Veloth Direnni

Knight of Auri-El Psijic Greyback of Artaeum
Biographical and chronological information
Physical traits and magical qualities
Race:	Dunmer
Gender:	Male
Hair color:	Black
Eye color:	Red
Societal status and affiliations
Home:	Firsthold Artaeum
[Source]

“	Betrayal is not something I reward...or approve.	”
	— Veloth Direnni, The Elder Scrolls Fanon Wiki

Veloth Direnni, also known as Death Wind and Shadowstalker, was a Shadow Lord of the Shadow Empire who ruled over the Order of Shadow and Flame during the Eighth Era, and was considered by many to be amongst the most powerful Shadow Lord to have ever existed. Veloth Direnni was a former Knight of Auri-El of considerable strength, who fought valiantly through the War of the Blue Divide, and War of the Bend'r Mahk before being swayed towards the Shadow Empire. After a short stint as the self-proclaimed Shadow Lord of Dunbarrow, Direnni was returned to the worship of Auri-El. After several years Direnni and the crew of his flagship, The Velothi, were tasked with exploring the Sea of Ghosts in order to assist the Kingdom of Caed. It was during these travels that Veloth Direnni finally ceased to worship Auri-El and serve Tamriel, and took up a lordship in the Blighter Order of Shadow and Flame.

After years within the Sea of Ghosts, Veloth Direnni returned to Tamriel at the head of a massive Blighter armada, intent on destroying the Empires of Tamriel and the various guilds. For ten years, Veloth Direnni's crusade would ravage Tamriel, slowly bringing it under the Blighter banner. Following the conflict, Veloth Direnni would rule Tamriel with an iron fist, but maintain a fair and just rule, a rule that would go relatively unopposed for almost sixty years.

The legacy of Veloth Direnni was so great, that for years after his death the Shadow Lord's name was used both as a curse and praise, and even during his lifetime, with his exploits throughout Tamriel well known, he was even granted the prestigious Blighter title of Oebaisroit, meaning Honored One, by the Blighter of Highcraft.

Biography

Early Years

Veloth Direnni was born in the Altmer resort city of Firsthold in the year 7E 2139, too late to suffer at the hands of the Horme Empire, but not early enough to suffer the raids of the Maormer of Pyandonea. Veloth grew up learning the tales of heroes, kings, and champions long dead, and the troubles they both caused and cured, and would play soldier as a young child, making believe with his friends. By the age of thirteen, however, Veloth had grown out of his childhood play, and had taken a more realistic view of life in Firsthold, helping his father to earn a living from the highly competitive Cyrodilic Brandy market, which was suffering under the thumb of the Maormer. After only a year of work, however, news reached Firsthold of a peace between the Kingdom of the Summerset Isles and Island Kingdom of Pyandonea, but that did little to bring the Maormer into a new light in Veloth's eyes, as Firsthold was still under the control of one of Pyandonea's more tyrannical generals.

Firsthold, famous resort city and homecity of Veloth Direnni.

For over five years, Firsthold remained under the control of the Maormer, and this had left many citizens of Firsthold believing that the rest of the Summerset Isles had forgotten about the city. Many in Firsthold resorted to joining criminal organization such as the Twin Moons, as Veloth did. As a member of the Twin Moons, Veloth learned a great variety of trades, including weaponry and espionage. Eventually, however, Veloth's overconfidence was his downfall, and the Maormer Firsthold City Guards arrested him.

At first, Veloth feared the death penalty, but when word reached the prison that Firsthold was being handed over to the Summerset Isles, he began to feel relieved. After a preliminary court hearing, Veloth was sentenced to serve six months in a criminal rehabilitation center. It was in this rehabilitation center that Veloth was discovered to have enormous reserves of magicka by a member of the Psijics and was offered a chance to be trained as a Knight of Auri-El, the military wing of the Psijics. Veloth, having worshipped the Psijics in his younger years, was astonished by this revelation, and jumped at the chance to join the Psijic Knights of Auri-El.

Only two months after beginning his training as a Psijic Knight, and in an astonishing feat of magickal power, Veloth destroyed an entire Maormer navy. This amazed many in the Psijic Knights, as only the most powerful Psijics achieved this much power, and even then did not develop this power this early in his training, and it was this early blooming that convinced the famed member of the Tribunal Temple, Vivec the Poet, the only surviving member of the Tribunal to take Veloth as his student. Vivec, or Vivec the God as he was known, approached the young Psijic and offered to take him on as a pupil. Veloth accepted the offer on one condition, that he not be held back by petty training and library studies. A condition that Vivec agreed to.

Pyandonea

One month later, Veloth and Vivec were dispatched to the tropical island of Pyandonea to preside over a meeting of the two children of Aldmeris, the Maormer and Altmer, which would, if successful, see the unification of the two kingdoms, and the forging of the largest empire in Tamriel. The meeting was interrupted when a suicide mage from the extremist Sons of Ehlnofey, who were attempting to incite the bloodiest war yet to be seen on Nirn, killing several leaders from both nations.

Not keen on seeing the two superpowers collapse into civil war, the two Psijic Knights located the headquarters of the Sons of Ehlnofey and assaulted it, assisted by soldiers from each of the superpower kingdoms. The Psijic Knights infiltrated the base, whose cultists and guards were distracted by the armies, and made their way down into the bowels of the base, locating the leader of the Sons of Ehlnofey, an Altmer named Sunav Galerion, and captured him. Sunav Galerion was later charged with treason by the newly formed joint Empire of the Abecean Sea judicial system.

Two weeks after the mission to Pyandonea, Vivec the God and Veloth returned to the tropical island chain to assist Psijic Master Raminus Polus in the capture of one of Sunav Galerion's underlings, a Maormer crimelord named Mungro. Mungro's trading operations out of Pyandonea had been causing the Empire of the Abecean Sea serious trouble, and unbeknownst to Empire of the Abecean Sea or the Psijic Order, he had managed to capture a smithy that knew how to fashion Imperial Dragon Armor.

Equipping his soldiers with armor, along with Elven longswords, Mungro had begun to rebuild the criminal empire of his old leader and had even begun reinitiating attacks on military bases, and governmental buildings on the island chain. Determined to keep the newly formed Empire from collapsing into civil war, the three Psijics led the armed forces of the island chain in a weeklong conflict against the Sons of Ehlnofey. As the fighting progressed, the Psijics learned the location of The Highborn of Aldmeris, Mungro's flagship, and assaulted it and his navy.

As Mungro and his dragon-armor-empowered marines engaged the Psijics, it quickly became apparent that they stood no chance of winning the battle, and leaving his soldiers to their fate, Mungro fled, followed closely by Veloth. As the Psijic closed in on the Maormer crime lord, Mungro fired a series of high-powered magickal bursts, which were too powerful and not aimed very well. The explosions threw the Psijic off his feet and killed the crimelord.

Thras

Three months later, a now fully recovered Veloth Direnni was tasked with his first solo mission, as Vivec was away at the time. Veloth was sent to Thras, and was tasked with finding a suspected female Sload, with an enormous amount of magicka reserves, by the name of G'Nhasta. Arriving at the household of the powerful magicka wielder, Veloth was shocked to discover that a criminal syndicate known as the Necros Brotherhood had taken several people on the street hostage, including G'Nhasta. With little effort, Veloth dispatched the kidnappers and rescued G'Nhasta, along with all of the other hostages that had been taken.

Having rescued the hostages, however, Veloth soon found out that the Necros Brotherhood had not been completely wiped out, and they were now after him and G'Nhasta. After several hours of pursuit through the city, the Necros Brotherhood pursuers were apprehended by members of the Empire of the Abecean Sea's Provincial Peacekeeping Force, and Veloth was allowed to leave Thras unharmed.

For his heroic actions, Veloth was awarded with his own wizard's tower, a magical and enchanted tower known as Goldencrag Spire. Not long after the mission G'Nhasta, who had become infatuated with Veloth Direnni, began seeing him more often.

The War of the Blue Divide

In the year 8E 1, an elven race, known as the Bosmer, invaded the Summerset Isles at the hardpoint of Skywatch, in the Outer Isle of the Summerset Isles. Word quickly spread throughout the Empire of the Abecean Sea about the invaders, though many believed that it was nothing more than pirates, or even one of the few groups of rogue Sload from Thras that had plagued the Empire of the Abecean Sea for 7 years. The Psijics, however, were better informed, thanks to Psijic Master Alma Sotha, the son of the Tribunal God Sotha Sil.

Following the defeat at Skywatch, and the devastating new of the death of Raven Comaron in the city of Dusk, the Psijic Grand Master, Vivec the God, ordered many in the Psijic Order and Knights of Auri-El, including Veloth Direnni, to the strategic city of Sunhold, in the hopes that they could intercept the attacking Bosmer fleet before they continued to sack and garrison cities on the Summerset Isles.

A few days after the victory at Firsthold, Veloth and his fellow Psijics were ordered to accompany the attack force of Grand Admiral Eranduil in their assault on Skywatch, and, although the mission was a success, with Veloth destroying no less than twelve Bosmer warships personally, the Psijic suffered heavy losses. Eranduil had been killed, Skywatch was destroyed and Eranduil's lieutenant Sinderion Aldmeris, who had been in Skywatch at the time, had also been killed.

Two months passed, and the victory at Skywatch had done little in the grand scheme of things. Bosmer warriors continued their incursions, forcing the evacuations of both Firsthold and Alinor. Veloth, who had been assigned to Grand Councilor Lindai Nofehl, was a part of the refugee convoy that arrived in Alinor, was nearly killed during the resulting battle, but managed to survive thanks to a blind magicka shot which by the time the Bosmer could get closer had catapulted him into the nearby river. By the time he managed to return to the area of the Summerset Isles still controlled by the Empire undetected, the war had only progressed for the worse.

Alinor had been destroyed, Sunhold conquered and the Bosmer were in control of a great swathe of the southern area of the Summerset Isles. Veloth arrived in the harbor of the great fortress city, Cloudrest, where his friend Raven Aldmeris, son of Sinderion Aldmeris, greeted him.

Imperial forces fight back against the Bosmer in Cloudrest.

Having arrived safely in Cloudrest, Veloth soon found himself trapped in the city, alongside the millions of refugees, courtesy of the encroaching Bosmer fleet. Being the only two Psijic in the city, Veloth and Raven realized that Cloudrest was a lost cause and begun the evacuation of the city. Fortunately for the Psijics, Grand Councilor Lindai Nofehl and Commander Ruma Tesr had also recently arrived in Cloudrest with a sizeable amount of troops. As the refugees were evacuated from the city, the Empire of the Abecean Sea Forces assisted the Psijics in repelling the Bosmer invasion. After two days of pitched battle, the evacuation was nearing its end and the Imperial forces began to withdraw.

With Cloudrest's spiraling towers and minaret buildings burning, the two Psijics decided that in order to give the Imperial forces a fighting chance to escape, they decided they would engage the Bosmer forces directly, drawing their attention away from the evacuee horses. After several attacks on Bosmer forces, the two Psijics realized that they were being tracked by a powerful mage, they and attempted to flee.

Shortly before the two Psijics could reach their horses, the Bosmer ambushed them. They fought valiantly, but in soon became apparent that they could not hold out. In a heroic manner, Raven covered Veloth's escape and was himself captured by the Bosmer. Veloth watched the capture of Raven Aldmeris as his horse ran away from the city, and made a silent promise to himself that he would make sure that Raven was freed.

Battle of Shimmerene

Having secured the assistance of the Empire of Elsweyr in the war, the Psijic Masters ordered both Master Vivec and his apprentice, Veloth, to the shipbuilding port city of Shimmerene, which had recently been attacked by the Bosmer warlord Akoh San.

They arrived mid-battle with much of the shipyard having already been destroyed, along with the entire fleet that had been docked at the shipyards there. A long battle ensued, in which Veloth proved himself an able, if slightly suicidal warrior, though far from the greatest. Veloth soon received word that the Bosmer warship "J'ffre", where Raven Aldmeris had been taken following his capture in Cloudrest, was a part of the Bosmer fleet, and moved to engage it. As the warship closed in on the docks, Veloth noticed that the vessel, being organic, was beginning to decompose and die, the bodies of many Bosmer warriors being tossed overboard into the cascading waves. One of the bodies that fell out though, was Raven's, and Veloth felt upset.

For his actions during the battle, Veloth was given the rank of Lord Commander of the Knights of Auri-El and command over the 39th Battlemage Division.

Battles of Haven and Diss

After the Battle of Shimmerene, Veloth fought in many more battles, but was eventually grievously wounded and sent back to Artaeum. Two years later, he had recovered and traveled to Haven to assist the Imperial forces. Arriving in Haven, a former Bosmer city recently conquered by the Empire of the Abecean Sea, Veloth was greeted by a welcoming, albeit surprised Vivec, who informed Veloth of the 39th's military actions over the last two years. However, before he could finish the story, the Psijics recieved word that the Bosmer Army had arrived. As Veloth quickly made his way to his unit, the 39th Battlemage Division, his lieutenants greeted Veloth. The greetings were short lived however, as the Bosmer army quickly encroached upon their position.

Veloth's division was tasked with holding the Bosmer whilst the remainder of the army assaulted the Bosmer from numerous fronts. The battle was a bloody affair, and Veloth's division suffered heavy casualties, despite their superior training and weapons. Eventually, the division received word that a nearby Bosmer Commander had been destroyed at the Plains of Sarthal, which heightened the morale of the Empire of the Abecean Sea army, while demoralizing the Bosmer, but it did little to affect the course of the battle, which by now was turning into a Bosmer victory.

Veloth received word from Alma Sotha that the 39th was to cover the retreat of the Empire of the Abecean Sea Military whilst Sotha's own forces charged the Bosmer in an attempt to draw attacks away from the retreating warships. Veloth agreed and moved his forces to block the ways into Haven, but was soon shocked to discover that the Bosmer were retreating. Taking advantage of the situation, Veloth ordered the 39th to pursue the Bosmer as far as they could without entering the main jungles of Valenwood, and was soon followed by Alma Sotha's own forces.

Although bewildered by the retreat of the Bosmer, Alma Sotha and Veloth agreed that the opportunity must be seized, and after a short summit in Alinor, permission was granted to Commander Redle Nonaf to lead the Second Imperial Expeditionary Force attack against Diss. Unfortunately, most of the Imperial forces in and around Haven were still reeling from the costly battle, and as such the only 39th was capable of joining the Second Force.

In preparation for the battle, Commander Redle Nonaf temporarily assumed command of the 39th Battlemage Division, whilst Veloth himself joined the now famous Blackwaters Battalion as its temporary leader. Tasked with escorting several Archer Corps in their mission to destroy a Bosmer base at the mouth of the river that Diss was built on, Veloth exemplified himself and his newfound skills and tenacity by destroying many Bosmer warriors himself. The Bosmer, who had believed Veloth dead since the Battle of Silvenar, feared the arrival of the fearsome Psijic, even naming him Assin Oeba, the dead warrior revived.

With the arrival of the Imperial Maormer warship, Thousand Strong, Veloth ordered the 39th to fall back and board the warship, ending their action in the battle.

Battle of Falinesti

Veloth Direnni fighting the Bosmer during the Battle of Falinesti.

The victory celebrations at Diss were short lived, for within two hours the Second Imperial Expeditionary Force received word that the entire strength of the Empire of the Abecean Sea, including the 39th, was being thrown at Falinesti. The 39th arrived in Diss just in time to be returned to the command of Veloth, who followed the Second Force to Falinesti. When the Expeditionary Force finally arrived, they found that the battle had already begun.

Veloth Direnni was horrified to see the Bosmer attacking the Red Imperial Regiment, which protected the Emperor, but Direnni was concerned with nothing else other than totally decimating the Bosmer army that protected their capital city. Amongst the jumble of messages delivered to him Veloth Direnni discovered that numerous Imperial Armies had marched and sailed from the Summerset Isles, Pyandonea, and Thras, and were focusing their varying strengths on the different cities of Valenwood.

Shortly after arriving, Vivec sent word to all Psijics within the army, that if possible, they were make their way into the city's main citadel, and assist the rebellion of the Imga wherever possible. Acknowledging the command, Veloth ordered the numerous Psijic in his Division to follow him, and they then proceeded into the city. Once in the planet, Veloth, along with several other Psijics, including his lover G'Nhasta, engaged the Bosmer in hand-to-hand combat.

Whilst Eranduil Crystalline attacked the Citadel of Truth, and Vivec attacked the Citadel of Falsehood, Veloth and his forces decided that they could best serve the cause of the battle by recapturing the old Thalmor Palace, which was being used as the Bosmer staging ground for their counterattacks. As the Psijics approached the Palace the resistance increased in both size and ferocity, and Veloth soon found his attack force dwindling. Fortunately for Veloth, the recent capture of the Citadel of Truth meant that several archer corps were now firing upon the attacking Bosmer, decimating their numbers. Eventually, Veloth realized that the archer corps could be much better used, and had them fire flaming arrows on the Thalmor Palace, razing it to the ground.

Arriving in the Thalmor Palace, the Psijics swept through the undercroft, brutally exterminating what remaining Bosmer could be found. Veloth, in his rage, cut through the Bosmer and personally led an assault on the final Bosmer Commander's position, impaling his elven longsword into the large and bulky mass that was the Bosmer Commander.

Tired and weary, the Psijics clambered out of the Palace undercroft and tried to reign in the carnage in the city before them. A massive ball of flame ripped through the sky before them, as the Citadel of Falsehood exploded. The world went blank as Veloth looked down upon the battle weary world, barely taking part in the congratulation and cheers of victory from his fellow Altmer.

Eventually, Veloth collected himself and joined the celebrations, and made his way to Vivec. Once there, Vivec told him that the Council of Cloudrest was due to take place the next day, and that many in the Empire of the Abecean Sea and Valenwood hierarchies had requested Veloth’s presence. Although seething with rage at the Bosmer, Veloth agreed, and attended the proceedings.

Post War of the Blue Divide Tamriel

The council went ahead rather uneventfully for Veloth, who did his best to remain hidden away in the corner, although he remained fully aware that the presence of Oeba Assin instilled fear in the hearts of the Bosmer, save San Akoh.

Veloth continued to serve with the Empire of the Abecean Sea Military, helping to mop-up the few remaining Bosmer forces that had refused to surrender; but longing to return to his homecity of Firsthold. Veloth knew that the Bosmer had devastated Firsthold two years previously and that over five-hundred thousand citizens had been killed. When Veloth finally returned he was shocked to discover a vicious city, a city that blamed the Psijics and the Empire of the Abecean Sea for the death and destruction wrought by the Bosmer. Veloth made his way towards his old homestead in the Firsthold Temple District. Veloth was mortified to discover that the huge mansion which had been his home was little more than rubble.

However, Veloth's grieving was quickly interrupted when a large group of drunken Nords, recognizing the Psijic's blue and gold robes, attacked Veloth. Veloth incapacitated the drunkards, but it had become clear to him that he was no longer welcome in his homecity. Feeling betrayed, Veloth left his homecity and finally accepted Ruma Cyristan’s offer to replace her as the Palatinus of the Psijic Temple in Alinor. Veloth trained many Psijics, both new and old, in the ways of longsword and magickal combat, and later took part in the War of the Bend'r Mahk, directing his forces to several crippling victories, but never joining in the action personally.

Towards the end of the War of the Bend'r Mahk, Veloth's forces took part in the Battle of Camlorn, assisting Commander Sinderion Crystalline. Once again, Veloth refrained from entering combat personally, but did all he could from the headquarters of his camp. Eventually, with the re-capture of Daggerfall and the defeat of the Bretons and Nords, the war ended.

Veloth, having already requested the blessing of Vivec, proposed to his long time love G'Nhasta, who happily accepted the proposal. Three days after the battle G'Nhasta was promoted, and shortly after, in a ceremony presided over by the entire Sinderion-Crystalline Clans, and several key members of the Psijic Order, Veloth and G'Nhasta were wedded.

G'Nhasta was made the student of Alma Sotha whilst Veloth took a new apprentice, Jarl Erik.

Corrupting Magicks

Following the Empire of the Abecean Sea's victory over the Bretons and Nords, the Psijic Order found itself without a true enemy for the first time in its incredibly long history. Veloth, not content with resting on his laurels, decided that he would do what he could to assist those few cities that remained on the outer edges of the Empire of the Abecean Sea.

On one fateful mission, Veloth and his student had been tasked with investigating reports of disturbances in the ancient city of Solitude. Veloth, believing that a necromancer caused the disturbances, ordered his student to remain in their suite in a local tavern while he searched the surrounding caves alone. Once their, Veloth was instantly set upon by undead animals never before seen in Tamriel, who had been given life again, but was eventually able to subdue the creatures that had attacked him.

Reaching a large underground series of mining tunnels, Veloth made his way into the central chamber and was attacked by a powerful battlemage, a red skinned Dunmer like type of mer. The two powerful mages dueled for what seemed like several eras to Veloth, and as his strength weakened, so did his resistances to dark magicks. Veloth finally snapped, and sent out a large wave of dark magicka, bringing the tunnels collapsing down on them. Moments passed before Veloth finally was able to blast his way out from underneath the rubble, and was greeted by his student, Jarl Erik, who had defied his orders and followed him to the cave.

Veloth, knowing that Jarl had not yet fully realized the depth of his master's fall, corrupted his student with dark magicks, and then the crew of his warship, "The Velothi", who by this time saw their loyalty to Veloth as being greater than their loyalty to the Empire of the Abecean Sea.

Traveling to Old Mournhold, Veloth reopened the aged Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary, now to be the Dark Mage Sanctuary, underneath Mournhold. Veloth fought his way through the army of wraiths and goblins that defended the ancient ruins, and was almost killed when he confronted one of the feared Tamrielic Dragons, although he eventually overcame the beast by crushing it beneath the ruins of a section of the sewers. Eventually, Veloth reached his goal, the sarcophagus that housed the body of a Dark Mage member of the Tribunal, Almalexia. Using his immense magickal reserves, he drained the body and sarcophagus of it magicka and empowered himself. Veloth pledged him and his crew to the studies of dark magicks and the downfall of the Psijic Order. He adopted the name Death-Wind the Dark Mage. Veloth and Jarl returned to Cloudrest and corrupted the 39th Battlemage Division, adding the unit’s battlemages to his new order of Dark Mages.

Corrupted by dark magicks, Veloth and his followers ravaged Skyrim and High Rock, destroying all who stood before him in an attempt to build an enormous empire that he would rule as Emperor. Mortified by the fall of their close friend, Vivec, Alma Sotha, and the Masters of the Psijic Order made it their mission to locate and banish the corruption from his body before the populace of the Empire discovered the identity of the Dark Mage. Eventually, "The Velothi" was cornered in the Sea of Ghosts, far from the eyes of the Empire of the Abecean Sea, and a Psijic taskforce led by Vivec, Alma Sotha, and G'Nhasta boarded the Dark Mage warship. The Psijics located the Dark Mage and his apprentice, Lord Erik in the bridge of "The Velothi", and despite the prowess of the Dark Mages with magicka and their elven longswords, they were eventually defeated after a long and lengthy duel. Incapacitated by force, the Psijics banished the corrupting energy from Veloth, Erik, their crew, and the 39th's bodies. They rejoined the Psijic Order.

Expedition into the Unknown

The years following the banishment of the dark magicks from his body, Veloth Direnni's was once again thrust into the public eyes, this time as a villain. Word was leaked to the Black Horse Courier of Veloth's identity as Lord Direnni, and calls for the former Dark Mage's execution rung out empire wide. Numerous cities, most notably the cities of Skyrim and High Rock, united behind the call to execute Veloth and disband the Psijic Order. A small rebellion began to form, and the Psijic Order realized that before long armed conflict would ensue. As such, it was decided that for both Veloth, who was beginning to suffer from the continued pressure, and the Psijic Order would be best suited by removing Veloth from the public eye.

Three years after the end of the Direnni War, the decision was taken for Veloth to lead an enormous expedition into the Sea of Ghosts, in order to expand the Empire of the Abecean Sea's knowledge of the area. Months passed, and it soon became clear that "The Velothi" had been lost. Veloth had sent no word or any information since the beginning of his expedition, and the Empire of the Abecean Sea classed the entire expedition force Missing in Action. Unbeknownst to the Empire of the Abecean Sea, however, "The Velothi" had discovered another entire continent on the far edge of the Sea of Ghosts.

Exploring the volcanic continent, Veloth began to have a bad feeling about this strange and mysterious land, and became concerned for the welfare of his crew. Leading an expedition of ten Psijics farther into the continent's vast mountain ranges, the Psijics discovered a cave full of exquisite ancient ruins and objects, transforming the harsh landscape into a magnificent stone city. Arriving at the ruins the Psijics discovered many large buildings and manuscripts covered in an archaic form of writing.

After several hours had passed, Veloth ordered the Psijics to pack up their supplies and prepare to head back to the camp located on the coast. As the Psijics packed up their supplies, one of the large stone buildings blew collapsed, revealing several large tunnel entrances. Within seconds, a large number of red-skinned Mer, each wielding a shadow black or flaming red longsword, was swarming the Psijics.

The Mer separated the Psijics, cutting them off from one another, although it soon became apparent to the Mer that this had been a mistake. Veloth had made sure to train all his fellow Psijics in combat with multiple opponents during the tumultuous years before, and as such, the Darmer were easily defeated. Before long, all but a handful of the Mer had been killed, but two powerful Psijics had also been killed.

Tracking the Mer back to their base of operations, the Psijics were astonished to find nothing less than a fully intact, and large, temple and fortress. Astonished at this discovery, Veloth became determined to destroy the fortress. Veloth ordered his fellow Psijics to charge the Citadel and Temple.

Battle of Azzeren

Hellfire Citadel, Grand Fortress of the Blighter Highcraft Empire, and later the Shadow Empire of Veloth Direnni.

Veloth personally led the assault, charging the grand entrance and swarming the Mer who guarded it. Securing the entrance, Veloth ordered the Psijics to split up into teams of two, and to search the Temple and Fortress for anything of value, while exterminating the Mer warriors and populace. Hours passed, and Veloth, who had teamed up with Jarl Erik, soon became aware that the Mer who resided in the city called themselves Blighter.

Concerned about the large number of Blighter within the complex, Veloth ordered his fellow Psijic Expedition to retreat to the Fortress entrance, and await reinforcements, as it was now apparent that there were many more residents within the complex than he had previously believed. Fighting their way through the swarms of Blighter, many of the Psijics fell and, before long only Veloth, Jarl Erik, and a couple more lived.

Hemmed in, the Psijics were overwhelmed by the sheer number of Blighter warriors. Fortunately for Veloth, however, the Blighter ceased their attack. Confused, Veloth ordered them to tell him the reason for this, and he was simply greeted by nearly being beaten to death. A large, imposing Blighter stepped forward, and identified himself as Kolryyk. Kolryyk offered the Psijic Master a chance to surrender, and spare the lives of his fellow Psijics, and the Altmer crew of "The Velothi". Veloth agreed, on the condition that he is brought before the Emperor of the Blighter. Kolryyk grinned slightly and agreed, ordering his men to stop beating Veloth and signaling him to follow.

It was a meeting that the Psijic was never to forget. Before him stood a powerful, and obscenely rich Blighter Warlord of the Order of Shadow and Flame, a Blighter militaristic and magickal order of warriors, named Emperor Orierreug. Orierreug was a large Blighter, even larger than Kolryyk, and stood tall above Veloth. The Blighter Emperor demanded to know the reason why the Psijic were in Azzeren, letting slip that the peoples of Tamriel had forgotten his continent and people several eras ago. Veloth refused to answer, antagonizing the Emperor.

Having refused to tell the Emperor the mission of the Psijic, Veloth and his fellow Psijic were imprisoned within the fortress. One Psijic, managed to remain unseen, and returned to "The Velothi" and prepare a rescue expedition.

The final fall

With the "The Velothi" still at large, and a large Altmer ground force invading from the ground, the Blighter, who had already suffered grievous casualties, were finally overrun. Orierreug took Veloth, Jarl Erik, and two other captives to a hidden harbor, and together, they sailed away from the carnage.

Over the next two years, "The Velothi" pursued the Blighter Emperor, gradually releasing the Psijics from his forces, until only Veloth remained. Orierreug slowly corrupted the already corrupted once Psijic with dark magicks, but was met with a valiant defense. Calling upon all of his strength to counter the Blighter Emperor, Veloth repeatedly forced back Orierreug attempts at corruption, but this only made Orierreug more determined to corrupt the head strong Psijic.

Two years after his capture, Veloth was given a final choice by Orierreug, surrender to the Blighter Emperor, or see his precious Tamriel under Orierreug's rule in one hundred years. Determined not to be corrupted again Veloth decided upon a third choice, to kill the Blighter Emperor.

Pulling himself up, Veloth attacked Orierreug with nothing but his knowledge of and skill with magicka, almost killing the Blighter Emperor and burning the rope that secured Veloth to the mast. Retrieving his longsword from a nearby table, Veloth and Orierreug dueled. Orierreug proved himself very capable with the longsword, and more than a match for Veloth, but Veltoth's immense magickal reserves proved to be Orierreug's downfall.

With "The Velothi" rapidly approaching, and the Psijic warrior looking to be the victor of this duel, Orierreug exploded in a fit of rage, hammering down upon Veloth's rapidly weakening defense. Veloth, unwavering in his resolution to kill Orierreug, instantly disarmed the Blighter and blew his leg off with a well-aimed fireball. Veloth stood above the weakened Blighter, who by now was burning up rapidly, and simply watched as Orierreug burned. Finally corrupted by dark magicks, Veloth bent down over the remains of the Blighter and smiled.

Reclaiming his moniker of Death Wind, Veloth returned to "The Velothi" and once again corrupted her entire crew, such was his magickal power. The Psijic onboard "The Velothi", physically exhausted and confused about their allegiances towards Veloth and the Empire of the Abecean Sea stood little chance, and were easily corrupted. Jarl Erik reclaimed his title of Lord Jarl, whilst the Psijic Laicim took up the mantle of Lord Laicim.

Blighter Crusade

Thirteen years past before Veloth Direnni and his Blighter followers returned to Tamriel, but during that time the Blighter Emperor had been keeping himself more than busy, slowly conquering the former lands of the Highcraft Empire, and creating a new empire, the Shadow Empire, and spreading its' influence even further than before. By the forty-third year of the Eighth Era, the entire Blighter populace and the Order of Shadow and Flame had pledged their allegiance to Veloth Direnni, and many within the Empire believed that their power had reached its zenith. Although Veloth knew that the growing presence of the Shadow Empire would not go unnoticed by the Empires of Tamriel, who would have undoubtedly received some word of his growing empire.

Veloth Direnni, unlike previous Emperors of the various Blighter Empires, had not troubled himself with concealing his presence from the peoples of Tamriel, preferring to allow the Psijics to gather their strength, but made sure to prevent the Empires of Tamriel from fully mobilizing its military. But with the Empire of the Abecean Sea still reeling from the costly, War of the Black Diamond of the thirty second year of the Eighth Era, had no intention of entering another war, and did not wish to be seen by the Empire of Elsweyr, or the Nordic Reich by preparing for one. Two years passed, and the threat from the Sea of Ghosts failed to materialize. The Empire of the Abecean Sea who had humored the Psijics by stationng a small fleet in Daggerfall, prepared to pull its forces back when word reached them of an invasion of the Nordic Reich.

Within six months of the invasion, over two thirds of the Nordic domain, including the capital city of Solitude, had fallen to the Blighter armies of Veloth Direnni. The Nordic government had been fractured; the Blighter had extended their control into the north of Tamriel. Veloth, guessing that the Psijics would soon investigate the sudden loss of contact with the Nords, took steps to prevent this from happening. In the meantime, however, Veloth and his advisor, Lord Kolryyk, who had since sided with Veloth following the death of Emperor Orierreug, planned the invasion of Morrowind.

Two more years passed, and with the fear of discovery past, the Shadow Lord put into action his plans for the conquest of Morrowind. Handing over control to Lord Liacim, the two Shadow Lords invaded, with Licaim assaulting Vivec City, whilst Veloth personally invaded the capital city of Mournhold. Destroying the Dunmer fleet in the harbor of Vivec City, Veloth then assaulted Mournhold. He devastated the taller buildings of the city in order to eliminate its multiple layers of defense.

Conquering Morrowind, Veloth Direnni was now master over the entire northern portion of Tamriel, as well as a great swath of land in Cyrodiil and Black Marsh. However, Veloth's extermination of Morrowind had not been as thorough as he had hoped, and a handful of Dunmer warships had escaped to the Empire of the Abecean Sea, warning them of the new Blighter threat, and the title of the man who led them. An increasingly worried Supreme Council soon began to see that the Psijics had been right all along, and that the Blighter was planning an invasion. However, they still held hope for a peaceful conclusion.

Veloth Direnni fighting in Morrowind.

A peace treaty was drawn up and several cities and villages, including the entire province of Valenwood were handed over to Veloth Direnni's Shadow Empire. For a couple of more years, Veloth was content, but he knew that he would not be able to control his followers' bloodlust for long. Knowing this, Veloth Direnni once again began to formulate plans for his most ambitious conquest yet, the conquest of the Empire of the Abecean Sea.

Despite his conquest of the Empire of Elsweyr and the Aensland of Pudereed, in Rieltam, three years after the conquest of Morrowind, Veloth Direnni was finding it increasingly difficult to contain his Blighter followers, many of whom believed that the Shadow Lord was displaying weakness by not continuing on his war of conquest. Determined to achieve his goal of uniting Tamriel, Veloth Direnni invaded the Empire of the Abecean Sea, authorizing attacks on eight Imperial cities simultaneously.

Veloth Direnni, who was by now using his magicka to turn himself into a god, led the invasion personally, attacking Alinor and wiping out the Imperial and Dunmer armies and fleets stationed there, even killing the Supreme Commander Argos Aldmeris. Veloth then pursued the remnants of the armies further into the center of the Summerset Isles before finally destroying them in icy paths through the Crystal Mountains. Taking advantage of the confusion the Empire of the Abecean Sea had been thrown into, Veloth Direnni ordered all of his armies to press the attack, and, within a short period, much of the Summerset Isles had been conquered.

Following the lengthy battle of Cloudrest, Veloth Direnni found himself being called to the front line personally, Making his way to Firsthold, Veloth Direnni set about destroying the city's water supply, poisoning the city's food supply, and assassinating key figures, while the Blighter military, launched a diversionary attack on the city's far side.

Firsthold onwards

Within two months of the successful conquest of Firsthold, the information Veloth had gathered from its libraries was out of date and useless. With the Blighter advance stagnating and a morale booster needed, Veloth set his eyes on the ancient Altmer capital city of Alinor, planning a daring invasion of the heavily fortified city. Although Veloth foresaw a victory for the Blighter, he knew the losses would be great on both sides.

Leading the Blighter attack on Alinor, Veloth and his second in command, Jarl Erik, launched a full-scale invasion of the capital, quickly surrounding it and cutting off all escape. Veloth then ordered wave after wave of Blighter Infantry and Blighter Cavalry against the Altmer, slowly eating away at their strength and resolve. At first, the Altmer held their own, but when Veloth Direnni himself entered the fray, Vivec the God knew the battle was lost. Within hours of Veloth's entrance into the battle, victory had been assured for the Blighter.

With Firsthold his, Veloth Direnni ordered the invasion of the Colovian Confederacy, granting control of the attack for to Lord Cesda, who was tasked with absorbing the domain into his empire.

The massacre on Lothgar.

Within a few days, the Colovian Confederacy had been conquered, and Veloth was once again free to focus his efforts on the Empire of the Abecean Sea. Veloth ordered Lord Liacim and two hundred Shadow Warriors and two hundred Flame Warriors to destroy the Psijic complex on Lothgar, and capture the Psijic that resided there, but was later horrified to learn that of the one hundred and ninety Psijic on the island, the Blighter had killed them all. Veloth Direnni was furious upon receiving the news, and he immediately sent for Lord Laicim. Upon his arrival, Veloth Direnni set upon him, easily besting the Shadow Lord, shattering his jaw in punishment of his defiance, and demoting him to the rank of Shadow Warrior.

Following the massacre on Lothgar, the Summerset Isles were almost completely under Veloth's control, and even parts of Thras had been conquered. Veloth was pleased to hear of massive morale drops for the populace of the Empire of the Abecean Sea, many of whom already regarded their government as weak for attempting to appease the Blighter invader.

Two weeks later, in the following year, Veloth launched a second invasion of the Empire of the Abecean Sea. This time around, his intention was to surround the Empire of the Abecean Sea and quickly cut off any possibility of support from the multiple, minor Tamrielic powers. Veloth launched an invasion of the Republic of Nibenay, placing the aging Falcar Ikiw at the head of the invasion army. Falcar proved his worth, wiping out the Nibeneans.

Following the Invasion of Nibenay, and the Fall of Deepscorn, Veloth and the Blighter 1st Army made their way into the deadly lands of Thras, where they confronted the 2nd Imperial Army, under the command of Commanders Rumallion Nonaf and Orgnum Daol. With a stunning display of tactical prowess, Veloth wiped out the 2nd Imperial Army.

Legacy

Following the death of Veloth Direnni, many within the Order of Shadow and Flame feared that those who had been subjugated by the Blighter would rise up in arms against their oppressors. The outbreak of the Suppression War prevented any chance of such revolts happening within the first decade of Veloth's death.

A Direnni-class Frigate.

Veloth Direnni's name, however, would continue to hold sway, and create fear amongst his enemies, allies, and the Blighter themselves. Numerous warships were created bearing the honorific name of "Velothi-class" throughout the remainder of the Shadow Empire of the Blighter. One such vessel, created at least one thousand years after Veloth's death was the Direnni-class Frigate, which was created by the combined effort of the Highcraft Empire and the Kingdom of Pudereed.

The name Veloth Direnni would also be used for years amongst not only the civilian populace of Nirn, but the government officials as well. Numerous times the Shadow Council was reported to have issued orders under the basis that it was what "Veloth would have done" and this only served to further both Tamriel's and Rieltam's fear of the anti hero.

The name would also be used to serve as a kind of legend, with many reported cases of sightings of the former High Shadow Lord throughout Nirn.