A Treatise on the Talos Cult, 4e198
Cyrodiilic Dreamsleeve Transmission #Q485r41J203
Protocol Encryption: [NUMINIT]
Urgency: Minimal/Interesting
Clearance: Thalmor Justiciar Command Crucible, Imperial-Dominion diplomacy corpus, Penitus Oculatus Grand Precept, Elder Council High Chancellory, His Eminence Emperor Mede II’s Inner Antechamber. Etc Etc
As per the request of the Thalmor Ambassador to Cyrodiil, [Withdrawn]:
A TREATISE ON THE CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS OF THE DISPERSED TALOS CULT
—Written by Codus Arconius, scribe of the newly-reformed Imperial Cult, revised by Seradar of Cloudrest, Thalmor Justiciar.
The Talos Cult has always been the bastard sibling of the Imperial Cult of the Eight Divines. Even when Talos worship was mistakenly legal within the Empire, it’s actions and beliefs were deemed too radical and it was illegalised by the Emperor Uriel I in the year 3e 59. Unfortunately the banning of the cult was not enforced at all and so the Cult continued to grow and grow in power and size. The Cult’s main calling was to “put a strong man back on the throne of Tamriel” but many of the more extreme cultists saw Talos as the one true God of the Empire and saw the worship of the Eight Divines as heretical.
Because of their main goal of placing a strong man on the throne of the Empire the Talos Cult took part in many assassination attempts and political coups. The Cult famously took the side of the Wolf Queen Potema during the War of the Red Diamond and were also behind assassination attempts on the Dunmer Empress Katariah Ra’Athim and her delirious husband Emperor Pelagius the Third. The last famous assassination attempt by the Talos Cult was on the Emperor Uriel Septim VII which was uncovered and stopped by an Imperial Knight.
After the successful assassination of Uriel the Seventh by the Mythic Dawn and the resulting fall of the Septim Dynasty caused by the Oblivion Crisis, the Talos Cult grew exponentially. The Cult was divided on what to do next but were in near overall agreement that the Altmer Potentate, Ocato, shouldn’t rule the Empire of Man. According to some sources, the Talos Cult aided the [Withdrawn] in the Assassination of Ocato (You should re-evaluate your sources, Codus - Seradar). After the death of Ocato the Cult, as was mentioned earlier, were divided on whom should rule the Empire next. After much deliberation and arguing the Cult split into 2 with half supporting the Colovian Titus Mede and the other half support the Nibenese Eddar Olin. Ensuing Mede’s victory over Olin and his taking of the Imperial City the Cult reformed under Mede’s banner.
The Talos Cult was legalised once again by the victorious Titus Mede I for their support in him and under his rule and Attrebus’ the Cult slowly died since they no longer had a purpose.
We now fast-forward to the year 175 of the Fourth Era and the signing of the marvelous White-Gold Concordat. After the signing of the Concordat the Cult’s membership burgeoned to numbers higher than ever despite the Concordat forbiddening it. The multitude of members disappeared as fast as it grew however due to our friends within the Thalmor High Justiciary enforcing the Concordat (Far better than the Septim’s attempt at it —S).
This then brings us to the Cult’s current affairs. (Finally —S)
Due to the zeal and rightful perseverance of the Justicars in their enforcement of the WGC the Cult has diminished to only it’s most extreme cultists. These Cultists are of the belief that only Talos is the only true divine and they see the Divines as contemptuous liars who’ve usurped the position of the dead Aedra. They see the 8 Divines as being the spirits that were created by early man and mer in place of the Aedra who died whilst creating Mundus. Here is an extract of their manifesto.
Greetings Novitiate.
Welcome to the path of the one true Divine. Whose name was scolded by the heretical Empire and their blasphemous overlords, whose name continues to be whispered in your heart and whose name is sanctified by our members.
Ignore the lies of the Imperial Cult and their Devil friends who continue to worship the names of the deceitful liars known as Akatosh, Dibella, Arkay, Zenithar, Mara, Stendarr, Kynareth and Julianos.
These Divines were created by our mistaken ancestors in reverence of the true Aedra who died in creating our home NIRN. The tricksters abused their delusioned worship and used it to fuel their ever-growing ego.
I know, Neophyte, that you do not believe us but we are not alone in spiting the worship the Divines. The Demi-God Vivec (Second only to Talos in power) tells us of their deceit in his sermons:
They are the lent bones of the Aedra, the Eight gift-limbs to SITHISIT, the wet earth of the new star our home. Outside them is the Aurbis, and not within. Like most things inexplicable, it is a circle. Circles are confused serpents, striking and striking and never given leave to bite. The Aedra would have you believe different, but they were givers before liars. Lies have turned them into biters. Their teeth are the proselytizers; to convert is to place oneself in the mouth of falsehood; even to propitiate is to be swallowed.
Here Vivec shows us that the Divines are the deceptive remains of the Aedra, the Givers,
Even the great Mages of Artaeum agree that the true Aedra are dead, despite their worship of the egoistic remains:
The magical beings, then, having died, became the et’Ada. The et’Ada are the things perceived and revered by the mortals as gods, spirits, or geniuses of Aurbis. Through their deaths, these magical beings separated themselves in nature from the other magical beings of the Unnatural realms.
So there you have it, initiate, the truth. Do you wish to worship the cunning ashes of the Aedra or do you wish to worship Talos a mortal man so great! so powerful! so beautiful! so colossal! so immense! that even the Liars were forced to give way to him.
I hope this is good enough for you Ambassador [Withdrawn] and that you found it useful. As always it was a pleasure to work with you.
—Codus