Lore:Virmaril

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Virmaril
ON-creature-Virmaril the Betrayer.jpg
Virmaril in his lich form.
Race Altmer Gender Male
Died 2E 582
Skyreach Catacombs
Resided in Skyreach
Appears in ESO

Virmaril, later known as the Betrayer, was an Altmer lich in the First Era. He served under High King Durac in the Nedic kingdom of Craglorn during the time of the Yokudan invasion of 1E 808. Virmaril and Durac shared a fascination with the dark arts, often spending days in the catacombs beneath Skyreach.[1][2] His story was known only in legend[2] and from a historical relic known as the Perenaal Fragment.[2][3]

History[edit]

Virmaril served under his good friend Durac for years, acting as an advisor to him.[4][1] Behind Durac's back, however, he began courting his daughter, Saradin, princess of the Nedic kingdom. They fell deeply in love, but their hopes for marriage were ended by Durac, who, upon being asked for his blessing by Virmaril, furiously shut down the advances and forbid their love, on the basis that Saradin could not marry a High Elf.[1] Saradin became promised to King Kestic of the forest regions, but Virmaril could not move on. Approaching Saradin in her royal chambers, he pleaded with her to run away with him. Though she still felt for him, Saradin's duties as princess made her deny Virmaril,[1] sending him into a spiral of rage.[4]

With the Yokudan army closing in on Skyreach, Virmaril proposed a plan to the council of Nedic kings, headed by Durac, to defeat the invaders. He led the kings to the city's catacombs, promising a necromantic ritual with the potential to end the threat. However, Virmaril had set up a trap, and murdered the kings, subjacting their souls, and raising the undead of the catacombs as his own army. In addition, Virmaril managed to achieve lichdom, possibly using the souls he wrenched from the Nedic kings.[5] With his newfound strength, Virmaril felt confident he could defeat the Yokudan army if he wished to.

The betrayal of the Nedic kings did not go unnoticed. An elite fighting force was soon sent into the catacombs with the goal of exterminating Virmaril, but, assisted by his new undead form, Virmaril defeated the force.[4][6] Among the ranks of the extermination force was Shavmar, a member of the Perena tribe.[7] Determined in his task to stop Virmaril from bringing about any further destruction, he gathered two other Perena soul mages, Garalan and Armok. Together, they descended once more into the catacombs, succeeding in sealing Virmaril deep within the catacombs behind a soul-ward. They then placed him in a state of suspension, rendering him in a sleep-like rest.[4][7][6] The three then donned the title of the Eternal Watchers, becoming the immortal guardians of Virmaril.[6][2][7] Virmaril planned to bend their immortality to his will, but the sleep-state he was placed in prevented him from doing so.[4]

In the end, without the leadership of the council of kings, Virmaril was successful in getting his revenge on Durac. Craglorn and almost all of its Nedes, including Durac's own people, the Duraki,[8] were conquered by the Anka-Ra cell of the Yokudan invasion.[2][9]

Centuries later, in the Interregnum of the Second Era, an expeditionary team of the Antiquarian Circle breached the ruins of Skyreach, investigating the culture of the then-ancient Craglorn Nedes. A member of the group, who believed in Virmaril despite his mythical status by the time, investigated the city's ruined catacombs, feeling an eerie, angry presence while doing so. The group found no evidence of his existence, but decided to leave when a member theorized that they had potentially awoken a long-sumbering Virmaril.[3]

Circa 2E 582, increased necromantic activity surrounding the ruins attracted the attention of several forces. First, by the Scaled Court, and then by the Crusaders. Both of the groups were stopped by harrowing voices coming from within. Dalamar, a Crusader, stayed at the ruins in search of another entrance.[2] He gained the help of an traveling adventurer, who he sent to purify the ruins. The source of the magic, it turned out, was Virmaril himself, awakened again after over two thousand years. The adventurer delved into the ancient city, defeating the subjacted council of kings. The Eternal Watchers, corrupted by Virmaril's magic,[4][6] were destroyed by the adventurer as well. Eventually, after battling through the Betrayer's undead legions, the traveler breached the inner sanctum and vanquished Virmaril once and for all, though it is unclear whether he is truly dead or could rise again.[2][10]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Saradin's Diary — Saradin
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Crusader Dalamar's dialogue in ESO
  3. ^ a b Skyreach Explorer — Reginus Buca, Historian, University of Gwylim
  4. ^ a b c d e f Virmaril's Journal — Virmaril, Advisor to High King Durac
  5. ^ Ascendancy: Pathway to Lichdom — Gullveig the Ascendant
  6. ^ a b c d Watcher Shavmar's Journal — Watcher Shavmar
  7. ^ a b c Watcher's Ritual Stole antiquity codex entry by Verita Numida in ESO
  8. ^ Nedic Duraki Armor costume description in ESO
  9. ^ Warlords of the Ra Gada
  10. ^ Events of Souls of the Betrayed in ESO
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