The Revised Noble Families of the Empire: House Mothril of Leyawiin

The Revised Noble Families of Cyrodiil, Volume XVI: House Mothril of Leyawiin

By Ragnar gro Skaldson, Herald of Chorrol

House Mothril of Leyawiin, Altmeri by race, comprises one of the most wealthy and powerful families of Southern Nibenay. Yet their wealth lies not in their possession of great estates, as does the wealth of many other families of Cyrodiil, but in their trade capacity and their pragmatism and adaptability, traits which are paramount to the continuation of Nibenese Civilization and to the Empire. The Mothrils, in their time ruling Leyawiin, their seat of many years, have proven themselves Mer of the Sea and their naval strength, though it has waxed and waned at varying times, has generally been great indeed. They can put to sea over two hundred warships and they possess three times as many trading cogs. Their naval strength has also proven integral in a number of engagements, including the Thalmor assault on the Imperial City and the war with the Camoran Usurper.

The Mothrils trace their history back to two points of origin. First, is the Ayleids of Cyrodiil, where it is maintained that the progenitors of their clan joined Alessia’s rebellion. But the house also maintains histories which claim that the name of Mothril first emerges as a naval family from Auridon, eventually becoming warlords in service to the Direnni, which was a role they served loyally in for a considerable time. However, by the time of the Battle at Glenumbra, this relationship had evidently soured. Accounts of the Battle of Glenumbra Moors are notoriously unreliable, but what seems evident is that despite the Direnni Victory, the Mothrils came to some form of accord with the Alessians, arriving late to the battle. Consequently, the Alessians bled the Direnni savagely before their eventual defeat, leaving House Mothril in a position of strength, vis a vis their erstwhile overlords. When the Direnni began collapsing, rather than reinforce the falling Elven rule in High Rock, the Mothril Clan marched through the Reach to Cyrodiil, where they were given lands on the Panther River, not far, it seems, from Nenalata, the alleged last kingdom of the Ayleids. It is highly likely that many of those Ayleids remaining at Nenalata that did not subsequently depart to Valenwood joined the Mothril family. Since the Mothril family possessed a large number of Ayleid Era artifacts, it is widely held that the Mothrils, of all the Nibenese families, maintain the purest and strongest line of descent from Alessia's Ayleid allies. House Mothril have enjoyed touting this heritage as a weapon against the power and boasts of rival noble families of Nibenay.

Despite this bloodline, the Mothrils have never been a house given unto foolishness and have never aspired to the resurrection of the Ayleid Empire. They assimilated into Nibenese society in every way, lending advice and arcane knowledge to the Nibenese Aristocracy, presenting themselves as loyal servants of the Empire. Moreover, they became noted patrons of the Imperial Cult, with one member of the family, Bartimus Mothril, becoming the Living Saint of Zenithar. Saint Bartimus was a notable resident of Leyawiin throughout the Second Era, becoming known as Saint Bartimus of the Barrel, for his habit of residing in a cargo barrel on the street. He was tragically killed when his home was thrown into Leyawiin harbor with the saint inside. The pragmatic assimilation into Nibenese society of the Mothrils served the family well, and they survive to this day, in part because of it.

When the Nibenese, desperate for a Port with which they could build ships to push back at the irresistible Colovian Fleet, decided to conquer and settle the Blackwood. The Mothrils, whether wanting to avoid falling under the gaze of Alessian xenophobia, desirous of conquest, or simply desperate to make a name for themselves, were, according to the tale, the only family which came forward to lead the proposed expedition. Though in possession of small numbers of Altmer and Ayleid troops, the campaign was a remarkable success for House Mothril, who were commanded by a knight of superlative skill named Leyan Mothril. Leyan smashed through the Trans-Niben and the Blackwood, defeating an Anequinan army, and finally pressing the borders of Cyrodiil to the Topal Bay, at the top of which, on the mouth of the Niben, they founded Port Leyan by Anequina, which was soon shortened to Leyawiin. Allegedly, this founding was marked by a battle between Leyan and her nemesis, an avatar of Hircine in the form of a Swamp Leviathan named Jormungandr.

While this conquest gave the Mothrils a seat of considerable import within Cyrodiil, which served to make them very wealthy, very fast, it was distant enough and deep enough in the wilderness from the Imperial City to give them breathing room from the harsh and xenophobic rule of the Alessian Order, allowing them to remain a potent dynasty within the new order of human, Nibenean rule. Also accounting for their remaining in prominence, was the fact that the Mothril family utilized the substantial fleets they quickly constructed to scour the Black Marsh pirates from the face of Tamriel; these were the same pirates that had been the scourge of the Alessian Empire for so long. It was Melegant Mothril who led his navy into the depths of the Black Marsh and brought fire and steel to every single pirate lair he encountered; some Saxhleel historians of Black Marsh have alleged that these pirate hunting expeditions resulted in many Argonian deaths, something contested by the nobles of Leyawiin.

Leyawiin, which grew quickly into a prosperous, though chaotic and eclectic city, also put the Mothrils in an excellent position once the war of Righteousness arrived, and they promptly declared against the Alessians, playing their own part in the liberation of Cyrodiil, something which the family takes no small pride in. The Mothril fleet was the principal naval force blockading the Imperial City when the Alessians finally collapsed under pressure from their many enemies. After this, the house began to expand, using its great naval strength to muscle in on the southern trade lanes, and strike fear by staging reaving expeditions against its enemies; making more than one successful raid on Auridon, and even as far east as the Black Harbor of Esrionet. Despite the far reaching Leyawiin fleets, no greater rival to Leyawiin’s prosperity existed than Senchal, which sat right across the Topal Bay. More than one trade war was viciously played out on the waters of the bay between the kings of Senchal and the Mothrils.

After centuries of prosperous rule over Leyawiin as an independent trade city, or as a loosely integrated part of the Nibenese realms, the family’s fortunes reached their Nadir in the later Second Era, when a destructive, protracted war with the Khajit began. Having lost the entire trans-Niben to Elsweyr, more than once, the family was besieged in Leyawiin itself and driven out, only to return later, but diminished. Finally, in 2E 801, they were driven out of Leyawiin by the Khajit entirely, and fled to Bravil. When Tiber Septim began unifying the province, House Mothril immediately sided with the rising warlord and used their much reduced fleet to besiege the city Leyawiin with Septim’s help. However, the Mothrils, despite their lofty status and despite retaining a seat on the Elder Council, were only accorded the status of Hereditary Stewards of Leyawiin, and even this was a position they did not always maintain. Tiber Septim preferred to entrust Leyawiin to one of his commanders, the Colovian, Leon Caro.

The Third Era was a time of recovery and opportunity, and though the threat from Elsweyr was subsided, it was not always an easy period for the Mothrils. Much of the house’s growth came from their participating in the development and expansion of the Imperial Navy, of which the house remains a patron to this day. Cyrodiil, despite being the Imperial Province, was not always a realm of peace and good order. For much of this time it was rent by dynastic warfare amongst the Septim line, which the Mothrils were forced to weather along with the rest of Cyrodiil’s nobility. When the Camoran Usurper rampaged through Colovia, Hammerfell and finally into High Rock, Antiochus Mothril organized the majority of the Cyrodiilic contribution to the victorious fleet commanded by Othrok of Dwynnen. However, though Antiochus was accorded the highest honors within the Order of the Dragon, he died (somewhat suspiciously) shortly after the battle, and his lieutenant Fasil Umbranox remarkably went on to be named Lord of Anvil. The war with the Camoran Usurper led to the Mothrils gaining the hereditary title of ‘Navarch of Nibenay’, though Leyawiin remained under the rule of the Caro Family.

However, by the Fourth Era, the Mothrils had regained much of their power and influence, intermarrying more than once with the Caro family, regaining their positions of Stewards of Leyawiin after decisive campaigns against the Renjira Krin and regaining a powerful naval and mercantile position within the power structure of Nibenay. They also utilized their trading power effectively in the East Empire Company’s more recent dealings with the Ebony Trade in Morrowind. House Mothril continues to play an integral part in the deliberation of the Elder Council in governing the sacred empire, in the upkeep of the Imperial Navy and as a notable collaborator of the East Empire Company. Like many of the great families of Nibenay, the Mothrils fought with distinction during the Great War, working to preserve the rule of this august empire.

Further notables within the family include more than just Leyan Mothril, the semi-mythic heroine who founded Leyawiin. Others include Maxentius Mothril, who was a noted warrior in Marius Caro’s wars in Black Marsh, Corlys Mothril, who was Chancellor for nearly two centuries under the Potentate Versidue-Shaie and finally Admiral Demetrius Mothril, who commanded the Imperial Niben Fleet and led the doomed naval defense of the Imperial City during its sack.