Midnight Pantheon

The symbol found on the armour of Pantheon troops. No official banner exists.

### Leader:

[Triumvirate] Framjiin Mirecloak, Harbinger of the Shattered Realms, Dolphus Srinewen (the Alpha Fang)

## Dispositions

### Enemies

Autumnshade Coven, Silver Hand, Acolytes of Varen

### Allies

Phantomsnare Coven

The Midnight Pantheon was a powerful alliance of three Vampire clans from the West, brought together for the Silentium War to fight the Autumnshade Coven. Each clan was distinguished from one another by their contrasting sub-cultures, but there was little strife between them during their campaign, with their diverse goals aligning quite well with one another. All three clans had origins that connected them to the Movarth Imperium, and had formed in the weeks following it's downfall.

## Formation (4E 181)

When the vampiric alliance was broken during the battle for Hjaalmarch, many of the undead folk fled from the battle, eventually forming splinter groups who each held differing ideologies. In the opening weeks of 4E 182, messengers were sent to each group, summoning them to a gathering of their folk to help organize all the factions. Nearly all of the splinter groups attended what became known as the Blood Summoning, an event held at Silent Moon Camp, to discuss the affairs of their kind now that the Imperium had fallen.

At the gathering many topics and arguments were formed, with the groups all vying for what limited territory was available for them to occupy- The Morthal Incident had the left the mortal folk of the province with a deep fear and resentment of their kind, forcing the vampires to retreat back to reclusive locations. Among the assembly was Regnus Beleath, representing her own Phantomsnare Coven. She warned them of the growing power in the East, and urged the clans to unify and fight back against this new threat. The discussion initially took a progressive turn, but gradually devolved into feuding between the assembled clans, and the summoned Vampires rebuked her petition.

After the official gathering however, Regnus was approached by representatives from three groups; the Wraithwave Marauders, Cult of the Sundered Void and Obounǔa Tribe. They expressed seperate interests for leading a conquest into the East, and offered their assistance in destroying the Pale Orc's. After establishing the terms of their alliance, the three groups agreed to begin their campaign within two months, and departed for their own territories.

By the beginning of the Silentium War, the auxillary forces from the three clans had unified under a new banner; the Midnight Pantheon.

**\*End of currently established timeline\***

## Triumvirate of the Pantheon

### Wraithwave Marauders

The Marauders had formed from the former crew of Movarth Piquine's personal vessel, the *Winter Solstice*. Upon learning news of his death, the crewmen took command of the vessel and fled down the River Hjaal, slaying many pursuing enemies and breaking down several fishing boats for spare parts once they reached the Karth Delta. Upon reaching the Sea of Ghosts, the vessel headed north until its crew reached the Ruby Glacier, a mountainous iceberg that had been hollowed out, to serve as Piquine's refuge had he survived the Imperium's fall.

In order to prosper the vampires resorted to the maraudery of vessels that strayed too close to their new headquarters. Enticed further down this path by the wealth this brought them, the undead crewmen became infamous pirates of the Sea of Ghosts, with their influence and numbers growing and their competition and resistors waning by the end of that year. They cut almost all ties to the other remnants of the Imperium, interpreting their success in comparison to the struggle for survival the other splinter groups faced as sign of their superiority. They did however agree to attend the Blood Summoning, possibly in the hopes of holding other vampires for ransom.

Their leader, Framjiin Mirecloak, personally attended the meeting, not trusting any of her subordinates to properly handle their mission. She and her contingent only participated in the discussions when it came to establishing trade deals between the clans, otherwise holding back when other matters became the topic of debate. They were almost leaving when Regnus Beleath began her petition, and chose to hear the Vampiress out. The Marauders caused an outcry at the meeting when they openly demanded all the clans to aid the Phantomsnare Coven, passionately reverberating Beleath’s opinions about the danger present in the East.

After the gathering when Framjiin pledged her loyalty to the new alliance, it then became apparent that their true motivation was to seize more power over the sea’s surrounding the eastern ports of Skyrim, and their personal interpretation of why the Autumnshade Coven was a threat was because of their potential to become a (hostile) financial superpower, as well as their ambition to thrive the Marauders felt threatened by. They committed hundreds of fighters to serve in the Pantheon, in return for recieving a large percentage of the non-dwarven spoils of war.

### Cult of the Sundered Void

The Cultists had always been a reclusive group, even after their induction into the Imperium. They had offered their enchanting services to the collective in exchange for a consistent supply of mortal subjects, and beyond that remained in isolation. They had taken control of the ancient ruins of Labyrinthian in the south of Hjaalmarch, and were rumoured to be stockpiling an army of reanimated servants within its darkened halls. Small in number but with each of them possessing exceptional (yet dark) magical talent, their effectiveness in battle would have been undeniable; had all members of the Cult not adopted a passive stance to the affairs of others, they would have made incredibly powerful War-sorcerers.

When the Imperium fell, the Cult of the Sundered Void seemingly suffered from the loss of their nefarious trades, and a deadly plague that struck Morthal later that year was suspected to be Cultists efforts to acquire fresh necromantic material. When word reached them of the Blood Summoning, one of their number who was known as ‘Harbinger to the Shattered Realms’ emerged from the crypts, with the intent of joining the gathering. She did not utter a word throughout the meeting, and only seemed attentive when the petition to march into the East was brought forward.

   Harbinger appeared to Regnus after the gathering, and offered the Cult’s services to the alliance. In return, her single demand was that all of the dead procured in their campaign were to be transported to her clan's residence at the end of the war. The other clans involved in the alliance objected to this, but conceded to her terms when auxiliary troops of ‘Daedric origin’ were promised to their cause.

### Obounǔa Tribe

The Obounǔa Tribe had not been part of the Imperium proper; they had in fact been its prisoners of war from conquests long since passed. Locked away and left to starve, each prisoner gradually turned feral from being deprived of blood. When the redoubt where they were imprisoned within was abandoned by the defeated vampires of the fallen alliance, they broke free with little effort, with their vampiric strength having been heightened as part of their active survival instincts. When the alliance of the mortal folk found their prison, they were ambushed by its former inmates, who attacked them with animalistic rage born from their primal hunger. After this the nourished vampires banded together and headed west into the Reach.

They lived nomadic lives, basing themselves in numerous caves across the region, emerging to the surface to hunt once in a lunar cycle, so that they could draw on the phenomenal physical strength granted to feral vampires. Only once their minds were at risk of slipping away completely would they appear and go on a rampage, hunting down animals, humanoids and anything else unfortunate enough to encounter them. The vampires adopted a tribal culture, wearing the bones of their prey as ornaments and even armour, believed by some scholars to mean that they were adopting the fallen creature’s strength in doing so. This behaviour resulted in the clan becoming known as Obounǔa; the phrase was given to them by the Forsworn, and translated roughly to mean ‘bone-fiend’.

No invitation to the Blood Summoning was sent to the tribals; the other clans scorned their barbaric behaviour and feared any grudges from the past they might still have held. In truth, for most of each month the Obounǔa could behave in a civilised manner, and their monthly hunt was more a guilty pleasure rather than a deep-rooted tradition. Instead they learned of it thanks to a scout known as Karkad Vrazzal, who had hunted down a courier thrall on the outskirts of the tribe’s territory, and discovered a note pertaining to the vampiric gathering. He brought back the note and presented it to the Alpha Fang, who wished for some Obounǔa to be present during the meeting. Karkad and a small following were assigned to this task, and they began to track another group of vampires that were heading for the Summoning.

   Though they reached the gathering and were not turned away, the tribals were refused the chance to enter the discussions. Fearing the Alpha Fang’s wrath if his mission failed, Karkad stealthily reached the roof of the meeting chamber, and took note of all that was discussed. He met with Regnus Beleath afterwards, and promised he could convince his leader to provide warriors for her campaign if she helped to improve the tribes standing with the other clans in time for the next Blood Summoning, and allowed them to keep a fair percentage of the spoils of war.

## Organization

The Marauders and Obounǔa formed the military force of the vampire alliance, as they had access to more combatants than the Phantom's (due to their recent string of defeats). Their heightened physical strength and agility made the tribals ideal shock troopers during battles, whereas the Wraithwave combatants possessed a mixture of archers, warriors and berserkers, which formed the main bulk of the vampires' force. Stealth assassinations and recon missions were left to Phantomsnare operatives. Many of the more seasoned warriors from each combat devision were given enchanted weapons to improve their deadliness, courtesy of Harbinger, who refused to personally enter battle.

As vampires fatigue was less of an issue during their marches, and they could usually traverse a hold on foot within two days. However their social standing within Skyrim as vampires meant that they had to avoid settlements and the major roads that connected them, for fear of provoking the wrath of the Jarl's forces. This impeded their progress on many occasions, but at the start of the war they pushed southwards with little resistance presented to them by the Autumnshade Coven.

Interaction between the two prominent clans were frequent, given their deployment in close proximity. Although civilised at first with their allies, the Obounǔa tribals grew increasingly difficult to command as more time elapsed since their last hunt, and they were soon segregated from the Marauders and thralls when encamped, for the safety of all. The Marauders were not in their element so far inland and the average pirate's combat abilities paled in comparison to the typical Pale Orc militant, who had all been selected for battle based on their (expert on average) combat skill.

### Military (Silentium War)

Wraithwave Marauders

**Vapourfangs:** Lightly armoured bowmen, with moderate skill and average standard of weaponry.

**Stormbreakers:** Unspecialised combatants, serve as a disorganized mainline infantry in land-based conflicts. Medium standard for armour and one-handed melee weaponry.

**Brinehammers:** Heavy units, utilise either dual wield weaponry or carry two-handed blunt implements. Skilled fighters, but disorganized in groups.

Obounǔa Tribals

    **Flesh Swindlers:** Fur armoured warriors, fast moving and melee-oriented. Grow in strength based on their hunger level. Bestial behaviour makes them dangerous but incapable of higher thought.

**Blind Wolves:** Mutilated canine creatures, Use smell and hearing to track enemies. Engages anyone who does not smell of Wolfsbane (pheromone provided to Pantheon troops).

**Troll-Skinner's:** Similar to Flesh Swindlers, yet even stronger and able to concentrate better when starved. Wear layered protection beneath their fur armour. Usually seen leading small groups of Flesh Swindlers.

Cult of the Sundered Void

**Pyliith Serpentes:** Snake-like shadow creatures, thought to have originated from a realm of Oblivion. Implant their eggs into almost any creature or plant of sufficient mass, and then sacrifice the magics sustaining their form to take control of the carrier, allowing them to protect their young. Humanoid carriers become undead known as Mortairei.

*(The Cult's main contribution to the Pantheon was enchanted equipment, provided to the most experienced combatants).*

## Notable Members

* Karkad Vrazzal- Breton Male, Obounǔa Troll-Skinner
* Dolphus Srinewen- Alpha Fang of the Obounǔa Tribe
* Framjiin Mirecloak- Leader of the Wraithwave Marauders
* Wendell Driftclaw- Commander of the Marauder force that fought in the Pantheon
* Harbinger to the Shattered Realms- [?] Female, Envoy and representative for the Cult of the Sundered Void

## Notes

* The Midnight Pantheon's emblem features four stars; these could represent the four Ondorái of the Phantomsnare Coven, who ensured the safe passage of the Pantheon's army (explaining why the stars are dotted around the main symbol).