The Vanity of Trinimac

They say he was the Champion of the Altmeri Pantheon. He led the Old Ehlnofey to war against Lorkhan and the Wanderers, eventually tearing out Lorkhan’s Heart and having Auri-el shoot it across the world. We all know that old story.

All the other Aedra have spheres of influence, what was Trinimac’s? We see that other et’Ada can only act within their natures, and that they envy the free will and creativity of mortals, particularly men.

Trinimac was the God of War, the God of Divine Vengeance, full of pride, because what else is more satisfied by revenge than pride?

In Lorkhan’s plan, the Aedra were trapped on Nirn and dying, even as their creations thrived. They were not united in this feeling of betrayal, some of them obviously understanding more clearly than others the caveat emptor of Lorkhan’s plan.

Trinimac was the most bitter, and said terrible things about Lorkhan, angering some of his siblings, who still grieved his loss. There were others who also would have preferred Lorkhan’s rule to Auriel’s rule.

Boethiah was among the most offended by Trinimac’s whining and self-pity, it had an interest in a group of mortals and Trinimac was meddling, and he fought Trinimac.

Boethiah was clever, being the Prince of Plots, very clever. Trinimac was a great knight, the greatest knight, and Boethiah knew the only way to best him was to move like Trinimac, until Trinimac eventually moved like Boethiah.

Boethiah mirrored Trinimac’s movements, except it never tried to land a killing blow, but deftly managed to avoid and deflect the knight’s attempts to destroy him. As they fought, moving more and more like one another, Boethiah offered Trinimac a bargain. Renounce all his lies and his pride, in exchange for his immortality and a plane in Oblivion.

Trinimac consented and Boethiah struck a killing blow, destroying his mortal body and becoming one with his soul. Boethiah uses Trinimac’s voice as stated in The Changed Ones.

Boethiah remakes Trinimac inside his own soul, inverting him, like a photographic negative, sloughing those aspects of him that bind him to Mundus. The energy released falls back to the mortals below, changing those who contact it.

The beautiful, gallant, prideful elf knight was reborn out of the soul of the Prince of Plots, ugly and reviled, a shadow of his former power and glory. The Altmer would not accept this new version of their beloved Trinimac, and refused to believe this Malacath was him. They turned away from Malacath in disgust, and he finally saw their pride and vanity, the ugliness dressed in golden skins.

For the followers that remained, and became the Orsimer, they taught him for the first time in his existence the true meaning of honour and loyalty.

For pride, or for belief in Lorkhan’s plans, no other Aedra sought to escape the Mundus, but at least while their original mortal selves walked the earth, there had been a way out.