Camoran Usurper

Subject: Camoran Usurper Mon Oct 31, 2011 7:59 pm

Haymon Camoran (?-3E 267) is best known as the Camoran Usurper, but is also known as the Hart-King, or Haymon Hart-King. Originally one of the claimants to the throne of the Camoran Dynasty in Valenwood, together with Camoran Kaltos, who he initially served as advisor and sorceror. After the conquering of most of Valenwood, disagreements with Camoran Kaltos over the Usurper's continued campaigning in Colovia caused him to turn on Kaltos. After a period of violent warfare throughout western Tamriel, affecting Valenwood, Colovia, Hammerfell and parts of High Rock, the Usurper's forces were finally defeated at Dwynnen in 3E 267 by forces from different High Rock kingdoms in a combined naval and land battle. For most of this war, Emperor Cephorus II was occupied in a civil war over the Imperial succession, and was not able to counter the Usurper's invasion.

His son had the same name as Mankar Camoran, which makes it seem as though they are one and the same. However, Mankar's race in Oblivion suggests otherwise (in Oblivion, he was an Altmer. However, the mother of Haymon's son was a Bosmer, as was the Usurper himself. According to Notes on Racial Phylogeny, the race of the mother is passed onto the son or daughter, furthering the argument that Mankar Camoran is not the son of Haymon Camoran).

In 3E 249, the second year of the reign of Emperor Cephorus II, the Camoran Usurper began his methodical invasion of western Tamriel. In two years, his army of mercenaries, undead and daedra conquered most of Valenwood, the old seat of the Camoran Dynasty. With the war over the Camoran throne won, the Usurper's attention turned to Cyrodiil and Colovia, where the city of Kvatch was brutally sacked, much to the dismay of Camoran Kaltos, who did not approve of the Usurper's violence against civilians. Kaltos begged the Usurper to return to Valenwood, but the Usurper turned on his lord and Kaltos was forced to flee. After this, the lord and his former advisor were at war.

Despite the conflict with Kaltos, the Usurper continued his campaign in the West, and in thirteen years he conquered most of Hammerfell, defeating the kingdoms of Rihad and Taneth. The Emperor, busy in a war of succession with the supporters of his cousin Andorak, attempted to halt the Usurper's invasion by sending mercenaries to Hammerfell, but to no avail.

The Usurper then turned his attention to High Rock. In 3E 266, the Iliac Bay region had no obvious leaders to unite the many petty states against the threat posed by Camoran's armies. General sympathies for the Emperor were also low, and the Usurper, as an enemy to the Emperor, was initially seen as something of a liberator. Several rulers had made secret alliances with the Usurper to protect their lands. For these reasons, resistance against the Usurper was initially weak, but as reports about the Usurper's cruelty towards captives and abuse of conquered lands began to spread, an alliance of Ykalon, Phrygias, Kambria and Dwynnen, led by Baron Othrok of Dwynnen, was formed in early 3E 267. At the Battle of Firewaves later the same year, the combined forces of High Rock and Camoran Kaltos, consisting of the greatest navy ever combined as well as land forces, clashed with the forces of the Usurper on land around Dwynnen and at sea in the Iliac Bay. The Usurper's forces were decisively defeated, and the Usurper himself fell in the battle. The weather worked against the Usurper, which is attributed to divine intervention.

As the defeat of the Usurper was achieved without aid from the Emperor, and since the Emperor's efforts to stop the Usurper had mostly failed, sympathies for the seemingly weak Empire diminished throughout the West. In stead, the victory increased the prestige of the local rulers, and fueled patriotism and separatism.

The Camoran Usurper's army is the stuff of legends. Allegedly made up entirely of summoned undead and daedra, it likely consisted mainly of Redguard and Wood Elf mercenaries. It has even been suggested that he raised fallen enemies to fight for him as undead. The Usurper is also known for employing scare tactics in battle, such as fake beast roars, and for the brutality and cruelty of his forces against captives and civilians. Given his use of daedra to conquer parts of Tamriel, it is possible that he was allied to a Daedric Prince, similar to Mankar Camoran's pact with Mehrunes Dagon. It is suggested in The Refugees that he had a "Master" other than Camoran Kaltos after he had turned on him.

Source: UESP