Elder Scrolls lore: The Oblivion Crisis
This is the story behind the event known as the Oblivion Crisis, which had occurred between the closing days of the third era, until the start of the fourth era. Starting with past events, so we may have an insight what drove Mehrunes Dagon to have a stab at conquering Nirn.
Before the ultimate invasion of Tamriel, the Daedric Prince of Destruction, Mehrunes Dagon had not been exactly dormant. It begun at 3E 389, when the treacherous Imperial battlemage, Jagar Tharn, kidnapped the ruler of Tamriel. Emperor Uriel Septim VII, son of the late emperor Pelagius IV.
With Mehrunes' help, Uriel Septim had been held in the Daedric prince's own plane of Oblivion. The Deadlands.
Posing as the emperor, Jagar Tharn ruled the war-torn Tamriel for ten years, a period of time known as the Imperial Simulacrum.
During Jagar Tharn's corrupted rule over Tamriel, Mehrunes Dagon invaded- and seized control over the Battlespire, a realm between Oblivion and Mundus ( Tamriel's plane of existence. )
This would cripple the capacity of the Imperial College of Battlemages and eliminate a potential threat to Tharn's rule. And finally would result in the destruction of the Battlespire.
Only when an unknown hero, known only as the Eternal Champion rescued Uriel Septim from Oblivion, and killed Jagar Tharn, ended the Imperial Simulacrum. And to this day, almost nothing is known about the hero.
34 years later, after the Warp in the West, the end of the Blight and overthrowing of the Tribunal, all of Tamriel would be plunged into chaos once again.
Having foreseen his doom, emperor Uriel Septim VII fled the Imperial City, accompanied by his trusted Blades, after learning that his three sons had been assassinated. During his escape to a secret exit, leading out of the Imperial City, the emperor encountered a prisoner.
Seeing something in the captive, he let the prisoner accompany him to escape the capital city of Cyrodiil. During their short journey through the underground of Cyrodiil, the group had multiple encounters with devoted worshippers of Mehrunes Dagon. The Mythic Dawn.
Both Blades and prisoner had fought bravely to ensure the emperor's survival, but in the end it had been in vain. Entrusting the prisoner with the Amulet of Kings, and instructing him to deliver it to Jauffre, the grandmaster of the Blades.
Before being struck down by a member of the Mythic Dawn, Uriel Septim revealed he had one son, one heir left. An illegitimate son, known as Martin. Then the dragon fires went out for the first time in centuries.
After a short time in the Imperial City, resting and doing odd jobs to scrape money together to properly equip himself for the journey, the prisoner went on his way to Waynon Priory and delivered the Amulet of Kings to Jauffre.
There was no time for further respite, however, as the last living heir to the throne may be in mortal danger. Jauffre pointed the prisoner to the city of Kvatch, keeping the Amulet with him to keep it safe.
Arriving at Kvatch, the prisoner found the sky to be red as blood, and the once mighty city to be in ruins. Just outside of it, was a refugee camp, filled with a scarce amount of citizens, scared and wounded.
But the prisoner would not abandon his quest. Bravely going onward, despite discovering that the barrier between Mundus and Oblivion had been shattered, not much later. This was his first encounter with an Oblivion gate.
Despite being warned by the captain of the remaining guard of Kvatch about his almost certain doom, the prisoner stepped into the portal with almost no hesitation, and entered the realm of Mehrunes Dagon. Entered the Deadlands.
Five minutes after the prisoner had entered, a guard fled out of the gate, telling of a hero having come to his aid, and saved him from Oblivion.
After three hours of waiting, and fighting off emerging Daedra, the guards feared for the worst for the brave prisoner. Until in a blinding light, the gate simply collapsed, and amidst the ruins would stand the prisoner.
Under loud cheers, the prisoner would approach the captain of the guard, and with combined force would retake the inside gate of Kvatch and save the citizens hiding in the Chapel of Akatosh. Among these citizens, was a priest, brother Martin. After a short, but life changing conversation with the prisoner, he was instructed to wait for him at the refugee camp.
In a grand display of valour, the prisoner would volunteer to help retake the city of Kvatch from the invading Daedra, despite having overcome all odds and closing the Oblivion gate already.
With his help, the gates to the castle of Kvatch were opened for the soldiers to charge in, and slay the unholy Daedra on the castle grounds.
As a final strike to drive the Daedra out for good, they entered the castle to save the count. But alas, it was too late. The prisoner had gone deeper into the castle, accompanied by a single archer and fought off the demons from Oblivion. Ultimately finding the slaughtered body of the count of Kvatch, and taking his ring to the captain.
From humble beginnings, the prisoner has been named the Hero of Kvatch.
Of course, despite his bravery, he is but a mortal, and after resting up in the refugee camp, and having his equipment repaired by the blacksmith, the Hero took off with Martin, taking him to Waynon Priory.
To their dismay, Waynon Priory was under attack by the Mythic Dawn. Prior Maborel having been slain by the evil cultists.
With help of the Hero of Kvatch and Martin, the Mythic Dawn was forced to retreat. Knowing what the Mythic Dawn came for, Jauffre raced to the Priory, and found that the Amulet of Kings had been stolen, despite his best efforts.
Knowing that it was unsafe for Martin to stay at Waynon Priory, he, accompanied by the Hero of Kvatch, took off for Cloud Ruler Temple, the citadel of the Cyrodiil chapter of the Blades.
There, brother Martin was named Martin Septim, last of the Septim line, and heir to the throne.
After a short celebration, the Hero of Kvatch was named knight brother of the Blades, and was sent to the Imperial City to meet with Baurus, one of the Blades who witnessed Uriel Septim's assassination.
Having met with Baurus, the Hero of Kvatch and his fellow Blade took out an assassin of the Mythic Dawn. Finding a book on his corpse, they discovered it was about the Mythic Dawn.
Taking the book to Tar-Meena, an expert on Daedric cults, the Hero of Kvatch was told that if he finds all four books, he can discover the secret hideout of the Mythic Dawn. Fortunately for him, Tar-Meena had the second book.
The third book was acquired through the most mundane of methods. He simply got it in a book store, after convincing the original buyer to give it to him. The buyer had received a note to meet the Mythic Dawn in the sewers, and gave this note to the Hero.
Returning to Baurus, together they went into the sewers and met with the Mythic Dawn. Despite their efforts of being discreet, it turned into a bloodbath, and the last book was forcefully taken from the Mythic Dawn.
Returning to Tar-Meena, they could decipher the secret of the books, and discovered a way to locate the hideout of the Mythic Dawn.
Following the instructions, the Hero of Kvatch went to the tomb of prince Camarril, where under the right circumstances, the location of the Mythic Dawn's hideout was revealed.
Upon having discovered the secret location of the Mythic Dawn's hideout, the Hero of Kvatch went undercover, posing as a new recruit for the cult, and infiltrated the hideout. But being forced to leave all of his equipment behind.
Here he encountered the reason he came to the place. The Amulet of Kings. A man named Mankar Camoran had it, and after giving a short speech, he disappeared into his Paradise, taking the Amulet with him.
But hope wasn't lost yet. There was a book, the Mysterium Xarxes, that might help him finding the Amulet of Kings, by entering the Paradise.
Deciding not to blow his cover, he was instructed to sacrifice an Argonian priest.
Going along with it, he walked over to the terrified Argonian priest, and grabbed the silver dagger meant for the sacrifice. Then he turned on the Mythic Dawn, and with an incredible display of masterful swordsmanship, and aided with the arcane arts, he somehow defeated the cultists and freed the priest, before taking the Mysterium Xarxes.
Escorting the priest, he got him to safety and escaped with the ancient tome of Mehrunes Dagon, delivering it to Martin Septim in Cloud Ruler Temple.
Martin instructed the Hero of Kvatch to talk to Jauffre about spies in Cloud Ruler Temple. According to him, the gate guards have seen strangers at the road near the temple, the last couple of nights, and instructed the Hero of Kvatch to investigate.
Under the cover of night, the Hero of Kvatch went for the Hestra Rune Stone, and found two agents of the Mythic Dawn. Killing both of them, he discovered a key on one of the bodies, and after having the bodies identified, went to the house of the owner. There, he found the orders of the cultist, saying they were casing the Cloud Ruler Temple for an all-out attack on the Blades, and the city of Bruma.
He took the evidence to Jauffre, and the Hero of Kvatch was instructed to warn the countess of Bruma about the impeding attack, and then check up on Martin, to find out what he discovered in the Mysterium Xerxes.
According to Martin, he needs four objects. One of them is a Daedric artefact. So the Hero of Kvatch went to search for one. Having heard rumours about the Shrine of Molag Bal.
The Hero was instructed by the evil Daedra to do something unthinkable. Something so strange that only a Daedra would've been able to come up with it.
The Hero of Kvatch was instructed to goad Melus Petillius into attacking- and killing him with the Cursed Mace of Molag Bal. Despite the absurdness of the assignment, he obeyed, finding Melus at the gravestone of his wife.
With a heavy heart, the Hero started provoking the man, something that is not in his nature. And eventually, it happened. Melus had enough, and struck down the Hero of Kvatch.
Fortunately, a pleased Molag Bal revived the Hero, and presented him with the Mace of Molag Bal. Having the Daedric artefact that Martin required, the Hero returned to Cloud Ruler Temple and handed over the Mace. Happy to be rid of the vile object.
His happiness did not last long, though, as Jauffre came in and told the Hero that an Oblivion gate had opened outside of Bruma. Fearing it would be Kvatch all over again, he raced to the city and accompanied with a small group of guards, closed this gate as well.
He returned to Jauffre, and got congratulated for his victory. But immediately, he got sent away again. This time journeying around Cyrodiil and closing any gates he encountered on the way.
Visiting every city, he rallied troops to help defend Bruma against the endless waves of Daedra, and close more gates that are opening.
After the task had been done, he returned to Martin, to continue helping the last Septim.
The Hero got instructed to visit the catacombs of Sancre Tor, to collect something called the Blood of the Divines. Here he encountered cursed, undead Blades. Each of which fought hard, but not hard enough.
As a thank-you for breaking their curse, the four Blades lifted the enchantment off the Armour of Tiber Septim, and with the armour of the once-mortal God, Talos, the Hero of Kvatch returned to Martin for the next step.
The Hero got informed that the third object is called a Great Welkynd Stone. A rare Ayleid artefact, only found in the ruins of Miscarcand.
According to Jauffre, the vengeful spirit of the last king of Miscarcand haunts there. And with that, the Hero left, entering the ruins to collect what he came for.
Fighting off the undead, and the spirit of the king, he grabbed the Stone and returned to Cloud Ruler Temple.
Presenting the Great Welkynd Stone, Martin told the Hero of Kvatch what the final object is. A Great Sigil Stone. Sadly, the only way to get it, is to allow the Mythic Dawn to open a great Oblivion gate near Bruma.
The Hero of Kvatch escorted Jauffre, Baurus and Martin to the chapel of Talos. Successfully, having done so, the Hero talked to the countess of Bruma and informed her of his plan.
Getting Martin, and a huge amount of troops, they went underway to the great Oblivion gate under the loud cheering of a crowd of civilians.
Finding an Oblivion gate already open, Daedra streamed out like there was no tomorrow, and after dealing with those, a second gate opened. Having been tired from the last battle, there had been heavy casualties on both sides, but the people of Cyrodiil were victorious.
Finally, the great Oblivion gate opened, and the Hero of Kvatch went inside, to collect the Great Sigil Stone.
Within fifteen minutes, the Hero of Kvatch would've returned, holding the Great Sigil Stone in his arms. Battered and bruised, but fine.
Returning to Cloud Ruler Temple with Martin, they could finally set their plans in motion. Through a Daedric ritual, a portal to Mankar Camoran's Paradise was opened, and the Hero of Kvatch went in, to collect the Amulet of Kings.
A few days later, and he would reappear again, holding the necklace of emperors. The stone gifted to Saint Alessia by the gods. The Amulet of Kings.
Martin was escorted to the Imperial City's Temple of the One. Through ceremony, he was about to be officially named emperor Martin Septim, but got interrupted by a terrified messenger, reporting that an Oblivion gate had been opened inside the Imperial City's walls.
The Hero of Kvatch rushed outside, and fought off the hordes of Daedra with a battalion of guards. And upon entering the Temple district, he encountered the Daedric Prince of Destruction, Mehrunes Dagon, himself.
Their plan had failed, there was no barrier to repair anymore.
They quickly formulated a new plan. Martin had to get inside the Temple of the One. But Mehrunes Dagon and the Oblivion gate were blocking their way. The only way past him, was sneaking by him. Which they succeeded to do.
Inside the Temple, Martin quickly explained his plan. As he had the dragon blood, and the Amulet of Kings contained the same blood, he might be able to infuse them together. Knowing this would end him, Martin Septim bid the Hero of Kvatch farewell.
Mehrunes Dagon smashed the roof, as Martin stood upon the altar, before a blinding light engulfed the would-be emperor. When the light diminished, a flaming dragon had replaced Martin. Martin had become the Avatar of Akatosh.
A battle between two divines ensues, and in the end, Martin finally managed to bite Mehrunes Dagon in the neck, and destroy his physical body with a burst of holy dragon fire.
With his soul banished back to the Deadlands, the Oblivion gate closed, and Mehrunes Dagon's plan was foiled.
Swooping down on top of the Temple Altar, Martin, in the form of the Avatar of Akatosh turned into stone, and he was no more. Thus ending not only the Oblivion Crisis, but also the Septim bloodline.
A day later, the Hero of Kvatch was named the seventh Champion of Cyrodiil, and continued travelling over Cyrodiil, helping wherever he could.
Eventually, he disappeared. But the people have reported seeing him for the last time, at an Oblivion Gate at Niban Bay. An Oblivion gate to the realm of the Mad God, Sheogorath. The realm called the Shivering Isles.
And thus the third Era had ended, and the fourth began.
-Goreshahto