Lore:Pelinal Whitestrake

Pelinal Whitestrake
Pelinal Whitestrake depicted in a painting battling Umaril the Unfeathered
Race	Unknown	Gender	Male
Died		1E 243 Vanua
Resided in		Cyrodiil
Appears in		Oblivion

[and Pelinal] came to Perrif's camp of rebels holding a sword and mace, both encrusted with the smashed viscera of elven faces, feathers and magic beads, which were the markings of the Ayleidoon, stuck to the redness that hung from his weapons, and he lifted them, saying: "These were their eastern chieftains, no longer full of their talking." — excerpt from The Song of Pelinal, volume 2

Pelinal Whitestrake fought alongside Morihaus as the champion of Queen Alessia during the Alessian Slave Rebellion of the early First Era. Pelinal is one name for the "legendary immortal hero" who according to legends conquered all of Tamriel by himself in the late Merethic Era. However he never united the various provinces he conquered under a single banner as he was known to wander, build up kingdoms, and inevitably abandon them to wander again. He possessed the Crusader's Relics which were given to him by the Eight Divines. Legends say he often had stretches of homicidal madness, during which he slew indiscriminately and took a toll on the very landscape itself.

For more information, see the main lore article.

Titles

The name Pelinal means "glorious knight". It is a corruption of Pelin-El, which means the Star-Made Knight. He was referred to in many different ways during the Alessian Rebellion, and was known as the Whitestrake, Pelinal Insurgent, Pelinal the Bloody, Pelinal the Blamer and Pelinal the Third. This last moniker, "Pelinal the Third", could indicate that he is a "god guiser" who had incarnated twice before. Another theory suggests that he is the third vision received by St. Alessia in her prayers to the gods for mankind's freedom from the Ayleids. He is often referred to as the Divine Crusader. Khajiiti legends remember him as the White Snake. It is claimed that he had other names as an immortal sorcerer king, such as Ysmir, Harrald Hairy Breeks, and Hans the Fox.

Reputation

Pelinal described himself and Morihaus, in a conversation between the two, as "ada", the same classification given to Umaril. Some believe Pelinal was another incarnation of a god sent to champion the cause of mankind. It is said that a man once called Pelinal "the Shezarrine"; the man was then smothered by moths that night. Pelinal also carried strange weapons and armor gifted by the Eight Divines. His reputation varies widely. Among Imperials, he is a hero who helped free Cyrodiil from oppression. Among mer, he is the vicious Nibenay warlord who led the Elven Pogrom, and the Khajiit revile him because he mistook them for another type of Aldmeri, slaughtering many before his mistake became apparent.

The Alessian Rebellion

He served the revolution by slaying the Sorcerer-Kings of the Ayleid city-states in single combat, including Haromir of Copper and Tea, Gordhaur the Shaper, and the Fire-King Hadhuul. He was by some legends lover of Alessia, though Pelinal is expressly stated to have loved the hoplite Huna, who he had raised up from a grain-slave and loved well. However, when Huna was killed by an arrow of Celethelel the Singer, Pelinal would descend into several flights of madness during which he cut vast swathes in mindless fury to avenge him. Khajiiti tradition holds that one of Pelinal's flights of madness was stopped by Alkosh, Dragon King of Cats, at the site of the present-day temple Sunspire, leaving a Time Wound. According to tradition, Pelinal was served by Vilius Tharn, "Blade-Serrator and Master of the Abbatoir", a claimed ancestor of the Tharn family.

Towards the end of the war as rebel forces began moving closer to the White-Gold Tower, the Ayleids attempted to blockade the northern bridge to the city, driving back Alessia's Nordic reinforcements. Enraged, Pelinal assaulted their lines and slaughtered all the Ayleids holding Heldon Bridge – an act which became known as "Pelinal's Midyear Massacre" in later Eras.

Death

"Our enemies have undone me, and spread my body into hiding. In mockery of divine purpose, the Ayleids cut me into eighths, for they are obsessed with this number."
—The Adabal-a

Once Pelinal had breached the White-Gold Tower, Umaril the Unfeathered challenged him to a duel. Outraged by other rebel leaders' hesitation to attack White-Gold Tower, he went in alone to confront Umaril. However, upon his arrival, Umaril first weakened Pelinal by sending in soldiers whom he had been saving for that moment, knowing full well they would die. It was only after Pelinal was bleeding and wounded that Umaril finally came down to fight him. Pelinal slew Umaril nonetheless, but his victory was short-lived. The other elf kings descended upon him and cut him into eight pieces in mockery of the Eight Divines and carried them away, leaving only his head as a gift to Alessia. His head was later found by Morihaus, and was said to have spoken things of regret.

Legacy

Despite his death, he was supposedly present at Alessia's death bed. He described another half that along with himself would take her up and reveal their true faces to her. Mannimarco claimed that Pelinal could explain his whereabouts during the Dragon Break, despite this event occurring roughly a millennium after his death. In 3E 433 Umaril the Unfeathered had returned to Nirn to take revenge on the Gods, a prophet of the nine appeared stating that the Nine Divines needed a divine crusader reborn. A champion would rise to the occasion and among meeting with Pelinal's ghost personally above the White Gold Tower, would go on to collect the Crusaders relics, receive the blessing of Talos, be proclaimed an embodiment of Pelinal Whitestrake, and utterly destroy Umaril. The champion was named the new Divine Crusader of the Knights of the Nine, an order of knights who would go on to quest in Pelinal's honor.

Gallery

• 

  Pelinal's ghost

• 

  Stained glass window depicting the battle

• 

  Concept art of Umaril and Pelinal

• 

  Outfit worn in honor of Pelinal

• 

  Basin of the Gore Virtuous

Notes

• The Library of Dusk: Rare Books lists Pelinal as the author of a book titled Conversations with the Heart of Lorkhan, which contains ruminations on the nature of the Aurbis. However, the authenticity of this book has been called into question.

• In an out-of-game text, the names Harald Hairy Breeks and Hans the Fox were mentioned among Ysgramor's Companions, and a couple others in their number were said to have "ran once with the Pelinal."

See Also

• For game-specific information, see the Oblivion article.

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.