Lore:Mannimarco

Mannimarco
Mannimarco as he appeared in Oblivion
Race	Altmer	Gender	Male
Born		2nd Era
Died		3E 433 Cyrodiil
Resided in		Artaeum Dragontail Mountains Jerall Mountains
Appears in		Daggerfall, Oblivion

King of Worms redirects here. For the book, see Mannimarco, King of Worms.

Mannimarco, an Altmer lich, is the leader of the Order of the Black Worm and an enemy of the Mages Guild. He is also known as The King of Worms, though it is unknown whether that title is specific to him or if he holds it as the leader of his cult of necromancers. Around 3E 433, he launched an all-out attack against the Mages Guild in Cyrodiil. Though his initial attacks were successful, his cult failed to destroy the Mages Guild, and Mannimarco was killed by the Mages Guild's newest Arch-Mage with the help of the previous Arch-Mage, Hannibal Traven.

Background

Knowledge of Mannimarco comes from books which tell a great deal not only about him, but about the time periods and Galerion. What little is known can be summarized as follows:

• Mannimarco lived on the island Artaeum, the third largest island in the Summerset archipelago.
• His birthdate is unknown. However, he started studying magic 230 (ten score and thirty) years after the "mighty Remans" fell. This presumably is a reference to the end of the dynasty of the Reman emperors, which coincided with the end of the First Era. His study of magic would then coincide with the founding of the Mages Guild, which occurred in year 2E 230. It is likely that Mannimarco was born roughly 20 years earlier, around 2E 210.
• Mannimarco was said to be highly intelligent, as was his fellow student Vanus Galerion, founder of the Mages Guild. Galerion had a "light and warm" heart, while Mannimarco unsurprisingly had a "dark and cold" heart.
• Mannimarco used necromancy and trapped souls even while studying.
• Galerion eventually confronted Mannimarco about his use of necromancy beneath the Ceporah Tower (an ancient tower on Summerset Isle used by the Psijic Order). Mannimarco ignored Galerion's warning.
• Mannimarco was later sent to Tamriel by his masters, either on an undescribed errand or as a rather feeble punishment for his dark interests. Regardless, he used the opportunity to gather followers and spread his vile practices.
• Galerion left for the mainland as well, disgusted by the short-sighted ways of the Psijic Sages, determined to both curtail Mannimarco and set up a new occult organization.
• Mannimarco's evil began spreading throughout Tamriel and he gathered a following of Necromancers.
• He became the first lich (explaining his longevity, as he was approximately 1,130 years old by the beginning of the Oblivion Crisis). It is not specified if he was the first lich ever or the first humanoid to make the transformation. He lost his body and mind; he became a living, moving corpse. His blood became acid, and all manner of repulsive things happened to him.
• Galerion left the Mages Guild, calling it "a morass" of political infighting and tortuous bureaucracy.
• Galerion attacked Mannimarco in a great battle, where he called Mannimarco "The Worm King". While it appears Mannimarco had his nickname, if in an altered form, at this point, it may be extrapolation by the author.
• Mannimarco began to unleash incredibly powerful death spells. However, he felt his depraved powers fail, and the battle was won by the Guild. Approximately a thousand men total died in the battle, Galerion included, and it appeared that Mannimarco had died as well.

Artifacts

Despite Mannimarco's great age, only a few artifacts have been identified by scholars as belonging to him.

Necromancer Amulet

The Necromancer's Amulet (also known as the Necromancer Amulet) is a legendary artifact created by Mannimarco. In appearance it is an exquisite amulet, often with a skull emblazoned upon it. It grants the wearer magical protection equivalent to plate armor, as well as the ability to regenerate from injury, resist mundane weapons and absorb magicka. The wearer also becomes wise beyond his years and far more capable in the School of Conjuration. This comes at a price, as the amulet can drain the wearer's strength, endurance, health and stamina. The artifact is popular among both thieves and mages. The amulet is unstable in this world, and is forever doomed to fade in and out of existence, reappearing at locations distant from that of its disappearance.

The amulet was uncovered by the Eternal Champion during the Imperial Simulacrum, in either High Rock or the Summerset Isles. In the events leading up to the Warp in the West, the amulet was recovered from an ancient lich by a knightly order in the Iliac Bay area. The amulet later fell into the hands of the Underking, who promised it as a reward for any who would return the Totem of Tiber Septim to him. Due to the Warp in the West, the fate of the amulet is unknown, although it may have been given to an unknown agent of the Blades. By 3E 427, the amulet had come to be owned by Arch-Mage Trebonius Artorius of the Vvardenfell branch of the Mages Guild. It was later claimed by the Nerevarine, although the circumstances as to how Artorius lost it are contradictory, ranging from the death of all the Telvanni councilors to the Nerevarine dueling for the title of Arch-Mage.

By 3E 433, the amulet had been transported to the Arcane University in the Imperial City for safekeeping. With the return of Mannimarco after his ascent to godhood, Caranya of the Council of Mages turned traitor and took the amulet and her supporters to the abandoned Fort Ontus, where she intended to return the amulet to its creator, making Mannimarco nigh unstoppable. The Champion of Cyrodiil uncovered Caranya's treachery and killed her, returning the amulet to Arch-Mage Hannibal Traven. By 4E 201, long after the dissolution of the Mages Guild, the amulet had been discovered by Calixto Corrium of Windhelm after he had been driven to madness at the death of his sister Lucilla. Attempting to bring her back to life, Calixto turned to necromancy and believed the amulet to be a Wheelstone. The amulet was found by the Dragonborn, who was investigating a string of murders in the city, attributed to a serial killer called "the Butcher". The Butcher was none other than Calixto, who was eventually discovered and brought to justice.

Bloodworm Helm

The Bloodworm Helm, which is made out of magically shaped bone, resurfaced in 3E 427. Although it is described as one of Mannimarco's most treasured possessions, it was found in the possession of Crazy Batou, a mentally disturbed Nord squatting inside a tomb in Morrowind. It was soon confiscated by the Mages Guild for study of its powerful enchantments.

Staff of Worms

The third known treasured artifact of Mannimarco is the Staff of Worms, a powerful and dreadful staff which will "reanimate" a corpse for thirty seconds. This animated corpse remains mute and shows only minimal intelligence, but it unswervingly follows and defends the caster.

The Warp in the West

Mannimarco as he appeared in Daggerfall

Due to reports just before the event known as The Warp in the West regarding Mannimarco's growing power and machinations around Iliac Bay, it is highly suspected that he was involved in whatever phenomenon took place. In fact, that event has cast so much confusion into history that it is unknown whether there has been just one Mannimarco. There's some speculation that encounters with the King of Worms since the Warp were merely with a possessed vessel or another necromancer who took the name for effect. Some even suspect that Mannimarco ascended into godhood after the Warp. It was rumored, after the correspondence of a Worm Anchorite was circulated, that the Necromancer's Moon is the God of Worms- a heavenly body that eclipses Arkay and allows soul gems to ensnare those usually protected by the Divine. It boasted that this moon is the remnant of Mannimarco's apotheosis, and his divine form.

The Attack on the Mages Guild

Whatever occurred during The Warp in the West, a powerful necromancer calling himself Mannimarco surfaced years later during the Oblivion Crisis to stage a widespread assault on the Mages Guild in Cyrodiil. It is likely he chose this time to attack because he had a strong following (after Hannibal Traven's ban on necromancy in the Mages Guild took effect) and because he believed the Oblivion invasion would weaken and distract the Mages Guild. As noted before, this threat was eliminated personally by the Mages Guild's newest Arch-Mage and the previous Arch-Mage, Hannibal Traven.

See Also

• Arkay the Enemy by KW — Instructions for the faithful to foil Arkay
• The Black Arts On Trial by Hannibal Traven, Archmagister of the Mages Guild — A summary of the salient points of the debate which led to the resolution of the Mages Guild on the subject of Necromancy