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From the Ashes

Author: 
Various
Librarian Comment: 

This is the final chapter of the original RP. Sadly all Seventy-Eight threads of this chapter are lost to time. Thankfully we do have a summary of the events that took place thanks to the excellent summary written by Nalion which can be read below. If by any chance anybody has archived these threads please get in touch with one of the Librarians.

The Marble Jaws of Oblivion had been shut. The Champion of Cyrodiil was victorious. But the price was high. Martin, Last of the Septims is gone, with the furious and glorious blaze of the Dragon. Cities lie in ruins, armies scattered, the warriors weary. There is no Emperor and no heir to hold the Covenant together. The Elder Council tries its best, yet already, secret plans are in motion... Where will Tamriel go in these times? Where will the Empire go? Will there be an Empire?
 
Four years have gone by since the War of the Wormgod and many of the heroes in this battle against the undead have gone their separate ways. However, all were drawn together again after the events of the Oblivion Crisis.
 
As a symbol of hope and an inspiration for others to do the same, there was to be held a Fundraising Event to rebuild the city of Kvatch. Many events and contests were scheduled and organised by various parties: races, magick challenges, poetry contributions, arena fights, a scholarly symposium, a fundraising dances and many more. It is in this environment when the heroes of the past meet in the present, share their newest stories and take part in the various competitions to fund the rebuilding of Kvatch.
 
Many have taken interest and concern in the events of the Oblivion Crisis and wonder about the future, even try to shape it or at least take part in it.
 
The Elder Council - apparently not as strong in leadership as they would like - was trying to consolidate and conserve the Empire and its Provinces, though with perhaps little effect. Skyrim seemed to be on the brink of succession and the other provinces each have their own internal and external problems to deal with.
 
Yet still, the Fundraising Event is a huge success, crowned by the dancing contest sponsored by Solunastra. However, this contest was also the stage of many grievous events to come.
 
Aricyn, who has accompanied the heroes for a long time, has consolidated his power in Skyrim and at the end of the fundraising ball, kidnapped young Princess Rinnala of the Summerset Kingdom of Firsthold. His plans apparently were to marry her, thus joining Altmer and Skyrim blood in his plans to take the Seat of Sundered Kings and make himself Emperor.
 
What he did not know, though, was that he had only kidnapped Rinnala's double, while the true Princess Rinnala posed as a lowly servant. However, this was not known to the public and for this reason as well as the rescue of the innocent double and to deny Aricyns ambition to the throne, a rescue team was set up, consisting of many reknowned heroes.
 
Additional rumours among the heroes that Aricyn was one part of the famed and feared 'Enantiomorph' was further motivation to investigate this situation.
 
The heroes, the real Princess nd her brother among them, set out towards Skyrim and High Hrothgar, the reported residence and base of power for Aricyn.
 
In the meanwhile, other heroes cared about Somnia Nyx, a noblewoman who was trapped in the dream-realms of Daedric Prince Vaernima's Quagmire. After many adventures and strange occurences in this dreamworld - in which even heroes from the Skyrim group were drawn into - Somnia was finally rescued.
 
After several adventures in Skyrim, including a surreal experience in the fabled Labyrinthian, the heroes managed to reach Fjerdevinden, in High Hrothgar, where Aricyn and his Five Hundred Companions feasted and protected the double of Princess Rinnala. There, the heroes hatched a - mostly - cunning plan, made possible by the unique powers of the vampires Anya, to wipe the double while Aricyn's brother Cyndarius distracted the young Great Chief elsewhere.
 
The climb to Fjerdevinden was arduous, testing both body and spirit, though the heroes managed to reach their goal, and indeed rescued the Princess's double - though in the ensuing chaos, several heroes were captured and held prisoner until Aricyn returned. In a magnamious show of mercy, the disappointed Aricyn nonetheless pardoned the heroes for their crimes against him and his people, and invited them to feast with him, not realizing his Princess was now yet another double. During the feast, Aricyn offered his guests chance to join him in his quest to reunite Tamriel; several heroes took him up on his offer.
 
Meanwhile, Rinnala's father, King Reman of Firsthold, sent Aricyn a letter explaining the original deception and offering an alliance if Aricyn could find the real Rinnala. With some amusement, Aricyn released those heroes who would not side with him, bidding them to pass on the word. Rinnala, to the surprise of more than a few, accepted her father's plans without complaint, and agreed to marry Aricyn, thus cementing the alliance between Skyrim and Firsthold. This alliance would prove to be disasterous for other alliances, however; unbeknownst to anyone else at the time, King Helseth had made an agreement with his hated rival, Queen Elysana, to support her and Gortwog in their efforts against Aricyn. When Helseth received word of Reman's plans, he flew into a rage, denouncing Reman and his consort, Helseth's sister Morgiah.
 
While many heroes adventured in Skyrim, a new threat revealed itself in Cyrodiil; a Nordic man, calling himself the Bandit King, organized the brigands of Cyrodiil together into an army, outfitted them with the best equipment the Oblivion Gates had to offer, and let them loose to terrorize the countryside, to plunder and strike fear into the hearts of the common man. In the midst of the Bandit King's terror, however, new heroes arose, falling under the banner of the Imperial girl Wriph, a simple brawler who hated to see the little guy get abused. Thanks to Wriph and those heroes who fought with her, the Bandit King suffered his first setbacks, and Cyrodiil saw its first hope to be delivered from this scourge.
 
Elsewhere, however, hope was much harder to come by; the city of Ald Raathim in Morrowind, having been a rising star for the last several years, was about to suffer its most grievous setbacks ever - and all due to the bad judgement of its Duchess. Told by Helseth to prepare for war against Aricyn, the Duchess Loranna was left with the distasteful task of determining if the Nords in her city would remain loyal to her in this event and, if not, to deal with them accordingly. Rather than plead with the King to let Ald Raathim support his war in other ways, Loranna felt out the loyalty of the Nords, and found it wanting - so, she exiled them from her city, not having the heart to kill them as Helseth would have wanted, nor leaving Helseth with any prisoners he could interrogate. Loranna's decision brought strife into the heart of Ald Raathim; some of her own people outright refused to go along with the orders, but in the end, the Nords left, along with those who felt their fate unfair, or saw exile for themselves in the coming days. In a single stroke, Ald Raathim lost over half its military strength, becoming next to useless to Helseth's plans; angered at Loranna's failure to follow his commands, Helseth ordered her and her family killed, forcing the Duchess to turn Ald Raathim over to the Queen Mother Barenziah to spare it from Helseth's wrath, and flee for her life to Cyrodiil. Helseth would later commute Loranna's sentence to exile, but the damage had been done.
 
In Cyrodiil, the conflict between the Bandit King and Wriph's band of heroes intensified. Joined by some of the returning heroes from Skyrim and by a squadron of soldiers from Legate Cyndarius's forces, Wriph's band struck a grievous blow against the Bandit King's operations in Cyrodiil, shutting down his base in Gnoll Mountain and discovering his ties to the mysterious Ayaan-Si from Hammerfell, foe of King Lhotun. Several of the refugees from Ald Raathim, including Loranna herself, joined forces with Wriph's growing band to travel to Hammerfell and seek King Lhotun's aid, a venture which eventually culminated in a showdown in the heart of the Bandit King's remaining power. Face to face with the people who had caused him so much trouble, the Bandit King fought against Wriph and her allies while the Bandit King's fortress rang with the sounds of battle, freed slaves rising against their former captors. The end of the battle saw the once mighty Bandit King dead, his forces shattered and easy pickings for King Lhotun's troops, and the beginning of a new legend in Tamriel.