- For her granddaughter, see Alyssa Steelfang II.
Alyssa Steelfang is the second Steelfang vampire and the mother of ex-Archmage Raydin Steelfang, the False Goddess Sylarys Steelfang, the Wishmaster Gideon Steelfang and Sargon Steelfang. She is the wife of Sorin Steelfang. She is a powerful, nearly unknown sorceress, who lorded over the College of Winterhold as Archmage. She was also the Jarlessa of Winterhold. She appears in The New Kingdoms.
In the Cosmic Legacy, Alyssa is likewise the wife of Sorin Steelfang. She is also a powerful sorceress that has abilities beyond a normal mortal by virtue of her daedra blood. Her adventures to rewrite fate led to her helping Sorin become the first Steelfang, and hence she became his Bloodbound Partner and the Second Steelfang.
Biography[]
The New Kingdoms[]
Early Life[]
Alyssa's birth was uncertain, except that she was quickly taken in to an unknown facility for experimentation. She was first given regular infusions of daedra blood, which massively boosted her affinity to Oblivion and the same granted her immense resistance to fire.
When Alyssa was 10, her heart was replaced by a daedra heart, after rituals were performed on her. Her chest has no scar, though, as she healed perfectly after the incident. This change also meant Alyssa no longer needed to take regular infusions of daedric blood. It also granted her the ability to manipulate any form of fire.
Alyssa escaped from the circle of mages that experimented on her by incinerating all of them with her newfound powers. She later lived as a homeless person, going from city to city and begging.
Alyssa's incredible magical talents, though, caught the eye of an Archmage at the College of Winterhold, who gave her free lodging and food. She eventually became an official member. Alyssa was promoted to destruction teacher when she was only 16, given her incredible power over flames.
Alyssa later became the Archmage when she was slightly older. Her mind grew more unstable and she began to perform forbidden experiments because of the trauma of her childhood. The details are unclear, but the Archmage before her was killed in murky circumstances.
Alyssa would later destroy the ruling clans of Winterhold and proclaim herself the Jarl. She personally hunted down and eradicated every last member of Kraldar's and Korir's families. After consolidating her power, Alyssa ruled Winterhold with an iron fist. Assassination was bound for her, and people tried. Alyssa fortunately escaped, thanks to her future husband.
Alyssa met and married the leader of the Shadow Watch, Sorin Steelfang, after he saved her life by thwarting an assassination attempt on her and a lengthy courtship. She was turned into the second Steelfang Vampire. They lived in relative comfort and happiness, Sorin's business ventures turning huge profit, so they never worried about income.
Events of The New Kingdoms[]
Alyssa would assist Adawulf Sea-Born in replacing his heart with a heartstone. She was the one who talked Neloth into trying it again, and she used her incredible restoration powers to heal Adawulf when the operation was done, leaving no scar.
Alyssa was trapped in Coldharbor, as she fled to Coldharbor to birth Raydin and Sylarys in a different timeline, so they would be ready to return to a life on Mundus earlier, under the unborn Raydin's instruction, since Raydin apparently knew he was important to the current and not future timeline. She was never heard from again. Raydin seemed to have manipulated his parents into getting trapped, in order to orchestrate the plan to have him be born earlier and faster.
In her time with Sorin in Coldharbor, Alyssa had another son, Gideon, who was eventually bound in many separate dimensions to prevent him from invading Mundus. Also, Sargon was born a few years after Gideon. The births of the two children are not well known, though.
Alyssa probably continues to roam Oblivion, not bound to any one plane. She hates binding to Mundus and rarely, if ever, returns from Oblivion to Mundus. It's later shown Alyssa in fact lives beyond the Aurbis within the Steelfang Plane Euphoria, flying in only when she feels like it.
Cosmic Legacy[]
Early Life[]
Alyssa's birth is thought to either be in Cyrodiil or High Rock, as she is a Breton by birth. Alyssa did not know her birth parents, though, but it can be assumed that they were quite poor people, given that they sold her to slave traders, where she was eventually bought by a daedric cult. The cult began experimenting on Alyssa from the age of 5 years old onward, after they bought her. She was first given regular infusions of daedra blood to prepare her body for further adjustments when she was older.
When Alyssa was somewhat older, about 9 - 10 years old, her heart was replaced by a Daedra's heart in a twisted ritual. This was to strengthen her connection to Oblivion so she could serve as the future leader of the daedric cult when she came of age. However, the cult's plan was disrupted when Sorin Steelfang came to exterminate them. Rather than killing Alyssa, Sorin took Alyssa back to Cyrodiil with him, when he was part of the Imperial Legion.
In Cyrodiil, Alyssa learnt magic from Sorin, although she preferred pyrokinesis to Sorin's electromagnetic spells. She could apply the principles Sorin taught her to her flame magic, progressing relatively quickly. Sorin also began training her to use the Akaviri swordplay he knew from a young age, so Alyssa would be able to protect herself even before she became a strong sorceress.
Before the Great War broke out, Sorin sent Alyssa north to Skyrim to ensure her safety. The girl made her way to Winterhold and enrolled as one of the mages at the College of Winterhold, her great talent in flame manipulation soon catching the attention of the teachers there which allowed her to progress quickly. It was at the College of Winterhold where Alyssa learnt how to use magic forms outside of the Alteration and Destruction magic Sorin taught her. She became one of the strongest mages in the College very quickly.
Adulthood[]
Sorin would eventually head north to Skyrim when he was done with Cyrodiil, and Alyssa was eventually reunited with him when he decided to pay a visit to the College of Winterhold, hoping to find her there. The two of them traveled together across Skyrim for a while, performing many acts that would change the fate of the land even as the Dragon Crisis was underway. Alyssa eventually became the Archmage of Winterhold after several trials.
Alyssa helped Sorin to think of a way to defeat Alduin even though he was not the Dragonborn, by suggesting that Sorin should seek power strong enough to not just control the flow of Fate, but completely rewrite it according to his own will. Alyssa herself was simply a powerful but mortal sorceress at that point, so she had to put her hope into Sorin to achieve their shared vision as she herself could not venture beyond the world.
Alyssa and Sorin thought about the principles of the world together, so they could find a method to conquer it. They realized that of all things in the world they lived in, everything had an origin, and if they traced back the path to the original creation, there were forces beyond even the reach of the gods. Alyssa and Sorin together realized that Sorin could reach the highest realms of existence, and if so, perhaps Sorin could venture there, gain ultimate power, then come back and share it with Alyssa.
Sorin left to escape the world, and Alyssa awaited his return patiently. Sorin came back as promised, bringing with him the power of All Creation and becoming the first Steelfang. Alyssa was granted powers by Sorin, becoming the second Steelfang. They rewrote Fate by killing Alduin for good and ending the cycle of Kalpas, before erasing their world and origin, disconnecting themselves entirely from existence. Thus, they became entities unbound from the laws of the world, and therefore fully attained the power of All Creation through their Sphere of Domination.
After the creation of the Three Realms of Euphoria, where Sorin and Alyssa took residence in the Higher Euphoria, they transformed the place into a paradise. Alyssa would later give birth to Sorin's only child, the transcendent one Raydin Steelfang. The two of them resided there permanently after that.
Appearance and Personality[]
The New Kingdoms[]
Alyssa has shown herself to be a very cold and calculating individual, with a trace of sadism and insanity. She has been shown to conduct unethical experiments to further scientific and magical research and knowledge, with no care about ethics or morality.
Alyssa proved herself to be a good mother, though, raising Raydin to not have his father's work oriented ethic and to care about the world around him. She also taught him all the values that made him a generally kind person and to never let his powers get the better of him.
Cosmic Legacy[]
Unlike her The New Kingdoms equivalent, the Alyssa of Cosmic Legacy is a level headed, fully sane person. She is is highly intelligent, but has problems piecing her thoughts together in a coherent manner unless it is with regards to magic theory and application. She is also rather stubborn over certain things, although she can be persuaded more easily by Sorin.
Alyssa is known to have a careless disregard for those around her, making it rare for her to consider collateral damage when she is committed to casting her stronger spells against enemies. She rarely considers the consequences of her decisions, only if it benefits her in the short term. This causes Alyssa to defer important matters to those more far sighted than her, mainly to Sorin's annoyance since he is normally the one bearing the brunt of her antics and making Alyssa's choices for her.
Alyssa is mostly a patient person and she isn't unfriendly or cold towards others around her, which is why she normally does the talking instead of Sorin for most part. The only thing that easily riles her up is her innate jealous nature, which normally doesn't manifest unless Sorin decides to pay attention to other girls. Alyssa is known to have quite a high amount of persistence in most things she does.
Alyssa is better able to organise her thoughts after she gained her omniscient knowledge from acquiring the power of All Creation.
Appearence[]
Alyssa has the blue eyes with slit pupils, very, very long white hair and fair, smooth skin. Before she became a Steelfang Vampire, Alyssa had red hair, a consequence of her Daedric Blood transfusions and heart. Alyssa's face is known to have delicate, youthful features, and she was a beauty of great renown, comparable to if not exceeding the likes of goddesses like Dibella.
It is known that Alyssa possesses completely flawless proportion in all her facial and bodily features. Her height was known to be 5'5" and she has certain Akaviri like facial features.
Powers and Abilities[]
The New Kingdoms[]
Alyssa, being a vampire of the Steelfang Strain, has enhanced strength, speed and endurance, enabling her to overpower enemies easily in physical combat where brute force is concerned. She has great skill with swords and bare handed fighting.
Alyssa, as with all Steelfangs, is capable of telepathic communication. She has a great skill with mental magic because of her powers, especially illusion creation and emotion shaping. Alyssa in fact was the creator of a whole new form of mental magic, which allowed one to use mental abilities to form deadly attacks, or read minds and such. She was one of the greatest mind mages alive during her prime.
Alyssa has extreme energy projection capabilities, as with most of her family members. Her energy projection is bright yellowish orange, the same colour as flames. Alyssa has a certain love for using only fire magic and the flames she produced are black in colour when she is severely enraged, burning with such heat they cannot be extinguished. Alyssa further can bend and control any form of flame, be it magical or natural. She was also immune to fire damage of any kind. Alyssa can further absorb flames, to heal herself.
If Alyssa takes fatal damage, she will disperse into flames and reform from the closest flames, so long as they are within one kilometer of her. The only way to kill her is to make sure there are no fires within one kilometer of Alyssa, something that is nearly impossible to do.
Alyssa was a master of Vitakinesis and thus was a very powerful restoration mage. She could also tear life out of her opponents with no effort to refill her magicka pool. This power of Alyssa's was strong enough to be used for anti army attacks, and seem to work on any entity, even undead and spirits.
Other powers that Alyssa possessed from her Steelfang bloodline are the fear vision of the Steelfang family, the ability to access Euphoria and possibly the ability to summon Tranquil Guardians and Daedric Succubi. Alyssa never exhibited her Steelfang wings for flight.
Alyssa can learn magic intuitively and she can master spells just by looking at one spellcasting event, due to her natural intelligence. She can even create magical replicates of any power that exists.
Cosmic Legacy[]
Alyssa's main magic school is none other than Destruction, and she has total mastery over the creation of flame and heat. Alyssa used flames that were so hot they glowed bright blue from the heat they emitted. The density of Alyssa's flames were so high, she could burn lesser fire away with her flames. This served as her main offensive ability before she gained the power of All Creation.
Alyssa was a noted master in Alteration Magic and can use all forms of alteration with no trouble. She is also at least an expert in all other magic forms, being able to summon multiple daedra without much effort or invocation, or heal large numbers of allies at once. It can be said that Alyssa has mastery over all magic itself. Alyssa has an ability to store an unlimited amount of items in a dimension that belongs to her, as well as retrieve said items at will.
Unlike Sorin, Alyssa is accomplished in Illusion Magic and can affect people's mental states with spells easily. She is also able to turn invisible, wipe people's memories and create magical doppelgangers of herself to fool others. In addition to her high prowess in Illusion, Alyssa is also good at enchanting weapons.
Alyssa has the blood of Dremoras and the heart of one as well. This grants her increased bodily durability and an incredible connection to the Plane of Oblivion itself. It also has the side effect of giving Alyssa an extremely high resistance to fire. Alyssa has great physical strength from her daedra like anatomy and learned Sorin's Akaviri Swordplay since she was 10 years old, so she can pull off the Akaviri Sword Art with no problems. Alyssa is therefore able to hold her own even if unable to use magic.
Alyssa further knows how to create wings of flame and use telekinesis to fly. She doesn't need her hands to direct spells, being able to cast any spell in any direction without using any form of direction other than her mind and line of sight. Alyssa's magic also doesn't have to originate from her body and she can cast spells directly on people as well. Alyssa is also able to manipulate magic staves remotely, casting their effects without even touching the staves.
Because of Sorin's strict tutelage, Alyssa at least knows how to fire a bow accurately against still targets and has an above average sneaking skill for someone who is supposed to be a typical witch. She also knows the basics of picking locks and her beauty aids her charisma to others.
After she gained the powers of All Creation, Alyssa gained the white wings of the Steelfang Family and all their powers. She also attained the power to bend reality and omniscience, allowing her some form of future prediction and strengthening her magic greatly.
Alyssa's Sphere of Domination as a Steelfang is the "Flames that Light the Way/Torch of Illumination". Alyssa therefore can rewrite prophecies and control the perception of knowledge using a heatless crimson flame if necessary. Alyssa therefore change the fate of individuals, or even a whole world, simply via using this rewriting power. She can also see all the possible futures of anything via this.
Equipment[]
The New Kingdoms[]
Alyssa possessed the sword "Fire Eater". The weapon could catch fire and fling flames at ranged enemies, or focus its flames into a crescent of superheated particles capable of melting ebony in miliseconds. Alyssa rarely used this sword, though, preferring her natural powers.
Alyssa wears armor, for protection. She never wore robes, except when she was pregnant with her children. Alyssa's armor forms around her from fire and she can dispel or create it at will.
Cosmic Legacy[]
Alyssa first used a silver sword, which was reforged by Mehrunes Dagon with the pieces of Mehrunes' Razor into the magic sword "Dagon's Edge". This is a silver colored longsword of ornate design that was capable of producing black flames. While it didn't have the instant killing power of the Razor, "Dagon's Edge" is capable of destroying armor on strike, banishing all sorts of Daedra and enhancing Alyssa's Pyrokinesis.
After she gained the power of All Creation, Alyssa reforged "Dagon's Edge" with her own power into her personal sword "Oracle's Radiance". This strengthened the blade further and made it more ornate. "Oracle's Radiance" is also capable of cutting space-time. It can also cut through the highest level "Divine Skin". It also gained gold highlights and patterns.
Alyssa carried multiple different magic staves for spells she was lazy to learn. She obtained many unique staves when she traveled with Sorin, as Sorin gave her all the staves and kept all the swords.
Alyssa wore a red dress as her base clothing. Above that wore the Savior's Hide that she and Sorin retrieved from Hircine and later modified into a corset like armor that would fit over her red dress. After attaining the power of All Creation, Alyssa instead manifests the golden and silver armor of the Steelfangs as her clothes, or an ornate white dress. Alyssa's divine skin combined with her golden armor is capable of blocking almost all damage.
Trivia[]
- Alyssa's wings are actually flaming constructs.
- Alyssa herself is very similar to the concept of the phoenix, and her powers are very similar to those of the legendary bird.
- Alyssa was named for her creator's first female character.
- Alyssa's creator does regret that he cannot draw her as she should look.
- Alyssa possesses the sword Hopesfire in Cosmic Legacy. This is because Sorin gave the weapon to her when she was a young girl as a self protection weapon. Sorin obtained said sword by killing the Neravarine of his world in Akavir.
Alternate Art[]
