Lore:Nantharion

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King Nantharion Rayn
ON-npc-King Nantharion 02.jpg
King Nantharion Rayn
Race Bosmer Gender Male
Born 2nd Era
Malabal Tor
Died 2E 582
Miscarcand
Resided in Silvenar
Vashabar
Reign 2E 582-
2E 582
Next Ruler Greenspeaker Darolith
Appears in ESO

King Nantharion Rayn of Silvenar was the Bosmeri king of Vashabar. A member of the prominent House Rayn,[1] Nantharion led a group of Bosmer across the Strid River and into Cyrodiil to found the settlement of Vashabar within the newly-grown Dawnwood circa 2E 582.[2] King Nantharion was secretly an Ayleid Revivalist and a member of the Recollection, a cult dedicated to the forgotten Daedric Prince Ithelia. He was killed within the ruins of Miscarcand that same year, ending the threat he posed to Skingrad and the West Weald.[3]

History[edit]

Silvenar and the Day of Remembering[edit]

Nantharion's signature

Nantharion was a member of House Rayn, an old noble clan of Bosmer hailing from the Malabal Tor region of Valenwood. Many of the Treethanes of Silvenar had historically been Rayns, who had ruled the city as an independent realm under the Second Empire.[2] Ubarion Rayn was Treethane during the Blacksap Rebellion, and swore fealty to King Aeradan Camoran of Elden Root.[1]

Although he was not named as Treethane,[1] Nantharion was an influential leader in Silvenar, serving as a chieftain.[4] It is said that the Rayns resented their diminished power as subjects of the Camorans. Nantharion began to publicly criticize the policies of King Aeradan after Valenwood joined the Aldmeri Dominion in 2E 580.[2][5][6] He would later go on to oppose Altmeri influence in Bosmer politics as king.[2]

Nantharion was noted for being quite tall for a Bosmer, likely due to his Ayleid heritage. Like many Bosmer, Nantharion could trace his roots back to the Ayleid Diaspora who fled Alessian persecution in Cyrodiil in the First Era.[2][7] Like many of his people, Nantharion felt something relating to this Ayleid ancestry was missing from his memory, although he was unable to identify this sense of loss.[2] This changed in 2E 582 when the Daedric Prince Ithelia was freed from her imprisonment in Apocrypha. All knowledge of Ithelia's existence had been wiped by Hermaeus Mora in the Merethic Era,[8] but this was undone by her servant Torvesard when he learned of this secret. With knowledge of her existence restored, Ithelia was freed.[9] The Bosmeri descendants of her former Ayleid servants learned of this, in an event Nantharion dubbed the Day of Remembering. He and his fellow "recallers" formed a militant cult known as the Recollection in service to the Prince, seeking to reclaim their ancestral legacy and restore what was forgotten by conquering the West Weald.[10][11][12]

King of Dawnwood[edit]

Secretly led by Nantharion, the Recollection utilized the destructive power of Wildburn seeds to awaken buried Ayleid magicka in the Strid Vale region of Cyrodiil. Almost overnight, a new forest greatly resembling the Valenwood emerged on the opposite side of the Strid.[13] Nantharion then led a group of peaceful Bosmer settlers from Malabal Tor into this new forest, which he named the Dawnwood. As the self-appointed King of Dawnwood, Nantharion established the town of Vashabar, building it atop the lost Ayleid ruins of Miscarcand.[2][3] Along with many of Vashabar's inhabitants, King Nantharion abandoned the Green Pact in favor of a new philosophy known as the Dawnway.[14] Many of the families in Vashabar could trace their bloodlines back to the Ayleids, and followers of the Dawnway believed that their migration into Cyrodiil was a return to their roots.[15]

King Nantharion's expansionism was criticized by Queen Ayrenn and the Thalmor, by Count Calantius of Skingrad, and by diplomats from the Daggerfall Covenant.[16] Count Calantius in particular was concerned with the deaths caused by the expansion of the Dawnwood, including the destruction of the Imperial town of Ostumir.[17] King Aeradan wrote to Nantharion demanding an explanation, but these calls from Elden Root went ignored.[16]

The Legion of the West Weald noted the zealous devotion many of Nantharion's people displayed towards their king, and feared that Vashabar's holdings would continue to expand into the rest of Colovia.[18] These suspicions were confirmed with the attempted establishment of Hoperoot, a fortified Bosmer city that was to serve as a stronghold for the Recollection. The cult planned to use Wildburn seeds to expand the Dawnwood throughout the rest of the West Weald, destroying Skingrad in the process. Hoperoot was infiltrated and destroyed by agents of Hermaeus Mora before the cultists could achieve these aims, and Nantharion's role was revealed.[13]

Following the discovery of Nantharion's identity as leader of the Recollection, he brought Ithelia to Vashabar in a last-ditch effort to restore the Prince's power and cover the entirety of the West Weald in jungle.[19] Ithelia opened an entrance to the ruins of Miscarcand, seeking a well of her power hidden deep within the ruins. King Nantharion was given the Staff of Many Paths by Torvesard and used it to gather energy from the well in order to release a massive wildburn across the entire region. Nantharion was killed by the Vestige before this could happen. However, the Staff was then taken by Shardmarshal Vargas, a Shardborn Dremora, who used the well to fully restore Ithelia's divine power.[3]

Legacy[edit]

As leader of the Green Pact Bosmer of Vashabar, Greenspeaker Darolith journeyed to Skingrad in the aftermath of King Nantharion's death. She entered into talks with Count Calantius in an attempt to normalize relations with Vashabar's Imperial neighbors.[20] The Count hoped to sign a treaty granting Vashabar land rights and trade agreements with Skingrad and the rest of the Weald, although the fate of the Dawnway Bosmer remained uncertain.[17] Following Ithelia's subsequent defeat and banishment to the Many Paths, all memory of the Prince was once again wiped from existence.[21]

Gallery[edit]

  • Vashabar (ESO)

  • Nantharion wielding the Staff of Many Paths (ESO render)

See Also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c House Rayn of Silvenar — Beragon of Valenwood, Imperial Scribe
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Meet the Character - Nantharion — Beragon
  3. ^ a b c King Nantharion's Gambit quest in ESO
  4. ^ Gold Road Zone Preview—West Weald
  5. ^ Ayrenn: The Unforeseen Queen — Headmaster Tanion of the College of Aldmeri Propriety
  6. ^ The Chorrol Crier
  7. ^ Ayleid Survivals in Valenwood — Cuinur of Cloudrest, 4th Tier Scholar of Tamrielic Minutiae
  8. ^ Curate Gadayn's dialogue during Prisoner of Fate in ESO
  9. ^ Prisoner of Fate quest in ESO
  10. ^ The Day of Remembering
  11. ^ A Call for Recollection
  12. ^ Warning to the Weald — The Recollection
  13. ^ a b Seeds of Suspicion quest in ESO
  14. ^ King Nantharion's dialogue in ESO
  15. ^ Vashabar In Valenwood and Beyond — Melbora, Wilderhall Scholar
  16. ^ a b Note to Nantharion — King Camoran Aeradan
  17. ^ a b Count Calantius' dialogue in ESO
  18. ^ The Vashabar Threat — Scout Brittia Conconius to the Honorable Tribune Alea Idolus
  19. ^ King Nantharion's Orders — King Nantharion
  20. ^ Greenspeaker Darolith's dialogue in ESO
  21. ^ In Memory Of quest in ESO
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