How is the Daggerfall Covenant organised?

Slaunyeh

Okay, so this might be a slightly weird question, but I was wondering if we have any information on how the Daggerfall Covenant is organized?

My highest level DC character is only 27, so I don't exactly have the full picture so far. But this is what I've gathered up to this point.

• The Covenant consists of an alliance between Redguard, Breton and Orc. So far so good.
• The Redguard (of Alik'r?) are ruled by King Fahara'jad. Their capital is Sentinel.
• The Orcs are ruled by, uh, [someone] from [somewhere]. Honestly, at this point there has been like zero mention of the orcs except for "darn those other guys for destroying Orsinium!" So a quick wiki search suggest the Orcs are being ruled by King Kurog and their capital is Orsinium. Still, it's not come up in-game yet.
• The Breton are being ruled by High King Emeric out of Wayrest. He's the ruler of Stormhaven and Rivenspire (sorta?) and the leader of the Covenant.
• But then there's also Daggerfall which appears to be an independent kingdom/city-state ruled by King Casimir, with some kind of relation to Wayrest.

I guess I'm mostly not sure what the relationship between Daggerfall and Wayrest is supposed to be. Is King Casimir subservient to King Emeric? Or is he an independent ruler on the level of King Fahara'jad and King Kurog? (Without getting too spoilery, there's mention that a plot against King Casimir could destabilize the entire Covenant, so I guess he's pretty important to the alliance.)

Does Emeric's title of 'High King' just signify his position as leader of the Covenant, or does it suggest that the Bretons have a sort of Westeros-like setup with one High King lording over a number of lesser kingdoms?

Does later zones reveal more of this background?

AngryNord

Kinda like Westeros. Or ancient Ireland/Scotland.

SFBryan18

The high king commands the covenant. The kings beneath him rule their territory like a governor would rule a state. An Emperor would rule over the entire empire and all high kings. They are just titles.

Slaunyeh

But is this detailed anywhere? And why does that make Casimir's life so important to the alliance?

From what I've seen of Rivenspire so far, it used to be a (semi?) independent Kingdom, got beat up pretty bad when they attacked Wayrest, and now they are more or less part of Emeric's kingdom. Is the situation in Glenumbra similar? Or are they more willing allies?

Do we know how many Breton kingdoms are out there? Or is it just these three?

My, I am just full of questions today.

Enodoc

Perhaps a safer (politically) comparison would be to say that Emeric, Kurog and Fahara'jad are essentially equal in standing, but the other two defer to Emeric as he is the leader of the Alliance.

Each zone is a political entity and has its own government:
Stormhaven is ruled by Emeric from Wayrest, who also happens to be High King of High Rock (ie, High King of all Breton kingdoms), and leader of the Covenant (deferentially).
Glenumbra is ruled by Casimir from Daggerfall, who is subservient to Emeric.
Rivenspire (ruled from Shornhelm) and Bangkorai (ruled from Evermore) are also kingdoms with leaders on par with Casimir.
Alik'r is ruled by Fahara'jad at the same level as Casimir rules Glenumbra and Emeric rules Stormhaven. But Fahara'jad also theoretically rules the whole of Hammerfell, putting him at the same level as Emeric when considering Emeric's rule of High Rock.
Kurog's rule over Orsinium and Wrothgar is not really known yet, but think of it laterally in the same way.

To put it another way, here's a chart of subordination:

Alliance Leader:
[*] Emeric of the Daggerfall Covenant

Racial/Provincial Leaders:
[*] Emeric of High Rock
[*] Fahara'jad of Hammerfell
[*] Kurog of Orsinium

Zone Rulers:
[*] Casimir of Daggerfall (Glenumbra)
[*] Emeric of Wayrest (Stormhaven)
[*] [?] of Shornhelm (Rivenspire)
[*] Eamond of Evermore (Bangkorai)
[*] Fahara'jad of Sentinel (Alik'r)

HeroOfEvbof

@AngryNord hit it right on the head. High Rock is very much like ancient Ireland. In ancient Ireland, there were several petty kingdoms each ruled by a Righ, and all the Righ paid tribute and lip service to the overlordship of the Ard Righ. In Anglo-Saxon England the similar position of Bretwalda existed. Of the several Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in existence at any time, one King usually had enough clout to exercise overlordship and exact tribute from one or more other Kings.
The city of Daggerfall has a King (as does Camlorm in the lore). Rivenspire had a king. King Ranser (Ranser, You Mad Man!!!) tried to usurp the High Kingship from Emeric and lost his life in the attempt. As part of your questing in Rivenspire, the lack of a king will be addressed. Bangkorai is it's own Kingdom. When you get there you will find out the status of the royal family.
Bangkorai is an interesting zone. Everything north of Bangkorai Pass is verdant and clearly Breton. Troops throughout the north appear to be associated with the royal family out of Evermore. But Hallin Stand is a Redguard city and I simply dont remember any indication that they are beholden to the royal family in Evermore. Even more intriguing is the Hall of Heroes on the Alik'r Desert border which is a Redguard holy site and while you are in Alik'r the Redguards make mention of it as important to their nation.
If you are wondering what the difference is between the High King/King relationship and the King/Duke relationship, you may want to think of it this way. The High King of Ireland did not create the the title King of Ulster and did not appoint the first King of Ulster. The High King had a tremendous influence and at times had outright control over who was King of Ulster, but this influence and control was by force of arms and personality rather than legality.
On the other hand, the King of England appointed someone to be Duke of Norfolk or Duke of Somerset. The King of France appointed someone to be Duke of Orleans or Duke of Burgundy. Specific legalities and loop-holes in those legalities defined how much a King could exert force of arms or personality upon who held those Dukedoms.
Usually, men have used the title Emperor to indicate overlordship over populations which consider themselves very, very diverse. The Holy Roman Emperor for example had overlordship over Germans, Italians and Burgundians.

Slaunyeh

Enodoc wrote: »

To put it another way, here's a chart of subordination:

Great writeup, thanks for that.

HeroOfEvbof wrote: »

The city of Daggerfall has a King (as does Camlorm in the lore)

Isn't Camlorn, in-game at least, ruled by Duke Sebastien, or did I completely misunderstand that?

zgrssd

Slaunyeh wrote: »

Enodoc wrote: »

To put it another way, here's a chart of subordination:

Great writeup, thanks for that.

HeroOfEvbof wrote: »

The city of Daggerfall has a King (as does Camlorm in the lore)

Isn't Camlorn, in-game at least, ruled by Duke Sebastien, or did I completely misunderstand that?

Yes, Camlorn is ruled by Duke Sebastian. He is in exile for most of the adventures there (since it is overrun by werewolfs), but he still is considered "Lord of the City of Camlorn".


There is also a seperate Duke/whatever owning the Dreughwaters region in front of Wayrest.


We can't forget that each subfaction of Alliance has a seperate leadership system.
Most have a monarchic, feudal system.
But The 4/5 of the Dunmer being part of the EP have a Theocracy/Oligarchy mix (based around houses).
Bosmer, Orcs and Kajiit seem to be more around "whoever is the thoughest is being followed".

The Aldmeri have a clear inherited monarchy, with the Kinlady being the equivalent of a duke/city leader and high kinlord/lady being the equivalent of high king.

Enodoc

Slaunyeh wrote: »

HeroOfEvbof wrote: »

The city of Daggerfall has a King (as does Camlorm in the lore)

Isn't Camlorn, in-game at least, ruled by Duke Sebastien, or did I completely misunderstand that?

Yes. Camlorn is a city-state which was founded (as a Kingdom) in 2E 302, and it switches between Duchy and Kingdom quite often, depending on the title and deference of its leader.
2E 302: Kingdom (Foundation)
2E 541: Kingdom ("newly-independent" from somewhere. Signatory of the First Daggerfall Covenant)
2E 566: Kingdom (Participant in Ranser's War)
2E 582: Duchy (deferential to Wayrest, but seemingly deferential to Daggerfall in the first instance)
3E 63: Kingdom
3E 405: Kingdom
3E 432: Duchy (potentially deferential to Daggerfall)

Dukes of High Rock seem to be deferential in the first instance to the regional King during the ESO timeframe, with Camlorn deferring to Daggerfall, and Alcaire deferring to Wayrest. You then have Barons and Counts who would also defer to the King, such as Northpoint deferring to Shornhelm.

Mjollo

According to the lore (and the lovely book you get with the imperial addition), Daggerfall Covenant was formed when King Emeric saw an opportunity to form an alliance with the leaders of the merchant ports around the region. The Covenant is based on a strong economy between the zones and it is in this that King Emeric siezed the opportunity to forge an alliance under the same interests as one another in order to protect them as a whole from invaders.

Fruity_Ninja

I must say the DC areas were underwhelming and the storyline just wasn't engaging at all.

The EP area 1-50 was very engaging for me and I enjoyed the questing thoroughly. I've only just started going through AD, and so far it's absolutely enthralling.

So don't feel bad about not understanding the DC storyline that much, it's just a little bit crappy tbh. I actually found the Alikr to be the best area,if only for the unique feel to the Redguards and their land.

Slaunyeh

Fruity_Ninja wrote: »

So don't feel bad about not understanding the DC storyline that much, it's just a little bit crappy tbh. I actually found the Alikr to be the best area,if only for the unique feel to the Redguards and their land.

Oh I actually quite like the DC storyline so far. I just tend to get up in minutae like this, and it's not spelled out very explicitly in game. As an agent of the throne, I see it as my duty to know these things.

Thanks to everyone who provided insight!

SFBryan18

Fruity_Ninja wrote: »

I must say the DC areas were underwhelming and the storyline just wasn't engaging at all.

The EP area 1-50 was very engaging for me and I enjoyed the questing thoroughly. I've only just started going through AD, and so far it's absolutely enthralling.

So don't feel bad about not understanding the DC storyline that much, it's just a little bit crappy tbh. I actually found the Alikr to be the best area,if only for the unique feel to the Redguards and their land.

Well, everyone will have their own opinions and perspective, but I like the DC storyline.