Kagrenac's Tools

*For the book of the same name, see Kagrenac's Tools (Book).*
The **Kagrenac's Tools**, often called the **Tools of Kagrenac**, are the legendary artifacts crafted by the Dwemer Tonal Architect Lord Kagrenac. Each tool served a specific purpose to siphon the power of the Heart of Lorkhan, via tonal manipulation of the laws of nature. The tools are Wraithguard, Keening, and Sunder.

## The Tools

### Wraithguard

*Main article: Wraithguard*
Wraithguard, a gauntlet created to safely wield the weapon tools, Sunder and Keening. Wielding the weapons without the gauntlet will often lead to the instant death of the wielder. Wraithguard also functions to empower the abilities of Keening and Sunder. Accounts of its appearance vary, but it typically looks like a gauntlet made of a material comparable to brass. It is also known as the Wraith Mail.

### Keening

*Main article: Keening*
The sword blade or a dagger, Keening was created to flay and focus the power that the hammer Sunder produced. In song, its described as a dagger made of the sound of the shadow of the moons.

### Sunder

*Main article: Sunder*
The hammer Sunder was created to produce a specific amount of power from the Heart. When struck by Sunder, the Heart would release godlike power. It is described as a hammer of divine mass.

## History

### Creation of the Tools and Disappearance of the Dwemer

In the First Era, Dwemer miners discovered a mysterious, magical stone beneath Red Mountain where Lord Kagrenac, the Tonal Architect determined that this stone was the Heart of Lorkhan, and constructed the tools to harness its powers. Than his goal was to create a new god called the Anumidium, This god took the form of a colossal brass golem called Numidium, a key to the Dwemeri bid for ascension, be it godhood, immortality, or something greater. By 1E 700, Kagrenac constructed Anumidium without the knowledge of the Dwemer King Dumac which the Chimer learned of it, however, and Dumac's claims of innocence when confronted by his friend Lord Nerevar sparked the War of the First Council. The war culminated with the Battle of Red Mountain; while again accounts vary widely, most agree that Nerevar, Dagoth Ur, and others made their way into the Heart Chamber beneath the Dwarven citadel.

In the ensuing battle, Kagrenac used the Tools on the Heart of Lorkhan, which caused the Dwemer vanished from Nirn. Nerevar himself was murdered after and by the Tribunal took possession of Kagrenac's tools, and used them to make themselves gods. Although the tools were under the care of the Tribunal, in 2E 582, fragments of Sunder's haft were circulating as contraband in various markets.[*source?*]

### The Return of Dagoth Ur and Sotha Sil's Tools

The following millenia later in 2E 882, Dagoth Ur awakened and ambushed the Tribunal during their annual pilgrimage to Red Mountain to renew their divine powers. The event resulted the Tribunal being cut off from access to the Heart of Lorkhan, and launched intermittent campaigns to assault Red Mountain. However two of the three tools, Keening and Sunder, were lost during a campaign in 3E 417. The weapons were then split among two different Ash Vampires, with Dagoth Odros guarding Keening within the citadel of Odrosal, and Dagoth Vemyn guarding Sunder within the citadel of Vemynal.

The loss of the Heart led Sotha Sil developed his own variant of the Heart of Lorkhan, the Mechanical Heart which siphon the Mechanical Heart's power, Sotha Sil created his own variants of the Tools to control, shape, or even dismantle it if necessary. He foresaw his eventual death at the hands of Almalexia, and eventually hid his tools as a precaution across Nirn to prevent the Heart's power from being stolen. The location of the tools was lost after his demise, though some tales describe a Forgotten Hero reclaiming them in 4E 201.

### The Destruction of the Heart of Lorkhan

In the Third Era, an outlander who believed by many to be the reincarnation of Nerevar, was sent by Emperor Uriel Septim VII arrived in Vvardenfell and he eventually become the Nerevarine. After many trials, and towards the end of their journey, the Nerevarine was ready to head into Red Mountain. They recovered Wraithguard from Vivec, and assaulted the Sixth House citadels to obtain Keening and Sunder. The Nerevarine went on to defeated Dagoth Ur and destroy the enchantments on the Heart of Lorkhan, which the heart was seemingly disappeared from the world.

### Return to Skyrim

While the Tools would eventually leave the collection of the Nerevarine. By the Fourth Era, Sunder and Wraithguard found their way into the hands of a group of smugglers in 4E 05, who attempted to smuggle them through Skyrim and into Hammerfell, using the refugees fleeing the effects of the Red Year as cover. Unknown to them, the Tools had a fail-safe system implemented within them in order to prevent the Tools from ever leaving Morrowind. The fail-safe was a signal indicated by a tuneless and quiet singing that activated a Tamriel-wide network of drones, which sought to retrieve the Tools if they were taken out of Morrowind. After retrieving the Tools, they would then deposit them in a vault until a Tonal Architect could come and retrieve them. Seeking to put a stop to the attacks, some of the caravan captains betrayed their employer and handed Sunder and Wraithguard over to the drones. A scholar working under the same employer oversaw the delivery of the cargo, and learned of this, and managed to track the items in the snowy wastes southwest of Winterhold, to a vault located in Sightless Pit. She became trapped within it and died before an expedition could be organized to find her.[*source?*]

In 4E 201, Keening found its way into Skyrim when the mage Arniel Gane requested the delivery of it for research. By this time, the blade was no longer dangerous to wield without Wraithguard. Keening was briefly lost along the way when the courier died. Arniel used the blade on a warped soul gem to reproduce the events which led to the disappearance of the Dwemer; unfortunately, the experiment was a success, and Arniel vanished. The blade then passed into the possession of the Last Dragonborn, who had aided Arniel in his endeavor.

### The Hunt for the Kagrenac's Tools

During the Fifth Era, Marcella the Dragonborn-Goddess sent a unknown hero to hunt down the Tools. Eventually he recovered the tools completely however he defeated Mathis Valen, and the hero return to Judhofkiin where the tools are safe keeping as well stopped attempts of getting into the wrong hands and might to return to Morrowind with the Tools in the good hands.

## Appearances

* *The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind*
* *The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim*
* *The Elder Scrolls VI: Invasion*

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 *Kagrenac's Tools (Book)*
2. ↑ Dialogue of Baladas Demnevanni in *The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind*
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Events of *The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind*
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 *Five Songs of King Wulfharth*
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 *Nerevar at Red Mountain*
6. ↑ *Progress of Truth*
7. ↑ Dialogue of Yagrum Bagarn
8. ↑ *The Battle of Red Mountain*
9. ↑ *Dagoth Ur's Plans*
10. ↑ Events of *The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim*

**Notice**: The following are unlicensed references. They are not copyrighted by a ZeniMax Media company, but can still be considered part of *The Elder Scrolls* lore and are included for completeness.
1. ↑ Skeleton Man's Interview with Denizens of Tamriel