Maormer - Sea Elf
Rarely seen in mainland Tamriel, this race of amphibious elves hail from the mist-veiled continent of Pyandonea. Little is known about their culture aside from a deep hatred of the Altmer and Aldmer before them. They follow the deathless King Orgnum, who seems to get younger with each passing century.
Maormer navies have attacked the coasts of Summerset frequently for millennia. Their chitinous ships resemble giant insects, they command massive sea serpents and ride them into battle, and can summon hurricanes using magical techniques unknown to the mages of Tamriel. The most feared of the sea elves, the Leviathans, stand taller than the mightiest Nord, and fight with bestial ferocity.
Sea Elves have had little lasting contact with Tamriel since time immemorial, but their repeated invasions have led to some idea of where they came from. They too trace their origins to the mythical elven homeland of Aldmeris, but in their mythos, the Aldmer betrayed and banished them to the far off southern continent of Pyandonea. The Aldmer erected an impenetrable Mist which renders escape impossible except for small well-prepared excursions at a time. When this banishment took place is impossible to tell for Tamrielic scholars, who have never had the privilege of studying the Sea Elf homeland. Maormer, of course, claim to have complete records of their history, and confidently assert that their ancestors reached Pyandonea roughly 3000 years before the Merethic Era, the beginning of recorded history on Tamriel. Few mainland historians lend any credence to this notion.
Maormer lived in exile for untold ages until a ship arrived on their shore in the early Merethic Era. This ship was sailed by an undead crew in service of a dying captain, a sorcerer named Orgnum. His shipmates had fallen to a plague while lost at sea. Nearly succumbing as well, he used the last of his strength to animate his fallen comrades to guide him to land while he laid infirm, clutching a tome to his chest.
The sea folk nursed this sorcerer back to health after sending his undead crew and their plague to wonder the sea. The book never opened for any but its master. The sorcerer had stolen it from the gods who retaliated with a plague to keep its power from falling into mortal hands. When Orgnum was well enough, he learned the language of his saviors, and taught them secret snake magic contained within his treasure. He taught them how to forge unbreakable steel using thermal vents on the sea floor. How to build towers which could rise above the omnipresent fog of their land. Finally, he learned and taught how to control the very fog itself, so that they may, in small numbers, escape their prison. It was then that he taught them of the fate of the hated Aldmer. They, too, had lost their beloved home, becoming trapped on the isles of Summerset where they had languished and diminished from what they once were. These revelations reignited their long dormant thirst for revenge, and Orgnum was praised for this news.
Orgnum grew wealthy and loved, and would be made king for all he had brought to their people. Finally, on the eve of their first expedition to Tamriel, King Orgnum learned the final secret of his stolen tome, and became a living god. The God-King led a devastating attack on the accursed elves, and although they were forced to retreat, they brought back a wealth of treasures, and the satisfaction of the taste of misery they had inflicted. On their voyage home, Orgnum bound the stolen tome so that it would never again reveal the full extent of its secrets to a new master, and cast it into the sea. He ordered their stolen treasure to be kept in a Coffer, which He willed to become limitless, creating new gold from nothing every single day. From then on, they would have infinite resources to devote to their war machine, and began raiding Tamriel nearly every summer, when the fog was at its weakest.
The alliance was fraught with difficulty, as the two hated enemies attempted to cooperate. The Dominion allowed the Maormer to take beachheads along the coast, and looked the other way when the sea folk took control of the city of Sunhold, which had long been a target of their attacks. The city was administered by the Maormeri navy for several months. Without support from the Dominion, Kinlady Helenaere resorted to recruiting adventurers and mercenaries, who were eventually able to drive out the occupying force.
Betrayal by the Altmer was inevitable, and it eventually became known that the Dominion-occupied Colovian Estates had been supported by Ayrenn as they campaigned to oust the Maormer strongholds along the coast. Facing backlash for this betrayal, Orgnum arranged a second deal with Queen Euraxia Tharn, who led a faction occupying the Kingdom of Rimmen, supported by the necromantic Worm Cult. The Euraxians further complicated the arrangement by allying with Dragons who had their own plot to steal the power of a Khajiiti god. This alliance fell apart with the defeat of Euraxia and the slaying of the would-be dragon gods.
With nearly all the territory they had gained in the conflict lost, Orgnum faced growing pressure to turn their full attention on Summerset. Instead, Orgnum called his forces back home to secure his power. His retreating fleet was met at sea by the Sea Vipers, an armada of Maormeri pirates who had conspired with Altmeri nationalists to sabotage the Dominion. Half the fleet was destroyed in this surprise attack, and although the Sea Vipers were routed, they had done more damage than just to the fleet. While the floundering navy stopped for repairs, the pirate armada raided the defenseless coasts of their homeland, further undermining the God-King's authority.
Elmé the Free, was a former concubine who served the king centuries prior. While living in His palace, she studied military tactics in private, and traded royal secrets for gold, which she hid away. When her treachery was caught, Orgnum had her executed, and thought the matter over with. In reality, Elmé had faked her death and spent the following centuries building a network of spies and rebels, even allying with Pirates to sabotage His alliance with the High Elves. When Orgnum brought His navy home and could finally fight her rebellion in the open, she took her people and fled into the misty mountains above the fjords, forcing Ogrnum's army inland where they were picked off by gorilla tactics.
The God-King was a powerful adversary with near limitless gold at His disposal, but was not omnipotent, and had demonstrated over the millennia endless overconfidence. After a year of humiliating attrition, He used His full power to lift the veil in its entirety, quickly flushing out her forces, and forcing them to flee to the far side of the mountains. Holding the Mist at bay taxed his mortal body to its limit. Just when the war seemed won, a spy placed among Orgnum's royal guard slew Him, and the curse of exile returned to the continent. Although death has never been permanent for the God-King, who reincarnates in a new body with each generation, it would be years before He would be able to fight again. The civil war lasted another two years before the generals of Pyandonea signed an armistice, dividing the kingdom in half. The Western Kingdom remained loyal to the divine king, while the Eastern Alliance became a confederation ruled by its workers.
With Orgnum's Coffer gone, Pyandonea has not been able to mount another assault ever since, leaving the people of Tamriel completely in the dark about events since the early Third Era. Both sides of the cold war had been left in disarray from their disastrous defeat, and the god-king was once again without a body. The remainder of the Third Era had been spent continuing the conflict between east and west. Orgnum hasn't taken a body in centuries, but is still very much alive, a divine voice commanding His people from the echoing chambers of His palace. A new nobility, as corrupt as before, had formed from the families of the ruling council in the East, as both sides grow increasingly totalitarian against their own people in the name of victory.
When word reached the misty shores of the southern continent of the Oblivion Crisis in 3E 433, both countries began sending spies to Tamriel to pose as adventurers, merchants, and humanitarian aid, to assess the continent for another possible invasion. This is their secondary objective, which most people of Tamriel are likely to suspect. Their primary objective is to seek out King Orgnum's Coffer before the other faction can lay claim to it.
Banished Before Time
The Unexpected Alliance
In the middle Second Era of the Tamrielic calendar, a radical shift occurred in Orgnum's rule. A means had been discovered to break the Mist long enough for larger fleets to get out, opening up the possibility of becoming a permanent occupying force on Tamriel. This method was expensive, requiring much of the God King's power to perform, but could mean that their quest for revenge may finally reach fruition. When this was brought to Orgnum's attention, instead of preparing for war, He called for an exploratory expedition. What they found was a confederation of elves had been formed in Tamriel. This Aldmeri Dominion had its sights set on returning Cyrodiil to Elven rule, and forming an eternal empire devoted to returning mer-kind to godhood. Orgnum met with Queen Ayrenn, the founder of this alliance, and returned to Pyandonea with unexpected news. His Holy Majesty had pledged the Sea Elves' support of this endeavor, in exchange for land, and a share of the power of this empire. He had involved the Sea Elves in the Three Banners War, a conflict which would change history for both continents.The War of Mist
By the time the armada had returned, Pyandonea had erupted in civil war. Orgnum manifested on the lead ship as they drew near, ordering the haggard and weary crew to their first target. With their god-king onboard, the navy felt a new sense of purpose after their defeat in Tamriel. But even with a god on their side, the rebellion sparked by the Vipers raids were too organized and wide-spread to defeat. In fact, plans of this insurrection were drawn up over the course of centuries.The War of the Isle
With the division of the continent, the invasions of Tamriel became less and less of a priority as the conflict between west and east turned into cold war. Orgnum commanded the spirituality of His people, and paid handsomely for the continued loyalty of the nobility, but Elmé had won support among the lower classes in both countries, ensuring she had spies everywhere. Supply lines were regularly sabotaged, and powerful figures turned up dead. Even a god dared not go against His people, and could not fight openly against them. He worked instead to publicly support the Alliance and its principles, waging His war only through untraceable spies and assassins. He was immortal, and could bide his time until His people forgot why they hated Him. After centuries, His long plan came to fruition. Few remained alive who remembered the civil war, and He was as popular as He could hope to be on both sides of the mountains. He brokered peace with the alliance, and spent decades stirring up their nearly forgotten hatred of the High Elves. They had the means to bring their full combined forces down on Tamriel, and with great effort, mustered the political will to see it through. In 3E 110, a small escort of warships docked in Solitude. The God-King was welcomed to the court of Queen Potema Septim, the infamous Wolf-Queen who would go on to lead a bloody coup in an attempt to place her son on the throne of the Septim Empire. Potema conspired with the sea folk against Emperor Antiochus, providing key tactical information on Summerset. Only a day after His arrival, Orgnum's entourage set out, meeting up with His hidden armada in the Sea of Ghosts. Using the full might of His divine power, His fleet sailed into the icy northern mists, emerging from the mists of home. Word of His heading had reached Summerset quickly, and the High Elves had sent their ships to patrol the northwest and east, not expecting an attack so soon from the south. The Great Serpent Fleet was massive, larger, nearly, than all previous invasions combined. Led by Orgnum personally, the Maormer broke through Summerset's defenses within days, landing troops along the central strait between the main islands. By the time the full force of the Altmeri fleet returned, Imperial Navy at their side, the main island of Alinor was occupied. The war lasted nearly nine months. Although the sea elves took devastating losses from the Empire on all sides, they were well-entrenched, and prepared to hold out for the famously fickle Antiochus to cut his losses. He nearly did, with the Legion pulling back as diplomats were sent in to negotiate terms, when the island was engulfed in a freak hurricane. Pyandoneans were well-versed in weather magic, and had a god on their side to limit the impact of severe weather. However, their mages and their god combined could not turn this storm. It raged for 36 hours, killing thousands and nearly sinking the isles, but it also broke the Maormer's already strained resources. The ships docked at Sunhold were dashed against the citadel's stone walls, sweeping Orgnum's famous Coffer out to sea, while Legion battlemages paddled across its flooded streets, teleporting reinforcements directly into the fray. Orgnum Himself was killed in that final battle, and when the supernatural storm finally passed, the remaining sea elves fled en masse. While unconfirmed, it is widely believed that Queen Potema set up the Pyandoneans, manipulating the elusive Psijic Order of Arteaum to lend their aid in Summerset's most desperate hour of need.The Fourth Era
Naming Traditions
Feminine names
Anenelle, Breyane, Castire, Cectyda, Chryseis, Chyrisnia, Cinurmion, Despina, Guldarol, Hasawen, Hetsha, Ilyria, Irinwe, Ismenida, Ithala, Jahlasri, Maelyeya, Neidir, Ohalorne, Panardil, Penanlinwe, Quergura, Sameht, Sorticthel, Taleria, Terirwen, Umuor, Vasha, Vindaire, Vinsha, Virindi, Yalorasse
Masculine names
Acamas, Aluvus, Arstul, Aryaamo, Blanchete, Camandar, Cingulnya, Colaadron, Eilgun, Heculoa, Iphidamas, Isanmetil, Jyklos, Kanebar, Konnugil, Larnil, Linundil, Lylanar, Mormelcarion, Morteth, Neiral, Nilidel, Norevalion, Noryesar, Numirril, Ohmanil, Parondo, Pelius, Qraalel, Rodros, Silengos, Tenerive, Tildaro, Tunnanial, Turlassil, Uldor, Ulondil, Urlsar, Uumernenil, Valaran, Valtultilmo, Viscarne
Maormer Traits
Millenia of exile have transformed you. By the will of King Orgnum, you have honed the following traits to deadly precision:Ability Score Increase
Your Intelligence and Wisdom Scores each increase by 2.Age
Although elves reach physical maturity at about the same age as humans, mer age at very different rates, slowing to a stop in their 30s, and remaining virtually static until their late 100s. An elf will have lived a long life when they have reached 350. Some elf mages can even slow down their aging process, and live seemingly indefinitely. A secret they do not share with the general populace.Alignment
Sea Elves hold a bitter grudge against their golden cousins dating back to their banishment from their shared homeland of Aldmeris. Their society is martial, fiercely devoted toward following their God-King to bring bloody vengeance on them, and hold little regard for the wellbeing of any other people. They are most often Lawful Evil.By Sword and Sea
Maormer are a martial and disciplined society, adapted to defending their isolated homeland from the unforgiving Pyandonean Sea.You have proficiency in all bladed weapons, and always have proficiency in skill checks when operating an ocean vessel.
Size
Elves range from 5 1/2 to over 8 feet tall and have slender builds. Your size is Medium.Speed
Your base walking speed is 30 feet, and your swimming speed is 60 feet.Veil of Mist
Long ago, the sea elves were banished to the continent of Pyandonea, and were cursed with an eternal veil of mist, which makes navigating away from its rocky and hostile waters prohibitively dangerous. Centuries in this mist have shaped them into what they are today, and they proudly use their curse as a weapon.You roll with Advantage on Perception and Survival checks made in heavy fog, rain, ash, or snow.
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