Lore:Sunspire

Sunspire
Type	Temple
Continent	Tamriel
Province	Elsweyr
Region	Anequina
Appears in	ESO

Part of Sunspire ca. 2E 582 at night

Sunspire is a Khajiiti temple found in the region of Anequina, within the province of Elsweyr. Sunspire is considered holy ground to the Khajiit across Northern Elsweyr. At the summit of Sunspire, the Dragon King of the Cats, Alkosh is said to have defended the people from the star-made knight, Pelinal Whitestrake, who slaughtered the Khajiit in a blind rage. Afterwards, the devout constructed Sunspire and paid homage to Alkosh.^[1]

HistoryEdit

Sunspire's construction dates back to at least the mythic times of the First Era. Pelinal Whitestrake fell into one of his mindless rages and mistook the Khajiit people as another strain of Mer. It has been speculated that Whitestrake's slaughter against the Khajiit could have very well ended the entire race. Survivors of the slaughter attempted to climb the central mountains and seek refuge, but Pelinal was able to follow and arrived at the summit, wrestling with the mountain through sheer ferocity "until he too stood above it". As the legend goes, Alkosh himself intervened, he fell from the heavens as a shooting star and shouted Pelinal out of Elsweyr with a roar that split the sky. The confrontation resulted in a Time Wound at the summit of the mountain, where it has remained since.^[1] The mountain later hosted the temple of Sunspire, which became the preeminent place of worship in Anequina and the sixteen kingdoms of old Elsweyr.^[2] This lasted for several years until Mane Rid-Thar-ri'Datta revealed the Riddle'Thar Epiphany in 2E 311, and the Temple of Two-Moons Dance in Rawl'kha gained prominence over Sunspire.^[3]

The Sunspire Time Wound

Nahviintaas confonting adventurers atop Sunspire

By the Interregnum around 2E 582, Sunspire was practically empty, with very few acolytes and sages, and in serious disrepair. The deity of cosmic order, the Riddle'Thar had replaced Alkosh as the most revered god in the province of Elsweyr. The leader of the temple was Moon-Bishop Azin-jo, who was in his twilight years. At this time, ancient Dragons had appeared in Northern Elsweyr, reaping the land, following the release of the great dragon Kaalgrontiid and his dragon followers from the Halls of Colossus.^[4] The golden dragon, Nahviintaas approached Sunspire with his contemporaries, Lokkestiiz and Yolnahkriin. They posed as Alkosh, Jone, and Jode respectively. Azin-jo openly accepted them and preached across Anequina about the return of "Alkosh." A wave of new followers came and rebuilt Sunspire. More adepts preached the return of "Alkosh" across Northern Elsweyr.

However, Nahviintaas' true goal was to use his Thu'um to tear the Time Wound wider in order to cause a Dragon Break which he intended to use to wipe out all mortals, "reclaim all that is and will be" and restore the "natural order" by "correcting the mortal mistake".^[5]^[6]^[1] While posing as gods the dragons would use their Voice to imbue their deceived followers with elemental power, transforming them into creatures composed simultaneously of ice and flame while also making them thralls of the dragon's will.^[7]^[1]^[8]^[9] The dragon's presence would also have an effect on the environment and conditions of the mountain, the dragon Yolnahkriin resided in the caldera, where his presence is said to have "stoked the sleeping mountain's fire", while the dragon Lokkestiiz resided in a windy frost covered overlook.^[7]

This news brought the attention of the Undaunted, who were sent to investigate. The Undaunted defeated the fake Jone and Jode before they confronted Nahviintaas at the summit and the time-wound. Though Nahviintaas would utilize the power of the Time Wound to manipulate time, claiming his faithful had no need to fear death as he could restore them and they'd serve him eternally, and that he could make his foes relive their deaths over and over, the fake Alkosh was ultimately killed and Sunspire was liberated from his control.^[10] ^[5] With the years he had left, Moon-Bishop Azin-jo vowed to restore this temple and because of his folly, he felt that it was his task alone to bear.^[1] But regardless, some priests stayed in Sunspire.