108 days left - The Battle of Pale Pass, What Really Happened

In the post called "Tsaesci" I was discussing the different ways the Akaviri invaders could have gone through during the invasion that ended at Pale Pass, and made the assumption that they landed close to the city of Winterhold. As I was writing a new article about the Tamrielic invasion of Akavir, I stumbled upon a text that stated that the Tsaesci who fought at Pale Pass landed at the eastern shore of Morrowind. I tracked down the source to Akaviri expert and collector Countess Narina Carvain of Bruma. Thanks to her (I had to scrap an entire article that I had been working on for the last forty minutes, where I had analyzed several maps and texts) we now know exactly what happened.

The Akaviri forces where trying to establish some sort of base in Tamriel, and they arrived at  the eastern shore of Morrowind in 1E 2703. They were well supplied and ready to move through the province. The Tsaesci must have passed the border at Riften to later move through the Jerall Mountains. However when engaging the forces of Emperor Reman up in the snowy mountaintops, the Tsaesci reinforcements where cut off by the poet and god Vivec, who had allied himself with the Dreugh. Therefor the Tsaesci had to fight the war from too sides.

The red arrows indicate the movement of the Tsaesci, and the blue circle indicates the area where Vivec intercepted the reinforcements and made sure the Tsaesci could not retreat

Pale Pass itself was the command post where the Tsaesci generals issued their orders. A note was sent to the station, but it never arrived. In the note it stated that the food supply for the headquarter in Pale Pass was delayed for a month, and since the note was lost they all starved to death. Without any orders the Tsaesci had to surrender.

Someone is going to get knocked unconscious the next time I visit Bruma.

/R

109 days left - The world of Elder Scrolls

Mundus is the mortal realm, or universe, which the Elder Scrolls series is set in. The planet Nirn, where Tamriel is in, lies in Mundus. The realms creation was a product of the god Lorkhan, who came up with the idea of a mortal realm. The realm itself was created by the Aedra and the Anu-spirits, and thus started the Dawn Era. It is now it becomes complicated, but I will explain it as best as I can.

There was once a wizard god named Magnus. He helped the god Lorkhan to design the mortal realm. He made the schematics and plans for the universe (it was just like lego) and implemented his powers to balance out the world. Later the Aedra and Anu spirits did the hard work of creating everything, with the help of god Magnus. But after Nirn was created, Magnus and the Anu spirits suddenly disappeared from Mundus and returned to the immortal realm of Aetherius. What is left of the god and spirits is now what is known as magic. The stars of Mundus is actually light from Aetherius, which can be seen through the teardrops of the Anu spirits who left them there as they fled back to their immortal realm. Some say that the two moons of Nirn is the physical remnants of Lorkhan. He is referred to as the forgotten god, as not many know about his existence.

The following text is from the book Spirit of Nirn, God of Mortals

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Lorkhan is the Spirit of Nirn, the god of all mortals. This does not mean all mortals necessarily like him or even know him. Most Elves hate him, thinking creation as that act which sundered them from the spirit realm. Most Humans revere him, or aspects of him, as the herald of existence. The creation of the Mortal Plane, the Mundus, Nirn, is a source of mental anguish to all living things; all souls know deep down they came originally from somewhere else, and that Nirn is a cruel and crucial step to what comes next. What is this next? Some wish to return to the original state, the spirit realm, and that Lorkhan is the Demon that hinders their way; to them Nirn is a prison, an illusion to escape. Others think that Lorkhan created the world as the testing ground for transcendence; to them the spirit realm was already a prison, that true escape is now finally possible.

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Some say that the Aedra and Daedra also are trapped in Mundus, but I will return to that in a later post.

/R

110 days left - Morag Tong and the Dark Brotherhood

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"Brother, I still call you brother for we share our bonds of blood, tested but unbroken by hatred. Even if I am murdered, which seems inevitable now, know that, brother. You and I are not innocents, so our benedictions of mutual enmity is not tragedy, but horror. This state of silent, shadowed war, of secret poisons and sleeping men strangled in their beds, of the sudden arrow and the artful dagger, has no end that I can see. No possibility for peace. I see the shadows in the room move though the flame of my candle is steady. I know the signs that I …"

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The note was found under a floorboard in the Skyrim village of Jallenheim in 2E 358. It was the first note ever to be found that is connected to the Dark Brotherhood.

The Morag Tong and the Dark Brotherhood were once part of the same organization. The Morag Tong was not an illegal organization in Tamriel, and they committed murder in the name of the daedra Mephala. They were the Empires executioner and were permitted to execute people to preserve order. But after the assassination of the Akaviri Versidue-Shaie, the Morag Tong was outlawed. Desperate to find political cover, they went to the only province that would accept them. The province where the Morag Tong probably originated from, Morrowind.

To be able to become a legal organization in Morrowind, the Morag Tong would have to change their beliefs from Mephala to Morrowind's Tribunal. The part of the organization that was the Dark Brotherhood had another belief. They worshiped Sithis and were not willing to give away their religion for the sake of remaining a legal administration. It was around this period when the two groups became rivals. They saw each others as traitors of the cause and they never worked together again after 2E 324.

The biggest difference between the two rivals is that the Dark Brotherhood is more to be seen as a business enterprise, and the Morag Tong as a guild that commits murder in the name of religion. If there is going to be one of these two present in Skyrim, it feels more natural for the Dark Brotherhood to be present. The need of assassins that work outside of the law seems like something that a lot of lords would be in need of, especially if there was a civil war going on (why it's almost like I am referring to the current events of Skyrim).

This is however a theory and it is not certain that it is entirely true. And if anyone stumbles across a text that contradicts the information about the split-up I would be very happy if you sent me a message about it. If your interested in finding out more, read the book called "Fire and Darkness: The Brotherhoods of Death". It is from there i snatched the quote in the beginning of the post.

/R

Our Facebook Page

Today I created a Facebook page for the blog, and I will be notifying the page whenever we create a post on the blog. This way it will also be easier to find the blog. If your interested, feel free to press the like button:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/About-The-Elder-Scrolls/180487598682842

/R

Tsaesci

East of Tamriel lies the land of the dragons, known as the continent of Akavir. There is very little known about the continent. Many times have Akaviri forces tried to invade Tamriel, but they have always been fended off by the forces of Tamriel. In the "Pocket Guide to the Empire, 3rd Edition" there is a segment about the Battle of Pale Pass, which was fought between the Akaviri race known as Tsaesci, and the Cyrodiilic Emperor Reman the First. After defeating the Tsaesci, Reman made some of the prisoners his advisers to help give insight to the strange continent of Akavir. The little information known about the races and culture of Akavir comes from this period.

Pale Pass is located in Skyrim and Reman was the emperor of Cyrodiil, which means that the Tsaesci invaders must have arrived from either Morrowind or the northern part of Skyrim before beginning their assault. 

Judging by the map, the Tsaesci navy could have landed near the present city of Winter Hold. They could also have moved through Morrowind, but then the army would probably have gone south, not through the mountain chain between Morrowind and Skyrim, simply to move through a new mountain chain to get to Cyrodiil from Skyrim.

The Tsaesci is a snake-like people. If they could they would have avoided going through cold landscapes. Maybe it is the reason why they lost the Battle of Pale Pass, because they were not prepared for the cold landscapes of Skyrim. Another thing is confusing about the invasion. In the "Report: Disaster at Ionith", which was written during the attempt to colonize Akavir in 3E 288, the writer says that the Akaviri inhabitants didn't seem to have any navy to speak of. If the Tsaesci had no navy after a thousand years, how did they get to Tamriel in the first place? Where they so desperate that a whole army swam across the sea? Are the Tsaesci running from something back home, if so it could be the reason why the Akaviri inhabitants have tried to invade Tamriel so many times.

After Reman the Third was assassinated by Morag Tong in 1E 2920, a Tsaesci known as Versidue-Shaie took over the throne and started the Second Era. He Ruled in over 300 years before too being assassinated. That means that a Tsaesci have been in charge of Cyrodiil, yet there is hardly anything known about the race Tsaesci.

 /R

(Note from the 25 of July: I have recently found evidence that they actually moved through Morrowind. For more information see 108 days left - The Battle of Pale Pass, What Really Happened)

111 days left - On a different note

Seeing as quite a few people have actually visited this blog in the past few days, we feel like a re-introduction is in order. Or rather a completely new one, since me, the person currently writing this entry, is doing it for the first time. Hi! I’m RRFGI’s fellow adoring fan of the Elder Scrolls and his new partner in crime. You can call me S.

Since R and I tend to discuss this amazing series close to every waking minute we spend together, I was thrilled when he started this project, and even more so when I was asked to join in. To finally be able to analyze the choice of wording in The Lusty Argonian Maid or discuss which province should be the next to be featured in a game (I know, I’m getting ahead of myself, it merely being 111 days left until Skyrim)! But oh, the possibilities!

Since my partner already cover the part of overall lore, politics and the actual countdown pretty well, my main focus for a start is actually going to be mostly aesthetical but I’m also going to share some of my ideas of Nirn and what it looks like beyond what we know for a fact. And I should probably admit already that there’s probably going to be some ES nostalgia as well, since there’s just too much good stuff out there not to write about it.

Well, that’s basically me in a nutshell. Nice to make you acquaintance and hope to see you reading here again soon.  

Blessings of Mystara upon ya!

/S

Necromancy

A while ago i saw a comment on YouTube where a person wondered about what the view on necromancy was in Skyrim. It interested me so i thought i would check out the history of the necromancers and suddenly I remembered the connection between the Mages Guild and Mannimarco, who is the leader of the largest necromancer cult known as the Order of the Black Worm.

In the book "Mannimarco, King of Worms" it states that there were two students with great talent living and studying at the isle of Artaeum, which is the largest island of Summerset Isle, under the Psijic Order. One of the students where kind and warm, but the other was dark and cold (I wonder which one is Mannimarco). It was at Artaeum that Mannimarco began to rise the dead and trapping souls for his own use. However the other student was known as Galerion, whom is the founder of the Mages Guild. Galerion had confronted Mannimarco about his necromancy and commanded him to stop his black art. To no surprise Mannimarco did not cease his hobby and moved to the mainland, to Tamriel.

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"You have found a wolf, and sent the beast to flocks of sheep,'
Galerion told his Masters, 'A terror on Tamriel has set."

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The leaders of the Summerset Isle cared little for the young necromancer, and when Galerion asked for the right to pursue the beast he was told to forget about it. It was now that Galerion decided to create a mages guild, where magic would help others. He too left Artaeum.

In Tamriel, Mannimarco had become the first of the undying liches by consuming the power of other wizards and relics. He practiced his dark arts and left trails all over the land. He had become a moving corpse and there was little left of him that was human (which is strange since he seems quite normal in The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion).

Galerion gathered mages and knights to fight against the necromancers. He swore to kill every undead walking on Tamriel. He led his troops to a mountain pass where a great battle against mages and necromancers took place. The battle was a chaos of magic and weapons. The necromancers summoned the dead from the ground and the battlemages slew countless of lives with their fire and swords. Suddenly Mannimarco had joined the battle and true horror was inflicted to his enemies. He sucked their lives right out of them. What happened next is uncertain but it seems as if most died, including Galerion and Mannimarco. The relics that had given the King of Worms his power was recovered by the mages guild. It really seemed as the King was gone, but you can't kill an undead.

So what is the view on necromancy in Skyrim? If there is going to be a mages guild with roots from Galerion, necromancy is probably not going to be that popular. If not, maybe it is not illegal but not that common. To be honest i am guessing that it is not that popular since the other regions of Tamriel seems to have similar opinions about raising the dead.

/R