Lore:Ra'athim

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"I'm doomed to be R'Aathim, living and dead. It's godhood of a sort, but what a sort! Don't begrudge me my long life span. Think of me doomed to eternity in the gloomy Ebonheart council chamber listening to the eternal wrangles ... small wonder the dead R'Aathim pulled the place down on the live ones twenty years ago, thus causing my brother and my mother to join their number. The dead R'Aathim must have welcomed the century and a half of respite while the Nords held Ebonheart." — Moraelyn, "King Edward, Part XII"

Ebonheart (ESO)

The Ra'athim Clan (RAH-ah-tim), sometimes stylized as R'Aathim or Raathim, is an ancient family of Chimer (later Dunmer) that hail from the city-state of Ebonheart, in the province of Morrowind. According to the potentially fictional King Edward book series, the Ra'athim Clan were originally a group of miners that held territory stretching across the central mainland, but they eventually became the royalty of Ebonheart. Many great leaders of both Morrowind and Tamriel have hailed from the Ra’athim Clan, including the Empress-Regent Katariah, one of the most well-known descendants of the line. In early Morrowind history, the Ra'athim Clan held the High Kingship of Morrowind.

History

First Era

The Staff of Chaos

The Ra'athim Clan were known as prominent figures throughout history. In early Morrowind History, the Ra'athim Clan retained the High Kingship of Morrowind and held lucrative mining fiefdoms across Morrowind, between Ebonheart and Mournhold. According to Tribunal mythology, the Morag Tong had a sphere of influence in the Ra'athim's territory. According to the potentially fictional King Edward book series, King Kronin Ra'athim was the King of Ebonheart when the First Empire of the Nords invaded the province of Morrowind in 1E 240, driving the Ra'athim Clan out of Ebonheart and into hiding. Several years later when the Chimer fought back, King Kronin and his three sons took to guerrilla warfare, driving the Nords out of their domain. Kronin’s sister Yoriss became the Queen of Kragenmoor after the war. When King Kronin passed away, his son Cruethys became king, but he too passed away, leaving Cruethys' brother Moraelyn to the throne at Ebonheart. The third brother S'ephen, born in Mournhold, was an illegitimate son of Kronin, and therefore not considered a Ra'athim. To honor him, Moraelyn created a temple-cult dedicated to Ephen and left the Staff of Chaos under his protection, in his tomb underneath Mournhold. Eventually, King Moraelyn passed the mantle to his daughter, Lian, who in turn, had twin sons that were left, joint-heirs. At this point, the High Kingship had been left vacant due to a provincial emergency. Both twins were given separate kingdoms that resulted in the split that became modern-day Ebonheart and Mournhold.

House Mora & Katariah

Throughout the years, the Ra'athim Clan continued to rule over Ebonheart. A group called the Nightingales were affiliated with the Ra'athim and Ebonheart. Prior to this, the Ra'athim Clan were a part of the minor House, House Mora. House Mora would, in turn, become absorbed into the Great House Hlaalu. Despite the fact that Ebonheart was Morrowind's oldest city, Mournhold was given the Staff of Chaos due to Moraelyn's declaration and Ephen's origins. And so their jealousy had become greater when the Staff was placed in Mournhold, and Tiber Septim had taken the Horn of Summoning from them. In the early-mid Third Era, the city-state of Ebonheart, and the Ra'athim Clan were allies of Potema Septim, the Wolf-Queen of Solitude. Ebonheart fought alongside her during the War of the Red Diamond, which ended with Potema's death in 3E 137. Because Mournhold was an ally of the Third Empire, Ebonheart was in a bad situation, and to preserve the peace between both factions, Emperor Magnus Septim had arranged the marriage of Katariah Ra'athim, Duchess of Vvardenfell with his son, King Pelagius Septim III of Solitude in 3E 141. Because of Pelagius III's crippling madness, Katariah had essentially taken control of the Empire, working alongside the Elder Council to not only govern the Empire but hide Pelagius III's madness. As time went on, Katariah had a child with Pelagius III named Cassynder Septim, and Pelagius III died on Betony. Katariah I was named the Empress-Regent, and her reign (lasting for forty-six years) was known for being the Empire's celebrated years. However, some people claimed that Katariah's ascension was the decline of the Septim Dynasty. When Katariah died, Cassynder Septim was the Emperor of Tamriel, and his half-brother, Katariah's son, Uriel Septim IV was named the King of Wayrest and the rest is history.

Barenziah's Family

By the late Third Era, the most prominent member of the Ra'athim Clan was High King Athyn Llethan of Mournhold, and his niece, Barenziah. The Ra'athim lineage was supposedly dying out at this point. Barenziah had ruled Mournhold for several years, as far as the early Third Era. During Barenziah's late reign around 3E 376, the Staff of Chaos was stolen from Ephen's tomb. Barenziah had been seduced by the Nightingale, a bard commonly known to have been Jagar Tharn. Some sources claimed that this was false, and that the Nightingale was a former Indoril noble named Drayven Indoril. Drayven was one of the Nightingales, a group of extremely-talented thieves that serve Nocturnal. And so, as the story goes Tharn had hired Drayven to obtain the Staff of Chaos. Despite Drayven's ties to House Indoril, the thief may have been an unknown member of the Ra'athim Clan. According to the book, The Real Barenziah, v 4, the Nightingale was an heir of Moraelyn and the last of his line. With his exclamation, the Nightingale was able to acquire the Staff of Chaos and give it to Jagar Tharn by certain accounts, with others saying Jagar himself as the Nightingale acquired the legendary staff. The Imperial Battlemage attempted to kill Drayven, but it ended in failure and so he retired to Shor's Stone in Skyrim. Barenziah had a child with the Nightingale, named Dralsi, but later abandoned her to keep the truth quiet. Eventually, Dralsi took the mantle of Nightingale, same as her daughter, Karliah, who was alive during the Skyrim Civil War in 4E 201. Barenziah was the Queen of Morrowind since the early Third Era, but when the Arnesian War occurred in 3E 396, she had become the Queen of Wayrest, only to return to Morrowind around 3E 427. Her son, Hlaalu Helseth was the High King during the waning years of the Third Era. Her daughter, Morgiah married King Reman Karoodil of Firsthold and currently has two children, Goranthir and Rinnala.

Ra'athim Bloodline

King Kronin Ra'athim of Ebonheart 1E ??? - 1E ???

??? 1E ??? - 1E ???

Queen Yoriss of Kragenmoor 1E ??? - 1E ???

King Cruethys of Ebonheart 1E ??? - 1E ???

Witch-King Moraelyn of Ebonheart 1E ??? - 1E ???

S'ephen, God of the Wild 1E ??? - 1E ???

Queen Lian of Ebonheart 1E ??? - 1E ???

Twin King of Mournhold 1E ??? - 1E ???

Twin King of Ebonheart 1E ??? - 1E ???

Lord of Mournhold

Lady of Mournhold

King Hlaalu Athyn Llethan of Morrowind ??? - 3E 427

Ravani Llethan ??? - ???

Unknown Generations

King of Ebonheart ??? - ???

Unknown Generations

General Symmachus 2E 865 - 3E 391

Queen Mother Barenziah 2E 893 - ???

Drayven Indoril, the Nightingale ??? - ???

Gallivere Lariat 3E ??? - 3E ???

Empress Katariah Ra'athim ??? - 3E 200

Emperor Pelagius III Septim 3E 119 - 3E 153

King Hlaalu Helseth 3E 376 - ???

Queen Morgiah 3E 384 - ???

King Reman Karoodil of Firsthold ??? - ???

Dralsi ??? - ???

Septim Dynasty

Prince Goranthir ??? - ???

Princess Rinnala ??? - ???

Karliah ??? - ???

Known Members

Queen Barenziah of Mournhold

Katariah depiction

Kronin

King of Ebonheart during the Nordic Occupation in Morrowind

Yoriss

Queen of Kragenmoor after the Nordic Occupation

Cruethys

Son and Successor of King Kronin

Moraelyn

Legendary warrior known as the Witch-King of Ebonheart

Lian

Moraelyn's daughter and successor

Lian's twin sons

Moraelyn's twin grandsons that were given joint heirs as Ebonheart and Mournhold

Katariah

Duchess of Vvardenfell and Wife of Emperor Pelagius III

Athyn Llethan

High King of Morrowind and successor of Barenziah in the late Third Era

Barenziah

Former High Queen of Morrowind, and mother of Helseth Hlaalu and Morgiah

Morgiah

Daughter of Barenziah and Queen of Firsthold

Rinnala and Goranthir

Morgiah's children

Hlaalu Helseth

High King of Morrowind and son of Barenziah

The Nightingale

The Master Thief that stole the Staff of Chaos

King of Ebonheart

The King that helped Symmachus hide the Staff of Chaos in Mournhold

Karliah

A prominent member of the Skyrim Thieves Guild and of the Nightingales

Notes

• ^1	The "R'aathim" spelling is in line with the Dark Elf name generator for surnames from Arena and Daggerfall, which has the "R'-" as a starting particle for surnames. However, the spelling was standardized as "Ra'athim" during Morrowind.

• ^2	The historical fiction book King Edward was written before the introduction of the Chimer in later game entries. The Chimer would not become Dunmer until around 1E 700, which is after the timeline of the book.

Gallery

• 

  Mournhold

• 

  Karliah

References

Note: The following references are considered to be unofficial sources. They are included to round off this article and may not be authoritative or conclusive.