Lore:Hierem

Prime Minister Hierem
Race	Imperial	Gender	Male
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 I as a liberator rather than a conqueror. Following this, he became Titus I's prime minister and the second most powerful man in the Empire. Circa 4E 47, Hierem struck a deal with Vuhon, lord of Umbriel, to summon the flying city to Mundus from Oblivion. In 4E 47, Hierem and the An-Xileel performed a ritual that summoned Umbriel to Mundus, initiating the Umbriel Crisis. Hierem summoned Umbriel to Mundus because he believed that he could utilize the White-Gold Tower's power and the souls collected by Umbriel to make himself a god. However, before he could complete his plan, a Daedra killed him near the conclusion of the Umbriel Crisis in 4E 48, during a fight with Colin Vineben and Letine Arese.

Biography

Background and Early Career

Hierem's birthdate is unknown, but he was born into an old and well-connected Nibenese family. Hierem was described as pudgy with thick eyebrows and mild blue eyes.

In his younger years, he was part of the Mages Guild's leadership prior to its dissolution at the beginning of the Fourth Era. Following the Mages Guild's dissolution, he became a member of the Synod and eventually became extremely influential within the organization. He served as an imperial ambassador to Morrowind prior to the Red Year. Following the onset of the Stormcrown Interregnum, Hierem served as a minister to the Empire's ruler, Thules the Gibbering. 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.

Prime Minister

Thules the Gibbering was not a well-liked ruler, but since he was Nibenese, many on the Elder Council favored him over Titus Mede, whom they viewed as a Colovian usurper. 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. Following this, he became Titus I's prime minister and the second most powerful man in the Empire. Although Hierem provided invaluable assistance to Titus I, he personally considered the Emperor to be an ill-mannered, badly bred Colovian upstart.

After the birth of Titus I's son Attrebus, Hierem suggested to the Emperor that the people needed a hero, and that Attrebus should be that hero. Titus I agreed to Hierem's plan, either because it gave him some sense of direction with Attrebus or to try to placate Hierem. 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.

Although Titus I appointed Hierem as prime minister, the Emperor did not trust him. 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.

In 4E 38, Titus I placed a member of his inner circle, Letine Arese, in Hierem's ministry as an assistant to spy on him. When he placed Arese in Hierem's ministry, the Emperor had no particular concerns about the Prime Minister; only the sort of general paranoia a successful monarch must have. Hierem remained above any suspicion of treachery until around 4E 47, when he began testing Arese. 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.

Summoning Umbriel

Umbriel

Circa 4E 47, Hierem struck a deal with Vuhon, lord of Umbriel, to summon the flying city to Mundus from Oblivion. Vuhon wanted Umbriel to be summoned to Mundus so that he could utilize the White-Gold Tower to free himself from Clavicus Vile. In exchange for summoning Umbriel to Mundus, Vuhon was to assist Hierem in becoming emperor. However, Hierem did not intend to honor their deal, as he believed Vuhon would not honor his terms. Hierem believed that when Umbriel arrived at the White-Gold Tower, he could utilize the tower's power and steal the souls collected by the city to give him godlike power, so he deceived Vuhon into believing that he still intended to honor their deal.

In 4E 47, Hierem, accompanied by 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. 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. 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. At the Hist Tree, Hierem and the An-Xileel performed a ritual that summoned Umbriel to Mundus.

Umbriel Crisis and Death

Umbriel at the Imperial City

In 4E 48, Umbriel appeared off the coast of Black Marsh. 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. 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 towards Morrowind and was yet to threaten the Empire's borders. The Emperor also forbade the Crown Prince from attempting to stop Umbriel.

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. 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. Arese hired Calvur, a criminal leader, to assassinate Attrebus. 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. Later, a Dunmer named Sul rescued Attrebus.

Arese informed Colin Vineben, a Penitus Oculatus inspector who 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. After Vineben discovered that Hierem had his office censor intelligence reports on Umbriel, Vineben and Arese theorized that Hierem was working with Umbriel. The Inspector then recovered Delia Huerc's journal, which detailed the Prime Minister's trip to Black Marsh the previous year. Vineben presented Huerc's journal to the Emperor, but he found neither the journal nor Arese's statements incriminating enough to use against Hierem. Titus I informed Vineben that the Prime Minister had already supplied him with evidence that Arese was behind the assassination attempt on Attrebus. The Emperor gave Vineben a key to Hierem's ministry and rooms and told him to find undeniable proof of Hierem's involvement. While searching the minister's private office and quarters, Vineben found a paper depicting the ritual configuration that Hierem would use to utilize the White-Gold Tower's power and steal the souls from Umbriel. 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.

Umbriel first went to the Scathing Bay on the island of Vvardenfell, which delayed its arrival to the Imperial City; however, once Umbriel neared the Imperial City, its forces completely encircled it, putting the Imperial City under siege. Hierem convinced Vuhon to lend him some of his ground troops so that he could capture anyone entering the city. 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. Afterward, Attrebus woke up in Hierem's office, and Hierem informed him that he intended to kill him after he outlived his usefulness. Hierem also wanted to know why Vuhon was afraid of both Attrebus and Sul. Hierem then left, telling the prince that he had a lot to do and preparations to make before their next conversation. Later, Hierem awakened Sul and proceeded to question him and Attrebus, using a type of magic that would cause pleasure if they gave Hierem a correct answer, but pain if they gave Hierem an incorrect answer. Sul eventually revealed to Hierem that Vuhon was afraid of the sword Umbra, so that Hierem would stop questioning Attrebus. The Prime Minister then used the portal sigil he had in his quarters to go up to Umbriel and speak with Vuhon.

After Hierem teleported to Umbriel, Vineben and Arese released Attrebus and Sul from their cells. Attrebus and Sul waited on the portal sigil, believing that once Hierem activated it, the portal would send them to Umbriel, while Vineben and Arese waited behind the portal, preparing to ambush and kill Hierem. After Hierem activated the portal and sent Attrebus and Sul to Umbriel, Vineben attacked him, grabbing him and attempting to stab him in the head. Hierem hit Vineben with a demoralization spell, but Arese summoned a Daedra, and the minister hit it with a spell that sent it flying back into the wall. 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. Hierem struck the Daedra with a burden spell, causing it to collapse. Arese then attacked Hierem, but she failed, and Hierem produced a Daedric weapon, which he intended to use to kill her. However, before Hierem could kill Arese, Vineben threw a knife at him, distracting him and allowing the Daedra to attack and kill him.

Aftermath

Right after Hierem's death, Arese, having deciphered the minister's plan from the paper Vineben had copied, stabbed Vineben and retrieved Hierem's Daedric weapon. Arese went to the secret room where Hierem had intended to perform the ritual, but before she could complete it, Vineben, who had followed her, killed her, and he died shortly afterward. 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.

See Also

• For specific information from The Infernal City and Lord of Souls, see the Books article.