Lore:Nulfaga

(later titled Dowager Queen, Queen Mother, and variations thereof, also known as the Mad Witch of the Wrothgarian Mountains)  was the wife of King   and mother of King  , both of the Kingdom of  .   Nulfaga was a renowned mystic,  and kept as her familiar a  ,  . In  , Nulfaga located the  , the heart of the ancient golem  , in her astral travels. 

During the   in  , Nulfaga foresaw her son's doom and withdrew to her castle,  , in the  . When word came that Lysandus had died during the  , slain by an arrow to the throat, the news drove her mad with grief. In reality, King Lysandus had been assassinated before the battle, and when his ghost began haunting the streets of   at night, Emperor   sent an   of the   to investigate.   This agent found Nulfaga alive (but still mad). Nulfaga regained her senses after the agent unmasked and took down Lysandus' murderer, allowing his spirit to rest at last. Nulfaga later sent the agent to   to retrieve the Mantella, an act which led to the phenomenon known as the  .  
 

History
Early Life
 
Little is known about Nulfaga's early life. She was a noblewoman; though it isn't known from where, she kept a castle,  , deep in the  .  Nulfaga was Queen of   during the reign of her husband,  , and Dowager Queen and Queen Mother upon the ascension of their son   to the throne.   

In addition, Nulfaga was a noted sorceress, sometimes described as a mystic, witch, or necromancer.    During one of her astral travels in  , Nulfaga discovered the resting place of the  , a gem that served as the power source of  's ultimate weapon, the colossal   automaton known as  .   For centuries, the   had been reassembling the golem after its destruction at the dawn of the  , and the Mantella was one of the final pieces needed to reactivate it.   Nulfaga informed Emperor   of her discovery, but refused to divulge its location—within the  , a plane of  —unless the Emperor assured her the result wouldn't damage her son's power.  However, the matter soon took a back seat to a quickly brewing conflict.  

The War of Betony
thumb|left|Skakmat, Nulfaga's familiar
In  , a land dispute between the kingdoms of Daggerfall and   threatened to erupt into war. The queen mother and court sorceress   (who was secretly King Lysandus' mistress) both foresaw doom for Daggerfall and Lysandus. The king ignored their advice, however, and the   commenced.   

As the war progressed into  , all the major victories went to Daggerfall. Spirits were high among the king and court, but Nulfaga was unmoved.  Queen   had learned of her husband's affair and banished Medora from court in his absence, and Nulfaga decided to leave as well, withdrawing to Castle   in the  .    The dowager queen left behind her   familiar   to report on happenings in Daggerfall.  Lysandus was troubled by his mother's departure enough to make an attempt at peace; this turned into a bloodbath and set up the final showdown at  .   

The battle was joined when a thick, unnatural fog settled upon the battlefield, blinding the combatants. The mist was created by Skakmat, on Nulfaga's orders, in a last-ditch effort to prevent her son's death. When it lifted, however, King Lysandus lay dead, his throat pierced by an archer's arrow.    The news of Lysandus' death drove his mother mad with grief, a situation made worse when his ghost began haunting the streets of Daggerfall.    The dowager queen locked herself away within Shedungent, experimenting in magical studies with no regard for her own safety. 

Lysandus' Revenge
thumb|right|Castle Shedungent
In  , the Emperor sent an   of the Blades to investigate why his old friend Lysandus' spirit was restless.   The agent was sent by ship down the   to the City of Daggerfall, but upon crossing the   a storm of "supernatural strength" suddenly hit and wrecked the ship upon a  .  The storm was indeed supernatural; an unknown individual had learned of the agent's mission and convinced Nulfaga that the ship carried the murderer of Lysandus, so the witch conjured the storm in her madness. 

The agent survived the storm, and eventually visited Shedungent numerous times. The first was at the behest of Queen   of Daggerfall, who was worried about the dowager queen's health and mental condition (she was alive, but still lost in her grief). 

Medora also required the agent's assistance; she had retreated to the   on the Isle of   after her banishment, but Mynisera placed a curse upon her which trapped her inside. Breaking the curse required a great unicorn horn, and the sorceress sent the agent to Nulfaga to see if she could help. However, her mind was still broken, so the agent ventured into Shedungent and stole the horn for Medora. 

Once the curse was lifted, Medora and the agent were able to soothe Lysandus' spirit enough to learn his assassin's name, Lord   of  .   The agent exposed and took down Woodborne; Lysandus' spirit was able to rest at last, and Nulfaga was able to regain her senses once again.   

The Mantella
thumb|left|The Mantella
Lord Woodborne had once possessed the  , an artifact that would allow a noble bearer to control Numidium.   He had planned to use it in a bid for power, but before his death the Totem had a new owner—Woodborne's co-conspirator (and Nulfaga's grandson), King   of Daggerfall.    The agent retrieved the artifact from the Castle Daggerfall treasury, and a bidding war quickly ensued among the major powers of the bay. The agent chose a bearer ( , seven powers appear to have simultaneously received the Totem).   

The Mantella, still resting within the  , remained the only piece needed to activate Numidium, and Nulfaga then sent the agent to the   to retrieve it. Upon the Mantella's return to   in  , Numidium sprang to life as seven realities converged in the event known as the  .    It is not known what became of Nulfaga following these events.
 

Notes
Nulfaga is listed as a   in TES II: Daggerfall.

See Also
For more information on Nulfaga, see the Daggerfall article

References