Ildari Sarothril is a Dark Elf necromancer and the former apprentice of Neloth, the Telvanni wizard of Tel Mithryn on Solstheim (Dragonborn). She is the hidden enemy behind the attacks in Old Friends and very much not over her old job.
Background
Neloth had long planned to swap his own heart for a Heart Stone. Ildari volunteered to go first, the operation went wrong, and Neloth wrote her off as dead – “most annoying”, in his words. The stone in her chest had other ideas. She escaped her grave and was nursed back to health by miners at Highpoint Tower. The stone made her stronger and taught her to bind spirits to bone and ash, but it also filled her head with voices that convinced her the miners wanted the stone. She raised Ash Spawn, killed their leader and locked up the rest as test subjects. Her journals complain that Neloth promised power and glory and delivered only pain.
Where to find them
She holds Highpoint Tower as her base. A separate journal of hers turns up in the crypt beneath Fort Frostmoth, describing how she reanimated General Falx Carius as a puppet for her revenge.
Quests
In Old Friends, Ash Spawn kill Neloth’s steward Varona Nelas and part of Tel Mithryn withers. After a third attack, Neloth suspects the raids are organised – just as Captain Veleth does about Raven Rock – and sends you to find the source. The trail ends with Ildari at Highpoint Tower. Her journal also appears during March of the Dead.
Combat
Ildari fights with a Staff of Lightning Bolts, wards and shock spells, and in her last chamber two soul-gem powered traps fire lightning at you – pull out the gems by hand or shoot them to shut them off. She can be beaten down any time after she first sees you, even with one strong sneak attack, but as long as she holds the Heart Stone she won’t die. She drops to one knee and simply stops taking damage. Talk to her and choose to rip the heart out, or pickpocket the stone, to finish her.
Personality & relationships
Bitter, paranoid and convinced Neloth sent some nobody to finish her off. Elynea Mothren remembers her as headstrong and always pushing her master for more – a hunger for power that cost her dearly.
Good to know
The Telvanni robes she wears are modified so the Heart Stone in her chest stays visible. The heart-ripping animation can occasionally fail to trigger after you defeat her.
Details checked against community wiki articles and the Skyrim/DLC game files, written in our own words.
