Lore:The Netch

The Netch
The Netch
Race	Luminary	Gender	No Gender
Resided in		Wing of the Netch Wing of the Crow
Appears in		ESO

The Netch, also known more specifically as the Luminary Netch, was one of the Luminaries of Magic, mysterious immortal beings of pure magic, spirits likened to beams of sunlight from Magnus himself, its chosen form was that of a Netch. The Netch was younger than either the Luminary Gryphon or the Luminary Indrik, despite its unusual nature, it was considered to be just as powerful as the other Luminaries. It 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" that was the precursor to the modern Spellcrafting system.

The Netch viewed itself as an "attractive, floating, be-tendriled entity of humor, enlightenment, and magic". It was described as a vain, jovial, and generous being, known for playing pranks and tricks. It enjoyed wandering while invisible to cause mischief and spread joy, and viewed solem moments as just another opportunity to demonstrate its wit and whimsy, as it delighted in showing of its cleverness and enjoyed being the center of attention. The Netch disliked tests, viewing them as too "weighty", and preferred to play games instead, any games that could make people feel lighter and show them how "buoyant" life can be. The Netch had a very high opinion of Scribing, which it viewed as "buoyancy of the mind" and "floating of the soul", it considered everyone doing things the same way not just boring but also dreadfully tragic. It tried to always stay "buoyant" and preferred to "touch the ground" only for good reason.

As with all of the original Luminaries, the Netch itself was not aware of its true origins, and had its own theories on its birth. The Netch believed itself to have been born from an accident of magic, an event that was "deeply boring". Viewing its birth in this manner was what prompted it to always be "joyous and floaty", as it believed existence was what one made of it. When asked of its birth, the Netch was known to rotate through many different tales, one of which involved a wizened scholar tracing arcane runes for a detailed summoning, though by the Netch's own admission, it was only joking when speaking such stories.

The Netch claimed that it, like all netches, controlled the ebb and flow of magicka via its tentacles, which were formed specifically to appreciate the power moving through Oblivion. It described netches as the beings that were the most attuned to the aerial currents of arcane power, and claimed their true role was Oblivion's best kept secret. Though Luminaries normally had no smell, The Netch would sometimes make itself smell bad as a prank. The Netch described portal magic as "moving with the winds of the soul".

The Netch was viewed as having gotten along with Ulfsild extremely well, and it viewed her as very clever in turn. The Netch's beliefs were viewed with some skepticism by the other Luminaries. The Luminary Dragon viewed it as a "vacuous gas-bag with pretentions of do-goodery" that wasted its limitless existence and unimaginable power on things such as slipping coins into the pockets of the downtrodden when it could've been planning the betterment of civilization. The Gryphon refused to invite it into his domain, while the Luminary Crow considered it "a bit much", though still believed its intentions were pure. Of the Luminaries, The Indrik had the most positive opinion of it, viewing it as a well-meaning being that best understood the burdens of a mortal existence, and so sought to see the joy in the world while going about things in its own "netchy" way.

As with all Luminaries, The Netch was said to possess a mastery of magic that made the average archmage look like a neophyte. As a Luminary, it 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 its power if its challenges were completed. As beings of pure magic the Luminaries were said to have understood magic in a way mortals never could and so, their power, freely given, allowed one to access arcane mysteries most could only dream of. Indeed, Scribing is said to have been somehow destined to channel the power of the Luminaries from the start.

Though it had only met him once, The Netch had a low opinion of Shalidor. It believed that Ulfsild "floated higher" while on her own, and viewed him as boring.

History

Before Meeting Ulfsild

The Luminary Netch came into existence at an unknown point in time, after both The Indrik and The Gryphon had come into being. With its birth it chose the shape of its physical form, and its personal realm, the Wing of the Netch was also shaped and hewn into existence in the same manner. The Luminary Netch chose the form of a Netch, a shape it viewed as being "exceedingly buoyant" and "perfectly voluptuous", the "perfect form".

Meeting Ulfsild and the Birth of Scribing

The Scholarium beneath Eyevea

The door to the Wing of the Netch

At some point after 1E 2250, when Ulfsild had already located the Wing of the Indrik and the Wing of the Gryphon, she'd also encounter the Netch. While studying in the great library of the Scholarium beneath Eyevea, Ulfsild felt something tugging at her skirt. Expecting The Fox, she turned around but found nothing. Nonetheless she suddenly felt lighter, as if whatever force had tugged her skirt simply wanted her to look up and was playing a game. The event repeated twice, but nothing showed itself. The next day Ulfsild found her books arranged in the shape of a giant squirrel. The tugging soon returned, but Ulfsild ignored it. The playful presence than lifted the book she held from her hands, prompting her to chase it. The chase brought Ulfsild to an abandoned room, within which she felt an air of power, less serious than either The Gryphon or The Indrik. The space was like the room of a child or the studio of an artist, full of creativity and joy. Upon entering, Ulfsild suddenly found herself in a seaside domain bathed in sunlight. Within she found a large glowing netch, bobbing joyfully in the breeze. Knowing the Luminary meant her no harm, Ulfsild approached the creature, which welcomed her as a friend.

Ulfsild and The Netch collaborated during the creation of Scribing. The Netch worked with Ulfsild to create the Luminous Ink, the substrate of power into which the magic of the Scribing altar was vested, and served as the binding agent that drew magicka and intent together upon the page.

Before the doors to their wings were sealed, the Luminaries, including The Netch, 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. The power of The Netch itself caused new Ley Line activity to take place across Tamriel, reverberating across it, and thus making Affix Scripts and Luminous Ink appear across the land. Eventually, the Scholarium was lost along with Eyevea, which it was located under, transported to the Shivering Isles due to a bargain Shalidor made with the Daedric Prince Sheogorath in exchange for the Folium Discognitum.

With the doors closed, the altar became dormant. Without that beating heart, the mastery of Scribing was believed to stagnate. 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.

Rediscovery of Scribing

A projection of the Luminary Netch

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.

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.

The Inheritor of the Scholarium retraced Ulfsild's footsteps, discovering the fable and keys, breaking the wards, and entering the Wing of the Netch to reconnect the Scholarium with it. The Netch gave the Inheritor a series of games to play in order to make people feel lighter and have them see how buoyant life can be. The Netch had the Inheritor slay beasts in the Imperial City and Vvardenfell gather tokens, catch Luminary-Blessed Fish, and deal with a Mirrormoor Incursion. With its games done, The Netch gave the Inheritor one final task. A man's father was dying and his regrets had caused his soul to splinter and manifest in multiple locations. Though the power of The Netch was keeping him alive and preventing him from crossing into the afterlife, even a Luminary's power could not hold off the call of Aetherius forever and, indeed, a powerful Wraith had already been dispatched to take the man's soul there. The Inheritor repelled the wraith, and healed the man's soul, saving him.

Aut'arioth, the Inheritor's Bane

The Luminaries of Magic

With its trials completed, The Netch granted the Sigil of the Netch to the Inheritor. Placed at the altar, the Sigil restored the connection between the realm of The Netch and the Scholarium, and The Netch's strength flowed into the altar once more. This reconnection led to the great power of The Netch reverberating and causing new Ley Line activity across Tamriel, thus making Affix Scripts and Luminous Ink appear across the land.

The Netch 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, it communicated through an arcane brazier, and urged them to stay buoyant and breezy. 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 Netch and the other Luminaries than appeared, and acknowledged the Vestige as the inheritor of Ulfsild's legacy. Thus Scribing returned to Tamriel.

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. The legacy of Ulfsild's lived on, with Scribing eventually evolving into the modern Spellcrafting systems.

Fable of the Netch

The Fable of the Netch

The Fable of the Netch was a story recounting a series of inexplicable miracles which took place in Vvardenfell. The mysterious blessings were not replicable by the Tribunal, prompting a priest named Lucilan to investigate their source. Lucilan first visited a village near the grazelands. A child from the village had ran away, and was now alone on an island filled with dangerous monsters. A search party was sent out but, when they finally found the child, he was surrounded not by beasts but by a flock of pecking hens. Upon being questioned, the child responded that a netch had come and transformed all the monsters into chickens. The village held a great feast to celebrate but, strangely, the chickens all tasted of sulfur. As for the island, it would remain free of monsters for a generation.

Lucilan than journeyed to Red Mountain, where he found a caravanner that had had no money just a fortnight ago, but was now offering rides to passengers for free. Upon being questioned, the caravanner explained that a netch had suddenly floated out of the river and spooked her silt-strider to go under the water, where she'd come across a jewel-filled passanger ship that had gone missing years ago.

Lucilan, who wished to know more about this mysterious netch, than spent many months wandering in a circle, until the Zainab Tribe pointed him to a ruin in the foothills of Red Mountain. Inside the ruins, Lucilan found an elder Ashlander speaking to the air as if he spoke to a grandchild. When questioned, the Ashlander explained that a set of pale tendrils had caught him just as he was about to fall from a bridge and to his death and, ever since, he came to the ruins whenever he wanted to meet that presence. The Ashlander claimed that the netch was right there with them, and was surprised Lucilan couldn't feel its joy or its tendrils on his shoulders.

Lucilan made his report to the Temple and his findings were deemed insufficient. Despite this, he would not let go of the idea of the creature, and so was ridiculed for his belief. Finally, while wandering along Azura's Coast, Lucilan saw the ghostly pale netch, neither animal nor spirit, and finally he too felt buoyant.

Nable of the Fetch

The Nable of the Fetch was an account written by the Luminary Netch itself. Within the text The Netch described itself as Ulfsild's favorite Luminary. It explained that, though those seeking power were drawn to The Indrik, those who liked the sound of their own voices were drawn to The Dragon, and those obsessed with their own ideas sought The Gryphon, truly righteous and buoyant souls sought The Netch. The Netch, in turn, made the lives of those who turned to it brighter and livelier by its mere presence, gently uring them back to more productive pursuits when they thought of doing something stupid such as trading an island sanctuary for a silly book. Pursuits like cherising their wife instead. Thus the followers of the other Luminaried turned to The Netch, and The Netch promised to use its magic to keep them from holding themselves to its unfair standard of luminescence.

Wing of the Netch

The Wing of the Netch is a pocket realm belonging to the Luminary Netch. It was shaped and hewn into being in the same way it chose its form. The reason for the realm's formation was unknown, though the Luminary Indrik theorized that the realms of the Luminaries had formed due to the wisdom of Aetherius, which did not wish for the Luminaries to be both alone and wandering.

The realm resembles a seaside domain bathed in sunlight. As with the realms of all Luminaries, it had a warded door and a key which one had to use to enter it.

See Also

• For game-specific information, see the Elder Scrolls Online article.

References

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.