Tamriel: Dawn’s Beauty in the language
of the Aldmer, the nexus of creation, and the envy of Princes, Emperors, and
Gods in every dimension of existence. In our previous videos on the history
of the Elder Scrolls, we have centered our tale almost exclusively on the fate of
the continent’s Dragonborn Emperors of Man, with a focus on the brood of Talos Stormcrown:
the Septim dynasty. In this episode, the status quo which had endured for 4,000 years
would come crashing down, as the Dragonborn line is eliminated, man’s covenant with Akatosh is
extinguished, and the peoples of Tamriel stare straight into the jaws of the Father of Cataclysm.
The Oblivion crisis looms upon the horizon. If learning the lore of Tamriel makes
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will get a trial month for free. Despite its calamitous end on the distant
shores of Akavir, the reign of Uriel V had had a relatively stabilizing effect on the
Third Empire. The Late Emperors’ successors, Uriel VI, Morihatha, and Pelagius IV, ruled over
a relatively peaceful Tamriel. However, when Pelagius IV was succeeded by his son, Uriel VII,
trouble would return to the realm once more. More than any Emperor before him, Uriel VII’s tenure
was defined by interactions with a procession of nameless, faceless heroes who time and again
helped him restore order and justice to the realm. In the early days of Uriel’s reign, he relied
heavily on the counsel of his battlemage, Jagar [Yay-Gar] Tharn. Under Jagar’s guidance,
the young Emperor was able to strengthen Imperial control over the troublesome eastern provinces,
most notably by assimilating the Dunmer Great House of Hlaalu [Huh-Lah-Loo] and using them
as a spearhead to spread Imperial culture throughout Morrowind. However, as Uriel’s skill
in statecraft began to outpace his advisor, Jagar began to fear that his usefulness to the
Emperor would run dry. In a bid to preserve his position of power, the battlemage used a
sordid artifact known as the Staff of Chaos to imprison Uriel in a realm of Oblivion, using
illusion magic to impersonate the Emperor himself and continue to rule in his place.
Under Jagar’s neglectful rule, the unity of Tamriel began to shatter. The Dark
Elves and Argonians clashed in the Arnesian war, while Skyrim violently annexed territories
in Eastern High Rock and Hammerfell, and the Khajiit and Bosmer fought a territorial
border skirmish in their dense native forests. This era of chaos, known as the Simulacrum, was
ended when one of those aforementioned faceless heroes, known simply as the Eternal
Champion, revealed Tharn’s deception, defeated him, rescued Uriel from Oblivion, and
restored the rightful Emperor to the throne. Remarkably, the Emperor was able to stabilize his
realm once more, mainly through use of the Blades. On top of being the Emperors’ honour guard,
the elite warriors descended from Reman’s Akaviri Dragonguard now also operated as covert
agents throughout the provinces, restoring order through clever political subterfuge. One of these
agents was the second of Uriel’s nameless heroes, the Champion of Daggerfall. When Tiber Septim’s
erstwhile Brass God, the Numidium, resurfaced in Iliac Bay, this Champion navigated the complex
political waters of the region to ensure that not only would the Big Walker of the Dwemer finally
disappear from Nirn and cause no more chaos, but that the highly fractured petty
Kingdoms of High Rock became more unified and loyal to the Empire than ever before.
Of course, while the Emperor was putting out fires in the west, new ones had lit up in the east. In
3E 427, pillars of ash plumed from red mountain, choking the air, while a virulent plague known
as corprus infected highborn and low alike. The powers of Vivec, Almalexia and Sotha Sil,
the Divine Tribunal, were weakening. Before the Tribunal were Gods, they had been mere advisors
to the great Chimer Lord, Indoril Nerevar, but had betrayed and murdered him in order to
usurping the lost heart of Tamriel’s creator God, through which they became Gods themselves. As
Morrowind choked, Emperor Uriel VII found a prisoner in the Imperial city dungeons, released
him, and sent him to the ancient Dunmer homeland. Uriel knew that this prisoner was the Nerevarine,
the reincarnation of Indoril Nerevar, destined to restore balance in the east. It is unknown how
the Emperor identified this hero of fate, but sure enough, the Nerevarine served his purpose when he
found the Heart of Lorkhan beneath red mountain, cast it from the mortal realm, and in so doing,
ended not only the plague choking Morrowind, but also the divinity of the Tribunal
which had ruled it for thousands of years. The situation in Morrowind had been stabilized,
but in 3E 433, the largest and final crisis would loom its ugly head. It is here that we must
take a brief moment to discuss the life and times of a man with a dream of creating paradise:
Mankar Camoran. Mankar’s father was Haymon, a royal pretender, who during the
Imperial Reign of Cephorus Septim II, had usurped the Bosmeri throne from King Kaltos
Camoran and used the Wood Elf armies at his disposal to launch a devastating invasion across
Western Tamriel. The usurper’s dread crusade was halted by the united Bretons of High Rock
in 3E 267. However, his pregnant mistress, a Bosmer named Kaalys, fled into the wilderness of
Dwynnen, where she gave birth to his son, Mankar. Much of Mankar’s life is shrouded in mystery. Even
his appearance is an enigma, for despite being ostensibly born of Wood Elf stock, his adult body
took on a distinctly High Elf form. What is known is that, like his father Haymon, who was said
to summon demons from Oblivion to fight for him, Mankar developed an affinity for the Daedra.
At some point, he was chosen by Mehrunes Dagon, the Daedric Prince of Destruction. Mehrunes gifted
his devout servant with the Mysterium Xarxes, a book so vile and corrupting to mortals that even
handling it was said to drive them mad. Mankar was no exception, for he became lost in the prophecies
and poetry written in the Xarxes, and through it, created a new, insane vision for the world.
Mankar came to believe that Mundus, the mortal realm upon which Tamriel sat, was
not the nexus of creation as many believed. Indeed, Lorkhan, the ur-God who had created the
earth, was infact just another Daedric Prince, and Tamriel was just another Daedric realm. Therefore,
when the Aedra had ripped the heart from Lorkhan’s body and trapped it under Red Mountain, they had
essentially usurped Tamriel from its rightful Daedric owners. Therefore, Mankar had a sacred
duty to help the Daedric Prince of Destruction reclaim the birthright of his kind.
With the power afforded to him by the Mysterium Xarxes, Mankar slowly drew in mortals from across
Tamriel to join in a secret cult, the Mythic Dawn. Then, he set in motion his plans: On the 27th of
Last Seed, 3E 433, catastrophe struck the Empire as Geldall Septim, Enman Septim and
Ebel Septim, the sons of the Emperor, were simultaneously assassinated by the mysterious
cult of the Mythic Dawn. Reeling in shock, a contingent of Blades immediately sought to spirit
the Emperor out of the Imperial city to safety through a secret underground route
leading past the imperial prisons. There, the escape party happened upon an unknown
prisoner, the last of Uriel's heroes. Recognizing this mysterious inmate as a face from his dreams,
Uriel entrusted the prisoner with the Amulet of Kings, and charged him to deliver it safely into
the hands of Jauffre, Grandmaster of the Blades. The Emperor would be cut down by
Mythic Dawn agents moments later. Ever since Akatosh had gifted the Amulet of
Kings to Queen Alessia thousands of years ago, Tamriel had been shielded from the wrath of the
Daedra, and while powerful conjurers could summon Daedra into the realm, but the Princes of Oblivion
could not invade Tamriel of their own volition. Now, the pact between Akatosh and the Dragonborn
rulers of man had been severed. Across Tamriel, Oblivion gates opened up across Tamriel, and
from their dreadful maws, hordes of Dremora poured forth. The Oblivion Crisis had begun.
The nameless prisoner ventured to Weynon Priory, where he delivered the Amulet of Kings into
Jauffre’s care. There, the Grandmaster of the Blades informed them that the only way to
stop the invasion was to have a Dragonborn Prince relight the dragonfires in the Temple
of the One while wearing the Amulet of Kings, thereby restoring the covenant with Akatosh. The
problem was, the Dragonborn Bloodline ran through the blood of the Septims, and the Septims had
all been assassinated, all the legitimate ones, in any case. In the city of Kvatch lived a
man named Martin, a priest of the nine divines completely unaware of his true parentage.
In him, the salvation of Tamriel now lay. They arrived too late, for Kvatch was already
in flames. A massive oblivion gate had opened just outside the city’s main gate. Hordes of
Daedra had poured forth, taking the city guard completely by surprise, and laying waste
to the town. Here, Uriel’s chosen prisoner entered through the Oblivion gate, closing it
from within, stymying the Dremoric menace, and earning himself a new epithet: the Hero of Kvatch.
During the chaos, a young priest had ferried many civilians into the Chapel of Akatosh, sheltering
them from the hellfire and saving their lives. There, the Hero of Kvatch, found
him amongst a crowd of survivors. At first, young Martin was hesitant to
accept the gravity of his destiny. However, he eventually agreed to go back with the Hero
to Weynon Priory. Nevertheless, the Mythic Dawn remained one step ahead of them, for upon their
return, assassins of the cult had already struck, and made off with the Amulet of Kings. Despite
this setback, Martin, Jauffre, and the Hero made their way to the ancient Akaviri stronghold of
Cloud Ruler Temple, ancestral stronghold of the blades. There, the Dragonguard whose ancestors
had once served Reman Cyrodiil now declared this new bastard priest to be Martin Septim,
the rightful Dragonborn Emperor of Tamriel. Meanwhile, gates continued to open throughout
the continent, heralding misery and destruction wherever they manifested into being. The
situation was particularly tragic in Alinor. Nestled in the heart of the ancient High Elf
homeland was the Crystal Tower, one of the oldest structures in Tamriel which alongside the
Adamantine Tower in Balfiera and the White-Gold Tower in High Rock made up the primordial pillars
that stabilized the fabric of the Mortal World. When Oblivion gates opened across Summerset,
countless Altmer fled to their beloved tower, believing its ancient magics would
protect them from the Daedra. This was to no avail, for the infernal servants
of Dagon conjured massive tremors which collapsed the most important monument in Elvendom,
and killed the thousands of souls inside. Meanwhile, things were going about as poorly
in the east. Although still reeling from the disappearance of the Tribunal, the Dunmer put up
a vicious fight against the Dremora host. The city of Ald’ruhn was an ancient stronghold built inside
the carcass of a long-dead, colossal Emperor crab. When Mehrunes’ horde descended upon the
city, the great wizards of House Redoran re-animated the massive crustacean, essentially
making their very city fight for them. A valiant effort, but to no avail, for Ald’ruhn fell
all the same, and the Dunmer were massacred. Not every province in Tamriel was caught on
the backfoot. The Argonians of Black Marsh were a people bound to the Hist, a species of
massive, hyper-intelligent primordial trees who created the lizardfolk and
maintained a telepathic link with them. With infinite foresight, the Hist foresaw
the Oblivion crisis before it happened. Through the trees’ sacred sap,
the Argonians were made stronger, faster, and able to endure endless pain. Thus,
when the Oblivion Gates opened in Black Marsh, the lizardmen poured right into them, invading
the invaders themselves with such merciless fury that Dagon’s lieutenants had to close the gates in
that region to stop themselves from being overrun. Back in Cyrodiil, Martin Septim, the Blades, and
the Hero of Kvatch had begun the first steps in their plan to end the infernal invasion for good.
After some investigative work, the Hero managed to disguise themselves as a member of the Mythic
Dawn, and infiltrate one of their secret meetings. There, they encountered Mankar Camoran, but
before the Hero could reclaim the Amulet, Mankar escaped into Oblivion through a portal.
This time, however, the side of good had something to show for their efforts, for Mankar had left
behind something important: The Mysterium Xarxes. Through the very examination of Dagon’s infernal
tome, Martin deduced that he could reopen a portal directly to Mankar’s location in Oblivion with
the help of three artifacts: a Daedric Artifact, a Great Welkynd Stone, and the Blood of
the Divines. These tasks were entrusted to the Hero of Kvatch. Finding an artifact
of one of the Daedric Princes came first, although the histories are unclear which Princes’
object of power was sacrificed. Next came the Great Welkynd Stone, which the hero found in the
ancient Ayleid Ruins of Miscarcand, a remnant of the last time Daedra had walked freely on Tamriel
under the patronage of depraved Ayleid Princes. Finally, the blood of the divines was obtained
through a comic loophole. In the ancient ruins of Sancre Tor, where Dragonborn Emperors
had been buried since the days of Alessia, was interred the armour of Tiber Septim, where
still remained the residue of blood from when the mortal who became a God was still a man.
Unfortunately, even with all three relics acquired, one more was needed before
a portal could be opened to Mankar, a great sigil stone, the anchor to the
largest of the Oblivion Gates. Thus, Martin made the risky decision to allow a
Great Gate to open outside the city of Bruma, enabling the Daedra to launch a full invasion of
the city. The battle outside Bruma was brutal, with soldiers from across Cyrodiil clashing with
the endless Dremora host, and Emperor Martin, donned in the armour of his forefather
Talos, at the head of the fray. As the melee raged, the Hero of Kvatch dove
into the Great Gate, seizing its Sigil Stone, and closing the portal. Bruma was saved.
Finally, a portal could be opened directly to Mankar Camoran’s location, and thus the hero
of Kvatch journeyed through it and entered into Gaiar Alata, a small slice of Oblivion created by
Mankar himself, a reflection of the paradise he would create whence Tamriel had been purified
by its rightful Daedric owners. But Mankar’s paradise was an illusion, the delusional
dream of a deranged madman, and finally, the hero chosen by Uriel VII in the Imperial
Prison cut down the insane assassin of Emperors, and recovered the Amulet of Kings.
With the Amulet back in their possession, Martin and the Hero rushed for the Imperial City,
where they intended to relight the dragonfires and restore the covenant of Akatosh. But, once again,
they were too late. With his chief servant dead, Mehrunes Dagon had launched a last ditch,
all-out assault upon the Imperial City, in which he personally led the charge
as a massive, nigh-invulnerable avatar of himself. The veil of Oblivion was torn, the
Dragonfires rendered useless, and Dagon himself stood in the heart of Tamriel, intent on its
destruction. After he and the Hero fought their way to the Temple of the One, Martin acknowledged
the futility of renewing the old pact of Akatosh. It would not banish Dagon now that his physical
form walked freely upon the mortal plane. Now, only the greatest sacrifice could close shut the
jaws of Oblivion. So it was that Emperor Martin, the last of the line of Septim, shattered
the Amulet of Kings, transforming himself into an avatar of Akatosh and handily defeating
Dagon in the form of that great Golden dragon, before eternally committing his mortal soul
to the divine. The Oblivion Crisis was over. It was a bittersweet victory. With Martin’s
sacrifice, no Daedric Prince could ever again invade the realm. However, with his
death, the Septim line was now extinct, and the descendants of Talos Stormcrown no more.
Greatly weakened by Dagon’s invasion, and now without its ruling dynasty, the Empire began to
disintegrate. It was here, at this weakest point, that what remained of the Tiber Septims’ realm
would face its greatest foe. Deep in Alinor, a faction of Altmer had begun the process of
seizing power, with the intent of reclaiming their ancestral lands, and taking their revenge
on the Empire that had once laid them so low. The sun was setting on the age of men,
and with the new dawn name a new Merethic age- the Great Thalmor War loomed on the
horizon. We are going to talk about it in the near future and cover the battles of many
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