Okay, so i’ve seen two pieces of artwork on tumblr (not mine) that were almost identical to my headcanon Champion of Cyrodiil from Oblivion, who is frequently mentioned (and makes a brief appearance) in my own Skyrim fics. The first time I could chalk it up to just a coincidence, but the second time it was too close to what I had written to be passed up as just another accident. So I thought I would share with you all my version of the Champion of Cyrodiil, the hero of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Valeria Vulcanis, age 30 at disappearance, was a farmer’s daughter who came of age in the highlands of rural Colovia during the latter days of the Third Era. With the death of her parents, she took over management of her family’s farm until her sister, who had married an aide to a member of the Elder Council, was discovered dead. Suspecting foul-play, she took her revenge upon the aide: however, even the death of the aide of a member of the Elder Council was enough to alarm the Blades that the Emperor’s life may be in danger, and she was put into prison to await her execution. However, the timely escape of Emperor Uriel Septim VII spares her the headsman’s block, for he believes her to be the one who will save the Empire from the wrath of Oblivion.

My description of Valeria is as follows: dark-haired, blue-eyed, and a little short (between 5’1" and 5’3"). As she later reforms the Knights of the Nine, she is depicted clad in steel plate armor, sometimes with a sword and shield; these she learned to use from Anhilde, a Nord adventurer who is a distant ancestor of the family of Eirik Bjornsson (the Dragonborn of Skyrim).

The above picture is not mine, but it reflects almost precisely how I envisioned Valeria, the Champion of Cyrodiil.

Fine and dandy, you say. Well, hold on to your hats; if you thought this innocent-looking farm-girl turned knight becoming the daedric prince Sheogorath was something, you’ve seen nothing yet!

Though she was indeed guilty as charged for the murder of the aide, Valeria is extremely loyal: both to the Empire as well as to her family. This increases when she is pardoned by the Emperor and given the task of seeking out the ‘heir’ by Jauffre. She was responsible for closing the Oblivion gates outside the town of Kvatch, and became renown in legends ever after as ‘the Hero of Kvatch.’ Whether in the name of cosmopolitanism, racial pride, or some mantling, Dragon-break bullshit, her name, sex, and race are lost to history. In fact, it became a custom for the sex and race of the Hero of Kvatch to change according to whomever was telling the story.

Officially, she escorted Martin Septim to Cloud Ruler Temple, after which he led her back to the Imperial City, where he sacrificed himself by destroying the Amulet of Kings, thus ending the Oblivion Crisis. However, known only to the grandmaster of the Blades and the Knights of the Nine, during their stay in Cloud Ruler Temple, Valeria and Martin ‘bonded’. She bore a child shortly after the reformation of the Knights of the Nine, a daughter she named Romana.

With the death of the Septims, the Empire fragmented, and the Elder Council seeking to maintain some form of stability, Valeria became the de facto defender of the Empire as the grandmaster of the Knights of the Nine. During her travels, she became aware of strange goings on around an islet in the Niben Bay. After leaving her daughter in the care of the Knights of the Nine, Valeria went to the island and disappeared from the mortal plane of Mundus.

While the above picture might merely be a simple staff or a mace, it certainly seems close enough to the Wabbajack to make one pause and consider if this is indeed somebody else’s idea that was strangely parallel to my own. Furthermore, the appearance of a little girl (a daughter maybe?) is important, as it is a small but immensely significant part of the greater picture of my Elder Scrolls fic.

(WARNING: INFORMATION LISTED BELOW MAY SPOIL THE ENDING OF CHILDREN OF THE DRAGON! READ AT YOUR OWN PERIL!)

After her mother’s disappearance, Romana was adopted by Carodus of the Knights of the Nine, and even took on his surname as her own. Knowing about the girl’s true heritage, Carodus knew that she was in danger if she used her right name, or even took on her father’s name of Septim. They lived at the Priory of the Nine until the outbreak of the Stormcrown Interregnum, after which they fled to Valenwood, only to be chased back into Cyrodiil by the rise of the Third Aldmeri Dominion. Romana married Carodus’ son, and learned the truth about her lineage from her adopted father before his death. She and her husband spend most of their lives in seclusion, where they have a child whom she named Septima; she later joins the Chapel of Mara as a priestess until the end of her days.

For the next two centuries, this secret scion of the Septims makes a jagged path across Tamriel: lined with plots of betrayal, Black Sacraments, thieves, pirates, a supposed family curse of misfortune, and blood. The line led northwest into Hammerfell, then back to Cyrodiil where it seemed to stop when Alessia Crassius, the great-granddaughter of Valeria Vulcanis, married Cicero Crixus of Bruma: the only child they had was a son, Aleppo Crixus. He, in turn, was the grandfather of none other than Servius Crixus, veteran of the Imperial Legion, Listener of the Dark Brotherhood, First of the Crixian Dynasty of Emperors of Cyrodiil, and Anti-Shezzarine.