Aranea Ienith

"We are children of the Twilight. Beings who are to be guided from the darkness into the light. And from the light into darkness."

- Aranea Ienith

Aranea Ienith is a priestess of Azura in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Alone, she protects the Shrine of Azura outside of Winterhold. She descends from the Dunmer cult that worshipped Azura sometime before the eruption of Red Mountain. When the Dragonborn visits the Shrine, she sends them to search for the stolen Azura's Star. The Dragonborn cleanses the artifact upon their return by entering it and killing the souls within. Afterward, Aranea offers to become a Follower.

Follower
Aranea is an offensive battlemage - she usually summons a Flame Atronach unless the enemy is immune or resistant to fire, in which case she'll summon a Frost Atronach, she can heal herself occasionally, and can also cast Lightning Bolt and sometimes Ice Spike against single enemies and Ice Storm against groups of enemies. She usually opens every fight by casting Oakflesh to help her survivability.

If the player chooses her to become a Blade, her dialogue will not change, and she will still address the player as the Champion/Guardian of Azura.

Trivia

 * If the player chooses to give Azura's Star to Nelacar instead of her during the The Black Star quest, she will not be available as a follower and instead says the player has defiled Azura's Star and asks them to leave.
 * Aranea is Latin for "spider" or "spiderweb" as a noun, and "spiders" as an adjective.

Bugs

 * Aranea may attack unprovoked and refuse to yield if the player has a bounty, making the quest The Black Star in-completable. Clearing the bounty and re-approaching her may fix this. Another fix is to use a calming spell or ability.
 * Sometimes, when giving the Shrouded Robe and exiting the Blue Palace, her outfit disappears.
 * To put armor onto her, first the player needs to put the chest piece into her inventory. Then exit chat with her, then speak to her again then put the helmet in her inventory.
 * Aranea seems to only wear armor with a helmet. She will swap out her robes for a helmet, but not a chest-piece. However, if given a helmet, she will also put on the chest-piece.
 * If the player draws their weapon, Aranea will usually draw a bow and has a quiver of arrows visible even if she has neither in her inventory but when the player actually goes into combat, she will use destruction spells or conjuration spells.

Арания Иенит