Wonders of Tamriel - The Royal Executioners of Valenwood
By Tilmoov Aedorin
Long has Valenwood been a loyal vassal of the Altmeri Dominion. Those dense forests were the birthplace of civilization on Tamriel and have ever sense been the reference point for the measurement of years on Dawn's Beauty. Many scholars have written in depth on the religions of Y'ffree, the Wilder King and the mysterious Green Pact and the province itself has few areas that have not been chronicled by scribes far elder than most living memory. Still I find a inconspicuous role in the royal court to be most essential and rarely touched upon in the gardens of peace.
It is mostly common knowledge that the Wood Elves uphold a religious declaration known as the Green Pact that requires (among many stipulations) all pieces of an enemy to be consumed and used or utterly destroyed so that peace can be maintained in Valenwood. To help with this end the Bosmer aspect of Stendarr (called Stagnarr) came up with the Royal Decree:
"Those Bosmer who's life is judged by the Silvenar [A Bosmer Religous figure who embodies the collective feelings of the Bosmeri People] to be likely to result in the death of more than the individuals death are to be executed by a Champion of Mercy appointed by the King of Elden Root."
And for thousands of years a Champion of Stagnarr would carry out Writs of Execution (similar to those of the Morag Tong in Morrowind). Since the reunification of the Altmeri Dominion following the fall of the Septim Dynasty at the end of the Third Era, Valenwood's Royal Executioner has been an agent working simultaneously for the Silvenar of Silvenar and the Thalmor carrying out many executions for the collective peace of Elven Tamriel.
Very few stories are written of these Royal Executions, as they are secretive by nature, but many debate one potential execution carried out by one of these assassins. In the closing days of the First Era the Reman Dynasty was ended abruptly by a mysterious assassin who took the life of Reman III. This act was most likely carried out by an assassin of the Morag Tong or Early Dark Brotherhood as is the scholarly consensus. However the Akaviri Stewart who sat the Ruby Throne in the absence of a Dragonborn Emperor Versidue-Shaie was assassinated after a long rule over the Cyrodiilic Empire leading to it's collapse and in the independence of the Elven and Beast Provinces. Some theories that this act was carried out by a Valenwood Royal Executioner in the name of Valenwood independence and the end of dogmatic rule by the notoriously anti-elven/ anti-beastfolk Imperial Religion as-well as the disbanding of the Morag Tong Assassin's guild from Tamriel (though it would return in Morrowind after some time). It should be said that this is only a hypothesis and lacks any concrete evidence.
Currently the title of Royal Executioner is a closely guarded secret, only known by the Thalmor and those of the higher Bosmeri Noble class. The only known symbol is a deer skull said to have been a gift of the Wilder King during a long past Wild Hunt. Be wary traveler, how many lives could be saved if you were to meet your end?