Minor Factions of Skyrim: The Cult of Heliolagius

by Dervyn Releth, Scholar of Winterhold

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The titular "Cult of Heliolagius" is purely my own invention, as we do not even know the name they used to call themselves. If I were to suggest one, I would suggest "Blight on Mundus' Moral Sanctity".

Any Imperial citizen is at least somewhat familiar with the concept of the Emperor Cult. The subject of Talos worship (which will not be touched here) and the less widely-known Cult of the Emperor Zero are both examples of the Emperor Cult, or the deification of one of the Septim Emperors. Even more obscure than both these cults, though, is Emperor Pelagius III's own Emperor Cult.

It should come as no surprise that Pelagius "the Mad" would want to generate an organization dedicated solely to worship of himself. What few realize was that even after his death, the organization would live on. One could hardly be blamed for ridiculing the notion that it would gain a significant amount of traction from Skyrim nobility, but here we are today.

Circa 3E 427, a scholar named Virbius Thessalonius discovered correspondences between Cyrodiilic nobility hidden in his ancestral home. The letters themselves were dated sometime during 3E 222, almost a century after Pelagius' death. Their contents, which are replicated in full detail in his book Devotions to the Mad Emperor, described horrific acts of sensuality and sexuality which can only be called the height of Imperial decadence. Surely, any decent reader would be disgusted by them.

The most repugnant practice mentioned would be that of tying up one's sexual partner and proceeding to hit him/her with an object, usually a sandal or a whip. A third party, a priest, would be present to deliver worship rites while the entire ordeal was going on. This paints a psychedelic picture to be sure, mixing strange esotericism and base debauchery to create a scene far divorced from our notions of sex. Thessalonius theorized that this was a re-enactment of Convention, although its symbols were as abstruse to him as they are to me.

Most scholars ridicule Thessalonius. They point out that some of the elements mirror some aspects of Tribunal worship, although certainly Vivec would take issue with the Alessia Riding The Bull and Tower-Eater stances. After a treatise on Potema that was widely criticized for its blatant historical inaccuracy, a sensational find like this would be exactly what Thessalonius needed to rejuvenate his jeopardized career. One has to wonder at the sheer level of coincidence involved...

Regardless of whether or not the letters were fabricated, it is a documented fact that they were sincerely practiced in Skyrim circa 4E 101. A recent archaeological dig revealed a temple constructed underneath a long-dead Skyrim noble's house, images of the same horrors described by Thessalonius all those years ago painted on the walls.

Even more disturbing than the gruesomeness of the immoralities perpetrated in the paintings is the symbology involved in them. In one image, Pelagius appears to be ascending to the heavens, his arms forming a cross against the sun. In another, Pelagius' head appears to be the sun and his phallus seems to be emitting what is obviously magicka. The message is clear: somewhere along the line, Pelagius' worship had been combined with Magnus'. It is difficult to ascertain whether or not this fact is more disturbing than the sexual acts, but I think I speak for all others involved in the magickal arts when I say that I think this entire ordeal is wretched.

As far as I know, the Cult of Heliolagius is dead. If any of its members are alive today, they surely practice in secret as their predecessors did all those years ago. The implications, however, are very alive and perhaps even more disturbing than anything else in this piece.

I end on a troubling note. Anyone - and I mean anyone - could be involved in a secret organization dedicated to horrific things. This should serve as a warning to us decent folk of Tamriel. None of us are safe.