Template:Anti-Hero Infobox
| “ | I am likely the greatest wizard you will ever meet. Who else do you think could create a staff enchanter? | „ |
| ~ Neloth |
Neloth is a master Telvanni wizard-lord in both The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim DLC: Dragonborn. He is one of the oldest surviving members of House Telvanni and a reluctant ally towards the Nerevarine and the Dragonborn.
Personality
Neloth is very anti-heroic, thus is a reluctant supporter towards the Nerevarine and the Dragonborn, being that he does not display gratitude (calling it weak and foolish), and is very arrogant about his research and status. He is quite snobbish, often critiquing (and criticizing) particular individuals.
He commonly believes that he is one of, if not, the greatest wizard on the face of Tamriel. He will be reluctant to train the Dragonborn into helping them with their enchanting skill, but will stop once they reach level 90, claiming that he does not want them to surpass himself in the skill.
Role
In The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim DLC Dragonborn, Neloth is first met at the Earth Stone located just outside Raven Rock in Solstheim, if the dragonborn touches the corrupted stone, he will notice that they show strong resistance towards Miraak's influence and will offer to tell him/her who Miraak exactly is and where they can find him. He will then retreat towards his home at Tel Mithryn where he will remain for most of the game.
After the dragonborn confronts Miraak for the first time and is then sent back to await his comeback to Tamriel, the dragonborn is told by the Skaal elder to confront him in his home, where he reveals that Miraak resides in Hermaeus Mora's domain called Apocrypha, which is linked via a collection of forbidden artifacts called Black Books. He tells them that he holds one such volume, but it is not linked to Miraak, stating that it would be useless for the dragonborn to confront Miraak again. He does reveal the location of another volume that is connected to Miraak located at the dweller ruin called Nchardak and tells the Dragonborn to meet him there.
In order to successfully obtain the book, the dragonborn and Neloth must collect a total of 5 dweller puzzle cubes in order to activate four steam pipes that work the mechanism that seals the book away. Once obtained the dragonborn will travel into Apocrypha and confront Hermaeus Mora after traveling through a maze of forbidden knowledge.
After obtaining the book and killing Miraak, Neloth will check to see if the dragonborn to see if they have been corrupted by Hermaeus Mora's influence should they encounter him again. He will be able to reveal the locations of other volumes of Black Books for the dragonborn to obtain so that he can add it to his research.
Neloth's steward Varona will soon disappear mysteriously after completely Nchardak. He will ask the dragonborn to explore the surrounding area to find her, only to discover her dead, having been killed by a group of ash spawn. Once this discovery is revealed to Neloth, he will tell the dragonborn to go to Raven Rock and look for a potential new steward for him, nearly everyone will reject the offer, but one employee at the local tavern, Dovas will be willing to become the wizard's new steward. Once the dragonborn returns he will reluctantly accept Dovas as his new steward but will criticize him for making an awful cup of canis root tea. He will also reward them the ability to use his staff enchanter and use his Black Book.
Following the death of his former steward, Neloth will then ask the dragonborn to search for the source of ash spawn attacks that have been attacking his home within the recent past, the dragonborn will discover the source coming from the empty grave of his former apprentice, Ildari Sarothril, and upon revealing this information to Neloth, initially think that she was dead after a "failed" experiment, he will discover that she is indeed still alive and is likely the one behind the attacks.
Neloth will ask the dragonborn to travel to Highpoint Tower, the location where his former apprentice-turned-enemy is hiding out, tell him/her to kill her and then report back to him once finished, expressing them to be willing to tell him about "an interesting way they killed her". Once accomplished, the dragonborn will return the heartstone lodged inside Ildari's chest back to him, where he will honorably reward him/her with the title of an official member of House Telvanni (making them a member a nobility).
Neloth will also ask the Dragonborn to help him with several of his experiments, such as collecting a briarheart from a Forsworn Briarheart (and analyzing the process of how the briarheart is placed into the individual's body via a memory inside the dragonborn's mind), extracting a sample from ash spawn remains, having him/her test a perk he created and report back any side effects to him, and collecting a novel that will help him understand the usage of heart heartstones.
