Vivec

Chronology

Early Life

Vivec was born in the province of Resdayn, later renamed to Morrowind. His childhood is not spoken of in the 36 Sermons, however in the 1st Era he found himself in the service of Lord Indoril Nerevar, acting as his junior councilor. Acting alongside fellow councilors Almalexia and Sotha Sil.

The War of the First Council

In the first Era 668-700, Lord Nerevar discoered a plan, hatched between his Dwemer ally Dumac and the Dwemer high enchanter, Kagrenac, to tap into the recently discovered Heart of Lorkhan to create a mechanical god, known as the Numidium. This sparked a war between the Chimer and the Dwemer, which lead to the Battle of Red Mountain in the first Era 700.

After the culmination of the battle, which ended in Chimer victory, Nerevar discovered three profane tools, Sunder, Keening and Wraithguard, which Kagrenac had intended to use to manipulate the power of the dead god, Lorkhan, to his own wishes. Vivec and his fellow councilors advised Lord Nerevar to keep the tools and study them, to which he agreed, on one condition. That Vivec and his fellow councillors swore an oath to Azura, to never use Kagrenacs tools to steal the power of Lorkhan.

The Death of Lord Nerevar

The death of Lord Nerevar is extremely controversial within the Tribunal Temple, and there are multiple accounts of how it occured.

Official Temple Account

Vivec and his fellow councilors swore an oath to Azura, as per Nerevars agreement, and followed him to the lava chamber of Red Mountain, where the Heart of Lorkhan was interred. However the guardian Lord Nerevar had left there, Voryn Dagoth, had been tempted by the power of the tools he protected, and had experimented with them to procure himself divine power, these attempts drove him mad.

Voryn Dagoth had rechristened himself Dagoth Ur (Original Dagoth/Progenitor Dagoth), and would not give up the tools to Lord Nerevar, they fought bitterly, and Dagoth Ur was defeated, however in the attempt Lord Nerevar was mortally wounded.

Banned Ashlander Texts

The Ashlander version of the death of Lord Nerevar is banned as heresy by the Tribunal Temple, it claims that rather than Lord Nerevar being mortally wounded by Dagoth Ur, the three Tribunal councilors had conspired to murder him before he entered the Red Mountain, in order to use the tools themselves. It is said that when Nerevar summoned Azura for their oath to be taken, Almalexia provided poisoned candles, Sotha Sil provided poisoned robes, and Vivec spoke poisoned incantations.

Ascension to Godhood

Regardless of which version of Nerevar's death is true, the aftermath of the events are agreed upon by the Temple and the Ashlanders. Vivec and his fellow councilors took the tools of Kagrenac and tapped into the power of the Heart, receiving immense power and immortality. Affording themselves the status of Gods, they broke the oath they had made to Lord Nerevar and Azura, and thus she cursed them, turning the golden skin of the Chimer race grey, and thus the Dark Elves were created.

Formation of the Tribunal Temple

After stealing the powers of the Heart for themselves and breaking their oaths to Nerevar, Vivec and his fellow gods christened themselves The Tribunal, Sotha Sil set about deceiving the transformed Chimer, now Dunmer (Dark Elves) that their ashen skin was a blessing, whilst Vivec and Almalexia created large opulent cities in their own names, and formed the Tribunal Temple, a religion dedicated to them that almost all of the Dunmer population of Morrowind were melded into.

The Tribunal gods spread deceit throughout the Temple, teaching that they achieved their divine status through virtue, wisdom and insight, rather than through their stealing of the corrupt power of Lorkhan, and imprisoning those who claimed otherwise, branding them as the Dissident Priests.

Divine Acts

Vivec, as the most powerful of the Tribunal, performed many miracles in order to cement his status as a god among the populace, these include;

The meteor Baar Dau

A meteor was taken from the Void by Sheogorath and flung towards Morrowind, however Vivec used his divine magic to hold it in the air above his city, threatening that if the people of the city ceased to love him, the meteor would destroy the city.

It was hollowed out by the Temple and became the Ministry of Truth, a prison designed to hold heretics and dissident priests.

The Flooding of Morrowind

In the 2nd Era 572, Morrowind was invaded by the Akaviri, legend holds that Vivec taught his people to breath underwater, and flooded the entire province of Morrowind, drowning the Akaviri armies.

Dagoth Ur Returns

In the 2nd Era 882 Vivec, Almalexia and Sotha Sil journeyed to Red Mountain in secret to replenish their divine powers and their link to the Heart, however upon reaching the Heart they were greeted by Dagoth Ur, who had survived the battle in the 1st Era, and had been tapping the powers of the Heart for centuries.

His immense power forced a retreat, and they were cut off from the Heart. Even worse, Almalexia and Sotha Sil were captured by 6th House forces, and Sunder and Keening were lost. However Vivec staged a rescue mission and retrieved his fellow Tribunal members.

In order to keep the dark powers of Dagoth Ur locked within the Red Mountain, they erected the Ghostfence, a large magical barrier that encompassed the entire mountain, fueled by the Tribunal.

However as time progressed and the Tribunals powers waned with the loss of their ability to visit the Heart and replenish their powers, Almalexia fell into despair, retreating into seclusion, and Sotha Sil vanished into his clockwork city, located in an unknown location, thus Vivec was left on his own to fuel the Ghostfence, which rapidly began to weaken over time.

The Nerevarine

As prophesied by Azura when the Tribunals oath was broken, Lord Nerevar returned, reincarnated as the Nerevarine. Vivec aided the Nerevarine by giving him the tool of Kagrenac he still possessed, Wraithguard, and guiding him on his mission to defeat Dagoth Ur.

After teaching the Nerevarine the tonal changes to apply to the Heart to cut off it's corrupting influence, he sent the Nerevarine to Red Mountain, with the aid of his Bouyant Armigers, and the Nerevarine slew Dagoth Ur, sending the Heart of Lorkhan back to the void from whence it came.

Mortal Once More

With the Heart no longer on Tamriel, Vivec, Almalexia and Sotha Sil lost their divine powers, though Vivec remained an extremely powerful and ancient sorcerer, Almalexia was driven mad by the loss of her power, murdered Sotha Sil, and was then killed by the Nerevarine.

Vivec retreated into seclusion and the Tribunal Temple fell apart, Vivec vanished from the world at some time in the 4th Era, either killed by the Nerevarine or taken by the Daedra, to Oblivion. He was given sainthood by the New Temple, and is still considered one of the great Dunmer ancestors.