Lore:Minat

Minat orcs

The Minat were a powerful tribe of orcs chiefed by King Gortwog gro-Nagorm, who ruled the Kingdom of Nova Orsinium in northwestern Tamriel during the late Third Era.

History

Death of King Lysandus

Lysandus' Tomb

Corroborated account

The tribe's claims for socio-political equality and rights to Orsinium were supported by King Lysandus of Daggerfall. Upon somehow learning of the assassins from Wayrest (their leader being Lord Woodborne) heading to kill King Lysandus under the guise of peace advisors coming to ease tensions before the Battle of Cryngaine Field, King Gortwog sent his orcish warriors stop them, but they were slain upon ambushing the Wayresters, ultimately only delaying the assassination.

Uncorroborated account

According to a wildly uncorroborated account authored by the Scenarist Guild, the tribe's claims for socio-political equality and rights to Orsinium were supported by Lord Woodborne of Wayrest, after Woodborne made an alliance with King Gortwog to further each other's interests. Lord Woodborne previously attempted to persuade King Lysandus of Daggerfall into helping him take the throne of Wayrest, but was rebuffed -- there had been an ongoing power struggle for the throne, and Woodborne did not want his rivals to win it.

Upon King Lysandus' electing to retire to the Isle of Balfiera to be with his mistress, he was escorted by some troops and his third cousin once removed, Lord Woodborne, from the battlefield of Cryngaine to what was meant to be Lysandus' final destination of Balfiera on the other side of Iliac Bay. Along the way to Tamarilyn Point in Menevia, one of the Minat orcs meets the troop, Woordborne slinks away with this orc citing an emergency, also bringing an advisor of the troop with him as an alibi. As Lysandus's party continues on their way and reaches Tamarilyn Point, they encounter the Minat orcs, who the troop believed to be friends, only to find themselves massacred. The ships meant for Lysandus were sunk, and the king's body was hacked up by the Minat and placed within a silver casket in a nearby tomb.

Notes

• ^1

  An earlier draft of the Daggerfall main story cited for the narrative explanation of The Daggerfall Chronicles (and also the text data file of the Daggerfall Preview game demo, which had an early version of Lord Woodborne's diary) featured the Minat orcs working on behalf of Lord Woodborne to assassinate King Lysandus. The final release version of the game's story altered this to the orcs attempting save Lysandus instead. Both accounts are listed on this page for completeness.

See Also

For game-specific information, see the Daggerfall article. Also see the Daggerfall article on the Orsinium Area and Gortwog.

• Gortwog gro-Nagorm
• Nova Orsinium

Books

• How Orsinium Passed to the Orcs by Menyna Gsost — The story of how Gortwog won the land to the north of Wayrest
• Pocket Guide to the Empire, 3rd Edition: Orsinium by the Imperial Geographical Society

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.