| Grandmaster Tanval Indoril | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Grandmaster Tanval Indoril
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| Race | Dunmer | Gender | Male |
| Died | 2E 582 |
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| Resided in | Morrowind | ||
| Appears in | ESO | ||
Tanval Indoril was the Grandmaster of House Indoril and lead general of the living goddess Almalexia and the Tribunal Army as a whole.[1][2] He also led the Vanguard of the Indoril military.[3][4] In the Second Era, Tanval played a leading role in the formation of the Ebonheart Pact.
HistoryEdit
Second Akaviri InvasionEdit
In 2E 572 an Akaviri invasion landed on Tamriel, comprised of Snow Demons led by their king Ada'Soom Dir-Kamal. The Kamal landed in Windhelm and did battle with the Nords. The Akaviri besieged and sacked the city and then turned their attention on Morrowind. The Dunmer and Nords, despite being ancient enemies, aligned against their common foe. Almalexia,[5][6] Jorunn the Skald-Prince,[7] and the Greybeards of High Hrothgar[2] summoned Wulfharth the Ash-King to help battle the Kamal.
With the aid of Wulfharth, Jorunn rallied his troops and fortified Riften, expecting an imminent assault.[1] However, the invaders simply bypassed the city, passing into Stonefalls in western Morrowind.[1] They were opposed by Dark Elf forces commanded by general Tanval, who staged a fighting retreat as the Akaviri slowly advanced towards eastern Stonefalls.[1]
There, on a beach of the Inner Sea just to the west of Ebonheart that would later be named Vivec's Antlers, Dunmeri troops under the command of the living god Almalexia met and held them, while Jorunn and Wulfharth (and allegedly the Stormfirst Brigade)[8] pursued the Akaviri force into a surprise pincer attack.[1] The fighting was fierce, but the Nord army was overextended, and victory seemed uncertain until an elite Argonian phalanx of Shellbacks led by Heita-Meen[9] reinforced the Dunmeri army, turning a stalemate into a slaughter.[10]
Lastly came the intervention of Vivec, when Vivec learned that the Kamal were invading, he planned a contingency to wipe the Akaviri out completely. He taught the Dunmer people how to breathe water for a day and on the site of the battle at the beach, Vivec flooded the plain drowning the Kamal and ending the invasion.[11][12][13]
This battle that saw the ancient enemies in the Dunmer, Nords, and Argonians align against a common foe led to the formation of the Ebonheart Pact. Tanval was known as a war hero after these events,[14] and a leader of the Ebonheart Pact.[15] He held a close friendship with fellow Pact member Holgunn One-Eye, someone he served alongside in the Akaviri War,[16] and held a bit of an infamous drinking challenge with that allegedly lasted a week.[2] The pair in fact became shield brothers in observance of the Nordic tradition.[16]
Ebonheart PactEdit
In 2E 582 during the struggles of the Three Banners War, Tanval valiantly fought on behalf of the Ebonheart Pact. Tanval was embroiled in tumultuous conflict with the rival Daggerfall Covenant, with key allies in his son Garyn Indoril, his shield brother Holgunn One-Eye, and the heroic Vestige. Tanval with the help of his allies seemed to gain the upper hand on the Daggerfall Covenant when he used one of the Brothers of Strife, Balreth, to deal a great blow to the Covenant,[17] and with the help of the Vestige killed the Covenant General Serien.[18] However General Serien in his death throes managed to kill Tanval's son Garyn, sending the Grandmaster into a spiral.[18]
From here in a fit of rage Tanval summoned the second, more powerful and unpredictable Brother of Strife, Sadal. Realizing his mistake, Tanval aided the Pact in rebinding Sadal before he could even escape his planar prison, at a cost of his own life.[19] Tanval's spirit in a parting message to the Vestige, expressed pleasure that the honor of House Indoril was restored, and he looked forward to being reunited in death with Garyn.[3] His dear friend Holgunn believed he would see Tanval again one day in Sovngarde.[16]
GalleryEdit
Tanval's spirit
Garyn Indoril, Tanval's son
NotesEdit
- Before Tanval Indoril, The last known master of House Indoril was Indoril Brindisi Dorom, the Duke-Prince of Mournhold who also served as the Tribunal's right hand in the Four-Score War at the end of the First Era; while Brindisi passed away during the conflicts, his son succeeded him as Duke of Mournhold.[20] It is unknown if Grandmaster Tanval and his son are related to the Dorom clan or not, or if they are related to the Dukes of Mournhold.
ReferencesEdit
- ^ a b c d e The Second Akaviri Invasion — Yngmaer Raven-Quill, Historian Royal of the Bards' College, Solitude
- ^ a b c The Improved Emperor's Guide to Tamriel: Skyrim — Flaccus Terentius, 2E 581
- ^ a b Tanval Indoril's dialogue in ESO
- ^ To the Captain
- ^ The Arcturian Heresy — The Underking, Ysmir Kingmaker
- ^ Mysterious Akavir
- ^ Jorunn the Skald-King — Helgreir Lute-Voice, Bard of Windhelm
- ^ The Stormfist Clan — Thora Far-Wanderer
- ^ From Argonian to Saxhleel — Vicecanon Heita-Meen (2E 582)
- ^ Unexpected Allies — Commentary on the Ebonheart Pact by a Nord soldier
- ^ Varieties of Faith... — Brother Mikhael Karkuxor of the Imperial College
- ^ Priestess Brela's dialogue in ESO
- ^ Ladrasa Bethalas' dialogue in ESO
- ^ The Great Houses and Their Uses — Tel Verano
- ^ The Improved Emperor's Guide to Tamriel: Stonefalls and Deshaan — Flaccus Terentius, 2E 581
- ^ a b c Holgunn One-Eye's dialogue in ESO
- ^ City Under Siege quest in ESO
- ^ a b The General's Demise quest in ESO
- ^ Sadal's Final Defeat quest in ESO
- ^ 2920, The Last Year of the First Era — Carlovac Townway