Legate Sadal

Legate Sadal was a Chimer military commander who led the defense of Stonefalls during the Nedic invasion of Resdayn in the First Era.The Brothers of StrifeDialogue with Legate Sadal Alongside his brother, General Balreth, Sadal suffered numerous defeats at the hands of the Nedic invaders and proved incapable of halting their advance by conventional means. In an act of desperation, the brothers lured the Nedes into a climactic battle amidst the ruins of a Daedric temple complex located in central Stonefalls.Dialogue with General BalrethDialogue with Sorcerer Nilae While their soldiers defended the ruins against the Nedes, Sadal and Balreth sacrificed themselves in an arcane ritual that transformed them into the Brothers of Strife—a pair of powerful, flaming bone colossuses.Events of "The Brothers Will Rise" These twin harbingers of destruction decimated both the Chimer and Nedic armies, laying waste to the surrounding area until mages from Vvardenfell managed to confine them atop the Tormented Spire and Ash Mountain.
Many centuries after their deaths, Sadal and Balreth were revered by the Chimer and Dunmer as great military leaders. The brothers were immortalized with a pair of enormous stone statues that were erected at the site of their sacrifice.Dialogue with Sorcerer Vunal However, others viewed their actions in a harsher light, judging their participation in the ritual that created the Brothers of Strife as both dangerous and arrogant. In the year 2E 582, a member of House Telvanni summoned Sadal from the afterlife in order to discover more information about the chain of events that resulted in the creation of the Brothers of Strife.Events of "Window on the Past"
==Background==
===Early life===
Although very little information exists regarding their childhood, Sadal and his brother Balreth were likely born to Chimer parents in either the late Merethic Era or early First Era.Notes on Racial PhylogenyBefore the Ages of Man During this time period, the fledgling Chimer kingdom of Resdayn controlled large swathes of territory in the region later known as Morrowind, including parts of Deshaan, Stonefalls, and Vvardenfell.Loading screen at Eidolon's Hollow Most of this territory, however, remained vulnerable to attack by hostile neighbors. The most powerful of these neighbors were the agnostic and technologically advanced Dwemer city-states, which regularly clashed with the Chimer over territory and religion.Pocket Guide to the Empire, Third Edition: Morrowind Other nearby enemies included the various Argonian tribes of northern Black Marsh and the Orsimer—more commonly referred to as Orcs—that migrated to northeastern Skyrim.Dialogue with Ix-UthaThe True Nature of Orcs In addition to these more organized threats, the Chimer were also forced to contend with the aggressive fauna native to the region.
Born into this hostile environment, Sadal spent the majority of his life fighting against the enemies of the Chimer. His exploits against the Dwemer and the wild beasts of the Ashlands earned Sadal a reputation as one of the greatest Chimer military leaders in the First Era—a distinction shared with his brother, General Balreth. As a result, Sadal progressed through the ranks of the Chimer military, eventually achieving the rank of legate. Despite these accolades, however, Sadal would ultimately prove ill-equipped in the face of a new threat looming on the horizon.
In the early First Era, a precursor race of men known as the Nedes suddenly invaded the Chimer kingdom of Resdayn. Elvish accounts depict these ancient ancestors of the Nords as savage barbarians that pillaged and burned throughout Stonefalls, massacring any mer they encountered. These same accounts claim the Chimer initially hoped to resolve the conflict diplomatically, only to watch as their attempts were violently rebuffed by the Nedes.
Regardless of the truthfulness of these claims, the Chimer eventually sought to expel the Nedic invaders from their territory. In order to accomplish this objective, the kingdom of Resdayn called upon its greatest generals—Sadal and Balreth—to command the Chimer armies. The brothers subsequently launched an offensive aiming to drive the Nedes from the Ashlands; however, their advance proved untenable and their armies were forced into defensive positions for the remainder of the conflict. Over the next several years, the Nedes gradually pushed the brothers and their forces deeper into the interior of Stonefalls. This incremental retreat stripped many Chimer villages of their defenses, forcing Sadal and Balreth to sacrifice large numbers of their warriors in an effort to acquire enough time to evacuate civilians stranded in the path of the Nedic invasion.
Although they prevented their forces from suffering complete annihilation by retreating, the situation confronting the brothers and their armies grew grimmer with each passing year. The Nedes proved difficult to defeat by conventional means, reducing the Chimer to mere spectators as their isolated cities came under siege and their sources of food burned to the ground. Furthermore, a Nedic offensive in northern Stonefalls effectively severed the brothers from their connection to the Inner Sea, and thus, from any support arriving from Vvardenfell. In short, the Nedes now controlled the vast majority of Stonefalls and appeared on the brink of a decisive victory over the Chimer.
===Death and transformation===
With their armies reduced to a small force of battle-hardened veterans, their supplies severely diminished, and their ability to stage further retreats denied by the Nedes, Sadal and Balreth found themselves surrounded in the mountainous and lava-covered region of Stonefalls known as Zabamat. From this foreboding landscape, permanently enveloped within a cloud of ash, a ray of hope suddenly emerged after a group of sorcerers under the brothers' command devised a desperate strategy they believed capable of winning the war for the Chimer. Facing the imminent destruction of their people, Sadal and Balreth agreed to this strategy despite the sorcerers' lack of clarity regarding its outcome. The brothers subsequently positioned their remaining forces among the ruins of a Daedric temple complex located within a canyon and sitting atop a waterfall. These ruins served as a major source of Daedric energy, which the Chimer sorcerers required to power the arcane ritual at the center of their strategy to defeat the Nedes—the Ritual of Calling.
Eventually, the brothers lured a Nedic army under the command of Warchief Ornskar into a climactic battle within the ruins, setting into motion the series of events that ultimately determined the outcome of the conflict. While Sadal and Balreth underwent preparations for the ritual at the central altar, their remaining soldiers engaged the Nedes with two separate objectives in mind. The bulk of the Chimer forces entered into a defensive posture along the river in front of the ruins, hoping to withstand the Nedic assault in a desperate ploy for time. This phase of the battle rapidly turned into a bloodbath as the Nedes overwhelmed and slaughtered the Chimer.
In the middle of the battle, however, the brothers also dispatched a champion to complete the second objective: assisting the sorcerers Nilae and Turoni in acquiring the two ingredients required to complete the ritual. The first of these—Nedic blood—the champion attained by killing Warchief Ornskar and several of her soldiers, carving out their hearts and bringing them to the central altar. In order to acquire the second ingredient, Chimer acolytes summoned a pair of powerful flame atronachs, one containing an essence of fire and the other containing an essence of wrath, at altars on the outskirts of the ruins. Dialogue with Sorcerer Turoni The champion subsequently defeated both of the atronachs, collecting their essences and delivering them to the sorcerers.
With all of the ingredients acquired and the Nedes slowly advancing towards their position, the champion conferred with Sadal and Balreth in order to ensure their continued desire to participate in the ritual. After the brothers affirmed their dedication to the cause, Nilae and Turoni initiated the Ritual of Calling by ordering the champion to pray at the central altar. Invoking the name of Veloth—the legendary prophet whose revelations from the Daedric Prince Boethiah resulted in the Chimer exodus from the Summerset Isles—and the Chimer, the sorcerers sacrificed the brothers in order to save their people from annihilation at the hands of the Nedes. The ritual resulted in the deaths of both Sadal and Balreth, transforming them into a pair of powerful and flaming bone colossuses known as the Brothers of Strife.
===Post mortem===
In the aftermath of the arcane ritual performed within the ruins, the now-deceased legate appeared in the form of a bone colossus known as Sadal, a towering amalgam of bones and flame welded together by Daedric energy. As the Brothers of Strife, Sadal and its brother—the bone colossus referred to as Balreth—devastated the region of Stonefalls. The Brothers inaugurated their reign of terror by fulfilling the purpose envisioned for them by the Chimer, destroying the Nedic armies assaulting the ruins. Their incredible power, however, ultimately proved uncontrollable and the Brothers soon betrayed their former masters.Dialogue with Mavos Siloreth Those Chimer that managed to survive the initial Nedic onslaught found themselves under attack once again—this time by an enemy of their own creation.
Considered one of the greatest Chimer sorcerers of the First Era, Mavos Siloreth commanded an expedition of Chimer mages from Vvardenfell in a desperate attempt to end the devastation wrought by the Brothers of Strife. At great cost of life, these mages successfully imprisoned Balreth within the caldera of Ash Mountain, one of two massive volcanoes that dominated the Stonefalls landscape.Events of "Rending Flames" Sadal, however, proved more powerful, and thus, more difficult to imprison that its sibling.Dialogue with HolgunnEvents of "Opening the Portal" Eventually, Mavos Siloreth—alongside Genvis Faledran, Levisii Gilvayn, and dozens of other mages—cornered Sadal at the peak of the Tormented Spire.Dialogue with Genvis Faledran With the assistance of three focus stones imbued with Daedric energy, the Chimer mages opened a portal and banished Sadal to a pocket realm of Oblivion.Dialogue with Tanval Indoril This prison, eventually overseen by House Dres of the Dunmer, successfully contained Sadal for nearly a millennia.
In the year 2E 582, the events of the Three Banners War released the Brothers of Strife from their centuries long imprisonment.Events of "City Under Siege"Events of "Climbing the Spire" After the Ebonheart Pact employed Balreth as a weapon of mass destruction during the defense of Davon's Watch, Sorcerer Vunal—a member of House Telvanni—and an assistant sought to discover more information regarding the creation of the Brothers of Strife. Within the ruins that first spawned the Brothers of Strife, the researchers summoned Legate Sadal from the afterlife and questioned him about the battle that ultimately claimed his life. Sorcerer Vunal subsequently conducted a ritual that enabled his assistant to travel through time, allowing the assistant to directly witness the creation of the Brothers of Strife.
Later that year, the Ebonheart Pact attempted to reclaim Fort Virak from the Daggerfall Covenant, resulting in the death of Garyn Indoril.Events of "The General's Demise" Enraged by the death of his son, Tanval Indoril—general of the Ebonheart Pact and grandmaster of House Indoril—viewed the bone colossus Sadal as a means of acquiring revenge against the Covenant. Tanval utilized the power of the Coral Heart to release Sadal from its arcane prison, and much like his Chimer predecessors, proved unable to control the powerful bone colossus. Regretting his decision, Tanval— alongside Holgunn One-Eye, Walks-in-Ash, and an unnamed hero of the Ebonheart Pact—confronted Sadal atop the Tormented Spire. Ultimately, Tanval Indoril sacrificed himself in order to weaken Sadal during the final battle, allowing his companions to once again banish Sadal to a pocket realm of Oblivion.Events of "Sadal's Final Defeat"
===Legacy===
==Personality==
==Interactions==
===Window on the Past===
===The Brothers Will Rise===
==Dialogue==
Show: Window on the Past
"Wait. This is where the final battle took place. Why am I here?"
:Help me understand the past. Tell me about the battle. "All my life I fought for the Chimer. I skirmished with the Dwemer and drove beasts from the Ashlands, until a greater threat loomed. The Nedes struck Stonefalls with a lust for territory and slaughter. They were men of the north, violent and cruel."
::The Chimer were losing? "My brother and I were the greatest generals of the Chimer. Yet even we couldn't stem the tide of Nedic muscle and iron. We were desperate. The sorcerers' plan to create the Brothers of Strife offered us a way out."
:::And you took it. "There could be no peace with the Nedes. I became one of the Brothers to serve my people."
::::Thank you, Sadal.
Show: The Brothers Will Rise
"The Chimer were powerful. We thought we could face any challenge. Even at the end, we were arrogant and proud. But I will not believe our sacrifice was in vain."
"Quickly, soldier. Speak with Turoni. We have little time left, and my brother grows angrier by the moment."
"I don't know if I can go through with this, soldier. These sorcerers ask much. Everything, in fact."
:What have they told you? "They've created a spell to fill us with raw elemental power, greater than our enemies can stand - if it works. What they can't say is what happens to us. Will my brother and I remain or will we be nothing but beasts of destruction?"
::Are you ready for this? "Yes, I must be. I wonder what the lens of history will show when our people look back on this day? Will my brother and I be remembered as the saviors of our race? Or will we be known as monsters and horrors?"
:::Good luck, Sadal.
==Appearances==
*
==References==
es:Legado Sadal
fr:Légat Sadal
ru:Легат Садал
Category:Online: Deceased Characters
Category:Online: Stonefalls Characters