I'm writing an Elder Scrolls fan fiction work that is intended to be as accurate to lore as possible, only diverging where there is a lack of extant lore. I'd appreciate your help, lore-masters, to keep me on track about aspects of lore that are relatively well known, so that I can portray them accurately in my tale.

The current issue I'm particularly looking at is the http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Gray_Cowl_of_Nocturnal. I understand that the curse bestowed upon the cowl by Nocturnal, which erased the name of the cowl's owner from the history books and from mortal memory, "was broken in 3E 433, when Count Corvus Umbranox, the contemporary Gray Fox, organised the theft of an Elder Scroll from the Imperial Library in the Imperial Palace."¹

What I'm unsure about is what impact the events of 3E 433 had on those who had previously worn the cowl, and, by extension, whether the curse (in its unbroken state, prior to 3E 433), was a permanent effect for those who had ever donned the cowl. Put simply, if someone were to have put on the cowl, would their name have been erased from the history books forever, even after removing the cowl, and would this effect have remained permanent for that person, until such time as the curse was broken in 3E 433?

I plan to write about an OC's brief experience of wearing the Gray Cowl of Nocturnal, and how their former life was deleted from history because of the curse. The events in my fan-fic will occur sometime during the 300 years between 3E 433, when the curse was broken, and 3E 133, which I extrapolate to be when Emer Dareloth stole the Gray Cowl from Nocturnal.

Does this sound about right? Would the curse on the Cowl affect anyone who dons the Cowl, whether or not they are a thief, or the Guildmaster of the Thieves Guild? And if the curse did affect them, would it remain permanent even after the Cowl was removed?


¹http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Gray_Cowl_of_Nocturnal — UESP Wiki

That seems to be the case. Corvus would visit his wife in the castle on occasion, and even when not wearing the cowl no one would recognize him. He was just that stranger hanging around. It's not until he breaks the curse that anyone recognizes him again.

Excellent, thanks for the reply. Now I just have to work out how my non-thief OC came to be in possession, if even for a short while, of the Gray Cowl. My OC is going to be a Breton. I see that Emer Dareloth's former partner-in-crime, http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Jakben, Earl of Imbel, was also a Breton. That might be something I can work with.

What is this title, the "Earl of Imbel", anyway? From what little I can find, Imbel is not a place, it is just a Breton family name, as per the book http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Imbel_Genealogy. So why the Earl of Imbel?

Maybe it's a demonym. The original place ceased to exist or changed its name, the tile and the family name remained.

It is possible that it is not even a real title, I guess. According to the http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Pocket_Guide_to_the_Empire,_1st_Edition/High_Rock, the Bretons are renown for an "often incoherent jumble of nobility and ruling families", and maybe some ancient ancestor of Jakben had found a new hill, named it "Imbel", and proclaimed himself the Earl of it.