Almalexia

*For the city, see Almalexia (City).*

A card art in Legends

*"Almalexia, also known as Mother Morrowind, is the patron of healers and teachers. She is the Healing Mother, the source of compassion and sympathy, the protector of the poor and the weak. Almalexia embodies the best of Dunmeri culture and purpose. She exemplifies mercy, and her wisdom guides the Dark Elves in all their daily affairs."*
―Durillis the Theologian[src]
**Sacred Lady Almalexia**, colloquially known as **Ayem**, **Mother Morrowind**, the **Lady of Mercy**, **Healing Mother**, and known by titles such as *the Warden* and *the Lover*, was a Chimer goddess of the Tribunal. She was the wife of Lord Indoril Nerevar, and after the death of her husband, she, alongside Vivec and Sotha Sil, came to power amongst the Chimer, now known as Dunmer. She serves as the hidden main antagonist of *The Elder Scrolls III: Tribunal*.

## By game

* Almalexia (Tribunal)
* Almalexia (Online)
* Almalexia (Legends)

## Personality and traits

Almalexia's public image was that of a nurturing and protecting mother-figure, kindly and just. But even before Dagoth Ur's return, her real personality—that of a powerful, serious, and ruthless leader and statesperson, resurfaced every now and then. Not much was known about her mortal days as the queen of the Chimer, but most likely she was instrumental in uniting the Great Houses and establishing House Indoril as the ruling one, and she was powerful even before her marriage to Nerevar. After the ascension of the Tribunal, she was the one who took her divinity the most seriously. Almalexia was the most skilled of the Tribunal in battle, and would have been able to defeat Vivec in single combat.

After the loss of the Heart of Lorkhan, Almalexia kept becoming less and less of a mother-figure and more and more of a ruthless leader. The gradual loss of her powers caused her much grief and eventually resulted in paranoia and obsession with returning the old glory at all costs. Eventually, she became insane to the point that she was willing to sacrifice the lives of her fellow Tribunes in order to regain her old power, but the stress damaged her capacity for sound plans and intrigue, and her scheme failed.

## Background

Little is known of Almalexia's origins, but she was Indoril Nerevar's queen and one of his most trusted advisors during the Chimer-Dwemer alliance in the early First Era. Following the Battle of Red Mountain and the death of Nerevar, she became one of the living "gods" worshipped by the Dunmer in the Tribunal Temple, along with Vivec and Sotha Sil.

Her other names, the Healing Mother and Lady of Mercy, came from her being known as a source of compassion and sympathy, and her role as protector of the poor and weak. However, her compassionate nature did not prevent her from being a ruthless negotiator and leader, as well as a cunning warrior. She was an important symbol of Dunmer independence to those who resented the Septim Empire. She resided in the royal capital of Mournhold, which took her name. Almalexia's closest followers were those of the Dunmer Great House Indoril who were the ruling class of Mournhold until the Third Era, and thus all of Morrowind.

She was considered to be the mother figure of the Tribunal Temple as she looked after, nurtured, and healed the Dunmer that worshipped her. Almalexia was strict; however, when they strayed from the doctrines of the Tribunal Temple, often sending her personal guard, the Hands of Almalexia, to bring them back into the fold violently if need be. Along with the Hands of Almalexia, she also controlled the Ordinators of the House Indoril and developed their beliefs that the weakness of the Tribunal during the Third Era was caused by a lack of faith and religious fervor among its people.

Almalexia, along with Sotha Sil, combated the Daedric Prince Mehrunes Dagon, and his Daedric Forces of Destruction during the Sack of Mournhold. However, they arrived too late, and the Duke of Mournhold along with its inhabitants had been massacred, and the city had been razed to the ground. She and Sotha Sil managed to defeat Mehrunes Dagon and cast him and his forces back to the wastelands of Oblivion. During the Vvardenfell Crisis, Almalexia kept to behind the scenes, helping Vivec and Sotha Sil come to decisions on what action to take against Dagoth Ur and the Sixth House Cult. Thus, she was not informed about Vivec's decision to involve the Nerevarine, as she strictly conformed to Tribunal doctrines and would not believe that this person was actually the Nerevarine.

After the death of her old enemy Dagoth Ur during the Vvardenfell Crisis, Almalexia slowly began to lose her sanity, turning on her fellow god, Sotha Sil, and slaying him in his Clockwork City. She then unleashed its mechanical inhabitants in a reign of terror, for which Sotha Sil took the blame. Eventually, the Nerevarine came to Mournhold, and when he arrived, Almalexia sought to trick, entrap, and destroy them in an attempt to regain her former power and prestige. When the Nerevarine confronted her bearing her old husband's sword, Trueflame, her god-like powers were robbed from her and the Nerevarine cast her down in the Clockwork City.

## History

### First Era

#### Early life and War of the First Council

*"We should preserve these tools in trust for the welfare of the Chimer people. And, who knows, perhaps the Dwemer are not gone forever, but merely transported to some distant realm, from which they may someday return to threaten our security once again. Therefore, we need to keep these tools, to study them and their principles, so that we may be safe in future generations."*
―Almalexia to Nerevar, Sotha Sil, and Vivec
According to the Tribunal Temple, Molag Bal oversaw the ninety-nine lovers of Boethiah give birth to Almalexia on Mount Assarnibibi. It is known that early in the First Era before the beginning of the Nord raids on Morrowind that she married Indoril Nerevar, and together created the Great Dunmer House Indoril. She was one of his most trusted advisers, along with Sotha Sil who was his chief councilor and Vivec the Poet, his junior councilor. At this period of time in the First Era, the Chimer and their distant kin, the Dwemer were embroiled in a long, and bloody war which went on intermittently for at least a decade. Then, the Nords came and invaded Morrowind, and against the advice of Almalexia, Nerevar decided to join in an alliance with King Dumac of the Dwemer. Nerevar, Almalexia, and Dumac led the mer of Morrowind to victory, driving the Nords back into Skyrim.

Following the war, Nerevar and Dumac managed to keep the peace between their people through treaties and pacts with the aid of Almalexia, Vivec, and Sotha Sil. However; due to their peoples' conflicting beliefs, the Dwemer believed that there were no gods and the Chimer worshipped the Daedra, Almalexia, and Nerevar's other councilors began to question the alliance and began to dispute the peace treaties. The final straw occurred when Dagoth Ur, one of Nerevar's newest councilors and the head of House Dagoth, brought Nerevar and Almalexia the news that the Dwemer engineer Kagrenac had found the Heart of Lorkhan and learned of a way to tap its power to create his own god. Troubled, Nerevar and Almalexia confronted Dumac and Kagrenac, only to be treated with hostility and suspicion. They then went to the shrine of Holamayan where they prayed to Azura, a Daedric Prince, and had their fears confirmed.

Almalexia, Vivec, and Sotha Sil chided Nerevar for his decision to create the alliance and for not resuming the war with the Dwemer earlier. They also chided Nerevar for his belief that the Dwemer could be reasoned and bargained with. However; he stood by his beliefs and refused to go to war with the Dwemer. Troubled, Vivec and Sotha Sil went to Almalexia and convinced her to speak to Nerevar on their behalf. When Almalexia and Nerevar were alone, she reminded him of his duty to protect the faith and security of the Chimer people against the impiety and dangerous ambition of the Dwemer. Nerevar saw her reasoning, and after going one more time to try to force Dumac to see reason, declared war on the Dwemer, beginning the War of the First Council.

Almalexia traveled with Nerevar while he was leading the Chimer armies against the Dwemer, and their allies, Nord raiders and certain more secular Chimer Great Houses that had been enticed by riches to join with the Dwemer. Nerevar, his queen, and his councilors developed a cunning plan that drew the Dwemer forces out of their near impenetrable fortress at Red Mountain, a vast mountain chain that surrounded a large volcano. Nerevar, accompanied by his lieutenant Dagoth Ur and a small company of his most skilled warriors, gained entrance to the fortress while the Dwemer forces were fighting with the Chimer forces on a plain in front of Red Mountain. Inside they encountered the Dwemer king, Dumac, and slew him. They then proceeded to the Heart chamber, but were too late. Kagrenac had turned his tools upon the Heart of Lorkhan, and all of the Dwemer, both inside and outside of the fortress, disappeared.

Though Almalexia's exact role during the Battle of Red Mountain was unknown, her role in the aftermath was well-documented. Following the defeat of the Dwemer, Nerevar left Dagoth Ur to protect the Heart of Lorkhan while he conferred with his queen and councilors about what to do with it. Almalexia, Vivec, and Sotha Sil counseled Nerevar to keep the Heart of Lorkhan and Kagrenac's Tools to study them to find some way to benefit the Chimer people. They also believed that the Dwemer would return and that they should study these tools to have an insight into their abilities and powers. Nerevar disagreed with them, but he agreed to do as they asked under one condition: that they would not use the Heart of Lorkhan for the same purpose that the Dwemer had used it for. Agreeing with Nerevar, Almalexia, along with Vivec and Sotha Sil, swore an oath to Azura that they would not use the Heart of Lorkhan in a profane manner.

Wanting to take possession of the Heart and Kagrenac's Tools right away, the four returned to Red Mountain, and upon arriving were confronted by Dagoth Ur and a small band of his followers who had been corrupted by the evil power of the Heart of Lorkhan. Dagoth Ur refused to give up the heart, and Nerevar and the Tribunal, as the Chimer people had begun to call them, assaulted Dagoth Ur and his followers. Somehow in the ensuing battle, Nerevar was slain, but the Tribunal managed to capture the tools. Dagoth Ur and his followers fled into the bowels of the Dwemer fortress, and the Tribunal eventually began to believe that he had perished there. Sotha Sil promptly took the tools for studying and protection.

Sometime between the year 1E 668 and 1E 700, after the War of the First Council and the death of Lord Nerevar, Sotha Sil managed to find a way to tap the Heart of Lorkhan in order to make himself and the rest of the Tribunal into gods. Almalexia, accompanied by Sotha Sil and Vivec, went to the Heart Chamber in the Red Mountain to perform the ritual. Shortly after the ritual was complete, the Daedric Prince Azura arrived and confronted them about the breaking of their oaths to Nerevar. Sotha Sil answered Azura, stating that the Chimer would no longer worship the Daedra as they now had better gods. Azura was furious, and in her anger, she cursed the entire Chimer race. The Chimers' skin turned to gray and their eyes changed to red. From then on, the Chimer became known as the Dunmer.

#### Sack of Mournhold

*"A gout of ever erupting flame was all that remained of the central courtyard of Castle Mournhold, blasting skyward into the boiling clouds."*
―Carlovac Townway[src]
Following the War of the First Council, Almalexia, Sotha Sil, and Vivec went forth from Red Mountain to create a new world that they would shape in their own vision. They secured a powerbase among the Dunmer people by displaying their qualities of generosity and the glory that they had achieved during the War of the First Council against the Dwemer led by King Dumac and High Priest Kagrenac. After they had been assured that they had not been cursed with their new bodies, but instead, given a gift distinguishing them from the rest of the less-civilized mer, the Dunmer began to fervently and gratefully worship them as the Tribunal of Gods. Over the years following the War of the First Council, Almalexia and the other members of the Tribunal began to craft the customs and institutions of their new society, including the religious organization that would oversee the Dunmer worship of the Tribunal, the Tribunal Temple. For several centuries, Morrowind knew peace for the first time in a millennia under the guidance of Almalexia and the Tribunal. Their rule brought peace, equity, and prosperity to a once barren land.

In the final years of the First Era, Lord Sotha Sil visited the Daedric realm of Coldharbour following the destruction of the city of Gilverdale in the Bosmer-inhabited land of Valenwood by the Daedric Prince Molag Bal. At Coldharbour, Sotha Sil proposed a meeting with the major Daedric Princes of the realm of Oblivion. The Daedric Princes agreed. They then arrived at Coldharbour to discuss with Sotha Sil about the attack on Gilverdale. Eventually, after much deliberation, Sotha Sil made a deal with eight of the more prominent Daedric Princes, including Azura, Boethiah, Hermaeus Mora, Hircine, Malacath, Mehrunes Dagon, Molag Bal, and Sheogorath. The deal consisted of several terms, the most prominent of them being that during the war between the Tribunal Temple-led Morrowind and the Reman Empire of Cyrodiil, they were not to accept the summons of any mortal unless it was done by highly powerful witches or sorcerers.

However, a former spymaster of Vivec the Poet managed to bypass the agreement to further his own ends by manipulating and fueling the rage of a witch who was a member of the powerful witches' coven known as the Skeffington Coven in the Breton and Orsimer-inhabited land of High Rock. Using the witch's desire for revenge against the Duke of Mournhold, the spymaster managed to fulfill his desire to see that Morrowind suffered after an unnamed injustice done to him by Vivec. The witch, under his guidance, summoned the Daedric Prince of Destruction, Mehrunes Dagon. In Morrowind, Mehrunes Dagon went on a rampage of destruction and death, destroying the ancient home of the Dunmer Great House Sotha and the birthplace of Sotha Sil, Ald Sotha.

Aided by his armies of Daedra, known as the Daedric Forces of Destruction, Mehrunes Dagon invaded the heartland of Morrowind. Mehrunes Dagon assaulted the capital of Morrowind, Mournhold, and initiated one of the bloodiest massacres and most terrible destruction in recorded history. Almalexia, returning with Sotha Sil from Coldharbour, arrived at Mournhold, and confronted with the image of destruction and death that was Mournhold at the time. Entering the city, Almalexia and Sotha Sil confronted Mehrunes Dagon and, using their combined god-like powers, defeated Dagon and banished him back into his realm of Oblivion. However, Mournhold had been completely destroyed, and the Duke of Mournhold, along with most of Mournhold's inhabitants, had been slain. Under the direction of Almalexia, a new city was built right atop the ruins of the old city, and its suburbs were renamed Almalexia City for her part in its liberation and reconstruction. A statue depicting her battle with Mehrunes Dagon was erected in the heart of Mournhold to commemorate her victory.

### Second Era

*"Some of my own children have betrayed me! I am rarely an angry god, but this time there shall be a reckoning."*
―Almalexia[src]
The assassination of the last members of the Reman Dynasty and their Tsaesci advisers who took over the reins of power after their deaths, Versidue-Shaie and Savirien-Chorak, brought the Reman Empire's reign over the continent of Tamriel to an end. For several more centuries, Morrowind managed to rebuild from its defeat in the Four Score War under Almalexia and the rest of the Tribunal Temple's guidance. However, this newfound peace and prosperity was interrupted by an invasion by the Kamal, a race that inhabited the continent of Akavir and were known as the Snow Demons of Kamal, led by their king and general Ada'Soom Dir-Kamal. The Kamal forces managed to initially defeat the Dunmer forces under the command of the Tribunal, and they advanced down the province of Vvardenfell, a large island in the separated from the majority of Morrowind by the Sea of Ghosts, and assaulted Vivec City, Vivec the Poet's seat of power. Under the guidance of Almalexia and Vivec, the Dunmer inhabitants of Vivec City were taught how to breathe underwater. Then, the Tribunal struck a major blow against the Kamal forces, flooding the area around Vivec City, drowning the majority of their forces. However, the Kamal continued on, assaulting the mainland of Morrowind.

Desperate to stop the Kamal invasion, Almalexia secretly traveled back into Vvardenfell, now Kamal-occupied territory, and went to the Red Mountain, the ancient site of the defeat of the Dwemer during the War of the First Council in the First Era. In the ruins of the ancient Dwemer fortress, she found the slumbering form of the Underking, Ysmir Wulfharth, and awakened him. She summoned him to assist the Dunmer in their struggle against the Kamal and their leader, the Akaviri Demon, Ada'Soom Dir-Kamal. The combined power of the Tribunal Temple and Ysmir Wulfharth, the Underking, managed to overwhelm the remnants of the Kamal forces, slew Ada'Soom Dir-Kamal, and drove the Kamal from Morrowind.

### Third Era

Almalexia served as a protector of the Dunmer for thousands of years until she was cut off from the source of their divinity during 2E 882, due to the return of Dagoth Ur, one of Indoril Nerevar's councilors who had betrayed him. Dagoth Ur and the rest of the members of the Dunmer Great House Dagoth were slumbering in the depths of the ancient Dwemer fortress at Red Mountain, regaining their strength for a future confrontation with the Tribunal Temple. Finally ready to challenge the Tribunal, Dagoth Ur and his ash vampires awoke refreshed and emerged from the depths of the Dwemer fortress at Red Mountain into the Heart Chamber. Dagoth Ur then ritually bound himself and his brethren as heartwights in a ritual of his own devising. The first stages of the construction of the Second Numidium, which had been conceived by Dagoth Ur during his long sleep, were begun by heartwights and atronach constructs in a chamber near the Heart of Lorkhan. Dagoth Ur decided that keeping the Second Numidium project a secret from Almalexia and the rest of the Tribunal was a high priority.

*"Your death will end this prophecy and unite my people again under one god, one faith, one rule by my divine law. The puppet king will lay down his arms and bow to my will. Those who do not yield will be destroyed."*
―Almalexia[src]
Almalexia, accompanied by Vivec the Poet and Sotha Sil, arrived at Red Mountain for their annual ritual bathing in the Heart of Lorkhan's power. Dagoth Ur and his ash vampire kin ambushed Almalexia and the rest of the Tribunal in the Heart Chamber. Almalexia, Vivec, and Sotha Sil were driven away, and were prevented from restoring their god-like powers with Kagrenac's Tools at the Heart of Lorkhan. Almalexia led several Tribunal Temple campaigns in assaults on Red Mountain. The Tribunal and their forces sought to force access to the Heart Chamber, but were repeatedly driven back by Dagoth Ur's minions.

While Almalexia, Vivec, and Sotha Sil were creating a treaty with the Septim Empire of Cyrodiil that would allow the Dunmer to retain their ancient culture, customs, and institutions even though they were now a part of the Septim Empire, a House Dagoth campaign reoccupied Kogoruhn under the command of Dagoth Uthol and fortified it as an advance base for Sixth House operations. The powers of Dagoth Ur made blight storms both more frequent and widespread. House Dagoth also began to spread the Corprus in the regions directly around their base at Red Mountain. Tribunal forces discovered Sixth House bases near Gnaar Mok and in the waterfront areas of Vivec City. Sixth House operatives began to exploit smuggler organizations and communications to spread their influence among victims unbalanced by Dagoth Ur's dream sendings.

Almalexia slowly became insane as her power kept draining, which resulted in her ceasing communication with the rest of the Tribunal and even her own people. This change resulted in Almalexia turning into a completely different person, from once being compassionate and loving, into a madwoman who became obsessed with gaining power for herself while caring very little for her people. She had plans to unite all of her people under one faith and one rule, as the one true god of the Dunmer. In 3E 427, Almalexia ended up killing Sotha Sil and unleashed his clockwork contraptions to attack her own city Mournhold in order to frame her old friend and lure the Nerevarine, the reincarnation of her husband, to Clockwork City, where she would try to kill him too. It ended in her death at the hands of the Nerevarine and later being renamed as a saint rather than a god.

### Legacy as Saint Almalexia

Initially, no one believed the Nerevarine when they told them about Almalexia and Sotha Sil's deaths, other than Helseth Hlaalu, Barenziah, and Vivec. Her body was retrieved by Vivec, who interred her and Sotha Sil in the proper Velothi fashion. In 3E 433, most of the Redoran and the Temple believed that Almalexia still lived and considered it heretical to suggest otherwise.

The worship of Almalexia ceased as the Dissident Priests took control of the Tribunal Temple and propagated their doctrine of Reclamations, according to which, Boethiah should once again be worshipped instead of Almalexia. Instead, she was redesignated to just a saint in the New Temple religion alongside Vivec and Sotha Sil, similarly to Nerevar, Felms or later, Jiub. She was believed to be either dead or have disappeared by the citizens of Morrowind.

In the Fourth and Fifth Eras, cults dedicated to worshiping Almalexia were still active, including one headquartered in a cave on Solstheim called Ashfall's Tear.

## Gallery

Almalexia as she appears in *The Elder Scrolls III: Tribunal*TESIII Concept Almalexia.pngAlmalexia in *The Elder Scrolls: Legends*Almalexia's card art in *The Elder Scrolls: Legends*
## Appearances

* *The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard* (mentioned only)
* *The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind* (mentioned only)
	+ *The Elder Scrolls III: Tribunal*
* *The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion* (mentioned only)
* *The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim* (mentioned only)
	+ *The Elder Scrolls V: Dragonborn* (mentioned only)
* *The Elder Scrolls Online*
	+ Template:Clockwork City (mentioned only)
	+ Template:Deadlands (mentioned only)
* *The Elder Scrolls: Legends* Template:RtCC

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Events in *Tribunal*
2. ↑ Events of *Online*
3. ↑ *36 Lessons of Vivec, Sermon 36*
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *The Living Gods*
5. ↑ Events of *Morrowind*
6. ↑ *The Cantatas of Vivec*
7. ↑ *War of the First Council*
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 *The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind* - Dialogue with Vivec
9. ↑ 9.00 9.01 9.02 9.03 9.04 9.05 9.06 9.07 9.08 9.09 9.10 9.11 *The Battle of Red Mountain*
10. ↑ *The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind* - dialogue with Plitinius Mero
11. ↑ *The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind* - dialogue with Effe-Tei
12. ↑ *Pocket Guide to the Empire, First Edition: Morrowind* - Imperial Geographic Society
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 *2920, vol 10 - Frostfall*
14. ↑ Dialogue of Tholer Saryoni during "Ebony Mail"
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 *Nerevar at Red Mountain*
16. ↑ *2920, vol 01 - Morning Star*
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 *2920, vol 11 - Sun's Dusk*
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 18.6 18.7 18.8 18.9 *Dagoth Ur's Plans*
19. ↑ Dialogue with Vivec in *The Elder Scrolls III: Tribunal*
20. ↑ Dialogue with Mehra Helas
21. ↑ Dialogue with Salas Valor
22. ↑ Dialogue with Almalexia in *The Elder Scrolls III: Tribunal*
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 *The Reclamations*
24. ↑ Conversations between Elder Othreloth and Galdrus Hlervu
25. ↑ *Hand Indobar's Journal*

**Notice**: The following are unlicensed references. They are not copyrighted by a ZeniMax Media company, but can still be considered part of *The Elder Scrolls* lore and are included for completeness.
1. ↑ *Michael Kirkbride's Posts: Who was the most powerful Tribunal god?*
2. ↑ *Michael Kirkbride's Posts: On Vivec and Morrowind*
3. ↑ *Loranna's RP*