User blog:Emeraldblade95/Pure Good Proposal: Erandur



''Note: This proposal is on hold until November 8. Please do not vote on this proposal until the aforementioned date arrives.''

A proposal for Erandur from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. I've never nominated a character from The Elder Scrolls Series in the past, so I decided to give it a try.

What is the Work?
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is the fifth installment in the Elder Scrolls series. The role-playing type game tells the story about a powerful hero called the Dragonborn, an individual who has the body of a mortal, but the soul of a dragon.

The Dragonborn learns more about what it means to have this powerful gift, but later learns that they must use it to defeat a powerful, near immortal villain named Alduin, an arrogant black dragon who was the first-born of the god of time Akatosh who wishes to reborn all evil dragons to enslave mortals and devour their souls.

The Dragonborn gains advice from Paarthurnax, the leader of the Greybeards and obtains an elder scroll to learn a powerful shout called Dragonrend, which will enable them to ground Alduin. This shout manages to prove useful, as it allows the Dragonborn to defeat Alduin initially, but the black dragon retreats to Sovngarde to devour the souls of the deceased Nordic Heroes of old.

The Dragonborn captures Odahviing, Alduin's right-hand man and in exchange for releasing him, Odahviing switches sides and helps the dragon travel to Sovngarde, where they meet the three original heroes who defeated Alduin originally as well as other heroes (some of which will appear there depending on which quests have been completed over the course of the game's other plots).

The Dragonborn then fights Alduin, alongside the heroes, Tsun and various allies and enemies they made throughout the course of the other quest lines such as Ulfric Stormcloak, Galmar Stone-Fist, Legate Rikke, Kodlak Whitemane, and High King Torrygg. They all manage to defeat Alduin, who upon death disintegrates into nothingness.

After the fateful victory, The Dragonborn returns to The Throat of the World, where Paarthurnax, Odahviing, and several other dragons rejoice over the Dragonborns victory. Other characters such as guards will also thank the Dragonborn for saving their lives whenever they interact with them afterwards.

In addition to the main questline, there are other major quest lines in-game as well, such as one pertaining to the Civil War, The Companions, and even most of the Daedraic Princes, the latter of which is where Erandur comes into play.

Who is He? What has He Done?
Erandur is a Dunmer (Dark Elf) priest and healer who has a dark, tragic past.

Erandur was originally known as Brother Casimir, and was a devoted follower to Vaermina, the Daedric Prince of Dreams and Nightmares. Like most Daedra, Vaermina was considered evil and malevolent, and would often times plague the dreams of innocents with traumatizing nightmares to absorb there power, she often did so through a powerful artifact known as the Skull of Corruption. Her followers where essentially a devoted cult that followed a strict code of loyalty. Under the strict code, Casimir was unable to speak to anyone outside the Nightcaller Temple and as a result had what he would later recall as "no real childhood".

Eventually, after years of "devoted" service to the cult, the temple was invaded by a group of vengeful Orcs who were previously plagued by Vaermina's nightmares and sought vengeance. They quickly overpowered the temple's priests, forcing Casimir's superiors to resort to releasing "The Miasma", a purplish gas that would cause all who inhaled it to fall asleep. Casimir was tasked to released the gas, and even though he was successful in carrying it out, he did not want to fall victim to the gas's effects and fled the temple.

Eventually Casimir was brought in by a kind priest of Mara, a benevolent aedra that taught her followers love and compassion for their family and friends. Although hesitate to adjust to the new lifestyle initially, Casimir eventually warmed up to the more welcoming environment and eventually became a priest of Mara himself, whilst changing his name to Erandur to disassociate himself from the evil cult of Vaermina.

Eventually, he was forced to return to Dawnstar to locate and destroy the Skull of Corruption inside the desolate Nightcaller Temple in order to free innocent citizens from being plagued from Vaermina's nightmare, which he attributed the nightmares to. He recites the Dragonborn to help him, where he confesses his dark past to the Dragonborn but wishes to make amends for it by stopping Vaermina's influence on Dawnstar.

The two of them locate a powerful elixir called Vaermina's Torpor, which the Dragonborn uses to travel to a dream-like realm called the Dreamstride and remove an impassable barrier that is blocking them from the Skull of Corruption. During this time, the Dragonborn witnesses the memory of Erandur releasing the Miasma, before returning to reality and removing the barrier.

The two of them make there way to the Skull of Corruption, but are confronted by Veren and Thorek, two of Erandur's friends. Veren and Thorek call Erandur a traitor and a coward for fleeing from the temple and attempt to kill him for his treachery, leading two Erandur and the Dragonborn to no choice but to reluctantly and mercifully kill them in return, which Erandur states he regrets doing. Erandur finally approaches the Skull of Corruption and performs a ritual which if successful would stop the nightmares from plaguing Dawnstar and send the Skull back to Oblivion (TES's equivalent to hell). Vaermina, angered by this, contacts the Dragonborn telepathically and lies to them by claiming that Erandur will turn on them after the ritual is complete, and asks the Dragonborn to kill him before this happens.

If the Dragonborn refuses Vaermina's command, Erandur will complete the ritual and become satisfied with his daring accomplishment, and thank the dragonborn for helping him in the predicament; in exchange, he offers his services as a follower in return (and thus proving that Vaermina was in fact lying to the Dragonborn).

Corrupting Factors
In the past, he was a member of an evil cult, but it is clearly implied by his in-game backstory that he did not like their teachings.

He and the Dragonborn do kill his [former] friends Veren and Thorek towards the end of the quest, but this was out of mercy as he was forced to, and he states after that that he regretted doing that.

Admirable Standards
Erandur is a devoted Priest to Mara, the goddess of love and compassion in the Elder Scrolls universe. Under Mara's teachings and his sense of redemption, Erandur is willing to help the innocent people of Dawnstar in anyway possible and defeat Vaermina from causing further harm in the real-world.

Erandur is not wrathful and cares about his friends and allies deeply, and even though he is forced to kill Veren and Thorek, this was not his original intention, as he originally meant to reconcile and convince them of why the Skull of Corruption was dangerous, even though this action did not work. As a standard trait of a typical PG individual, he regrets killing them afterward, even he was aware he had no choice.

Being a priest, Erandur is considered a pacifist, and only resorts to violence as a last resort; this is a trait that truly stands out in-game as most of the Dragonborn and his/her allies are usually warriors or mages who regularly participate in combat willingly.

Final Verdict
I think Erandur qualifies, do you?