| Prime Minister Hierem | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race | Imperial | Gender | Male |
| Born | Third Era |
||
| Died | 4E 48 White-Gold Tower, Imperial City |
||
| Resided in | Imperial City | ||
| Appears in | The Infernal City, Lord of Souls | ||
Hierem was the prime minister of Emperor Titus Mede I during the early Fourth Era. He rose to prominence in the aftermath of Titus Mede's conquest of the Imperial City when he helped smooth over the conquest by convincing the Elder Council to accept Titus as a liberator rather than a conqueror.[1]:96 Following this, he became Titus I's prime minister and the second most powerful man in the Empire.[1]:63, 96, 162
Around 4E 47, Hierem made a deal with Vuhon, the lord of Umbriel, to summon the flying city to Mundus from Oblivion.[1]:244-246 In 4E 47, Hierem and the An-Xileel performed a ritual that summoned Umbriel to Mundus, setting the stage for the Umbriel Crisis.[1]:45, 64-66 Hierem summoned Umbriel to Mundus because he believed that he could use the power of the White-Gold Tower and the souls collected by Umbriel to make himself a god.[1]:280, 305-306 However, before he could complete his plan, he was killed by a Daedra while fighting with Colin Vineben and Letine Arese at the end of the Umbriel Crisis in 4E 48.[1]:278-281
BiographyEdit
Background and Early CareerEdit
Hierem's birthdate is unknown, but he was born into an old and well-connected Nibenese family.[1]:96 Hierem was pudgy with thick eyebrows and mild blue eyes.[2]:108
In his younger years, he was part of the Mages Guild's leadership prior to its dissolution at the beginning of the Fourth Era.[1]:65[3] Following the Mages Guild's dissolution, he became a member of the Synod and eventually became extremely influential within the organization.[1]:96, 198 He served as an imperial ambassador to Morrowind prior to the Red Year.[1]:96, 257 After the onset of the Stormcrown Interregnum, Hierem served as a minister to the Empire's ruler, Thules the Gibbering.[1]:96 Hierem remained a minister to Thules until circa 4E 22, when the Colovian warlord Titus Mede captured the Imperial City with a force of less than a thousand men and deposed Thules.[1]:96[2]:109[4]
Prime MinisterEdit
Thules the Gibbering was not a well-liked ruler, but since he was Nibenese, many on the Elder Council favored him over a Colovian usurper.[1]:96 Hierem used his many connections to help smooth over the conquest by convincing the Elder Council to accept Titus as a liberator rather than a conqueror.[1]:96 Following this, he became Titus I's prime minister and the second most powerful man in the Empire.[1]:63, 96, 162 Although Hierem provided invaluable assistance to Titus I, he personally considered the Emperor to be an ill-mannered, badly bred Colovian upstart.[1]:247
Although Titus I appointed Hierem as prime minister, the Emperor did not trust him.[1]:246 Hierem remained prime minister because Titus I believed that removing him would trigger a civil war due to his many connections and extreme influence with the Synod.[1]:96, 99-100, 246
At some point during the childhood of Titus I's son Attrebus, Hierem suggested to the Emperor that the people needed a hero, and that Attrebus should be that hero.[1]:245, 272 Titus I agreed to Hierem's plan, either to provide a sense of direction for Attrebus or because he believed it would placate Hierem.[1]:245, 272 To make Attrebus a hero, the Imperial Court staged every battle or duel he fought to ensure his victory, and if he went on an unstaged adventure, one of his guards would discreetly report it to the Emperor or Hierem, who would end it.[1]:66-67[2]:146-147, 159-160
In 4E 38, Titus I placed a member of his inner circle, Letine Arese, in Hierem's ministry to spy on him.[1]:22-23, 72, 98-99 When he placed Arese in the ministry, the Emperor had no particular concerns about Hierem; only the sort of general paranoia a successful monarch must have.[1]:23 Hierem remained above any suspicion until around 4E 47, when he began testing Arese.[1]:23 It eventually became clear to Arese that the Prime Minister wanted his own private intelligence and elimination organization, one not connected to the Penitus Oculatus or known to the Emperor.[1]:23
Summoning UmbrielEdit
Around 4E 47, Hierem made a deal with Vuhon, the lord of Umbriel, to summon the flying city to Mundus from Oblivion.[1]:244-246 Vuhon wanted Umbriel to be summoned to Mundus so he could use the White-Gold Tower to free himself from Clavicus Vile.[1]:140, 280, 293[2]:281-282 In exchange for summoning Umbriel to Mundus, Vuhon was to assist Hierem in becoming emperor.[1]:100, 246 However, Hierem did not intend to honor their deal, as he believed Vuhon would not honor his terms.[1]:246 Hierem believed that when Umbriel arrived at the White-Gold Tower, he could use the tower's power and steal the souls collected by the city to make himself a god, so he deceived Vuhon into believing that he still intended to honor their deal.[1]:280, 305-306
In 4E 47, Hierem and a Redguard named Delia Huerc took a trip to Black Marsh ostensibly to negotiate an alliance against the Thalmor with the An-Xileel, but in actuality to summon Umbriel.[1]:45-47, 64-66 He did not want the Emperor to know of the trip, so he personally paid for a merchant ship to take them to Lilmoth, and they traveled in disguise.[1]:47 In Lilmoth, Hierem met with An-Xileel leaders, and the two parties reached an agreement that involved Hierem performing a ritual at the city's Hist tree.[1]:64-66 At the Hist tree, Hierem and the An-Xileel performed a ritual that summoned Umbriel to Mundus.[1]:64-66
Umbriel Crisis and DeathEdit
In 4E 48, Umbriel appeared off the coast of Black Marsh.[2]:3-5 A woman named Annaïg Hoïnart, who was on Umbriel, contacted Attrebus Mede, prompting him to visit the Imperial Palace to discuss Umbriel with Titus I.[2]:107-108 At the Imperial Palace, Titus I and Hierem informed Attrebus that the Synod, College of Whispers, and other specialists were already investigating the flying city, and that they felt there was no need to send an expeditionary force since Umbriel was slowly moving north toward Morrowind and was yet to threaten the Empire's borders.[2]:108-109 The Emperor also forbade the Crown Prince from attempting to stop Umbriel.[2]:109
Attrebus disobeyed his father and left the Imperial City with his guards, but before they left, the Crown Prince's right-hand man, Gulan, followed protocol and reported the plans to the prime minister's office, specifically to Arese.[1]:67[2]:111, 160, 266, 272 Arese then reported this to Hierem, who ordered her to arrange for assassins to kill Attrebus, as he wanted to delay an attack on Umbriel for as long as possible.[1]:22, 46, 67[2]:272-274, 281, 284 Arese hired Calvur, a criminal leader, to assassinate Attrebus.[1]:22[2]:272-274 Calvur's eight assassins ambushed and massacred Attrebus' guards near the Ayleid ruin of Sardavar Leed, but rather than killing the Crown Prince, they captured him and took him to Elsweyr with the intention of selling him.[2]:124-127, 140, 142 Later, a Dunmer named Sul rescued Attrebus.[2]:147-151
Arese informed Colin Vineben, a Penitus Oculatus inspector who had investigated Attrebus' disappearance, that Hierem ordered her to arrange the assassination attempt on Attrebus, but she was unaware of why he wanted the prince dead.[1]:21-23[2]:137-141 After Vineben discovered that Hierem had his office censor intelligence reports on Umbriel, Vineben and Arese theorized that Hierem was working with Umbriel.[1]:44-47 The Inspector then recovered Delia Huerc's journal, which detailed the Prime Minister's trip to Black Marsh the previous year.[1]:61-66 Vineben presented Huerc's journal to the Emperor, but he found neither the journal nor Arese's statements incriminating enough to use against Hierem.[1]:97-99 Titus I informed Vineben that Hierem had already supplied him with evidence that Arese was behind the assassination attempt on Attrebus.[1]:98 At the end of the meeting, the Emperor gave Vineben a key to Hierem's ministry and rooms and told him to find undeniable proof of Hierem's involvement.[1]:99-100
While searching the minister's private office and quarters, Vineben found a paper depicting the ritual that Hierem would perform to use the White-Gold Tower's power and steal the souls from Umbriel.[1]:195-198 Vineben did not understand what the paper said or depicted, except that it had Umbriel written on it; however, he believed it was important, so he copied it.[1]:196-197
Umbriel first went to the Scathing Bay on the island of Vvardenfell, which delayed its arrival to the Imperial City.[1]:245[2]:264-265 Once Umbriel neared the Imperial City, Umbriel's forces completely encircled it and put the city under siege.[1]:199, 237 Hierem convinced Vuhon to lend him some of his ground troops so that he could capture anyone entering the city.[1]:245 Amid the siege, Attrebus and Sul attempted to enter the Imperial City's Waterfront District, but Hierem's men captured them and placed them in cells located in his private office and quarters.[1]:237-243 After this, Attrebus woke up in Hierem's office, and Hierem questioned Attrebus about why Vuhon was afraid of him and Sul.[1]:243-246 Hierem then left, telling the prince that he had a lot to do and preparations to make before their next conversation.[1]:247 Later, Hierem awakened Sul and proceeded to question him and Attrebus, using a type of magic that caused pleasure if they gave Hierem a correct answer, but pain if they gave him an incorrect answer.[1]:256-258 After Hierem used the pleasure-inducing magic several times on Attrebus, Sul revealed to him that Vuhon was afraid of the sword Umbra, so that Hierem would stop questioning Attrebus.[1]:258-260 The Prime Minister then used the portal he had in his quarters to go up to Umbriel and speak with Vuhon.[1]:260
After Hierem teleported to Umbriel, Vineben and Arese released Attrebus and Sul from their cells.[1]:261-262 Attrebus and Sul waited on the the sigil of Hierem's portal, believing that once the minister activated it, the portal would send them to Umbriel, while Vineben and Arese waited behind the portal, preparing to ambush and kill Hierem.[1]:262-265, 270 After Hierem activated the portal and sent Attrebus and Sul to Umbriel, the Prime Minister appeared in his quarters, where Vineben grabbed him and attempted to stab him in the head.[1]:273, 278 Hierem escaped Vineben's grasp by hitting him with a demoralization spell, but Arese summoned a Daedra, which the minister hit with a spell that sent it flying back into the wall.[1]:278-279 The Daedra attacked again, but Hierem failed to completely deflect it, and its claw slashed across his chest, passing through his chain mail and wounding him.[1]:279-280 Hierem responded by striking the Daedra with a burden spell, causing it to collapse.[1]:279 Arese then attacked Hierem, but she failed, and the minister produced a Daedric weapon, which he intended to use to kill her.[1]:279-280 However, before Hierem could kill Arese, Vineben threw a knife at him, distracting him and allowing the Daedra to attack and kill him.[1]:280-281
AftermathEdit
Unbeknownst to Vineben, Arese had deciphered the minister's plan from the paper Vienben had copied.[1]:280-281 Therefore, moments after Hierem's death, she stabbed Vineben and retrieved Hierem's Daedric weapon.[1]:280-281 Arese went to the secret room where Hierem had intended to perform the ritual, but before she could complete it, Vineben managed to follow and kill her, and he died shortly afterward.[1]:304-307 The Umbriel Crisis ended when Attrebus and Sul defeated Vuhon, and an Argonian named Mere-Glim used his connection with Umbriel and the city's Hist tree to lead Umbriel to the Realm of the Hist in Oblivion.[1]:298-304
See AlsoEdit
- For specific information from The Infernal City and Lord of Souls, see the Books article.
ReferencesEdit
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn Lord of Souls — Greg Keyes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o The Infernal City — Greg Keyes
- ^ Loading Screens in Skyrim
- ^ Rising Threat, Vol. IV — Lathenil of Sunhold