Incandescence
Prologue
It is the year 272 of the 4th Era. Dragons are no longer a threat in Tamriel, all have been slain by the past generation or absorbed by the great Dragonborn. The Imperial Legion achieved victory after nearly being beaten at the hands of Ulfric Stormcloak in Skyrim, they crown their hidden weapon, Arcadius I the new emperor after the untimely assassination of Titus Mede II. The Dawnguard managed to destroy the Volkihar Clan as well as the Vampire Lord Harkon, and no Daedra have quite the hold on mortals as they did during the crisis, things are seemingly normal with the exception of three very special stories.
In the year 203, a Breton Reachman by the name of Vercingetorix conquered an area around the IIliac Bay now known as the IIliac Kingdom, initially quite pitiful in comparison to other kingdoms in the area, the cunning king quickly brought the small and poor kingdom to booming mercantile and military power through amazing feats of strategy and cunning. At the time he was nearly seventy years old however, and was quickly succeeded by his son of the same name before his death, now his own grandson is on the throne, Vercingetorix III. His son Vercingetorix IV heads the armies of the kingdom. To the south lay two newer factions in the area, a duchy in eastern Hammerfell, western Skyrim, and southern High Rock founded by Vercingetorix III's bastard son Kraiiton whom is known as the butcher of the Alik'r, his own son Mithridates serves as the protector of Vercingetorix V, the adolescent grandson of Vercingetorix III. In the area once known as the kingdom of Sentinel is the relatively powerful Alik'r Order, a supposed theocratic successor to the Alik'r nomads of old. It was founded by a man known as Iman in the year 207 of the 4th Era, aside from a sort of cold war with the IIliac Kingdom, not much else is known about them. Housed within this area is the Thieve's Guild of the Iliiac Bay headed by brother and sister Lucius and Augusta Draconis, whom have been longtime friends with the Alik'r for unknown reasons. What remains of the provinces of High Rock and Hammerfell is currently under mixed Independent and Imperial control, though the current war just might change that...
Upon the ascension of Arcadius I as the emperor of the Arcadian Empire, the White-Gold Concordat was burned before the beginning of the Second Great War, which ultimately lasted for nearly twenty years before finally coming to an end with the Treaty of Anvil, which forced the Aldmeri Dominion and their Thalmor Agents into exile on the Summerset Isles and placed Elsweyr and Valenwood back under Imperial Control. Soon after through clever diplomatic relations as well as possible sublime methods vengeful Dunmer of Morrowind were coerced by the Empire into retaliating against the Argonians, resulting in a standstill war within the two provinces, peace has yet to be signed, but no large scale battles have been fought for years. Before Arcadius' death he had planned to expand the Empire into the faltering east as well as conquer the remains of Hammerfell and High Rock, but his dreams would not come true as he died of natural causes shortly after, being succeeded by his then 55 year old son Constantine, whom only reigned for 5 years in total obscurity before being succeeded by his own son Arcadius II. Arcadius II would defend nearly all of Tamriel against an Akaviri invasion in the year 255 of the 4th Era, successfully driving off the invaders and making many allies along the way.
With the defeat of the Volkihar Clan, members of the Dawnguard gradually left the guild over the years, leaving a still obsessive Isran lonely, having only his son to train and time. Over the years his son would become one of the best vampire hunters around, literally becoming the first privateer vampire hunter upon traveling to his ancestral homeland of Hammerfell. In 242 the Dawnguard Fort was attacked and destroyed by the Cyrodiil Vampyrum Order . By then it had been all but abandoned except for Isran and his unnamed son. Devastated, Isran's son began training his own son, Xerxes, in the arts of hunting vampires, even going as far as pursuing the dark arts himself in order to combat the fiends, eventually causing the destruction of an entire naval fort where he had tracked his father's murderer's down to, Isran's son would have his revenge, but at the cost of his own life. The cycle repeated somewhat with Xerxes, though he was capable of keeping a calm mind, a trait not found in his father. Xerxes would become perhaps the most famous vampire hunter in Tamriel on land and sea in just over 30 years of age, and to this day he still pursues and hunts down the beasts as well as his mysterious mother, whom he has never met.
Comments