Clavicus Vile

*For the quest of the same name, see Clavicus Vile (Quest).*
**Clavicus Vile** (in Daedric script, ), also known as the **child-god of the Morningstar**, **Master of Insidious Wishes**, and the **Prince of Bargains**, is one of the seventeen Daedric Princes. He is best known for granting wishes and entering into pacts with mortals. He is the Daedric Prince of Power, Trickery, Wishes, Serenity, and Bargains. His plane of Oblivion is known as The Fields of Regret.

## By game

* Clavicus Vile (Daggerfall)
* Clavicus Vile (Redguard)
* Clavicus Vile (Oblivion)
* Clavicus Vile (Skyrim)
* Clavicus Vile (Online)

## Invocation

The summoning date of Clavicus Vile is 1st of Morning Star. Clavicus most often takes the form of a small, impish man, with a pair of horns, though he has also manifested as a red mist.[*source?*]

## Personality

Clavicus' dealings with Mundus are usually with individuals who wish to have something and, by summoning him, Clavicus gives it to them. However, he is known to take back his deals at inopportune times (for the summoner, not Vile). He loves toying with mortals, generally for his own entertainment rather than for any particular purpose, and has been said to be fond of mortals' souls. This has lead some to believe he is, unlike many other Daedric Princes, a deeply social being.

Clavicus has been known to split off portions of himself to create sentient objects or entities. While the permanent binding of spirits into objects is the usual process of creating Daedric Artifacts and Lesser Daedra, Vile's creations have shown more independence than those of most other Daedra's creations. It has been theorized that these creations serve, in part, to meet a desire for companionship the Daedric Prince has. These independent fragments are discussed below.

### Barbas

*Main article: Barbas*
Barbas is a shapeshifting Daedra who houses a significant proportion of Vile's power. He most often takes the form of a dog, but has been known to appear as a Scamp called Creeper. It is possible that Barbas has a degree of precognition, as he warned that returning the Umbra Sword to Vile would bring trouble to his realm, foreshadowing Umbra's escape and the creation of the floating city Umbriel. Despite being of use to Vile, Barbas has been known to bore or annoy the Prince, driving him to abandon Barbas in the Fourth Era.

### Umbra

*Main article: Umbra*
Originally created as the Umbra Sword, Umbra is either a part of Vile that gained its own sentience within the sword, by accident or design, or a being that Vile somehow trapped within the sword. It ultimately broke free of Vile's will, creating a body for itself but remaining trapped within Vile's Realm. In order to escape, it forged a pact with the Dunmer mage Vuhon, providing the power necessary to create the floating city Umbriel.

## Artifacts

Thanks to his penchant for deals and gifts with mortals, Vile has a large number of Daedric Artifacts associated with him. These are listed below.

### Bitter Cup

*Main article: Bitter Cup*
The Bitter Cup is an artifact associated with Clavicus Vile, and is known for being highly sacred to his followers. It was believed lost in the ruins of Ald Redaynia. It is possible that it was recovered by the Nerevarine in the Third Era.

### Feyfolken

*Main article: Feyfolken*
A piece of fiction written by Waughin Jarth which tells the story of a scribe and an enchanted quill. The scribe had been having trouble selling his stories to his employers and was not making any money; in a last-ditch effort to making things better for himself, he took his quill to some mages who offered to enchant the pen. They infused the quill with the spirit of a Daedra called Feyfolken, who was, unbeknownst to everyone there, a servant of Clavicus Vile. Since the quill had been enchanted, it gave great benefit to the Scribe, but sooner or later Feyfolken got into the Scribe's head and drove him insane, and even convinced the man to take his own life. When that finally happened, Clavicus took the enchanted quill, along with the Scribe's soul.

### Masque of Clavicus Vile

*Main article: Masque of Clavicus Vile*
Originally made from a deal between Vile and a disfigured noblewoman, the Masque makes its wearer more persuasive, and has been seen around Tamriel throughout the Third and Fourth Eras.

### Rueful Axe

*Main article: Rueful Axe*
The Rueful Axe was allegedly given to a wizard named Sebastian Lort, who asked Vile for a way to cure his daughter's lycanthropy. It later found its way into Vile's possession as a gift for his champions.

### Umbra Sword

*Main article: Umbra Sword*

The Umbra Sword was created by Naenra Waerr to trap souls, at Clavicus Vile's request. As part of the creation process, Vile imbued it with part of his essence. Over time, the part of Vile within the sword became a sentient being with its own will, calling itself Umbra. Eventually, Umbra broke free of the sword, creating a body for itself. A fragment of Vile may remain attached to the sword, meaning it still traps souls even in Umbra's absence.

## History

### Second Era

#### N'Gasta and Cyrus

 File:Clavicus Vile - Redguard.png
Circa 2E 896, Clavicus is recorded dealing with N'Gasta, the Sload Necromancer of Stros M'kai. N'Gasta created "Soulsnare," which gathered lost souls. The Daedric Prince Clavicus Vile granted N'Gasta favors with every soul sent to him. Cyrus the Redguard hero, in his desperate quest to find his sister, managed to destroy N'Gasta by using the Flask of Lillandril. Using N'Gasta's necromancy book, he performed a ritual to transport himself to Clavicus' realm in Oblivion.

In order to make a gate to Oblivion appear, Cyrus had to mix Orc's blood with Amber (jacinth – rising sun), mix the Unicorn's horn with Hist Sap (snow – grass), mix the Daedra's heart with Ectoplasm (night - mid-day sky) and then poured the mixtures on the symbol in the center of the N'Gasta's room, in that order. Then a gate appeared. Cyrus went through the gate and was taken to Clavicus' realm.

There he dealt with Clavicus, who was the holder of his sister's soul. Expecting to get back his sister's soul, Cyrus gave the Flask of Lillandril, but instead Clavicus returned with a riddle. If Cyrus could answer it he might get back his sister's soul, but if he failed Cyrus' own soul would be Clavicus'. Cyrus answered him correctly and retrieved his sister's soul.

### Third Era

#### Hero of Daggerfall

 File:Clavicus Vile - Dream Bridge (Daggerfall).png
The masque was owned by the Agent of Daggerfall, sometime around the year 3E 410. Vile asked the hero to slay a certain werewolf. After the deed was done, the hero was rewarded with the masque.

#### The Hero of Kvatch and Umbra

Circa 3E 433, the Hero of Kvatch approached the Shrine of Clavicus Vile and managed to deal with the Prince. Clavicus asked the champion to procure Umbra.

Clavicus claimed that the sword contains the soul of a hero he had been dealing with sometime before, and wanted to finish it. For procuring Umbra, Clavicus offered his Masque to the champion.

The hound statue of Clavicus jumped into the champion's bag, and introduced itself as Barbas. It claimed that it would be best if Clavicus were not to receive the sword from the champion at all. Somehow returning the Umbra Sword to Clavicus would be a mistake, likely to cause great ruin to Clavicus' domain. Barbas also states that whenever Clavicus deals with Umbra, nothing good comes of it.

#### Vampires

The *Manifesto Cyrodiil Vampyrum* notes that Clavicus altered the Vampire blood of the Cyrodilic vampires, enabling them to walk in daylight, and more importantly, blend into mortal society undetected, and rule it from within—if they were well fed. The details of the contract forged between Vile and the Vampyrum Order is unknown.

### Fourth Era

#### Umbriel Crisis

Sometime prior to 4E 40, Umbra stole a part of Vile and negotiated with the Dunmer mage Vuhon to create Umbriel, a floating city, out of a fragment of Vile's realm. This allowed Umbra to escape Vile's grasp.

Sul and prince Attrebus retrieved the sword Umbra to defeat Vuhon and save Tamriel from the threat of Umbriel, but were instead trapped in Sathil castle's dungeons by Nirai Sathil. Sul sensed that Umbra could be used to open a portal to the realm of Clavicus Vile.

The Daedric Prince decided to save the two the trouble, however, summoning them to The Fields of Regret before they could attempt to use Umbra. There they were greeted by Barbas, who guided them to Vile where he demanded that Sul hand over Umbra to him. Instead Sul offered a contract, offering to stop Umbriel and return it to Vile's plane. The Prince of Bargains attempted to further leverage the deal, to which Sul offered up his soul, but was stopped by Attrebus before he could finish his proposal. Attrebus told Vile that their agreement would be unconditional, as the Daedric Prince was in need of their help as much as they were in need of his. Vile accepted, and sent the to to his shrine in Cyrodiil.

Attrebus and Sul managed to enter Umbriel where, once inside, Mere-Glim guided them to the ingenium which Atrrebus destroyed using Umbra. Immediately afterwards, Attrebus was possessed by Clavicus Vile, who had decided to cut out the middle man to reclaim Umbra.

Sul prayed to Vile for Attrebus’ release, but the Daedric Prince demanded a sacrifice. Sul instead decided to approach Vile with an alternative solution: Violence. Vile returned in kind, stabbing him with Umbra, and with his last breath, Sul remembered the fury that had driven him for forty years and grabbed the hilt of Umbra. He pulled himself up the blade, and with everything left in him he struck Attrebus in the jaw. Attrebus dropped the sword, and Vile was expelled from his body.r

#### The Dragon Crisis

Barbas was estranged from Clavicus Vile in 4E 201, and sought out the Last Dragonborn to unite him with Vile. The pair then traveled to Haemar's Shame, which was occupied by worshipers of Vile who had been plagued with vampirism. After disposing of the vampires, Vile then asks the Dragonborn to retrieve the Rueful Axe. Clavicus offers the axe to the Dragonborn in exchange for killing Barbas. If they do not, Clavicus will give his mask to them; if they do so, Clavicus claims Barbas should have "picked a better friend." Barbas will become part of the statue no matter which option the Dragonborn chooses.

## Popular opinion and worship

Despite his reputation as a trickster spirit, Vile is one of the more popular and tolerated Princes among the denizens of Tamriel. He is known for receiving veneration from merchants, traders, bankers, politicians, and bureaucrats, and while he doesn't appear in any of the Tamrielic pantheons, his worship is most prominent in High Rock, Cyrodiil, and Elsweyr. Many mortals believe it is unwise to make deals with Prince Clavicus, and while this is a fair affirmation to make, the Daedra has been known to keep his word on occasion. In the case of Cyrus the Redguard, when he traveled to the Fields of Regret, Vile gave him the opportunity to win his sister's soul back, provided he answer a riddle. During the Third Era, when Uriel VII still reigned over Tamriel as Emperor, the Elder Council were known to forge covenants with Lord Vile, although they were warned against drinking from the Bittercup.

## Trivia

* In *The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim*, Clavicus is voiced by Stephen Russell, who also voiced Barbas and Mercer Frey, among others.
* Clavicus has been voiced by director and executive producer of Bethesda Game Studios, Todd Howard, in *The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard* and *The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion*.

## Appearances

* *The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall*
* *The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard*
* *The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind*
* *The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion*
* *The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim*
* *The Elder Scrolls Online*
	+ Template:ESO Morrowind
	+ Template:Clockwork City (mentioned only)
	+ Template:Summerset

## References

1. ↑ *The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Game Guide*
2. ↑ Dialogue with Seryn during "Divine Intervention"
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 *The Book of Daedra*
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall*
5. ↑ *The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard* - Dialogue with Clavicus Vile
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 *An Elder Scrolls Novel: The Infernal City*, part three chapter three
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 *The Vile Truth of Barbas*
8. ↑ *Darkest Darkness*
9. ↑ *The Monomyth*
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 *The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim* - Dialogue with Clavicus Vile
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 *The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion* - Dialogue with Barbas
12. ↑ *The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim*
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 *An Elder Scrolls Novel: Lord of Souls*, part two chapter thirteen
14. ↑ *Feyfolken, Book II*
15. ↑ *Feyfolken, Book III*
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 *Tamrielic Lore*
17. ↑ *The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim* - Dialogue with Barbas
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 *The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard*
19. ↑ *The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion* - Dialogue with Clavicus Vile
20. ↑ *Manifesto Cyrodiil Vampyrum*
21. ↑ *An Elder Scrolls Novel: Lord of Souls*, part three chapter two
22. ↑ *An Elder Scrolls Novel: Lord of Souls*, part three chapter nine
23. ↑ Todd Howard PAX East 2019 Interview

**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. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 *Imperial Census of Daedra Lords*