Lore:Pyandonea

Pyandonea
Type	Continent
Demonym(s)	Pyandonean

A Pyandonean ship

Pyandonea, meaning "The Veil of Mist" or "The Mist-Veiled Isles" is an island continent located to the far south of Tamriel. It is home to the elusive Maormer, a race of Mer exiled there by the ancient Aldmer from Aldmeris. For all of recorded history, King Orgnum has ruled the land. The island is located within Southern Sea.

Environment

Pyandonea is surrounded by a nearly impenetrable mist which surrounded the island served to forever keep them in exile from Aldmeris. However, this mist would not keep them from interacting with Tamriel. Altmer shipmen under King Hidellith described Pyandonea as a sea jungle barraged by mist storms. Massive plateaus spill over with vegetation which form mazes around valleys of ocean. Waving tendrils of kelp trap all but the Maormer's own ships, and provide a well-camouflaged home for the sea serpents that are Orgnum's guards and occasional mounts. While Pyandonea was regarded as unseen and uncharted in the Second Era, the continent could be found on some maps in the Third Era.

Pyandonea has "breeding pits". Yew is one of the more common trees in the Pyandonea and is typically used in crafting bows. Pyandonean swallowtails are butterflies believed to originate from Pyandonea. The island is covered mostly in dense rain forests which provide a habitat for the southern water spirits. It is marshy, full of insects, has white sand beaches, and forests of trees. In addition to the Maormer, a beast race of quadruped reptiles dubbed lizard bulls are known to occupy the outer islands of the continent.

Society

The Maormer practice a powerful form of snake magic which they use to tame the sea serpents of Pyandonea for use as mounts and warbeasts. Pyandoneans have insect-like ships made with membranous sails and chitinous hulls, somewhat similar to some ships in Morrowind. While Orgnum is the king of all Maormer, there are lesser coastal princes, who were known for their saying, "You can't cross the strait just by staring at the water." Pyanondea has a native language which is reportedly more complex than Tamrielic.

Gold is recognized as currency in Pyandonea, used by King Orgnum to fund the kingdom's vast navy. The wealth and maritime might of the nation once made it a world power. However, with the loss of King Orgnum's Coffer in 3E 110, a magical chest containing endless gold owned by the king, Pyandonea's large fleet could not be sustained, leading to the nation's decline in the global scene.

Traditional Maormer diplomacy features few alliances, seeing most foreign entities as prey rather than allies. Most negotiations end in bloodshed. However, some records indicate diplomatic relations between Maormer and Sload. During the Second Aldmeri Dominion, Pyandonea was allied with Summerset and Valenwood, but their outposts on the mainland were eliminated without intercession by the Dominion. Occasionally, Pyandonean ships have utilized neutral ports, such as Mistral.

To the Maormer, it is a sign of a fateful match to end up stranded at the open sea with someone. Consorting with an Altmer is considered treason. It is not the Maormer way to sacrifice one's self to save others. On Pyandonea, Maormer have been documented skirmishing with the local lizard bulls. Some scholars speculated that the Maormer broke the Aldmeri tradition of racial purity by intermingling with the indigenous, bestial tribes of Pyandonea.

History

The Maormer embassy in Mistral

In the Dawn or Early Merethic Era, Orgnum led a rebellion against the powers of Aldmeris in an attempt to usurp control. After his defeat, he and his followers were exiled the Pyanondea. The exile proved effective, as neither Orgnum nor his followers ever disturbed Aldmeris again.

In the Middle Merethic Era, an Aldmeri exploratory ship, the Pasquiniel, set sail south from Summerset Isle in the direction of Pyandonea. It was never heard from again, and it is popularly assumed they were lost at sea or died at the hands of the Pyandoneans. For almost every year of the First and Second eras, Pyandonean forces led by King Orgnum harassed the coastlines of Summerset. Attempts to retaliate against the menace were made, but the impenetrable mist surrounding the continent made navigation impossible.

According to Nordic tales, Gjadil the Keel-Hauler, an explorer from Atmora, sailed to Pyandonea and raided King Orgnum's palace, burying the treasure at Dusk. The tale of treasure was false, as Gjadil instead buried a message telling her descendants to value family, but the veracity of her assault is unclear.

After the assassination of Potentate Savirien Chorak in 2E 430, Valenwood entered a period of civil war. Pyandonean forces capitalized on the chaos, capturing swaths of the province's coast. The Wood Elven cities of Haven and Woodhearth were utterly destroyed by the Maormer incursion. Even Elden Root, the seat of Camoran rule, and its Great Tree were plundered by the encroachment.

One of the only glimpses into the actual landscape of Pyandonea came in 2E 486, when a small Maormeri fleet was sighted off the coast of Alinor and King Hidellith ordered his navy to give chase. The navy followed the ships through uncharted waters and were ambushed at Pyandonea itself. Most of the fleet was destroyed, but one warship and its crew returned to Summerset to record their account.

At some point during the early Interregnum, a group of pirates journeyed to Pyandonea under the pretense of 'establishing trade routes', though truly intending to pillage the isle. Instead, they discovered lizard bulls inhabiting an isle off the coast. The trident-wielding monstrosities initially were dead set on attacking them, though soon turned their sight on the Maormer after one of their ships arrived, leaving the crew enough time to escape.

In 2E 582, Green Lady Finoriell swam to Pyandonea, seeking vengeance for the murder of Silvenar Edhelorn on Khenarthi's Roost. She killed the Maormer indiscriminately until she was spent. As she lay dying atop the highest sea-tower, the Sea Elves' greatest warrior came to claim her head as a trophy. Instead, she grabbed him and threw herself to the waves far below.

In the same year, High Kinlady Estre of Skywatch contacted and arranged a deal with Sealord Malleroth of Pyandonea. In exchange for her providing Altmer naval schedules and assisting in navigating the Auridon Strait, she would be made Viceroy of Auridon after Summerset was conquered. Estre did not intend for such an outcome to come to fruition, instead using the chaos the attempt would spark to destabilize the Aldmeri Dominion.

The last contact with the island was in 3E 110 during the War of the Isle, when the Altmer, with the help of the Imperial Navy and the Psijic Order, eventually vanquished a Pyandonean armada. Legend credits the Psijics with creating a freak storm that decimated the Pyandonean fleet. Since their defeat in the war, Pyandonea was no longer considered a world power.

Gallery

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  Daggerfall globe sprite

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  Pre-release map from Legends

Notes

• "Pyandonea" is pronounced /piˌændəˈniə/ (pee-an-də-nee-ə).
• Mother Sea is a water body mentioned in Maormer phrases.
• On a globe sprite from TES II: Daggerfall, an unknown island southeast of Summerset can be seen. This is popularly assumed to be Pyandonea.
• A fan rendition of the island of Pyandonea was originally depicted in pre-release images of the Summerset Orrery card in The Elder Scrolls: Legends. However, this artwork never made it into the final game.

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.