Lore:Clavicus Vile

Clavicus Vile, also known as the Prince of Trickery and Bargains, the Master of Insidious Wishes,   Child-god of the Morningstar,  and Nycot to some Second Era cultists who lacked the ability to read Daedric script,  is a Daedric Prince whose sphere is the granting of power and wishes through ritual invocations and pacts.  He is seen as one of the more "sophisticated" of the Daedric Princes,  and often appears in the guise of a jovial Skaafin,    a race of horned Daedra that inhabit the Fields of Regret, his realm in Oblivion. 

Clavicus finds eternity to be "boring", so he finds entertainment in watching mortals and occasionally meddling in their affairs.  He has been known to be the patron to vampires, gracing them with social stature, reason and savvy, allowing them to not only live among regular mortals, but to hold powerful positions in society.  However, not all of Vile's machinations are necessarily insidious; he has been known to reward those who, on his direction, eliminate threats to the general public (while still serving his own interests). 

Vile is rarely seen without his loyal companion, Barbas.  Barbas typically assumes the form of a dog,   but is also known to appear as a Scamp named Creeper.   The two are so close, Barbas is almost universally depicted alongside his master in artwork and statuary.   In fact, Vile has been known to store up to half his power within Barbas.  These facts have led to speculation that the pair are, in fact, two halves of the same being. 

Clavicus Vile is an enemy of Ebonarm.  Clavicus Vile's summoning day coincides with the New Life Festival, the 1  of Morning Star.  

Mythology
thumb|left|Barbas, outside Falkreath
Barbas
 
 

History
The   necromancer   claims that Clavicus Vile was born before the stars were, and that his name preceded, and therefore inspired, the concepts it connotes.  Some of the earliest evidence of Clavicus Vile's comes in the form of ancient idols and cave paintings dating back to the  . They depict Clavicus Vile standing with Barbas by his side. 
thumb|right|Clavicus Vile in his realm
Second Era
In the sixth century, at the height of the Khanaten Flu within Black Marsh, the Kothringi people were on the verge of extinction. In a desperate effort to save themselves, a singular tribe in Northern Shadowfen turned to the Daedra for help. Clavicus Vile offered to save their tribe at the cost of their mortality, and they accepted; surviving, but becoming undead unable to die. They would continue their way of life until  , when the Vestige discovered the truth of the tribe and was given a choice by Clavicus Vile; They could break the curse and kill the last of the Kothringi, including those who wanted to continue living, or they could doom the rest of the unwilling Kothringi to continue their suffering forevermore. Which fate the Vestige picked for the Kothringi is unknown. 

At some point in the Early Second Era, Clavicus Vile formed a secretive alliance known only as 'The Triad,' pacting with two other princes, Mephala and Nocturnal. Their goal was to gain total control of Nirn by any means possible. Their first known target was the mythical Crystal Tower on Summerset. As part of their scheme, Clavicus Vile made a deal with the Sloads of Ul'vor Kus—he would give them the island of Summerset in exchange for a piece of Transparent Law, the 'Stone' of the Crystal Tower. The Cabal of Sea Sloads brainwashed the Ritemaster of the Psijic Order, Iachesis, into stealing Transparent Law, but Nocturnal secretly betrayed Clavicus Vile and Mephala and helped Iachesis hide the Stone from the rest of the Triad until such time as she could move forward with her own plans. Iachesis then moved the island of Artaeum off of Nirn entirely to avoid falling under the influence of the Princes yet again. With the Triad's plan seemingly foiled, they moved on and began to plot their next move. 

Following this, the Triad found that their next target would be the fabled Clockwork City. While the Triad began their attempts to locate it, Barbas enacted his own plan in an attempt to please his master. The Prince's companion infiltrated Vvardenfell and utilized godly energy he had siphoned from Vivec to locate and invade the Clockwork City. Barbas's invasion was thwarted by the Vestige, and Vivec's stolen energy returned seconds before Baar Dau crashed into Vivec City. Had this plot not been foiled this would have caused great devastation to Vvardenfell. Barbas nevertheless succeeded in locating the Clockwork City for his master Clavicus Vile. 

Now knowing how to enter the Clockwork City, the Triad quickly launched a full-scale coup within it. Nocturnal replaced Sotha Sil with a shadowy replica and imprisoned the Clockwork God within his own throne. The Vestige would once again intervene and free Sotha Sil, seemingly foiling the Triad's plans once more. In reality, however, Nocturnal had tricked Clavicus Vile and Mephala once more and succeeded in stealing crucial information for the final part of her plan. 

The Triad turned their attention once more to the Crystal Tower following this failure, seeking some way to find the missing Heart of Transparent Law or otherwise gain entrance to the Tower. Clavicus Vile would send the Abyssal Cabal to Summerset once more in an attempt to hunt down Iachesis and pull the location from his mind. This chase would eventually lead into Nocturnal's realm, Evergloam, where her treachery was revealed and it was discovered that the Heart was hidden within Iachesis himself. Clavicus Vile and Mephala both immediately manifested within the realm to claim it, only for Nocturnal to banish them both and rip it out of the Ritemaster herself. Nocturnal, utilizing a technique stolen from the Clockwork City and the omnipresent nature of the Crystal Tower, would attempt to drain the life out of every single reality and use that power to become everything. Clavicus Vile begrudgingly allied himself with the Psijic Order and the Vestige in order to stop her, granting them access to the Crystal Tower's counterpart in his own realm and having Barbas lead the charge against Nocturnal's invading forces. After the Vestige succeeded in finally putting a stop to Nocturnal's plot, Clavicus Vile joined the Coldharbour Compact alongside Mephala and disbanded the Triad for good. 

The famed hero Cyrus the Redguard ventured into Clavicus Vile's realm in  , seeking the soul of his sister, Iszara. Vile kindly gave him an opportunity to have it—the two gambled, the Prince wagering Iszara's soul, and Cyrus wagering his own.   

Third Era
Around  , an agent of the Blades working in the Iliac Bay region summoned Clavicus Vile. The Prince agreed to give the agent the Masque of Clavicus Vile in exchange for killing a werewolf that was terrorizing the area.

The Bittercup, a relic associated with the Prince became the focus of a Thieves Guild operation in Vvardenfell in  .   The Nerevarine retrieved the artifact from the ruins of Ald Redaynia and used it to bribe Eydis Fire-Eye, a member of the Balmora Fighters Guild and secret worshipper of Clavicus Vile.  

The Nerevarine also came into possession of the legendary sword Umbra, by defeating its previous owner, an Orc named Umbra, who had grown tired of life.  The Nerevarine later sold the sword to Torasa Aram, curator of Mournhold's Museum of Artifacts. 

Umbra resurfaced in Cyrodiil in  . Vile tasked the Champion of Cyrodiil with retrieving the sword from a Bosmer named Umbra, in exchange for his Masque. However, Barbas attempted to dissuade the Champion from doing so, saying the sword was "bad business" and if Clavicus regained the sword it would "ruin him".  It is unclear whether or not the Champion returned the sword, but it was known to be in the Prince's possession a few years later.  

Fourth Era
A floating island, Umbriel, appeared in the skies of Tamriel In  . It was a chunk of Clavicus Vile's realm of Oblivion, torn away with the aid of Umbra, by the Dunmer Vuhon and his new ingenium with the aid of Umbra.  This event was known as the Umbriel Crisis.  This not only significantly impacted Tamriel, but also greatly weakened Clavicus Vile. Eventually, Clavicus Vile was able to regain the power he lost due to the crisis.   

In  , Barbas approached the Last Dragonborn outside of Falkreath in Skyrim for help. He and Clavicus had gotten into a heated argument, and the Prince kicked Barbas out until he could get someone to settle things. Barbas led the Dragonborn to a vampire-infested shrine to his master. After killing the vampires (who were seeking a cure, inadvertently granted), Vile asked the Dragonborn to retrieve an artifact, the Rueful Axe. Upon returning with the axe, Vile offered to let the Dragonborn keep it in exchange for killing Barbas, though Barbas suggested the Prince offer his Masque instead though it is not known which option the Dragonborn took. 

Artifacts
thumb|right|150px|The Bittercup (Morrowind)
Bittercup
 
 

thumb|right|150px|The Masque Of Clavicus Vile (Skyrim)
Masque of Clavicus Vile
 
 

thumb|right|150px|Umbra (Skyrim)
Umbra
 

 
thumb|right|150px|The Rueful Axe (Skyrim)
The Rueful Axe
  

 
Feyfolken
Feyfolken is a (possibly fictional) artifact of Clavicus Vile, which is the subject of a historical fiction book. It is a quill enchanted with the soul of a Daedric servant of Clavicus Vile named Feyfolken, at the request of Thaurbad, a sage for the Temple of Auri-El.  It transfigures the writing of the user into scripture of unparalleled quality.  The trade-off of wielding such an item is that the quill manipulates the thoughts of its holder. In the case of Thaurbad, he was driven to suicide, even writing notes to whoever would discover his body. 

Fields of Regret
 

See Also
For game-specific information, see the Daggerfall, Redguard, Oblivion, Skyrim, and ESO articles.

Books




Gallery
 

References