Lore:Underking

The   (sometimes UnderKing), or the Evil One, was a mysterious figure of myth and legend, known throughout   in the   (and by some accounts, even earlier).    His legions of living and undead followers were called his Agents, and he was known to be opposed to   and  .   The Underking was one of seven factions in the   region that played a major role in events preceding and during the   in  .  

The Underking was the "old bugbear" of fairy tales dating back to the earliest years of the  . Some tales described him as a very old, very powerful  —or at least, something resembling one. Others claimed he was the most powerful mage who ever lived. Somehow, this mage "lost his heart" and his very being was transformed. The mage's heart "disappeared", and without it, the Underking could not truly live or die.  

The stories were largely true, though the Underking's identity remains a matter of dispute. Most sources (notably, the Underking himself)  claim he was once  , Battlemage of Emperor  .  As the Underking, Arctus has been associated with  , the god of magic,  and was stated to be the most powerful mage to ever live.  However, according to   the Underking was  , a supernatural being said to have lived many lives, and who was an ally of Tiber Septim. Among Wulfharth's numerous purported titles was "Underking".  The King of Worms was also rumored to be the Underking.  Some even believe that Tiber Septim himself became the Underking.    
  
History
Second Era
There are differing accounts of the Underking's origin, though the stories share some similarities:
Zurin Arctus
The   saw Emperor   wage a series of   with the goal of conquering or otherwise pacifying all of  .   At his side was the Imperial Battlemage  .  The final years of the era saw the   turn its attention to  . Rather than wage war, the   signed an  . While the exact terms were never disclosed, it was speculated that the living god   agreed to give the Empire   —a colossal brass golem created by the     —to aid in conquering the  .  It was further speculated that Zurin Arctus played a major role in brokering the Armistice. 

thumb|right|The Totem of Tiber Septim
With the power of Numidium, the Empire could easily conquer the  , but there was a problem: Numidium would not function.  By Tiber Septim's order, Zurin Arctus crafted a magical artifact that gave its bearer the power to control the Empire's new weapon—the  .  The Battlemage also placed a seal on the Totem; anyone not of the Septim bloodline (or at least, a royal lineage) or possessing a particular supernatural quality would be killed if they attempted to use it. 

thumb|right|The Mantella
But the Totem was not enough; Numidium lacked a power source. The Dwemer had originally used the  ,  but this was no longer available.  Undeterred, an alternate source of power was devised, a massive green gem known as the  , which was infused with Arctus' own life force.  Numidium was reactivated in   at   in  ,  and the Isles were no match for its terrible might; it is said that the siege of   lasted only an hour before the   surrendered.  Tamriel was united, and the emperor declared the beginning of the   beginning the following year. 

Tiber Septim betrayed his Battlemage, however.  Once the Empire's enemies were defeated, the emperor began using Numidium to crush the neutral royal families of Tamriel and install loyalists. Zurin Arctus, furious at this misuse, fought to reclaim the Mantella. In the battle that followed, both the Battlemage and Numidium were annihilated and the Mantella—their shared "heart"—was blown into the netherworld of  . The Totem of Tiber Septim was also lost as the remains of Numidium were scattered across Tamriel, and Arctus, cut off from the Mantella, fell into a state of semi-slumber in a subterranean vault somewhere in  .   

As the Third Era progressed, the Empire's elite soldiers—who would come to be known as the  —were tasked with collecting the remains of Numidium. Zurin Arctus became known as the Underking, and sent his minions forth to search for the Mantella. 
 

Wulfharth
Another account claims the Underking was  , a High King of   in the  , who periodically returned to life at several points in history, and was a   of    (the  ic version of  ).    His later incarnation, the Ash-King, is said to have been summoned back to life to fight the   at the   in the First Era,   and again to   in   to repel the  .   Some accounts of the latter battle refer to the Ash-King as "the Underking".  

Wulfharth the Underking was an advisor to and secret magical ally of  , who would in time become Emperor Tiber Septim. When the emperor turned his attention to Morrowind, the Underking urged him to conquer the land, as Wulfharth had long hated elvenkind. However, the Armistice was signed instead; Wulfharth felt betrayed by the concessions given to the Dunmer and abandoned the Empire. Without the Underking, Tiber Septim abandoned hope of creating a united Tamriel. 

Meanwhile, as Numidium now belonged to the Empire, Tiber Septim had Zurin Arctus research it. The Battlemage eventually learned of the Battle of Red Mountain, of Numidium's true purpose and power, and of the Underking's involvement. However, his research was based off incomplete Dwemer plans. Arctus came to the conclusion that Numidium was powered by the "heart" (life force)  of Lorkhan's physical body—that is, his mortal avatar, Wulfharth. 

Upon hearing this revelation, Tiber Septim realized that with Numidium, he could complete his conquest of Tamriel, and set a trap for Wulfharth. The Underking returned upon being told the emperor had decided to attack the Tribunal after all, but was met by the Imperial guards. A battle ensued, in which Zurin Arctus cast a Soul Trap spell on the Underking. As he died, Wulfharth's "heart" tore a hole through the Battlemage's chest, killing him. The emperor then appeared, collected the soul gem containing Wulfharth's heart (the Mantella), and covered up the incident by claiming Arctus had been killed while attempting a coup. Numidium was then used to conquer Summerset Isle; shortly after the battle, a "rotting undead wizard" appeared and blew Numidium to pieces, though he was then crushed by the golem's death throes. 

Third Era

Aftermath
thumb|right|Pelagius, Son of Tiber Septim, who the Underking advised
Tiber Septim was then crowned First Emperor of Tamriel, and ruled for thirty-eight more years. During his reign, the holy site of Sancre Tor had been overrun with evil. Tiber sent his four mightiest Blade agents to determine what had befell this place. It turned out to be the works of Zurin Arctus, the Underking who cursed the Blades to a permanent undead state in which they guarded the halls of the ruined site as an act of vengeance against Tiber.  

Upon his death, Tiber Septim  was succeeded by his grandson, Pelagius I, to whom the Underking also appeared, claiming to have been sent by Tiber himself to help the new emperor run his Empire.  Under the guidance of The Underking, Pelagius continued his predecessors legacy with the prosperous and great rule of his Golden Age. This was however, cut short when Pelagius was murdered by Dark Brotherhood assassins.  

Another event that took place in this early Third Era time period was Zurin enchanting a piece of marvelously crafted Dragon-bone armor as a means of paying off a debt he owed to a traveling warrior.  Despite these various deeds, the Underking had expended nearly all of his power in his defeat of the Numidium and was forced to retire to a subterranean vault in High Rock where he could slowly rebuild his strength over many years. 

Imperial Simulacrum
During the  , the   was known to have encountered the Underking's minions, who were described as fanatical and seemingly insane. Of particular note, the Champion was tasked with retrieving a document from the lair of Golthog the Dark, a goblin chieftain rumored to be a necromancer serving the Underking in  . In return, Queen   of   assisted in uncovering the location of a piece of the  .

The Eternal Champion also recovered the   from a crypt in   where it had been hidden by the Underking. 

The Warp in the West
thumb|right|The Underking holding the Totem of Tiber Septim
In  , the location of the   was discovered by   the sorceress, queen mother of  .  Around this time, Emperor   received word that the Totem of Tiber Septim had also been found.   In  , Uriel VII sent an   of the   to the   region to investigate the death of King   of Daggerfall, and also to find a missing letter he had written to that kingdom's queen.  The Underking figured prominently in many of the events to follow, culminating in the  . 

Prince   of  , eldest son of King   and Queen  , had vanished in  ; a popular rumor was that he had been taken by the Underking.   Prince   wanted to know the full story, and hired the Agent to find out more. With the help of the Underking's minions, the Agent was able to uncover the truth—that the king and queen were behind the disappearance.  The Agent's work in Sentinel eventually led to being contacted by the Underking to retrieve an item stolen by the   and his necromancers, which they had cursed and given to the Blades. The Agent was able to infiltrate the Blades' hideout in   and recover the item before it could bring harm upon the group. 

The Agent eventually discovered that King Lysandus had been murdered by  , a noble from  , in a bid to attain power—and that he had for some time been in possession of the Totem of Tiber Septim.  The Agent then recovered the Totem from the heavily guarded treasury of Castle Daggerfall, which immediately sparked a bidding war between seven major powers of the Iliac Bay (including the Empire) for its possession. The Underking was one of these, and made his offer:

:''"Centuries ago, Tiber Septim ruled the land and forged an empire with great Numidium. The secret of Numidium's power lies in its heart, carried within the Mantella. It is the heart of Tiber Septim's battlemage. It is my heart. It is my Mantella. It is my Totem. It belongs to me, and to none other. I have won and lost an empire. I have no desire to tamper further with mortal affairs. I have in my possession  , one of the world's greatest artifacts. You may have it in in exchange for the Totem." ''

In the end, the Agent gave the Totem to the Underking, then travelled to   and recovered the Mantella.  At the Underking's bidding, Numidium was activated once more; he awoke from his centuries-long sleep, raced across the bay to meet the automaton, and rejoined with his heart in a massive explosion.  For a brief moment, he was flesh and blood again, then finally able to attain the true death he had long sought.  The destruction of Numidium created an anti-magic zone of several miles radius around the area. 

Impossibly, through some sort of  , each of the other six factions simultaneously obtained the Totem as well, and activated Numidium to their own ends. The resulting cataclysm permanently reshaped the kingdoms of the Iliac Bay, and the incident was later dubbed by the Blades as the  .  

Oblivion Crisis
In  , the   travelled to the ruins of   in the   to recover the  . The ruins had been sealed by the Blades in   after four members had gone missing within. Once inside, the Champion encountered the ghosts of the four Blades, who had been cursed by the Underking along with the rest of the ruins. With their help, the Champion was able to break the curse and recover the armor. 

Notes
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind opens with the following quote:
::"Each event is preceded by Prophecy. But without the hero, there is no Event."
::— Zurin Arctus, the Underking

See Also
For game-specific information about the Underking, see the Daggerfall article.
See the Lore articles about   or   for more information on these individuals.

Gallery
 

References