What's the process involved in keeping up with Doht's maintenance and care?
Doht is a unique construct of the Shivering Isles, first created when Dust began to train under Relmyna in order to take revenge on the Vigil. He, like her, was made as a weapon - a shell of flesh, grown via magical means, constructed just so and bound with a Daedric soul. In their centuries working together, Dust became fond of Doht, and he in turn has shown his own quiet loyalty to her.
The hound’s soul comes from one of many similar beings of other planes, a ‘Hell Hound’ Daedra. Given what he is, it is impossible for Doht’s spirit to die, persay - like all Daedra, when his corporeal form is destroyed, his essence will return to the Waters of Oblivion. However, to bind a soul to a flesh shell is a tricky, imprecise thing, and there’s no guarantee Dust could find his particular soul and rebind him again. Thus, she’s always tried to use some degree of caution in working alongside him.
Doht is stronger than any mortal wolf or canine, of course, imbued with enchantments not dissimilar from those scarring Dust’s own tissue. He has no need to eat or sleep, though he might indulge in both when not in battle, and is immune to disease. However, he can be dismantled and destroyed. His outer skin membrane, though tough, is not impenetrable.
In Dust’s days as the Bane of Stendarr, both she and Doht recieved regular ‘touch-ups’, her from Relmyna, and Doht from Dust herself. Failing stitching would be redone, muscle tissue healed, failing imbuements strengthened with void essence and rituals alongside healing sessions. These days, Doht sees much less action, and Dust summons him only rarely for aid or company.
When not summoned, Doht returns to the Isles to hunt and roam. Thus far, he’s always returned to her side when called, but in the back of her mind Dust knows he could, at any time, be destroyed on the plane where he was created. All she can do is hope he stays safe, and treat him well when she has some time alone with him, away of the eyes of her apprentice or customers.
