Alessia
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Alessia was a first-era human female who played a pivotal role in the early history of Tamriel. Alessia was primarily responsible for ending human enslavement under the Ayleidoon, the founding of the Cyrodiilic Empire, initiating worship of the Eight Divines. Upon her death, she became the first human saint.
[edit] The Slave Queen
Little is known of Alessia's early life. As a human slave in the Ayleid kingdom of Cyrod, any record of her family or given names would have been erased. She grew up in the slave camp called Sardarvar Leed, which likely means she was born in the Nibenay Bay region. At the time Alessia was born, the Nordic King Harald had recently conquered Skyrim and founded the first human empire on the continent of Tamriel. Harald managed to drive the elves out of Skyrim completely, primarily into Cyrod and Morrowind, and the human slaves saw the possibility of doing the same to their own rulers. At the same time, the Ayleid government was severely fractured: dozens of separate kingdoms or city-states constantly fought against each other for power, and a strong minority of Ayleid nobility had become sympathetic to the human cause.
At this point in Tamrielic history, the Daedra and Aedra were still walking the surface of Nirn freely. The divines would often interfere directly with mortal affairs, as can be seen in the Daedric corruption of the Altmer to create the races of Chimer and Orismer. The Ayleid generally worshiped the Altmeri divines, but also dealt frequently with Daedric Princes for assistance in keeping their slaves in line. The Nords to the north worshiped a distinct group of divines, who were much more sympathetic to humanity than merfolk. Alessia began to pray to these divines, in particular Kynareth (whom the Nords called Kyne), for assistance in freeing her people. The divines provided support to Alessia in several forms.
First, Kynareth sent her son, the Nordic demi-god hero Morihaus, to advise and aid Alessia. Morihaus is described as a winged bull, but this is likely an oversimplification of his true form. During this period, Morihaus is usually identified as Alessia's consort, though the Song of Pelinal claims he was embarrassed at his appearance because of her. Kynareth also sent Alessia visions that would aid her fight against her masters. The third of these visions was of another legendary figure of the First Era, Pelinal Whitestrake, who was sent to Alessia to become the general of her army. Evidence suggests that Pelinal was also a demi-god, possibly the son of Lorkhan.
Because of her dealings with the divines, the unnamed "slave queen" was given titles by her people, in the Ayleid language they all spoke. Akatosh himself is said to have named her Paravant, which means "first of [her] kind". Morihaus's writings claim this name referred to her position as a queen, that is, the first among her people. Her close friends and advisors referred to her as The Paravania, which appears to be both a title and a name. A much shorter corruption, Perrif, appears to be the name most of her human followers used to refer to her during the early years of her rebellion. The other name given to her by her followers was Al-Esh, a somewhat corrupted combination of Ayleid and Aldmeri which can be translated as "the highest high". As the human identity began to distance itself from the elves, this name morphed into Aleshut, and ultimately, Alessia.
[edit] The Rebellion
Around the year 1E 242, Alessia's rebel army finally struck out at their masters. Pelinal Whitestrake in particular became legendary for his brutal decimation of the Ayleid army. Alessia herself often had to intercede with the divines on his behalf after "the Madness" took him and he committed particularly atrocious acts. The Nordic king to the North wasted little time in joining Alessia's revolt, and the human armies quickly began to drive the Ayleid out of the populated regions of Cyrod. The human strategy was to drive the Ayleid inward, towards the White Gold Tower, forcing the front into increasingly smaller circles around lake Rumare.
It was during this period, late in the war, that the Ayleid king Umaril was given control of the Ayleid armies. Umaril, like Pelinal and Morihaus, was of a divine bloodline, having an Ayleid mother and a divine father. As such, he was one of the few able to match Pelinal in battle. To further his advantage, Umaril made a deal with the Daedric Lord Meridia, and was granted use of his Aurorans as foot soldiers. Pelinal eventually defeated Umaril, but just barely, and Umaril's spirit escaped to Oblivion where he would wait and return centuries later. The remaining Ayleid kings swarmed down on Pelinal's injured body, tore him into eight pieces, and left his head for Alessia and Morihaus to find.
However, even the dealth of Pelinal couldn't halt the human revolt. After years of fighting, Alessia's army finally took control of the White Gold Tower itself, ending forever the reign of the Ayleid in Tamriel. Alessia was named the first Empress of the Empire of Cyrodiil. Her first major act as Empress was to abolish worship of the Ayleid gods. However, she was a shrewed politician, enough to realize that her people had never known any other gods. The Nords violently opposed the Ayleid gods, and chiefly worshiped their version of Lorkhan, whom they called Shor. The elves, however, hated Lorkhan, whom they called "The Trickster", and completely rejected any worship of him.
Alessia knew she had to be careful in choosing the official state religion; she could not afford to anger her Nordic allies to the north, but her own people could not adjust to the complete Nordic pantheon in just a single generation. Her compromise was to merge the two religions, choosing to keep the less controversial Ayleid gods ( such as Akatosh) and bring in popular Nordic ones, such as Dibella and Kynareth. She sidestepped the issue of Lorkhan by leaving him out of her Eight Divines, but identifying him as the "missing ninth god", a brother to the Eight Divines who was otherwise absent from the pantheon. The worship of the Eight Divines, along with the Empire itself, would go on to become the most prominent religion across all of Tamriel.
[edit] The Dragonfires
Near the end of her reign, as Alessia lay dying, she was visited by Lorkhan, called Shezarr in Cyrodiil. He brought with him a pact from Akatosh, the chief of all gods, for Alessia. Akatosh infused Alessia with his own divine blood, then had Shezarr place her soul into the newly formed Amulet of Kings. Akatosh then sealed off the planes of Oblivion, which keeps the Aedra and Daedra from ever walking Nirn again. Alessia's soul was bound to this seal, as Akatosh vowed: as long as an heir of his and Alessia's joined blood sat on the throne of Cyrodiil, and wore the Amulet of Kings, the seal will remain in place and Tamriel would be safe from Oblivion.
As a sign of this vow, Akatosh lit the Dragonfires in the center of White Gold Tower. (Akatosh is identified with the dragon, a symbol which plays a prominent role in the Cyrodiilic Empire.) A few centuries later, King Reman I, the hero who defeated the Akaviri invasion, would formalize the process of lighting the Dragonfires and passing the Amulet as the rites used to crown a new Emperor; even during the worst periods of Cyrodiil's history, the fires remained lit and kept Tamriel safe, until the end of the Third Era and the assassination of the emperor and all known heirs to the throne.
After binding Alessia's soul to the amulet, Akatosh took her up into the divine realms, naming her St. Alessia, the first saint of the humans. Her followers would become known as The Alessian Order, and remain in power for decades. They would be responsible for ultimately driving the last of the Ayleids out of Tamriel, and imposing strict anti-elvish practices across Tamriel for much of the First Era. By the Third Era, this more fanatical faction had essentially died out, and St. Alessia was the patron saint of kindness and freedom to modern Imperials.
