Crafting Motifs 59: Scalecaller

Original media : TES Online

By Jorvuld Davaux, Dragon Priest Historian

There is considerable evidence that orthodox Dragon Priests had their armor crafted from genuine remains of the great creatures, using actual Dragonscale and Dragonbone (rare materials indeed). The followers of the renegade Dragon Priest, Zaan, outfitted themselves like the greater clergy in replica Dragon Priest armor made of more common materials: metal forged to resemble Dragonscale and bonemold crafted to resemble Dragonbone. The details are described below.

Axes: Scalecaller axes follow barbaric early-Nord designs, but with highly abstract Dragon Cult claw-crescents at the finial. The upper part of the haft, just below the blade (or blades for the two-handed version), is clad in metal that resembles overlapping Dragon scales.

Belts: The cult's belts are relatively simple and utilitarian, as the followers of Scalecaller preferred to display their ornamentation elsewhere. Leather from almost any source is acceptable; the surface may be pebbled to resemble reptilian hide.

Boots: These Scalecaller sabatons look like they're made from great overlapping Dragon scales, but actually the material is tough leather, except for the toes on boots made for heavy armor, which are always rigid bonemold. The ankles are protected by abstract forged Dragon-mouth uppers.

Bows: The cult's bows are adorned by an exaggerated Dragonscale motif on the weapon's limbs just above and below the grip. The ends of the limbs sport stylized Dragon heads, while the quivers are wrapped in reptilian wing motifs.

Chest pieces: For the cuirasses, bonemold is formed to resemble plates of rigid Dragonbone, accented by tooled leather, with the arms clad in metal mail that resembles Dragonscales. These chest pieces are so sturdy they have endured for centuries with almost no evidence of rot or rust.

Daggers: The blades crafted by Zaan's folk are fairly standard Dragon Cult weapons, blades that start out straight and then, after a broadened forte, curve toward the sharp point, resembling nothing so much as elongated Dragon claws. Only the outside of the curve has an edge.

Gloves: The cult wears full gauntlets of flexible leather, but backed by splints and plates of bonemold fashioned to resemble Dragonbone. Flaring bracers, similarly ornamented, protect the wrists and forearms.

Helmets: The full helms worn by the followers of the renegade Zaan feature face visors of bonemold formed to resemble the masks of legendary Dragon Priests—attire that would be blasphemous if worn by orthodox low-level Dragon cultists. It shows just how far the Scalecaller cult had deviated from the norm.

Leg greaves: Other than having Dragon-mouth poleyns at the knee, the cult's leg armor is relatively unadorned, though it may exhibit bonemold plates atop the leather chausses crafted to look like large overlapping Dragon scales.

Maces: These Scalecaller maces terminate in heavy cylindrical heads studded with wicked fanged abstract Dragon heads. The hafts are clad in the same overlapping metallic Dragon scales as the axe handles.

Shields: The central oval of the cult's shield is adorned with a coiling snaky Dragon that evokes the Prince Peryite as much as it does the Dovah the Nords' ancestors revered. The shield's rim is protected by thick bonemold plates that resemble great Dragon scales, and echo the armor's pauldrons.

Shoulder armor: Scalecaller cult pauldrons are elaborate and fanciful, a double tier of flaring plates crafted in both bonemold and metal scale, surmounted by an abstract roaring Dragon head, the whole giving the Scalecaller warrior a very distinctive silhouette.

Staves: The spell staff of the Scalecaller spellcaster is perhaps the single most emblematic design in the entire Zaan Dragon / Peryite visual lexicon: an oaken staff inscribed with mystic runes, ornamented with overlapping scales, and topped by an open-mouthed serpentine Dragon head. It's awe-inspiring.

Swords: The swords of the renegade Scalecaller cult are nonetheless recognizably weapons of Dragon worshipers, single-edged blades that start out straight and then, after a broadened forte, curve toward a sharp point, looking very much like elongated Dragon claws.