Following the Dawn Era, when the world and planes of existence came into being, and the
Merethic Era, when the Aldmer, ancestors of the Elven races spread across the continent
of Tamriel, there was the First Era, when the race of Men rose to rule themselves.
In the territory of Skyrim, King Herald, 13th in the line of the Ysgramor, drove out the
snow elves and declared his realm an independent power, relinquishing the nord’s ancestral
ties to their homeland in the continent of Atmora.
Inspired by the first humans to defeat the elves and establish their own independent
nation, and eager to take advantage of the political turmoil and infighting of the Ayleids
or heartland elves, Al-Esh a slave woman later known as Alyssia, started to rally the humans
of Cyrodiil to rise in rebellion and overthrow their Elven masters.
*Facts about Ayleids However they could not succeed on their own,
and so Alyssia looked to the Nordic Gods for help, knowing they were more sympathetic to
humanity then those worshipped by the Elves.
Praying to the goddess Kynareth, the diety took pity on her cause and so sent her son,
the demi god Morihaus to aid the slaves.
Morihaus and Alyssia spent a lot of time together and fell in love, eventually producing a son
Belharza, the man-bull, who was believed to have fathered the race of minotaurs.
Kynareth, or Kyne, as she was known in Skyrim, also sent the Divine Crusader Pelinal Whitestrake,
a legendary hero believed to have a connection to the gods Lorkhan and Akatosh.
In the year 242 of the 1st Era, Alyssia commenced the war, forming a coalition of forces that
included the human slaves of cyrodiil, their nord allies in Skyrim, and their Elven allies
amongst the Ayleids, who were sympathetic to the rebel cause and wanted to overthrow
their leadership.
With a strong alliance and the Divine Crusader leading her armies, the rebellion soon devastated
the Ayleids and started to drive them out of Cyrodiil.
Unfortunately the Pelinal soon lost his life in the conflict, cut up into several pieces,
leaving the head to be discovered by his allies.
Nevertheless the rebels were eventually victorious, capturing the White Gold Tower, which served
as a center of religion and politics for the larger Ayleid empire.
Crowned as the first Empress of Cyrodiil, Alyssia also became a religious figure amongst
her people, forbidding the worship of Alyeid gods, in favour of a new pantheon of her own
design.
However this was a dangerous prospect, as she owed her crown not only to the slaves
who rose to her cause, but also the Nords who had their own pantheon and the Ayleid
who had turned against their own government, now serving as vassals under the Empress.
And so she created a pantheon of Eight Divines, combining the most agreeable of both religions,
choosing those which had sacrificed the most to create Nurn, the mortal plane of reality.
In the beginning, before the creation of the world, the primordial essence of Anu and Padomay
formed in the void, two opposing forces whose conflict led them to birth their souls, creating
Anui-El the god of light and Sithis the god of darkness.
Their continued conflict caused these new being to follow the same path as their progenitors,
with Anui-El birthing Auri-El, later known as Akatosh, who introduced the concept of
time to their growing universe, while Sithis birthed Lorkhan who would introduced the concept
of limitations and death.
As this early period went on, many other Et'Ada came into being and so some believe the dark
god Sithis, ordered Lorkhan to destroy these beings as well as the universe being established.
And so he went out and befriended the other Et'Ada, tricking them into creating Mundus
and the planet of Nirn, a new plane of reality where they could birth more souls into existence.
However what he did not tell them, was that this plane would suffer from limitations and
so they must sacrifice of themselves to take part in this creation, with some ultimately
losing their immortality.
Many Et’Ada took no part in the formation of Mundus and so became known as the Daedra,
forming their own realms outside this creation, in the planes of oblivion.
However others chose to help Lorkhan, and became known as the Aedra, some of whom learned
the truth of their mission too late and became trapped in the mortal world of Nirn, becoming
known as the Ehlnofey, ancestors of elves and men.
Other Et’Ada were more fortunate, and learned the truth before it was too late.
Furious with Lorkhan, he was confronted by the Aedra Trinimac who ripped out is heart,
and meant to destroy it, but could not when he learned it was also the heart of the new
world they were creating.
Many then departed, like the central architect of their new creation, Magnus who led others
in retreat, tearing holes in the night sky which became the sun and stars, allowing for
magic to seep into the mortal plane.
Only eight of the Aedra willingly choose to stay and finish forming the world, sacrificing
much of themselves, before finally retreating to forming the eight planets around mortal
nirn.
There was Akatosh, the dragon God of Time and eldest of the Et’Ada, considered chief
among these dieties.
Arkay – God of the mortal life cycle, often associated with death and funeral rites,
Dibella – Goddess of romantic love and beauty Julianos – God of Wisdom and Logic, sometimes
associated with mathematics and literature, Kynareth – Goddess of wind and sky, possible
wife of Lorkhan Mara – Goddess of Love and compassion, seen
as the handmaiden of Kyne in the nordic tradition while the people of cyrodiil see her as a
possible wife of Lorkhan or Akatosh.
Then there was Stendarr – God of Mercy, Justice and law,
associated with righteous rulers and patrons.
And Zenithar – God of Work and Commerce, associated with black smiths, wood cutters
and other labourers.
Under Empress Alyssia, these eight divines would serve as the foundation of their new
religion, a pantheon that would become widely adopted in the coming years.
To deal with the issue of Lorkhan, who was beloved by the Nords and reviled by many in
Cyrodiil, she named him the ninth, missing god, killed during the creation of the world.
In this way she recognized his importance and divinity, without actually making him
a god that need be actively worshipped.
Later in her life Alyssia would form a pact with Akatosh, who blessed her with his own
blood, and infused her soul into the Amulet of Kings, which would be passed on through
her line along with a divine promise that as long as her descendants sat the throne
and wore the amulet, the gate of Oblivion would remain closed, preventing the Daedra
from invading the mortal plane.
Many years later as they entered into the Third Era, with the pantheon of the eight
divines now firmly established in Cyrodiil, Tiber Septim ascended to the throne and began
a great campaign that would end in the conquest of all of Tamriel, forming the Third Empire
and establishing a dynasty that would last until the Oblivion Crisis.
Before his death, it is believed Tiber Septim ascended into divinity, becoming Talos, god
of war, considered by some as the greatest hero of mankind.
And so Talos joined the imperial pantheon, as the ninth divine, eventually becoming a
central figure of worship amongst the Nords of Skyrim.
However some never accepted the addition of talos to the pantheon, like the Altmeri elves,
who after breaking away from the Septim Empire formed the Third Aldmeri Dominion early on
in the Fourth Era, soon coming into conflict with Cyrodiil
In the year 171 of the 4th Era, war erupted between the Empire and Aldmeri, with the Elves
winning many early victories.
Eventually the Emperor Titus Mede II chose to withdraw from the Imperial city, leaving
it to be sacked while he led his army to join the reinforcements being assembled by Skyrim
and Hammerfell Eventually, this strategy paid off, as he
was able to send his forces to attack the elves at the Battle of the Red Ring, forcing
them to retreat from the capital and even capturing their commander Naarifin, who was
kept alive, hanging from the White Gold Tower for 33 days.
Exhausted by war, both sides chose to negotiate a peace, signing the White-Gold Concordat
in the year 175 of the 4th era.
Unfortunately this agreement led to many problems for the Empire, as both the provinces of Hammerfell
and Skyrim felt betrayed by their capitulations.
The Redguards were furious that parts of Hammerfell were given over to the Aldmeri, and so continued
their own private war against the Elves, forcing the Empire to renounce them as a province.
The nords of Skyrim were also upset but for another reason, as the Empire had agreed to
outlaw the worship of Talos, returning the Imperial Pantheon to only eight divines.
However many of the northmen simply refused to obey this new law, like Ulfric Stormcloak,
who used his people’s outrage over the peace treaty to serve as a catalyst for declaring
Skyrim as an independent nation, rallying his allies to rebellion and initiating a bloody civil war.