Attack on Chapel Anvil

The Attack on Chapel Anvil was the first act of desecration committed by Umaril the Unfeathered and his Auroran minions during the Auroran Invasion. The Attack was a swift, bloody massacre that ended with the entire staff of the Chapel of Dibella murdered and the chapel itself left in a horrible state. It was the beginning of Umaril's perceived vengeance upon the Nine Divines.

Prelude
3000 years prior to the end of the Third Era, during the war between Alessia's Imperials and the Ayleids, Umaril the Unfeathered was a powerful Ayleid soceror-king and a mighty foe against the Imperials. During the great Siege of White Gold Tower, Alessia's champion, Pelinal Whitestrake, fought and defeated Umaril using armor and weapons crafted by the Eight Divines themselves. With these holy relics, Pelinal killed Umaril in the Tower's great hall. Though he himself was immediately set upon and mutilated to near-death by Umaril's warriors, Pelinal survived long enough to prophesize that Umaril, bound to the Daedric Prince Meridia, was not dead, and would return to wreak vengeance.

It took the course of three millenia, but Umaril did indeed return, regaining physical form within the Ayleid ruins of Garlas Malatar. There he gathered his army, Daedric warriors of Meridia known as Aurorans, and prepared to attack Cyrodiil once more, starting with the Church of the Nine Divines.

The Attack
Sometime around the end of the Oblivion Crisis, Umaril launched his first attack on the Nine Divines. It began in Anvil, the city closest to his base of Garlas Malatar. Umaril sent out a party of Aurorans with the intent of destroying the chapel and its priests.

It is unknown how the Aurorans managed to enter the chapel completely unnoticed; it is possible that they were magically transported. However, once inside, they set about desecrating the chapel. Priestesses Laralthir and Trevaia, and Primate Dumania Jirich, were all slain in the chapel's main hall. The Aurorans set fire to the altars in the rear of the chapel, and splattered blood across the stain glass image of Dibella. Jirich's body was placed in the central altar. When it was all over, the Chapel of Dibella in Anvil was completely desecrated, and the Auroran's left as silently as they had come. The attack went completely unnoticed by the Anvil City Watch until they investigated the next morning.

Aftermath
Following the attack, a mysterious Prophet appeared in the pavilion across the street from the chapel and began preaching about the return of Umaril. The Prophet gave a call for a champion to serve the Nine Divines. Word of both the attack and the Prophet would spread across Cyrodiil, and would attract the attention of none other than the Hero of Kvatch.

The Hero came to Anvil and investigated the chapel ruins. The Hero then came to the Prophet and, listening to his sermons, approached him. The Prophet explained to the Hero all that he knew; Umaril was come again and the Nine needed a champion to combat him. When the Hero denounced all his claims to fame, the Prophet told him to walk the Pilgrim's Way and allow the Nine to judge if he was worthy to quest for the lost holy weapons and armor of Pelinal Whitestrake. The Hero walked the Pilgrim's Way, and shortly afterwards began the quest for the Crusader's Relics.

Behind the Scenes

 * The Attack is the first part of the mission "Pilgrimage", which begins the Knights of the Nine questline.


 * The Anvil chapel is desecrated the moment the KotN plug-in is installed, and remains so until the end of the questline.