The Ansei Wards are a set of swords that are of great significance to the people of the Alik'r. Through the power of these wards, it is impossible to raise the consecrated dead throughout all the Alik'r.
Effects[]
So long as these wards are in good hands, Tu'whacca will prevent necromancers from raising the consecrated dead; those who had his priests perform the rites at their funeral.[1] However, the wards cannot protect the bodies that were not consecrated, for example those lost at sea or those who were raised immediately after being slain, before a priest could consecrate their remains.[1] In addition, if the Wards fall into the hands of the Necromancers themselves, their powers will cease and the consecrated dead will be without the protection of Tu'whacca.[2] If returned to the birthplaces of the Ansei who created them, the Wards can even be corrupted into tools for absorbing the energy from the dead and making oneself into a Lich.[3]
History[]
When the Ra Gada first set foot in Hammerfell, they were met with hostility from those already inhabiting the land. Among these enemies were Elves who practised the dark art of Necromancy. Since the Yokudan faith prohibits them from striking the bodies of their honoured ancestors, the Ra Gada could not effectively fight these Elves or the Redguards they raised. As such, the Ansei heroes Maja, Radan and Halelah sacrificed their animus to Tu'whacca, the Yokudan god of souls,[4] to create the Ansei Wards.[5]
By the second era, the Wards were stored in the Impervious Vault in Sentinel. This vault was built by Grandee Yaghoub to store the greatest treasures of the Alik'r, after pirates from the Abecean Sea raided the ports of Sentinel.[6] The vault doors were sealed by a magical barrier that was near impossible to penetrate, though the vault did have one major weakness in that it could be tunneled into, bypassing the doors.[7]
In 2E 582, a group of necromancers called the Withered Hand tunneled into the vault and stole the wards.[7] Their leaders Uwafa, Alasan and Shiri took the wards and started raising the consecrated dead all across the Alik'r. Uwafa took the ward of Ansei Radan to Tu'whacca's Throne to raise the Yokudan heroes entombed there,[8] Alasan went to Ansei Maja's birthplace, Tava's Blessing, and tried to use it to become a lich,[9] and Shiri took the ward of Ansei Halelah to the Motalion Necropolis to try and revive her father, the infamous necromancer Suturah.[10] All three of them were stopped by a member of the Ash'abah, after which the Ansei Wards were placed back in the Impervious Vault.[11]
Appearances[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Dialogue with Fahara'jad
- ↑ Dialogue with Throne Keeper Farvad
- ↑ Dialogue with Prince Azah
- ↑ Varieties of Faith, Crown Redguards
- ↑ Epode of the Ansei Wards
- ↑ Loading Screen for the Impervious Vault
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Events of The Impervious Vault
- ↑ Events of "Tu'whacca's Breath"
- ↑ Events of "Alasan's Plot"
- ↑ Events of "Amputating the Hand"
- ↑ Events of "Restoring the Ansei Wards"