| The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Battlehorn Castle (Main residence) | ||
| Race | Hybrid (Ayleid & Dremora) | Gender | Male |
| Level | 56 | Class | Demon Prince |
| RefID | N/A | BaseID | N/A |
| Other Information | |||
| Health | 956 | Magicka | 1262 |
| Faction(s) | The Crimson Order; Mages Guild; Dark Brotherhood; Fighters Guild; Arena; Thieves Guild; Order of The Dragon; The Order of The Virtuous Blood; Knights of The Thorn; Knights of The White Stallion | ||
Vergil had began to lose any hope he once had of being set free from The Imperial Prison. But on the twenty-seventh of Last Seed 3E 433, the wheels of Vergil's new life were set into motion. Emperor Uriel Septim VII burst into Vergil's vault with his bodyguards and mapped out Vergil's destiny in under a few hours. After the assassination of the Emperor, Vergil escaped via The Imperial City's sewers (which he knew well due to being a previous resident of them). Free from prison and now with a new purpose in his life, Vergil proceeded to deliver the Amulet of Kings to Jauffre and was thrown into the deep end of the Oblivion Crisis.
After delivering the amulet to Jauffre, Vergil visited Chorrol. Here he joined the guild halls of two of the major guilds in Cyrodiil, the Fighters Guild and the Mages Guild. Mainly he just wanted somewhere to sleep for free but he soon became keenly interested in what the guilds had to offer him. A hunger for knowledge, power and influence took hold of him. His need for power became a defining feature of his personality. He never wanted to be in the position where he was powerless to defend those he cared about ever again.
RevengeEdit
After joining both guilds, Vergil chatted to the citizens of Chorrol under The Great Oak tree. He overheard a rumour, at first he thought that he might be mistaken until he heard it again more clearly "I saw Rimalus Bruiant walking his dogs today. And yesterday. And the day before. I swear that's all he does." He felt a burning rage inside him, which he concentrated onto finding Rimalus Bruiant and murdering him. The boy, now a man, who betrayed Vergil's trust led to his parent's gruesome death. Vergil walked to the nearby inn, The Oak and Crosier, and rented a room. He contemplated on the decade of pain and anguish Rimalus instigated, where he waited until the early hours of the morning. Sneaking out of the inn, unseen, he took to the shadows of Chorrol's streets and broke into the Bruiant house. Vergil used a frenzy spell on Rena Bruiant, causing her to attack Rimalus, he pleaded for her to stop, so Vergil killed her in front of him. Before killing Rimalus, Vergil removed his hood revealing his identity. Rimalus' face quickly turned pale, but before he could react Vergil stabbed him with a poisoned dagger. The Bruiant's dogs were spared. With his thirst for vengeance and retribution quenched, Vergil sneaked back to the The Oak and Crosier without being seen. This gave him a solid alibi for the evening. Euphoric, Vergil fell asleep with a sense of peace he hadn't felt in years. He was woken unexpectedly by a mysterious figure who offered him a unique invitation.
The Oblivion CrisisEdit
The Oblivion Crisis was a major event in both the lives of Vergil and all of the citizens of Tamriel. During this time he befriended Martin Septim, who was the last remaining heir to the Dragon Throne and the saviour who ended The Oblivion Crisis with the help of Vergil and The Blades. Although Vergil indeed helped to prevent the Mythic Dawn from carrying out the will of Mehrunes Dagon, he was also inspired by Mankar Camoran's ability to captivate as many people as he did with his powerful oratory which resulted their fanatical loyalty to Dagon and The Mythic Dawn. Vergil first stared Oblivion in the face at Kvatch, after the initial siege took place. He was there after being sent by Jauffre who feared for Martin's survival.
After rescuing Martin from Kvatch, Vergil escorted him back to Weynon Priory to find it under attack by The Mythic Dawn. The Amulet of Kings had been taken but Jauffre had survived the assault, he suggested that Martin should be kept in the Blades stronghold Cloud Ruler Temple, in the Jerall Mountains. They quickly travelled there on horseback and met with the rest of The Blades in the courtyard. Vergil was inducted into the ranks of The Blades by Jauffre and was handed a familiar katana. It was Yamato. When Vergil inquired about the blade, Jauffre said that it was "different" as it was found outside of Cloud Ruler Temple, assumed to have fell from the walls or is a well-preserved relic from Akaviri times and that Vergil deserved it as it was a "respectable reward" for saving Martin, as opposed to a regular akaviri katana.
Vergil was was quietly jealous of Mankar Camoran and the Mythic Dawn. The cult was quite widespread to the point that two sleeper agents were present in every city in Cyrodiil, awaiting orders from above to strike which is eventually what they did. Although Vergil was astounded by the Mythic Dawn's vast network and the scope of Mankar Camoran's power, he knew that their ultimate goal was the end of Tamriel as he knew it and he had to find a way to destroy them before it was too late. However this didn't stop him from admiring their dedication to a cause and to its leader.
After defending every city in Cyrodiil from the hoardes of Oblivion, Vergil was all the citizens of Cyrodiil could talk about. He was indeed a hero in their eyes, but he did not close Oblivion Gates for the safety of the population alone. The Sigil Stones were a tremendous source of power that Vergil craved, many gates that were closed were for this reason alone, gaining the trust of the people and more importantly the counts and countesses of Cyrodiil, was just an added bonus.
When Vergil entered Mankar Camoran's Paradise he met Kathutet who he admired greatly due to his sense of honour and his praise of Vergil, despite the fact his kyn were defeated at Kvatch. After freeing Anaxes at the dremora's request, Vergil challenged Kathutet to a battle. The dremora was surprised again at Vergil's likeness to his kind and considered him an equal before entering combat. Out of respect, Vergil lay Kathutet's body peacefully after he defeated him and took his sword Purging Flame to put it on display in Battlehorn Castle.
After recovering the Amulet of Kings it was time for Martin to relight The Dragonfires. During Mehrunes Dagon's siege of The Imperial City, Martin was wounded by a dremora's arrow on the way to the Temple of The One. Vergil wrapped some yarn around the wound as a tourniquet but was covered in Martin's blood nonetheless. After Martin's sacrifice to save Tamriel from Dagon, Vergil noticed his sleeve was still soaked in Martin's blood. Even though he was immensely sad at his friend's passing, Vergil was mesmerized by Martin's use of the dragonblood and The Amulet of Kings. The hunger for knowledge and power stirred in Vergil and he drained his sleeve into an empty vial that he was carrying, in the hope that one day he too might have even just a fragment of that power.
The Crimson OrderEdit
When working his way through the four major guilds in Cyrodiil, Vergil began to realise that he might eventually be in a leadership position sooner rather than later. He decided to form a new guild, one that would in direct control of all others and put Vergil in a very powerful position politically. He decided to name this guild 'The Crimson Order'. The only way Vergil would be able to have some pull in getting the guilds to support him in this endeavour however is to be the leader of each guild, or at least a high ranking member. Effectively though, The Crimson Order was a personality cult, with the sole intention of consolidating Vergil's powerful status in society.
Firstly, Vergil needed a headquarters. Battlehorn Castle, which was nearby to Chorrol, came under attack from marauders who killed the lord of the castle, Lord Kelvyn, who left the castle's possession to anyone who was to read his will out of desperation to receive a message from the leader of the Knights of the True Horn, Lord Kain. Before being appointed Master of the Fighter's Guild one of Vergil's final contracts was to halt the siege on Battlehorn. After disposing of the marauders, Vergil now had in his possession a stronghold greater than he had ever anticipated. Battlehorn would later become The Order's main base of operations and was protected by the Knights of the True Horn, led by Athon.
The Crimson Order was not widely popular throughout Cyrodiil in its founding year. It was thought to be a shady organisation due to the heavy rumours of Vergil being associated with the Dark Brotherhood and the Thieves Guild, which of course he was. But after Vergil managed to put a stop to the Oblivion Crisis and was awarded with the title "Champion of Cyrodiil", he gained the respect of the vast majority of citizens in the province. After becoming Guild Master of the Fighters Guild and Arch Mage of the Mages Guild, Vergil was seen to be a shining member of society and gained the respect and trust of the people, especially to the magical community as his first act as Arch-Mage was the re-opening of the Imperial Orrery which had been in a state of disrepair for quite some time. However, he also had replaced the leader of the Thieves Guild, (The Gray Fox) and had also ascended to the rank of Listener in the Dark Brotherhood. This gave him the potential to guide and implement The Crimson Order into each guild. There were many high ranking members of the morally correct guilds, such as Raminus Polus and Modryn Oreyn, who knew that The Order was involved with the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild but they both gained a lot of power from the relationship with The Order and had the utmost respect for Vergil's deeds, so they did not protest. Other high ranking members were either silenced by gold or fear of persecution.
During the year 4E 1, Vergil created The Council of Order which was a sub-faction created to lead and maintain The Crimson Order. The Council consisted of only five members each of whom dealt with different branches of the guild, (all decisions made however had to be approved by Vergil first). The Council was initially responsible for many controversial and aggressive acts against settlements that were believed to be anti-Crimson Order. In many opposition villages and towns entire populations were wiped out, either by Fighter's Guild loyalists or by Dark Brotherhood assassins. These exterminations were referred to, in Crimson Order files, as "Purges". The most public purge was Hackdirt which was known for its erratic citizens and dangerous religious beliefs. Now the captain of Vergil's personal guard (and Fighter's Guild liaison) [Oblivion:Castellan Athon|Athon]] advised that Hackdirt be destroyed, due to its close proximity to Battlehorn Castle. Future Purges were often made to look like natural disasters or freak accidents.
The Council made further use of the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild respectively. They were usually utilized to eliminate or remove political or military opposition in cities. For example, the assassination of Count Regulus Terentius who, surprisingly, spoke out openly about obvious link between The Crimson Order's activities in Bravil and the revitalisation of the Thieves Guild. Gellius Terentius a known skooma addict was then framed for the crime by a Thieves Guild operative by planting the murder weapon in his quarters. His conviction stripped him of his regality, allowing The Council of Order to install the secretive Drels Theran as the new Count of Bravil, as he was a Crimson Order advocate.
Countess Alessia Caro was another high profile individual that was murdered by direct order of The Council. Her controversial views on race and aggressive, ignorant attitude towards magic and non-nibenean ideas personally frustrated Vergil and often blocked progress of The Order in Leyawiin. Her murder was pinned on Hlidara Mothril who was seen as another, albeit less radical, racist bigot. With the inconvenient countess out of the way and a grieving count on Leyawiin's throne, the chief steward On-Staya Sundew took on most of the count's responsibilities, but it was The Council who were pulling her strings.
The Council of Order were usually present in Battlehorn Castle to ensure there were no long travel arrangements needed when a Council meeting was scheduled; Arquen and a companion took up residence in Battlehorn's secret grotto which was transformed into a Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary, complete with a makeshift Shrine to Sithis, a nightshade garden and a lasting supply of poisoned apples; two exceptionally innovative graduates from the Arcane University, Drakon & Tamara, (who pledged themselves to Vergil's teachings after he became Arch-Mage) were usually in Vergil's personal library researching for new magical powers and artefacts or creating powerful new potions & poisons; Faldil (who was The Order's courier) was usually present in Battlehorn's trophy room when not working. His fanatical loyalty to Vergil proved useful to The Council, even though everyone did find him extremely irritating when in his presence for an extended amount of time.
Membership ~ (Circa 4E 1)Edit
The Council of Order
Vergil Sparda | Leader of The Crimson Order; Arch-Mage of The Mages Guild; Listener of The Dark Brotherhood; Guildmaster of The Thieves Guild; Master of The Fighter's Guild; Grand Champion of The Imperial Arena; Knight Brother of The Blades; Champion of Cyrodiil; Madgod of The Shivering Isles
Athon | Captain of Vergil's Personal Guard & Fighter's Guild Liaison
Arquen | Speaker of The Black Hand & Thieves Guild Liaison
Drakon | Mage's Guild Alumnus & Joint Mages Guild Liaison
Tamara Mage's Guild Alumni & Joint Mages Guild Liaison
Regal Advisors
Ulene Hlervu | Castle Mage & Advisor to Castle Cheydinhal
Laythe Wavrick | Chief Steward & Advisor to Castle Chorrol
Tolgan | Herald & Advisor to Castle Bruma
Drels Theran | Special Inquisitor & Advisor to Castle Bravil
On-Staya Sundew | Chief Steward & Advisor to Castle Leyawiin
Hal-Liurz | Steward & Advisor to Castle Skingrad
Baeralorn | Castle Mage & Advisor to Castle Anvil
By the end of 4E 1, The Crimson Order was a superpower in Cyrodiil. It helped maintain order even with the political discontent that was present in the aftermath of the Oblivion Crisis. This handling of political affairs gained it the respect of many guild officials whom had previously doubted it and many ordinary citizens aswell. Any major opposition was assumed to be wiped out completely and every Count & Countess supported The Crimson Order, even Potentate Ocato had no quarrels with the organisation as he welcomed any help he could get in the years to come. Citizens who were associated with The Order often wore enchanted black hoods or black clothing to show that they were supporters. In every city, at least two or more Crimson Order agents were living within the walls. These agents were equipped with special armour and weapons which were magically enchanted to weigh absolutely nothing, but were as powerful as ordinary daedric armours and weaponry. The major guilds continued to be used as tools to strengthen The Crimson Order and, of course, Vergil.
The Shivering IslesEdit
Upon hearing rumours of a mysterious door appearing in the middle of Niben Bay, Vergil and some members of The Council of Order investigated the rumours. When they arrived on the small island that appeared it was already apparent that there was something... strange, about it. Further investigation discovered a distressed Belmyne Dreleth who turned hostile and was then cut down by a local guard. The Daedric Prince Sheogorath looked favourably on Vergil and his megalomanic condition and therefore extended an invitation into the Shivering Isles as he was looking for a worthy champion.
Vergil was a most successful champion to Sheogorath, so successful that he replaced the Daedra Lord as Madgod of The Shivering Isles after defeating Jyggalag and ending the Greymarch. Vergil was now in control of his own realm and hoarded powerful artifacts back to Cyrodiil to help strengthen The Crimson Order. There was no definitive base of operations for The Crimson Order in New Sheoth or anywhere in The Isles but there were certain agents scattered across the land who would report back to Vergil with rumours of powerful artifacts and such.
Vergil knew that being the Madgod of The Shivering Isles was a great symbol of power. But since The Isles was already under his control he was still heavily focussed on controlling Cyrodiil as he could easily lose the influence he had over it. Vergil still needed a presence in both realms however and needed a temporary solution to this impossible problem. After consulting Dyus, whom he had earned the respect of after slaying Jyggalag, he discovered that there was a way of maintaining both The Isles and The Crimson Order in Cyrodiil at the same time, by using The Skull of Corruption. The Skull once had the power to spawn an exact copy of an individual when cast, the clone had all of the memories of the host as well, however this clone would expire after thirty seconds and would also be hostile. Dyus, holding the hidden knowledge of Jyggalag's forbidden library, revealed to Vergil the secret ofpermanently cloning oneself. However there was still the issue of hostility of the clone. Vergil consulted Earil, a subtly insane mage living in Crucible, for a spell or scroll that could wipe memories and calm at the same time, Earil managed to create a scroll which he said "probably should wipe the short term memory of absolutely anybody", which was good enough in Vergil's mind.
In The Palace of Sheogorath, Vergil carried out the ritual with the Skull of Corruption. The clone had been created and was indeed hostile, but before a spell could be cast or a sword could be swung by Vergil's clone, Vergil used the scroll Earil had given him upon the newly created clone and it collapsed onto the floor. The scroll had effectively deleted the memories of the clone up until before Vergil went to contact Dyus for information. Vergil departed the palace and instructed Haskill to follow the clone's rule for now, until The Crimson Order was at it's full strength.
It had became apparent that Vergil's clone had experienced unintended effects from the "memory wipe" scroll however. The initial passing out was apparently unintentional but there was a lasting effect too, subtle at first but it grew as time went on. Sheogorath, which the clone now called itself as opposed to Vergil, was indeed completely insane. Memories of Cyrodiil in Sheogorath's mind faded into a haze of confusion and became less and less meaningful to him, he never ventured out of The Isles and became a perfect Madgod in Vergil's long absence.
Eventually the portal to The Shivering Isles was rendered inert. When Vergil tried to escape to the Shivering Isles during The downfall of The Crimson Order, he discovered that the island on which the portal was present had disappeared completely, and his power in that realm had been completely cut off.
DownfallEdit
The Crimson Order and Vergil's control over Cyrodiil did not simply collapse overnight. There were numerous reasons for The Order's demise. The main reasons however were long term internal conflict between The Council of Order and more significantly, effects of The Great War and The Thalmor's devastating effect on Cyrodiil.
Internal ConflictEdit
The first disagreement between The Council of Order and other Crimson Order officials was when the Mages Guild dissolved in the aftermath of The Oblivion Crisis. The Guild fractured into two separate organizations known as the Synod and The College of Whispers. The former Mage's Guild liaisons were torn between the two factions, Drakon wanted to side with the latter as it was dedicated to research and is known to summon Daedra, which would have increase The Order's stockpile of powerful artefacts. However Tamara wanted to side with the Synod for its vast political connections across the province and influential orators. Vergil's final decision was to side with The College of Whispers, one which he felt pressured into as former guild mages aligned with The Order were leaning heavily towards The College and he would have lost a huge amount of support if he had gone against the majority. It turned out to be a most profitable decision in the end as Crimson Order advocates in The College of Whispers were praised for defending The Imperial City from Umbriel in the year 4E 40 and a short period of prestige and unity in the order was created.
The issue of the collapse of the Mages Guild was comparatively minor when placed next to the long term damage to The Order that was caused by betrayal and was only noticed by its leadership when it was too late and events were already set in motion. Around the year 4E 47, Drakon (now a Master-Wizard) began to feel restrained under Vergil's leadership. Along with Tamara, the two had been gifted with longevity after exploring the secrets of the school of necromancy, due to the restrictions of the Mage's guild dissolving away with the rest of the organisation. Seething with jealousy of his master's power, the once loyal apprentice would often break into Vergil's personal armoury in Battlehorn castle and steal powerful scrolls, artefacts and tomes that he would use to study and gain power from. This continued for several years and went unnoticed by Vergil and also Tamara who remained loyal to The Order and her master. Drakon eventually began to realise he may have the potential to overthrow Vergil and lead The Crimson Order himself and decided to put this plan into motion in the year 4E 50 when he managed to remove the enchantment Vergil placed on a chest which contained his Daedric artefacts. The power-drunk sorcerer planned to use Mehrune's Razor's enchantment to kill Vergil swiftly and so began to plan the assassination of his leader and mentor.
Drakon's overconfidence was his ultimate downfall in the end, after being discovered studying & testing the blade openly in the Arcane University, rumours quickly spread and he was ambushed when returning to Battlehorn by members of a militia who would later be known as the Keepers of the Razor, a group dedicated to wiping out all traces of the Mythic Dawn cult. The Razor was lost and The Order was thrown into a political scandal as it was thought that its members engaged in the worship of Mehrune's Dagon. Drakon was hunted down and executed at the hands of Vergil but it didn't absolve The Order of it's tainted image.
Steadily, more and more of The Order's controversial and illegal acts were revealed to the public by defecting members and from high ranking officials of The College of Whispers and Fighter's Guild who had taken over positions of deceased loyalists. No matter how many people Vergil attempted to prosecute or execute The Order's image still remained tainted. Vergil was forced to cut The Order's ties with the Dark Brotherhood & Thieves Guild after a well-evidenced conspiracy theory was printed in the Black Horse Courier. The Gray Cowl of Nocturnal was lost and it is unknown whether a new Gray Fox replaced Vergil. Without a Listener, The Dark Brotherhood fell on hard times until a new one was appointed out of necessity & desperation not respect of the individual. However The Night Mother did not hold a grudge against Vergil, as she restored his rank of Listener later in his life.
When entering the second century of the Forth Era, The Crimson Order was a shadow of its former self. The vast majority of its original members had died out and it was hard to recruit new members due to the social stigma that was attached to The Order. In the year 4E 110 The College of Whispers and the Fighter's Guild suspended all of its members who were also associates of The Order and only allowed them to rejoin if they left The Crimson Order's ranks. Membership dwindled even further after this event and his influence on Cyrodiil was rapidly fading away. Vergil withdrew all remaining Crimson Order agents, mages and mercenaries who were still loyal to him to Battlehorn Castle where they relied on work contracts based in Hammerfell for the next sixty years. Membership however did not stay constant and continued to dwindle due to lack of work contracts, gold and a sense of ideological direction.
25 years before The Great War between The Empire and The Aldmeri Dominion, Vergil lost his oldest and closest ally Tamara. The two became exceptionally close friends in the almost two centuries they had known each other. Tamara was said to have died during an expedition into Skyrim searching for Ancient Nordic magics that could have helped to turn The Order's fortunes around, however she perished at Arcwind Point ambushed by undead Draugr and bled to death alone in the cold. This bitter and unforeseen death had Vergil lock himself in his quarters for almost a week. This was the first time since his parent's death that he had felt powerless to protect someone he cared about.
The Great WarEdit
Vergil was unattached with current events in Cyrodiil as he was mainly spending time in Hammerfell searching for work and a purpose for The Crimson Order once again. His efforts were fruitless in that regard and he ended up being tracked by Thalmor Agents who discovered him in the city of Rihad. They investigated him thoroughly and eventually traced him back to Battlehorn and through more investigation in Cyrodiil, uncovered old stories about The Crimson Order and its powerful stockpile of artefacts. Intrigued by this, The Thalmor made Battlehorn Castle a primary target when they invaded Hammerfell and Cyrodiil.
The Knights of Battlehorn and the little remaining members of the decayed Crimson Order were no match for The Thalmor's advanced magical capabilities and battle strategies. The castle was bombarded and many magical items were either seized or destroyed. The Daedric artefacts which Vergil had been stockpiling for almost two centuries however could not be found anywhere by The Thalmor forces, it was assumed they had returned to their masters respectively, as Daedric artefacts do. Vergil was thought to have been killed by many in Cyrodiil but the Thalmor did not find his corpse when searching the castle and so knew of his survival. For twenty five years, Vergil survived assassination attempts by the Thalmor, never stayed in a province for more than a month and kept an extremely low profile. Yamato, Vergil's birthright and signature blade was seized by The Thalmor at Battlehorn's seige. But it was later taken back from them by a rogue Blade after the Great War as she assumed it belonged to The Blades.
DesperationEdit
After decades of hiding from Thalmor assassins, mercenaries and bounty hunters, Vergil was now broken. He was a shadow of his former self as his influence was completely gone from Tamriel, with the collapse of what was left of The Crimson Order and the loss of Battlehorn castle. Vergil took refuge in Anvil before deciding to head north, in the basement of Benirus Manor which was still his property but considered to be abandoned by the townsfolk of Anvil. Lorgren Benirus' altar and tome on necromancy still resided in the secret room of the manor's basement, where Vergil now took refuge. Necromancy is much more than just the reanimating of the dead. A less well-known necromantic practice is the practice of Blood Magic. Blood Magic has only been attempted a few times by powerful necromancers in the past, usually to absorb the magical power of another person leaving their body relatively intact. Mannimarco did this to Galerion which turned him into a worm thrall, however Mannimarco was an master necromancer, Vergil was not. The consequences of getting a necromantic ritual wrong in some way could be fatal, yet Vergil was running out of options.
Still in possession of the last drops of Martin's blood, Vergil began to prepare for the ritual. He hoped that he would be able to take on the powers of a Dragonborn and also retain his own magical abilities as he needed all the power he could get. Using the Tome of Unlife Vergil gathered the materials he needed and reluctantly began to perform the ritual. As he went to cast the final spell, Martin's blood boiled and a dragon skull imbued in flame emerged from it. Vergil then cast the wrong spell at the end of the ritual, a ward spell as opposed to a spell absorption spell. The dragon then sped towards Vergil breaking his ward and knocking him unconscious as flame engulfed his body.
Days later when he regained conciousness, Vergil found himself severely restricted magically and felt considerably weaker than he had done previous to the ritual. He assumed that the ritual was a complete failure. Numb with pain, Vergil left Anvil via carriage to Bruma where he would plan a route into the province of Skyrim, as there was nothing left for him in Cyrodiil anymore...