Mannimarco ( Oblivion ) Mannimarco is an Altmer necromancer , and head of the Order of the Black Worm . He is the primary antagonist of the Mages Guild questline in . He was originally an Altmer and member of the Psijic Order , a fellow student of Vanus Galerion . At some point Mannimarco abandoned the Psijic Order to further practice the dark arts of necromancy . Between this point in time and Mannimarco ' s last battle with Galerion , he transformed himself into the first Lich ever , gaining immortality . After this battle , he went into hiding , most likely staying at Scourg Barrow , a large , well - fortified center of operations in the Dragontail Mountains . Since then , he has cleverly played all the political games and powers for millennia . His influences have even reached back to the Summerset Isles , the homeland of the Altmer . The Sload , whose domain is the Thrassian Coral Kingdom , worship him as a " King of Worms . " History . Psijic Order . Mannimarco was born around 2E 210 , most likely in the Summerset Isles . He was of royal blood , but from which line he descends is unknown . When he became a member of the Psijic Order , he quickly gained a reputation as being one of the most brilliant students that ever trained to become a member of the Order . The only one who could match this success was a mage named Vanus Galerion . Necromancy . At one point , Mannimarco began to make a study of the school of necromancy . Time passed , and he became fascinated by the secrets of necromancers , and was seduced into the practice of entrapping and enslaving souls . When Mannimarco experimented with a dark spell , he drew the attention of Galerion . Vanus confronted his fellow student beneath the Ceporah Tower , saying " Your wicked mysticism is no way to wield your power . Your studies must cease , because you only bring horror to the spirit world . " Corrupted by his experiences , Mannimarco laughed ; he had come to hate the ways of life and peace . He returned to his studies , and continued his experiments on death and decay . Order of the Black Worm . After Mannimarco established a base of operations , he stretched his dark grip throughout Tamriel ' s deserts , forests , towns , mountains , and seas . While Mannimarco dabbled deeper and deeper into secrets long forgotten , the rot of necromancy sunk to his very core . He gathered many followers and servants . Corrupted wizards and witches from all over Tamriel came to him with cursed artifacts and gifts . The Order of the Black Worm was born . Mages who joined him brought him tomes , enchanted weapons and armor , blood - tainted herbs and oils , Akaviri poison , bonemeal of dead saints , and human skin , toadstools , roots and other alchemical ingredients . Mannimarco absorbed the dark energy out of these objects , and as a result , life - energy was sucked out of him . His body became that of a corpse with blood poison and acid . His power and the duration of his life grew along with his arsenal . The Great Battle . Vanus Galerion had never forgotten his nemesis , Mannimarco . He had always searched for clues of the necromancer ' s presence , but did not find him . When Mannimarco resurfaced , Galerion amassed an army of his most loyal mages and Lampknights and traveled north to a cursed mountain path to settle his business with Mannimarco . " Before my last breath , I must face the tyranny of worms , and kill the undeath at last , " he vowed . Mannimarco left his lair with an army of necromancers and undead , and met Galerion ' s force on the mountain path , both sides ready to do battle . Galerion cried for Mannimarco , " Worm King , surrender your artifacts and their power to me , and you shall live as befits the dead . " Mannimarco answered with a hollow laugh , " You die first . " It was since then , that Mannimarco carried the name King of Worms . The two armies then clashed , lightning and frost cascading around them . The necromancers summoned various undead creatures to their sides which were slain by streams of light forged by the battlemages . Before the end of the battle Galerion discovered that Mannimarco was no longer alive , but had turned himself into the first lich ever and thus gained immortality . Galerion ' s army won the battle and managed to crush the remaining necromancers . Mannimarco disappeared from the scene and was not seen again until ages beyond . Unfortunately , Galerion died in the great battle along with a thousand other battlemages and necromancers , though his legacy lived on in Tamriel ' s history and literature . Iliac Bay . After the defeat of the Order of the Black Worm , Mannimarco went into hiding at Scourg Barrow . Whether this was his lair from before the battle is not known , but wizards and witches still found their way to him to learn the school of necromancy . One of these apprentices was the Breton battlemage Arielle Jurard , who would later turn Lord Kain of Lainlyn into a Skeleton Hero after attempting to restore him back to life . Mannimarco used the Order to influence political events through the ages in order to gain more power . He resurfaced between 3E 405 and 3E 417 in the regions of Iliac Bay . He became in league with Princess Morgiah of Wayrest , because she needed his influence on the dead to gain influence over her future husband , the king of Firsthold . In return she promised him her first born son . Hero of Daggerfall . At some point , Mannimarco met the Hero of Daggerfall , who was sent to Scourge Barrow by Princess Morgiah . Due to his age and dark magic , Mannimarco had knowledge of things that very few mortals know of . He knew for example , that Prince Karolis , the great grandfather of the late King Camaron of Sentinel , roamed the deeps of Castle Sentinel as a lich . This was one of numerous secrets of the royal dynasty of Sentinel . The Hero was ordered to trap the soul of Karolis in order to get some useful information about the Underking , an old enemy of Mannimarco , for his investigation . After this mission , the Hero frequently sought out Mannimarco and fulfilled quests for him . Warp in the West . When the Hero later obtained the Totem of Tiber Septim , he was warned by the artifact that only someone of royal blood could wield it . Almost all major political factions in the Iliac Bay sent letters to the Hero including Mannimarco , promising him vast fortunes if he would give them the Totem . This resulted in the mysterious event called the Warp of the West , when Queen Akorithi of Sentinel , King Eadwyre of Wayrest , Lord Gortwog of Orsinium , the Underking and Mannimarco each used the Totem to achieve their own goals . Mannimarco used the divine power of the artifact to achieve godhood and disappeared once again . The Order of the Black Worm now worshipped their master as the deity called the Revenant Moon or God of Worms . Mages Guild First Schism . In 3E 431 Hannibal Traven became Arch - Mage of the Mages Guild , by a narrow margin , mainly because of his strict stance against necromancy . He implemented new restrictions against necromancy which were strongly supported by some members , but also strongly opposed by others . Half of the council resigned in protest after which only Traven , Raminus Polus , Irlav Jarol , Tar - Meena and Caranya remained . Traven also implemented new regulations governing guild membership , which made it more difficult to join the guild . The Mages Guild was weakened by these events and Mannimarco saw time fit to settle the score with his old enemies . A person called Mannimarco , apparently a mortal part of him that was separated from the God of Worms part during the Warp in the West , resurfaced in Cyrodiil and moved his base of operations to Echo Cave in the Jerall Mountains . Working in the shadows , he began placing his servants all over Cyrodiil and also secretly recruited new servants , who fulfilled important positions in Cyrodiliic society and could work as spies and informants . The most important of these secret agents were Mercator Hosidus , Falcar and Caranya . Falcar in particular received a very important task . He was ordered to research the creation of Black Soul Gems , in order to capture and wield the power of the souls of all those who would oppose the King of Worms . Falcar succeeded in this task . Hero of Kvatch . Whether it was coincidence or fate , the Hero of Kvatch became a member of the Mages Guild at the same time of Mannimarco ' s return . While the Hero completed tasks to earn free passage to the Arcane University , he discovered Falcar , head of the Cheydinhal Mages Guild , to be a necromancer . This proved to be unimportant because now Falcar was free from the eyes of the Mages Guild and could continue his research on Black Soul Gems . Mannimarco sent him to Silorn to search for further possibilities . Mannimarco ordered his servant Noveni Othran and five others to invade Wellspring Cave . They murdered Zahrasha and Eletta , two apprentices , when the Hero arrived . The Hero killed all six necromancers and reported back to Raminus Polus . The Mages Guild became aware of the offense that necromancers had launched but didn ' t know who was behind it . After the massacre at Wellspring Grove , the Mages Guild sent the Hero to Skingrad to spy on Count Janus Hassildor , a vampire , to see what connections he had with the necromancers . However , Mercator Hosidus , a liaison of the court of Skingrad , fooled the Hero into a false appointment at the hills of Skingrad and tried to kill him with his allies Arterion and Mondrar Henim , probably an order given by Mannimarco himself . The Hero escaped the trap and met Hassildor , who told the Hero to explain to Raminus that he had no connections with the necromancers and that they should not send anyone else under false pretenses . Later on , Count Hassildor discovered Mannimarco ' s part in the necromancer threat . He sent a message to the Mages Guild and asked for the Hero , whom he had come to trust . Although before giving the vital information to the hero , Janus asked him to deal with some vampire hunters who had come to Skingrad . After completing the task , Hassildor informed the Hero of Mannimarco ' s return . Attack on Bruma . The Hero ' s actions caused quite a few setbacks in Mannimarco ' s plans and it forced the King of Worms to advance the start of the actual attack . Enraged by the incompetence of his servants , Mannimarco himself led the attack on the Bruma Mages Guild chapter , the town nearest to Echo Cave . After a period of basically doing nothing , he took great delight in slaughtering everyone and draining their souls into Black Soul Gems . When the attack was over , Mannimarco ordered his lieutenant Camilla Lollia to stay behind because he sensed the Hero would come . He told her to return to Echo Cave after dealing with the Hero , and that they then would proceed to destroy the entire Mages Guild . During this conversation Mannimarco became aware of the fact that the survivor J ' skar eavesdropped the conversation while being invisible . He looked directly at J ' skar and smiled . The King of Worms left J ' skar alive in order to tell the Council of Mages about what had transpired and the location of Echo Cave . This was a scheme to eventually lure Arch - Mage Traven to his doom . After a period of not receiving messages from Bruma , Traven sent the Hero to Bruma . The Hero dealt with Mannimarco ' s lingering wraiths and eventually killed Camilla . It was then that J ' skar revealed himself to the Hero , recognizing him from their time in the Guild . After being informed by his fellow mage , the Hero returned to the Arcane University . Mages Guild Second Schism . After hearing word of the attack on Bruma , the Mages Guild was in chaos . The Council of Mages debated about what had to be done to stop Mannimarco but could not find a solution . The King of Worms instructed his servant Caranya to carefully manipulate the Council into heavy disputes , in order to weaken them further . Caranya succeeded and her schemes resulted in Irlav Jarol and Caranya leaving the Guild , each taking with them many followers . Mannimarco ' s plan to cripple the Guild worked but he also had a second goal . Caranya was ordered to steal the Bloodworm Helm and the Necromancer ' s Amulet , but she only came in possession of the latter because Irlav Jarol took the Helm with him to Fort Teleman . While Caranya traveled to Fort Ontus , Mannimarco sent various necromancers and Daedra to Fort Teleman in order to kill Irlav and obtain the Helm . However Traven sent the Hero to both Fort Teleman and Fort Ontus . The Hero retrieved the Bloodworm Helm before the necromancers could but failed to save Irlav in time . At Fort Ontus he asked Caranya to return to the Guild but she revealed herself to be Mannimarco ' s servant and attacked the Hero . She was killed and as a result the Amulet too was lost to Mannimarco . Colossal Black Soul Gem . Even when his plans failed , Mannimarco didn ' t view the battle with the Mage ' s Guild a lost cause . Word came from Silorn that Falcar had succeeded in creating a Colossal Black Soul Gem . Mannimarco ' s intention was to use this artifact to capture the soul of Hannibal Traven . Traven also received word of Falcar ' s creation and sent the Hero and contingent of battlemages to storm Silorn . Falcar was killed and the Hero obtained the unique gem . Back in the Imperial City Traven explains that he knew that Mannimarco intended the gem for Traven ' s own soul . He orders the Hero to capture his soul in the gem , because by carrying the filled soul gem the Hero would be immune to Mannimarco ' s attempts to turn the Hero into a Worm Thrall . Traven then gives his life and captures his soul into the Colossal Black Soul Gem on his own - an act Mannimarco had not foreseen . Death of Mannimarco , King of Worms . Mannimarco didn ' t know Traven was dead and expected the deceased Arch - Mage to confront him in Echo Cave . But it was the Hero of Kvatch who came to his lair . The Hero killed Bolor Savel , Mannimarco ' s last lieutenant and doorkeeper of Echo Cave and entered the domain of Mannimarco . The Hero fought his way to the Necromancer ' s Chamber and confronted Mannimarco on a little island . Mannimarco summoned a finger - bone railing from the ground and , for all intents and purposes , trapped the Hero on the island . He then paralyzed the Hero . For some unknown reason Mannimarco was charmed by the Hero and started a monologue about his goals and his views on necromancy , something the King of Worms hadn ' t done since the days of Galerion . " " Power , my dear friend . I seek power , and so I acquire and study those who have some degree of it . We are after the same things , your guild and I . Yet you worry about ' good ' and ' evil ' and do not accept they are manifestations of the same thing . So you brand me a villain , and make vain attempts to destroy me . I watch , and I wait , and I collect you when you come for me . Instead of drawing Traven out , I have received you instead . Perhaps I shall personally go and collect him when we are done here . " " After the conversation Mannimarco tried to transform the Hero into a Worm Thrall . His magic was however rendered useless by the energy stored in the Colossal Black Soul Gem . Mannimarco didn ' t know what was happening and attacked the Hero with dagger , spell and minion . This all proved to be futile because the Hero was protected by the Black Soul Gem . Eventually Mannimarco , King of Worms , was slain by the Hero and never rose again . Artifacts . Despite Mannimarco ' s great age , only a few artifacts have been identified by scholars as belonging to him :