Hero of Daggerfall

The Agent (3E 375 - 3E 417), later known as the Hero of Daggerfall, is the player character and main protagonist of . The Hero was a close and loyal friend of Uriel Septim VII.
==Biography==
===Background===
The Agent was born in 3E 375, thus being 30 (or still 29, depending on month of birth) at the start of Daggerfall. According to the book The Warp in the West in , the Hero is canonically male, though this is an oversight.
During the Imperial Simulacrum, the Agent was imprisoned due to varying reasons (the Hero's history changes during character creation), but after the Eternal Champion defeated Jagar Tharn, and Uriel Septim VII was reinstated to the throne, many prisoners, among them the Hero of Daggerfall, were released. This particular prisoner caught the Emperor's attention, no doubt due to the visions that the Septim line is known for.
=== Iliac Mission ===
In 3E 405, the Emperor presented the Hero with a task: investigate the circumstances of King Lysandus of Daggerfall's death. Rumors abounded that Lysandus stalked the streets of his capital city in undeath. The Emperor gave the Hero a second, lower-priority mission: track down the whereabouts of a misplaced letter the Emperor had written to the Queen of Daggerfall, Mynisera, and destroy it. The following day, the Hero embarked from the Imperial City for the city of Daggerfall. While entering the Iliac Bay, the Hero's ship was hit by a fierce storm and wrecked on the western cliffs of the Kingdom. After fighting through a series of privateer-infested caverns in the cliff face, the Hero emerged in the southern forests and made the journey to the capital.
Before speaking with Lysandus' widow, Mynisera, the Hero received a letter from a Daggerfall noble, Lady Brisienna Magnessen. The letter told the Hero to see Brisienna in a remote village tavern. The Hero altered course and eventually located the noblewoman. Once face-to-face, Brisienna admitted that she was actually a high-ranking member of the Blades. She warned the Hero that the situation in the Iliac Bay was far less stable than it appeared: each kingdom and city-state was at each other's throats for control of the twin provinces of High Rock and Hammerfell. Brisienna also warned the Hero that enemies of the Empire had discovered her true identity, and that she would soon be returning to Cyrodiil. In closing, she encouraged the Hero to speak directly to the primary powers in the Bay area, but to first work up from the lower nobility to avoid suspicion.
After the meeting, Brisienna left the province and the Hero began to meet with courtiers across the Bay. They asked the Hero to do minor favors in exchange for information regarding Lysandus' passing. Along the way, the Hero met Lady Morgiah, daughter of the ancient Dunmer queen Barenziah. Morgiah requested that the Hero speak with the necromancer lord Mannimarco to arrange a wedding between herself and the eminent ruler of Firsthold. The Hero journeyed to Scourge Barrow, high in the Dragontail Mountains, and entered the ancient tomb, eventually locating the King of Worms and striking the deal. Upon returning to Morgiah, the Hero was told that the Emperor's letter to Mynisera had been intercepted by Princess Aubk'i of Daggerfall. The letter had then been stolen by the Thieves Guild, before being bought by Gortwog gro-Nagorm, king of the Orsimer.
The hero then traveled to the court of Sentinel, the Hero spoke with Queen Akorithi, who asked that the Hero recover a stolen painting of Lysandus that had been sealed within Castle Wayrest. The Hero managed to infiltrate the castle undetected and then fought up the castle tower to the large room where the painting was stashed. Before taking the painting the Hero looked at its canvas, which replayed the events of King Lysandus's death. It was revealed that Lysandus had not died on the field of battle, but had been assassinated before the battle even occurred. The assassin was none other than Lysandus's trusted adviser: Lord Woodborne. The Hero then journeyed back to Sentinel and returned the painting to Akorithi.
After discovering the true fate of King Lysandus, the Hero was contacted by an agent of the Underking. The mysterious agent asked the hero to recover a magical gem resembling a ruby from a band of renegade Blades knights. The Hero journeyed to Castle Llugwych in the fiefdom of Ykalon. Fighting into the castle's dungeon, the Hero found the Ruby being studied by a number of the renegade Blades. After killing the knights and retrieving the Ruby,the Hero returned to the Underking's agent, who disappeared after telling the Hero that Lysandus's remains did not lie in Daggerfall or on Cryngaine Field, but in a crypt in Menevia.
Prince Lhotun of Sentinel would send a letter to the Hero shortly afterward, informing him of an Altmeri sorceress named Medora Direnni, who had been Lysandus's lover before his assassination. After the king's murder, Queen Mynisera had sealed the sorceress in a tower on a remote island in the Bay. The Hero traveled to the island, located the tower, and eventually met with the sorceress after slaying the tower's wardens. Direnni informed the Hero that there was a way to speak directly to Lysandus's shade without fear of harm. Before offering to help the Hero to this end, the sorceress asked for the Hero's aide in freeing her from her tower. She could not physically cross the threshold of the tower without a unicorn horn. She then told the Hero of Nulfaga, Lysandus's mother. Nulfaga was a sorceress with powers rivaling Direnni's, and she was in possession of a unicorn horn. She then bid the Hero travel to Shedungent, a castle on the border of High Rock and Skyrim where the aging Nulfaga resided.
The Hero met with Nulfaga, who granted the Hero a single unicorn horn. The Hero returned to Direnni with the horn, and the sorceress was finally freed. After emerging into the open air, the sorceress told the Hero that the only way to pacify Lysandus' shade was to cast the Dust of Restful Death upon the dead king's body. The only known sample of the Dust was in the possession of Gortwog gro-Nagorm, King of Orsinium. With the knowledge that both the Dust and the letter lay in the hands of the Orcish king, the Hero returned to the Wrothgarian Mountains. Deep in the mountains' highest peaks lay Orsinium, the fortress city of the Western Orcs. Upon entering Gortwog's keep, several of the king's warriors attempted to kill the Hero. After slaying the warriors, the Hero spoke with Gortwog himself. The king said that he would give the Dust to Direnni only out of respect for the benevolent King Lysandus. He also told the Hero to tell Direnni that the price for his cooperation was a "claim to the heart," but failed to explain himself to the Hero. The Hero recovered the Dust from Greensly Hall and returned to Direnni.
After retrieving the Dust of Restful Death from King Gortwog, the Hero traveled to Lysandus' crypt in Menevia. After locating the king's sarcophagus and casting the Dust on the bones, the Hero spoke with the shade face-to-face. Lysandus told the Hero that he would continue to haunt the mortal plane until his assassin, Lord Woodborne, was killed or humiliated. The Hero learned that Woodborne had a large manor in the forests north of Wayrest. The Hero infiltrated the castle and enacted Lysandus's revenge (depending on player choice, Woodborne is either slain in combat or hanged by Daggerfall officials if the Hero gives the traitor's journal to the rulers of the Iliac Bay). With justice meted out to the traitor, Lysandus and his ghostly army disappeared from Mundus.
=== Emperor's Letter ===
With Lysandus finally at rest, the Hero began to track down the whereabouts of the Emperor's letter to Queen Mynisera. Eventually cornering the original courier, the Hero questioned the messenger, who claimed that he had in fact delivered the letter to the Queen of Daggerfall, as asked. But because of the disturbance of the War of Betony, the letter did not reach the court of Daggerfall until after Lysandus' assassination.
After the war ended, Queen Mynisera was succeeded by her daughter-in-law, Princess Aubk-i. As the new Queen of Daggerfall, the letter had been delivered into Aubk-i's hands. After she had read the letter, the Thieves Guild had stolen it from Castle Daggerfall, at which point it had been bought by King Gortwog. The Hero then returned to the Wrothgarian Mountains once more. Upon confronting Gortwog, he admitted to having bought the letter knowing its value.
He agreed to hand the letter over, but only if the Hero could recover it without being slain by the hostile Orcs of the fortress. The Hero eventually did, after defeating some of Orsinium's finest warriors. The Hero read the letter, and discovered that it had never been addressed to Mynisera, but to Lady Brisienna. The seal on the envelope was meant to tip off the Spymaster that the letter was for her.
The letter warned the Blades that the Numidium, a Dwemer automaton of incomprehensible size, had recently been unearthed in the Iliac. The Numidium was powered by an enormous Soul Gem known as the Mantella, which had been created by the Underking in the Second Era. The only person who knew the location of the Mantella was Nulfaga, mother of the late Lysandus.
The only Mundane artifact that could control the Mantella was small amulet called the Totem of Tiber Septim. Lysandus had been in possession of the Totem, which had led to his assassination after the discovery of the Numidium. The Hero returned promptly to Daggerfall, presenting Mynisera with the letter. She warned the Hero that Gortwog would have sold copies of the letter to every major power in the Bay, and added that should the Totem be recovered, its only safe guardian was the Emperor.
=== Totem of Tiber Septim ===
Not even a day passed before the Hero received a letter from Lady Brisienna. The letter told the Hero to meet her in a pub in Daggerfall, adding that the Empire's fate lay in the balance. The Hero met with the Blade, who had returned from Cyrodiil with grave news. The Totem of Tiber Septim had been located. It had been briefly in the hands of Lord Woodborne. The Blades had launched an attack on Woodborne's castle, suffering heavy casualties only to find that the Totem had been moved. Brisienna believed that the Totem was in the possession of King Gothryd of Daggerfall. Upon entering Castle Daggerfall, Gothryd ordered his guards to slay the Hero. The Hero then fought down into the Castle treasure vaults, which were protected by magical wards.
After killing all guards and dissipating the wards on the vaults, the Hero found the Totem. As soon as the artifact was lifted out of its vault, a voice filled the Hero's thoughts, warning that only a descendant of Tiber Septim could bear the Totem. Since every major leader in the Bay knew of the Emperor's letter, the Hero began to receive numerous letters and requests formally asking for the Totem. The King of Worms, the Underking, King Gortwog, and the Bay leaders all sent missives to the Hero requesting the Totem. It was at this point that the Warp in the West began to occur (depending on player choice, the Totem can be given back to the Emperor, to the King of Worms, to the Underking, to any of the Bay leaders, or kept by the Hero).
=== Mantellan Crux ===
The Hero made one last journey, this time to the High Rock-Skyrim border to speak with Nulfaga. Deeming the Hero worthy, Nulfaga told the Hero that the Mantella did not exist in the mortal plane, but occupied a plane of Aetherius known as the Mantellan Crux. Nulfaga explained how to retrieve the gem, and then transported the Hero to a rock in the Eltheric Ocean. The only object on the rock was a portal of pure magicka. The Hero stepped through and was transported to a realm of infinite darkness and architecture defying the laws of nature. Savage Daedric sentinels guarded a labyrinth of intensive puzzles and tests. The Hero completed all of these tests, passing through starry voids, buildings of magma, and briefly coming face-to-face with Sheogorath, who was watching the Hero's progress from the comfort of an isolated sitting room. Finally the Hero arrived at the heart of the Crux, and found the Mantella. All that needed to be done to free the Mantella was to touch it. When the Hero touched the Mantella, the Crux collapsed and a Dragon Break occurred.
At this point, all of the Hero's actions over the course of the mission occurred simultaneously, with results so different they caused a Dragon Break that would later come to be known as the Warp in the West.
* When the Hero gave the Totem to the Emperor, the Mantella allowed him to use the Numidium to bring peace to the Iliac Bay once and for all.
* When the Hero gave the Totem to the Underking, he used the power of his creation to free himself from undead after centuries of restlessness, leaving the Numidium dormant forever.
* When the Hero gave the Totem to Mannimarco, the King of Worms used the artifact to deify himself, leaving the plane of Mundus and rendering the Numidium dormant.
* When the Hero gave Gortwog the Totem, he used the Numidium to earn Orsinium Imperial recognition by destroying Daggerfall, Wayrest and Sentinel.
* When the Hero gave the Totem to the leaders of Daggerfall, Wayrest or Sentinel, each of those kingdoms respectively gained sole eminence in the Bay before breaking away from the Empire.
* The Hero kept the Totem before journeying into the Crux. The Mantella killed the Hero outright and activated the Numidium, which began rampantly destroying Tamriel until it was finally destroyed by the combined might of the Empire.
Twelve years after freeing the Mantella, all realities were restored into a single continuity when the Dragon Break was divinely repaired in an act referred to as the Miracle of Peace. Over the course of three days in 3E 417, the peoples of the Iliac were blighted by disease, teleporting armies and shifting borders. After the three days, the Iliac region was reshaped into a peaceful land at rest internally and with the Empire. In one of the Dragon Break's continuities, the Hero was killed in Aetherius, effectively destroying the Hero's soul for eternity. The Hero survived in all other timelines, so it is unknown what the Hero's final fate was after the Miracle of Peace, when all possibilities were resolved.
==Gallery==
DaggerfallArgonians.png|The Hero as an Argonian.
DaggerfallKhajiit.png|The Hero as a Khajiit.
DaggerfallRedguards.png|The Hero as a Redguard.
DaggerfallNords.png|The Hero as a Nord.
DaggerfallBretons.png|The Hero as a Breton.
DaggerfallAltmer.png|The Hero as an Altmer.
DaggerfallBosmer.png|The Hero as a Bosmer.
DaggerfallDunmer.png|The Hero as a Dunmer.
==Trivia==
*The Hero is five years younger than the Eternal Champion, the protagonist of .
*Unlike the other main protagonists (Eternal Champion, Nerevarine, Hero of Kvatch, and Dragonborn), the Agent has a backstory not made by the player, and does not begin the game as any sort of prisoner.
==Licensing==
This article contains content derived from the "Agent" article on the TES Wiki, licensed under CC-BY-SA.
==Navigation==
Category:Male
Category:Female
Category:Status Dependent upon Player Choice
Category:Status Dependent on Version
Category:Deceased
Category:Loyal
Category:Brutes
Category:Officials
Category:Video Game Heroes
Category:Strategists
Category:Honorable
Category:Nameless
Category:Determinators
Category:Mercenaries
Category:Assassins
Category:True Neutral
Category:On & Off
Category:Fighters
Category:Lethal
Category:Successful
Category:One-Man Army
Category:Strong-Willed
Category:Honorable
Category:Elder Scrolls Heroes
Category:Fantasy Heroes
Category:Presumed Deceased
Category:Sophisticated
Category:Magic
Category:Thieves
Category:Knights
Category:Warriors
Category:Monster Slayers
Category:Vampires