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Criou página com: '<includeonly><noinclude>**Vivec**, ou **Vehk**, Poeta-Guerreiro dos Dunmer e **vi** do *Almsivi*, foi o Deus-Rei Guardião da terra sagrada de Vvardenfell, e eterno-vigilante...'
<includeonly><noinclude>**Vivec**, ou **Vehk**, Poeta-Guerreiro dos Dunmer e **vi** do *Almsivi*, foi o Deus-Rei Guardião da terra sagrada de Vvardenfell, e eterno-vigilante e protetor dos deuses maus da *Montanha Vermelha*, o portão para o inferno. Apesar de alguns aspectos de seu passado serem embaçados pelo tempo, e perguntas cercam algumas de suas escolhas controversas, Vivec sempre representou o espírito e dualidade do povo Dunmer, o que é refletido por sua aparência meio-Dunmer meio-Chimer.</includeonly></noinclude><noinclude>{{Lore Gods Trail}}
{{featured article}}</noinclude>{{#ifeq:{{NAMESPACE}}|Morrowind||[[File:MW-creature-Vivec.jpg|thumb|right|Lord Vivec in his temple]]}}
:''"Defy me, and you will know what it is to stand against a god."'' — [[Lore:The Battle of Red Mountain|Vivec]]
{{Lore Link|Vivec (god)|Vivec}}, or '''Vehk''', Warrior-Poet deity of the {{Lore Link|Dunmer}} and "vi" in the [[Lore:Almsivi|Almsivi]], {{Tense|was}} the Guardian God-King of the holy land of {{Lore Link|Vvardenfell}}, and ever-vigilant protector from the dark gods of the [[Lore:Red Mountain|Red Mountain]], the gate to hell.{{ref|name=VAM|{{Cite book|Vivec and Mephala}}}} Though some aspects of his past are blurred by time and questions surround some of his more controversial choices, Vivec has always represented the spirit and duality of the Dunmer people, which is reflected in his half-Dunmer, half-{{Lore Link|Chimer}} appearance. For hundreds if not thousands of years, he mostly resided at the pinnacle of his Palace in {{Lore Link|Vivec (city)|Vivec}}, his capital, which {{Tense|was}} visited by hundreds of pilgrims and tourists daily.{{ref|name=GTVI|{{Cite book|Guide to Vivec}}}}{{ref|name=GTVV|{{Cite book|Guide to Vvardenfell}}}} He honorably guided and protected the Dunmer for thousands of years until his loss of divinity and disappearance near the end of the {{Lore Link|Third Era}}, a sacrifice he not only accepted, but helped to bring about.{{ref|name=PTDDU|{{Cite book|Plan to Defeat Dagoth Ur}}}} Following his disappearance and the collapse of the Tribunal Temple, he was renamed '''Saint Vivec''' by the {{Lore Link|New Temple}} and declared a member of the False Tribunal.{{ref|name=TR|{{Cite book|The Reclamations}}}}<noinclude>
==History==
[[File:MW-concept-AnumidumBW.jpg|thumb|left|A sketch of Numidium, the giant mechanical god of the Dwemer, from [[Lore:Divine Metaphysics|Divine Metaphysics]]]]
Much of Vivec's early life is muddled by suppositions, metaphor, and time, but it can be assumed he grew up in {{Lore Link|Resdayn}}, now called Morrowind,{{ref|name=PGE1M|{{Cite book|PGE|1|Morrowind}}}} during the {{Lore Link|First Era}}.{{ref|name=LOV|{{Cite book|The 36 Lessons of Vivec}}}} Eventually, he would become the junior councilor (sometimes called a general) to Lord {{Lore Link|Nerevar|Indoril Nerevar}}, the Hortator (the military commander and representative of the united Chimer people), under whom all of the {{Lore Link|Great Houses}} and {{Lore Link|Ashlanders|Ashlander}} Tribes were united.{{ref|name=TBORM|{{Cite book|The Battle of Red Mountain}}}}{{ref|name=NARM|{{Cite book|Nerevar at Red Mountain}}}} Vivec's fellow councilors were [[Lore:Almalexia (god)|Almalexia]], Nerevar's Queen, and {{Lore Link|Sotha Sil}}, Nerevar's trusted and wise friend.{{ref|name=NARM}} Nerevar had established a fragile peace with the ruler of the {{Lore Link|Dwemer}}, {{Lore Link|Dumac|Dumac Dwarfking}}, during their united stand against a {{Lore Link|Nord}}ic invasion, and thereby united all the people of the province for the first time in recorded history under what was called the First Council.{{ref|name=NARM}}{{ref|name=PGE3M|{{Cite book|PGE|3|Morrowind}}}} Vivec and Nerevar's other advisers warned him that the peace could not last, a warning that unfortunately proved well-justified.{{ref|name=NARM}}
After learning of a Dwemer plan to construct a giant {{Lore Link|Numidium|mechanical god}} powered by their discovery, the {{Lore Link|Heart of Lorkhan}}, and a subsequent falling out between Nerevar and his friend Dumac, Nerevar led the Chimer people to {{Lore Link|War of the First Council|war}} against the Dwemer, a war which culminated in the {{Lore Link|Battle of Red Mountain}} around {{Year|1E 700}}.{{ref|name=PGE1Ham|{{Cite book|PGE|1|Hammerfell}}}} The several conflicting accounts on the events surrounding the battle paint Vivec in drastically different lights: he is usually seen as a loyal soldier and servant, and sometimes accused of being a murderer and traitor.{{ref|name=VAM}}{{ref|name=NARM}}{{ref|name=PGE3M}} Vivec's own account is in between: he certainly didn't murder Nerevar or betray him in life, but later, his ambition and drive to help the Chimer would lead him to break a most sacred oath.{{ref|name=TBORM}} What is agreed is that while Vivec and the other generals commanded the attack on Dwemeri forces outside the mountain, Nerevar took a small party in to the mountain, where they fought Dumac and his guard, driving Kagrenac, the Chief Architect who had first unlocked the mysteries of the Heart, to desperately attempt to use his Tools on it, a grave mistake that caused the Dwemer on {{Lore Link|Nirn}} to disappear.{{ref|name=TBORM}}
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Shortly after the Battle of Red Mountain, the Tribunal convinced Nerevar that Kagrenac's Tools should be preserved for study in case the Dwemer returned, which he agreed to upon one condition: that they all swear a "solemn oath upon {{Lore Link|Azura}} that the tools would never be used in the profane manner that the Dwemer had intended" (i.e., to steal divine power from the Heart of Lorkhan).{{ref|name=TBORM}}
The Tribunal took the oath, then accompanied Nerevar to the Red Mountain, where he had left the Tools under the protection of {{Lore Link|Dagoth Ur|Voryn Dagoth}}, the High Councilor of House Dagoth.{{ref|name=NARM}} Unfortunately, Voryn had been left with the tools for too long: unbeknownst to them at the time, he had already experimented with the Tools and the Heart, likely becoming deranged by the experience.{{ref|name=TBORM}} He refused to relinquish the Tools, and he and his guards fought with Nerevar and his guards (this treason was ostensibly the reason why House Dagoth was eradicated immediately thereafter).{{ref|name=TBORM}}{{ref|name=MFDU|{{Cite book|Message from Dagoth Ur}}}} Dagoth Ur, as Voryn began calling himself, was driven off and presumed to be dead, but Nerevar was mortally wounded in the attack.{{ref|name=TBORM}} With his dying wish, Nerevar bade his friends to follow their own advice and never use the Tools.{{ref|name=TBORM}}
[[File:MW-creature-Heart of Lorkhan.jpg|thumb|right|The Heart of Lorkhan]]
All accounts generally agree on the outcome of the so-called War of the First Council: the Dwemer were not only defeated, but disappeared entirely, {{Lore Link|House Dagoth}} was dismantled and absorbed by the other Great Houses of Morrowind, and Lord Nerevar was slain.{{ref|name=PGE3M}} But as tremendous as these changes were, the most significant results were yet to come.{{ref|name=PGE3M}}
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===Achieving Divinity and Azura's Curse===
With Nerevar gone, the Tribunal came to power among the Chimer.{{ref|name=TWOTFC|{{Cite book|The War of the First Council}}}} Several years later, Sotha Sil approached Vivec and Almalexia with startling news: he had learned how to safely use the Tools to take divine power from the Heart, and he wished the three of them to do so.{{ref|name=TBORM}} At first, Vivec had misgivings, but a stirring, idealistic speech from Sotha convinced both him and Almalexia that together they could be the gods Resdayn deserved.{{ref|name=TBORM}} Convinced, the three defied Nerevar's dying wish and used the Tools of [[Lore:Kagrenac|Kagrenac]] on the Heart, drawing its power for themselves.{{ref|name=KT|{{Cite book|Kagrenac's Tools (book)}}}}
As soon as they did so, {{Lore Link|Azura}} appeared, the Daedric patron of the Chimer, and cursed them, saying that "her champion, Nerevar, true to his oath, would return to punish [the Tribunal and] make sure such profane knowledge might never again be used to mock and defy the will of the gods".{{ref|name=TBORM}} When Sotha Sil dismissed her "chiding", all of the Chimer were changed into Dunmer, including the Tribunal.{{ref|name=TBORM}} Azura assured them that this was the fate they chose, and all their kind would share in their fate "from now to the end of time".{{ref|name=TBORM}}
[[File:MW-book-Vivec Region.jpg|thumb|right|A map of the City of Vivec]]
===The Golden Age of the Tribunal===
The Dunmer were, of course, startled to see how their skin had changed from the color of pale gold into a dark ashen grey, and how their eyes had become red, but Sotha Sil assured them it was a blessing.{{ref|name=TBORM}} Few knew or understood what had happened to them or the transformation of these new living gods, but most came to accept them and worship them as their new deities.{{ref|name=TBORM}} They incorporated the existing worship of Daedra and ancestors into a new {{Lore Link|Tribunal Temple}}, and each founded large cities bearing their own names, to act as their personal capitals (Vivec's was on the southern coast of {{Lore Link|Vvardenfell}}, and was the largest on the whole island).{{ref|name=GTVV}}{{ref|name=DUP|{{Cite book|Dagoth Ur's Plans}}}} As the Tribunal harnessed their powers, they apparently learned, among a great many other things, how to remove the appearance of the curse upon themselves. Vivec chose to appear as both Chimer and Dunmer. But one group never accepted the Tribunal: the Ashlanders. The contention that the Tribunal murdered Nerevar is derived from Ashlander oral tradition, and was flatly contradicted by all orthodox Tribunal Temple traditions.{{ref|name=VAM}} Nonetheless, the tale became firmly established in the Dunmer imagination, as if to say, "Of course Vivec would never have conspired to murder Lord Nerevar, but it happened so long ago... who can know the truth?"{{ref|name=VAM}} Vivec denied it if asked, and attributed the story to {{Lore Link|Alandro Sul}}, a disgruntled Ashlander who served as Nerevar's shield-companion.
From their inception as deities around 1E 700 to the latter half of the {{Lore Link|Second Era}}, the Tribunal flourished and exhibited great heroism with their divinity, but it was Vivec who exhibited the greatest heroism and who became the most popular with the people.{{ref|name=VAM}} Vivec distinguished himself as an unstoppable force and shrewd commander in the {{Lore Link|Four-Score War}}, which started in {{Year|1E 2840}} and lasted until the end of the First Era in {{Year|2920}}, which he helped finally bring to an end with a de facto victory for the Dunmer using his diplomatic prowess.{{ref|name=2920L|{{Cite book|2920, The Last Year of the First Era}}}} He saved the Dunmer people from certain death on numerous occasions, such as when he flooded a small part of [[Lore:Morrowind|Morrowind]] and killed the {{Lore Link|Akaviri}} invaders around {{Year|2E 572}} (in fact, the Tribunal repelled at least two Akaviri invasions from Morrowind).{{ref|name=PGE3M}} Possessed with an unmatched, unique perspective on the course of history, Vivec was able to foresee the meteoric rise of General [[Lore:Talos|Talos]] to heavenly and earthly prominence, eventually leading him to cease hostile resistance and ally himself with [[Lore:Cyrodiil|Cyrodiil]] (though he and the other Tribunes ensured Morrowind maintained its autonomy).{{ref|name=PGE3M}}
He was one of the more active members of the Tribunal, prolific both in poetry and in the writing of his own versions of history and philosophy. As well as playing a role as a political leader (to this end he created the {{Lore Link|Buoyant Armiger}}s, a personal military order who exemplify his best traits), he was and is still considered a final authority on many esoteric and metaphysical concepts, such as the means of attaining divinity - the Walking Ways.
===Teachings===
[[File:MW-banner-Temple.png|thumb|left|The banner of the Tribunal Temple]][[File:MW-place-Palace of Vivec.jpg|thumb|right|The Palace of Vivec]]
Conventional teachings of the Tribunal Temple held that the Tribunal "achieved divine substance through superhuman discipline and virtue and supernatural wisdom and insight. Like loving ancestors, they guard and counsel their followers".{{ref|name=FOTT|{{Cite book|Fellowship of the Temple}}}} Obviously, this account conflicts greatly with the truth, so the truth was suppressed within Morrowind and {{Lore Link|Dissident Priest|dissidents}} persecuted, at times with Vivec's direct involvement, though the knowledge was never fully extinguished.{{ref|name=TBORM}} The Temple preached that each Tribune was "anticipated" by a "Good Daedra", one of the Daedra who acknowledged and accepted the Tribunal as the protectors of the Dunmer people (thereby satisfying theological concerns regarding the Tribunal's non-existence before their mortal lives), who became known as the Anticipations.{{ref|name=VAM}}{{ref|name=PGE3M}}{{ref|name=TA|{{Cite book|The Anticipations}}}} In the case of Vivec, he was anticipated by {{Lore Link|Mephala}}.{{ref|name=VAM}}
The Dunmer in general did not envision Lord Vivec as a creature of murder, sex, and secrets.{{ref|name=VAM}} Rather, they conceived of Lord Vivec as benevolent king, guardian warrior, poet-artist.{{ref|name=VAM}} But unconsciously, they accepted the notion of darker, hidden currents beneath Vivec's benevolent aspects, as suggested by his association with the ruthless Mephala.{{ref|name=VAM}} Nevertheless, the teachings of the Temple and the teachings of Vivec himself can be summarized as follows: "Your fourfold duties are to: Faith, Family, Masters, and all that is good. Perform holy quests and bring luster to the Temple. Never transgress against your brothers or sisters, and never dishonor your house or your ancestors. Serve and protect the poor and weak, and honor your elders and clan".{{ref|name=FOTT}}{{ref|name=SS|{{Cite book|Saryoni's Sermons|ns=Lore}}}}{{ref|name=LOTS|{{Cite book|Lives of the Saints}}}}{{ref|name=TPP|{{Cite book|The Pilgrim's Path}}}}{{ref|name=TCOP|{{Cite book|The Consolations of Prayer}}}}
Vivec sought to preserve Tribunal authority and legitimacy, especially his own. In Sermon Four of his Lessons (discussed more below), he is confronted by a group who believed in coincidence above all else, and he "knew that to retain his divinity that he must make a strong argument against luck",{{ref|name=LOV}} evidencing his need to advance his legitimacy as a deity at all times.
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===The Return of Dagoth Ur===
[[File:MW-creature-Dagoth Ur.jpg|thumb|right|Dagoth Ur, the Sharmat]]
The Tribunal visited the Red Mountain annually to perform a ritual bath replenishing their divine power.{{ref|name=DUP}} As they approached the slopes of the mountain to do so in {{Year|2E 882}}, they finally discovered the oversight that would end the world as they knew it: Dagoth Ur was still alive, even more powerful than them, and he was awake.{{ref|name=DUP}} He and his minions ambushed them and drove them away, decisively cutting off their access to the Heart of Lorkhan.{{ref|name=DUP}} For over four hundred years, Dagoth Ur's forces gained more territory and he spread his influence, only barely kept in check by the {{Lore Link|Ghostfence}} the Tribunal erected and maintained in an attempt to bottle him and his demons inside the Red Mountain region.{{ref|name=DUP}} As the Tribunal's influence and power weakened, Morrowind's society became more fragile; for instance, a simple slave revolt went unchecked and became the {{Lore Link|Arnesian War}}.{{ref|name=PGE3M}}
Vivec was the last of the Tribunal to stand against the Sharmat (as he sometimes referred to Dagoth Ur). He took the burden of substantially maintaining the Ghostfence on himself after {{Year|3E 417}}, when Sotha Sil and Almalexia lost two of Kagrenac's Tools to Dagoth Ur's forces. They were even captured, though Vivec heroically rescued them.{{ref|name=DUP}} Even so, he could not recover the Tools, and the impact of the loss on their campaign, and perhaps the humiliation of losing them, caused Vivec's companions to apparently lose hope: Vivec was alone, facing an enemy he knew he could merely stall and never defeat.{{ref|name=TBORM}} In these dark days, with no hope of winning, Vivec set his sights on a slightly different goal: not losing.{{ref|name=MWVivec|[[MW:Vivec (god)|Vivec's]] dialogue in [[MW:Morrowind|Morrowind]].}}
So, even while the Temple persecuted the dissidents for their questions and ideas, he wrote the [[Lore:The 36 Lessons of Vivec|36 Lessons]], primarily to act as a guide for the {{Lore Link|Nerevarine}}, whose exact identity was a mystery but whose coming he realized was a necessity for Dagoth Ur's defeat.{{ref|name=PTDDU}}{{ref|name=LOV}}{{ref|name=TBORM}} The writings are very cryptic, likely both to mask this ulterior motive and to indulge Vivec's love of prose. Many of the tales involve Muatra, Vivec's legendary but mysterious spear.{{ref|name=LOV}} Since the Lessons are open to an incredible amount of speculation and conjecture, interpreting them is best left to individuals. But in these writings, Vivec helped engineer the loss of his godhood, and they demonstrated that he planned from early on to support the Nerevarine as much as he could, though the strain of trying to maintain the Ghostfence would hamper his ability to assist the Nerevarine's campaign.{{ref|name=PTDDU}}{{ref|name=TBORM}}
===The End of the Tribunal===
[[File:MW-place-Vivec Temple.jpg|thumb|right|Baar Dau, suspended above Vivec's Temple Canton]]
The return of Azura's Champion heralded the end of Vivec's divinity: when the Nerevarine destroyed the enchantments on the [[Lore:Heart of Lorkhan|Heart of Lorkhan]] in the Red Mountain, it disappeared, and all those who had stolen power from the Heart lost their divine spark.{{ref|name=PTDDU}} The Nerevarine, finally able to put an end to Dagoth Ur, promptly did so.{{ref|name=Morrowind|The events of [[Morrowind:Morrowind|Morrowind]].}} Vivec's fellow Tribunes also fell. Almalexia secretly went mad and murdered Sotha Sil, then used his creations to attack her own people. The Nerevarine killed her after she laid an ambush in Sotha Sil's Clockwork City.{{ref|name=TE|The events of [[Tribunal:Tribunal|Tribunal]].}}
To the world at large, each Tribune was considered dead or disappeared, including Vivec.{{ref|name=TR}}{{ref|name=PGE3M}} [[Lore:Baar Dau|Baar Dau]], unsupported by his magic, finally fell in {{Year|4E 5}}, destroying the city of Vivec and triggering a chain reaction of natural disasters, notably the eruption of the Red Mountain.{{ref|name=TRY|{{Cite book|The Red Year}}}} The relief effort brought the Dunmer together as a people, but it also weakened them, and it wasn't long before the {{Lore Link|Argonian}} Invasion of mainland Morrowind forced much of the surviving Dunmer population to flee to {{Lore Link|Skyrim}}, the small island of {{Lore Link|Solstheim}}, and dozens of settlements elsewhere.{{ref|name=TR}}{{ref|name=TIF|{{Cite book|The Infernal City|ns=Books}}}}{{ref|name=SOTGQ|{{Cite book|Scourge of the Gray Quarter}}}}{{ref|name=TMFS|{{Cite book|To Milore from Nilara|ns=Dragonborn}}}} And so, Vivec orchestrated an end to the worship of himself: the general devastation the fall of Baar Dau brought to the Dunmer created a wave of disillusionment, and it was the death-knell for the worship of the Tribunal.{{ref|name=TR}}{{ref|name=TRY}}{{ref|name=TMFS}}
No one really knows Vivec's fate, though some have gone so far as to claim that he was "taken" by the Daedra during the {{Lore Link|Oblivion Crisis}}, and others that he was killed by the Nerevarine.{{ref|name=OBRumors|Rumors heard during the {{Lore Link|Oblivion Crisis}}.}} He expected that the Tribunal would no longer be honored as gods by the Dunmer, but as saints and heroes, and that the Temple would return to the original Dunmer faith: the worship of their ancestors and the three good daedra, Azura, Mephala and Boethiah.{{ref|name=MWVivec}} The New Temple would prove him right by re-adopting the worship of the daedra, who came to be called the {{Lore Link|Reclamations}}, and, likely as a political gesture to ease the transition, "Saint Vivec" is still venerated as a great ancestor of the Dunmer.{{ref|name=TR}}
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==See Also==
* For game-specific information, see the [[Morrowind:Morrowind|Morrowind]] article on [[Morrowind:Vivec (god)|Vivec]].
===Books===
* {{Book Link|2920, The Last Year of the First Era}}
* {{Book Link|The 36 Lessons of Vivec}}
* {{Book Link|The Anticipations}}
* {{Book Link|The Battle of Red Mountain}}
* {{Book Link|Dagoth Ur's Plans}}
* {{Book Link|Fellowship of the Temple}}
* {{Book Link|Five Songs of King Wulfharth}}
* {{Book Link|Homilies of Blessed Almalexia}}
* {{Book Link|Kagrenac's Tools (book)}}
* {{Book Link|Nerevar at Red Mountain}}
* {{Book Link|The Pilgrim's Path}}
* {{Book Link|Plan to Defeat Dagoth Ur}}
* '''{{Cite book|PGE|1|Morrowind}}'''
* '''{{Cite book|PGE|3|Morrowind}}'''
* {{Book Link|The Reclamations}}
* {{Book Link|Vivec and Mephala}}
* {{Book Link|The War of the First Council}}
==References==
<references/>
{{Aedra and Daedra}}</noinclude>
{{featured article}}</noinclude>{{#ifeq:{{NAMESPACE}}|Morrowind||[[File:MW-creature-Vivec.jpg|thumb|right|Lord Vivec in his temple]]}}
:''"Defy me, and you will know what it is to stand against a god."'' — [[Lore:The Battle of Red Mountain|Vivec]]
{{Lore Link|Vivec (god)|Vivec}}, or '''Vehk''', Warrior-Poet deity of the {{Lore Link|Dunmer}} and "vi" in the [[Lore:Almsivi|Almsivi]], {{Tense|was}} the Guardian God-King of the holy land of {{Lore Link|Vvardenfell}}, and ever-vigilant protector from the dark gods of the [[Lore:Red Mountain|Red Mountain]], the gate to hell.{{ref|name=VAM|{{Cite book|Vivec and Mephala}}}} Though some aspects of his past are blurred by time and questions surround some of his more controversial choices, Vivec has always represented the spirit and duality of the Dunmer people, which is reflected in his half-Dunmer, half-{{Lore Link|Chimer}} appearance. For hundreds if not thousands of years, he mostly resided at the pinnacle of his Palace in {{Lore Link|Vivec (city)|Vivec}}, his capital, which {{Tense|was}} visited by hundreds of pilgrims and tourists daily.{{ref|name=GTVI|{{Cite book|Guide to Vivec}}}}{{ref|name=GTVV|{{Cite book|Guide to Vvardenfell}}}} He honorably guided and protected the Dunmer for thousands of years until his loss of divinity and disappearance near the end of the {{Lore Link|Third Era}}, a sacrifice he not only accepted, but helped to bring about.{{ref|name=PTDDU|{{Cite book|Plan to Defeat Dagoth Ur}}}} Following his disappearance and the collapse of the Tribunal Temple, he was renamed '''Saint Vivec''' by the {{Lore Link|New Temple}} and declared a member of the False Tribunal.{{ref|name=TR|{{Cite book|The Reclamations}}}}<noinclude>
==History==
[[File:MW-concept-AnumidumBW.jpg|thumb|left|A sketch of Numidium, the giant mechanical god of the Dwemer, from [[Lore:Divine Metaphysics|Divine Metaphysics]]]]
Much of Vivec's early life is muddled by suppositions, metaphor, and time, but it can be assumed he grew up in {{Lore Link|Resdayn}}, now called Morrowind,{{ref|name=PGE1M|{{Cite book|PGE|1|Morrowind}}}} during the {{Lore Link|First Era}}.{{ref|name=LOV|{{Cite book|The 36 Lessons of Vivec}}}} Eventually, he would become the junior councilor (sometimes called a general) to Lord {{Lore Link|Nerevar|Indoril Nerevar}}, the Hortator (the military commander and representative of the united Chimer people), under whom all of the {{Lore Link|Great Houses}} and {{Lore Link|Ashlanders|Ashlander}} Tribes were united.{{ref|name=TBORM|{{Cite book|The Battle of Red Mountain}}}}{{ref|name=NARM|{{Cite book|Nerevar at Red Mountain}}}} Vivec's fellow councilors were [[Lore:Almalexia (god)|Almalexia]], Nerevar's Queen, and {{Lore Link|Sotha Sil}}, Nerevar's trusted and wise friend.{{ref|name=NARM}} Nerevar had established a fragile peace with the ruler of the {{Lore Link|Dwemer}}, {{Lore Link|Dumac|Dumac Dwarfking}}, during their united stand against a {{Lore Link|Nord}}ic invasion, and thereby united all the people of the province for the first time in recorded history under what was called the First Council.{{ref|name=NARM}}{{ref|name=PGE3M|{{Cite book|PGE|3|Morrowind}}}} Vivec and Nerevar's other advisers warned him that the peace could not last, a warning that unfortunately proved well-justified.{{ref|name=NARM}}
After learning of a Dwemer plan to construct a giant {{Lore Link|Numidium|mechanical god}} powered by their discovery, the {{Lore Link|Heart of Lorkhan}}, and a subsequent falling out between Nerevar and his friend Dumac, Nerevar led the Chimer people to {{Lore Link|War of the First Council|war}} against the Dwemer, a war which culminated in the {{Lore Link|Battle of Red Mountain}} around {{Year|1E 700}}.{{ref|name=PGE1Ham|{{Cite book|PGE|1|Hammerfell}}}} The several conflicting accounts on the events surrounding the battle paint Vivec in drastically different lights: he is usually seen as a loyal soldier and servant, and sometimes accused of being a murderer and traitor.{{ref|name=VAM}}{{ref|name=NARM}}{{ref|name=PGE3M}} Vivec's own account is in between: he certainly didn't murder Nerevar or betray him in life, but later, his ambition and drive to help the Chimer would lead him to break a most sacred oath.{{ref|name=TBORM}} What is agreed is that while Vivec and the other generals commanded the attack on Dwemeri forces outside the mountain, Nerevar took a small party in to the mountain, where they fought Dumac and his guard, driving Kagrenac, the Chief Architect who had first unlocked the mysteries of the Heart, to desperately attempt to use his Tools on it, a grave mistake that caused the Dwemer on {{Lore Link|Nirn}} to disappear.{{ref|name=TBORM}}
{{NewLeft}}
Shortly after the Battle of Red Mountain, the Tribunal convinced Nerevar that Kagrenac's Tools should be preserved for study in case the Dwemer returned, which he agreed to upon one condition: that they all swear a "solemn oath upon {{Lore Link|Azura}} that the tools would never be used in the profane manner that the Dwemer had intended" (i.e., to steal divine power from the Heart of Lorkhan).{{ref|name=TBORM}}
The Tribunal took the oath, then accompanied Nerevar to the Red Mountain, where he had left the Tools under the protection of {{Lore Link|Dagoth Ur|Voryn Dagoth}}, the High Councilor of House Dagoth.{{ref|name=NARM}} Unfortunately, Voryn had been left with the tools for too long: unbeknownst to them at the time, he had already experimented with the Tools and the Heart, likely becoming deranged by the experience.{{ref|name=TBORM}} He refused to relinquish the Tools, and he and his guards fought with Nerevar and his guards (this treason was ostensibly the reason why House Dagoth was eradicated immediately thereafter).{{ref|name=TBORM}}{{ref|name=MFDU|{{Cite book|Message from Dagoth Ur}}}} Dagoth Ur, as Voryn began calling himself, was driven off and presumed to be dead, but Nerevar was mortally wounded in the attack.{{ref|name=TBORM}} With his dying wish, Nerevar bade his friends to follow their own advice and never use the Tools.{{ref|name=TBORM}}
[[File:MW-creature-Heart of Lorkhan.jpg|thumb|right|The Heart of Lorkhan]]
All accounts generally agree on the outcome of the so-called War of the First Council: the Dwemer were not only defeated, but disappeared entirely, {{Lore Link|House Dagoth}} was dismantled and absorbed by the other Great Houses of Morrowind, and Lord Nerevar was slain.{{ref|name=PGE3M}} But as tremendous as these changes were, the most significant results were yet to come.{{ref|name=PGE3M}}
{{NewLeft}}
===Achieving Divinity and Azura's Curse===
With Nerevar gone, the Tribunal came to power among the Chimer.{{ref|name=TWOTFC|{{Cite book|The War of the First Council}}}} Several years later, Sotha Sil approached Vivec and Almalexia with startling news: he had learned how to safely use the Tools to take divine power from the Heart, and he wished the three of them to do so.{{ref|name=TBORM}} At first, Vivec had misgivings, but a stirring, idealistic speech from Sotha convinced both him and Almalexia that together they could be the gods Resdayn deserved.{{ref|name=TBORM}} Convinced, the three defied Nerevar's dying wish and used the Tools of [[Lore:Kagrenac|Kagrenac]] on the Heart, drawing its power for themselves.{{ref|name=KT|{{Cite book|Kagrenac's Tools (book)}}}}
As soon as they did so, {{Lore Link|Azura}} appeared, the Daedric patron of the Chimer, and cursed them, saying that "her champion, Nerevar, true to his oath, would return to punish [the Tribunal and] make sure such profane knowledge might never again be used to mock and defy the will of the gods".{{ref|name=TBORM}} When Sotha Sil dismissed her "chiding", all of the Chimer were changed into Dunmer, including the Tribunal.{{ref|name=TBORM}} Azura assured them that this was the fate they chose, and all their kind would share in their fate "from now to the end of time".{{ref|name=TBORM}}
[[File:MW-book-Vivec Region.jpg|thumb|right|A map of the City of Vivec]]
===The Golden Age of the Tribunal===
The Dunmer were, of course, startled to see how their skin had changed from the color of pale gold into a dark ashen grey, and how their eyes had become red, but Sotha Sil assured them it was a blessing.{{ref|name=TBORM}} Few knew or understood what had happened to them or the transformation of these new living gods, but most came to accept them and worship them as their new deities.{{ref|name=TBORM}} They incorporated the existing worship of Daedra and ancestors into a new {{Lore Link|Tribunal Temple}}, and each founded large cities bearing their own names, to act as their personal capitals (Vivec's was on the southern coast of {{Lore Link|Vvardenfell}}, and was the largest on the whole island).{{ref|name=GTVV}}{{ref|name=DUP|{{Cite book|Dagoth Ur's Plans}}}} As the Tribunal harnessed their powers, they apparently learned, among a great many other things, how to remove the appearance of the curse upon themselves. Vivec chose to appear as both Chimer and Dunmer. But one group never accepted the Tribunal: the Ashlanders. The contention that the Tribunal murdered Nerevar is derived from Ashlander oral tradition, and was flatly contradicted by all orthodox Tribunal Temple traditions.{{ref|name=VAM}} Nonetheless, the tale became firmly established in the Dunmer imagination, as if to say, "Of course Vivec would never have conspired to murder Lord Nerevar, but it happened so long ago... who can know the truth?"{{ref|name=VAM}} Vivec denied it if asked, and attributed the story to {{Lore Link|Alandro Sul}}, a disgruntled Ashlander who served as Nerevar's shield-companion.
From their inception as deities around 1E 700 to the latter half of the {{Lore Link|Second Era}}, the Tribunal flourished and exhibited great heroism with their divinity, but it was Vivec who exhibited the greatest heroism and who became the most popular with the people.{{ref|name=VAM}} Vivec distinguished himself as an unstoppable force and shrewd commander in the {{Lore Link|Four-Score War}}, which started in {{Year|1E 2840}} and lasted until the end of the First Era in {{Year|2920}}, which he helped finally bring to an end with a de facto victory for the Dunmer using his diplomatic prowess.{{ref|name=2920L|{{Cite book|2920, The Last Year of the First Era}}}} He saved the Dunmer people from certain death on numerous occasions, such as when he flooded a small part of [[Lore:Morrowind|Morrowind]] and killed the {{Lore Link|Akaviri}} invaders around {{Year|2E 572}} (in fact, the Tribunal repelled at least two Akaviri invasions from Morrowind).{{ref|name=PGE3M}} Possessed with an unmatched, unique perspective on the course of history, Vivec was able to foresee the meteoric rise of General [[Lore:Talos|Talos]] to heavenly and earthly prominence, eventually leading him to cease hostile resistance and ally himself with [[Lore:Cyrodiil|Cyrodiil]] (though he and the other Tribunes ensured Morrowind maintained its autonomy).{{ref|name=PGE3M}}
He was one of the more active members of the Tribunal, prolific both in poetry and in the writing of his own versions of history and philosophy. As well as playing a role as a political leader (to this end he created the {{Lore Link|Buoyant Armiger}}s, a personal military order who exemplify his best traits), he was and is still considered a final authority on many esoteric and metaphysical concepts, such as the means of attaining divinity - the Walking Ways.
===Teachings===
[[File:MW-banner-Temple.png|thumb|left|The banner of the Tribunal Temple]][[File:MW-place-Palace of Vivec.jpg|thumb|right|The Palace of Vivec]]
Conventional teachings of the Tribunal Temple held that the Tribunal "achieved divine substance through superhuman discipline and virtue and supernatural wisdom and insight. Like loving ancestors, they guard and counsel their followers".{{ref|name=FOTT|{{Cite book|Fellowship of the Temple}}}} Obviously, this account conflicts greatly with the truth, so the truth was suppressed within Morrowind and {{Lore Link|Dissident Priest|dissidents}} persecuted, at times with Vivec's direct involvement, though the knowledge was never fully extinguished.{{ref|name=TBORM}} The Temple preached that each Tribune was "anticipated" by a "Good Daedra", one of the Daedra who acknowledged and accepted the Tribunal as the protectors of the Dunmer people (thereby satisfying theological concerns regarding the Tribunal's non-existence before their mortal lives), who became known as the Anticipations.{{ref|name=VAM}}{{ref|name=PGE3M}}{{ref|name=TA|{{Cite book|The Anticipations}}}} In the case of Vivec, he was anticipated by {{Lore Link|Mephala}}.{{ref|name=VAM}}
The Dunmer in general did not envision Lord Vivec as a creature of murder, sex, and secrets.{{ref|name=VAM}} Rather, they conceived of Lord Vivec as benevolent king, guardian warrior, poet-artist.{{ref|name=VAM}} But unconsciously, they accepted the notion of darker, hidden currents beneath Vivec's benevolent aspects, as suggested by his association with the ruthless Mephala.{{ref|name=VAM}} Nevertheless, the teachings of the Temple and the teachings of Vivec himself can be summarized as follows: "Your fourfold duties are to: Faith, Family, Masters, and all that is good. Perform holy quests and bring luster to the Temple. Never transgress against your brothers or sisters, and never dishonor your house or your ancestors. Serve and protect the poor and weak, and honor your elders and clan".{{ref|name=FOTT}}{{ref|name=SS|{{Cite book|Saryoni's Sermons|ns=Lore}}}}{{ref|name=LOTS|{{Cite book|Lives of the Saints}}}}{{ref|name=TPP|{{Cite book|The Pilgrim's Path}}}}{{ref|name=TCOP|{{Cite book|The Consolations of Prayer}}}}
Vivec sought to preserve Tribunal authority and legitimacy, especially his own. In Sermon Four of his Lessons (discussed more below), he is confronted by a group who believed in coincidence above all else, and he "knew that to retain his divinity that he must make a strong argument against luck",{{ref|name=LOV}} evidencing his need to advance his legitimacy as a deity at all times.
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===The Return of Dagoth Ur===
[[File:MW-creature-Dagoth Ur.jpg|thumb|right|Dagoth Ur, the Sharmat]]
The Tribunal visited the Red Mountain annually to perform a ritual bath replenishing their divine power.{{ref|name=DUP}} As they approached the slopes of the mountain to do so in {{Year|2E 882}}, they finally discovered the oversight that would end the world as they knew it: Dagoth Ur was still alive, even more powerful than them, and he was awake.{{ref|name=DUP}} He and his minions ambushed them and drove them away, decisively cutting off their access to the Heart of Lorkhan.{{ref|name=DUP}} For over four hundred years, Dagoth Ur's forces gained more territory and he spread his influence, only barely kept in check by the {{Lore Link|Ghostfence}} the Tribunal erected and maintained in an attempt to bottle him and his demons inside the Red Mountain region.{{ref|name=DUP}} As the Tribunal's influence and power weakened, Morrowind's society became more fragile; for instance, a simple slave revolt went unchecked and became the {{Lore Link|Arnesian War}}.{{ref|name=PGE3M}}
Vivec was the last of the Tribunal to stand against the Sharmat (as he sometimes referred to Dagoth Ur). He took the burden of substantially maintaining the Ghostfence on himself after {{Year|3E 417}}, when Sotha Sil and Almalexia lost two of Kagrenac's Tools to Dagoth Ur's forces. They were even captured, though Vivec heroically rescued them.{{ref|name=DUP}} Even so, he could not recover the Tools, and the impact of the loss on their campaign, and perhaps the humiliation of losing them, caused Vivec's companions to apparently lose hope: Vivec was alone, facing an enemy he knew he could merely stall and never defeat.{{ref|name=TBORM}} In these dark days, with no hope of winning, Vivec set his sights on a slightly different goal: not losing.{{ref|name=MWVivec|[[MW:Vivec (god)|Vivec's]] dialogue in [[MW:Morrowind|Morrowind]].}}
So, even while the Temple persecuted the dissidents for their questions and ideas, he wrote the [[Lore:The 36 Lessons of Vivec|36 Lessons]], primarily to act as a guide for the {{Lore Link|Nerevarine}}, whose exact identity was a mystery but whose coming he realized was a necessity for Dagoth Ur's defeat.{{ref|name=PTDDU}}{{ref|name=LOV}}{{ref|name=TBORM}} The writings are very cryptic, likely both to mask this ulterior motive and to indulge Vivec's love of prose. Many of the tales involve Muatra, Vivec's legendary but mysterious spear.{{ref|name=LOV}} Since the Lessons are open to an incredible amount of speculation and conjecture, interpreting them is best left to individuals. But in these writings, Vivec helped engineer the loss of his godhood, and they demonstrated that he planned from early on to support the Nerevarine as much as he could, though the strain of trying to maintain the Ghostfence would hamper his ability to assist the Nerevarine's campaign.{{ref|name=PTDDU}}{{ref|name=TBORM}}
===The End of the Tribunal===
[[File:MW-place-Vivec Temple.jpg|thumb|right|Baar Dau, suspended above Vivec's Temple Canton]]
The return of Azura's Champion heralded the end of Vivec's divinity: when the Nerevarine destroyed the enchantments on the [[Lore:Heart of Lorkhan|Heart of Lorkhan]] in the Red Mountain, it disappeared, and all those who had stolen power from the Heart lost their divine spark.{{ref|name=PTDDU}} The Nerevarine, finally able to put an end to Dagoth Ur, promptly did so.{{ref|name=Morrowind|The events of [[Morrowind:Morrowind|Morrowind]].}} Vivec's fellow Tribunes also fell. Almalexia secretly went mad and murdered Sotha Sil, then used his creations to attack her own people. The Nerevarine killed her after she laid an ambush in Sotha Sil's Clockwork City.{{ref|name=TE|The events of [[Tribunal:Tribunal|Tribunal]].}}
To the world at large, each Tribune was considered dead or disappeared, including Vivec.{{ref|name=TR}}{{ref|name=PGE3M}} [[Lore:Baar Dau|Baar Dau]], unsupported by his magic, finally fell in {{Year|4E 5}}, destroying the city of Vivec and triggering a chain reaction of natural disasters, notably the eruption of the Red Mountain.{{ref|name=TRY|{{Cite book|The Red Year}}}} The relief effort brought the Dunmer together as a people, but it also weakened them, and it wasn't long before the {{Lore Link|Argonian}} Invasion of mainland Morrowind forced much of the surviving Dunmer population to flee to {{Lore Link|Skyrim}}, the small island of {{Lore Link|Solstheim}}, and dozens of settlements elsewhere.{{ref|name=TR}}{{ref|name=TIF|{{Cite book|The Infernal City|ns=Books}}}}{{ref|name=SOTGQ|{{Cite book|Scourge of the Gray Quarter}}}}{{ref|name=TMFS|{{Cite book|To Milore from Nilara|ns=Dragonborn}}}} And so, Vivec orchestrated an end to the worship of himself: the general devastation the fall of Baar Dau brought to the Dunmer created a wave of disillusionment, and it was the death-knell for the worship of the Tribunal.{{ref|name=TR}}{{ref|name=TRY}}{{ref|name=TMFS}}
No one really knows Vivec's fate, though some have gone so far as to claim that he was "taken" by the Daedra during the {{Lore Link|Oblivion Crisis}}, and others that he was killed by the Nerevarine.{{ref|name=OBRumors|Rumors heard during the {{Lore Link|Oblivion Crisis}}.}} He expected that the Tribunal would no longer be honored as gods by the Dunmer, but as saints and heroes, and that the Temple would return to the original Dunmer faith: the worship of their ancestors and the three good daedra, Azura, Mephala and Boethiah.{{ref|name=MWVivec}} The New Temple would prove him right by re-adopting the worship of the daedra, who came to be called the {{Lore Link|Reclamations}}, and, likely as a political gesture to ease the transition, "Saint Vivec" is still venerated as a great ancestor of the Dunmer.{{ref|name=TR}}
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==See Also==
* For game-specific information, see the [[Morrowind:Morrowind|Morrowind]] article on [[Morrowind:Vivec (god)|Vivec]].
===Books===
* {{Book Link|2920, The Last Year of the First Era}}
* {{Book Link|The 36 Lessons of Vivec}}
* {{Book Link|The Anticipations}}
* {{Book Link|The Battle of Red Mountain}}
* {{Book Link|Dagoth Ur's Plans}}
* {{Book Link|Fellowship of the Temple}}
* {{Book Link|Five Songs of King Wulfharth}}
* {{Book Link|Homilies of Blessed Almalexia}}
* {{Book Link|Kagrenac's Tools (book)}}
* {{Book Link|Nerevar at Red Mountain}}
* {{Book Link|The Pilgrim's Path}}
* {{Book Link|Plan to Defeat Dagoth Ur}}
* '''{{Cite book|PGE|1|Morrowind}}'''
* '''{{Cite book|PGE|3|Morrowind}}'''
* {{Book Link|The Reclamations}}
* {{Book Link|Vivec and Mephala}}
* {{Book Link|The War of the First Council}}
==References==
<references/>
{{Aedra and Daedra}}</noinclude>