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He is known by many names. The Mad Hound of Winterhold. The Bastard of Bruma. The Great Betrayer. The Heretic and perhaps most damning: The Puppet King.
Whatever name we refer to him as, it is without question High King Borgas is considered to be the most detested and vilified monarch in the history of Skyrim. These are not my words, dear reader, but the words of almost each and every Nord who has been taught of Borgas' betrayal and deception since they were little children. His actions are widely regarded to have led to the War of Succession and ultimately the complete downfall of the First Empire of the Nords.
Borgas, the last monarch of the Ysgramor Dynasty, was a king whose accession to the throne was unlawful, whose rule of law was cruel and tyrannical, and whose downfall was a result of his own hubris.
Early Life
To understand Borgas we must first examine his youth. Most of what we know about his origins was not revealed until after his death and the downfall of the Alessian Empire - primarily from his own secret journals. On further research of these texts, one can understand why he sought to keep much of his early life obscured.
Borgas was indeed a distant descendant of Ysgramor through the royal House of Hjornskar, this much is at least true. His father was the infamous Thane Yngnavar Ghost-Bear, the Butcher of Sancre Tor. When Yngnavar sacked the holy city in an attempt to break the alliance between Skyrim and Cyrodiil, High Queen Yrsa had him executed and his royal house dishonored. However some months prior to his death, Yngnavar is believed to have impregnated a Nedic tavern girl while stationed in Bruma.
While it has often been said Borgas hailed from Winterhold (as one of his many names claim) in truth he grew up in the slums of Bruma - deeply frustrated with the knowledge that he was of noble blood but disgraced and forever shunned in the north for the sins of his father. When he was old enough, a Colovian lord named Ami-El took Borgas under his wing and educated him in the art of war and politics. Borgas became skilled in his own right, eventually becoming Ami-El's right hand.
The Monkey Prophet
Around 1E 312, an Imgan mystic named Marukh fled from persecution in his homeland of Valenwood and was granted refuge in Colovia. His beliefs and teachings questioned Elven rule and later called for a suppression of Elven elements within Alessia's pantheon of Eight Divines. These teachings gained popularity among the Colovian populace, particularly Nedic xenophobes who felt hatred against the Ayleids and were angered by Emperor Belharza's ruling to allow the continued existence of Ayleid vassal-states.
Eventually, an order known initially as the Holy Brothers of Marukh was established and grew rapidly. Its popularity among the Nedes caught the attention of Lord Ami-El who subsequently began to endorse Marukh and grant him protection. Over the next twenty years, the Order grew from strength to strength and its teachings became widespread. Lord Ami-El's power and influence also grew in this time and he saw this as an opportunity to challenge the Ruby Throne.
According to his fragmented journals, Ami-El was well aware of Borgas' ancestry and the potential royal blood held. Many scholars argue it was the sole reason he uplifted Borgas from a life of poverty and dishonor. To own a king in the north, whose allegiance was Colovian, would have been most beneficial to the Nedic lord — and so he bided his time for the perfect moment. Borgas had his own motivations for working with (or rather for) Lord Ami-El. He long sought the restoration of his dishonored House and to take his rightful place among his kinsmen in the north by any means necessary.
As fate had it, Ami-El didn't need to wait for very long. In 1E 332, Ami-El's spies reported that Emperor Belharza had requested High Queen Yrsa of Skyrim visit the capital and join him in an urgent conclave. Queen Ysra and her most loyal jarls arrived in the Imperial City some weeks later, giving Ami-El his opportunity.
The Prophesied Usurper
Much of what occurred next was kept completely hidden from the official Alessian histories for centuries. Only once their Empire had fallen in the late First Era did ancient sealed manuscripts, discovered in the lost archives of the Canulus Monastery, come to light and reveal the truth to the greater fellowship of historians.
On the third day of Belharza's conclave, Borgas led a small band of Alessian legionaries to the Dragonfire Cathedral where a private assembly was taking place. The legionaries were ordered to murder both Belharza and High Queen Yrsa, but to spare the life of her jarls. Once their unlawful slaughter was complete, Borgas personally escorted the surviving jarls away from the cathedral and towards the city gates.
With both the Nordic and Alessian empires were now without rulers, Lord Ami-El quickly consolidated his power by eradicating Belharza's remaining supporters and heirs and crowned himself Emperor of Cyrod shortly after. Borgas, however, decided to escort Yrsa's jarls safely home to Skyrim with his brigand army. What exactly occurred between Borgas and the jarls on their journey back to Skyrim has plagued historians for centuries, for neither the journals of either Borgas or Ami-El reveal any further details. What we can be sure of is a grand deception was masterfully orchestrated.
The official histories of the time (now widely discredited after the discovery of the Canulus Monastery archives) claim Borgas heroically rescued the jarls from the slaughter, and this selfless act of valor is what restored his House's honor. A moot was called immediately upon their arrival in Winterhold and the surviving jarls unanimously crowned him High King of Skyrim.
Were the jarls complicit in Borgas' plot? Were they threatened with the same fate as their high queen if they didn't bend the knee? Some historians, such as the Pluribel of Dusk, go as far as suggesting Ayleid magicks turned them into obedient thralls. Truly we may never know.
The Iron Fist
Borgas' coronation took place in Winterhold and was attended by numerous dignitaries and envoys seeking favor with the new High King. His first act as king was to declare the renewal of his kingdom's alliance with the Alessian Empire and the newly crowned Emperor Ami-El. This was a deliberate act to essentially announce that the death of Queen Yrsa would not be avenged. Regardless, House Asbjorn sought retribution for the murder of their matriarch but their pleas fell on deaf ears.
The autonomy that each Hold was granted for centuries was tightened as Borgas began to institute sweeping changes to the empire. One of the most controversial decrees was the abolishment of each and every independent city watch regiment. For centuries, each Jarl paid for their own regiment of guards to protect their Hold - and as such their guardsmen pledged undying fealty to their jarl. The Solitude Wardens, Falkreath Rangers, Watchdogs of Riften and many more had existed for centuries and were institutions in their own right. King Borgas drastically altered this dynamic by disbanding these regiment and installing his own brigand army, the Black Watch, thus shifting the power and influence his jarls held over to the crown. How Borgas managed to gain such loyalty and execute such a change is remarkable, but one of the most common theories state he was in a position to promise an entire hectare of land to each of his 10,000 guardsmen upon retirement. Over the course of three years, Borgas replaced every city guard regiment with the Black Watch, however, allowed established veteran guardsmen the opportunity to keep their posts if they pledged their swords to the Black Watch. This provision was crucial as it likely avoided potentially disgruntled guardsmen rebelling.
On the eve of 1E 339 King Borgas infamously decreed that Frostcrag Hold in its entirety would be relinquished to the Alessian Empire. An unprecedented move given the Hold (which stretched across much of north-west Cyrodiil) held great strategic importance to Skyrim, and Bruma was considered to be a prosperous trading hub. Given what we know today about Borgas' shadowy relationship with Emperor Ami-El, some scholars claim this decree was issued not from Winterhold but from the Imperial City.
In 1E 358 Borgas' grip on his vast empire began to falter when Clan Direnni of Balfiera rose to prominence and began taking back their lands in High Rock. Indeed, many historians have linked the rise of the Direnni Hegemony with the mass exodus of Ayleids from Cyrodiil following the Alessian Slave Rebellion. Unable to dedicate troops to High Rock, Borgas accepted aid from Emperor Ami-El. Despite the additional troops at his disposal, Borgas lost more and more of Greater Bretony to Lord Viridian Direnni as the months passed.
The Heretical King
In 1E 362, a fundamental change in the very fabric of Nordic culture was enacted - the deceitful outlawing of the Nordic Pantheon. Scholars remain unsure if the intention to outlaw the Nordic Pantheon came from Borgas' benefactors in the south or from Borgas himself, but it's no coincidence that the change coincided with the brutal enforcement of the Alessian Doctrines in Cyrodiil. Once more we look to the secret diaries of Borgas which reveal how this came to pass and where the official Nordic histories fail.
Borgas, by all accounts, wasn't particularly religious and supposedly forsook both Nordic and Cyrodilic gods during his early years - possibly due to his difficult life as a child in Bruma or a lack of religious guidance growing up. When Lord Ami-El became guardian to Prophet Marukh, Borgas became more and more acquainted with the seer, and his teachings deeply resonated with him. It wasn't long before Borgas became an ardent faithful in the Holy Brothers of Marukh, later known as the Alessian Order. Although his devotion to Marukh was unquestionable, when he became High King he was forced to hide his true faith from the masses, at least initially.
Thirty years of rule passed and Borgas had slowly but surely manipulated numerous aspects of the empire to bolster his position and authority. His loyal brigand army gave him complete control over his jarls and their subjects, his network of spies was spread throughout the empire and all almost all of his enemies were either dead or exiled. Even the royal houses of Asbjorn and Fjora were cowed into submission when he secretly ordered the assassination of both of their patriarchs in 1E 351. Securing an audience with the High King became near impossible and according to some legends, his personal bodyguard was a ferocious Wrothgarian giant who guarded him at all times.
Second Council of the Hawk
In 1E 362 Borgas announced a great religious conclave would gather at Kyne's Aerie. Under the guise of discussing potential religious reforms (put forth by the High Eyas herself) the entire Sisterhood of the Hawk was ordered to attend the Second Council of the Hawk.
The first council, convened under King Vundheim, took place over 150 years earlier and was considered a great success. And so in the same year some eight hundred sisters, abesses, priors, and voice-monks traveled to Kyne's Aerie - a vast monastery near the summit of the Throat of the World which served as the epicenter of the old Nordic faith. In one felled swoop Borgas exterminated the entire order when an enormous explosion of arcane energy vaporized the Aerie.
The aftermath all across the empire was chaotic, and with no witnesses to speak of speculation of what occurred was rife. While many suspected the High King's involvement, those who dared to make such a claim were thrown into the dungeons. Others blamed the "Old Grey Dragon" (turn-of-the-era folklore that spoke of an ancient Dragon rumored to roost somewhere on the mountain), Snow Elf magic, or numerous other suspects. Curiously, the official histories promulgated by the throne declared that the disaster at the Aerie was proof that the old gods had forsaken them, and that the truth was with the One true God. A copy of the royal announcement follows:
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- An announcement from High King Borgas of Winterhold to his loyal subjects, 1E 362
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- O Noble Nords, you will know of the catastrophe that struck the Holy Aerie in weeks passed. Know that the fate of the devoted Sisterhood deeply troubles me and torments my very soul. Were my attendance at the Holy Aerie not have delayed by a bitter storm, perhaps I could have saved our devout sisters from this terrible calamity.
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- My dear subjects, these tragic turn of events hath led me to reflect and reexamine our own so-called gods. Truly, it has become clear to me that our exalted and brave ancestors, who deserted the cruel Elder Wood, regrettably brought with them false idols from their primitive home. Shor and Kyne and Tsun are but names our kind-hearted but ignorant forefathers gave to lowly animals. I ask thee where was Shor when one of our own so-called gods, the World Eater, enslaved our kin? Where was Kyne when her own Aerie was destroyed and her priestesses killed? These so-called old gods are no less than the wicked daimons the Eternal Harbinger warned us of in ancient times. In our time of need, our prayers remain unanswered. Verily let it be known our old gods hath forsaken us!
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- But fear not Noble Nords One true God bears salvation. The one true God, as revealed by a prophet in the south, will deliver us from deception. As I write, learned priests from the south are on their way to Skyrim in order to teach our countrymen how the blessed Seventy Seven Doctrines will grant us redemption. I urge you to welcome them into your hearts.
While many Nords were no doubt highly suspicious of this foreign religion, they had no choice to comply. With the Sisterhood eliminated, the divine soul of the empire was torn out and left much of the citizenry spiritually lost. The Black Watch dealt with rebellion severely and it wasn't long before the dogmatic priesthood of the Alessian Order became firmly established in Skyrim.
Truly this has gone down as of the great historical ironies. Old King Valdimar eradicated the cruel dragon priesthood to free his people, only for his descendant to willingly institute a fanatical priesthood that later enslaved his people.
The Valenwood Misadventure
As Marukh's teachings became enshrined across Cyrodiil, hostility grew between the Camoran Dynasty of Valenwood and the Alessian Empire. Borgas saw this tension as an opportunity to wage war upon the Wood Elves, and began plotting alongside Emperor Ami-El. Their plan was to declare an armistice and lure King Gwilgoth Camoran and his ruling nobles to a peace summit at the ancient city of Arenthia, which at the time was considered disputed territory. Borgas and Ami-El planned to have the Camoran nobles executed during their meeting with them. With the leadership of the Camoran dynasty dead, they would have immediately invaded Valenwood. Whether the Wood Elves were aware of Borgas' reputation for betrayal or came to the meeting with prior knowledge of their scheme is unknown, but regardless their plan utterly backfired.
Both the Silvenar and the Green Lady attended the meeting in King Gwilgoth's stead, alongside their Jaqspur honor guard. According to legend, just as Borgas' men were about to strike, the Silvenar invoked the infamous Wild Hunt and the entire Bosmeri party began to shapeshift into a horde of feral, bloodthirsty, supernatural beasts. An eye-witness account from a retired Alessian legate follows:
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- Those elves were truly accursed. I swear by the Holy Primate... Such horror my eyes had never beheld, for I saw them howl in pain as bones and antlers and tentacles burst out from within them like an Abacean pufferfish of unspeakable repugnance. The entire pack then burst into a plume of crimson smoke and the stench of burning flesh filled the air. From within the thick cloud, a twisted visage of the Green Witch stared deep into my eyes and I knew that I would never be free of the pervasive terror that it had struck into my soul.
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- By the grace of the One, I rushed our blessed emperor to safety and we escaped the slaughter. The enraged northern king tried to cleave through the abomination with his greataxe, but it was for naught. The monstrosity poured down into his throat and I watched as it violently choked the life out from him.
Eric of Guis wrote that Borgas was killed for the "iniquities" of his Alessian faith, while Phrastus of Elinhir frequently described his fate as the truest form of poetic justice. Given the High King's sordid history, one can only agree with these esteemed scholars.
War of the Houses
Following the death of King Borgas, his body was secretly returned to Skyrim and interred in a hidden tomb by his faithful honor guard. According to legend, they deemed that any successor to their liege would be unworthy to don the Jagged Crown, and thus it was buried with him. And for centuries the tomb of Borgas remained lost to history.
The Moot was called in Winterhold immediately after and the jarls from each Hold petitioned for a new High King. The court of King Borgas demanded the throne should remain within House Hjornskar and fall to Skerd-Queen Hera. Jarl Hanse of House Fjora was a descendant of Vrage the Butcher and was favored by the citizenry as the most capable while the jarls loyal to House Asbjorn petitioned for Jarl Vokiir of Whiterun.
When it became clear Skerd-Queen Hera was attempting to take the throne by force, the three royal Houses of the Skerd declared war upon each other. Each House quickly raised their own armies and fortified their holdings. The lesser clans of Skyrim were forced to choose their allegiance and pledge their swords or be wiped out in the bloodshed that would soon follow.
And so the fateful War of Succession began and plunged Skyrim into a long and bitter civil war that would last decades. The Houses of the Skerd would never recover from the conflict, and ultimately it spelled the end of the 500-year-old, once-proud and fearsome dynasty of Ysgramor the Returned.