Alessia: The Elven Heritage

From Narandor of Lillandril, Thalmor scholar, to Aicantar of Shimmerene, Sapiarch of Indoctrination:

Every educated Altmer knows that the Empire of Cyrodiil was founded on the blood of Elves and supported by continued genocidal aggression against our people. Such crimes are abominable in the eyes of any civilized nation. Yet we must not forget the consideration its founder, the so-called ‘Saint Alessia’, still has among the population of Cyrodiil and beyond if Queen Ayrenn is to rule over all Tamriel.

Certainly, it can be argued that Alessia’s uprising served to end the foul Daedric worship of many Ayleid sorcerer-kings and that some of the crimes against Elvendom committed in her name were due to the pernicious influence of some of her champions (Pelin-El, warlord of the Elven Pogrom, being the most famous example) or later atrocities by the Alessian Order, long after her death. The deranged followers of Maruhk who caused the Dragon Break are also behind the historical erasure of Ayleid contribution to Alessia’s cause.

That is a subject that has often intrigued our scholars: why would Elves of noble and royal blood side with human barbarians against their own people, regardless religious differences? After studying ancient documents brought by Ayleid refugees to Valenwood (many thanks to the Camoran court and our Thalmor representatives in the province for this opportunity), I think I have found the answer:

Alessia, the First Empress of Cyrodiil, was not human, but an Elf.

According to these (incomplete, I should add) sources, Alessia was probably born in one of the Ayleid royal families and grew up in the city-state of Sard, at the time one of the centres of slave trade in Cyrodiil. Although the reason is not clear, we can theorize that the noble Alessia abhorred the suffering of the human slaves and the Daedric worship of her equals, to the point she decided to lead a rebellion in the name of the true Aedric pantheon. Thus, when the Ayleid kings joined the Alessian rebellion, they were not siding with a human stranger against their people, but with one of their own against the forces of Daedric corruption. Of course, later chronicles tried to erase any sign of her Elven heritage. Her origin was left vague, since no tribe of Men could claim to be her birthplace. Her real name was forgotten; all her known names are ultimately derived from two of her titles: Al-Esh (“High Highness”) and Paravant (“First of its Kind”). Notice the Elven roots.

Sadly, the destruction caused by the Alessian Order and the current state of the world makes any attempts to shed light on Alessia’s real origins a most difficult task. We can only hope that once the Dominion wins the war, our scholars will be able to study the Cyrodiilian archives without the need to bow to human pressure. Mirionil, a pupil of mine, has pointed out some possible references to Pelin-El (“the third Light-Prototype failure before [illegible]”, “time-induced madness of Merid-Nunda’s rainbow chains”) that also bear further investigation.

Perhaps in the future, when the truth about Alessia’s birthright becomes common knowledge, even men will look up to Queen Ayrenn as the Second Liberator of Cyrodiil, the last in a long list of Elven heroes who fought to punish the corrupt, stop the Daedric menace and bring order back to the world. Until then, may Auri-El bless her endeavours.

Eagles, Unite!

Below the letter there is a handwritten note: “The historical basis of this theory is sketchy at best, but its potential for propaganda purposes shouldn’t be overlooked. Needs more research”.