Lorius Mider

## Historical Data

Lorius Invidicus Mider was born the bastard son of his unmarried father and an unknown woman who died in childbirth. Knowing that his bastard status would be deemed a great shame, Velexus Mider kept the boy's heritage a secret while housing him within the White Gold Tower. Those who were expected to tend to him, and tutor him, were informed that he was an orphaned nephew, and having no reason to doubt their Emperor the lie remained unchecked.

He was raised to have a very happy childhood despite the apparent lack of parents, wanting for nothing, receiving a very good education, and even learning the basics of swordplay, though it would not be until his thirteenth year that those lessons became serious. Despite the Emperor's busy nature he would make sure to set aside time to meet with the boy, often arranging meals with him while watching his progress from afar.

And when the Emperor unexpectedly fell sick, and died shortly after, the truth of the whole affair was made public. Lorius was not just a member of the Royal Family, he was in fact the Emperor's only Heir.

Being that Velexus had never seen it fit to marry, far too busy with politics and believing his best years were still to come, his legitimacy was immediately called into question. Be that as it may, the Emperor's final wishes were well known and had been formally written down on his death bed. Bastard or not, Lorius was proclaimed the new Emperor of Tamriel.

His young age required him to lean on his various advisers, most of whom were belonging to the Elder Council. Though he had never publicly been bred for leadership many of the lessons he'd been taught over the years seemed to have been guided toward such endeavors. So much so that many within the Council began to wonder if this had not been the Emperor's plan all along.

When High King Jurnavar Cairn of Skyrim spoke out against Lorius' ascension to Emperor, and brought forth a potential threat to his claim in the form of a supposed Septim, the Elder Council found itself in quite the precarious state. Most wanted to retain the integrity of the throne, and respect Velexus' wishes, while others saw the boy merely as a pawn, someone easy to sway in order to retain or gain power.

All agreed that the Skyrim threat had to be dealt with, but there was one large problem: they could not decide how.

Their indecisiveness, and general infighting, meant that the Imperial Legion was unable to be dispatched. Instead they looked to the other Provinces under their control for support. The western provinces were preoccupied with Orsimer troubles, while the Bosmer and Khajiit wished to remain apart from the conflict.

The only other Province with the manpower to make a difference, then, was Morrowind. When King Ulik Redoran asked for something in return, however, the Emperor's advisers saw in them an opportunity to lessen the Lorius' standing, therein bringing more power to the Council itself.

After much deliberation, and encouragement from those closest to him in the sincere belief that they had his best interests at heart, Lorius made an extremely bold and controversial proclamation: Slavery was to be legalized once more.

This proved more than enough to get the Dunmer onside, though it angered many within the Empire. The Argonians in particular seemed to withdraw, no longer responding to messages they proved impossible to contact. Support began to brew for the so-called Septim, and rumour had it that he was on his way down to Bruma.

During this time Lorius found himself with increasingly less freedoms. The Elder Council urged him to remain high within the White Gold Tower, leading him to believe that his very life was in danger. Any who tried to meet with him were turned away, and the boy was forced to rely on his advisers for news of the outside world.

His already loose grasp of the Empire was slipping away, but it was not necessarily the Septim who was to blame.