An Altmeri Analysis on the Aedra of the Imperial Cult, Men, and Lorkhan

by Polycarp

For the past Era we have been ruled by a government based on law and order, held in a stable society and protected against the forces of countless foes that would seek to conquer or destroy us. From the Akaviri to the Sixth House, the nature of the Arena of Mundus, death and suffering, has been held back largely by the world created by the Empire of men. Most citizens (with obvious exceptions) have been content for this reason to never question the authorities that protect us or their motives, however I (somewhat regretfully) must go against this precedent today. Allow me to explain.

Early Man

The history of the Empire at its core can be traced back to indeed the very beginning of the world. I believe you are all familiar with how the world was founded, yet I will briefly expound upon what we know about the founder, for it provides the core of what the Empire is. We know for one Lorkhan was a Padomaic being ("He convinced or contrived the Original Spirits to bring about the creation of the Mortal Plane, upsetting the status quo much like his father Padomay had introduced instability into the universe in the Beginning Place." - The Monomyth). Indeed to go a step further the book "Sithis" describes him as the being sent to annihilate the world ("So Sithis begat Lorkhan and sent him to destroy the universe. Lorkhan! Unstable mutant!" - Sithis). However even though the purpose of all Padomaic beings is to return things to the constant chaos in which no life can live, there is one particular thing about Lorkhan that sets him apart. This being his selfish nature that cannot bear to let go of its existence (Here were the etada with their magic and their voids and everything in between and he yearned for the return to flux but at the same time he could not bear to lose his identity. - ...the Tower). This of course led to his ultimate goal, the Tower, which characterizes him and sets him as such a critical part of mortal thinking, for indeed our greatest motivation is self (As the gods and demons of the Aurbis erupted, the get of Padhome tried to leave it all behind for he wanted all of it and none of it all at once. It was then that he came to the border of the Aurbis. He saw the Tower, for a circle turned sideways is an “I”. This was the first word of Lorkhan and he would never, ever forget it. - ...the Tower).

Now with this all in mind, picture the early world. To continue his war against the Anuist spirits and perhaps pave the way for a second attempt at CHIM (for indeed the first failed, with it's byproduct being the mortal world itself), Lorkhan summons to him and army of ambitious and violent mortals, fresh and passionately in the service of one they no doubt see as their father. The race of Men (Lorkhan made armies out of the weakest souls and named them Men, and they brought Sithis into every quarter. - The Monomyth). Many ancient Nordic tales exist about this time period, but I will not get into such things in this essey. What I will address briefly is the one promise Lorkhan gave to those who were willing to serve him: Sovngarde. A place of endless violence and drunkenness, it is a fitting reward from a Padomaic being. What amazes me to no end is that seemingly Nords view this place as a paradise.

Nonetheless, Lorkhan for a time was defeated. Trinimac "reached in with more than hands to take his Heart" (The Monomyth) in front of his army and defeated him. Men "dragged Lorkhan's body away and swore blood vengeance on the heirs of Auriel for all time", Lorkhan's heart was lost, and everything to Auriel and his army seemed to be finished. Indeed he soon after left the mortal plane. He was unfortunately wrong.

Shor's First Empire of Men

Now as men were defeated the races of Mer began to split on how exactly to preserve their existence and remaining divinitiy (Where the Altmer sought to focus on dracochrysalis, or keeping elder magic bound before it could change into something lesser, the Ayleids harvested castaway creatia from Oblivion - Nu-Mantia Intercept). This led to certain elements of the Elvish kind becoming more and more corrupt, the Bosmer taking Mannish wives (the Bosmer, had soiled Time's line by taking Mannish wives - The Monomyth), the Chimer being tricked by the three deceivers Boethiah, Mephala, and of course Azura (the Chimer, who listened to tainted et'Ada - The Monomyth), and finally the Ayleids, who had entered into a pact with the Daedric spirits (the Ayleids harvested castaway creatia from Oblivion by entering a pact with the masters of the Void - Nu-Mantia Intercept). To facilitate the Ayleid's society they took on countless remaining men as slaves. This proved to be a mistake.

A slave named Alessia began to ponder leading a revolt and ending the rule of their Merish masters. Around this time period Shor also seems to make a reappearence (It started in the coastal jungle of what is now the Colovian west, where a prophet named Marukh, who had spoken to the "Enlightened One," Saint Alessia, began to question the validity of Elven rule. - Pocket Guide to the Empire: Cyrodiil.)

Unfortunately due to continued debate on the issue of the one I require a moment to break from the flow of this essey and demonstrate that Shezarr is indeed the One.

"I will not dictate whether Lorkhan was judged sacred or profane or transcendent at the Convention. My brothers at the Temple of the One may call a recess after my first graph to discuss this on the tertiary sense-gradient" - Nu-Mantia Intercept

"As for why Tiber Septim did not somehow ‘revitalize’ Shezarr during his wars against the Aldmeri Dominion, we can only speculate that, by his time, memories of the Alessian Order’s follies (the Dragon Break, the War of Righteousness, the defeat at Gelnumbria Moors) would have only damaged his campaign for the Imperial Crown." - Shezarr and the Eight Divines

"Not since the Selective have we seen so much dangerous interest in the shezzarite power-symbols." - Nu-Mantia Intercept

"Symmachus had apartments in a magnificent house two blocks from the palace, past the temple. “The Temple of the One,” he identified as they passed it, an ancient Nordic cult" - The Real Barenziah

Now we may continue.

She indeed did begin the revolt, and with the help of Men from Skyrim they succeeded, capturing the White-Gold Tower (When Skyrim lends its armies to the Slave-Queen of the South, the revolution succeeds. The Ayleid Hegemonies are quickly overthrown. Shortly thereafter, White Gold Tower is captured by Alessia’s forces, and she promptly declares herself the first Empress of Cyrodiil. - Shezarr and the Eight Divines). She runs into a bit of a difficulty though: "Part of the package meant that she had to become the High Priestess of Akatosh, as well. Akatosh was an Aldmeri god, and Alessia’s subjects were as-yet unwilling to renounce their worship of the Elven pantheon. She found herself in a very sensitive political situation. She needed to keep the Nords as her allies, but they were (at that time) fiercely opposed to any adoration of Elven deities. On the other hand, she could not force her subjects to revert back to the Nordic pantheon, for fear of another revolution (Shezarr and the Eight Divines)." To prevent the imminent situation she decides to literally combine the two systems, Merish and Manish, Anuist and Padomaic, Aedric and Lorkhanist, into one. Now obviously Shor would feel betrayed by this, indeed he "could no longer be the bloodthirsty anti-Aldmer warlord of old ("Shezarr and the Eight Divines")." This led to one of the most important events in history:

"A fanatical sect of the Alessian Order, the Maruhkati Selective, becomes frustrated by ancient Aldmeri traditions still present within the theological system of the Eight Divines. Specifically, they hated any admission that Akatosh, the Supreme Spirit, was indisputably also Auriel, the Elven High God. - Where were you when the Dragon Broke?

What if they become the Aedra (or at very least change them)? Then Lorkhan gets his Empire, the Mer are deceived, and the Empire keeps its political situation intact.

"Newly invented rituals were utilized to disprove this theory, to no avail. Finally, the secret masters of the Maruhkati Selective channeled the Aurbis itself to mythically remove those aspects of the Dragon God they disapproved of. A staff or tower appeared before them. The secret masters danced on it until it writhed and trembled and spoke its protonymic." - Where were you when the Dragon Broke?

Nazz's paper can provide further information (The Maruhkati are the Aedra). Allow me to borrow to brief quotations used in that excellent work.

"As for myself, I was here and there and here again, like the rest of the mortals during the Dragon Break. How do you think I learned my mystery? The Maruhkati Selectives showed us all the glories of the Dawn so that we might learn, simply: as above, so below." - Mannimarco

"While you were fighting wars with phantoms and giving birth to your own fathers..." - R'leyt-harhr, Khajiit, Tender to the Mane

With the creation of a new order of Shorist Aedra, the Empire of Men proceeded to terrorize the Merish and magical population of Tamriel for the remainder of the First Era. This of course is ended by the assassination of Reman III and Prince Juilek and the ending of the First Empire (2920, The Last Year of the First Era).

I must briefly backtrack to one event that I believe relates in many ways to the present. While his Alessian followers continually support him no doubt he gains much power. Enough power in fact to attempt to regain his heart. The "The Secret Song of Wulfharth Ash-King" chronicles his attempt, as he rallies to himself a massive army of Orcs and Nords to attempt his reclaiming. This of course fails as Nerevar himself defeats Lorkhan for his second time ("But Nerevar feigned the death that was coming early and so struck Lorkhan with surprise on his side. The Heart had been made solid by Sunder's tuning blow and Keening could now cut it out. And it was cut out and Lorkhan was defeated" - The Secret Song of Wulfharth Ash-King). It is interesting to note also that Dagoth Ur in this account is actually amoung the Lorkhan supporters ("Dagoth-Ur met Dumac and slew him, but not before Sunder struck his lord's Heart." - The Secret Song of Wulfharth Ash-King). Not that I trust these man-tales.

The Present Empire

Around the beginning of the Third Era a mysterious man named Talos began to conquer the known world and reestablish the Empire of Men. While a fascinating account I will center in more on the occurances between him and the Underking, the spirit of Lorkhan's general at the Battle of Red Mountain, King Wulfharth.

"It is the rumbling of the Greybeards that wake him. Though the Empire has crumbled, there are rumors that a chosen one will come to restore it. This new Emperor will defeat the Elves and rule a united Tamriel." - The Arcturian Heresy

The Underking finds Talos and assists him in his quest to restore the Empire. However he has a motive all his own.

"The Underking continues to press on Tiber Septim the need to conquer Morrowind. The Emperor is not sure that it is a wise idea. He has heard of the Tribunal's power. The Underking wants his vengeance, and reminds Tiber Septim that he is fated to conquer the Elves, even the Tribunal." - The Arcturian Heresy

"The Underking tells him that, with the Tribunal dead, Septim might steal the Tribunal's power and use it against the High Elves (certainly the oldest enemies of Lorkhan, predating even the Tribunal)." - The Arcturian Heresy

Finally Talos is convinced, but even then the Underking cannot fully control him.

"When certain conditions of the Armistice include not only a policy of noninterference with the Tribunal, but also, in the Underking's eyes, a validation of their religious beliefs, Ysmir is furious. He abandons the Empire completely... Without the Underking's power, all ideas of conquering Tamriel vanish. Would've been nice, Septim thinks, but let's just worry about Cyrodiil and the human nations." - The Arcturian Heresy

Later however he has a change of heart. With one fell swoop he tricks the Underking into coming back and captures his soul, using it to power the Numidium (sound familiar?). The Numidium is eventually destroyed. It seems like the Underking is dead and gone until one day an advisor shows up to council Tiber's successor:

"I was friends with your grandfather," the Underking says, "He sent me to help you run the Empire." - The Arcturian Heresy

There has been many rumors in the scholarly realm that suspect the Underking was actually an aspect of Lorkhan. We also know from the "Real Barenziah" that Talos indeed did reestablish the Temple of the One (in seeming contridiction to Shezarr and the Eight Divines which says, "As for why Tiber Septim did not somehow ‘revitalize’ Shezarr during his wars against the Aldmeri Dominion, we can only speculate that, by his time, memories of the Alessian Order’s follies (the Dragon Break, the War of Righteousness, the defeat at Gelnumbria Moors) would have only damaged his campaign for the Imperial Crown."). So we know that Lorkhan's followers were heavily involved in the construction of the present Empire. We also know that the present Aedra being worshipped are false gods who came to power in service of Shor. But what does that have to do with today?

For one, I must turn to the Nu-Mantia Intercept:

"Scholarship on the subject of the metaphysical Tower is at an all-time high. Not since the Selective have we seen so much dangerous interest in the shezzarite power-symbols."

We see that Lorkhan's teachings are very present and real today. We also have one other issue to address. Why did Emperor Uriel VII send the Nerevarine to Morrowind when he knew that there was a prophecy he would drive the Empire from Morrowind? Could it have something to do with Lorkhan's Heart? Is he not as naive as he seems? And finally, where is Lorkhan in all this?

I understand what the Empire has done for the whole of society (even if they got most of what they know and use from the Altmer) and I understand why people might feel an attachment to the old ways that have been so common during the Third Era (even the worship of the false gods). But I suggest that the Empire is no longer healthy to the realm of Tamriel. Perhaps it never was. How healthy can an empire established by a Padomaic being be?

Until later fellow scholars,
Polycarp
Altmeri Pilgrim