War of the First Council

The War of the First Council is an event in The Elder Scrolls series of video games and appears a number of times within the series. It occurred during the First Era and pitted the Chimer Great Houses Indoril, Redoran, Dres, Hlaalu, and Telvanni against House Dwemer, with the loyalties of Dagoth being disputed. The First Council was the first governing body to take control of all Chimer in the land of Morrowind. It collapsed following the war and lead to the birth of the Tribunal, who quickly supplanted Daedric worship and established themselves as the primary religion of Morrowind.

The Houses
The Dwemer and their allies were outnumbered by the five houses that faced them, but held a technological advantage and were able to hold their own with the aid of their Nords and Orc allies under the leadership of Dumac Dwarfking, the King of the Dwemer.

The Indoril, Redoran, Dres, Hlaalu, and Telvanni houses had banded together to put an end to the Dwemer's use of the Heart of Lorkhan's magical powers, which conflicted with the Chimer's own worship of the Daedra.

The War
The first part of the war did not bode well for the five houses. Disorganization and internal conflict lead to defeat after defeat until Nerevar was named Hortator and general of all Chimer forces. He was able to gather reinforcements from the nomadic Ashlander tribes and besieged the Dwemer and their allies at the Dwemer stronghold of Red Mountain, leading up to the Battle of Red Mountain.

The Battle of Red Mountain

After a long war between the Chimer, under Indoril Nerevar and the Dwemer, under Dumac, the two sides met on the island of Vvardenfell and battled on the slopes of Red Mountain for possession of three enchanted artifacts named Wraithguard, Keening and Sunder, which are a gauntlet, shortsword and warhammer, respectively. Nerevar defeated his one-time friend Dumac, but the source of the conflict, the sorcerer Kagrenac, had fled deep into the crater of Red Mountain. Accompanied only by his friend Voryn Dagoth, Nerevar entered the citadel to find Kagrenac. There, Nerevar battled Kagrenac before the Heart of Lorkhan. Kagrenac eventually fell, but not before mortally wounding Nerevar.

From here the accounts related to the battle differ:

Tribunal Temple canon
Nerevar's mentors, the gods Vivec, Almalexia and Sotha Sil were last to see Nerevar before he died. He told them that Voryn Dagoth had been corrupted by the Heart of Lorkhan and must be destroyed. After his death, he became the Martyr Saint Nerevar the Brave, patron of warriors. The next few millennia in the Tribunal's history were spent battling the new enemy, Dagoth Ur, and raising defensive measures against him. In 3E 426, a reincarnation of Nerevar went to Red Mountain and destroyed Dagoth Ur for the glory of the Tribunal.

Ashlander legend
Nerevar's three advisors (his lieutenant Vivec, his archmage Sotha Sil, and his wife Almalexia) came to their dying leader in the bowels of Red Mountain, along with Voryn Dagoth, to hear his last wishes. Dagoth requested that the Heart of Lorkhan be destroyed, but Vehk, who coveted the heart's power, disagreed. Nerevar ordered his three advisors to summon the Daedric Prince Azura that he might take counsel with her. Vehk, Seht and Almalexia, however, used poisoned spells, robes and incantations, and so Nerevar died. Nonetheless, Azura came, and cursed the three advisors for their faithlessness. The Chimer were instantly transformed into the Dunmer. Azura also promised that Nerevar would come again to make things right and cast down the three.

Undaunted, the advisors went to the heart of Lorkhan to gain its power, but were met with an unexpected adversary: Voryn Dagoth. Nerevar's closest friend was brave and noble in his sentiment, but hopelessly outmatched. The three savagely defeated him and left him for dead, using Kagrenac's three artifacts to gain the power of the Heart, which transformed them into "living gods". Taking the name of "Vivec", Vehk left and built a holy city in his own honor; Almalexia returned to this Dunmer capital of Mournhold and renamed it after herself; Seht, now calling himself Sotha Sil, built a vast Clockwork City in the far south of Morrowind, and dwelt there ever after.

Voryn Dagoth, however, was still alive, albeit barely. Tapping into the power of the Heart to ensure his survival, he brooded in the depths of Red Mountain and plotted the downfall of the Tribunal of Vivec, Almalexia and Sotha Sil. Driven mad by the power of the Heart, he eventually became the sinister Dagoth Ur. Eventually, he was destroyed by a reincarnated Nerevar; his madness had made him a danger to all of Morrowind. However, Nerevar accomplished Dagoth's original purpose: Sotha Sil, Almalexia and possibly Vivec were dead by the time the Nerevarine left for Akavir.

Actual account
As is stated previously, the Chimer and Dwemer met in battle on the slopes of Red Mountain. Nerevar defeated Kagrenac, and the Dwemer vanished from Tamriel. Unlike the Ashlander's story, which claims the Tribunal murdered Nerevar, the true event which transpired involved Nerevar telling them not to use the Tools, and to destroy them. They swore not to, and Nerevar died from his wounds. The Tribunal moved to defeat Voryn Dagoth, who, by that time, knew nothing of what had happened. He carried out Nerevar's order to protect the Tools, but was overcome, eventually being corrupted into Dagoth Ur. Sotha Sil saw the potential of the Tools, and persuaded the Tribunal to use them. They did, and gained immense power.

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