A POCKET GUIDE TO THE AURBIS AND ITS FIRMAMENTS, THIRD EDITION: Into The Beyond – The History of the New Void Navy [Part II]

Previous Chapter: Introduction & Exordium

#Into The Beyond: The History of the New Void Navy

The NVN (and therefore the history of Imperial interest in mass transliminal activities) began with Reman I, the first emperor of the Reman Dynasty. Reman Cyrodiil had been a wise military commander and a great ruler, but he was well known for his hubris, which led him to making drastic decisions that came with major repercussions.

It was the consequences of one of these decisions that sparked his interest in the lunar territories. After Reman attempted – and failed – to conquer the Underworld (which would have made him the Lord of Death, making him and his subjects effectively immortal) he was filled with grief from the loss of his wives during the endeavor. His actions resulted in the entire continent of Tamriel to be subjected to powerful hurricanes and earthquakes, and all of the provinces reported staggering damage to their cities and landscapes. The Imperial City itself was partially ruined from the occurrences – which the Priests at the Temple of the One declared was nemesis brought down by the Divines – but Reman did not notice. When he finally stepped out of his private chambers in 1E 2757, he usurped all power from the nations under his rule in an unexpected move to make plans to colonize Masser and Secunda. In his eyes, the moons were for all sakes and purposes part of Man’s territory and therefore needed to be annexed into the Empire. When the Elder Council learned of his plans, they grew nervous that the Daedric Princes would become aggravated by this ‘heresy’. However, these claims were nullified when the Lords of Misrule personally gave Reman leave for his project and gave their word that they would not interfere.

The first class of voidship, the Megalomoth vessel­fortress, was almost complete when Reman I gained word that the Altmer of the Summerset Isles were also building their own spacial vessels and was planning on using them for interplanarity travels to Aetherius (if these attempts were successful, no one knows for certain), he demanded that process be speeded so he they could reach Oblivion before the elves. However, the Emperor never got see the Megalomoth (which he wished to name the NVN Manywife with Interest) as he was killed by Morag Tong assassins in 1E 2762.

While the rulers after him continued to work on the plane program, it was until his Reman II that the Megalomoth was completed and the New Void Navy was officially constructed. Named the NVN Accrual, the voidship successfully traveled from Nirn 1E 2807 and made planefall on Secunda. The lunar province of Tatterdemalion was founded as a result, and was immediately followed by Sheol on Masser. The Aldmeri Dominion could not stand the races of man walking across the surface of the moons, and constructed Altnium on Masser as well. And of course, the Khajiit settlement of Lleswer was already there before either faction arrived.

For the rest of the Reman Dynasty, the lunar and void explorations continued until Reman III and his son Juilek were murdered, ending the Cyrodiil bloodline. The Akaviri Potentates declared the beginning of the Second Era at their deaths, and were prepared to govern the entire empire when the Elder Council informed them of the lunar provinces. The Akaviri, whose contempt for the places outside the Mundus was both extraordinary and mysterious, decided to abandon the lunar settlements and decommissioned the New Void Navy during their reign. It is unknown what happened to the Imperial and Altmeri mananauts on the moons, for dreamsleeve transmissions went dark early in the 94th year of the Second Era.

After the Potentates themselves were assassinated (ironic, in the case that it is commonly believed that they were the ones that assassinated the Cyrodiils), mention of transliminal programs pretty much faded from Tamriel entirely. Mananaut records were locked away in the Imperial Library, and discusion of them was scarce. However, the second Aldmeri Dominion began to renovate their sunbird program in 2E 834, and once again made contact with Altnium. The two created a prosperous trading route, although the High King of the Summerset Isles was concerned about how the Lunar Altmer viewed themselves as no longer a part of the Dominion on Nirn.

When Tiber Septim was crowned emperor in 2E 854, he immediately began the process of reacquiring contact with Tatterdemalion and Sheol. Communication was successful, and trading routes with those territories began again with the Empire. For the time in centuries, new voidships designated Battlespire-class ships were design and constructed for the use of the Empire.

The Lunar Province of Lleswer, governed by the Khajiit, was ‘incorporated’ in the loosest sense of the word when Septim conquered Elsweyr. It remained outside of Imperial governance however, with it’s authority only being subjected to the Mane himself.

Throughout the Tiber Wars, the Aldmeri Dominion and the Septim Dynasty combated one another on both Nirn and the moons. The Emperor eventually ended these hostilities when he unleashed the extraordinary Numidium on Alinor, and the capital city fell within the hour. Tiber assimilated the sunbirds into his rule, and the New Void Navy was officially reformed in its entire and for the first time in its history consisted of all the races native to Tamriel. As the years passed, the public’s knowledge of the Royal Imperial Mananauts diminished over time as their activities became much more esoteric. The Elder Council believed that the settlements had been cut off from Nirn for so long that they no longer felt connected to its anymore.

Only two other known cultures outside of Tamriel has either traveled or established lunar holdings on the moons, and they are the bat elves known as the Echmer of Yneslea (although their lunar territory of Chiroptera on Masser has not been heard from in many centuries) and the slug-like Sload of Thras (whose exact means of travel is not well documented). It is currently unknown if any of the other landmasses like Akavir and Pyandonea have their own liminal programs, and there is not a sufficient amount of evidence to suggest that they do.

Presently, the NVN is still functioning perfecting at the command of Uriel Septim VII. With the lunar provinces thriving, it seems that the Emperor’s next move is to attempt to colonize (or at least visit) the planes of the other et’ada. If we are successful, however, remains to be seen.

Next Chapter: Here But There – Methods of Transliminal Travel