Aerel I Arana

**Aerel I Arana**, known as **the Gryphon**, was a member of House Arana and the first King of the Summerset Isles. He was the first child of Naelor Arana and Helara Errinorne. After the fall of the Ayleid Empire, and the death of his father and grandfather, it was Aerel who rallied what was left of his people to conquer the distant shores of the Summerset Archipelago, where they would unite the five kingdoms of the land into a single realm and rule as their kings from atop Alinor's Marble Throne.

## Appearance and Character

Aerel was tall, broad-shouldered, and powerful in appearance, with blue eyes and short-cut silver hair. He was very charismatic and commanding. During his conquest of the Summerset Archipelago he typically wore semi-plated Ayleid steel armour and wielded Silverlight, a bastard sword made of Ayleid steel. After taking Shimmerene during his conquest, he donned his grandfather's Ayleid crown as his own. It had a semi-intricate design, extending tightly over the top of the head in five bands and connecting in the back. The crown itself was made of Ayleid steel infused with a golden alloy, making the crown appear a dark gold.

Aerel was seen as an enigma. He was a solitary person who's only friend was his sister-wife Alyssare. He was a great warrior who only rode his gryphon, Nereon, for battle or travel but never entered tourneys, instead fighting only when it was necessary. Aerel remained faithful to his sister Alyssare and occasionally would leave governance in her hands. He was harsh to those whom defied him, and generous to those that bent the knee.

Aerel was not considered to have had a particularly high opinion of the Altmer he ruled over, insisting that pure Ayleid blood and cultural practices be maintained with his children.

## History

### Early Life

Aerel was born to Prince Naelor Arana and Helara Errinorne on the Stepstone Isles, ex-colonies of the fallen Ayleid Empire that are part of the Summerset Archipelago. He had two younger sisters, Alyssare and Rhaethen.

Aerel trained in the dark arts, learning coldfire magic, and in the ways of the sword, though the former held his preference. After his father's death in 1E 365 he donned scaled Ayleid steel armour, which fit Aerel's style of combat. The armour was made of Ayleid steel mixed with gold alloy to turn the metal plating a dark gold colour. The intricate metal plating did not cover the entire body, the rest of which was covered by complex Ayleid leatherwork and black Ayleid-woven cloth, turning the suit of armour into a hybrid of heavy plate and cloth robes.

### Life in the Valenwood

While Aerel's grandfather spent time building new homes and structures for the Ayleid people, Aerel worked with his father Naelor in leading them, providing the refugees with a semblance of governance in the wilds of Valenwood. The most important task for Aerel was regulating the large flow of Ayleid refugees that found their way to Valenwood from across the Empire's former territories.

Not a single Ayleid was turned away, but organising the newcomers required much administrative work, and with his grandfather indisposed, such responsibility often fell to Aerel and his father. This constant work throughout the century that the Aranas stayed in Valenwood gave him a deep and meaningful connection to the Ayleid population his father de-facto ruled over, making Aerel well-liked by those he administered.

In the year 1E 351 Aerel and his sister Alyssare wed with the blessing of their father and grandfather. Sibling marriage was common among the nobility of the Ayleid Empire, and for the Aranas it was more important than ever to keep their bloodline pure given the fading of the Ayleid people across Tamriel.

Aerel's first child was conceived the day of his wedding after the bedding ceremony. The child was born later the same year in 1E 351, and was named Daethen.

### King Anumaril's Death

In the year 365 of the First Era, Aerel's grandfather set in motion his plan to transform the Valenwood into a permanent home for the Ayleid people. This consisted of using his remaining fragment from the Staff of Towers to transform the walking Elden Tree into a new White-Gold Tower.

Ultimately Anumaril succeeded only in grounding the walking tree, turning it's core, the Perchance Acorn, into a Definite Acorn. This permanently prevented the walking Elden Tree from moving any longer, planting it in the ground of the Bosmeri capital, Elden Root, which it had been standing over at the time. However, further attempts by Anumaril to transform the tree into a new tower and to turn the whole Valenwood into a new Ayleid homeland failed due to a fundamental incompatibility between the Ayleid magics that Anumaril wielded, and the Bosmeri magics that permeated the Valenwood.

Upon realising his failure, King Anumaril turned himself into an Orrery below Elden Root. Anumaril was proclaimed dead almost immediately after his transformation by King Faldan I Camoran, the Bosmeri king who had unwittingly allowed Anumaril to attempt his magic. In a rage King Faldan siezed Aerel's father Naelor, who had accompanied Anumaril not knowing of his plans, and promptly had him beheaded. Naelor's severed head was sent back to Aerel on the Stepstone Isles as a warning never to re-enter Valenwood. Henceforth there would be a strained relationship between the Bosmer and Ayleid refugees.

### Rallying of the Ayleids

Despite his inability to return to the great forest, leadership of the remaining Ayleids in Valenwood fell to Aerel, who promptly vanished, for after several days of isolation Aerel mounted his gryphon Nereon and dissapeared into the skies for a fortnight. During that time, Aerel flew westward to the distant shores of the Summerset Archipelago. He flew over ever valley, every river and glade, over every canyon and cliff that he could find. After fourteen days Aerel returned to the Stepstone Isles and to his sisters and son. Upon his return he described the land he had seen to a cartographer in his grandfather Faelian's court. From his descriptions was drawn a vast map from which Aerel revealed his intentions. Rather than turning their gaze to the broken empire and withering continent in the east, the Aranas would turn to the west, towards the Summerset Archipelago which was divided into two kingdoms: the Kingdom of Auridon, and the Kingdom of Summer and Sea, the latter of which had just recently concluded a bloody war of succession, leaving them vulnerable.

Raven after raven was sent back to the Ayleid settlements in Valenwood, calling upon them to take up their tools and begin forging armour, weapons, and ships. During these visits Aerel brought to the Stepstones the greatest Ayleid smith in Valenwood, and commissioned from him an exquisite bastard sword. It would take the smith six months of constant labour to finish the blade. Upon its completion Aerel named it Telalatta, or 'Silverlight' in the Common Tongue, which would be taken by Aerel as an ancestral weapon of his House, to be passed on through the generations.

Near the end of 1E 365, Aerel once more sent ravens to all the Ayleid settlements of Valenwood, bidding them to abandon their former homes, take up arms, and join him in carving a new home for themselves in distant lands. Many joined Aerel, travelling long distances to join him at a location on the southwestern shores of Valenwood. Upon those shores rested hundreds of newly crafted ships; Aerel's new armada.

Over the coming weeks more and more hosts would arrive and unite into a single great company under Aerel's command. When it became clear no more would come, Aerel felt satisfied with his amassed army and had them join him on the ships, where they would sail to the Summerset Archipelago and claim for themselves a lasting legacy.

### Aerel's Invasion

With the Summerset Archipelago split into two competing kingdoms, Aerel fixed his gaze upon the smaller of the two, knowing that the other would be too preocupied in recovering from its own war of succession to intervene or offer assistance.

In 1E 366 Aerel landed with his army on the eastern shores of central Auridon, where he ordered the swift construction of a wooden fortress that would serve as a foothold for his army in the vast new land. As he oversaw the fort's construction, his sisters Alyssare and Rhaethen took to the skies with their gryphons and flew to the nearby castles of Houses Silinor and Highre, which quickly surrendered to them, adding their strength to the Aranas. Aerel also took his gryphon and three thousand of his soldiers southward of his makeshift fortress to defend against a united attack from Houses Loreian and Joriel. Victory was secured and Aerel allowed the two commanding lords to bend the knee.

Aerel took the majority of his army and began his long march northward across the vast island-kingdom of Auridon. With him he took his sister-wife Alyssare, though left behind his youngest sister Rhaethen to defend their makeshift fort with several thousand men. In his march Aerel encountered many settlements; those that would not bend the knee were slain, and their castles and lands were granted to others who would remain loyal. After arriving within reach of the island's capital of Firsthold, King Sandur III Rilis had amassed a force and had intended on battling Aerel. However, Aerel sent a messenger bidding King Sandur III Rilis to withdraw from his city and swear fealty to the new monarch of the archipelago. Seeing that half his kingdom had been conquered, and knowing he could not contend with the might of two gryphons, Sandur met with Aerel and removed his crown, bending the knee to his new king. As a reward he was named the first Lord of Firsthold and High Kinlord of Auridon, to rule Auridon in the king's name for all time. With Auridon under Aerel's banner he turned his eye upon the Kingdom of Summer and Sea, which he knew to be weakened by their recent war of succession.

Aerel split his army into two, half for Rhaethen and half for himself and Alyssare. Rhaethen departed for Sunhold, and Aerel for Shimmerene. Upon their approach to Shimmerene, Aerel allowed for Lord Castien Liaren to bend the knee. Unbeknownst to him, seven days prior Castien had heard of his army's approach, and being a holy man he consulted with the High Aldarch who prayed for eight days and eight nights, ultimately advising Castien to open the city to the Aranas lest the it be destroyed in a deluge of fire and blood. The city was opened and House Liaren pledged itself to House Arana. In the Monastery of Serene Harmony the High Aldarch crowned Aerel the King of All the Isles, which would eventually be modified after Aerel's second coronation to King of the Summerset Isles. Meanwhile, Rhaethen met the Caidans in battle outside Sunhold, slaying Lord Ayred Caidan. As a reward for yielding Sunhold without a fight, Erlan Torelle was eventually named the new Lord of Cloudrest and High Kinlord of the Summerlands.

After Shimmere, Aerel and Alyssare marched to Cloudrest and met with Lord Saleth Harlore, who refused to bend the knee. The next morning Aerel and Alyssare flew their gryphons, Nereon and Rhea, and using both their mounts and coldfire magic they razed the Aerie, Cloudrest's castle, in the process killing every member of House Harlore. After the slaughter, Lady Syllia Heleyn was named the new Lady of Cloudrest and High Kinlady of the Vale, as she had led an uprising in the northern Vale against the Harlores in favour of the Aranas, keeping a great portion of the Vale's force occupied and unable to impede the Aranas in the south.

With Cloudrest on side, the last two regions Aerel needed to submit to secure victory was the Norlands, ruled by Lady Erandel Andorin, and the Crownlands, ruled directly by the King of Summer. The three Arana siblings met once more and took their conjoined forces to Lillandril. They had vast amounts of lands under their control, but they were disorganised and under new rulership, making them unreliable, resulting in Aerel opting to use his original Ayleid force rather than use any Altmer men. On his way to Lillandril, Aerel was beset by a force from the south, led by King Coreriil III Arana himself. The sudden attack nearly broke Aerel's host, but the Arana gryphons along with potent coldfire magic won them the day, and Coreriil's host was forced to withdraw southwards. Aerel's severely depleated host continued their march towards Lillandril.

Upon arriving near the city of Lillandril, Aerel was greeted with a vast and well-equipped army camped outside the city walls that could easily crush his force, and a lone horseman bearing a peace-flag and a message from Lady Erandel Andorin of Lillandril, who wanted to meet privately with the new 'King of All the Isles'. A private meeting was arranged in Erandel's camp that lasted two hours, the result of which was Lillandril pledging its full support to Aerel and his cause, and a marriage between Aerel's son Daethen and Erandel's daughter Linaarie, which was carried through within the very same encampment the following day. With the full force of Lillandril behind him, Aerel marched upon Alinor.

The King of Summer, Coreriil III Arana was ready for Aerel's approach, and had amassed his army outside the city, fully prepared for a battle. Aerel's force dwarfed the king's, and as soon as they were within sight, the Ayleid conqueror amassed his force and ordered an immediate assault. With a great host at his command, and three gryphons laying waste to his enemy's army, Aerel was victorious, his army slaying the king and allowing any who would join him to bend the knee.

With the king felled, Aerel had his forces march to the gates of Alinor and wait, but Aerel was not among them, for he had taken Nereon and flown high into the clouds and then descended silently upon the castle of Eldarhall, the seat of the King of Summer in Alinor. Legend says that it was there that he met with the young crown prince, Earron Arana. After less than an hour the young Prince commanded Alinor's garrison to open the gates and surrender the city, thereby securing Aerel's victory.

#### Aerel's Coronation

After the surrender of Alinor, the conquest was complete and the Summerset Archipelago was united under Aerel's banner. A coronation ceremony was swifly arranged to solidify his legitimacy in his new realm. The organisers included the Holy Convent and the Order of the Sapiarchs, who joined together in a symbolic endorsement of their new Arana king.

Aerel was proclaimed Aerel Arana the First of His Name, King of the Summerset Isles and Lord of the White City in the year 1E 368, two years after his conquest began. In addition to the knew title 'King of the Summerset Isles', Aerel himself took the title 'Protector of the Isles' to denote the paternal role he would take regarding the archipelago henceforth, and to endear him to the native Altmer.

### Early Reign

After being annointed by the High Aldarch and the Grandsapiarch of the College, Aerel chose Eldarhall to be his family's seat. The Aranas who had once called the vast castle home were stripped of their rights and titles to the castle and were made into stewards of the Marble Throne, living and serving in Eldarhall. Additionally, the former Prince Earron was wed to Aerel's sister, Rhaethen Arana to further secure the legitimacy of his dynasty and ensure there would be no immediate danger from the Arana line. Soon after his coronation, Aerel also created the title Warden of the Isles, a title of great prestige and power, and gave it to Lady Erandel Andorin of Lillandril.

Aerel went on several royal progresses on gryphonback, visiting the many cities and holds of his realm and keeping in touch with his vassals and subjects.

Aerel also focused much attention on the construction of Gryphonrock, the place of his original landing. The wooden fort was expanded and built up as a large fortress complex. So much of Aerel's time was spent either going on royal progresses or overseeing the construction of Gryphonrock that he would often leave the actual ruling of the Isles to his sister-wife, Alyssare.

### Further Reign

The remainder of Aerel's reign were peaceful, so much so that commoners took to calling it the Gryphon's Peace, and greatly liked their monarch for keeping the realm stable. Aerel also continued to go on his royal progresses on gryphonback, ensuring stability and consolidating power.

During his rule he treaded carefully with the Church so they would not oppose him. Aerel agreed to build a temple in Gryphonrock, promising an even larger one in the future, though the promised larger temple was never built.

At a certain point near the end of his life, royal progresses continued to be made, but were done so on his behalf by his son Daethen, so that the ageing king could remain in Eldarhall.

### The Sons of the Gryphon

Aerel became a father years before he became king of the Summerset Isles, when his son Daethen was born in Valenwood. However, another son was born to him post-invasion in the year 1E 399: Viseriel. Aerel's second son was sickly as a child and many thought he would die young, some even daring to whisper that the Aranas, specifically Alyssare, were cursed and recieving divine punishment from the gods for their sins. However, when Viseriel bonded with his gryphon X his health recovered and the rumours died.

Aerel also had a daughter, Vaelthil, but she died a sickly infant, an event which traumatised Aerel's sister-wife Alyssare. To distract herself from her grief, the Queen took up several hobbies, though the one that stuck with her was gardening. Sometime in the second half of Aerel's reign, Alyssare visited Gryphonrock with the best gardeners of the archipelago and arranged the building of what is known today as Alyssare's Gardens.

### Death

Aerel died of heart complications associated with old age in the year 437 of the First Era. His death was accompanied by a two month-long funeral procsession which brought his corpse from Alinor to the Monastery of Serene Harmony in Shimmerene, where he was enterred. This would come to be a tradition for all monarchs of the Summerset Isles.

Aerel's death was the culmination of much fear and uncertainty about what would become of Aerel's realm following his death. Aerel's son and heir, Daethen, was crowned King Daethen I and put much of the uncertainty to rest with his firm but steady hand. However, such stability would not endure as three years into Daethen's reign the Church Uprising would errupt, plunging the realm back into chaos and war.

## Legacy

Although Aerel's reign had largely been peaceful, many of his subjects desired to go back to the days of old, when there were still five Altmeri kingdoms. Others wanted vengeance for the deaths of their loved ones in wars, and yet others saw the Aranas as abominations. Because of this, the tumultuous reigns of both Daethen I and Anumaril I were filled with battles and chaos.

Because Aerel had wielded Silverlight, possession of the Ayleid steel sword has been seen as granting legitimacy to its subsequent holders.

Gryphonrock, the fortress-home of House Arana, began construction under Aerel's reign and is located on Wasten Coraldale in Oleander Bay.

## Quotes by Aerel

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> Take one last look at your gleaming city. When the sun sets, your line shall end.
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> —Aerel to Saleth V Harlore
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## Quotes about Aerel

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> Forgive me Your Grace, but your ancestor Aerel the Gryphon didn't seize the Isles because they were his right—he had no right to them. He seized them because he could.
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> —X to Ayrenn I about her ancestor Aerel the Gryphon
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> Aerel the Gryphon brought fire and blood to the Isles, but afterward he gave them peace, prosperity, and justice.
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> —X to X
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> On the fourteenth day, a cloud of ravens burst from the Steps to bring Aerel's word to the Five Kingdoms of the Isles. To the five kings they flew, to the College of Lillandril, to lords both great and small. All carried the same message: from this day forth there would be but one king on the Isles. Those who bent the knee to Aerel of House Arana would keep their lands and titles. Those who took up arms against him would be thrown down, humbled, and destroyed.
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> —writings of Encainar
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