Imperial Dossier: The Disbandment of the Knights of the Nine

#Imperial Dossier: The Disbandment of the Knights of the Nine
By the Grace of Akatosh, written in the the Eighth Year of the Fourth Era

(A history of the origins, founding, and disbandment of the original Knights of the Nine can be found in the works of Karoline of Solitude, an esteemed scholar of good repute in the circles of Imperial scholarship.)

In the wake of the Septim assassination, in direct response to the violent attacks on chapels throughout Cyrodiil, the knightly order known as the Knights of the Nine was reformed by a mysterious figure known only as the Lord-Commander. Rumors of the Commander’s true identity were widespread, ranging from the Champion of Cyrodiil to Martin Septim himself. While the identity of the Commander is in question, the Order’s many initial successes are without question. Multiple contemporary sources claim the Order was successful at recovering all the relics of the Divine Crusader, as well as discovering the source of the chapel attacks (a cult believed to be inspired by Ayleid beliefs) and ending it. Sadly, this was not the final chapter of the story of the Knights of the Nine.

Late in the final month of the 3E433, a doorway to the Oblivion Realm known as the Shivering Isles opened upon the Niben. The Lord-Commander of the Knights of the Nine entered this portal with unknown motives, and was never seen on Nirn again. Imperial Theosophists presume that the Lord-Commander was drawn to the Isles by the madness of Pelin-El, a common theme in narratives of the Divine Crusader. Whatever the reason, the Knights refused to believe their Commander (and their recently recovered relics) to be beyond saving, and several rescue missions were attempted. Many knights were lost, and each that returned was warped by their excursion. Many grew erratic and paranoid, some grew violent. Rumors of Daedra worship and strange, sacrilegious rituals further tarnished the Order’s name. Following an assault by a band of the Knights on a Khajiit trading caravan traveling too close to their Priory for their tastes, the Elder Council was forced to open an official investigation, where they learned of the Lord-Commander’s disappearance and the Order’s subsequent delves into the Madgod’s realm. When it was made clear that the Knights would not abandon the quest for their Commander, his Highness the Imperial Potentate was forced to disband the Order, outlawing its members from organizing on pain of death.

This was the final nail in the Order’s coffin. Its few remaining, sane members turned from the Order and returned to their civilian lives, save a small contingent of knights who stormed the gateway to the Isles, killing the Imperial Legionaries on guard and entering the portal in a last-ditch attempt to rescue their Commander and restore their Order’s good name. They were the last recorded people to enter the gateway, which vanished several days later as mysteriously as it appeared. It goes without saying that these fools never returned. The motives of the Lord-Commander, the purpose of the gateway, and the fate of the relics of the Divine Crusader remain mysteries to Imperial authority, mysteries that have proven dangerous in the solving. With the Empire in chaos and Imperial authority at risk throughout the Provinces, his Highness the Imperial Potentate has decreed these mysterious extremely low-priority and unsuitable for investigation for the foreseeable future, a verdict wholly supported by the Elder Council.