On The Learnings of Bron Laah’dan

In the 17th year of the 4th Age, the most controversial of mages arrived at the shores of Winterhold. He called himself “Laah’dan of Atmora”, a name that garnered much scrutiny from the historians of the College, given that the last man known to hail from Atmora was Talos Stormcrown in the 2nd Age. Nevertheless, he proved himself a strong and capable mage in the fashion of our own history, he venerated the Owl Totem that we call Juhnal in his spellwork, and he quickly rose from Initiate to Apprentice to Journeyman.

It was Laah'dan who ignited our modern interest in Shalidor's ancient Labyrinthian, and no Master of the College would deny the benefits his influence has had on our continued study and research of ancient magical traditions, but his legacy does not end with trinkets recovered from ruins. Indeed, many have pointed to this so-called Atmoran in discussion of the resurgent necromantic practices in Winterhold. Most damning of all, however, is the clear inspiration taken by the progenitors of the Dragon Totem Schism of 4e82, who frequently cited Laah'dan under the names Bron the Faith Breaker, Bruhn’daan of the True Voice, and at times simply calling him by “Atmora” itself.

How shall we judge the legacy of such a man? Some of his theories revolutionized our understanding of history and magic, while others bordered on the heretical. His practices were just as variable, bridging the ends of a moral spectrum in ways dizzying to comprehend. In the following pages, I intend to detangle the scholar from the charlatan and bring to heel the wild fantasies of the mage I believe we ought to know as Hagar Helmsson, a Skaal shaman from Solstheim.