| The Indrik | |||
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 The Indrik
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| Race | Luminary | Gender | Male |
| Resided in | Wing of the Indrik Wing of the Crow |
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| Appears in | ESO | ||
The Indrik, also known more specifically as the Luminary Indrik, was one of the Luminaries of Magic, mysterious immortal beings of pure magic, spirits likened to beams of sunlight from Magnus himself,[1][2] his chosen form was that of an Indrik.[3] The Indrik was the first of the Luminaries to come into existence, and was considered more powerful than the rest.[1][3] He played an important role in the life of Archmage Ulfsild the Evergreen, collaborating with her alongside the other Luminaries to develop the system of Scribing, a "metamagical theoryset"[4] that was the precursor to the modern Spellcrafting system.[1][UOL 1]
The Indrik viewed himself as being akin to a blade, as he believed that all power has to be wielded with clarity of purpose. Thus he was driven by the question of how power should be used and, to lend his strength to others, he required that they lend their strength in turn, to help him right wrongs and take another step on that path. The Indrik viewed truth as a form of power, and believed that the gods wanted their charges to learn by doing. In his view, power expressed against one's own will was no power at all. Despite his views, the Indrik would sometimes act arrogantly and without thought, a fault he acknowledged within himself.[3]
As with all of the original Luminaries, the Indrik himself was not aware of his true origins, and had his own theories on his birth. He believed the Luminaries to be eddies in the current of the river that is magic, not masters of it, but part of it, who were one with it as much as it was one with them.[3] The Indrik believed himself to have been created as a manifestation of pure thought, the invention of a mind that craved to make sense of the world through stories.[5] He viewed the realms of the Luminaries as being the result of the wisdom of Aetherius, which would not allow the Luminaries to be both alone and wandering.[3]
Of all the original Luminaries, the Indrik was the first to form a bond with Ulfsild, and was viewed as the one who would abandon his loyalty to her last.[1] The Indrik's beliefs were viewed with some skepticism by the other Luminaries, who viewed his ruminations on responsibility, power, and the nature of the Luminaries, as either pompous and futile, or, in the case of the Luminary Gryphon, as a frivolous waste of the power he could be using to protect others.[6][7][2]
According to The Netch, of the Luminaries, people were drawn to The Indrik for his power and might.[8] As with all Luminaries, The Indrik was said to possess a mastery of magic that made the average archmage look like a neophyte. As a Luminary, he saw the world and magic in a way that was different from mortals, and so was not particularly fond of mages and would only lend them his power if his challenges were completed.[1][9]
HistoryEdit
Before Meeting UlfsildEdit
The Luminary Indrik came into existence at an unknown point in time, as the eldest of the four original Luminaries. By his own account, he was already old when he first spoke to Ulfsild, centuries before 2E 582, and had lived the length of many mortal lifetimes.[3] With his birth he chose the shape of his physical form, and his personal realm, the Wing of the Indrik was also shaped and hewn into existence in the same manner.[1] The Luminary Indrik chose the form of an Indrik, a noble beast whose form felt at home within the verdant greens and falling petals he shaped the environment of his domain into. He claimed that, though he chose his form, there was no other form he could have been.[3]
Meeting Ulfsild and the Birth of ScribingEdit
Though she did not know it at the time, Ulfsild had met the Indrik Luminary in her youth, who saved her from being trampled from a herd of mammoths that she had attempted to collect wool from. The Indrik lifted Ulfsild onto his back as she was about to be trampled, and deposited her to safety before vanishing. Ulfsild's clan laughed at her thinking she had some fanciful dream, and all that was left to show was the Indrik's feather which she kept as an accessory on her hat as a keepsake. [10]
Circa 1E 2250,[9][11] Ulfsild came into possession of the Fable of the Indrik. Ulfsild, who had the ability to see te currents of magicka with her own eyes, noticed an essence around the book, similar to the one that made up the feather she'd kept from her youth. She annotated the text and used its clues to discover the gateway to the Indrik's realm.[12] She obtained the keys from various locations on the island of Auridon—near the mundus stone dedicated to the Lady south of Silsailen, in Ondil, and Buraniim. Ultimately, she found the door on the island of the South Beacon lighthouse. After breaking the wards and trespassing into the Indrik's domain, Ulfsild made a wager. If she could prevent him from reclaiming the feather that had fallen from him long ago, he would share his knowledge and power with her and, if she could not, she would depart his domain and leave him in peace.[1] Ulfsild passed the trial, and formed a bond with the Indrik.[13] This bond eventually led to the connection of the realm with the Scholarium, located beneath the isle of Eyevea, the two places bound together by the Indrik itself.[3]
Before the doors to their wings were sealed, the Luminaries, including the Indrik, fed the altar their strength. With their strength fueling it, the altar could achieve incredible feats of magic, allowing it to "shape the very heart of magic itself" and translate its very essence into mortal hands with the Luminary as the intermediary, thereby changing, or rewriting, both the magic and the mortal, as the practicioner scrawled their soul upon the page.[1][3] The power of the Indrik himself infused every drop of ink, every sheet of parchment, every whorl and dot upon the pages of the texts used for the Scribing process.[3] Eventually, the Scholarium was lost along with Eyevea, transported to the Shivering Isles[1] due to a bargain Shalidor made with the Daedric Prince Sheogorath in exchange for the Folium Discognitum.[14] With the doors closed, the altar became dormant. Without that beating heart, the mastery of Scribing was believed to stagnate.[1] The Scholarium itself was not discovered, however, for it had been warded against mages, Princes, and powers, long ago, and those defenses held strong even in the Shivering Isles.[1]
The Hunter and the FawnEdit
At some point, as he basked in the sun, the Luminary Indrik beheld a hunter devoted to the Daedric Prince Hircine,[15] tracking an Indrik and her fawn. The hind perished but, as the hunter moved to kill the fawn, the Luminary Indrik stepped in, imbuing the fawn with a wisp of his power, which allowed it to escape. The Indrik would come to regret this act, for the power proved too overwhelming for the fawn to control and, drawn by the lure of the power the fawn now possessed, the hunter was drawn to chase it without end.[3]
Rediscovery of ScribingEdit
In 2E 582, either before or after Eyevea was returned to Tamriel by Shalidor and the Mages Guild, the Scholarium was rediscovered by a group of knights from the Order of the Lamp. During their arrival, complications arose, necessitating the sealing of the doors to prevent a catastrophe, as the once dormant altar became unstable, threatening the lives of everyone present. The disaster was prevented due to the intervention of the Vestige, who replaced the unstable focusing crystal. This potentially also prevented the discovery of the Scholarium by Sheogorath, an event which would've been catastrophic.[1][16]
After the magic was calmed, the Scholarium's caretaker, the Luminary Crow, directed the Vestige to seek out the other Luminaries and gain their support in order to return their strength to the altar. An act equated to inheriting Ulfsild's legacy and leaving a mark on spellcraft itself.[1]
The Inheritor of the Scholarium retraced Ulfsild's footsteps, using the True Sight Lens left by Ulfsild to trace the mystical impressions left by the Luminaries, discovering the fable and keys, breaking the wards, and entering the Wing of the Indrik to reconnect the Scholarium with it. Upon encountering the Inheritor, the Indrik gave them a series of trials meant to make them contemplate the nature of power by interacting with beings that wielded power such as the Daedra that came from Dark Anchors, and the undead.[1][17][3]
After the Inheritor completed the Indrik's challenges, they were given one final trial. To rectify the mistake the Indrik had made in granting a wisp of his power to the fawn. The Inheritor used the True Sight Lens left by Ulfsild to track the arcane trail and illusory echoes of the fawn and the hunter, first to Xal-Xuthis, and than to the Dirennic Acropolis through portal. At the Acropolis, the inheritor either defeated or bypassed the hunter to locate the fawn. The imperiled fawn was overwhelmed by the Luminary Indrik's power, trapped by the very ward formed to protect it. At the urging of the Luminary Indrik, the Inheritor used the Lens to dispel the ward, and free the fawn of the unwanted power, which the Luminary Indrik than reclaimed. With its mistake rectified, the Luminary Indrik allowed the fawn to enter his realm and reside there, free of danger.[17][3]
With his trials completed, the Indrik granted the Sigil of the Indrik to the Inheritor. Placed at the altar, the Sigil restored the connection between the realm of the Indrik and the Scholarium, and the Indrik's strength flowed into the altar once more.[17][3] This reconnection led to the great power of the Indrik setting up harmonic reverberations across Tamriel. Long dormant ley lines, similar to those in the Scholarium itself, began to awaken, revealing the true nature of the Scripts and Luminous Ink. These were now recognized as portents of future power rather than merely scraps of paper or dull and lifeless writing materials.[18]
The Indrik appeared in the Wing of the Crow when the Vestige underwent the final trial to be declared the inheritor of Ulfsild's legacy. The Luminary spoke encouraging words, he communicated through an arcane brazier, and urged the Inheritor to use their power responsibly. Within the Luminary Crow's replica of Labyrinthian. the Inheritor bested the Chimera Aut'arioth, which the Crow had summoned to serve as the final challenge. The Indrik and the other Luminaries than appeared, and acknowledged the Vestige as the inheritor of Ulfsild's legacy.[3][19] Thus Scribing returned to Tamriel.[1][16]
Vanus Galerion was particularly enthusiastic of the possibilities it would open up, with early ideas being altars being installed in every guild hall, or that Scribing will perhaps one day be taught in the wilds.[9] The legacy of Ulfsild's lived on, with Scribing eventually evolving into the modern Spellcrafting systems.[UOL 1]
Fable of the IndrikEdit
The Fable of the Indrik was a tale describing two encounters between an Indrik and a hunter, once when the Indrik was a fawn, and once when it was grown. The fawn escaped from the hunter who, after a long time, tracked it once more to a well of starlight beneath the ruins of a once mighty tower. The Indrik asked the hunter why he'd chased her when she was yet new to the world, small and weak. The hunter responded that he'd lose his sharpness waiting for the Indrik to grow, and that the Indrik had had the sense to run, a gift which would have been of no use if no one ever gave chase. The Indrik invited the hunter to drink of the starlight, for they'd both been made stronger by the pursuit. The two foes bent their heads and drank and, rejuvenated, dashed away as friends, splashing through the reflection of The Lady constellation reflected in the river.[12]
According to the Luminary Indrik a story was never just a story, as it had the power to change from within and without. As such the text acted as a symbolic connection, a commitment from him to those who he would share his power with.[3]
Wing of the IndrikEdit
The Wing of the Indrik is a pocket realm belonging to the Luminary Indrik. It was shaped and hewn into being in the same way he chose his form. He considers it a pleasant respite from the larger world, a place to find peace and clear his mind of stray thoughts. He believed that realms of other Luminaries could serve different purposes. Similarly to other Luminaries he formed his own pocket realm at birth, though the reason for this remains unknown.The Indrik felt that Aetherius, in its wisdom, did not wish the Luminaries to be both alone and wandering.
This realm resembles the climate of the Summerset Isles, with falling petals and verdant greens that made the Indrik feel at home. It is partially linked to the Scholarium, as Scribing, even in its earliest forms, seemed destined to use a Luminary's power. Ulfsild decided to bind Indrik's domain to the Scholarium, leading to great achievements. This connection is facilitated through large doors, with Indrik's power channeling into the very heart of the Scribing Altar, enabling incredible feats of spellcraft. As with the realms of all Luminaries, it had a warded door and a key which one had to use to enter it.
See AlsoEdit
- For game-specific information, see the Elder Scrolls Online
article.
ReferencesEdit
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o The Crow's dialogue in ESO
- ^ a b The Dragon's dialogue in ESO
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p The Indrik's dialogue in ESO: Gold Road
- ^ The Largesse of the Archmagister in ESO
- ^ Ulfsild's Notes: The Origin of Luminaries — Ulfsild
- ^ The Netch's dialogue in ESO
- ^ The Gryphon's dialogue in ESO
- ^ Nable of the Fetch — The Netch
- ^ a b c Loremaster's Archive - Scribing — Votary Nahila
- ^ Ulfsild's Log: The Indrik — Ulfsild
- ^ Mages Guild Charter
- ^ a b Fable of the Indrik (Annotated)
- ^ Ulfsild's Log: The Indrik — Ulfsild
- ^ Arch-Mage Shalidor's dialogue in ESO
- ^ Huntmaster Caynar's dialogue in ESO
- ^ a b The Second Era of Scribing quest in ESO: Gold Road
- ^ a b c The Wing of the Indrik quest in ESO: Gold Road
- ^ Sigil of the Indrik Analysis
- ^ The Wing of the Crow quest in ESO: Gold Road
Note: The following references are considered to be unofficial sources. They are included to round off this article and may not be authoritative or conclusive.