Mannimarco

Mannimarco (known as the King of Worms or the Worm King) was an Altmer necromancer who played and manipulated the political powers of Tamriel over many periods, and left a legacy that would last for ages to come.

By game

 * Mannimarco (Daggerfall)
 * Mannimarco (Oblivion)
 * Mannimarco (Online)

Early life
Mannimarco was born sometime around 2E 210. It was said that he was of royal blood, but to which line it is uncertain. At some point, he joined the Psijic Order on Artaeum, an island of the Summerset Isles, and gained a reputation for being one of the greatest students who ever joined the order. His skill in magic was rivaled only by Vanus Galerion.

Necromancy
At some point, Mannimarco began to study Necromancy, and was fascinated by the secrets of necromancers. Eventually, he was seduced into trapping and enslaving souls. After one of his spells caught the notice of Vanus, the latter confronted Mannimarco under the Ceporah Tower, where he told his fellow student to cease his dark ways:

"Your wicked mysticism is no way to wield your power. Your studies must cease, because you only bring horror to the spirit world."

- Vanus Galerion

But Mannimarco hated the ways of life and peace and continued his research. When the leaders of the order found out about Mannimarco's experiments, they exiled him to the mainland. Once there, he began to spread his influence throughout the continent, as dark wizards and witches made their way to him. They gave him magical artifacts from which he absorbed their dark energy, turning him into a living corpse but expanding his life because of it. The Order of the Black Worm began and soon grew a large following.

The Planemeld
Mannimarco eventually came under the service of the Daedric Prince Molag Bal, who tasked him with tricking the Five Companions into performing a ritual that would weaken the barriers between Nirn and Oblivion, thus allowing Molag Bal's forces to invade Tamriel. Using the Dark Anchors, Molag Bal hoped to merge Nirn with his own plane of Coldharbour. In reality, Mannimarco had no loyalty to the prince and planned to trap him, where over time he would absorb his essence, transforming him into the new lord of domination. To do this, Mannimarco required the Amulet of Kings, and the help of Abnur Tharn, the chancellor of the Elder Council who would later betray Mannimarco.

During this time, Mannimarco sacrificed an individual who would later be known as the Vestige to Molag Bal, stealing their soul along with many others. Eventually, the Vestige would escape Coldharbour and continually ruin Mannimarco's plan of obtaining the Amulet of Kings. The Vestige would later fight and kill Mannimarco, but his spirit remained, telling the Vestige that death would not slow him down. Just then, Molag Bal appeared, revealing that he had known of Mannimarco's intentions all along and dragged his spirit down to Coldharbour, where he would be tortured by the undead. Later, when the Vestige, along with the Five Companions, arrived in Coldharbour to finally end the invasion, they found Mannimarco shackled to a table. The Vestige had a choice; leave Mannimarco to his fate, or free him. Either way, he eventually escapes Coldharbour and returns to Tamriel.

The Great Battle
"Before my last breath, face I must the tyranny of worms, and kill at last, undeath."

- Vanus Galerion

Vanus Galerion never forgot about Mannimarco, and when the latter resurfaced, Vanus, along with an army of mages and Lamp Knights, prepared to attack Mannimarco's army of necromancers. When Galerion and Mannimarco at last met again, Galerion gave his former classmate the chance to surrender, saying, "Worm King, surrender your artifacts and their power to me, and you shall live as befits the dead," to which Mannimarco allegedly replied, with a hollow laugh, "You die first."

An epic battle ensued, with "waves of fire and frost" and "lightning arching forth." During the battle, Mannimarco turned himself into the first ever Lich. Galerion's army won the battle, but he was killed in the process, while Mannimarco went into hiding.

Hero of Daggerfall
During the events of, Mannimarco has a vast knowledge of things that others do not. The Hero of Daggerfall often sought out Mannimarco to complete tasks or quests for him.

Warp in the West
In 3E 417, what is known as the Warp in the West (the most recent Dragon Break) occurred, where the region of Iliac Bay was split into several separate but simultaneous timelines. Mannimarco, by this time an immensely powerful lich, gained control of the Totem of Tiber Septim and the Mantella, turning himself into a Daedric Prince in one of the timelines.

Later life and death
By 3E 433, Mannimarco was over a thousand years old. At this point in time, he is encountered by the Hero of Kvatch in, where he begins an attack on the Mages Guild and all of Cyrodiil. Eventually, Mannimarco was defeated by the Hero and never rose again.

Trivia

 * Despite the fact the book Mannimarco, King of Worms affirms Mannimarco was the first lich ever in the events of the Great Battle against Galerion, which eventually led to the latter's death, during the events of the Planemeld in the Second Era, when Galerion was still alive and some time before the aforementioned clash, there were already several liches under Molag Bal's command as also independent creatures alike, as an exemple, the Shade of Prince Naemon.
 * Also, still during the Planemeld, Mannimarco was defeated by the Vestige, but escaped death as his spirit walked away from his body, affirming that death couldn't stop the greatest necromancer ever known. As the King of Worms' spirit escaped, he mentioned his death was only a transition, his first step for true immortality, and started a ritual to rise from the grave and become a lich, but couldn't complete for Molag Bal apprehended his soul into Couldharbour.
 * Despite all of the aforementioned facts, during the final clash against Molag Bal, the Vestige encountered Mannimarco being tortured in his own body, despite having died by his hands and having only his soul captured by the God of Schemes, affirming to be in a state of limbo.
 * If released from Molag Bal's torture, Mannimarco vows to torment future generations, as an omen to what cannonically would happen.
 * Mannimarco's appearance during the events of Daggerfall actually match the tale of becoming a lich in the Great Battle, but during the events of Oblivion his appearance is of an elder Altmer, causing similar controversy about his actual state of life or death, as mentioned above during the events of Online.
 * In all appearances of the King of Worms he carries a staff with a skull on top of it, but only in Oblivion it is named as the Staff of Worms.

Appearances


Маннимарко