Alessian Doctrines

The Alessian Doctrines were a series of laws set forth by the Alessian Order after the defeat of the Ayleids. It was the prohibitions contained in this law that caused various kingdoms to begin fighting against the Alessian Order.

Foundation

"All are guilty until they have proven themselves innocent."

―Marukh

The precursor to the codification of the Alessian Doctrines proper happened after Alessia herself rose to power in the heartlands. Desiring to unify Elves, Nords, and the Nedic peoples Alessia realized a compromise must be made, thus the Cyrodiilic Eight Divines came into being. Shor became Shezarr, a toned down version of the genocidal warlord, while Alduin was merged with Auri-El to become Akatosh.

The Alessian Doctrines themselves were codified by Marukh, and would go on to become the heart and soul of the Alessian Empire. The founder of this sect Marukh, received vision directly from Alessia herself. These visions convinced Marukh that elven rule was flawed from the very core.

Core principles

"The priesthood of Marukh, of course, saw no difference between spiritual and political matters"

―Sinjin

The doctrines were composed of seventy-seven rules, the nature of all of the doctrines themselves is unknown.

The heart of these principles centers on a belief of Monotheism, while the majority of the Et'Ada were relegated to sainthood. The religion would absorb worship of minor deities into its pantheon by venerating ancestor spirits and god-animals. Imperial loyalty was also enforced particularly strongly in the doctrines, spiritual worship was tied directly to the emperor.

"It was the religion of the Alessian Empire, and it taught that to resist the Emperor was to resist the Gods."

―Sinjin

Removing elven literature was an important undertaking, the Order declared an intellectual war on the populace of the heartlands performing a cleansing of elven manuscripts. Only articles which were extremely widespread survived this purging.

Hostility to unsanctioned magic users also pervaded the Order, at the time of the Orders rise there was no centralized study of magic outside of the Psijic Order. Solitary magic users were hunted down by roving bands of mobs.

The group was also particularly hostile to the Daedra, banishing all trafficking with daimons. This is a vague rule however, as Marukh never explained what would be considered a daimon.

"No one understands what happened when the Selectives danced on that tower."

―Corax

A breakaway sect of the Alessian Order itself called the Marukhati Selective desired to go even farther, they wanted to remove the elven aspects of Auriel completely from the divine Akatosh. However, committing this heresy broke the dragon for one thousand eight years. They did this by dancing on the tower of creation.

Reception

Charismatic leaders were able to quickly spread the doctrines among the poor masses, which they mobilized against the remaining Ayleid kingdoms. The integration of meat restrictions and animal worship would drive husbandry and farming to a standstill. The priesthood slowly replaced the battlemages as key political figures throughout the empire.

This outbreak of religion eventually turned against the Order. Manipulation by the priests caused a war with the Colovian Estates, which led to an uprising culminating at the Battle of Glenumbra Moors. The doctrines however would form the heart and soul of the empire until its decline in first era 2321.

Legacy

Even though the doctrines themselves perished with the Alessian Order, the effects would be felt in the following eras. Legal principles into the fourth era still reflect the influence of the doctrines. The eight divines as an idea would survive the standardization of the Alessian Order to go on to become the prominent religion of all of Tamriel.

Also due to the decline of the agrarian class a merchant class rose to take its place in the Nibenay valley. This shift would define the Nibenay valley city-state as the cultural and economic heart of Cyrodiil.