Almalexia (Tribunal)

"I will tell my people how with your dying breath you proclaimed your devotion to me."

- Almalexia Indoril Almalexia, colloquially known as the Healing Mother and Lady of Mercy, was a female Chimer and was one of the living gods worshipped by the Dunmer in the Tribunal Temple. She was a member of the Tribunal along with Vivec the Poet and Sotha Sil. Known as the anticipation of Boethiah, she was the wife of Indoril Nerevar, and was one of his most trusted advisors on the First Council during the War of the First Council. Her other names, the Healing Mother and Lady of Mercy, came from her being known as a source of compassion and sympathy, and her role as protector of the poor and weak. However, her compassionate nature did not prevent her from being a ruthless negotiator and leader, as well as a cunning warrior. She was an important symbol of Dunmer independence to those who resented the Septim Empire, and the Hands of Almalexia, her personal cohort of guards, enforced a strict adherence to Tribunal Temple doctrines. She resided in the royal capital of Morrowind, Mournhold. Mournhold's outer districts were named Almalexia City in honor of her position as a god of the Tribunal Temple. Almalexia's closest followers were those of the Dunmer Great House Indoril, who until the Third Era were the ruling class of Mournhold, and thus all of Morrowind.

She was considered to be the mother figure of the Tribunal Temple as she looked after, nurtured, and healed the Dunmer that worshipped her. Almalexia was strict; however, when they strayed from the doctrines of the Tribunal Temple, often sending her personal guard, the Hands of Almalexia, to bring them back into the fold violently if need be. Along with the Hands of Almalexia, she also controlled the Ordinators of the House Indoril and developed their beliefs that the weakness of the Tribunal during the Third Era was caused by a lack of faith and religious fervor among its people.

After the death of her husband, Indoril Nerevar, Almalexia, along with Nerevar's other councilors Vivec the Poet and Sotha Sil, went against his wish and used the Tools of Kagrenac on the Heart of Lorkhan, and thus gained power for themselves as gods among the Dunmer. Their worshippers, the Dunmer, referred to them as the Almsivi for the great deeds of heroism and good that they performed in Morrowind. However, these deeds also weakened them as the heart was inherently evil as was its power, and this drained their energy and powers. The greatest threat to their rule of Morrowind was Dagoth Ur, another of Indoril Nerevar's councilors who performed evil deeds and gained power through the heart's evil nature.

Almalexia, along with Sotha Sil, combatted the Daedric Prince Mehrunes Dagon, and his Daedric Forces of Destruction during the Sack of Mournhold. However, they arrived too late, and the Duke of Mournhold along with its inhabitants had been massacred, and the city had been razed to the ground. She and Sotha Sil managed to defeat Mehrunes Dagon and cast him and his forces back into the wastelands of Oblivion. During the Vvardenfell Crisis, Almalexia kept to behind the scenes, helping Vivec and Sotha Sil come to decisions on what action to take against Dagoth Ur and the Sixth House Cult. Thus, she was not informed about Vivec's decision to involve the Nerevarine, as she strictly conformed to Tribunal doctrines and would not believe that this person was actually the Nerevarine.

After the death of her old enemy Dagoth Ur during the Vvardenfell Crisis, Almalexia slowly began to lose her sanity, turning on her fellow god, Sotha Sil, and slaying him in his Clockwork City. She then unleashed its mechanical inhabitants in a reign of terror, for which Sotha Sil took the blame. Eventually, Vivec's pawn, the Nerevarine, came to Mournhold, and when he arrived, Almalexia sought to trick, entrap, and destroy him in an attempt to regain her former power and prestige. When the Nerevarine confronted her bearing her old husband's sword, Trueflame, her god-like powers were robbed from her and the Nerevarine cast her down in the Clockwork City.

War of the First Council
"We should preserve these tools in trust for the welfare of the Chimer people. And, who knows, perhaps the Dwemer are not gone forever, but merely transported to some distant realm, from which they may someday return to threaten our security once again. Therefore, we need to keep these tools, to study them and their principles, so that we may be safe in future generations."

- Almalexia to Nerevar, Sotha Sil, and Vivec

Though much of Almalexia's early life is shrouded in the mists of time, it is known that early in the First Era before the beginning of the Nord raids on Morrowind that she married Indoril Nerevar, and together created the Great Dunmer House Indoril. She was one of his most trusted advisors, along with Sotha Sil who was his chief councilor and Vivec the Poet, his junior councilor. At this period of time in the First Era, the Chimer and their distant kin, the Dwemer were embroiled in a long, and bloody war which went on intermittenly for at least a decade. Then, the Nords came and invaded Morrowind, and against the advice of Almalexia, Nerevar decided to join in an alliance with King Dumac of the Dwemer. Nerevar, Almalexia, and Dumac led the mer of Morrowind to victory, driving the Nords back into Skyrim.

Following the war, Nerevar and Dumac managed to keep the peace between their people through treaties and pacts with the aid of Almalexia, Vivec, and Sotha Sil. However; due to their peoples' conflicting beliefs, the Dwemer believed that there were no gods and the Chimer worshipped the Daedra, Almalexia, and Nerevar's other councilors began to question the alliance and began to dispute the peace treaties. The final straw occurred when Dagoth Ur, one of Nerevar's newest councilors and the head of House Dagoth, brought Nerevar and Almalexia the news that the Dwemer engineer Kagrenac had found the Heart of Lorkhan and learned of a way to tap its power to create his own god. Troubled, Nerevar and Almalexia confronted Dumac and Kagrenac, only to be treated with hostility and suspicion. They then went to the shrine of Holamayan where they prayed to Azura, a Daedric Prince, and had their fears confirmed.

Almalexia, Vivec, and Sotha Sil chided Nerevar for his decision to create the alliance and for not have resuming the war with the Dwemer earlier. They also chided Nerevar for his belief that the Dwemer could be reasoned and bargained with. However; he stood by his beliefs and refused to go to war with the Dwemer. Troubled, Vivec and Sotha Sil went to Almalexia and convinced her to speak to Nerevar on their behalf. When Almalexia and Nerevar were alone she reminded him of his duty to protect the faith and security of the Chimer people against the impiety and dangerous ambition of the Dwemer. Nerevar saw her reasoning, and after going one more time to try to force Dumac to see reason, declared war on the Dwemer, beginning the War of the First Council.

Almalexia traveled with Nerevar while he was leading the Chimer armies against the Dwemer, and their allies, Nord raiders and certain more secular Chimer Great Houses that had been enticed by riches to join with the Dwemer. Nerevar, his queen, and his councilors developed a cunning plan that drew the Dwemer forces out of their near impenetrable fortress at Red Mountain, a huge mountain chain that surrounded a large volcano. Nerevar, accompanied by his lieutenant Dagoth Ur and a small company of his most skilled warriors, gained entrance to the fortress while the Dwemer forces were fighting with the Chimer forces on a plain in front of Red Mountain. Inside they encountered the Dwemer king, Dumac, and slayed him. They then proceeded to the Heart chamber, but were too late. Kagrenac had turned his tools upon the Heart of Lorkhan, and all of the Dwemer, both inside and outside of the fortress, disappeared.

Though Almalexia's exact role during the Battle of Red Mountain was unknown, her role in the aftermath was well-documented. Following the defeat of the Dwemer, Nerevar left Dagoth Ur to protect the Heart of Lorkhan while he conferred with his queen and councilors about what to do with it. Almalexia, Vivec, and Sotha Sil counciled Nerevar to keep the Heart of Lorkhan and Kagrenac's Tools to study them to find some way to benefit the Chimer people. They also believed that the Dwemer would return, and that they should study these tools to have an insight into their abilities and powers. Nerevar disagreed with them, but he agreed to do as they asked under one condition: that they would not use the Heart of Lorkhan for the same purpose that the Dwemer had used it for. Agreeing with Nerevar, Almalexia, along with Vivec and Sotha Sil, swore an oath to Azura that they would not use the Heart of Lorkhan in a profane manner.

Wanting to take position of the Heart and Kagrenac's Tools right away, the four returned to Red Mountain, and upon arriving were confronted by Dagoth Ur and a small band of his followers who had been corrupted by the evil power of the Heart of Lorkhan. Dagoth Ur refused to give up the heart, and Nerevar and the Tribunal, as the Chimer people had begun to call them, assaulted Dagoth Ur and his followers. Somehow in the ensuing battle, Nerevar was slain, but the Tribunal managed to capture the tools. Dagoth Ur and his followers fled into the bowels of the Dwemer fortress, and the Tribunal eventually began to believe that he had perished there. Sotha Sil promptly took the tools for studying and protection.

Sometime between the year 1E 668 and 1E 700, after the War of the First Council and the death of Lord Nerevar, Sotha Sil managed to find a way to tap the Heart of Lorkhan in order to make himself and the rest of the Tribunal into gods. Almalexia, accompanied by Sotha Sil and Vivec, went to the Heart Chamber in the Red Mountain to perform the ritual. Shortly after the ritual was complete, the Daedric Prince Azura arrived and confronted them about the breaking of their oaths to Nerevar. Sotha Sil answered the Azura, stating that the Chimer would no longer worship the Daedra as they now had better gods. Azura was furious, and in her anger, she cursed the entire Chimer race. The Chimers' skin turned to black and their eyes changed to red. From then on, the Chimer became known as the Dunmer.

Sack of Mournhold
"A gout of ever erupting flame was all that remained of the central courtyard of Castle Mournhold, blasting skyward into the boiling clouds."

- Carlovac Townway

Following the War of the First Council, Almalexia, Sotha Sil, and Vivec went forth from Red Mountain to create a new world that they would shape in their own vision. They secured a powerbase among the Dunmer people by displaying their qualities of generosity and the glory that they had achieved during the War of the First Council against the Dwemer led by King Dumac and High Priest Kagrenac. After they had been assurred that they had not been cursed with their new bodies, but instead, given a gift distinguishing them from the rest of the less-civilized mer, the Dunmer began to ferverently and gratefully worship them as the Tribunal of Gods. Over the years following the War of the First Council, Almalexia and the other members of the Tribunal began to craft the customs and institutions of their new society, including the religious organization that would oversee the Dunmer worship of the Tribunal, the Tribunal Temple. For several centuries, Morrowind knew peace for the first time in a millennia under the guidance of Almalexia and the Tribunal. Their rule brought peace, equity, and prosperity to a once barren land.

In the final years of the First Era, Lord Sotha Sil visited the Daedric realm of Coldharbour following the destruction of the city of Gliverdale in the Bosmer-inhabited land of Valenwood by the Daedric Prince Molag Bal. At Coldharbour, Sotha Sil proposed a meeting with the major Daedric Princes of the realm of Oblivion. The Daedric Princes agreed. They then arrived at Coldhabour to discuss with Sotha Sil about the attack on Gliverdale. Eventually, after much deliberation, Sotha Sil made a deal with eight of the more prominent Daedric Princes, including Azura, Boethiah, Hermaeus Mora, Hircine, Malacath, Mehrunes Dagon, Molag Bal, and Sheogorath. The deal consisted of several terms, the most prominent of them being that during the war between the Tribunal Temple-led Morrowind and the Reman Empire of Cyrodiil, they were not to accept the summons of any mortal, unless it was done by highly powerful witches or sorcerers.

However, a former spymaster of Vivec the Poet managed to bypass the agreement to further his own ends by manipulating and fueling the rage of a witch who was a member of the powerful witches' coven known as the Skeffington Coven in the Breton and Orsimer-inhabited land of High Rock. Using the witch's desire for revenge against the Duke of Mournhold, the spymaster managed to fulfill his desire to see that Morrowind suffered after an unnamed injustice done to him by Vivec. The witch, under his guidance, summoned the Daedric Prince of Destruction, Mehrunes Dagon. In Morrowind, Mehrunes Dagon went on a rampage of destruction and death, destroying the ancient home of the Dunmer Great House Sotha and the birthplace of Sotha Sil, Ald Sotha.

Aided by his armies of daedra, known as the Daedric Forces of Destruction, Mehrunes Dagon invaded the heartland of Morrowind. Mehrunes Dagon assaulted the capital of Morrowind, Mournhold, and initiated one of the bloodiest massacres and most terrible destructions in recorded history. Almalexia, returning with Sotha Sil from Coldharbour, arrived at Mournhold, and confronted with the image of destruction and death that was Mournhold at the time. Entering the city, Almalexia and Sotha Sil confronted Mehrunes Dagon and, using their combined god-like powers, defeated Dagon and banished him back into his realm of Oblivion. However, Mournhold had been totally destroyed, and the Duke of Mournhold, along with most of Mournhold's inhabitants, had been slain. Under the direction of Almalexia, a new city was built right atop the ruins of the old city, and its suburbs were renamed Almalexia City for her part in its liberation and reconstruction. A statue depiciting her battle with Mehrunes Dagon was erected in the heart of Mournhold to commemorate her victory.

The Four Score War and Akaviri Invasion
Following the Liberation of Mournhold from the grasp of the Daedric Forces of Destruction led by the Daedric Prince Mehrunes Dagon, the Tribunal Temple continued to expand their power, but their plans were interrupted by the sudden emergence of a new Cyrodilic empire, the Reman Empire, created by the Colovian warlord, Reman I. In the year 1E 2920, the armies of the Reman Empire invaded Morrowind, and thus the Four Score War began. Before the war had begun, Almalexia had developed a relationship with Vivec the Poet, becoming his lover. Vivec became the General in command of the Dunmer armies of Morrowind, and with Almalexia's guidance developed new strategies and tactics using methods they had used in the earlier in the First Era to defeat the Dwemer during the War of the First Council.

These new strategies, combined with the cunning minds of the Tribunal, decimated the armies of the Reman Empire in the beginning stages of the conflict. However, the brilliant tactics of the Crown Prince of the Reman Empire, Juilek, and his Tsaesci General, Savirien-Chorak, eventually forced Vivec, Almalexia, Sotha Sil, and the rest of Morrowind to surrender. Almalexia's part in the Four Score War was mostly behind the scenes, brokering a deal between Morrowind and the Reman Empire that allowed the defeat Dunmer to retain their customs and culture. This deal further enhanced her prestige among the Dunmer people, earning her the respect of her people. Morrowind was now a part of the Reman Empire of Cyrodiil.

The assassination of the last members of the Reman Dynasty and their Tsaesci advisors who took over the reins of power after their deaths, Versidue-Shaie and Savirien-Chorak, brought the Reman Empire's reign over the continent of Tamriel to an end. For several more centuries, Morrowind managed to rebuild from its defeat in the Four Score War under Almalexia and the rest of the Tribunal Temple's guidance. However, this newfound peace and prosperity was interrupted by an invasion by the Kamal, a race that inhabited the continent of Akavir and were known as the Snow Demons of Kamal, led by their king and general Ada'Soom Dir-Kamal. The Kamal forces managed to initially defeat the Dunmer forces under the command of the Tribunal, and they advanced down the province of Vvardenfell, a large island in the separated from the majority of Morrowind by the Sea of Ghosts, and assaulted Vivec City, Vivec the Poet's seat of power. Under the guidance of Almalexia and Vivec, the Dunmer inhabitants of Vivec City were taught how to breathe under water. Then, the Tribunal struck a major blow against the Kamal forces, flooding the area around Vivec City, drowning the majority of their forces. However, the Kamal continued on, assaulting the mainland of Morrowind.

Desperate to stop the Kamal invasion, Almalexia secretly traveled back into Vvardenfell, now Kamal-occupied territory, and went to the Red Mountain, the ancient site of the defeat of the Dwemer during the War of the First Council in the First Era. In the ruins of the ancient Dwemer fortress, she found the slumbering form of the Underking, Ysmir Wulfharth, and awakened him. She summoned him to assist the Dunmer in their struggle agains the Kamal and their leader, the Akaviri Demon, Ada'Soom Dir-Kamal. The combined power of the Tribunal Temple and Ysmir Wulfharth, the Underking, managed to overwhelm the remnants of the Kamal forces, slew Ada'Soom Dir-Kamal, and drove the Kamal from Morrowind.

Return of Dagoth Ur
In 2E 882, Dagoth Ur, one of Indoril Nerevar's councilors who had betrayed him and attempted to keep the Heart of Lorkhan and use its powers for his own benefit, and the rest of the members of the Dunmer Great House Dagoth were slumbering in the depths of the ancient Dwemer fortress at Red Mountain, regaining their strength for a future confrontation with the Tribunal Temple. Finally ready to challenge the Tribunal, Dagoth Ur and his ash vampires awoke refreshed and emerged from the depths of the Dwemer fortress at Red Mountain into the Heart Chamber. Dagoth Ur then ritually bound himself and his brethren as heartwights in a ritual of his own devising. The first stages of the construction of the Second Numidium, which had been conceived by Dagoth Ur during his long sleep, were begun by heartwights and atronach constructs in a chamber near the Heart of Lorkhan. Dagoth Ur decided that keeping the Second Numidium project a secret from Almalexia and the rest of the Tribunal was a high priority.

Almalexia, accompanied by Vivec the Poet and Sotha Sil, arrived at Red Mountain for their annual ritual bathing in the Heart of Lorkhan's power. Dagoth Ur and his ash vampire kin ambushed Almalexia and the rest of the Tribunal in the Heart Chamber. Almalexia, Vivec, and Sotha Sil were driven away, and were prevented from restoring their god-like powers with Kagrenac's Tools at the Heart of Lorkhan. Almalexia led several Tribunal Temple campaigns in assaults on Red Mountain. The Tribunal and their forces sought to force access to the Heart Chamber, but were repeatedly driven back. Dagoth Ur began to recruit sleepers and dreamers through dream sendings. He also began to recruit cultists through dream compulsion. Weaker cultists who had no skill in combat or any other skills were transformed in Corprus beasts, while stronger cultists advanced through several stages to achieve the power of the Ascended Sleepers.

While Almalexia, Vivec, and Sotha Sil were creating a treaty with the Septim Empire of Cyrodiil that would allow the Dunmer to retain their ancient culture, customs, and institutions even though they were now apart of the Septim Empire, a House Dagoth campaign reoccupied Kogoruhn under the command of Dagoth Uthol and fortified it as an advance base for Sixth House operations. The powers of Dagoth Ur made blight storms both more frequent and widespread. House Dagoth also began to spread the Soul Sickness in the regions directly around their base at Red Mountain. Tribunal forces discovered Sixth House bases near Gnaar Mok and in the waterfront areas of Vivec City. Sixth House operatives began to exploit smuggler organizations and communications to spread their influence among victims unbalanced by Dagoth Ur's dream sendings.

Personality and Traits
Almalexia's public image was that of a nurturing and protecting mother-figure, kindly and just. But even before Dagoth Ur's return, her actual personality - that of a powerful, serious, and ruthless leader and statesperson, resurfaced every now and then. Not much was known about her mortal days, as queen of the Chimer, but most likely she was instrumental in uniting the Great Houses and establishing House Indoril as the ruling one, and she was powerful even before her marriage to Nerevar. After the ascension of the Tribunal, she was the one who took her divinity the most seriously.

After the loss of the Heart, Almalexia kept becoming less and less of a mother-figure and more and more of a ruthless leader. The gradual loss of her powers caused her much grief and eventually resulted in paranoia and obsession with returning the old glory at all costs. Eventually, she became insane to the point that she was willing to sacrifice the lives of her fellow Tribunes in order to regain her old power, but the stress damaged her capacity for good plans and intrigue, and her scheme failed. She was killed by the Nerevarine.

Post mortem
Worship of Almalexia ceased as the Dissident Priests took control of the Tribunal Temple and propagated their doctrine of Reclamations, according to which, Boethiah should once again be worshipped instead of Almalexia. Instead, she was designated a saint, on the same level as Nerevar, Felms or Jiub. There is evidence that not all believers accepted the doctrine of Reclamations, and some Dunmer possibly still worship Almalexia secretly.

In Morrowind, it was possible to trap Almalexia's soul, which was the strongest soul in the game. However, this may not be Almalexia's canonical fate, since the Dovahkiin does not encounter her in the Soul Cairn during their visit to this plane. It is possible, however, that Almalexia's soul does in fact reside in the Cairn, as only a section of it is explorable. Given the ambiguous handling of the Tribunal's godhood, it is equally possible that she retained enough power to be able to simply leave.