Azura様がみてる Wiki*

<DIV ALIGN="CENTER"> 
Biography of the Wolf Queen 
by Katar Eriphanes

<DIV ALIGN="LEFT"> 
Few historic figures are viewed as unambiguously evil, but Potema, the so-called Wolf Queen of Solitude, surely qualifies for that dishonor. Born to the Imperial Family in the sixty-seventh year of the third era, Potema was immediately presented to her grandfather, the Emperor Uriel Septim II, a famously kindhearted man, who viewed the solemn, intense babe and whispered, “She looks like a she-wolf about ready to pounce.“

Potema's childhood in the Imperial City was certainly difficult from the start. Her father, Prince Pelagius Septim, and her mother, Qizara, showed little affection for their brood. Her eldest brother Antiochus, sixteen at Potema's birth, was already a drunkard and womanizer, infamous in the empire. Her younger brothers Cephorus and Magnus were born much later, so for years she was the only child in the Imperial Court.

By the age of 14, Potema was a famous beauty with many suitors, but she was married to cement relations with King Mantiarco of the Nordic kingdom of Solitude. She entered the court, it was said, as a pawn, but she quickly became a queen. The elderly King Mantiarco loved her and allowed her all the power she wished, which was total.

When Uriel Septim II died the following year, her father was made emperor, and he faced a greatly depleted treasury, thanks to his father's poor management. Pelagius II dismissed the Elder Council, forcing them to buy back their positions. In 3E 97, after many miscarriages, the Queen of Solitude gave birth to a son, who she named Uriel after her grandfather. Mantiarco quickly made Uriel his heir, but the Queen had much larger ambitions for her child.

Two years later, Pelagius II died -- many say poisoned by a vengeful former Council member -- and his son, Potema's brother Antiochus took the throne. At age forty-eight, it could be said that Antiochus's wild seeds had yet to be sown, and the history books are nearly pornographic in their depictions of life at the Imperial court during the years of his reign. Potema, whose passion was for power not fornication, was scandalized every time she visited the Imperial City.

Mantiarco, King of Solitude, died the springtide after Pelagius II. Uriel ascended to the throne, ruling jointly with his mother. Doubtless, Uriel had the right and would have preferred to rule alone, but Potema convinced him that his position was only temporary. He would have the Empire, not merely the kingdom. In Castle Solitude, she entertained dozens of diplomats from other kingdoms of Skyrim, sowing seeds of discontent. Her guest list over the years expanded to include kings and queens of High Rock and Morrowind as well.

For thirteen years, Antiochus ruled Tamriel, and proved an able leader despite his moral laxity. Several historians point to proof that Potema cast the spell that ended her brother's life, but evidence one way or another is lost in the sands of time. In any event, both she and her son Uriel were visiting the Imperial court in 3E 112 when Antiochus died, and immediately challenged the rule of his daughter and heir, Kintyra.

Potema's speech to the Elder Council is perhaps helpful to students of public speaking.

She began with flattery and self-abasement:“My most august and wise friends, members of the Elder Council, I am but a provincial queen, and I can only assume to bring to issue what you yourselves must have already pondered.“

She continued on to praise the late Emperor, who was a popular ruler in spite of his flaws:“He was a true Septim and a great warrior, destroying -- with your counsel -- the near invincible armada of Pyandonea.“

But little time was wasted, before she came to her point:“The Empress Magna unfortunately did nothing to temper my brother's lustful spirits. In point of fact, no whore in the slums of the city spread out on more beds than she. Had she attended to her duties in the Imperial bedchamber more faithfully, we would have a true heir to the Empire, not the halfwit, milksop bastards who call themselves the Emperor's children. The girl called Kintyra is popularly believed to be the daughter of Magna and the Captain of the Guard. It may be that she is the daughter of Magna and the boy who cleans the cistern. We can never know for certain. Not as certainly as we can know the lineage of my son, Uriel. The last of the Septim Dynasty.“

Despite Potema's eloquence, the Elder Council allowed Kintyra to assume the throne as the Empress Kintyra II. Potema and Uriel angrily returned to Skyrim and began assembling the rebellion.

Details of the War of the Red Diamond are included in other histories: we need not recount the Empress Kintyra II's capture and eventual execution in High Rock in the year 3E 114, nor the ascension of Potema's son, Uriel III, seven years later. Her surviving brothers, Cephorus and Magnus, fought the Emperor and his mother for years, tearing the Empire apart in a civil war.

When Uriel III fought his uncle Cephorus in Hammerfell at the Battle of Ichidag in 3E 127, Potema was fighting her other brother, Uriel's uncle Magnus in Skyrim at the Battle of Falconstar. She received word of her son's defeat and capture just as she was preparing to mount an attack on Magnus's weakest flank. The sixty-one-year-old Wolf Queen flew into a rage and led the assault herself. It was a success, and Magnus and his army fled. In the midst the victory celebration, Potema heard the news that her son the Emperor had been killed by an angry mob before he had even made it for trial in the Imperial City. He had been burned to death within his carriage.

When Cephorus was proclaimed Emperor, Potema's fury was terrible to behold. She summoned daedra to fight for her, had her necromancers resurrect her fallen enemies as undead warriors, and mounted attack after attack on the forces of the Emperor Cephorus I. Her allies began leaving her as her madness grew, and her only companions were the zombies and skeletons she had amassed over the years. The kingdom of Solitude became a land of death. Stories of the ancient Wolf Queen being waited on by rotting skeletal chambermaids and holding war plans with vampiric generals terrified her subjects.

Potema died after a month long siege on her castle in the year 3E 137 at the age of 90. While she lived, she had been the Wolf Queen of Solitude, Daughter of the Emperor Pelagius II, Wife of King Mantiarco, Aunt of the Empress Kintyra II, Mother of Emperor Uriel III, and Sister of the Emperors Antiochus and Cephorus. Three years after her death, Antiochus died, and his -- and Potema's -- brother Magnus took the throne.

Her death has hardly diminished her notoriety. Though there is little direct evidence of this, some theologians maintain that her spirit was so strong, she became a daedra after her death, inspiring mortals to mad ambition and treason. It is also said that her madness so infused Castle Solitude that it infected the next king to rule there. Ironically, that was her 18-year-old nephew Pelagius, the son of Magnus. Whatever the truth of the legend, it is undeniable that when Pelagius left Solitude in 3E 145 to assume the title of the Emperor Pelagius III, he quickly became known as Pelagius The Mad. It is even widely rumored that he murdered his father Magnus.

The Wolf Queen must surely have had the last laugh.

<DIV ALIGN="CENTER"> 
Wolf Queenの伝記 
Katar Eriphanes著

明らかに悪人とみなされている歴史上の人物は数人いるが、中でもPotema、いわゆるSolitudeのWolf Queenは、確実にその不名誉をこうむる資格を持っている。第三Era67年帝国王家に生を受けるやいなや、Potemaは彼女の祖父、心優しい事で有名な男であり、それでいて荘厳な印象をも兼ね備えた、皇帝Uriel Septim II世に抱き取られた。彼は激情的なその赤ん坊を見るなりこう呟いた、「この娘は今にも襲い掛かってきそうで、まるで雌狼のようだ。」 <BR>

Potemaは幼少時代を帝国首都で過ごしたが、その始まりから何かと問題が多かった。彼の父、Pelaguis Septim王子と、彼女の母、Qizara、は彼らの子供たちをすこし甘やかせるきらいがあった。最年長の兄Antiochusは、Potemaが生まれた時には16歳だったが、すでに大酒飲みの女たらしで、帝国中にその悪行を知られていた。彼女の弟たちであるCephorusとMagnusはもっと後になってから生まれたので、つまり数年の間は彼女が帝国王宮におけるただ一人の子供だった。

14歳になると、Potemaは名高い美人となり数多くの求婚者が詰め掛けたが、彼女はNord王国

Solitudeの王Mantiarcoの元へと嫁ぎ、正式にその一族となった。彼女はかの王宮に入り、それは

一つの、賭けではあったが、しかし彼女は時を経ずして女王となった。年老いたMantiarco王は彼

女を愛するあまり、彼女が望む全ての権力を、それも悉く、彼女に与えた。

時が過ぎUriel Septim II世が逝去すると、彼女の父が皇帝を継ぎ、そして激減した国庫に直面し

、彼の父の行った拙い国家経営に感謝した。Pelagius II世は元老院の面々を追放し、彼らにその

身分を買い戻すよう迫った。3E 97年、数々の流産の後、ついにSolitude女王は子息を誕生させ、

その子を、祖父にちなみUrielと名付けた。MantiarcoはすぐにUrielを彼の跡継ぎに指名したが、

女王はもっと大きな野望をその息子に抱いていた。

2年後、Pelagius II世がこの世を去った――人々は復讐に燃える元議員たちに毒殺されたのだと噂

した――そして彼の息子、Potemaの兄Antiochusが玉座を継いだ。齢48才にして、彼の野獣性はま

だ育ちきってはいなかったのだと言える、そして歴史書は彼の在位期間中の帝国王宮の暮らしの描

写において、ほとんどポルノ絵本のようになる。Potemaは、その熱情が姦淫でなく権力に向けられ

ていたため、彼女は帝国首都を訪れるたびに憤慨していた。

Manitiarco、Solitudeの王もその最盛期のうちに、Pelaius II世の後を追うようにこの世を去った

。Urielが玉座を継ぎ、彼の母親と共に国を治めていた。確かに、Urielは正しく、また恐らく一人

で統治したがっていたが、Potemaは、今の地位はあくまで一時的なものなのだと、彼を言いくるめ

た。彼はこの王国だけでなく、帝国をも手にするべき人物だった。Solitude城において、彼女は

Skyrimの他王国から訪れる沢山の使者をもてなし、それがまた不満の種となっていた。何年にもわ

たる彼女のゲストリストはHigh RockやMorrowindの王と王妃を含むまでに広がっていた。

30年もの間、AntiochusはTamrielを支配し、倫理的なだらしなさにおいて指導者を軽蔑しうるとい

う事を証明した。数人の歴史家はPotemaが兄の命を絶とうとして呪文を唱えたと立証しているが、

それは一方的な証拠でしかないか、あるいは他方は時の砂の中で失われている。いずれにしても、

彼女とその息子UrielはAntiochusが死んだ3E112年に帝国王宮を訪れていて、すぐさま彼の娘にし

て後継者、Kintyraの統治権に異議を唱えた。

この時Potemaが議会へ向けて行った演説は、おそらく弁舌を学ぶ学生たちの役に立っていることだ

ろう。

彼女はまずご機嫌取りと自己卑下から始めた：「私の最も聡明で尊敬すべき友人たち、元老院のみ

なさま、私は辺境の女王に過ぎません、そして私はただ、あなた方が既に熟考なされてきた問題を

取り上げ、思いを述べることしか出来ません。」

彼女は故皇帝への賛辞へで言葉を続ける、かつてその欠損から来る悪意で有名だった統治者への：

「かれは偉大な戦士でありまた真の皇帝でした、Pyandoneaのほとんど無敵の艦隊を――あなた方

の助言と共に――破壊することにかけては。」

Despite Potema's eloquence, the Elder Council allowed Kintyra to assume the throne as the Empress Kintyra II. Potema and Uriel angrily returned to Skyrim and began assembling the rebellion.

The Wolf Queen must surely have had the last laugh.

Books/Biography of the Wolf Queen

目次

最新の10件