Titus Mede of Kvatch - A fun link between a scrapped Oblivion quest and the Fourth Era
In an [interview after Oblivion](https://en.uesp.net/wiki/General:Oblivion_Fan_Interview_IV), Todd Howard made this comment:
>In regards to the politics comment, that's a valid statement, in that Daggerfall and Morrowind both have main stories dealing with a lot of politics, and that wasn't the story we wanted to do this time. There was a time that the Oblivion main quest featured a ton of that, dealing with the Elder Council, but we did end up cutting it while it was still on paper, in all our story reads, it really defocused the main quest from dealing with the daedra, which we wanted the focus to be. Anyway, I think the lack of actually seeing and dealing with the Elder Council is certainly one of my "I wish it had this" things, as we wrote some great stuff for it that just didn't make it in. It was the "nobility" faction line, where you made your way up and became "The Duke of Colovia" and sat on the Elder Council. The only remnant of that questline is the dead Duke in Castle Kvatch, which was to be the beginning of that line.
The dead duke is Ormellius Goldwine[, here's his body](https://en.uesp.net/wiki/File:OB-npc-Ormellius_Goldwine.jpg) and you are asked to retrieve his signet ring, called the Colovian Signet Ring, from his body. He never gets a successor, Kvatch is never rebuilt (unless you download a mod.) It doesn't feel that weird in context. Oblivion in general has all sorts of interesting political problems lurking in the corners of the various courts that never get any quests. (The count of Bravil has hired a Dunmer Inquisitor to go after Khajiit rebels, for instance, and it just comes up in one conversation with the Inquisitor who does nothing in game.)
The player presumably would end up wearing the Colovian Signet ring and becoming Count of Kvatch in the scrapped plot Todd Howard described.
The Pocket Guide to the Empire, Third Edition, released with Oblivion, and written by Ted Peterson establishes that the Count had no obvious heirs. Though, mysteriously, it has a different name for the Count, because continuity even in the same game is not a TES strength.
>Family strife in Kvatch claimed the lives of both sons of Count Haderus Goldwine, vying for the inheritance. While peace has been restored, the Count, at the time of this writing, is still in mourning, and has not designated a new heir.
With no heir designated, the Count died at the hands of Daedra, leaving the leadership of Kvatch ripe for the taking. And since it wasn't the Hero of Kvatch who'd complete this scrapped quest, Titus Mede I did.
Or at least I assume. It's never said outright in the books or games that Mede hails from Kvatch and took it over first, but it's hinted at. Let me lay out the bread crumbs of this trail.
Titus Mede began his life as an Imperial officer in Michael Kirkbride and [Kurt Kuhlmann's Star Wars fanfic](https://www.c0da.es/rebellion)! (I also know that fanfic got a TES rework, though I haven't read either version in whole.) Titus Mede shows up as the new Emperor of Cyrodiil in the official novels by Greg Keyes: The Infernal City and Lord of Souls. Not a surprising transition, since we know Keyes was working off notes given him by the developers, and /u/mkirkbride has previously confirmed that some of the Fourth Era history in the novels originates with his ideas.
We don't get a full sketch of his biography. Here's what we know.
>Titus Mede had been—and was—many things. A soldier in an outlaw army, a warlord in Colovia, a king in Cyrodiil, and Emperor.
Lathenil in "Rising Threat" will confirm this in Skyrim, and add an interesting little detail about the nature of Titus Mede's claim.
>After seven long, bloody years the Stormcrown Interregnum was ended when a Colovian warlord by the name of Titus Mede seized the crown. Whether he had rightful claim or not is moot. Without Titus Mede, there would not be an Empire today. He proved a shrewd and capable leader, such that Skyrim endorsed him as Emperor.
"Whether he had rightful claim or not is moot" suggests that at least for propaganda's sake, Titus Mede made a claim of legitimacy. He deserved to be Emperor not only because he won the Civil War with Thules the Gibbering.
We also know that he started his career without any rank. His son Attrebus says
>Listen-my father was once just a soldier with ambition. Now he’s Emperor. He fought for everything he ever got, and I was born with it. Who should be admired the most?”
So what was his claim? One more detail from the novels suggests the answer.
>“You know what that is?” she asked, indicating a small black tattoo of a wolf’s head. > >He did, of course. It was the Emperor’s personal brand, worn only by his innermost circle.
The Wolf's Head was the symbol of the Count of Kvatch.
Put this all together, and I think we can conclude that young Titus Mede the soldier first made a bid to take over ruined County Kvatch, on his way to greater things. He probably got hold of that ring to make his claim, since there was no obvious Goldwine heir. It wouldn't matter if people believed he was rightfully the heir to the Count of Kvatch if he *made* people recognize him. And the same would go for Cyrodiil and the Empire. Many of the Elder Council would privately turn their nose up at him as an upstart. His Nibenese Minister Hierem plots to overthrow him. But he outlasted them all and the Oblivion political plot got a triumphant ending, despite Todd Howard's decision to junk it.
I'm not, of course, the first person to put these pieces together. While researching this, I found that very active fan Pilaf the Defiler wrote a piece that makes the Kvatch connection. [The full piece with Lady Nerevar's art is on her tumblr.](https://ladynerevar.tumblr.com/post/140343137965/the-gold-road-before-tiber-septim-cyrodiils). The relevant paragraph:
>The warlord Titus Mede has declared himself King of Colovia and musters an entirely illegal army in the hills of County Kvatch. This misguided bandit king does not agree with the wisdom of the Elder Council in placing his terrible majesty Emperor Thules of Nibenay on the throne. Sadly, the Elder Council has had to place severe restrictions on travel along the Gold Road for the duration of this so-called uprising. If you come across a checkpoint, don’t attempt to flee or go around it. This is for your own safety, citizen. By complying to the law and showing our good faith, we can discourage outlaws like Mede from operating within our borders with impunity. With the support of good citizens like yourself, the Elder Council and Emperor Thules can continue to lead us through this transitional phase in our glorious Empire. Respect the law, for Julianos and the Nine!
I'd love to see more fanworks fleshng out the Medes' origin in County Kvatch.