Pelinal Whitestrake Pelinal Whitestrake , renowned as " The Divine Crusader , " was an immortal hero , legendary warrior , sorcerer , king , and crusader who fought as champion of the Slave - queen , Alessia . Origin . It is said that Pelinal " emerged into Nirn like a Padomaic , carried by Sithis and all other forces of change . " Described by Morihaus as an " ada " or " spirit " , Pelinal plays the same role as a long line of avatars sent by Shor to champion the cause of mankind and stop the Elves from destroying them . Pelinal , however , is an exception , as he exhibits significant bonds to Akatosh as well , as he had the Amulet of Kings in his chest in place of a heart . History . Merethic Era . Pelinal was said to have first appeared in the late Merethic Era under various aliases where he wandered Tamriel gathering armies , conquering lands , ruling , then abandoning his kingdoms to wander again . First Era . Allesian Rebellion . Before Alessia started her rebellion in 1E 242 , Pelinal had already begun fighting against the Ayleid armies in Cyrodiil . When he heard of her defiance against the Elves , he came to her at a rebel camp holding his mace and sword , both encrusted with smashed Elven intestines , as well as the sacred Ayleid symbols of feathers and pearls , and joined her cause for freedom . As such , Pelinal became champion of Alessia alongside her demiprince lover Morihaus , the Man - Bull . Crusade . In the days of the Rebellion , Pelinal was the enemy of all Elves that lived in Cyrodiil . He did not participate in much traditional warfare , but rather targeted the higher - ranking members of Ayleid culture by challenging them to prearranged duels to play to their pride . One of his more famous duels was with Haromir of Copper and Tea in the duel at the Tor , where Pelinal " ate his neck - veins while screaming praise to Reman , a name that no one knew yet . " Pelinal went on to slay many more Elven rulers in similar duels . He faced another king , Gordhaur the Shaper , and was said to have " smashed his head upon the goat - faced altar of Ninendava " , another Ayleid city . Pelinal then cursed Gordhaur ' s body so that the Ayleid sorcerers would be unable to reanimate their king . Later that season , Pelinal slew the Fire King Hadhuul at the Ayleid city of Ceya - Tar , where his spearmen suffered their first defeat at the hands of the Crusader . In one year Pelinal drove the Ayleid armies past the Niben and claimed all the eastern lands for Alessia ' s forces . He freed the slaves of Vahtacen and the Thousand - Strong of Sedor , a human tribe who had been enslaved by the Ayleids at Sedor . Nothing could stop his march and when he claimed northern Cyrodiil , Alessia sent messengers to the Nords of Skyrim , asking for their aid . When the Nords saw the Crusader standing at the bridge of Heldon , after his white hair had become so stained with blood that it turned brown , they praised him and said that their patron god Shor had returned . Pelinal did not take kindly to that and spat at their feet for profaning that name . Nonetheless , Whitestrake led them west to drive the Ayleids inwards Cyrodiil . Madness . When Huna , a hoplite that Pelinal had trained personally and cared for deeply , was killed by Celethelel the Singer , Pelinal Whitestrake went on his first Madness . He killed without purpose and brought destruction from the cities of Narlemae to Celediil , and destroyed those lands in a rampage , killing any and all who stood in his way . Alessia would have to pray to the Gods for their help , and they reached down to the earth and calmed Pelinal until he stopped his mindless rampage and regained his composure . Fifd of New Teed said that Whitestrake had no heart under his armor , only the " rage of a mindless dragon . " Pelinal was angered by this and would kill anyone who spoke according to the knowledge and knowledge of the gods , except for Alessia because she " " acted rather than talked , as language without effort is a dead witness . " " When his men heard him say these things , they went silent and angered him . He ran into the rain , laughing madly and swinging his sword , while screaming " " O Aka , for our shared madness I do this ! I watch you watching me watching back ! Umaril dares call us out , for that is how we made him ! " " Garid of the Men - of - Ge once witnessed Pelinal ' s madness in battle . When he and the Crusader had a drink together he asked what it felt like . Pelinal described it as " " When the dream no longer needs its dreamer . " " Battle with Umaril . In 1E 243 , towards the end of the war , rebellion forces marched back south and east . When they came closer to White - Gold Tower , the demigod half - Elf Umaril the Unfeathered challenged Pelinal to a duel . At her War Council , the Alessian armies and all of the Nords grew anxious and fearful at the foresight of storming the White - Gold Tower and facing Umaril and his soldiers . Because of their hesitation , Alessia herself counseled delay . Their hesitation made Pelinal furious and made names of his own allies , calling them cowards . He proceeded to insult Umaril in his anger . Outraged and acting on his instinct rather than thought , he went in alone to confront Umaril . Upon his arrival in the city , Umaril revealed that he had tricked the Crusader and weakened Pelinal by sending in soldiers who he had been saving for this moment , knowing that they would be killed easily by the Crusader . After his battle with Umaril ' s servants , Pelinal became surrounded by the last Ayleid sorcerer - kings and their minions , who were probably summoned Aurorans and other Daedra . Bleeding in battle for the first time , Pelinal smashed the floor with his weapon in a rage , sending pieces of rock flying in all directions . As his attackers withdrew in fear of their opponent , Pelinal screamed for Umaril to reveal himself and face the Crusader in combat . It was only after Whitestrake was weakened and badly wounded that Umaril came down to fight him . Both fighters were equally matched , and they injured each other severely . Ultimately , Pelinal broke off the Elf - king ' s wings , finally killing him and ending the Ayleid enslavement of humans . As his enemy died , Whitestrake yet laughed about the ugliness of Umaril ' s angel - shaped helmet and recklessly insulted the ancestry of the half - Elf and anyone else who was descended from Old Ehlnofey . Enraged by his remarks about their heritage , the sorcerer - kings returned and overwhelmed the weakened Crusader , killing him . Pelinal ' s death . Pelinal Whitestrake was brutally executed by the remaining Ayleid kings . They surrounded him with their weapons and cut him into eight pieces ; a symbolic number in Ayleid culture . Alessia and her council were woken by Pelinal ' s dying scream and ordered an immediate attack on the city the next morning . The soldiers stormed the walls , looking for more Ayleids to kill , but Pelinal had killed them all except the ones that were already fleeing for their lives . Fearing for the life of his friend , Morihaus shook the whole tower by bashing it with his horns while he tried to reach Pelinal , but he was too late . In the tower , he found the head of Pelinal Whitestrake , which the kings had left to prove that they had undone one of the cornerstones of the human rebellion . Strangely , Pelinal ' s head was still alive and greeted Morihaus upon seeing him , much to the shock of the Man - Bull . The two friends spoke for a long time , reportedly about regret and things of which even Alessia herself would never hear the truth . As the end of his life approached , Pelinal , through forces unknown , realised at the last moment that Umaril survived : " " Beware , Morihaus , beware ! With the foresight of death I know now that my foe yet lives , bitter knowledge to take to my grave . Better that I had died believing myself the victor . Although cast beyond the doors of night , he will return . Be vigilant ! I can no longer shield the host of Men from Umaril ' s retribution . " " After this last warning the famous Pelinal Whitestrake died . Resurrection . Strangely it appears that Pelinal was present in 1E 266 at Empress Alessia ' s deathbed , although he was killed by the Elvish Kings earlier . According to this fragment , Pelinal found salvation after his death , freed of his madness , and now acted as a guardian to bring Alessia ' s soul to the afterlife . His ghost also appeared to the Hero of Kvatch , the Second Divine Crusader , in order to help them defeat Umaril in the Third Era . Legacy . Pelinal Whitestrake freed Cyrodiil from the Ayleid oppressors and ushered in a new era of peace and freedom . Because of his efforts Alessia could establish the First Empire . His reputation varies widely . Among , he is a hero who helped free Cyrodiil from oppression . Among Mer , he is the vicious warlord who led the Elven Pogrom . He is also reviled by the Khajiit , because he mistook them for another type of elf and killed many of them before he realized his mistake . In 3E 111 the Order of the Knights of the Nine was founded with the intent of recovering the lost armor of Pelinal Whitestrake , the Relics of the Crusader . Their reputation was established when the first knights defeated the Wyrm of Elynglenn to recover the Cuirass of the Crusader . The following period was the Order ' s peak and three more Relics were discovered . However , in 3E 121 , during the War of the Red Diamond , the order was split and the Relics were lost again . Following Daedric attacks on chapels all across Cyrodiil in 3E 433 , the Hero of Kvatch was warned by a Prophet of the fact that Umaril had finally returned to Cyrodiil to unleash his vengeance on humanity for destroying him and his people thousands of years before . After a pilgrimage the Hero received a vision of Pelinal Whitestrake who put them on the path of reconstituting the Order of the Knights of the Nine and reuniting the Crusader ' s Relics , which were needed to destroy Umaril the Unfeathered forever . Name . Pelinal Whitestrake was referred to in many different ways . Records state that he lived under various aliases , such as Ysmir , Wulfharth , Harrald Hairy Breeks and Hans the Fox . His first name , Pelinal , is a corruption of the name Pelin - El , which means " Star - Made Knight " . Strangely , he took the name , despite it being Elven . During the Alessian Rebellion , he was known as Pelinal Insurgent , Pelinal the Bloody , Pelinal the Blamer and Pelinal the Third . This last moniker , ' Pelinal the Third ' suggests a relationship with other supernatural champions of mankind — Harrald Hairy - Breeks and Hans the Fox . Altmeri sources suggest that he is one and the same , although it is unlikely that this is the whole story , given his alien characteristics and persona , and the fact that he cannot easily be described as a king or sorcerer . Another theory on his title of " the Third " is that it comes from him being the third vision received by Saint Alessia in her prayers to the gods for mankind ' s freedom from the Ayleids . Because of his rather vicious crusades against the Ayleids , Pelinal is often referred to as the Divine Crusader by humans . Personality . Pelinal Whitestrake had a very distinct personality compared to other Tamrielic figures . He was known to be very quick to anger , perceiving even the slightest comment as an insult . He would act on instinct and would rarely think about his actions , as shown when he began to mock the Ayleids for their ancestry , leading to his dismemberment at their hands . Another example is when he slaughtered thousands of Khajiit , thinking they were a species of elf . Pelinal was also known to be quite mad , embarking on endeavors of rage and anger , killing any who stood in his path and even destroying the land itself . This madness may have also led him to despise the gods , killing any who " spoke according to their logic . " Pelinal was known to be so defiant and short - tempered that he reportedly felt Akatosh looking down on him and simply stared back at him .