Lore:Moricar

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Emperor Moricar
ON-npc-Emperor Moricar.jpg
Emperor Moricar
Race Reachman Gender Male
Born 2E 518
The Reach
Died 2E 564
Imperial City
Resided in The Reach
Imperial City
Deadlands
Reign 2E 542-
2E 564
Previous Ruler Durcorach
Next Ruler Leovic
Appears in ESO

Moricar (also called Moricar the Middling)[1] was the second emperor of the Reachman dynasty called the Longhouse Emperors, who ruled the Empire of Cyrodiil during the Interregnum. He was the longest-reigning Longhouse Emperor, ruling for over twenty years. During his reign, he worked to fulfill the bargain known as the Four Ambitions that his father made with the Daedric Prince Mehrunes Dagon.[2][3] In 2E 563, Moricar led an invasion of Western Skyrim, but High King Svargrim's army attacked and routed his army outside of Solitude, leaving Moricar gravely wounded.[2] As a result of his wounds, Moricar died the following year.[2] He was preceded by his father, Durcorach, and succeeded by his son, Leovic.[2]

Biography[edit]

Early Life[edit]

Moricar was born in 2E 518 to the Reachman chieftain, Durcorach the Black Drake.[2] Moricar spent most of his youth in the Reach, so he was raised in the ancient traditions and culture of the Reachmen.[2][4] In 2E 533, Durcorach and his horde of Reachmen conquered Cyrodiil, and his father was crowned Emperor of Cyrodiil.[2][5]

After the conquest, Durcorach appointed Imperial tutors to educate Moricar, including High Chancellor Abnur Tharn.[2][4] Moricar's Imperial education blunted his upbringing in the Reach, which allowed him to walk in both the Imperial and Reachfolk worlds in a way that his father never could.[2][4] By 2E 541, Moricar had become a vital advisor to his father.[2] In 2E 541,[6] or 2E 542,[7] Durcorach invaded High Rock, and he was killed in a battle outside of Daggerfall.[2][6][8] As soon as the news of Durcorach's death reached the Imperial City, Moricar declared himself emperor.[2] Moricar's son, Leovic, was born in 2E 542.[2]

Emperor of Cyrodiil[edit]

Moricar's Coronation

Immediately after Moricar's accession to the Ruby Throne, he had to decide the best course of action to bring High Rock under control in the aftermath of Durcorach's campaign in the province.[4] The Emperor debated with High Chancellor Abnur Tharn and Chief Councilor Tarnian Lovidicus about the risks and benefits of the different solutions.[4] He considered the risks and benefits, and when he reached a decision, the Emperor ordered Tharn to negotiate peace with High Rock, as he considered the invasion to be his father's quagmire and did not want it to become his own.[4] Moricar also ordered an aide to the Elder Council named Sentanus Marillin to prepare a decree recognizing the Daggerfall Covenant, an alliance of High Rock's kingdoms formed in response to Durcorach's invasion.[4][8] There were reports of the Dark Brotherhood attempting to establish a presence in Bloodrun Cave early in Moricar's reign, but the assassins were driven out.[9]

Moricar's Imperial Court was said to differ from his father's.[4] Some had viewed Durcorach as a "savage playing at Emperor" who lacked understanding of the procedures, protocols, and culture of the Imperial Court.[4][2] In contrast, Moricar's Imperial education allowed him to understand these things and engage in the court's political nuances.[4][2] He could also demonstrate the ferocity and ruthlessness that made his father so feared, but Moricar's fear included a grudging respect.[4] His upbringing in the Reach combined with his Imperial education turned him into a strong and capable leader.[4]

In 2E 559, Moricar saw the need to establish some degree of Imperial authority over the increasingly restless clans of the Reach, so he chose to appoint a trusted kinfolk to the task.[5][10] He selected his kinsman, Caddach, and sent him to Markarth to serve as the Imperial Governor of Markarth.[5][10] To reassure the clan chiefs that he did not intend to impose Imperial law in its entirety on the free Reachmen, Moricar limited Caddach's writ to Markarth and the lands immediately surrounding the city.[10] Caddach's role was to both rule the city and maintain peace between the restive Reachfolk Clans.[5][10]

At some point during his reign, when Leovic came back from a successful campaign against border raiders, Moricar, the Tharn family, the Elder Council, and great nobles were in the Great Hall to receive him. Moricar praised his son and decreed that he could name his reward. Prince Leovic did not hesitate, walking right up to the Tharns and saying, "Your Majesty, I want the Chancellor's daughter." He spoke of Abnur Tharn's daughter Clivia, and though the Chancellor had many daughters, it was understood by all which one he meant.[11][2]

Four Ambitions[edit]

Prior to Durcorach's conquest of the Imperial Province, he entered into a fifty-year bargain with Mehrunes Dagon to ensure the success of his conquest and secure his rule for generations.[2][12][13][3] Upon Durcorach's death, Moricar inherited the bargain that his father had made with the Prince of Destruction, which involved creating the Four Ambitions.[13][3][2] Moricar made his own bargain with Mehrunes Dagon.[3] As part of the bargain, Moricar permitted servants of Mehrunes Dagon to abduct Elegian, a moth priest and renowned seer.[3][14] The Emperor then induced Elegian to produce visions of how Dagon might spread his cataclysms across Nirn and gain control over the mortal world, which resulted in the designing of the cataclysts.[3][15] Moricar made his bargain with the Lord of Fire and Flood to ensure his imperial line would gain power above all other mortals.[3][15]

Moricar understood that the bargains with Mehrunes Dagon made it imperative to ensure the survival of his bloodline, so he took consorts and fathered a number of children.[3] He acknowledged some of the children, while others were unacknowledged, and some were not even aware that Moricar was their father.[3]

Moricar had a number of advisors, among them witchfolk from the Reach, mystics, charlatans, favor-seekers, and influence-peddlers.[16] In 2E 556 or 557, Celdina, a member of the Order of the Waking Flame, came to the White-Gold Tower and presented herself to Moricar, who rewarded her with a minor court appointment.[16] Celdina was constantly by the Emperor's side, but she rarely offered him any counsel in front of the rest of the Imperial Court, and she disappeared for months at a time.[16] The true purpose of Celdina's presence in the Imperial Court was that Mehrunes Dagon appeared to her in a dream and commanded her to become Moricar's consort, and the Prince of Destruction instructed her to bear a child for the Emperor.[17] Dagon also forbade anyone from knowing the child's parentage.[17] Celdina became pregnant with Moricar's daughter around 2E 560, causing her to leave the Imperial Court.[16][17] Later, Celdina gave birth to their daughter Mairead, one of the Four Ambitions.[17]

Moricar witnesses the empowerment of Calia and Destron

The preparations and rituals required to create the Four Ambitions were conducted in secret by the Order of the Waking Flame.[2] In 2E 561, Moricar and Leovic spent much of their time in the Imperial Palace preparing sacrifices to Mehrunes Dagon and rituals that would see the creation of the Four Ambitions.[2][18] During this time, he witnessed Ertus Vandacia, the High Priest of the Order of the Waking Flame and a member of the Elder Council, sacrifice Ramin and Lestra Brolus and empower Calia and Destron, two of the Four Ambitions.[18] One of the Ambitions, Sombren, was also born around this time.[19]

He did not trust Mehrunes Dagon to uphold his end of the bargain, and as a contingency, he prepared Mairead and the other Ambitions as weapons that could be used to banish Dagon.[20][21]

Invasion of Western Skyrim[edit]

In 2E 562, Moricar began planning an invasion of Western Skyrim.[2] In 2E 563, Moricar led his forces out of the Reach and into High King Svargrim's territory.[2][1] Moricar and the Imperial Army met no resistance until they approached the gates of Solitude.[2] At Solitude, Svargrim's army fell upon Moricar's forces and routed them in a single battle.[2][1] Moricar survived and managed to make it back to the Imperial City, but he was gravely wounded.[2] After his return to the Imperial City, Moricar ordered the punishment of the legionaries who survived the invasion.[22] Moricar never fully recovered from his injuries, despite the best efforts of both Imperial and Reachfolk healers.[2] He succumbed to his injuries in 2E 564, and he was succeeded by Leovic.[2]

Afterlife in the Deadlands[edit]

Emperor Moricar's soul in the Deadlands

Upon his death, Moricar's soul was sent to the Deadlands.[23] Moricar passed responsibility for the Four Ambitions to Leovic.[3][20][24] Leovic was killed in the Colovian Revolt in 2E 577, and he failed to pass responsibility for the Four Ambitions to an heir, leading to the declaration that the Longhouse Emperors had defaulted on their bargains with Mehrunes Dagon.[2][13] Eventually, the souls of Moricar, Durcorach, and Leovic were imprisoned in the Brandfire Reformatory in the Deadlands, where Daedra tortured them by fusing the Longhouse Emperors' souls with a chunk of iron slag.[23][15]

In 2E 582, the Order of the Waking Flame began looking for the Four Ambitions so that Mehrunes Dagon could use them to merge the Deadlands with Nirn. Mairead, who was trying to defeat Dagon, underwent a ritual to uncover any information in her memories that could aid in defeating the Prince, which revealed that Moricar's soul was imprisoned in the Brandfire Reformatory.[23] Mairead and the Vestige used Moricar's amulet to lead them to the Brandfire Reformatory Forge, where they released the Longhouse Emperors' souls from a chunk of iron slag.[23] The Vestige then spoke with Moricar, who informed them that Mairead was one of the Four Ambitions and that she was his contingency in case Mehrunes Dagon reneged on his promise to the Longhouse Emperors.[20] Moricar also told them that they could use Mairead and the other Ambitions to banish the Prince of Destruction, and that they could find all the details on the Isle of Joys.[20] Sombren and Calia, along with Eveli Sharp-Arrow and Lyranth the Foolkiller, interrupted the conversation when they entered the Reformatory Forge through a portal.[23] Sombren then destroyed the Longhouse Emperors' spirits with frost magic, although he claimed their spirits would reform in the Deadlands eventually.[23][25]

The Vestige and Eveli Sharp-Arrow recovered Moricar's journal from the Isle of Joys and then a Daedric relic from Doomvault Vulpinaz, which explained that they could banish Mehrunes Dagon by using his egonymic.[21][23][26] Afterward, Mairead, with the help of the Vestige, banished Dagon by using his egonymic, preventing Dagon from merging the Deadlands with Nirn.[26]

See Also[edit]

Books[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c The Wolf of Solitude — Pjetr the Skald, of the Bards College
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab Secret History of the Longhouse Emperors — Councilor Vandacia
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Secrets of Moricar the Inheritor — Devastator Irenian Dast
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Audiences with the Longhouse Emperors — Sentanus Marillin, aide to the Elder Council
  5. ^ a b c d History of Markarth: A Story in Stone — Consul Cardea, the Ard's Administrator
  6. ^ a b Triumphs of a Monarch, Ch. 3 — His Majesty King Emeric
  7. ^ The Improved Emperor's Guide to Tamriel: Northern Bangkorai and the Mountains — Flaccus Terentius, 2E 581
  8. ^ a b Guide to the Daggerfall Covenant
  9. ^ Tarnian Lovidicus' dialogue in ESO: Blackwood
  10. ^ a b c d Report on the Despot of Markarth — Lady Nilene Devierin of Stormhaven
  11. ^ Meet the Character - Clivia Tharn — Magus-General Septima Tharn
  12. ^ A Deal is Struck
  13. ^ a b c Xynaa's Book of Contracts — Xynaa
  14. ^ Elegian's dialogue in ESO: The Deadlands
  15. ^ a b c Mairead's dialogue in ESO: The Deadlands
  16. ^ a b c d Meet the Character - Sister Celdina — Captain Rian Liore
  17. ^ a b c d Letter to the High Priest — Disastrix Celdina
  18. ^ a b Events of Weapons of Destruction in ESO: Blackwood
  19. ^ Sombren's dialogue in ESO: Blackwood
  20. ^ a b c d Emperor Moricar's dialogue in ESO: The Deadlands
  21. ^ a b Partially Hidden Journal — Moricar
  22. ^ Hooke's dialogue in ESO: Gold Road
  23. ^ a b c d e f g Events of The Last Ambition in ESO: The Deadlands
  24. ^ Emperor Leovic's dialogue in ESO: The Deadlands
  25. ^ Sombren's dialogue in ESO: The Deadlands
  26. ^ a b Events of Ambition's End in ESO: The Deadlands
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