Mythic Dawn

"Dawn is breaking. Greet the new day"

- Mythic Dawn greeting The Order of the Mythic Dawn is a Daedric cult that follows the teachings of Mehrunes Dagon. They were responsible for the assassination of Emperor Uriel Septim VII and his three sons, as well as orchestrating the Oblivion Crisis. The leader of the Mythic Dawn was Mankar Camoran, whom they called "The Master".

History
It is unknown when Mankar Camoran first started the Mythic Dawn. It is possible that the Order dates back to the time of Tiber Septim, judging by Camoran's style of writing. What is known is that Camoran studied the Daedra in some depth, Mehrunes Dagon in particular. At some point, Camoran came in contact with the Daedric Lord and was given the Mysterium Xarxes, a tome of Destruction written by Dagon himself.

With the Xarxes in hand, Camoran increased his study and eventually began to gather followers. In time, the Mythic Dawn Order became the greatest Dagon cult in existence. They settled in the province of Cyrodiil. In the caverns of the Lake Arrius, they constructed their secret shrine to Mehrunes Dagon and it became their headquarters and base of operations. Raven Camoran, Mankar's son, was placed in charge of recruiting new members, while his daughter, Ruma Camoran, was charged with initiating them.

Camoran wrote the Commentaries on the Mysterium Xarxes, which were a reflection on the Mysterium Xarxes itself. In his writings, Camoran not only educated potential members on the nature of Dagon and Destruction, but also left hidden clues that would test the novitiate with hidden clues to the secret Shrine of Dagon. As time went on, Camoran himself became more and more powerful; by the end of the Third Era, it was said that he dealt with Mehrunes Dagon as an equal. Whether or not this is true is speculation, but what is known is that Camoran was allowed some measure of Daedric power.

Using the Mysterium Xarxes, he created his own realm in Oblivion, calling it Paradise. In this Paradise, members of the Mythic Dawn that were killed in its service would live on as immortals. They would be killed again and again by the Daedra in Paradise as Camoran's way of tempering them for when they would rule over Tamriel when Mehrunes Dagon overtook it.

The Oblivion Crisis
It was prophesised in the Mysterium Xarxes that the time would come when Mehrunes Dagon would walk the planet and his forces of Oblivion would overthrow the mortal plane. The Mythic Dawn prepared for that time ceaselessly, which they called the Time of Cleansing. At the end of the Third Era, their Preparations came to an end. Mehrunes Dagon was ready to invade Tamriel, and the Mythic Dawn were to be his earthly agents. He and Mankar Camoran constructed a plot to lower the magical barriers that protected the mortal plane from Oblivion. It involved the assassination of the entire Septim line, removing the emperors from the picture. With no emperor of the Dragon Blood on the throne, the magical Dragonfires would not protect Tamriel from Dagon's invasion.

The Mythic Dawn were successful in killing the three known heirs to the Septim throne, and so set their sights on the emperor himself. The Assassination of Uriel Septim VII was conducted to near perfection. While the emperor was killed, the Mythic Dawn failed to get possession of the Amulet of Kings, the divine artifact used by the next emperor to light the Dragonfires. In the short term however, they had done what needed to be done. The throne was empty, the Dragonfires dark. Mehrunes Dagon could now launch an assault upon Tamriel. In this, Camoran saw an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. One heir to Uriel Septim still lived, an illegitimate son who had no knowledge of his lineage. Martin Septim was a priest at the Chapel of Akatosh in the city of Kvatch. The Mythic Dawn prepared to open Gates to Oblivion at that city.

Kvatch and the final heir
In order for Mehrunes Dagon's forces to enter Tamriel, Oblivion Gates had to be opened. It was the job of the Mythic Dawn to supply the entry points for the invasion, and so they did, beginning at Kvatch. The Battle of Kvatch was, by appearance, a stirring success. The Mythic Dawn opened a Great Oblivion Gate, allowing Dagon's mighty Siege Crawler to emerge and blast the walls of the city, virtually destroying it. Camoran was pleased, and believed that the last heir had been killed.

Martin, however, managed to survive the initial conflagration. What the Mythic Dawn never suspected was the intervention of the emperor's bodyguards, the Blades, via a mysterious agent who would from then on be known as the Hero of Kvatch. Uriel Septim, before his death, had given the Hero the Amulet of Kings, and in the events that followed, the Hero would rescue Martin and break the ongoing siege of Kvatch. Upon learning of this, the Mythic Dawn launched an assault on Weynon Priory, where the Amulet was being kept, and they succeeded in recovering it. With the Amulet in their hands, there was no way for the last heir to become emperor. The Amulet was delivered to Mankar Camoran, and the Order focused its efforts on hunting down and exterminating Martin Septim, while simultaneously opening more Oblivion Gates.

The Shrine and Bruma
Unbeknownst to them, they were being hunted also. The Blades, mainly through the agency of the Hero, managed to discover the identity of the Mythic Dawn, and began operating against them. The infiltration began with the Skirmish in the Sewers, where Raven Camoran was killed, and the Hero gained possession of all four volumes of the Commentaries on the Mysterium Xarxes. Using the Commentaries, the Hero was able to find the location of the Shrine of Dagon. The Hero, under the guise of a simple novitiate, successfully infiltrated the Mythic Dawn Order.

Within the Shrine, Mankar Camoran proudly spoke to his followers, wearing the Amulet of Kings and preaching from the Mysterium Xarxes. At the end of his speech, Camoran left for his Paradise, taking the Amulet of Kings with him, pledging to return with Lord Dagon "at the coming of the Dawn." He left the affairs in Tamriel to his daughter Ruma.

The Hero chose this moment to strike. During his initiation, the Hero went on the offensive. Having failed to recover the Amulet, the Hero instead took the Mysterium Xarxes. The Hero had to fight through many a Mythic Dawn guard, including Ruma Camoran, but managed to escape with the Order's Holy Book in hand. Enraged, the Mythic Dawn doubled their efforts, opening Oblivion Gates outside of every city in Cyrodiil. Having learned that Martin had gone to ground at Cloud Ruler Temple, outside the city of Bruma, the Mythic Dawn prepared to attack that city. Camoran made its destruction the Order's top priority, and Mehrunes Dagon committed whatever resources were necessary. In time, they were ready, and launched the attack, opening a Gate not far from Bruma.

The Daedra and the Mythic Dawn had not counted on the vigilance of Martin Septim. With the aid of the Hero, Martin had gathered a force of soldiers from each city in Cyrodiil. The Battle of Bruma was then fought between the Empire and the Forces of Destruction. When the Great Gate was opened, the Hero entered it and recovered its Great Sigil Stone, closing the Gate and destroying the Daedric Siege Crawler. The Imperial forces won their first great victory, and the Daedra were held back. The Mythic Dawn were left flabbergasted, and were unable to prevent Martin from using the Xarxes to open a portal to Mankar Camoran's Paradise.

Dawn's end
The Hero of Kvatch entered Paradise and immediately set out to kill Camoran and recover the Amulet of Kings. Camoran watched the Hero as he trekked through Paradise, and Camoran spoke to the Hero, telling the truth of the Daedra and the Gods. Camoran attempted to stall the Hero by saying that Tamriel was just one more realm of Oblivion, and it was Mehrunes Dagon's right to invade and take it back from mortals. But the Hero was not stilled by Camoran's speeches, or the attempts of the Daedra and immortals to prevent him reaching Camoran's palace, Carac Agaialor.

The Hero arrived at the palace and was greeted by both Ruma and Raven. Within the palace, Camoran challenged the Hero, and they fought. Camoran had his own strength, plus the might of his now immortal children to aid him. The Hero had only Eldamil, a former lieutenant of Camoran's who had been punished for regretting what happened at Kvatch. The ancient Altmer wizard was strong, but the Hero succeeded in killing him. At Mankar Camoran's death, Paradise collapsed, and with it the Order of the Mythic Dawn. Not long after, Mehrunes Dagon and his Daedra were finally defeated, bringing the Oblivion Crisis, and the Mythic Dawn's schemes, to a final end.

In the 4th era, the mythic Dawn exists only in name as a museum. It is managed and cared for by the fanatical Mythic Dawn supporter, Silus Vesuius.

Lorkhan's sacrifice
A rather interesting story is said by Mankar Camoran when the main character enters his world of Paradise. Mankar Camoran explains that Tamriel, the world which Mehrunes Dagon attempted to enter Oblivion, is not really a realm for the men, mer, mortals, and common folk, but is yet another dimension of Oblivion. Mankar Camoran explains that Tamriel's true owner is not the mortal folk that walk about its ground, but Mehrunes Dagon. Mankar Camoran goes on to explain that Mehrunes Dagon was "cast out" of his realm of Oblivion/Tamriel and "lost" it to the sacrifice of Lorkhan.

Apparently, Lorkhan created the Tamriel/Oblivion realm but was unwilling to let Mehrunes Dagon destroy it, and banished him to another dimension of Oblivion. Thus, Mehrunes Dagon "lost" his realm of Oblivion to Lorkhan when the latter "cast him out". Mankar Camoran explains that his purpose, along with that of his Mythic Dawn, is to aid Mehrunes Dagon in reaching his old realm and reclaiming it. However, it is possible that Mankar Camoran was simply lying to make the player question their morals.

Age of Myth
Before the ages of man, and long before the glorious days of the ancient elves, the worlds that span the cosmos were not separate. They were one large, churning sea of chaos and horror and glory. Great beings of terrible power swam in the ever-changing sea of turmoil, beings that would be called Daedra and Aedra in the millenias later. The powerful spirits destroyed one another, only to reform, only to destroy, only to reform. Spirits would be spawned from the wondrous powers and energies that were common in that era, and others were obliterated by them. This era of utter disarray and power would later be called the Merethic Era.

Only through the agreements laid down by the great spirits and powers that made this reign of chaos end and slowly reform into an order. This would cause some of the Aedra and Daedra to rise in power, and cause others to become weakened. Only the most powerful of the great spirits could survive the terrible wars that were constant in the Age of Myth. These wondrous and terrible entities were the eight Aedra who would form the Nine Divines (the ninth being Tiber Septim) and the fourteen Daedra (the fifteenth being a mortal who was ascended into demi-godhood with the other Daedra, and the sixteenth being created as a counterpart to the Daedric Lord of Madness during a great inter-Daedra civil war).

The Daedric Lord of Destruction, Mehrunes Dagon, formed the Mythic Dawn cult, by using Mankar Camoran as his avatar, desires to re-create the Age of Myth and restore the chaos. As the patron entity of Change (as well as Ambition and Energy), this is one of his desires: and as the patron entity of Change, chaos would serve him well. For what is chaos if not change? A re-creation of an age of chaos would suit the Daedric Prince of Change well. His greatest ambition, (as the patron deity of Ambition) is to cause the cosmos to reform into such an era, and his Mythic Dawn are the mortal agents on Tamriel he needs. (It is noticed that the Mythic Dawn greet each other with the phrases "Dawn is Breaking" and "Greet the New Day" to refer to the new age that approaches, the Age of Myth.

Beliefs and practices
The Mythic Dawn were fanatic worshipers of Mehrunes Dagon. They believed that any work they did in his name was part of a time called the Preparation. The Time of Cleansing would come when Dagon at last entered Tamriel and laid waste to the mortal world. Mankar Camoran preached that once that happened, the Mythic Dawn would rule the earth as immortals. Due to their closeness with the Daedric Prince they worship, the Mythic Dawn could be considered the greatest of all Daedric cults.

The Order followed the teachings found within the Mysterium Xarxes. As an initiation rite, a potential member would have to sacrifice one of Dagon's enemies on his statue, sating him with "red-drink". They also believed that weakness was something to be severely punished, as seen in Eldamil's punishment.

One of the most defining things about the Mythic Dawn is their style of dress. They wear red robes unlike any other. But their most unique feature is their ability to summon personalized bound weapons and armor. It is possible that these unique bound items were commissioned from Mehrunes Dagon by Mankar Camoran.

It is possible that the Mythic Dawn have some ties to the End of Times cult in Morrowind, which also believes in the Time of Cleansing, when the Daedra will walk the mortal plane. The difference in the two cults is that the End of Times recognizes this as a bad thing, while the Mythic Dawn revels in it.

Powers
Many members of the Mythic Dawn are adept at magecraft and can wield a wide variety of magic abilities. They have a perceptive grasp of lightning, and often throw bolts of it at the enemy. They can summon various Lesser Daedra in the form of demonic-looking weapons and their robe-armor. A portion of the Mythic Dawn have such power that they have transcended the realms of mortal existence; Mehrunes Dagon gives such gifts to his greatest of followers in the form of immortality. Several Mythic Dawn members are even invincible, and often rise from the dead mere minutes after being struck down.

This is noted by a Mythic Dawn traitor met in the Paradise of Mankar Camoran. The Mythic Dawn may even infuse their magic-usage into their every action in the game, such as their stealth. The average commoner in the Imperial City can magically transform into a super-powered juggernaut with a wave of their hand, summoning various weapons and armor which can swiftly be dismissed. This gives them a large advantage over the opponent, because anyone can turn into a Mythic Dawn warrior without warning.

Another power that is at the Mythic Dawn's command is the coveted gift of invisibility. Occasionally, a Mythic Dawn member may cast an invisibility spell, yet more often then not they will focus more on outright battle than abilities that give them covert advantages.

The Mythic Dawn armor
All members of the Mythic Dawn have the ability to draw upon the power of Mehrunes Dagon to defend them. This defense is shown when the Mythic Dawn member is covered in a sheet of shimmering air, which quickly forms to become a set of conjured Mythic Dawn armor. This is very similar to their normal blood-red robes, yet the robes are covered by plates of demonic-looking, metallic armor. The hood of the Mythic Dawn Robe is replaced by a demonic helmet. It does not cover the whole face, but recedes back to encompass the back half of the head. The front half is either uncovered or hidden behind a spiked, demon-like faceplate. While this armor itself offers little defense besides the normal Mythic Dawn robes, it serves to add intimidation and fear, which often act as enough to demoralize the enemy.

Daedric Summoning
The Mythic Dawn are all too familiar with the dangerous and seductive power of Daedra Magic. With the ability to summon demonic spirits to them at any time, the Mythic Dawn are arrogant and certain of their power. They traffic with such entities on a regular basis, it seems, because they must interact with the Daedra of Oblivion to open the Oblivion Gates across Tamriel.

The Mythic Dawn are never seen with the hordes of Daedra that swarm from the Oblivion Gates, but it is mentioned in a letter from a Mythic Dawn agent (the letter is found during the quest Spies in Bruma) that they have arranged various pacts with the Daedra in order to open the Gates. The Mythic Dawn open so many Oblivion Gates, in fact, that the barriers between the world of Tamriel and the realms of Oblivion have weakened such that Mehrunes Dagon himself is able to pass through them.

The amount of power that it would have cost Mehrunes Dagon to enter Tamriel is unknown, and perhaps that is why he barely fights back against Martin Septim when he transforms into the Avatar of Akatosh. Mehrunes Dagon did not seem overly powerful during that fight, for he swung his weapon merely twice while the Martin Septim/Akatosh was able to rake him with his talons, fly, and breathe fire multiple times. However, while there are more Daedra than the Aedra, this may explain why. The Daedra have more quantity (amount of Daedra) while being weaker, and the Aedra have more quality (amount of power). The fact that eight Aedra were able to link together and end the Age of Myth by banishing sixteen Daedric Princes supports this fact as well.

Members
Mythic Dawn members often have a copy of the Mythic Dawn Commentaries either with them or at their home.

The following Mythic Dawn Agents will become active after the Dagon Shrine quest and will attempt to attack on sight (caused by the theft of the Mysterium Xarxes):
 * Cingor, Leyawiin
 * Else God-Hater, Skingrad
 * Eugal Belette, Chorrol
 * Hans Black-Nail, Castle Bravil
 * Isolde, Anvil
 * Jearl, spy at Doomstone, south of Cloud Ruler Temple
 * Marguerite Diel, Imperial City
 * Ranaline, Bravil
 * Saveri Faram
 * Styrbjorn, Imperial City
 * Tanasa Arano, Cheydinhal
 * Tolisi Girith, Cheydinhal
 * Ulen Athram, Imperial City

Trivia

 * The Mythic Dawn are the first enemies encountered in.
 * It is easy to recognize a Mythic Dawn agent when they summon their unique bound weapons and armor (which are impossible to get in-game, except by use of the console, or a mod). After the "Dagon Shrine" quest, multiple Mythic Dawn agents go live, and try to kill the player. After the end of the main quest, any surviving agents will cease hunting the hero, though they continue to employ their Bound Armor in combat.
 * After the main quest is over, the Mythic Dawn cease to be a noticeable presence. The generic members in the Lake Arrius Caverns do respawn, though.

By game

 * Mythic Dawn (Skyrim)

Appearances

 * - Mythic Dawn Museum
 * - Mythic Dawn Museum