 136 in Winterhold, Skyrim. His father is a local smith and his mother a tavern wench. Though Arnvidr took well to smithing like his father, he was always a curious child, enamoured by the College of Winterhold that was shunned by many in Winterhold after the Great Collapse 14 years earlier. His parents discouraged his wishes to enrol at the college at first, however, after managing to learn some enchanting on his own, Arndvidr enchanted his father’s forge to produce higher quality weapons and armour, along with providing minor enchantments. The enchantments he put on the products his father sold were nowhere close to the quality of enchantment done by the College of Winterhold, but it was cheaper, sold as part of a ‘package deal’ and local nords trusted his father more than the mages of the College. Thus, they were able to attract different sorts of customers than those that came to the College, those that did not need serious enchantment, merely for a bit of utility or novelty, eventually making his family’s shop the most successful smithy in Winterhold.
Arnvidr's parents acknowledged the merit of his enchantments, and when eventually mages from the College came, offering a spot of apprenticeship, they gave their blessing and Arnvidr enrol in the College of Winterhold. In the College, Arnvidr studied magic, focusing on the Destruction school, as well as furthering his study of Enchantment. He graduated from the apprenticeship in 4E 159, before achieving mastery in the Destruction School two years later.
Afterwards, as a senior member of the College, Arnvidr focused his area of research on the ancient Nords and the magic they wield, including Thu’um. It is during the course of his research, delving through ancient tombs, that he picked up some skills in wielding an axe from the mercenaries he hired to protect him. It is also in his research into ancient Nords, that he truly came to appreciate the ‘True’ culture and history of the Nords. In 4E 164, Arnvidr finished his research, culminating in proving his hypothesis of Thu’um being an application of tonal magic principle by learning the Thu’um through the lens of arcane paradigm. His dissertation, ‘Applications of Tonal Magic Principles in Discovering an Arcane Paradigm for the Thu’um: New Evidence from Literature Review and Archeological Findings’ was published as an academic tome, before a year later he published a book under the title of ‘Rediscovering the Ancient Nords: Reclaiming the Lost Arcane Heritage of Skyrim’, more for the cultural zeitgeist, focusing on the lost magical tradition of the Nords he had found over the course of his study.
The book gained him some following and fame, now somewhat known as a battlemage of sorts, who fashioned himself like the ‘Clever Man’ of ancient Nords, in 4E 167, he was approached by an agent of the Imperial Legion, who had been looking for new recruits for a ‘Hiden Militia’ due to rising tension with the Dominion. Not wanting to not be able to walk the talk, Arnvidr accepted. Despite his reservations about the Empire, he did recognize the threat the Aldmeri Dominion posed and believed that currently, a united Empire was for the better.
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