Amulet of Kings

The Amulet of Kings, also called the Amulet of Kings of Glory, was an amulet worn by Cyrodilic Emperors with the blood of a Dragonborn. The symbol of the Empire of Tamriel, the Red Diamond (Chim-El Adabal), stemmed from the amulet and became the royal seal of the Septim Dynasty much later. Akatosh formed the gem from his blood and gave it to Saint Alessia as a token of his willingness to keep mortals safe from the wrath of Daedric Princes.

Creation
When the Ayleids enslaved the Nedic humans native to the Tamrielic continent, a commoner named Alessia, the matriarch of the Cyrodilic Royal Line, from which renowned rulers such as Reman Cyrodiil came, rose among them and led a rebellion against the Ayleids, divinely inspired by the apparition of Akatosh. Eventually, in 1E 242, the Nedic slaves would overthrow the Ayleids and form the Alessian Empire of Cyrodiil led by Alessia.

The Dragon God of Time and ruler of the noble Aedra, Akatosh, looking with pity upon the plight of men, drew blood from his own heart, and blessed Alessia with the Blood of Dragons. With her, he forged a covenant that, so long as Alessia's bloodline remained pure to its dragon blood, Akatosh would seal the veils between Oblivion and the mortal plane. Akatosh then gave her the Amulet of Kings as a reward for her conquering Cyrodiil and expelling the Ayleids. The amulet became a soul gem, containing Alessia's soul after she died and placed her soul within the Red Diamond, where the souls of her future descendants would be placed as well. Only blood relatives of Alessia can wear the amulet, otherwise, it slips off the neck. It was worn by her son Belharza after Alessia became a saint, and by his successors until the fall of the Alessian Empire, in which the Amulet was taken and lost after the death of its last Emperor, Shor-El.

As well as gifting man the Amulet of Kings, Akatosh created the Dragonfires with a burning handful of his heart's blood.

Dragonfires
The Dragonfires themselves are the ward against the planes of Oblivion, while they are lit, Daedra cannot exist permanently in Nirn, and portals to Oblivion are not possible. The Amulet of Kings and the Dragonfires are parts of a whole - the Amulet of Kings was formed from the "tangled skeins of Oblivion" and the sinews of Akatosh's own heart. The Amulet of Kings must be available to light the Dragonfires, and the Dragonfires cannot burn if the Amulet is destroyed. The Dragonfires go out upon the death of each Emperor and must be lit anew by each new Emperor.

Reman Cyrodiil
After the fall of the Alessian Empire in 1E 2331, the Amulet was lost. However, it was later found when Reman Cyrodiil was born with the Red Diamond Chim-el Adabal on his forehead. According to legend, Reman was the son of the Colovian King Hrol from the lands beyond Lost Twil, who sought to heal the long split Kingdoms of Colovia and Nibenay as a means to ward off the prophesized Akaviri Invasion. On one of his quests, King Hrol found the spirit of Alessia who held the long-lost Amulet of Kings. In order to unify Cyrodiil, Alessia's spirit, which took the physical form of a hillock, was impregnated by Hrol, who would die from his labors. After many months the mound of mud grew into the legendary hill of Sancre Tor, in which at its peak, the shepherdess Sed-Yenna found an infant she named "Reman," who bore the Amulet of Kings in his forehead. The shepherdess then brought the infant Reman to the White-Gold Tower and she placed him on the desolate Ruby Throne without protest, where Reman stated “I AM CYRODIIL COME” and from then on ruled the new Cyrodillic Empire until his death in 1E 2762.

Second Empire
As of his rule of the Empire, it became a tradition that upon the crowning of each emperor, the Amulet of Kings is taken to the Temple of the One in the Imperial City. Ceremoniously, the Dragonfires were lit with the amulet and the pact with Akatosh was renewed. The emperor would be "soul-linked" to the amulet, and the fires would remain burning until the monarch's death in which after their death they would be relit by their successor. The Amulet of Kings would further be passed down to his son Kastav Cyrodiil, and after his deposition in 1E 2806, the amulet was given to Reman's younger son, Reman Cyrodill II. After Reman II died in 1E 2851 the amulet was passed down to his son, Brazollus Dor. After Brazollus Dor died in 1E 2877, the amulet was finally passed down to its last holder in the Reman dynasty, Reman Cyrodiil III.

Reman Cyrodiil III ruled the Empire till his death in 1E 2920, after which his closet advisor, the Tsaesci Versidue Shaie ruled as Potentate over the Empire, the first non-dragon blooded to do so, as a result, he could not wear the Amulet of Kings and so it was placed within the Vault of Kings in Sancre Tor. After his assassination in 2E 324, he was succeeded by his son, Savirien Chorak, however, he and all his heirs were assassinated in 2E 340. With no capable successor to the Potentate, the Cyrodillic Empire crumbled within a fortnight, bringing about the chaotic period of misrule and insurrection known as the Interregnum and the beginning of the rule of the illegitimate Reachmen Longhouse Emperors over the Empire began. With the beginning of the Interregnum, the Amulet became lost as it was presumably stolen from Sancre Tor.

Interregnum
In 2E 576, Interregnum Emperor Varen Aquilarios sought out to find the Amulet in order to make himself a Dragonborn so that he could legitimize his claim to the Ruby Throne and formed the Five Companions. After two years of searching, they managed to recover the amulet from the Vault of Kings within the ruins of Sancre Tor and began a ritual involving the lighting of the Dragonfires. However, one of the companions, Mannimarco, revealed that he set up the ritual as a trick, and immobilized the companions. He then manipulated the Amulet and Dragonfires and used their power to rip a tear between Oblivion and Mundus, causing an event known as the Soulburst that would allow for Molag Bal and his Daedra to invade Tamriel, leaving Nirn adrift in the Mundus open to invasion, this would come to be known as the Planemeld. One of the companions, Sai Sahan, took the amulet and hid it within Sancre Tor.

During the following events of the Planemeld and Three Banners War, a prisoner later known as the Vestige was captured by Mannimarco and sacrificed to Molag Bal. They were later rescued by Lyris Titanborn, one of the Five Companions, and came in contact with Varen. Following a series of tasks, the Vestige journeyed to the Halls of Torment, where Sai Sahan was held prisoner for two years by Mannimarco, who sought to extract the knowledge of the amulet's location by torturing Sai. Sai was rescued and took the companions to the Valley of Blades, where his mentor Kasura held a ring bearing the sigil of Stendarr that was keeping the amulet safe from Bal's clutches.

With the ring, the companions journeyed to Sancre Tor to retrieve the amulet. However, Mannimarco was observing Sai's actions secretly and attempted to defeat them with hordes of undead. Mannimarco later fought the Vestige and was killed, with his spirit taken to Coldharbour by Molag Bal. The companions then retrieved the amulet and set up a plan to invade Bal's realm. At Heart's Grief, Abnur Tharn needed to sacrifice either Varen, Lyris, or Sai in order to imbue the Vestige with Akatosh's blessing. After the ritual, the Vestige was granted temporary extreme power and defeated Molag Bal.

However, Abnur Tharn later escaped with the amulet and fled to Cyrodiil. He attempted to use it, though his attempts were fruitless as the amulet's power had been expended for at least a generation to come, it was eventually returned to its resting place in the Vault of Kings in Sancre Tor.

Talos
The Amulet of Kings laid resting within the Vault of Kings in Sancre Tor until after the Battle of Sancre Tor in 2E 852, when Hjalti Talos entered the vault and removed the Amulet of Kings from its resting place. Later on, the amulet would come to be passed on to Septim's successors.

Oblivion Crisis
In 3E 433, a prisoner accompanied Uriel Septim VII, the then bearer of the Amulet deep into the Imperial Subterrane, below the Imperial City. After an attack by the Mythic Dawn, Uriel was assassinated, and the prisoner was tasked with delivering the amulet to Jauffre, the head of the Weynon Priory. Jauffre then kept the amulet hidden, but after Uriel's illegitimate son Martin was escorted to the priory, the artifact was found to be stolen by the Mythic Dawn.

The prisoner, later known as the Hero of Kvatch and Champion of Cyrodiil, journeyed into Gaiar Alata, Mankar Camoran's paradise in Oblivion. Camoran was found to be wearing the amulet, and after being slain by the hero, the amulet was returned to its rightful owner Martin.

Martin then began to make preparations at the Temple of the One for his coronation as the new emperor of the Empire of Tamriel and the lighting of the Dragonfires, but before this could be done, the Daedric Prince Mehrunes Dagon invaded the Imperial City. Due to the imminent threat facing Tamriel and the Empire, Martin crushed the amulet at the temple during his coronation to defeat Mehrunes Dagon and closed shut the jaws of Oblivion forever. The destruction of the Amulet of Kings and the end of the Oblivion Crisis marked the beginning of the Fourth Era.