Morrowind:Other Artifacts

Artifacts are items that have a unique appearance and item ID. Like unique items, it is impossible to find a second copy of these exceptional (often powerful) items. Unlike unique items, however, artifacts do not share appearances with other generic magic items; they have a distinct one-of-a-kind look. Most of these artifacts also make an appearance in other games.

There are a number of artifacts that can be found throughout the island of Vvardenfell. For artifacts in Mournhold and Solstheim, check the artifact pages for Tribunal and Bloodmoon, respectively.

Other Artifacts

Azura's Star

Artifact: Azura's Star (Misc_SoulGem_Azura) (lore page)
Type	Soul Gem
Statistics
Weight	2	Value	5,000 (empty)

Azura's Star

Azura's Star is a boon given to a champion by the goddess Azura.

A reusable soul gem, Azura's Star is filled with a soul and emptied thereof by the usual method. It can be reused an unlimited number of times; however, it still says "You failed to make an enchanted item" and then "Your soul gem broke" when you fail enchanting.

To acquire it, find the Shrine of Azura on the southeast shore of Vvardenfell (its location is shown on the game map). See Azura's Quest for more information.

The gold value of Azura's Star is equal to 5,000 times the point value of the soul. This makes Azura's Star combined with a large soul, the largest value item in the game. Specifically, the largest soul is 1500 points giving a maximum value of 7,500,000 gold.

Notes

• Azura's Star may be taken away from you during various quests that require you to find soulgems. If this happens you will be able to get it back by inputing the console command player->additem "Misc_SoulGem_Azura" 1. To be safe, you should avoid having Azura's Star in your inventory during any quests involving soul gems.
• There is another "Azura's Star" listed in the Construction Set, ID: azura_star_unique. This one is not a soul gem, but a throwing weapon instead. This version is a unique item never seen in-game, with a 1-5 damage rating and no enchantment.
• Azura's Star is the only soul gem that can capture the souls of Vivec and Almalexia (in Tribunal).
• Azura's Star also appears in Daggerfall, Oblivion, and Skyrim with the same properties.

Bittercup

Artifact: Bittercup (artifact_bittercup_01) (lore page)
Type	Other
Statistics
Weight	10	Value	100,000

Bittercup

The Bittercup is an artifact located in Ald Redaynia, attributed to the Daedric Prince Clavicus Vile, whose sphere is the granting of power and wishes through ritual invocations and pacts.

When you activate it, you will be asked whether you would like to drink its "nectar" or pick it up. If you choose to drink, the cup will disappear. This will interfere with the Thieves Guild questline, specifically The Bitter Cup. If you drop the cup, you will be given the options again every time you pick it up.

Drinking from the Bittercup will permanently increase your highest attribute by 20 points and decrease your lowest attribute by 20 points. However, no attribute will be raised above 100.

Something to note is that the minimum and maximum attributes are checked sequentially, in the same order that they appear in the stats menu. Thus, if you have several attributes at the same level, the first one in the menu will be chosen.

It is possible to control which attributes are affected using Fortify and/or Drain Attribute effects. The Bittercup affects the base attribute value, so fortifying an attribute above 100 temporarily will not prevent the effect. However, you cannot raise an attribute above 100, nor could you avoid having an attribute lowered by 20 points by draining it to zero.

Notes

• The name of the artifact is spelled as one word, Bittercup, but is referred to as the Bitter Cup everywhere else, including the dialogue that asked when picking it up.
• Another copy of the Bittercup can be found in the ToddTest test cell.
• With the right character setup, the Bittercup can be used to raise the following attributes to 100 before ever leveling up: Agility, Endurance, Personality, Speed. This requires the player to pick, respectively, Bosmer for Agility, Khajiit, Dunmer or male Argonian for Speed, Imperial for Personality and Orc, Redguard or male Nord for Endurance and then select the Birthsign with the desired attribute fortified by 25 points as well as picking it as one of your two governing attributes during class creation. Drinking the Bittercup afterwards will result in a permanent 100 points in the desired attribute. This will however result in a net loss of 5 attribute points as no attribute can be raised past 100 and there are no 20 point fortifications from birthsigns.
• It is worth noting that using the Bittercup can also increase the player's Luck. By drinking from the Bitter Cup, a character with Luck as a favorite attribute can hit 70 Luck at level 1. As Luck doesn't have any governed skills and cannot have multipliers, this is one of the few methods that can give it a significant boost.

Master Propylon Index

Artifact: Master Propylon Index (index_master)
Type	Other
Statistics
Weight	3	Value	2000

Master Propylon Index

The Master Propylon Index is an artifact created by Folms Mirel in Caldera, in return for gathering all ten original other Propylon Indices. You can use it to teleport directly to the Caldera Mages Guild from any working propylon chamber. Folms can then send you to any of the other chambers, for free. It is not necessary to have the Master Index in your possession to use his services.

Notes

• This item is added by the Master Index official plugin.
• One advantage to using the original indices is that they provide a quick means of transport across Vvardenfell during the Silent Pilgrimage quest. However, with the Master Propylon Index, you will only be able to get as far as Caldera, since you cannot talk to Mirel without failing the quest.
• Unlike the guild guides, Mirel will gladly transport you even if you are a vampire. You just need to ask about the "Work" topic.
• Another factor to consider is that Mirel will take each index from you when you return from the quest to get it, before revealing the location of the next, so you cannot use a partial set of them while following his quests. It may be more convenient to find most or all of them on your own, then approach him about the topic when you have them (or cannot find one) and have long been using several of them.

The Skeleton Key

Artifact: The Skeleton Key (skeleton_key) (lore page)
Type	Lockpick
Statistics
Weight	0.5	Value	1,000
Uses	50	Quality	5.0

The Skeleton Key

The Skeleton Key is a high-quality Daedric lockpick from Nocturnal. It has only 50 uses which should open every door in the game, with the exception of blocked doors and certain quest-specific doors.

It can be obtained through a high-ranking quest with the Thieves Guild Master Thief, Gentleman Jim Stacey, in Vivec's Foreign Quarter Canalworks. See the Kill Hard-Heart quest for more information. If you are not a member of the Thieves Guild, you may also acquire the key by killing Jim Stacey, though you cannot get it by pickpocketing him.

Notes

• The Skeleton Key also appears in Arena, Daggerfall, Oblivion, and Skyrim, though its function is not the same in the other games.
• The Morrowind Prophecies page 241 indicates that there was supposed to be multiple skeleton keys aside from the one Gentleman Jim Stacey would have given you. These are the Rusty Key with the key_skeleton Construction Set ID.