Introducing Askalash Esurnataz

[Empire of Shadows]

Name: Askalash Esurnataz

 

Species: Dunmer

 

Age: 37

 

Occupation: Was once an Ashlander, gained fame in the Fighter's Guild, eventually coming to be it's leader. Then was approached by the Morag Tong. Worked for them for 10 years, eventually becoming Grandmaster. Then joined the Mage's Guild where he discovered he had an odd control over magic, quickly becoming Arch-Mage in a year. Now he is Emperor of the Empire of Shadows, handed over to him by the spirit of his ancestor, Tashapal Orshilak I.

 

Affiliation: Empire of Shadows, Morag Tong, Guild of Mages, Guild of Fighters.

 

Allignment: Totally opposes the Imperial Legion. He does not believe in the gods, but he does have high respect for Vivec. But, if he gets in his way of his conquests, he won't think twice of killing him. Although he has respect for the rest of the gods, he has a strong hatred for the Nerevarine, who ruined Askalash's revenge on the Dark Brotherhood.

 

Weapons: Blade of Shadows, found in the tomb of Tasapal Orshialk I, to which he was guided to by Tashapal's spirit.

 

Armor: Armor of the Shadow Emperor, which he uses in battle. When not using that, he uses the Cloak of Shadows.

 

Description: Long black hair, deep red eyes, and considered quite hansome by Dunmer women. Tall, strong and incredibly evil.

 

Bio: Askalash Esurnataz was born and abandoned by his mother. She left him outside of the Wise-Woman's Yurt at the Urshilaku Camp, where he was raised for the first 14 years of his life. They named him Askalash Esurnataz. The Ashlanders raised him to hate the Imperial Legion. When he was 14, Askalash asked if he could lead a raid on an Imperial camp where Imperial patrol-men where resting. The current Ashkkahn of the time, Sul-Matuul's father told Askalash that they were not to provoke the Imperials. Askalash did not listen, and convinced 8 Ashlanders to join him in the raid. Askalash and his compainions massacred the 3 or so under-trained patrol-men. When Askalash arrived back at the camp, the news of Askalash's disobedience had reaced the Ashkkahn. When he confronted Askalash, Askalash shot an arrow into the Ashkahn's head, killing him. He ran away from the camp and fled to Balmora. There he joined the Guild of Fighters, where, once his skills were sharpened, Askalash became one of the most fierce fighters in Vvardenfell. When Askalash turned 17, he became the leader of the Fighter's Guild when the current Guildmaster died of "natural causes.". Members of the Guild of Fighters had to sign alliegence to Askalash on pain of death. Once they were in, many of the fighters remained loyal to Askalash for years. When Askalash was 19, he was approached by the secretive Morong Tong. Askalash was intruiged by the idea of being an assassin and joined right away, leaving his trusted friend and apprentice Ranibas in control. Askalash would spend 10 years in the Morong Tong, as he was slowly promoted due to the fact that he would never kill the targets with honor, as Askalash loved to brag and show off his murders. Eventually, Askalash reached the rank of Guildmaster. At the time, the Morong Tong was in a war with the Dark Brotherhood. Askalash recieved information from a double-agent that the Dark Brotherhood was now operating out of the sewers of Mournhold. Askalash and Ranibas posed as Dark Brotherhood assassins to infiltarte their headquarters and kill their leader and top commanders, severly weakening the Dark Brotherhood's ranks. Once Askalash had finally gotten to Mournhold from Ebonheart, he found that the Nerevarine had single-handidly taken out all of the Dark Brotherhood in Mournhold. Askalash swore that he would have his revenge on the Incarnate. A defeated Askalash returned to Balmora, where he decided to try something new, magic, which he had always had an interest in. When he joined he completed nearly 4 to 5 missions a day. He found that he had an odd control over magic. After only a year, Askalash became the leader of the Mages's Guild. At this point, Askalash was one of the most powerful and rich Dunmer in all of Tamriel. Askalash spent thousands of septims to hire a wise Ashlander sooth-sayer to find out more of the family he had never known. The sooth-sayer told him that he had a very dark and evil anncestort who wanted Askalash to seek information on him. The sooth-sayer also said that the spirit is very very ancient, perhaps even before the Daedra gods were all-powerful. So old, that this ancestor belonged to the race of Dunmer that were very beautiful, the Chimer, before Azura's punishment on them. Askalash was very interested in this spirit. Askalash went to his mansion in the Ashland Region and studied family records he had compiled over the years, but did not have enough time to study. Askalash searched through the records, until he found the most ancient member in his ancestory, his name was Tashapal Orshilak. He was listed as a farmer, and no date of birth or death were given. Not even a description of the ancient relative. Askalash attempted to use spells given to him from the sooth-sayer who told him that the spirit's wishes was for him to use the spells when he finds his name in his records. Askalash connected to Tashapal Orshilak, only before he bumped into nearly 25 other relatives of the same name. The spirit told him the story of the story of the Emire of Shadows.(History of the Empire of Shadows can be found in The Wilderness :) ) Tashapal told Askalash of how he had forseen the downfall of the Imperial Legion, and that it was Askalash's duty to cause it. Tashapal I told Askalash that he was the heir of the Empire of Shadows, the next Emperor in the Orshilak Dynasty. Tashapal Orshilak, the first of nearly 25 of Shadow Emperors told Askalash that he was the new Emperor of Shadows. Askalash accepted the task happily, and asked for his first duty. Tashapal told Askalash that he must first find his ancient weapon and armor, the Blade of Shadows and the Armor of the Emperor. Tashapal told Askalash that he must travel to Cyrodil to find the ancient Orshilak Tombs, with the guidence of Tashapal I, to obtain the weapoin and armor. Askalash did so, and after only a few weeks, found the tombs. He brought the armor and sword back to Morrowind. Once putting on the armor, Askalash was given god-like powers. He would have thousands of years of unatural long-life, increaded stamina, increased focus, and an increase in all of his skills, including personaliy. Askalash would be very hard to say no to. Tashapal warned Askalash that he could still be killed, but Tashapal also warned him that the only person in Tamriel who had the powet to bring down the new Emperor would be the Nerevarine. Askalash was informed that Vivec, the last remaining gods, no longer had the power he once contained, and could be easily defeated. Tashapal also warned that he should only kill Vivec if he gets in the way, and even then, death for Vivec would be unwise as he is well-loved by most Dunmer. Tashapal gave Askalash his next duty. Rise an army. Askalash was to set up an outpost at the abandoned Dwemer stronghold where Dagoth Ur was defeated. Askalash was told to use molten rock in the chamber of Dagoth Ur's creation. There all the weapons, armor, and eventually seige weapons would be casted. But first, Askalash returned to Balmora, where he recruited his friend Ranibas as his second in command. Askalash was easily able to convince the thousands of those under his command in the Guild of Fighters, Mages, and Morag Tong to join him in his cause. It did bother him that many of the members were not Dunmer, but once Askalash had recruited enough Dunmer, they would be executed. He brought the thousands of those under his command in his guilds to to the Dwemer stronghold. They began casting armor and weapons right away. They also expanded the interior to make room for the Dunmer foot-soldiers that he and others recruited off the streets. Tashapal took the control of a Dunmer body to train the soldiers on how to properly kill and defend. For nearly a 5 years, the process continued until nearly 5,000 soldiers were fully trained and equiped. Askalash would first march on Gnisis, the weakest of the Imperial outposts. Askalash brought only 300 soldiers with him to Gnisis, as it would be a short battle. Askalash was in position to strike the first blow at the Imperial Legion. The war for Vvardenfell, and Tamriel, was about to begin.

 

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i put A LOT of hours just sitting at my desk and coming up with this story. U can find the history of the Empire of Shadows in The Wilderness Board. I hope u guys (n' gals) like it :D

 

 

:nazgul: Emperor of Shadows :nazgul:

[cmac]

Not to bring you down or in any way lessen your story, but there are some logical gaps that you have included that I thought I might point out:

 

Morong Tong

 

It's 'Morag Tong'. It means "forester's guild."

 

A martial expert in the Fighter's Guild would not be approached by the Morag Tong for two reasons: 1) The Morag Tong favors short blade specialists who dabble in magic, along with the arts of stealth and marksmanship. A fighter would hardly have those skills well developed. And 2) The Morag TOng does not approach candidates for hiring. Hiring in the Morag Tong is based on if you can find their base (in the Arena of Vivec) and the initiation rite- a small execution to see if you can do the job. Fighters lack subtelty and skills for an assassin.

 

Worked for them for 10 years, eventually becoming Guildmaster

There is no such thing as a Guildmaster in the Fighter's Guild. There are Guild Stewards, who manage the local chapters, but no Guildmasters. The highest rank in the Fighter's Guild is Master.

 

In addition, the Morag Tong allows one mistake- one. He could not be expelled from the Morag Tong and readmitted "many times."

 

Askalash brought only 300 soldiers with him to Gnisis, as it would be a short battle.

 

The city of Gnisis has a total of 17 soldiers. It seems a tad excessive to bring 300 soldiers to kill 17 orcs and men.

 

For nearly a 5 years, the process continued until nearly 5,000 soldiers were fully trained and equiped

There are about 3,000 people total in Vvardenfell. Unless your character has the ability to produce more, than about 3,000 is as good as he's going to get. And that is including women and the game's concept of 'children.'

 

The Dark Brotherood is not based solely in Mournhold- there are many bases across Tamriel. Mournhold's sewer location is but one of the many. In fact, it's quite possible that you already killed the leader of the Dark Brotherhood in your travels of Vvardenfell if you traveled to Ald Sotha. Severa Magia, the Night Mother, came to Vvardenfell, and can be killed.

 

severly weakening the Dark Brotherhood's ranks

That would be difficult. As I mentrioned, an assault on Mournhold's sewer location would injure only a very small percentage of the Brotherhood's members.

 

 

At the time, the Morong Tong was in a war with the Dark Brotherhood

 

The Morag Tong has always been at war with the Dark Brotherhood, ever since they seperated from the Morag Tong many years ago.

Askalash reached the rank of Guildmaster

There is no Guildmaster of the Morag Tong. The highest rank is the Night Mother of the brotherhood. Eno Hlaalu is the Grandmaster of the Morag Tong, the highest (excluding the Night Mother) in Vvardenfell.

 

For educational purposes, let me give you a background history of the Dark brotherhood:

 

As their name suggests, the Dark Brotherhood has a history shrouded in obfuscation. Their ways are secret to those who are not themselves Brothers of the Order (“Brother” is a generic term; some of their deadliest assassins are female, but they are often called Brothers as well). How they continue to exist in shadow, but be easily found by those desperate enough to pay for their services, is not the least of the mysteries surrounding them.

 

The Dark Brotherhood sprang from a religious order, the Morag Tong, during the Second Era. The Morag Tong were worshippers of the Daedra spirit Mephala, who encouraged them to commit ritual murders. In their early years, they were as disorganized as only obscure cultists could be-there was no one to lead the band, and as a group they dared not murder anybody of any importance. This changed with the rise of the Night Mother.

 

All leaders of the Morag Tong, and then afterward the Dark Brotherhood, have been called the Night Mother. Whether the same woman (if it is even a woman) has commanded the Dark Brotherhood since the Second Era is unknown. What is believed is that the original Night Mother developed an important doctrine of the Morag Tong-the belief that, while Mephala does grow stronger with every murder committed in her name, certain murders were better than others. Murders that came from hate pleased Mephala more than murders committed because of greed. Murders of great men and women pleased Mephala more than murders of relative unknowns.

 

We can approximate the time this belief was adopted with the first known murder committed by the Morag Tong. In the year 324 of the Second Era, the Potentate Versidue-Shaie was murdered in his palace in what is today the Elsweyr kingdom of Senchal. In a brash move, the Night Mother announced the identity of the murderers by painting “MORAG TONG” on the walls in the Potentate's own blood.

 

Previous to that, the Morag Tong existed in relative peace, more or less like a witches' coven-occasionally persecuted but usually ignored. In remarkable synchronicity at a time when Tamriel the Arena was a fractured land, the Morag Tong was outlawed throughout the continent. Every sovereign gave the cult's elimination his highest priority. Nothing more was officially heard of them for a hundred years.

 

It is more difficult to date the Era when the Morag Tong re-emerged as the Dark Brotherhood, especially as other guilds of assassins have sporadically appeared throughout the history of Tamriel. The first mention of the Dark Brotherhood that I have found is from the journals of the Blood Queen Arlimahera of Hegathe. She spoke of slaying her enemies by her own hand, or if necessary “with the help of the Night Mother and her Dark Brotherhood, the secret arsenal my family has employed since my grandfather's time.” Arlimahera wrote this in 2E412, so one can surmise that the Dark Brotherhood had been in existence since at least 360 if her grandfather had truly made use of them.

 

The important distinction between the Dark Brotherhood and the Morag Tong was that the Brotherhood was a business as much as it was a cult. Rulers and wealthy merchants used the order as an assassin's guild. The Brotherhood gained the obvious rewards of a profitable enterprise, as well as the secondary benefit that rulers could no longer actively persecute them: They were needed. They were purveyors of an essential commodity. Even an extremely virtuous leader would be unwise to mistreat the Brotherhood.

 

Not long after Alimahera's journal entry came perhaps the most famous series of executions in the history of the Dark Brotherhood. The Colovian Emperor-Potentate Savirien-Chorak and every one of his heirs were murdered on one bloody night in Sun's Dawn in 430. Within a fortnight, the Colovian Dynasty crumbled, to the delight of its enemies. For over four hundred years, until the advent of the Warrior Emperor Tiber Septim, chaos reigned over Tamriel. Though no comparably impressive executions have been recorded, the Brotherhood must have grown fat with gold during that interregnum.

 

The Dark Brotherhood has no shortage of business opportunities-an “accounting,” I have been informed, is the Brotherhood's favorite euphemism for an execution. While they are officially considered an unlawful organization in every corner of the Empire, like the Thieves Guild, they are almost as universally tolerated.

 

Hopefully that will help.

 

he found that Nerevar had single-handidly taken out all of the Dark Brotherhood in Mournhold

 

This never happened. Nerevar was dead long ago, whether from injuries attained in the Battle at Red Mountain or from the Tribunal's treachery. He is dead. The Incarnate, the reincarnation of Nerevar's spirit, went to the Dark Brotherhood hideout in the expansion to find why he is a target for assassination- not Nerevar.

 

He would have up to 500 years of unatural long-life

 

All elves live much longer than this- up to thousands of years, using the necromantic arts of the Telvanni. But even without those arts, elves generally live much longer than 500 years.

 

 

 

As I said, this isn't mean to be mean, offensive, or degrading; it's just to let you know that there are a few flaws in your story, fact-wise.

[Empire of Shadows]

i dont know EVERYTING about morrowind, so this is the best i could do. also, there may be only 3,000 NPCS in the morrowind game, but im goiing with if morrowind were real, and morrowind, if real, would be on a much larger scale, it would be just downsized for a video game. and with the dark brotherhood, again, i dont know everything about morrowind. im not going to change it b/c essentialy its unimportant to the story. as for the elves living for thousands of years, that i will change. as for the morag tong, thats also not very important to the main stroyline, and it was just a side story to build up the main one, and i never said he got expelled from the morag tong, just that it took him many many years to acheive the highest rank. aslo, in my story, askalash is a very skilled warrior in all traits, and due to this, was eventually approached by the morag tong. also, i refer to the Nerevarine, the Incarnate by nerevar by habbit, sorry, what i do mean in the story is that it is the nerevarine, not nerevar himself, even though reincarnation means it is the same soul. but critisizm is good, and its nice to know this stuff. thanks.

[thanateros]

Where did you find all of the information for the background of the Morag Tong and the Dark Brotherhood. I know a lot of the history but there was some stuff in there I had never seen before.

[cmac]

Where did you find all of the information for the background of the Morag Tong and the Dark Brotherhood. I know a lot of the history but there was some stuff in there I had never seen before.

Books and online resources. See especially Brotherhood of Darkness and The Black Glove.

 

The Imperial Libraty also is a fantastic source for all lore needs.

[Evaeril]

Holy mother of god. I read those books as well, but i never memorized them. You my friend, have an addiction.