Lore:Mannimarco

, an Aldmer lich, is the leader of the Order of the Black Worm and an enemy of the Mages Guild. He is also known as the King of Worms (also styled King of the Worms) and later the God of Worms.  He has been involved in several major events in  's history.

What is known of Mannimarco comes from books which tell a great deal not only about him, but about the time periods and his enemy Vanus Galerion.  Mannimarco experienced the Dragon Break of the Middle Dawn (1E1200-2208), where he learned "his mystery" from the Maruhkati Selectives.  He was studying among the Psijic Order around the year  .  He was said to be highly intelligent, as was his fellow student Vanus Galerion, founder of the Mages Guild.  Galerion had a "light and warm" heart, while Mannimarco had a "dark and cold" heart.  Mannimarco used necromancy and trapped souls even while studying.  Galerion eventually confronted Mannimarco about his use of necromancy.  He ignored Galerion's warning, and was exiled from Artaeum by the Order as a punishment for his dark interests. He spent the next several decades gathering   and spreading his vile practices.   

Mannimarco's evil began spreading throughout Tamriel and he gathered a following of Necromancers,  which would come to be called the  . He is described in a poem as "world's first of the undying liches",  despite the fact that there had been many immortal liches before him.   He lost his body and mind; he became a living, moving corpse. His blood became acid, and all manner of repulsive things happened to him, and he took on the title "King of Worms".   

History
thumb|right|Mannimarco's first confrontation with Galerion on Artaeum
Expulsion from the Psijic Order
Mannimarco was originally a member of the Psijic Order, spending much of his youth experimenting in the Traitor's Vault on the Order's island of Artaeum.  The necromantic character of Mannimarco's research began to disturb his friend and fellow Psijic Vanus Galerion. After discovering an experiment Mannimarco had conducted on their own classmates, Galerion informed the Psijic Ritemaster Iachesis of his activities, resulting in Mannimarco's banishment from the Order and departure for mainland Tamriel.  The Psijics' failure to suppress Mannimarco effectively, merely exiling him and leaving Tamriel to fall prey to his depredations, led Galerion to split from the Order and found the Mages Guild in  . 

The Planemeld
Around  , Mannimarco was one of the original Five Companions whose goal was to find the Amulet of Kings to give their leader   legitimacy as Emperor of  . After they found the amulet in  , Mannimarco tricked them into using it to cause an event known as the  . The Soulburst would allow Molag Bal to merge Nirn into his realm of Coldharbour, forever placing it under his control. Mannimarco, however, was secretly planning to use the Amulet to capture Molag Bal's essence and take his place as a god. However, one of the Five Companions,   was able to take the Amulet and returned it to Sancre Tor, where he hid it behind a ward of  . In  , Mannimarco uncovered the Amulet's location, and went there to retrieve it. He would there go on to be defeated by the  , with whom the Five Companions had been reformed. Mannimarco's soul was taken by Molag Bal to Coldharbour, where he was tortured for his treachery; but Mannimarco was able to escape and returned to Tamriel. 

Confrontation with Vanus Galerion
Some time later Galerion left the Mages Guild, having previously called it "a morass" of political infighting and tortuous bureaucracy;  but he continued to struggle against Mannimarco and his Worm Cult. Galerion led the Mages Guild in an attack on Mannimarco in a great battle. Mannimarco began to unleash powerful death spells. However, he felt his depraved powers fail, and the battle was won by the Mages Guild. Approximately a thousand men total died in the battle, Galerion included, and it appeared that Mannimarco had died as well. 
thumb|right|Mannimarco's apotheosis
The Warp in the West
As early as  , the King of Worms was active near  . It was he who gave the "hunting grounds" of   to   necromancer  .  By  , the King of Worms was searching for the Totem of Tiber Septim, an artifact designed to control the Numidium while it was powered by the  , from the crypt Scourg Barrow deep in the Dragontail Mountains. His plan was to obtain the Totem so that he could command the Mantella to his side as it fell from Aetherius, before it reached Numidium's chest. Using its power, he planned to leave his mortal frame, either to ascend to Aetherius  or join the ranks of the gods of Oblivion.  To achieve this, Mannimarco embroiled himself in the court politics of the Iliac Bay. In the process, he came into contact with an agent of  .  By reading the stars, he foresaw the return of the Mantella from its hiding place in Aetherius, and wrote to this agent promising to bring the Totem to Aetherius and out of mortal hands.  The agent obtained the Totem and returned the Mantella to Nirn, but the precise details of what followed are unknown due to the Warp in the West. 

Between the 9th and the 11th of Frostfall,  , a series of inexplicable and paradoxical events occurred throughout the Iliac Bay region. Many factions had attempted to gain possession of the Totem of Tiber Septim, resulting in a distortion of time where all of these factions simultaneously gained possession, achieving their goals to some degree. This phenomenon went on to be known as the Warp in the West, and resulted in major political changes in the region.   One of the most significant results of this event was Mannimarco's successful apotheosis, which resulted in the creation of the '''Necromancer's Moon or the Revenant''', Mannimarco's divine body.  

The Attack on the Mages Guild
Circa  , Mannimarco returned to mortal affairs in an attempt to destroy the Mages Guild and capture the soul of its Arch-Mage for study, as he had done several times throughout history in order to learn the secrets of their magical power.  The Arch-Mage at the time was Hannibal Traven, who had banned the practice of necromancy from the guild sometime after his promotion circa  ,  causing a lot of disillusioned guild mages to flock to Mannimarco's side. However, Traven tricked him, sacrificing his own soul to protect the Champion of Cyrodiil so that Mannimarco could be confronted and killed at his lair in Echo Cave. 

The death of Mannimarco's mortal body had no effect on the existence of the Necromancer's Moon. The Shade of the Revenant continued to shine down on Nirn after his death,  and necromancers continued to offer souls to the Revenant in order to darken soul gems well into the Fourth Era. 

Artifacts
Despite Mannimarco's great age, only a few artifacts have been identified by scholars as belonging to him.

Bloodworm Helm
thumb|right|Bloodworm Helm
 
 
Necromancer's Amulet
thumb|right|Necromancer's Amulet
 
 
Staff of Worms
thumb|right|Staff of Worms
 
 

Gallery
 

Notes

See Also
For game-specific information, see the Daggerfall, Oblivion, ESO and   articles.
Books
 
 

References