Lore:Cyrus

(also known as Cyrus the Restless    and Sura  or Sura-do-Hega  in  ) was a   of the late  . 

Early Life
Cyrus was born in the city of   in    (or   according to some sources ). His father was a loyal Crown and a famous comedic playwright, and he had an older sister named  . As a boy, Cyrus worked on the Sentinel docks and longed to become a pirate. It was here that he met the half-  pirate captain,  . At the onset of the   in  , amidst the threat of civil war between Crowns and  , Iszara was wed to a Forebear actor named  . 

Hakan's political views influenced the young Cyrus, who then eventually confronted his father over his loyalty to High King  . Seeking to put an end to the conflict, Cyrus' father wrote a noble play about the shared history of the   and the  , the predecessors of Hammerfell's two political factions. The play was a huge success and managed to abate the civil war for several years. Hakan, however, was furious at his father-in-law for causing his Forebear militia to disband. During a night of celebration, Hakan drunkenly confronted him, and struck Iszara when she tried to intervene. Cyrus came to his sister's defense and dueled Hakan to the death. He then fled Sentinel, joining on with Tobias' crew. 

For the next few years, Cyrus worked as a mercenary and assassin in the employ of  , traveling all across  . It was during that time that he helped liberate a   slaver camp near  . After the Raid on Tear, he parted ways with Tobias, doing jobs for S'rathra alone. This work continued until  , when he received a letter from Tobias stating that his sister had apparently gone missing on the island of   following the  . He departed   and the mercenary life, never to return. 

Stros M'Kai
Upon arriving on Stros M'Kai, Cyrus delivered an amulet to Lord Richton from the Sload necromancer   in order to find out about Iszara's whereabouts. Richton then promptly had him arrested as a rebel and thrown in the palace's catacombs. After fighting his way out, Cyrus learned that a rebel organization named the   was attempting to overthrow Imperial occupation of the island. He made contact with the rebels, and discovered that Iszara had been working with them up until her disappearance. Following a series of clues, Cyrus eventually learned that Iszara had been taken prisoner by N'Gasta, who sold her soul to  . Using the  , Cyrus defeated N'Gasta and rescued his sister's soul from the  , Vile's realm of  .  

During his time on the island, Cyrus also defeated an ogre in the   caverns, retrieved an ancient gear from the Dwarven ruins to fix the island's observatory, and helped the  s on the island get past N'Gasta's soul snare. After learning that the body of the late   was secretly being kept in stasis by the League, Cyrus returned to the palace catacombs and killed the     to recover the amulet he had originally delivered, which turned out to be the soul gem holding the Prince's soul. The League then attempted to resurrect A'tor, but instead his soul fused with his sword, creating a powerful artifact known as the  . Cyrus rallied the disheartened rebels by taking up the sword and leading an attack on the palace. He killed Richton and the assassin Dram as they tried to escape aboard an airship.  With the death of the island's provisional governor, the rebels were able to negotiate a peace treaty more favorable to  , although it remained a part of the  . 

Later Life
Cyrus' later life can only be guessed at from an assortment of legends. He shared a competitive ambition with Tobias of being the first to find the   in  , a feat he may have accomplished with his own crew.   Some say he sailed west, to lands uncharted.  A tale of him facing   in   supports this idea.  Further adventures of dubious authenticity involve   in   and   on  . 

Claims of unknown origin suggest that he took command of the legendary ship ''Dead Man's Dread and sailed north to the  , drawn there by the stories of Tobias, where he amassed a great fortune and lived out the rest of his days on calm waters.  By  , the Dead Man's Dread was captained by an unnamed individual who had come into possession of several relics once belonging to Cyrus, including his sabre and clothing. On the 2nd of Frostfall 3E 39, the crew of the Dead Man's Dread'' sailed into a subterranean pirates den on   to winter there after their captain died under mysterious circumstances. The ship and crew became trapped underground after the entrance to the grotto collapsed that night. It transpired that both the captain's death and the tunnel's collapse were the work of a Forebear named K'avir, who had orchestrated the death of the entire crew due to their allegiance to the Crowns. Realizing their dire circumstances, the crewmembers decided to commit suicide rather than face starvation. They each prayed to   to bind their souls to the ship, in order to honor their captain's dying wish and protect the relics of Cyrus in undeath.  In  , the   sailed to Blackbone Isle chasing rumors of Cyrus' lost treasure and cleansed the island of undead, claiming both the relics and the ship in the process.  

Notes
Varieties of Faith in the Empire states that the   materialized during the Tiber Wars, when it was said to have incarnated as "either a sword or a crown, or both".  The sword is presumably a reference to the Soul Sword, while the crown likely refers to Cyrus himself, who comes from a family of Crowns. It can therefore be surmised that Cyrus became the Make Way God when he wielded the Soul Sword during the rebellion on Stros M'Kai. This would match the description of the HoonDing, said to be a Yokudan spirit of "perseverance over infidels", as the actions of Cyrus and the Soul Sword led directly to the signing of the  , allowing the Redguards to continue to rule themselves as a province of the Empire.
Furthermore, developer commentary has stated that Cyrus was more than just a Redguard, which is one of the reasons why he was able to slay the legendary dragon Nafaalilargus. 
Cyrus' reputation continued to live on in the form of an old sea shanty.  
Cyrus' height was known to be approximately 1.85 meters and his weight was 80 kilograms. 

Gallery
 

References