The God of Mankind

From the letters of the Prophet Teoman the Advent:

Much has been made in the long history of mankind of the workings of those rare heroes, those called the Dragonborn. Ever have they been the saviours, protectors, leaders, and guardians of our own kind, often to the detriment of those with whom we share Nirn.

Going back to the days of Mother Alessia Kindbreath, the blood of the Dragon has guided our kind out from beneath the heels of our slave masters, and delivered us unto glory.

But why? Akatosh is the father of dragons, and the sealer of the souls of the Chim-el Adabal, that which the Septims called the Amulet of Kings, and it is his own soul-shedding which ensouls every Dragonborn as it does every dragon.

But, again… why? Is Akatosh not the same as Auriel Shorsbane, who fastened the very heart of our dearest Divine and shot it into the sea? Is Aka-Auriel not the arch-villain of our earliest memories? Was he not the leader and dearest-beloved of both the lost Ayleidoon and the defeated Falmer?

I ask you then, why should Akatosh wish to ensoul for himself the many heroes of our kind, who would go on so often to defeat those who loved Aka best? We will return to this point, but for now, we will set Akatosh aside.

All the great heroes we remember in the history of our kind, most often, are connected with another being. Pelinal Firefist, Wulfharth, Ysmir, Theran Harker (called Zurin Arctus in the Cyro-Nedic dialect), Hjalti, Talos, Tiber Septim, Reman Cyrodiil…and many more than these. All of them saved us from the machinations of the merkind, the beloved of Auriel. All of them were the Shezzarine heroes, whom we now call the Shorborn.

This makes sense. Shor is Shezzar, who is Lorkhan the Doom Drum of the Mer. Of course our murdered god-king would send himself, however diminshed, to help us in our time of deepest need.

He sent Pelinal Firefist, the First Knight, to save the Cyro-Nedes from the Daedra (and Auriel, incidentally) worshipping Ayleid-folk.

He sent Reman the Cyrodiil to bring the Snakefolk to heel, and they bent their knees to his power.

He sent Talos Stormcrown to restore the might Empire of Mankind to its rightful place in Tamriel. And because the time was right, the rebel became the king like lost Mother Alessia before him. The Rebel-made-King then became a god. Talos, the second Shezzar. Talos is many, but most of all Talos is Shor-Lorkhan-Shezzar.

But Talos Stormcrown, Reman the Cyrodiil, the Dovahkiin, Martim Septim, Ysmir, and any number of the heroes here mentioned have all also been Dragonborn. Ensouled by Akatosh. So they are Dragonborn ensouled of Akatosh and Shezzarines ensouled of Shor.

Akatosh who as Auriel fought Shor as Lorkhan. The Dovahkiin was sent by Akatosh to fight Alduin who is Akatosh. Alduin is the World-Eater who was defeated by the soul shedding of Akatosh the Dragon of Time.

In defeating Alduin-who-is-Akatosh-who-is-Auriel, I believe the Davohkiin mantled Shor, as Talos had done before him. In mantling Shor, he mantled Talos. Dragonborn and Shorborn. Aka-Lorkh made flesh, not in a struggle within itself, but in perfect harmony.

The Merfolk hate Talos, as is well-known. Much blood has been shed because the Thalmor wish to see Talos unmade. It is, perhaps, more obvious to those folk of long memory than it is to many of our kind. That is to say that the Merfolk, in large part, have been abandoned by the gods. And. They. Know it.

Talos is now the god-king, and the strong, swinging sword of our kind. Auriel is now Akatosh, the god of Man-as-Rightful-Ruler. Shezzar the Slain, now stands as Mankind’s gateway to Aetherius. And, lastly, the sweet Mother Alessia, whose breath spoke the words that turned Akatosh’s heart towards man.

Alessia took Akatosh into herself, giving birth to Talos who took up the sword of Shezzar and freed him to guide our souls in death.

These, my friends, are the Higher Divines. These are the TASA, the Gods of Mankind Triumphant. Talos Conqueror, Akatosh Imperator, Shezzar Soulguide, Mother Alessia.

Let the Dominion hear the drum of Tasa sounding their doom.