Atronachs : Elemental Daedra and Golems

Cyrodiil, Arcane University

For the students, it was just another day like the others. They had an amphitheater discourse on advanced Conjuration studies. An outside speaker was replacing their usual teacher. So all in all, a rather interesting day.

A group of female students sitting near the first rank were in deep conversation.

"So, who do you think will be that scholar?" Caranya asked Jing.

"I don't know but given it's about Conjuration… someone from the College of Whispers perhaps?"

"You mean one of their higher ups who regularly bind and interrogate Daedra to learn about Aurbis?" the chestnut haired Altmer said, "Me and Cyrus spent our early magical education in one of their town chapters but we never saw that ritual for ourselves." She bit her lip. "A shame."

The blonde haired Altmer girl who sat on her right, Nirya, smirked. "Someone from the College? Think bigger, girls! Like, a Direnni!"

Maëlisse, who was next to her, shook her head. "A Direnni? Why not a Telvanni since we're at it?"

"And why not?"

"I summon my Knight of Daggerfall!" a voice above them said. They looked up to see Cyrus and Black-Scales playing a game of Legends.

"You two plan on skipping the lesson? I hope for your sake you won't ask me for what you didn't understand because you weren't listening," Caranya scolded them.

"Oh come on, Cara! We're just doing a small game before it begins," Cyrus countered his friend. "Besides, you should remember that I have higher grades than you in Conjuration, so if I needed help, it's not you I would come to see."

"Touché," the Argonian next to him said while pretending to wince.

The merish girl stuck her tongue out at the young man. "Screw you asshole!"

The young man playfully mocked her by making a heart with his hands.

"Not my fault if Jing is the best in the promotion at that," he added while glancing at the Easterner girl.

"Looks like the Simperial is making a move," another voice said in a mocking tone.

They all turned around to see Azad grinning and waving innocently at Cyrus.

"It's Sir 'Imma gonna stare at those abs' who's talking?"

"Yup and I regret nothing."

"Cut it out you two," Elizabeth, who was next to the dark skinned boy, ordered them sternly. "It's starting."

The two young men shut themselves up but not without flipping each other off in a friendly manner.

A man entered the amphitheater, scanning the students briefly. By judging from his clothes (a long dalmatic covered by a cloak, both richly decorated), he was an upper class from the Heartlands. He cleared his throat.

"Greetings. I am Magus-Commander Aelius Sejanus from the Shadow Legion."

Someone let a small cry of surprise escape them, others widened their eyes.

Caranya turned back to see Cyrus having that smile on his face. The one where he is so excited he can barely keep his joy under control. She grinned back at him.

"As you may have guessed it, I'll be your teacher, in a manner of speaking. But first, a quick question, who here is interested in joining the Shadow Legion?"

Pretty much all the hands in their corner rose with the exception of Maëlisse.

The man nodded. "Good, I hope I'll see you all once you graduate. Anyway, today I'll be talking to you about a very specific subject within the art of Conjuration and Necromancy, as it actually concerns both. Though I'm afraid its practice is forbidden to students. Who here can explain the definition of an Atronach?"

Jing raised her hand to answer.

Aelius froze a brief instant as he studied her face. Wait… is that…

"Yes miss…?"

"Jing Feng, Sir."

I could have sworn she looked like Mei Tharn… "so, Miss Feng, what can you tell me about them?"

"Atronachs are Elemental Daedra. They carry no kinship or particular affiliation within Oblivion but are rather the personification of their elements. The most commonly found are Flame, Frost, Storm and…" she hesitated before finishing her sentence, " Flesh."

"Well done, Miss Feng," the Officer Battlemage praised her. "You are indeed right but is there anything else you might know about them?"

"Mmmh… I know that their bodies can be shaped into different forms, even serving as mounts and…" she seemed to concentrate before something came back to her, "we can construct them bodies!"

Cyrus exchanged a glance with Black-Scales.

"You know what she meant with the last part?" the Argonian whispered.

"I… don't know. I don't remember seeing anything like that in our lessons."

Their small chatter was interrupted when the Battlemage spoke again. "Now that's not common knowledge, Miss Feng. I am impressed."

"Thank you Sir."

Aelius acknowledged the thanks with a small nod before gazing at the amphitheater. "The term 'Atronach' actually refers to two kinds of creatures. The more well known Elemental Daedra and Golems."

The students in front of him were quiet, instead attentively listening while having their pen taking notes as he spoke.

"Language misuse and their physical similarity in some cases blurred the lines between the two. You already know of the Elemental Daedra named Atronachs, it's the second category I will define. Now I'm sure some of you have already heard of Golems before, right? Those suits of armor animated by magic and that possess a will of their own?"

A few of them acknowledged his question with a nod.

"Well you see… they are actually part of that second kind of Atronach I just mentioned."

Nirya raised her hand.

"Yes?"

"Sir, does that mean the 'Golem' kind of Atronachs is actually working in a similar manner to the Dwemer animunculi?" she asked.

Aelius smiled before replying, "that's an interesting connection you make here, miss…?"

"Nirya Trebane, Sir."

"Right. Indeed, hard to not see similarities as both are artificial constructs who seem gifted with their own will. Alas, although my knowledge in Dwemer lore is lacking, I can assure you the process of creating an artificial Atronach is quite different than building a Dwemer automaton. Let me explain to you with a concrete example." He marked a pause to make sure the students were attentive. "I'm sure you remember what Miss Feng said earlier when she enumerated the most common categories of Atronachs, Flame, Frost, Storm and… Flesh. This is where things become interesting," he said with a smile.

Some students paled which wasn't missed by the speaker.

"Now, of course I won't be showing any images or details to protect the most sensitive of you," he reassured his audience. "To come back to the topic at hand, most if not all Flesh Atronachs that you may encounter on Mundus are actually artificial constructs rather than summoned Daedra. The reason for that is simple, they are the products of different bodies being stitched together before having a daedric vestige bind to them."

Upon hearing the explanation, Cyrus frowned before raising his hand.

"Yes…?"

"Cyrus of Argos, Sir. You said that artificially constructed Flesh Atronachs are created by stitching bodies together and then binding vestige to the new corpse… wouldn't that make artificial Flesh Atronachs undead?" the boy pointed out.

The Shadow Legion high graded nodded. "Very well at noticing. Indeed, due to their particular creation's process, those kinds of Flesh Atronachs are actually undead unlike the other types of Golems. But they are the exception, not the rule, the principle however remains the same : a vestige is bound to a pre-constructed body to animate it. Now I know it sounds simple like that but the artificial body needs to follow rules depending on what kind of Atronachs you want to build, like using fire salts for Flame Atronach."

As he gazed at the perplexed faces of the students, he continued. "Now, you may be asking yourselves, 'why would anyone make an artificial Flame Atronach when I can simply summon one?' Well, you're right, it's much easier to simply conjure an Atronach than building one from scratch but an Atronach you built yourself may possess modifications rendering it more powerful than a regular conjured creature. Another advantage includes the fact it is actually tied to Mundus and thus does not require to be highly skilled in Conjuration to maintain it indefinitely. The fabrication of Golems is a field on its own that offers many possibilities for those interested."

The rest of the discourse went on as the Battlemage Officer explained by making comparisons between Elemental Daedra and Golems, detailing several types of Atronachs that were, to this day, only known as artificial constructs.

"I thank you for your interest," he said as a closing statement.

Groups of students formed as they left the amphitheater.

"Can you imagine guys? When we will join the Shadow Legion, we'll get to make our own Atronachs! I want a bear one!" Erik, the tall Nord friend of Cyrus announced.

"To crush into a bear hug like you do every time to everyone?" Nag ironically asked him.

"Yes," his friend answered honestly, missing the sarcasm in the Orc's tone.

"Did I ever tell you I'm good at stitching stuff?" Cyrus said with a wide smile.

Maëlisse facepalmed. "I don't like where this is going." She turned to Caranya with a pleading look. "Can you do something? The boys are all starting to go south about that 'Golem crafting business'."

The brunette Altmer crossed her arms over her chest. "Why are you asking me?"

"Because at least one of them will listen?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, I guess." She clapped her hands. "Children! Calm yourselves, day's not over!"

"Last time I checked, we were still on break, 'teacher'," Black-Scales replied back, his lips spreading into a smirk.

The Altmer turned back to the young witch apprentice. "Well, I tried."

The Breton girl sighed before grinning. "Boys will be boys."

Cyrus suddenly slipped his arm over her shoulder. "That's why you like us, right?"

She punched his arm in a playful manner. "Definitely, Dragonboy."