Vannanox- Demiprince, Scion of Vaermina

Dissertation Proposal- Techtus Jantius

I propose that three mythic figures from across Tamriel are likely one and the same- a scion of Vaermina and a Demiprince. The only proper name given to the Demiprince is in his Nibenean incarnation, Vannanox, but he appears in both Orsimer and Breton culture as the Dazed Demon and the Rickety Man, respectively.

There exist few verifiable accounts of the Rickety Man in High Rock, most people I interviewed had an "aunt’s first husband" or a "cousin’s laborer" that had had an encounter with the demon. The folklore that surrounds this incarnation, however, is abundant. It is said that speaking about the Rickety Man during the months where nights are longer than days is bad luck, and may cost you a visit from the Daedra. This was of particular inconvenience because no one would offer any information on the Demiprince until the spring solstice- a full two months after I had arrived in High Rock.

Mostly, he is responsible for small hauntings- chairs being stacked in odd arrangements, objects being flung across the room, dolls or other inanimate objects shifting position. Larger-scale hauntings can be caused by witches, often thought to be hiding amidst the populace. These witches are purported to affix an animal skull with two green gems in the eyes. The interesting thing about this practice is that it is not the worth of the gemstone that determines the strength of the spell, but the intensity of its color; for example, a particularly vivid piece of acid-green glass would cause a more powerful curse than an emerald. The skull is hidden in the residence of the intended victim; the more prominent the location, the more powerful the curse. Weaker-lever hauntings consist of cold-spots, the smell of rotting meat, the sound of steps, and disembodied moaning. Should the curse be stronger, however, the hauntings can expand to full-blown possession, altering of reality within the residence, or violent and gruesome deaths. One eminent example of this is in a popular play called “The Purification”, supposedly based off a true story, wherein a young princess is possessed by the Rickety Man and two priests of Arkay arise to expel him from her.

The Orcs of Wrothgar actually have no record of the Dazed Demon, it is a belief exclusive to the Wood Orcs of Vaelenwood. The Dazed Demon is a wartime legend that embodies wartime tactics contrary to the Code of Malacath, specifically as it relates to illusion and alteration magic. Tribes often accuse one another of calling on the demon via their shaman or other spellcaster; by leveling this accusation, they give their own warriors more resolve, for they believe they are not only fighting for their tribe, but for the Code of Malacath itself. Shamans said to have made a pact with the Dazed Demon are supposed to be able to conjure illusions and alter reality, an ability they cowardly use the night before a battle- infiltrating the enemy camp and rotting food supplies, conjuring up disturbing images, or sowing distrust amidst the clan. The spellcaster is supposed to be able to render themselves entirely invisible, save for their two glowing green eyes, which they gained upon making a pact with the Demon. Servants of the Dazed Demon are said to break another solemn Code- “take no prisoners”. Shamans of the Dazed Demon take prisoners of war and, using powerful illusion magic, hypnotize them into revealing information about the enemy, becoming enthralled and switching sides, or going mad with waking nightmares. This hypnotism is where the Orcish incarnation of this Demiprince gets it name, “the Dazed Demon”. Practitioners of illusion magic, or any magic for that matter, are seen as vulnerable to the influences of the dazed demon, their possession being seen as more or less inevitable, even if the have no association with the creature. Actual occurrences of daedric influence in these matters are limited. Most instances of hypnotism can be attributed to ambitious orcs voluntarily switching sides, and most pre-battle disturbances are likely due to competing egos or anxious warriors.

Two scholarly sources exist for proof of the Dazed Deon’s influence. The first is Prince Tholor, a Camoran prince of the late 2nd era, who put down a rebellion of deviant wood orcs, known for having abandoned the Code of Malacath. In his diary, he describes three enemy shamans whose eyes were “more green than all of Vaelenwood and yet did not possess the song of life, intimating only fear and darkness.” The shamans purportedly wielded illusion magic, making the wood orcs seem to be made of actual wood (so fighting them would have violated the green pact) and inspiring sourceless fear in the Bosmer ranks. The second account is from Telenger the Artificer, himself, in a excursion he made to Wood Orc burial mounds. One such mound, reserved for disgraced shamans, contained a body that seemingly had not decayed since its interment some 120 years prior, and still contained two glowing-green eyes.

The name “Vannanox” comes from a Nibenease scandal in the 3rd era. House Daven, who considered themselves rivals to the Tharns, had been in a compact with the Demiprince for nearly two centuries. A raid, incited by house Tharn, on the Davenstead Manor by Penitent Knights of the Imperial Cult lead to the seizure of their comings and goings with the Demiprince. Once the knights had breached the castle walls, Hestus Draven attempted to burn all the records of their worship of Vannavox, but not a single page of their heresy burned- it would seem their patron had grown tired of them and would no longer aid the family.

The documents recovered outlined their deal made with Vannanox- the demon was originally drawn to the family due to their inbreeding, the Davens were said to have inbreed to such a degree that miscarriages and deformities were commonplace, and this pleased the Demiprince. He made a pact with the family- as a symbol of their covenant, the firstborn, around their early 20’s, would begin to be assaulted with occasional waking nightmares but by their 40’s the nightmares would be constant. Though some seemed quite mad, they differed from Sheogorath’s hallucinators in that they were actually peering into Vannonox’s unnamed slice of Quagmire and not experiencing figments of their own imaginations. As a result, the Daven family would often “lose” the firstborn in childbirth, with the second-born inheriting the family’s title; in truth, the firstborn was kept in a tower or dungeon, kept as an oracle and link to Vannanox’s boons. Due to this and regular worship from the Davens, Vannanox would plague their enemies with maddening visions, sleeplessness, or simply haunt their enemies' places of worship. It seems like a small benefit to having to worship a prince, but Vannanox never betrayed the family (until the end) or demanded anything more than they abandon their firstborns to psychological torture, a practice that became easier when the firstborns were considered not to be true family members.

The oracles had a very distinct characteristic about them- their eyes were replaced by glowing green orbs, orbs that had remained in tact even after they had been exhumed several decades after their burials. This key characteristic, found in both the Bretonic and Orcish variants, ties the three instances of the Demiprince together. Other than that, what do all these incarnations have in common? Essentially, what is the sphere of influence for this Daedra Lord? It would appear that Vannanox has inherited part of Vaermina’s sphere, without its intricacy. The common and grossly understated description of Vaermina’s sphere is “nightmares”, in which case, Vannaox’s sphere could be “waking nightmares.” Those cursed by Vannanox- victims of witches’ rituals, possessed orcish shamans, and Daven oracles- have the distinct characteristic of being unable to sleep. This lends more credence to the idea that Vaermina’s true sphere of influence is in fact sleep and dreams and not nightmares, and that the night terrors she induces are simply a by-product of her true work- whatever that may be.

Though what I may have mentioned in this abstract may make the Demiprince seem powerful, note that, unlike boons from a normal Prince, Vannanox has never intervened personally or acted in any way that might be seen as "miraculous". Places tainted by his influence are less “dangerous” and more “looming”. Note that Vannanox has never killed nor sent any daedra to kill on his behalf. In battle, he does little more than demoralize the opponent, and relies on his supplicants to carry through with their intentions of violence. All deaths during hauntings were “friendly fire” in which one of the tormented mistook a friend or family member to be part of the haunting and attacked them in desperation or in an attempt to put a possessed individual out of their misery. Vannanox has one notable weakness- the blind are entirely immune to his powers. Blind residents of the houses he haunts do not even feel the non-visual characteristics of the hauntings such as the cold spots or smell of rotting meat, and no blind person has ever been possessed or even felt uneasy in a haunted residence. Vantos Draven III’s firstborn was blind at birth, and was passed over as the oracle of his generation. Instead, his triplet younger brothers were all made into co-oracles, presumably due to Vannanox’s outrage of having been denied the firstborn.

I hope my cursory examination of this proposed Demiprince is found to be acceptable to the College; I ask for the usual stipend for a time of six years to travel and gather information for a complete analysis on the Demiprince to be submitted as my magnum opus.

College Note: This is the only scholarly work to be found on the Demiprince Vannanox; the author, Techtus Jantius, was four years into his research when according to his diary, he upset some cultists of the “Sleepless God”. His remains were sent back to the college by the townspeople so he could be interred next to his late wife. There were signs of self-mutilation on his corpse, he seems to have gouged out chunks of his own flesh from various parts of his body, culminating in him gouging out his own eyes.

Scion of Mephala: Demiprince: Vivisitum, Scion of Mephala

Scion of Sanguine: Nergal, Demiprince of Human Waste and Refuse

Scion of Namira: Grezza the Cleft, Compilation on the Daedra Lord