Arms and Armor of the Altmeri Champion: Falandamil

Summary

 * Location: Part of the Hero's Guide to Tamriel
 * Author: Longinus Attius

Content
''Falandamil, whose full name is apparently too complicated for my quill hand to write, hails from a kinship with a proud — some might say pompous — lineage of artisans. He wears his family's heaviest armor, which has not only bulk, but a form most elegant.''

It took some gentle, purring persuasion on the part of the Khajiiti champion, Zadabal-ra, to convince the aloof, golden-skinned inhabitant of Summerset Isles to arrive at our fighters' feast. But arrive he did, bringing a caravan of gleaming shields, winged helms, and spears dedicated to Phynaster the Guardian. Though we uncultured barbarians of the mainland had to sit through copious waffle regarding our shortfalls in battle, which almost brought the Nord champion to a seething, violent outburst, tempers were soothed with mead and some ferocious combat training, where the soaring and fluid designs of the Altmeri weapons of war—thin and swan necked like their ships were finally tested.

Altmeri armor and weaponry has a sturdy elegance that many others have attempted and failed to achieve. Even the lowliest Altmer has a disdain for iron, steel, or other materials of the common mainlander,  so more exotic ores and minerals are part of the forging process, which can be as convoluted as their patterns of speech. While fanciful materials are common, glass is perhaps the most impressive when swords or axes are formed from this collection of resins and volcanic deposits. The results are surprisingly robust, but always alluring in form. Such weaponry is well weighted, a milky green in color, but the blades require constant and careful sharpening.

The bounty of rare (and mostly crystalline) minerals that Summerset Isles hides beneath its rich soils is used to enhance a variety of beautifully crafted arms. One may swing a lengthy blade embedded with glass details, golden pommel, and stylized eagle wings and heads.

One might draw the winged bow of a High Elf, while comparing its supple curvature to a maiden's thigh. The Altmer does not hunt wild animals for his grip or trim work, preferring the slaughter of specially bred guar to provide the most pliable of leather for an axe's grip. The result is an astonishing balance of ornate delicateness and sinister sharpness. The High Elves favor weapons that match their own countenance: elongated, barbed, and often coated in gold.