Order of the Blades

## Dragonguard

The **Order of the Blades**, also known as the **Dragonguard**, was an organisation founded by Reman Cyrodiil from the Tsaesci warriors who had surrendered to him at Pale Pass after hearing his voice. While they assisted Reman in the creation of the Second Empire and became his loyal bodyguards, the newly created Dragonguard would also seek out dragons to slay, sometimes doing it in the company of the Reman emperors. They were officially disbanded after the assassination of Reman III, but splinter groups carried on the traditions of the order. Regarded as the finest knights in Tamriel, they are sworn to protect their emperor and the royal family with their own lives, to obey their commands, and to keep their secrets. The Dragonguard are sworn for life and are forbidden from owning land, taking a wife, or fathering children, although they can hold non-hereditary commands, such as being a Count or a member of the Elder Council.

## History

### Reman's Dragonguard

The Akaviri Dragonguard has its origins in an army of Tsaesci who relentlessly hunted dragons in Akavir, and in 1E 2703 they invaded Tamriel to continue this crusade. They marched through Morrowind and Skyrim with little resistance until being met by the united forces of Cyrodiil under Reman I at the Pale Pass, in the Jerall Mountains. As soon as they heard Reman's voice at Pale Pass, they knelt before him and proclaimed him Dragonborn, claiming he was what they had come to seek. These new additions to his army did much to enable Reman's conquest and unification of most of Tamriel to found the Second Empire. However, the Dragonguard had not forgotten their original mission, and they continued hunting dragons, particularly in Skyrim, with great success.

In Cyrodiil, Cumanarán, the Cloud Ruler Temple, was built by the Dragonguard at the start of the Second Empire, serving as headquarters, fortress, and sanctuary.

In Skyrim, Sky Haven Temple acted as an outpost for the Dragonguard and as a shrine to Reman. However by the late First Era, the Winterhold Rebellion took place in protest to forced conscriptions that were being imposed on the local populace by Emperor Kastav. The Dragonguard stationed at the temple disobeyed Emperor Kastav's orders to suppress the rebellion, on the grounds that it violated their Oath of Allegiance. In their stead, Kastav sent an Akaviri commander named Kalien, who sacked the city in 1E 2805. The sacking resulted in the local Nords laying siege to the temple, as they did not distinguish between Akaviri. The siege was eventually lifted shortly after the accession of Reman II as Emperor in 1E 2806. The new emperor later visited the temple as part of his first visit to Skyrim in 1E 2806, to which the Dragonguard provided the honor guard.

In 1E 2812 Emperor Reman II permitted the construction of Alduin's Wall within Athelham. Considered to be a wonder of the ancient world, its purpose was to record the accumulated dragonlore and prophecy that the Dragonguard possessed at the time. Its main focus was a pictorial representation of the Prophecy of the Dragonborn. The prophecy foretold of five key historical events that would preface Alduin's return after his expulsion during the Dragon War. Given that Alduin's return was inevitable, the Dragonguard believed that the wall was their gift to the generations that were to follow. Craftsmen from temples across the Empire were called upon to work on the wall, whilst Grandmaster Jaiv-Yora of the Dragonguard oversaw the construction of the wall, and after six years it was completed. Emperor Reman II returned to the temple in 1E 2818 to officially dedicate the wall. The Blood Seal outside the temple was consecrated in the presence of all Akaviri Dragonguard in Skyrim. This allowed the temple to be sealed, only ever to be opened by a Dragonborn to unlock its knowledge and power. The entrance into the temple, opened by the blood seal, was a giant stone effigy of Reman I.

During Vashu-Pir's time as grandmaster between 1E 2734 - 2758, the Dragonguard worked to subdue Laatvulon, the Black Beast within Elsweyr. Ja'darri was a prominent member of the Dragonguard working in Elsweyr where she formed an unlikely alliance with the red Dragon Nahfahlaar, who grew to respect her enough to give her a Dragon name and grant her a boon in the form of his horn, which was later named after her. Having been tasked by Alkosh to use the Mask of Alkosh to extinguish Laatvulon, Ja’darri petitioned Nahfahlaar to imbue the mask with his power to defeat his ancient foe Laatvulon. In an act he would later regret, he refused, leaving the Dragonguard to fight Laatvulon with limited power. They would ultimately succeed in imprisoning Laatvulon beneath Doomstone Keep, though Ja'darri died in the process. It is said Grandmaster Vashu-Pir was the one who defeated Laatvulon, and bards still sing about this glorious battle between Reman I's Dragonguard and a "great Black Beast" at Doomstone Keep. Dragons were nearly driven to extinction in the next two centuries, and the Dragonguard operated chapters across Tamriel under the direct command of the Dragonborn emperors.