I have utterly and permanently sealed away the most terrible power in all the world: the Dragon Priest masks. Behold!
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Hopefully, we all know the story of the Dragon Cult, and how the ancient tyrannical dragons of Akavir gifted their most loyal with these horrible masks powerful enough to enslave men by force.

After many days of searching and ridding the world of Alduin (perhaps only for the moment), Archmage Amadeus had finally defeated the last of the Dragon Priests, and obtained all eight of their masks.

The Archmage was already a force to be reckoned with, a master of the schools of Conjuration, Restoration, Illusion and Destruction, who had also been gifted by Akatosh with dragonblood and the Voice. The ebb and flow of the battlefield were his to control, causing absolute mayhem, mass hysteria or peaceful harmony among his enemies at a moment's notice--and changing them when he saw fit. He was able to summon, even permanently, many Deadra, including the powerful Atronachs, each the embodiment of the elements themselves--the elements Amadeus also controlled.

Though just at heart, any evil foolish enough to oppose him became his plaything as he commanded his enemies, summoned powerful allies, and willed the very weather. The dragons themselves were not safe against this Dragonborn wizard: Amadeus could call upon lightning from his hands, the sky, and Deadra to tear the flying beasts asunder, or shout them to the ground to burn and blister them with the power of fire and ice, destroying the dragons with a hellish firestorm within a blizzard. Any wounds--if they could be inflicted--were instantly healed, though more often than not, Amadeus found himself in the protection of holy Restoration magics, using wards and preserving whole chunks of the battlefield to himself, and he was under the magical protection of the Lord stone. More quickly than he had realized, Amadeus had many options just to set the undead on fire and force them to flee, among other things.

All this power, and yet the Archmage had more at his fingertips: the Dragon Priest masks.

In his younger days, before he became the master of the College of Winterhold, the undead priests proved a powerful challenge to him. Krosis was fought first alongside a dragon, but with a Flame Atronach and the power of magefire, Amadeus brought them down. Krosis' mask was perhaps useful--it enabled its wearer to create more potent poisons and potions, pick locks more deftly, and even strengthened one's bow arm--but these enchantments would aid the budding mage little.

It was Krosis' Staff of Fireballs that proved useful in his next battle against Morokei, and a scroll that conjured a Storm Atronach helped fell the priest. And from Morokei, his mask: enchanted with an enormous growth to the wearer's magicka, Amadeus was able to defeat the evils plaguing Winterhold and become Archmage. From that point forth, he grew exceedingly powerful, and the rest of the Dragon Priests fell to him, one by one, with ease.

It was upon obtaining the eighth and final mask that he made his way back to Labyrinthian, where he first fought Morokei, and to the Bromjunaar Sanctuary, where the Dragon Priest masks were originally housed. There, he found a similarly shaped wooden mask, with no apparent special properties...
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At this point in the game, I used the eight masks to unlock the ninth, and I realized that the sanctuary made a good housing for them. Then I thought about how powerful my mage truly is, and it's all thanks to the masks. Specifically, I switch between three in particular: Morokei, Nahkriin and Otar. Between any of these three, I was already game-breakingly powerful, and there's no telling how much stronger Konahrik would make me.

Standing back in time (is this the First Era?) wearing the Wooden Mask, I resolved: these masks are too powerful. Too powerful for me, too powerful for anyone. I'm the Archmage for a reason, already far strong enough to take down a pair of Ancient dragons in mere seconds (certainly under a minute). There was only one thing I could do.

I placed all nine masks on their busts...and released the Wooden Mask. It fell to the floor of the sanctuary, and with no mask, I was thrust forward in time to the present-day ruins, just as the wooden one hit the stone floor.

There are no more masks. No great power to be abused. They are forever sealed away by time, in an era long forgotten.

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The Archmage walked out of the sanctuary and was greeted by his horse, Allie. Together, they rode in the calm night to Solitude. Allie was stabled outside the city in Katla's farm, where Amadeus lent a working hand the following morning and contemplated on what he had done.

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Just for clarification's sake, here are the masks and their enchantments--and what I'm now missing:

The three I used most often:

Morokei: Magicka regenerates 100% faster. (Light Armor)

Nahkriin: +50 Magicka, and Destruction and Restoration spells cost 20% less to cast. (Heavy Armor)

Otar: Resistance against fire, frost and shock is improved. (+30% elemental resistance, Heavy Armor)

The others:

Hevnoraak: Immune to disease and poison. (Heavy Armor)

Krosis: Lockpicking, Archery, and Alchemy are 20% better. (Light Armor)

Rahgot: Increases your stamina by 70 points. (Heavy Armor)

Vokun: Conjuration, Illusion and Alteration spells cost 20% less magicka to cast. (Heavy Armor)

Volsung: Prices are 20% better, Carry 20 points more, and can breathe underwater. (Light Armor)

The ninth mask:

Konahrik: When health is low, has a chance to heal the wearer and damage nearby enemies. (Heavy Armor)

Konahrik can also summon a spectral Dragon Priest (presumably the priest for which the mask is named, whom you never fight), who, among other attacks, will summon a Storm Atronach or raise undead. It can heal you and any allies around you while simultaneously pushing away all foes around you as well as putting a flame cloak on you, and can grant you thirty seconds of unlimited shouting.

Edited OP

That is acually a sweet roleplaying decision, locking away the masks so nobody can abuse the power. That is definitally the thing a responsible mage would do, though the mage that is in constant pursuit of power would never cast away such gifts.

On a side note, i really like the effects of the final mask (the 30 seconds of unlimited shouting is complete badass by the way!) but the mask sort of becomes redundant by the time you get it. I mean, you HAVE to kill alduin before you can get the final mask (one of the priests is in alduins eyrie) which i think is kind of [censored]. I mean who else are you going to use the 30 seconds of shouting on besides alduin?
From a roleplaying perspective, it would have been nice to be able to get the mask in order to fight alduin. It would have been a nice side quest to compliment the main story if you so chose to gather the masks in order to battle alduin with the ultimate priest mask.

Another problem is that you have to do the college of winterhold to get another one of the masks. So really, only arch mages are ones who can collect the mask (unless you want to break your RP experience and have your warrior join the college and do 7/8ths of the questline in order to get one of the masks) which is kind of stupid because as you said it, by that point your mage is powerful enough without needing the mask for the shouts at all, so its kind of redundant. Also mages are the one archetype that i use shouts the least.
Not to mention another of the effects of the mask is the same thing as a perk from the restoration tree(again another mage ability - the ressurection one whatever its called) making another reason why a mage wouldnt need it but a warrior or a thief would.

For the record, I did not hard save after sealing the masks. I actually really want to do it, but I don't think it's a good idea just yet. Perhaps the masks can prove useful at some point (especially against horrifying enemies in any future expansions), and being only level 42, I don't think it's an objectively good idea just yet. However, I do want to seal them away at som point. There's only RP value to it, though, since it's not like anyone else can have access to them unless I drop them in the street for people or something.

Nice RP excuse to lock them dowm

We PC players still don't know how to lock out the most supreme and powerful being that exists in the entire TES universe.....the console command

Lol yeah, most of you folks can't control yourselves xD Unfortunately, I'm on PS3--if I were on PC, I'd do this at a moment's notice and then just console the Wooden Mask into my inventory or teleport to the sanctuary whenever I needed the masks.

I'm glad you like it but mages are the class I use shouts with the most, so it works out for me.

And so the cycle begins again. Aldamar, in his eternal clumsy-ness lost the wooden mask, he hopes that one day he shall remember where he put it, then finally be able to unlock all that power...

Just player.additem them. If you wanna teleport, it's best to use a Mark/Recall mod. Or just use http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=14393 to mark a container, and being able to access it remotely wherever you are. Let's not say we're not stylish in terms of "taking an advantage"!

Seriously now, they key is just willpower I did my last playthough using mods but without overpowering my char, and it was hell of fun. Now, I'm planning the rebirth of my main char, and although I'm gonna use that storage mod and lots of other ones (including a Multiple Mark/Recall one with 10 slots), I don't have even the slightest intention to overpower him.

How about you you keep the wooden one in a vhest locked away in the arch mages quarters.
And in times of dire need the mighty arch mage will use these ancient powers to help him but always return them

My issue with the Dragon Priest mask is the fact they are armored.

My mage Helios was so excited to get the 100% regeneration faster, and then I went...why am I getting points in light armor?

Because this mask is light armor. -.- I wish the Dragon Priest mask didn't have armor. I'm sorry worse decision ever. It completely undermines Mage Armor.

I really enjoyed this post. Regardless of your ultimate decision, it's a great RP idea and I love that it continues to be a temptation for you.

That's quite a brilliant idea! I think I'll do just that.

According to UESP, the sanctuary is perfectly safe for storage with the exception of two urns near the door. Still, I'm paranoid about trusting the other masks there if I plan to retrieve them.


You're right, and I had the same problem for a while. However, it does help mages who use actual armor, especially since the masks are considered part of the Deadric set and complete it for the purposes of the Matching Set perk.


Thanks!

im just glad i can help

I'm not entirely sure, but I'm pretty sure that if you drop the wooden mask it shows up in the ruins again. Some have reported it just showing up in your inventory.

I've often thought about dropping it, so I looked up the consequences. They are disappointing to say the least. One thing you might try is locking it into one of the chests in the past, they don't respawn and they might not trigger the "mask has been dropped in the past" script.

Wow, this really kept me entertained, it left me wanting more.

The safest place to put them would be at the peak of the Throat of the World, encasing it in permafrost whilst being protected by the Greybeards and their Thu'um, as well as Parthuurnax and his fellow Dovah (assuming you left him alive).

An Elder Scroll can access the point that the Wooden Mask utilizes, giving anyone with a Scroll the ability to retrieve your artifacts with zero resistance.
Awesome RP though.

Thanks! I can write a lot about my mage


I see what you mean, but I disagree. I don't just want to leave it on the mountain there (I left Parthuurnax alive, by the way), and I've already given the Elder Scroll to the college where it's nice and secure. But I'm glad you like the RP

I stumbled into Otar with my first character by accident. I slowly realized how awesome this mask is. Not only does it give you this significant extra resistance to all elementals, but it is also nearly the best armored headgear in the game. From that point forward, I designed my character's defensive growth around Otar. Between my 50% Nord frost resistance and a couple of complementary armor pieces (plus Otar) all elemental resistances got to 80% or better. I skipped the perk for a matching armor set, since I can't use it. I climbed the smithing tree up the heavy armor branch to daedric, so I could improve Otar to something like 190 armor (legendary). The rest of my armor is ebony, which looks right, and quite intimidating, with Otar. Total armor rating: 812, without a shield. The Steed stone saves me a couple of other perk points as well. I love it, and I shudder at the thought of locking it away in the past forever. No other mask comes close in continuous utility, though I did carry Volsung around until I found a waterbreathing helmet to disenchant (to create a waterbreathing ring) and the masque of Clavicus Vile.

The single best RP decision I've made is to NEVER use fast-travel. Every quest takes at least thrice as longer to do and each time I discover something new around every corner.

I'm glad you like the mask so much Morokei served me well for literally dozens of hours, and I haven't used it since getting Nahkriin (as more magicka plus a total of 35% cost reduction to my most used schools is better than 100% faster regen), so I know what you mean; I couldn't live without it! Now the same thing goes for Nahkriin. I still have Morokei and Otar in my inventory, but I don't honestly use them. And since Otar was the final mask I got and I use mainly the Lord stone, I don't really have an opportunity to put it to good use. Even without the Lord stone, the battlefield pretty much belongs to me, so I very rarely have to worry about magic resistance in the first place (I just have the Lord because it makes me that much more powerful).

I never use 'em (Nor do I use shouts on my main, not the dragonborn =p), might try sealin' 'em away. Would be very in-character for my character....hmm

My character did kind of the same thing. I took it upon myself to endure the malicious requests of the deadric princes in order to obtain their powerful artifacts. Artifacts made to corrupt man. So I obtain these with only the intention of sealing them away forever.

Which is major slap in the face to the daedric princes because Savengaard/akatosh already has the rights to my soul.

Great story. I gotta say though, you'll never be a true RPer until you seal them away and hard save.

"But just in case I need them ..." this is the voice of corruption. "These are too powerful for anyone, but I'll just keep the key to the sanctuary. I'll be responsible with it! I promise!"
Uh huh. Where have I heard talk like this before?

Amadeus is going to have to make a decision, and he'll have to make it soon. I hope he does the right thing. Otherwise we'll be looking at the next great threat to the world.

Wonderful point, friend.

As I said, I really do want to seal them away, but from a gameplay (not RP) perspective, I find that unwise. You're right, though, as I'm certainly powerful enough without the masks...but I don't know what perils the future has in store. Maybe the masks will be needed to fight an even greater evil, one so powerful that it can best Amadeus sans masks even on Adept difficulty! I'm certainly hoping for such an opportunity, so I think it best to keep the masks.