Sergius Exoratus

**Sergius Exoratus** was a prelate of the Imperial Church. He was the Primate of Akatosh.

## **Summary**

Sergius Exoratus, a priest of the Order of Akatosh, was nominated by the Imperial Church to attend Emperor Uriel Septim V. Brother Sergius accompanied the emperor on his later military campaigns, witnessing the conquest of Yneslea (3E 279) and Estroniet (3E 284). Though retained as a religious functionary, the priest was the emperor's *de facto* secretary and constant companion for over a decade. During these years Uriel V was seldom seen without the crimson-robed cleric in his presence. The emperor once joked that Sergius *'helps me keep Time'*.

The priest joined Uriel V on his final campaign in Tsaesci, establishing a chapel within the emperor's palace at Ionith. By mischance or providence, he was struck down with severe illness (likely aggravated by the expedition's dwindling supplies) in the spring of 3E 289. On the emperor's orders he retired to Estroniet to convalesce, unknowingly sailing on the last voyage to depart Akavir before the expedition's destruction. Uriel V commended the Amulet of Kings to the ailing Sergius.

Sergius witnessed the return of the expedition's survivors to Black Harbour in early 3E 290, learning the fate of Uriel V. In the Imperial City he solemnly presented the Amulet of Kings to the emperor's young son – now Emperor Uriel Septim VI – thereby confirming the conqueror's death. Sergius was retained at the imperial court by the Empress Regent. In 3E 293 he was appointed Primate of Akatosh – head of the Order of Akatosh and contestably the seniormost clergyman in the Imperial Church.

## **Biography**

### **Early Life**

Sergius Exoratus was born on 2nd Morning Star 3E 233 in the western Skyrim city of Markarth. His parents were Decimius Exoratus, the Imperial Prefect of Markarth, and the aristocratic Plaria (née Meletius). As prefect, Decimius facilitated the export of silver (sourced from the infamous Cidhna Mine), on which heavy imperial taxes were levied. The Exoratus family enjoyed the advantages – namely wealth and status – that this arrangement afforded. Sergius was raised in the luxury of his father's headquarters, surrounded by the prefect's staff and servants.

No quantity of jewels or servants could assuage Plaria's melancholic longing for home. Despite its wealth Markarth was a remote city in the desolate Reach, far from the cosmopolitan Imperial City. Plaria's misery eventually resulted in her suicide in 3E 240, when Sergius was seven years old. Four years later, following accusations of embezzlement, Decimius Exoratus was removed as Prefect of Markarth, and transferred to the town of Gideon in Black Marsh.

It was deemed unsuitable for Sergius, a boy of eleven, to accompany his father to such an inhospitable province. Unwilling for his son to be raised by his late wife's kin, Decimius placed Sergius into the care of the priests of the Temple of Akatosh in Leyawiin. Decimius certainly did not foresee his son's future in the Church. His intention was to retrieve Sergius once he was, before long, recalled from Black Marsh to assume a more exalted posting once again.

Black Marsh was notoriously treacherous, its very air, earth and water poisonous to outlanders. The Empire's influence seldom penetrated into the depths of the province, with imperial outposts restricted to the borderlands and coast. Decimius Exoratus repeatedly complained of respiratory problems during his residence in Gideon. In 3E 247 he dropped dead. The fourteen year old Sergius was now an orphan, the bodies of his parents resting in distant parts of the continent. Inheriting his father's considerable debts, Sergius's prospects were few. He remained in the care – and protection – of the Temple of Akatosh.

### **Priesthood**

*All a bit jumpy currently, will fill in the gaps over time.*

In 3E 253, at the age of twenty, Sergius Exoratus was ordained into the priesthood of the Imperial Church – at the minimum permissible age. He was thereafter inducted into the Order of Akatosh. His consecration was performed by the high priest of Leyawiin's temple, Critonius Atilius, who adopted Sergius as his protégé.

Atilius, one of the most eminent theologians of his time, was elected [need to qualify this] Primate of Akatosh in 3E 259. Sergius accompanied his mentor to the Great Chantry of Akatosh in the Imperial City – the father temple of the Order of Akatosh.

It was unsurprising that the militant Emperor Uriel V, who succeeded to the Ruby Throne in 3E 268, favoured the God of War, Talos. The Order of Talos enjoyed considerable influence during Uriel V's early reign. His ambition of continental conquest, in emulation of his deified forebear, caused consternation within the Imperial Church: perhaps apotheosis was not beyond this emperor's aspirations.

Uriel V had caused further offence by imposing war taxes upon the Church, infracting the Church's time-hallowed exemption from secular taxation. At a convocation of the Council of the Nine in 3E 277, Critonius Atilius nominated his protégé, the *'prudent and pious brother'* Sergius Exoratus, to attend the emperor and close the growing breach between the White-Gold Tower and the Church.

At his presentation to the emperor (recently returned from the conquest of Cathnoquey), Exoratus delivered a sermon on the Covenant of Akatosh, concluding with a quote from the *Trials of Saint Alessia:*

> 'Thus spake Akatosh: *"I am the King of Spirits, and you are the Queen of Mortals*. *As you shall stand witness for all Mortal Flesh, so shall I stand witness for all Immortal Spirits."*'
>
>

The implication of Exoratus's sermon, though cloaked in allusion, was not lost on the imperial court. Whilst frustrating any delusions of divinity, the Covenant of Akatosh sanctioned the Dragonborn's dominion over Nirn, including lands beyond Tamriel. This was most agreeable to the Uriel V. Exoratus was thus received into the emperor's court and service.

Exoratus was rivalled at court by Marcus Galba, a warrior priest of Talos who had fought alongside the emperor during the conquests of Roscrea and Cathnoquey.