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The Ayleid Slave Rebellion and the Early Alessian Order

  • Member
    July 2, 2014

    Disclaimer: This is an article of our former member, renown Loremaster Vix, acknowledged by Bethesda themselves. It ended up being deleted and I'm merely reposting it.

    As a small break from racial histories I recently got several questions regarding the First Era and Alessia in particular. That era doesn't have an enormous amount of history given its alleged prolonged length. However, there is still an enormously important development that I think bears some closer inspection for some of the Empire's actions to come into focus. This is only an early survey of the first era, from 1E 242 to 1E 361 and provided a background regarding Knights of the Nine. Some of the other Alessian history such as the Colovian split and Dragon Breaks may be covered later on. And as always, there's always room for error as there's quite a number of sources on the matter.

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    Marukh's Doctrine and Alessia:

    While the Alessian Order's fundamental personage is unquestionable, it is also fundamentally deceptive when dealing with the principle cause of the revolution. The person who began the revolutionary change was that of a seer and scholar named Marukh. He was a gifted individual living in the Jungles of Western Colovia who espoused a monotheistic creed designed around the central authority of one central 'over-god'. This, in itself while not incredibly popular created the first dissident factions questioning Ayleid control. In itself this would likely not be anything new, it spawned a weakling cult, yet the important part is certainly Marukh's gift of foresight as a seer ( Pocket Guide to the Empire 1st edition). In a vision he claimed to see Alessia and said she was divinely inspired. He believed that she would receive divine assistance and free the people of Cyrod from the Ayleid rulers. This was, after all, the time of Ayleid dominance over men.

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    Marukh's dissension and questioning of traditional values is likely one of the motivators for Alessia. Of course, at this time she was not called Alessia, in fact, no one is entirely sure of her name. It was more of a sobriquet given to her later on. She is consistently referred to as Perrif, or El-Estia. Perhaps the best sentiment most clearly expressed straight from the text by Morihaus:

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    "In your tales you have many names for her: Al-Esh, given to her in awe, that when translated sounds like a redundancy, 'the high high', from which come the more familiar corruptions: Aleshut, Esha, Alessia. You knew her as Paravant, given to her when crowned, 'first of its kind', by which the gods meant a mortal worthy of the majesty that is killing-questing-healing, which is also Paraval, Pevesh, Perrethu, Perrif, and, in my case, for it is what I called her when we were lovers: Paravania." ~The Adabal-a

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    What is known is Alessia came from the settlement of Sard under the imperatum saliache. The Ayleid authorities themselves systematically broke down unity and personal ties by dissolving the nuclear family. Ayleid lords could unilaterally denounce a human's name and call them whatever they want which could explain the naming discrepency. Beyond this no humans could lay claim of ownership over anything from property, to items, to spouses; they were merely a work force at the beck and call of the Ayleid rulers (Adabal-a).

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    Having moved to Sancre Tor Alessia received three visions from Kyne: the first spoke of the values of freedom while requiring the overthrow the Ayleids; the image of Morihaus-breath-of-Kyne, and the last was that of a of a bloodied diamond taking the shape of a warrior named Pelin-El meaning “Star Made Knight” (Song of Pelinal).

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    Pelinal's Fight: Beginning of a Revolution

    One of the principle things that is required in this understanding is that there was no race of Imperials at this time, they were all Nedic people from dozens of different tribes of which only a small portion are ever mentioned (Adabal-a). However, the Ayleids themselves were a loose knit confederation of Kings and not a unified group such as the Chimer or Altmer. In fact over the second and third centuries the Ayleids had been fighting amongst themselves which presented humanity with a severely weakened and discordant foe (The Last King of the Ayleids). There was few better times for a rebellion to take place than when it did. Aided by Morihaus, Alessia rallied the slaves earned the title the Slave Queen by the start of the revolution in 1E 242. Soon the cause was under the rule of the three primary personalities: Alessia, Morihaus-breath-of-Kyne, and Pelinal Whitestrake (Shezzar and the Divines).

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    Initially Alessia's army was fairly small, any hope of Nordic allies joining freely seemed remote as there was little reason to settle in the unforgiving land of the Jerall mountains. The Nords were already beginning their own expansion phase in Skyrim and there were no important gains to be made that would justify a full invasion. However, warriors were lured by Alessia from both Nord and Breton stock with the promise of future land in the more fertile Nibenese region, and exclusive trade rights (The Legendary City of Sancre Tor). While the Nords are often credited with providing the best and most numerous military support Alessia's army was comprised of another faction of at least comparable strength, the Ayleids themselves (The Last King of the Ayleids). Despite how peculiar it sounds, it must be remembered that the Ayleids were already in the grip of a civil war and they themselves are a diverse and decentralized people.

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    Alessia's army camped at Sancre Tor which becomes her holy city. Unfortunately, it is in a tactically deficient location. The soil around the stronghold is poor and it is precipitously close to Skyrim where an eager Jarl might easily sack such a position. However it does have some mineral wealth. Nevertheless, this settlement becomes the capitol of Alessia's rebellion and eventually becomes the capitol of the First Empire (The Legendary City of Sancre Tor). One day a particular stranger wandered into her encampment covered in the blood and gore of slaughtered elves. He was a brutish pugilistic warrior entirely loathing of mer calling himself Pelinal.

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    Pelinal is an elven term meaning “Glorious Knight” and corrupted from Pelin-el though it can be used in a form of irony (Song of Pelinal). He was vane and hot tempered, entirely given to contests and detesting open battles. Instead Pelinal would fight duals, take trophies, and feast on his enemies blood while the major battles were led by the duo of Alessia and Morihaus, Pelinal's so called 'nephew'. This alone should say something. We've heard of Morihaus once before as the lover of Alessia. What should be news is he wasn't human, or elven, or really anything recognizable. Morihaus was a son of Kyne in the form of a winged divine bull with horns, a nose ring, and capable of speech (Song of Pelinal, Remenada, Adabal-a, many of Michael Kirkbride's texts among others; it's likely somewhat objectionable to ride a person into battle after all).

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    Pelinal was renown as a warrior, but also as a mad-man. The first major incident occurred when a well loved friend Huna was killed by an arrow, in revenge he cut a swath through the countryside butchering everything he came across. In fact he skirted far south too, venturing into what would become Elsweyr and slaughtered a great many Khajiits thinking they were related to the elves ( Pocket Guide to the Empire 1st edition). Alessia herself had to intercede and make a great many sacrifices to the disgusted gods in order to maintain their favor. Pelinal returned and swiftly butchered all the captive elves accumulated by the Nord and human Cyrod armies.

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    Siege of the White-Gold Tower:

    In light of both the barbaric raids and major military losses the remaining Ayleid rulers convened a meeting. They sought a commander for White Gold Tower and selected the half-elf Umaril the Unfeathered. The other half of his make up was said to be far more sinister, an et'Ada in the service of Meridia and in control of a number of Aurorans who provided an added layer to the palatial guard (Song of Pelinal).

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    The rebel army advanced on the White Gold tower, freeing other slaves and emptying prisons to bolster their strength along the way. However, many of Alessia's council stalled in the lee of the White Gold tower. Seeing this as an cowardly action Pelinal decided to attack the citadel alone, the army soon followed. During the siege he alone seemed to have breached the throne room and stumbled upon the lair of the Ayleid Kings. Most of Umaril's warriors and Meridia's Aurorans were slaughtered before Pelinal came to grips with the half-elf. Of course, Pelinal didn't simply kill Umaril; he toyed with him, cutting off his wings and insulting him before smashing his helmet in. Umaril escaped into Meridia's realm and Pelinal was set upon by the remainder of the elven kings and promptly cut to pieces. They devided his corpse into eight and left his head behind.

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    Morihaus found Pelinal's head first and held a discussion with it, in which the severed head in which he told the bull that Umaril had escaped. The White Gold tower fell in 1E 243 and shattered the Ayleid power base. Alessia herself was crowned Empress and with her covenant also became high priestess of Akatosh (Shezzar and the Divines).

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    End of a Saint, Rise of an Empire:

    While it may seem peculiar to start speaking of Pelinal again there is a possibility he was the most powerful and enigmatic figure present at the time. It's strongly hinted at that Pelinal may be what is called the Shezzarine, an avatar or incarnation of Shezzar/Shor. This is said to be possible given a sort of incarnate amnesia which is seen in a similar position within Morrowind by the Nereverine. This Shezzarine possibility may explains many of Pelinar's tendencies such as his extreme anti-mer sentiment, his duality in behavior, being outright mistaken for Shor by the Nords, the equipment which is said to have been from an entirely unknown origin, he called Morihaus the divine flying bull of Kynareth his Nephew, his chest was said to not contain a heart, and it explains two other peculiar events (Song of Pelinal). First of all we have the matter of a decapitated talking head, not a proof in itself but it also said that on Alessia's deathbed in 1E 266 Pelinal was present. Another source says Alessia was sainted by Shezzar/Shor who was likewise present during the engagements (Shezzar and the Divines, other sources say it was Akatosh).

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    Alessia pleaded to Akatosh on behalf of humanity. The God of time saw the plight of men and wove together an enchantment from the skeins of Oblivion and sinews of his still beating heart (similar to the Redguard Serpent God Satakal's shed skin). This object was the Amulet of Kings. With that amulet and the Dragonfires Akatosh bestowed a blessing upon her saying "As you shall stand witness for all Mortal Flesh, so shall I stand witness for all Immortal Spirits” (Trials of Saint Alessia). Alessia was recognized as preeminent amongst mortal rulers and he amongst the Gods. He promised that so long as the Dragonfires were lit and she kept her promises, her bloodline would always be protected. The purpose was said to be to deny the Ayleids the undead and Daedric forces that they usually possessed. While it was said to be woven from Akatosh's sinews other sources state that it was a recovered Aayleid soul gem called Chim-el Abdal (Remanada). Thus it is difficult to conclude what exactly the Amulet is for all certainty, all we know is it has a fair significance because of the properties of the soul gem itself. When she died, Alessia's spirit was entrapped within the soul gem of the Amulet of Kings which created the link between Akatosh and the Alessian line who would come to rule in the subsequent era as well (The Amulet of Kings).

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    Alessia's short revolution had changed not only the Ayleid controlled political landscape but also the religious landscape. In order to keep peace she had tolerated polytheistic principles seeping into the Alessian monotheistic doctrine. In order to keep peace with the humans used to the Aldmeri pantheon she created a series of eight such spots in a liturgical order. By contrast, in order to satisfy the Nords who comprised both allies and potential enemies she changed the traditional pantheon by merging names and concepts with Nord gods. Some, like Shezzar, were made into Shor but were slightly watered down conceptually while others were directly translated over such as Kyne (Shezzar and the Divines). While this in itself kept the peace it also expanded the literary knowledge to the degree that the disciples of the Alessian order became the consummate authority regarding widespread religions and religious practices (Pocket Guide to the Empire 1st edition).

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    Politically Alessia was more of a pragmatist, allowing Ayleid commanders and rebel contingents to swear loyalty to her as vassals of the state. They retained their previous titles and powers, thus it seems to imply that human slavery may have actually been allowed to continue. The Ayleid allies were rewarded for their trouble and efforts (The Last King of the Ayleids). It seemed there was a modicum of progressive thought for a short time until Alessia's death and the reign of Emperor Belharza.

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    Following this the doctrines of Marukh came to prominence and began to spread. Thus began the pseudo-dark ages of the first Empire in a period called the Alessian Reformation (The Last King of the Ayleids). Influence spread from the Nibenese region outward, Sancre Tor remained the capitol but soon the various lords and rulers of the Nibenese basin were displaced in favor of clergy of the Alessian Order. Libraries of the Ayleids and many other sources were burned which destroyed a great deal of early historical works. Similarly the early inclusive nature of many rules were formalized and became exclusive, yet the dogma expanded in popularity. Restrictions were placed on a wide variety of actions including eating only specific kinds of meat, restricting certain kinds of animal husbandry, some agricultural practices, and numerous more stringent laws (Pocket Guide to the Empire 1st edition). Under Marukh's doctrine he codified the official set of laws punishing many crimes with imprisonment and fines, yet treason and smuggling were death sentences. “All are guilty until they have proven themselves innocent" (Legal Basics) became the predominant philosophy of Cyrodiilic law likely adopted from the frontiers of the Colovian Highlands (Rislav the Righteous).

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    The Ayleid sympathizers were dispossessed of their land rights and titles, then were quickly ejected further westward into the frontiers. Evictions and destruction of elven communities swelled refugee camps but many decided to leave Cyrodiil and settle in Camoran lands of Valenwood or in the Direnni Hegemony that would become High Rock (Last King of the Ayleids). The Alessian Order signed treaties with the Valenwood Camoran dynasty in 1E 340 but the expanding influence rapidly destroyed relations and caused diplomatic stagnation ( Pocket Guide to the Empire 3rd edition). Things finally ended with the official assumption of Alessian control of Cyrodiil in 1E 361. This marked the true crystallized identity of the new founded Cyrodiilic Empire by codifying a single accepted religion, forging heroes, crafting a unique human identity, establishing a legal code,.and cementing the separation between intra-Cyrodiilic traditions.

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    Now we get to the three contentious issues. What was Morihaus exactly? A man, a spirit shapeshifter, or the literal Lamassu? Secondly, when does the Amulet of Kings and covenant come into being as this can be read as both an initial prayer at Sancre Tor or a deathbed plea; more over is that really so successful given other Daedric and undead events in the Elder Scrolls lore? Can this be considered a scribe error given the immense destruction of knowledge by the Alessian order? Or did this limit the most powerful such as the physical Daedric princes? And finally third, what was the true nature of Pelinal Whitestrake?


  • September 6, 2014

    This is a great article, but I have one tiny nitpick. Almost all of the Nordic gods were "watered down" with the exeption of maybe Mara and Dibella, but not Kyne. Just ask Froki Whetted-Blade.

  • May 16, 2018

    Featured this article over on The Twitter for the Vault.