Lore:Abnur Tharn

was the   Grand Chancellor of the   and overlord of   during the middle of the  . Much like his ancestors, who were known for holding positions of power throughout   since the days of the  , Tharn served as advisor to various   and kings for over 117 years.  During the turbulent rise and fall of Cyrodiilic rulers during the  , Tharn was the sole constant, providing continuity and consistency to the  . Fiercely loyal to the Empire, Tharn became Chancellor of Elder Council in   and has served as the   ever since.    Tharn is also the author of various texts.  

  came to epitomize modern Nibenese nobility with Abnur as its patriarch. Tharn's immediate family was very large, with at least sixteen children by seven wives, and numerous other relatives.  Most notable was his daughter,  , whom Abnur personally groomed from a young age for the Ruby Throne.  Other relatives include his daughter  , Magus-General of the  , and half-sister  , Queen of  . Eventually it was discovered that the Tharn family and Abnur himself, had dealings with the Daedric Princes—this revelation is what sparked the Daggerfall Covenant, Ebonheart Pact and Aldmeri Dominion to invade Cyrodiil, with the intended goal of disposing Abnur Tharn and his family from power. This is what started the   between the three alliances.    

History
Longhouse Emperors
For almost thirty years Tharn begrudgingly advised the  , from   to  . A proud Nibenese, Tharn believed the   dynasty's alien nature and low heritage made them unfit to rule. In an effort to legitimize his claim to the  , Leovic married Tharn's sixteenth daughter, Clivia - an act which infuriated Abnur. 

 , the son of a  n duke and a powerful military leader in his own right, contacted Tharn in secret and sought his assistance to depose Emperor Leovic. Tharn eagerly agreed and provided Aquilarios with intelligence about the  , which ultimately led to Leovic's death in  . Aquilarios declared himself Emperor, and for Tharn's loyalty and assistance he agreed to take Tharn's daughter Clivia as his bride. 

The Soulburst
Seeking to legitimize his rule further, Aquilarios embarked upon a quest with Tharn,  ,  , and   for the lost  . Mannimarco believed it could be used in a ritual to persuade   to anoint Aquilarios as  . After two years of searching, the   finally recovered the Amulet from  . Ultimately, Mannimarco betrayed Aquilarios and corrupted the ritual. An explosion of arcane energy, called the  , caused Aquilarios to vanish, and its mystical aftershocks swept across   in  . In the ensuing chaos, the     deployed   and began pulling Nirn into his realm of   to merge the two together, a process known as the  . 

After Mannimarco's betrayal, Tharn had no choice but to hand the reins of the   over to the King of Worms. To ensure the dominance of necromancy over all other forms of magic, Mannimarco immediately cast the   out of the Imperial City, then had all remaining dissenters arrested as enemies of the state. To avoid execution, Tharn pledged his loyalty to Mannimarco, although some saw this move as opportunism.  In return, he was granted stewardship of the Imperial City. His daughter Clivia, still the Empress Regent, became the titular ruler of the Empire, but Mannimarco remained the power behind the throne. Despite his position, Tharn was marginalized and cloistered away in Coldharbour. Clivia was turned against him, lured by Mannimarco's promise to teach her the dark arts that would give her mastery over life and death. 

The Planemeld
In  , Varen resurfaced as the Prophet. With the aid of   and Lyris Titanborn, they rescued Abnur from Coldharbour. In return, Abnur provided Varen with the location of Sai Sahan, who was being kept prisoner in Coldharbour. With the Five Companions reformed, they traveled to Coldharbour where Abnur performed the same ritual that was attempted on Varen. However this time one of the Companions was required to sacrifice their life in order for Akatosh to imbue the Vestige with the strength to defeat Molag Bal. Because Abnur was the only one who knew the ritual, he could not be sacrificed.  Ultimately, a sacrifice took place and the Planemeld was stopped.  After Molag Bal's defeat, Abnur took the Amulet of Kings and fled to Cyrodiil. His deepest desire was to unite the warring territories under a single banner.  Although it was suspected Abnur would attempt to use the amulet, possibly to further that goal, unbeknownst to him its power had been expended for at least a generation. 

The Rage of Dragons
Abnur Tharn after the Planemeld|thumb|right
Some time after the Planemeld ended, Abnur Tharn sent a summons for the Vestige to meet him. He had purchased the  , an ancient tablet that formed a map which he believed would lead him to a weapon that could end the   once and for all. He sought to end the war, bring order and restore the Empire. The pair traveled throughout Tamriel to hear the stories of Khajiiti Moon-Singers, who told the story of  , a hero whose story was passed down through oral tradition. Abnur Tharn and the Vestige used the Moon-Singers' stories to pinpoint the locations of ancient reference points that would allow Tharn to use the map and locate the weapon. During the last leg of their journey, they were joined by  , an agent of the Speaker for the  . She revealed that Abnur's half-sister Euraxia Tharn was also looking for the weapon, and attempted to stop him before reluctantly joining him in his quest. 

Tharn deduced that the weapon he was searching for lay in the  . Joined by the Vestige and Khamira, Tharn traveled to the Halls of Colossus to recover the weapon. The Halls did not contain a weapon; rather, they were built to imprison Dragons. When the group reached the summit, the Wrathstone reacted to the massive doors in the heart of the Halls, flinging them wide open and releasing  s upon the land of  . His goal now was to fix what he'd done and help the denizens of Elsweyr fight off the Dragon threat. 

Abnur Tharn joined the efforts of the  , a group formed to resist Euraxia Tharn's reign now slapped with the duty of holding off the invading Dragons. Later that year, Tharn called upon the Vestige once more to join him in  . There, they found  . Soon, Tharn learned of master necromancer  's involvement with Euraxia Tharn, who was allied with the Dragons Abnur had unleashed. Abnur and the hero went to   in an attempt to parley peacefully with the Usurper Queen.   Euraxia attempted to arrest the pair, and her forces moved in on Riverhold, the capital of the Khajiiti rebellion. Tharn and the Vestige parted ways briefly.

Three Dragons,  ,   and  , attempted to raze Riverhold. Abnur Tharn and his company managed to kill Bahlokdaan, prompting his brothers to flee. Khamira then revealed herself as the daughter of Anequina's late monarchs, who Euraxia Tharn murdered in pursuit of Rimmen's throne.   Tharn and his company then decided to dispose of Euraxia Tharn. Abnur, Khamira and the Vestige. The Dragons betrayed Euraxia as soon as they arrived, and Khamira promptly slew Euraxia.  

Following his half-sister's demise, Abnur set to work poring over Rimmen's archives. He found mentions of the   and learned that Euraxia sent one of her trusted soldiers,  , out on a mission to kill the last   as a favor for her Dragon allies. Tharn and the Vestige met at the Irregulars' base of operations, where they extracted information from the squadron's leader,  . Tharn sent the Vestige to rescue the Dragonguard, but he was killed in his sanctuary. However, the Vestige recovered a  , an ancient weapon capable of forcing Dragons out of flight.   

At this time, Cadwell had been experiencing visions projected to him from his disembodied head. He teleported off somewhere, forcing Tharn and his company to look for him. The necromancer Zumog Phoom sought to resurrect Cadwell the Betrayer, and he needed Cadwell the Soul-Shriven to finish the job. By rushing off like he did, Cadwell was giving the necromancer what he needed. The Vestige killed Zumog Phoom, but failed to stop the Betrayer from being resurrected, and he took off for  . Khamira and the Vestige managed to defeat him, but the Dragons still remained  The Dragons were congregating around Anequina's Moon Gate, so Tharn and the Defense Force moved to stop them. Kaalgrontiid and Mulaamnir used the Moon Gate to transport themselves to the  . Khamira, Abnur Tharn and the Vestige followed in an attempt to stop them. Kaalgrontiid was attempting to absorb energy from the moon's core. With Tharn's magic and the power of the Dragonhorn, the Vestige was able to kill Mulaamnir and expel Kaalgrontiid from the Plane of Jode.  Queen Khamira was crowned the queen of Rimmen, and Abnur Tharn left to answer a summons from the  . 

Later that year, Sai Sahan reformed the Dragonguard southwards in  . Tharn and Sai had been sending letters back and forth throughout the year since Kaalgrontiid was expelled from the Plane of Jode. Tharn spent the months between Kaalgrontiid's defeat and the Dragonguard's reformation researching Kaalgrontiid. He decided to enlist Sai's help after some concerning finds. Tharn deduced that Kaalgrontiid sought to become a god, and the   Sahan and his Dragonguard faced during their rise to prominence was involved in Kaalgrontiid's asperations. An island called   served as Kaalgrontiid's base of operation in ancient times, and Tharn couldn't even scry it to attempt to figure out what was on it. Moreover, the mysterious green   was the key to Kaalgrontiid's ascension.  

Tharn, Sai and the Vestige traveled to the Dragon cult's base of operations in the Tenmar Forest, where they saw Kaalgrontiid use the Aeonstone to teleport his followers off somewhere. He used his dwindling strength to channel his magic into the aeonstone to bring himself and the Vestige to Dragonhold, while Sai Sahan rallied the Dragonguard in defense of the land. Abnur and the hero explored the ruins beneath Dragonhold, disrupted the Dragon cult's rituals and learned that Kaalgrontiid intended to use the aeonstone to become a god. They destroyed the ward protecting Dragonhold from outside interference, causing it to rise into the sky. Abnur Tharn used what little strength he had left to send the Vestige to the mainland to find Sai Sahan and warn him about Kaalgrontiid's plans.  

The Vestige later returned to Dragonhold with Sai Sahan, Khamira, and the Dragon  . They reunited with Abnur Tharn after destroying several key clusters of aeonstone, which Kaalgrontiid was using to empower himself. Tharn and his companions managed to kill Kaalgrontiid. Unfortunately, the large aeonstone formation the Dragon was drawing off of in his push for godhood was overloaded with magicka and threatening to explode. Such a blast would have destroyed all of Elsweyr. Tharn used the last of his energy to place a ward around the cluster, and sacrificed himself to contain the explosion with Nahfahlaar's assistance. Because of his efforts, only the island of Dragonhold was destroyed by the cluster's collapse. Abnur disappeared after the catastrophe, and he was widely believed to have been killed.  

Gallery
 

Notes
One of Lawrence Schick's plans for Abnur Tharn was to have him eventually become Zurin Arctus after centuries of contact with the Amulet of Kings, but it did not come to pass. 
In early summaries, it was said Ayrenn suffered personally at the hands of Abnur Tharn in the Imperial City.  Though this was not followed up on,   says, "Since the ascension of our queen to the Throne of Alinor, it is inappropriate to delve too deeply into indignities she might have suffered before her coronation. But rest assured that all is known, and nothing is forgotten." 
See Also
For game-specific information, see the ESO and   article.
Books







References