Pelinal Whitestrake

was an immortal hero, legendary warrior, sorcerer, king and crusader who fought alongside his companion Morihaus as the champion of the Slave-queen Alessia in the First Era's Alessian Rebellion.

Merethic Era
Nobody knows where Pelinal's came from but he first appeared in the late Merethic Era where he wandered Tamriel as, gathering armies, conquering lands and ruling, then abandoning his kingdoms to wander again.

Alessian Rebellion
When Alessia started her rebellion against in 1E 242, Pelinal was already fighting the Ayleids in the jungles of ancient Cyrodiil. When he heard of her defiance against the Slave-masters he came to her, holding a mace and a sword, both encrusted with smashed Elven intestines, feathers and pearls, wich were the markings of the Ayleids and he lifted them, saying: ''"These were their eastern chieftains, no longer full of their talking." ''

He joined her cause and served the rebellion by sieging the Ayleid city-states and slaying their Sorcerer-Kings in single combat. When Hunda, a man whom Pelinal raised from slave to warrior and cared for, was killed in battle, Pelinal fell for the first time in to madness. From Ninendava to Ceyatatar and from Narlemae to Celediil he brought destruction upon the Ayleids, erasing those lands and all things in them from the maps of Elves and Men. Alessia was forced to make huge sacrifices to prevent the Gods from leaving Nirn in their disgust. It was only by their hands that the storm that raged inside Pelinal could be calmed.

In one year Pelinal drove the Ayleid armies past the Niben and claimed all the eastern lands for the rebellion of Alessia. He freed the slaves of Vahtacen and took back the stolen hands of the Thousand-Strong of Sedor. Nothing could stop his march and when he claimed northern Cyrodiil Alessia sent messagers to the Nords, asking for their aid. When they saw the crusader standing at the bridge of Heldon, his white hair gone brown with elfblood, they said the godShor had returned to this world. Pelinal spat at their feet for profaning that name.

Nonetheless the Whitestrake lead them west to drive the Ayleids inwards Cyrodiil. In 1 E243, towards the end of the war, rebellion forces marched back south and east. When they came closer to White Gold Tower the half-elf Umaril the Unfeathered challenged Pelinal to a duel. At her war Council, the Alessian armies and all of the Nords shook with fear at the foresight of storming White Gold. Because of their hesitation Alessia herself counseled delay. Pelinal grew furious and made names of Umaril and the cowards he thought he saw around him. Outraged he went in alone to confront Umaril, for the crusader often acted without thought.

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Battle with Umaril
Upon his arrival in the city Umaril first weakened Pelinal by sending in soldiers whom he had been saving for this moment, knowing well that they would face dead. After his batlle with Umaril's servants, Pelinal became surrounded by the last Ayleid sorcerer-kings and their minions, probably summoned daedra. Bleeding for the first time the Crusader cracked the floor with his weapon and as they withdrew he screamed for Umaril to reveil himself. It was only after the Whitestrake was wounded Umaril came down to fight him. Both were champions of opposite sides, equally matched they injured the other severly. But ultimately Pelinal broke off his nemesis unfeathered wings and thus killing him. While his enemie died, the Whitestrake laughed about the ugliness of Umaril's angel-shaped helmet and recklessly insulted the ancestry of the half-elf and anyone else who took ship from Old Ehlnofey. Enraged by his words the sorcerer-kings returned and overwhelmed the weakened crusader.

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Pelinal's death
The Whitestrake paid dearly for his victory. The Elvish kings fell on him with their weapons and cut him into eight pieces, a symbolic number. Alessia and her counsil were awakened by Pelinals mighty roar and ordered an immediate attack on the city the next morning. The soldiers stormed the walls looking for more Ayleids to kill but the Whitestrake had left none save those kings and demons that had already begun to flee. Fearing for the life of his friend Morihaus shook the whole tower with the mighty bashing of his horns while he tried to reach Pelinal. But he was to late. In the tower he found the still living head of Pelinal the Whitestrake which the kings had left to prove their deeds. "Our enemies have undone me, Morihaus, and spread my body into hiding. In mockery of divine purpose, the Ayleids' cut me into eighths, for they are obsessed with this number." Both friends spoke for a long time, about things of regret and things of wich even Alessia herself would never hear the truth.

If the end of the Crusader wasn't tragic enough Pelinal realised at his last moment that Umaril survived: ''"Beware, Morihaus, beware! With the foresight of death I know now that my foe yet lives, bitter knowledge to take to my grave. Better that I had died believing myself the victor. Although cast beyond the doors of night, he will return. Be vigilant! I can no longer shield the host of Men from Umaril's retribution." ''After this last warning the infamous Pelinal Whitestrake died.

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Death of Alessia
Strangely it appears that Pelinal was present at Empress Alessia's deathbed, although he was killed by the Elvish Kings earlier.

''"...and left you to gather strength with my other half, who will bring light to that mortal idea that brings [the Gods'] great joy, that is freedom, which even the Heavens do not truly know, [which is] why our Father, the... [Text lost]... in those first [days/spirits/swirls] before Convention... that which we echoed in our earthly madness. [Let us] now take you Up. We will [show] our true faces to... [which eat] one another in amnesia each Age." ''

According to this ancient fragment, Pelinal found salvation after his dead, freed of his madness and sins, and now acted as ferryman to bring Alessia's soul to the afterlife.

Legacy
Pelinal Whitestrake freed Cyrodiil from the Ayleid oppressors and ushered in a new era of peace and freedom. Because of his efforts Alessia could establish the First Empire. His reputation varies widely. Among Imperials, he is a hero who helped free Cyrodiil from oppression. Among Mer, he is the vicious warlord who led the Elven Pogrom. He is also reviled by the Khajiit, because he mistook them for another type of Aldmeri and killed many before his mistake became apparent.

In 3 E111 the Order of the Knights of the Nine was founded with the intent of recovering the lost armor of Pelinal Whitestrake, the Relics of the Divine Crusader. Their reputation was established when the first knights defeated the Wyrm of Elynglenn to recover the Cuirass of the Crusader. The following period was the Order's zenith and three more Relics were discovered. In 3E 121 however, during the War of the Red Diamond, the order was split and the Relics were lost again.

Following daedric attacks on clergy in 3E 433, the Hero of Cyrodiil was warned by a Prophet of the fact that Umaril had finally returned to Cyrodiil to unleash his vengeance on humanity. After a pelgrimage the Hero received a vision of Pelinal Whitestrake who put him on the way of reconstituting the Order of the Knights of the Nine and reuniting the Crusader's Relics, which were needed to destroy Umaril the Unfeathered forever.

Pelinal's madness
Fifd of New Teed said once that the Whitestrake had no heart under his armor, only the rage of a mindless dragon. Pelinal cared for none of this for he would slay the ones who spoke according to the logic of the gods, except for Alessia because she "acted rather than talked, as language without effort is a dead witness". When his men heard him say these things, they went silent and angered him. He ran into the rain of Kyne, laughing and swinging with his sword, while screaming ''"O Aka, for our shared madness I do this! I watch you watching me watching back! Umaril dares call us out, for that is how we made him!" ''

It was during these fits of anger that Pelinal fell into madness. Lands were devoured in divine rampage and became Void, and Alessia would have to pray to the Gods for their help, and they reached down as one mind and calmed the Whitestrake until he no longer had the will to kill the earth. Garid of the men-of-ge once experienced Pelinal's madness from afar. When he and the Crusader had a drink together he asked what it felt like. Pelinal described it in one phrase. "Like when the dream no longer needs its dreamer."

Origin
It is said that Pelinal emerged in to Nirn like a Padomaic, carried by Sithis and all other forces of change. Described by Morihaus as an ada or spirit, Pelinal plays the same role as a long line of avatars sent by Shor to champion the cause of mankind. Pelinal, however, is an exception, as he exhibits significant bonds to Akatosh as well, who is hostile to Shor.

Name
Pelinal Whitestrake was referred to in many different ways. His first name, Pelinal, a corruption of the name Pelin-El, which means Star-Made Knight. This is strange because it is an Elvish name and Pelinal hated that race more than anything. During the Alessian Rebellion, he was known as Pelinal Insurgent, Pelinal the Bloody, Pelinal the Blamer and Pelinal the Third. This last moniker, 'Pelinal the Third' suggests a relationship with other supernatural champions of mankind- Harrald Harry-Breeks and Hans the Fox. Altmeri sources suggest that he is one and the same, although it is unlikely that this is the whole story, given his more alien characteristics and persona, and the fact that he cannot easily be described as a king or sorcerer. Another theory on his title of "the Third" is that it comes from him being the third vision received by Saint Alessia in her prayers to the gods for mankind's freedom from the Ayleids. Pelinal is often referred to as the Divine Crusader.