Lore:Clivia Tharn

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Empress Regent Clivia Tharn
LG-cardart-Clivia Tharn.png
Clivia Tharn on the Ruby Throne
Race Imperial Gender Female
Born 2nd Era
Resided in Cyrodiil
Reign 2E 579-
2E 582
Previous Ruler Varen Aquilarios
Appears in ESO, Legends
"Ah, fair Clivia. My charming girl grew to be a ruthlessly ambitious woman. I taught her well." –Abnur Tharn[1]

Clivia Tharn was the ruler of the Empire of Cyrodiil during the Interregnum. A member of the prominent Tharn family, born to Abnur Tharn and his seventh wife, Pulasia,[2] and Abnur's sixteenth daughter overall.[3] She was also the widow of former Emperors Leovic and Varen Aquilarios. Abnur had plans for her first child to inherit the throne,[4] but by the time of the Three Banners War she was "comfortably lodged in Mannimarco's pocket",[1] and had disappeared from the public eye months before the Planemeld.[5]

Biography[edit]

When she was 7-years-old, Clivia played a game of Imperial War-Chess with her younger relative Euraxia and played an illegal move. Outraged, Euraxia taunted her by saying that she would one day be queen of Rimmen, but Clivia remained unimpressed, stating she would be the Empress. Her sister Septima noted that while she lacked instinctive prowess in the magical and political arts, Abnur groomed her for the Ruby Throne because she had an innate ability to command others, and they would have no choice but to follow.[6] She married Leovic of the Longhouse Emperors, and served as his consort. When Leovic was overthrown and killed in a violent rebellion for legalizing Daedra worship in the Empire, his usurper, Duke Varen Aquilarios of Chorrol, wed Clivia to consolidate his rule.[3] When the Five Companions embarked on a journey to locate the Amulet of Kings, Abnur sent Clivia a letter instructing her to oversee the Elder Council in his absence and saying that if Mannimarco's plan to relight the Dragonfires worked, her first child would inherit the whole of Tamriel.[4]

In 2E 579, Varen mysteriously disappeared during a calamity known as the Soulburst, and Clivia was quickly declared Empress Regent of the Empire in his stead.[7] This aroused widespread suspicions that Clivia and her father were responsible for Varen's disappearance, though it unbeknownst to even Clivia it was Mannimarco's doing. Mannimarco, who had orchestrated the Soulburst, became the power behind the Ruby Throne, turning Clivia to worship Molag Bal and manipulating her into expelling the Mages Guild from the Imperial City so that his Worm Cult could operate freely.[1][3][8][9] When the three alliances invaded Cyrodiil in 2E 580, they quickly conquered much of Cyrodiil and confined the Empire to only the Imperial City and Lake Rumare's environs.[10] The alliances were unable to take the Imperial City, and so Clivia continued to rule, but despite this, whenever one of the alliances gained supremacy over the other two alliances, they would choose an Emperor from their own ranks, although these Emperors were usually short-lived. This lasted until a dark anchor opened over the Imperial City, heralding a Daedric invasion which quickly overran the Imperial forces, and resulting in the deaths and capture of many of its citizens who were unable to escape.

While absent from the Elder Council meeting at the start of the invasion,[11] she was in charge of commanding troop movements, though her nonsensical orders for General Velarius suggest she was being impersonated even at the time.[12] Elder Councilor Itinia had not seen Empress Clivia for months even before the anchors fell, and had not seen her after.[5] As of 2E 582, Clivia's fate is unknown; she is not among the known survivors of the Daedric invasion of the Imperial City, and one of Molag Bal's servants, Molag Kena, impersonated her to gain access to the White-Gold Tower in order to carry out the "Planemeld Obverse" ritual.[9] It is unclear how long Kena had been impersonating Clivia.

At some point after the defeat of the Molag Kena, Dhulef, a court mage of the House Mornard of Galen inquired his old associate, the leader of the Ring of Daggers, a Daggerfall Covenant spy network, Copper Dariah about the whereabouts of the Empress Regent. She responded in a cryptic manner: "Stop asking about the Tharns. They're graveyard dead, buried in the ground. We have enough unquiet corpses in the world. Why go making more?"[13]

Gallery[edit]

  • Clivia Tharn (ESO render)

  • Clivia deploying troops (Legends)

  • A projection of Clivia Tharn (ESO)

  • Molag Kena disguised as Clivia Tharn

  • A vision of Molag Kena disguised as Clivia, speaking to General Velarius

Notes[edit]

  • Though Septima says Clivia was the sister of both her and Euraxia,[6] Abnur states that Septima is his grand-niece/third cousin and Euraxia is his half-sister.[1]
  • One source described Clivia Tharn as "a descendant of the savage Reachmen".[7]
  • Anatolius Caudex experienced a prophetic dream the night before the Imperial City fell. He saw the Empress Regent Clivia Tharn and her generals take Molag Bal's hand, heard creaking chains and smelled charred flesh.[14]

See Also[edit]

  • For game-specific information, see the ESO and Legends articles.

Books[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Abnur Tharn's dialogue in ESO
  2. ^ House Tharn of Nibenay — Count Opius Voteporix
  3. ^ a b c Chronicles of the Five Companions 4 — Abnur Tharn
  4. ^ a b Meet the Character - Chevalier Renald — Abnur Tharn
  5. ^ a b Councilor Itinia's dialogue in ESO: Imperial City
  6. ^ a b Meet the Character - Clivia Tharn — Magus-General Septima Tharn
  7. ^ a b Triumphs of a Monarch — His Majesty King Emeric
  8. ^ Anchorite's Log
  9. ^ a b Events of ESO
  10. ^ The Chorrol Crier
  11. ^ Minutes of the Elder Council
  12. ^ Dialogue between Clivia Tharn and General Velarius
  13. ^ Loremaster's Archive - Tamriel's Dungeons — Dhulef
  14. ^ Captain Caudex's dialogue in ESO
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