Skip navigation
Library

redguard

The Book of Circles

Author: 
Frandar Hunding

In the clay smelter you shall build a charcoal fire, of a heat to blacken teeth.

You shall add a layer of iron-sand upon the charcoal.

After six yarbans you shall add a layer of charcoal atop the iron.

You shall repeat this process, layering iron-sand over charcoal, for three days.

After cooling, you shall separate the low-carbon steel from the high-carbon steel.

You shall use the low-carbon steel to form the core of the sword.

You shall use the high-carbon steel to form the skin of the sword.

You shall forge-weld, fold, and forge-weld anselim the skin of the sword, until it attains its needful kotu-ajcea.

You shall sharpen the sword-skin until it may shave an egg without breaking it.

You shall speak the Oblation to Onsi, then drink of the Purifying Beverage of Kotu.

Then, anselim.

Thus on Loredas, Faithful Ones, do we consider these maxims of the Master:

"Train your opponent to make the wrong response."

"The worst action executed with vigor is superior to the best action executed timidly."

"A thrust is elegant, and a cut is powerful, but sometimes the right action is a head-butt."

"The high guard is most suitable for feints and crossovers, but mind your nether limbs."

"Your opponent's sword is not your enemy. Watch your opponent, not his sword."

"Perfection in the eight basic cuts is critical—though you will never use them in battle."

"A closed line is not open."

Thus on Sundas, Faithful Ones, do we consider these maxims of the Master:

"Be as dawn to your ally, and set dusk upon your foe."

"The Four-Hundred and Fifth Strike: the serpent's right fang as it pierces the eye."

"When swarmed by flies, favor the flat over the edge."

"Anger is a crack in the hull that sinks the ship."

"First blood matters less than last breath."

"Journey many and many miles, but do not leave the Hall of the Virtues of War."

"Discover your foe's habits and discard your own."

"Do not lose the melody in the rapture of one triumphant note."

Thus on Tirdas, Faithful Ones, do we consider these maxims of the Master:

"The sword is the self. Its edge is the mind."

"To shed the mantle of fear is to cast it upon your enemy."

"Shouting to halt the sands' shifting only leaves you hoarse."

"Prepare to pay for victory in blood, but do not waste a drop."

"The victor's tempo grasps his opponent's and devours it."

"The Seventy-Ninth Strike: the spear of the fisherman sharpened at daybreak."

"Live and die in every moment of battle."

The All-Beneficent King Fahara'jad

Author: 
Anonymous

Chapter One: Of His Laudable Youth

Wherein is related, O Happy Audience, the tale of His Majesty's thrice-blessed life, including an account of His Majesty's rise to the Throne of Sentinel, which tale is exemplary, and mention of some of His Majesty's excellences and virtues, which are numberless.

Know, O Beloved Reader, that the lineage of our Auspicious King is both noble and royal, descending patrilinearly from Makala, from Ja-Fr, yea, even from High King Ar-Azal himself. Likewise matrilinearly his forebears are Grandees of Antiphyllos, including the meritorious Zizzeen of most august memory. Indeed, of the Grandee Zizzeen it was said by the Poet Behrouz that he was of such rectitude that, when he in error entered the Ladies' Bath-House, he forthwith put out both his eyes, lest he commit an indecency.

(As to High King Ar-Azal, the Curious Delver has but to seek out the tome "The Worthy Ar-Azal, His Deeds.")

Now when the All-Beneficent King Fahara'jad was but a Prince in Antiphyllos, on a day of days he did hunt birds in the Garden of the Grandees with his Ivory Bow, and by happenstance he saw a great Crow alight in a fig tree. And Prince Fahara'jad vowed, "By Onsi's bright blade, I shall slay me this Crow!" And he did nock an Ivory Arrow to the Ivory Bow and let fly, and lo, the Crow was taken in the eye and did die of the instant.

Then dropped from the sky a hideous Hagraven, with a cursing of curses, and the she-daemon menaced the Young Prince with unclean talons, crying, "You have slain the child of my bosom, and must die the death therefore! In sooth, I shall pluck out your eyes and partake of them like grapes!" And screaming a great scream, she clawed at the Prince's orbs of vision.

Then did a beam of golden light shine down from the heavens, and striding upon it as if upon a bright blade came down the Ever-Glorious Onsi, crying, "Hold, Creature of Evil." And he smote off the Hagraven's claws, which fell upon the ground like hail, and the she-daemon fell likewise and commenced to grovel unto the god and beg for mercy. And Onsi spake, saying, "Pleas shall avail you not, shrill virago, for you have threatened the Fateful Prince, whom it is my special care to foster and protect. For this noble stripling is the Fahara'jad whom prophesy foretells shall lead our people in the Years of Peril, and so you must needs die." And he struck off her head.

And the Prince, sore amazed, did cover both his eyes, and when he dared to look again, both god and she-daemon were gone. Thus the Prince did misdoubt his own eyes, and hurried to the Holy Temple where he related all that had occurred to the Priest of Onsi. And the Priest deemed his seeing a True Seeing. And this was the first of the Prophesies of Monarchy.

The Ballad of Navid the Singer

Author: 
Anonymous

In old Ra Gada days
When Forebears came ashore
Among them were sword-singers
According to the lore
At fore were Yaghoub's Thirteen
Noble Ansei all
One there was named Navid
This song is of his fall
Navid loved Sayeedeh
Sayeedeh loved him not
Her heart was pledged to Ihlqub
The Thirteen's finest shot
As Ihlqub plied his bow
In practice on the beach
Navid approached with empty hands
Until he was in reach
While Ihlqub faced the target
Navid called up his shehai
Slew his love's love with sacred sword
And watched his rival die
Back to Yaghoub's beachhead
Went into his tent
Fell for shame on his own sword
Dishonor thus was spent

Hags, Harpies, and Hagravens

Author: 
The Unveiled Azadiyeh, Songbird of Satakalaam

So listened I to a sermon by the thrice-honorable High Priest Zuladr of the High Temple. And he did inveigh against womanhood and its inherent wickedness, citing the Tale of the Temptress Shakhari, and the bloody crimes of Queen Jezerei. "Consider hags, harpies, and hagravens," quoth he. "Are these monsters not all, each and every one, women—and therefore wicked?"

And I thought to myself, "It seems to me this is a priest who likes not women. Wherefore?"

Wherefore? And wherein, if women are wicked, does he find the virtues of men, which he infers as a corollary? Was not the Grandee Kwarizm, who basely slew his thirteen wives, a man? Are not the terrible ogres of the hills and the giants of the mountains always male? Consider the legendary minotaur—is he not even excessively male?

Was not Sep the God-Deceiver a male?

So called I then upon the thrice-honorable High Priest Zuladr in his quarters and spake this to him, but he was unabashed, and called me immodest and presumptuous. "Yes, I presume," I said, "and I shall presume further." And I unveiled my features, and disrobed my form, and said, "Is this the wickedness you fear, O holy priest?"

And the priest did shake, and perspire, and reach for me with fingers avid and trembling. But I struck them aside with a laugh, and resumed my garments. And I said unto him, "Consider, O priest, that a true woman gives not her gifts to one who does not respect them."

And thus did I deliver a sermon unto the high priest.

Epode of the Ansei Wards

Author: 
Weltan of Sentinel

When Ra Gada came from Old Yokuda
In Hammerfell were found
Men of aspect tusked and fearsome, that we
Hunted to the ground
Others there were also, Elven, secret
Raising sacred dead
Necromancers lurked in desert towers
To Hammerfell they'd fled
Desert hid them no more from the righteous
Since the Redguards hie
Back they fought with evil magics, heinous
Dead once more to die
Stricken were Ra Gada in their god-faith
Banned from striking kin
Dead, awakened by the wicked wizards
Smote us from within
Anseis three then furnished all an answer
'Gainst the risen dead
Maja, Radan, and Halelah spake of
Wards to curb the dread
Mighty swords they forged from their own shehai
The people to defend
Guarding Redguards' consecrated bodies
From unholy end
To Tu'whacca sacrificed the Anseis
Essence of their minds
Gave their animus to seal the treaty
That protects and binds

Crafting Motif 6: Redguard Style

Author: 
Doctor Alfidia Lupus

Being notes by Doctor Alfidia Lupus for a series of pamphlets on the major cultural styles of Tamriel

(Dr. Lupus was Imperial Ethnographer for Potentate Savirien-Chorak from 2E 418 to 431)

When I arrived at Morian's townhouse this morning all was sunshine and rainbows—Divayth and the professor were chatting over mugs of chal like best friends, comparing Ralliballah's Eleven Ritual Forms to the Book of Most Arcane Covenants. I reminded Divayth that he'd promised to escort me to the Yokudan Chapel in the Market District, at which Morian's brow clouded over slightly, but then he smiled and said that was fine, as he wanted to test some new hyperagonal media in his laboratory.

(And maybe it was the light, but to me both men looked … younger, somehow. I must keep in mind that they're both highly capable wizards, which I suppose might include knowledge of illusion magic. Or perhaps I flatter myself.)

I met a number of knowledgeable Redguards at the chapel, all exhibiting that dignity and polite reserve I associate with the better-educated members of that people. The Most-Revered Zirumir, a Priest of Tu'whacca (I hope I spelled that right), was particularly helpful.

As Zirumir pointed out, both the Redguards' ancient home of Yokuda and their current province of Hammerfell are (or were, in the case of Yokuda) deserts. To stay cool, and for protection from the elements, Redguard clothing tends to be light, long and flowing, and these flowing curves are carried into their artisanal designs. Their robes and armor are often accented by flared curves at joints and on headgear. Even their swords tend to be curved.
In contrast their architecture appears rather heavy, though on close inspection this is mainly for the purpose of insulation from the desert's extremes of temperature. Zirumir showed me the chapel's clever system of louvered ventilation ducts in the clerestory, designed to catch the slightest breeze and funnel it down into the nave.

After Zirumir was called away to tend to one of his congregation, Divayth and I strolled into the apse to view the eight shrines to the Yokudan Divines. Divayth was explaining that whereas the Forebears of Hammerfell often worship the Cyrodilic Divines brought to them by the Reman Empire, these were the traditional gods worshiped by the more conservative Crown Redguards. Suddenly, behind the beehive shrine to Morwha, he turned to me with those blazing eyes, took my hands between his, and told me he thought me the most brilliant and desirable woman in the Imperial City. My breath caught in my throat, and my heart was hammering. But when he moved as if to embrace me I was suddenly frightened—I backed away, shaking my head, then fled out into the nave. I fear I quite startled a young family of Redguards placing candles on Morwha's altar.

Now what? I'm afraid I must have insulted Divayth terribly. How can I make it up to him? And dare I mention it to Morian? Julianos' little teapot, what a dilemma!

A Betrayal of Our Heritage

Author: 
Nworc at-Traeh

What says Yousebh the Stringent, Red Dervish of Rihad? "A daughter of the House of Akos Kasaz shall not marry an infidel of another house." Long have we followed the words of Yousebh. And yet now, what do we see, right here in Bergama? A daughter of a respected Crown family—that is to say, one who honors the traditions we brought from lost and lamented Akos Kasaz, Yath, and Kanesh—being married off to a ne'er-do-well son from a Forebear household. Is this to be countenanced? Is she to be allowed to bear children of tainted blood? Will they be taught to turn their backs on Ruptga, Tu'whacca, and Satakal, and mouth false prayers to "Arkay" and "Akatosh"?

I say, we must raise our voices and cry "No!" Our ancestors came into the deep desert to found Bergama so that we could preserve our heritage from pollution by Tamrielic practices. The sanctity of Yokudan culture is our sacred trust! For two thousand years we have preserved it in the purifying aridity of the Alik'r. Have we maintained our traditions for so many generations, only to see them diluted and disrespected before our very eyes?

It is said that the Magistrate is willing to license this ill-advised marriage, despite all precedent. What, we must ask, has induced her to make such a decision? Should a Magistrate with such poor judgment remain a Magistrate?

Gather, O my neighbors. For we have weighty decisions to make.

Wind and Sand

Author: 
Afa-Saryat

Let the wind blow. Let the sand scour. Let the magic of air and sand be free to roam the Alik'r. From the mystic membranes that stand between the two, absorb and convey unto me and all who may understand the deep essential powers of the desert.

Deserts are often considered to be useless wastelands, avoided by the casual traveler and shunned by the softer species as unfit for civilization. But to those who bother to investigate, to dwell, to live, to linger in these spaces, a driving hardiness develops that serves them well in all environs should they ever choose to live. A thoughtfulness born of care -- for who knows best how to best invest their resources than one who has had to walk half a morning and labor for an hour to extract a few drops of water from an unyielding plant?

This same sort of requisite thrift applies to all other creatures who wring their living in such a land. The insight that may at first be missed, though, is that the magic of this land is similarly affected. Forgoing the showy lights and sounds of the forest dwelling mages in Summerset, the flamboyant gesticulations of the Bretons, or even the bellowing of the Nords, there is a certain economy to the casting of a true Alik'r wizard. This is not meant as a slight against other magical styles, only noting that a such energies might be better focused into reflection and purpose.

On Sand

When both foreigners and natives imagine the desert, often their first image is one of orange-hued sand blowing beneath a dark blue sky. Indeed, this is not wholly incorrect, as the shifting sands are one of the key components not only of the desert, but of its natural magics.

Consider: sand is nothing but the weathering of rocks, older by far than any of the living inhabitants who claim a land as "theirs." As each rock breaks further, more of its inner space is revealed, until it is practically naught but exposed surface in its aggregate self. This collective then scatters, intermingles, scatters, and repeats, in infinite combinations so long as Nirn continues to exist. If we believe, as I do, that the rocks themselves contain remnants of Magnus's gift, than this exposure and combinatorial explosion results in a breadth and diversity of magic energy as is unknown elsewhere in Tamriel.

On Air

Much as the sand learns from every grain around it, so too does the air which conveys it from one combination to the other absorb the sense knowledge of its carried grains. In fact, it is plausible that the air itself is guiding the combinations to novelty and expression. Indeed, consider that in the Nordic tradition, Kyne is the widow of Shor (an aspect of Lorkhan), then her ministrations (via wind) to his physical legacy within Mundus could be seen as a form of celestial mourning, from which we mortals can benefit.

It would seem, indeed, that the next level of magical awakening may well be driven by scrying appropriate wind channels to carve novel paths through the vast desert such as to further diversify the land's memory. Reading the knowledge of the sands, though, is an immense task in itself, though, more fit to an army of clerical workers than a wizard of any standing.
 

Redguard

Author: 
B

Redguard - OblivionArena Description
Redguards hail from the province of Hammerfell. They are a stocky, powerful race that are known to be extremely hardy and quick. Legend has it that the Redguard are innately more proficient at weapons than any other race. Redguards receive their (level/3) as a bonus to hit and damage with any melee weapon (ie...excluding a bow). They are excellent in all arts concerning blade and shield.

Know ye this also: Thy race is a people without a past, for in the Tiber War thou wert stalwart guardians of Hammerfell. As time moved on thy people held onto the ground for which they had shed tears of blood, and now the land, and the strength and endurance of rock itself, is thine own to command...

Redguard - MorrowindDaggerfall Description
The most naturally talented warriors in Tamriel, the dark Redguards of Hammerfell seem to have been created for battle. In addition to their affinity for weaponry, Redguards are blessed with hardy constitutions and quickness of foot.

Battlespire Description
The most naturally talented warriors in Tamriel, the dark Redguards of Hammerfell seem to have been born for battle. In addition to their affinity for weaponry, Redguards are blessed with hardy constitutions and quickness of foot.

Morrowind Description
The most naturally talented warriors in Tamriel, the dark-skinned, wiry-haired Redguards of Hammerfell seem born to battle, though their pride and fierce independence of spirit makes them more suitable as scouts or skirmishers, or as free-ranging heroes and adventurers, than as rank-and-file soldiers. In addition to their cultural affinities for many weapon and armor styles, Redguards are also physically blessed with hardy constitutions and quickness of foot.

Shadowkey Description
Redguard, common for Ra'Gada, hail from the continent of Yokuda. They have descended from a longline of warriors and mystic seers. Ra'Gada Spirit reduces damage from a magical attack.

Oblivion Description
The most naturally talented warriors in Tamriel. In addition to their cultural affinities for many weapons and armor styles, they also have a hardy constitution and a natural resistance to disease and poison.

Skyrim Description
The most naturally talented warriors in Tamriel, the Redguards of Hammerfell have a hardy constitution and a natural resistance to poison. They can call upon an Adrenaline Rush in combat.

Elder Scrolls Online Description
The Redguards of Hammerfell are talented and athletic warriors, born to battle. A desert people, their ancestors migrated to Tamriel from the lost continent of Yokuda. Their culture is based on preserving ancient traditions and defying their harsh environment. They prize honor and dignity above all else, combining a deep reverence for the divine with a suspicion of all things magical. Their capital is the merchant port of Sentinel, but their roots are deep in the sands of the Alik’r Desert. In their youth, Redguards endure a rite of passage in the desolate wastes of Alik’r as a test of endurance and discipline. Only the strongest survive.

Elder Scrolls Legends Description
The people of Hammerfell are Tamriel's most talented and resourceful warriors.


Redguard Gods

Satakal
(The Worldskin)
Yokudan god of everything. A fusion of the concepts of Anu and Padomay. Basically, Satakal is much like the Nordic Alduin, who destroys one world to begin the next. In Yokudan mythology, Satakal had done (and still does) this many times over, a cycle which prompted the birth of spirits that could survive the transition. These spirits ultimately become the Yokudan pantheon. Popular god of the Alik'r nomads.
Ruptga
(Tall Papa)
Chief deity of the Yokudan pantheon. Ruptga, more commonly 'Tall Papa', was the first god to figure out how to survive the Hunger of Satakal. Following his lead, the other gods learned the 'Walkabout', or a process by which they can persist beyond one lifetime. Tall Papa set the stars in the sky to show lesser spirits how to do this, too. When there were too many spirits to keep track of, though, Ruptga created a helper out the dead skin of past worlds. This helper is Sep (see below), who later creates the world of mortals.
Tu'whacca
(Tricky God)
Yokudan god of souls. Tu'whacca, before the creation of the world, was the god of Nobody Really Cares. When Tall Papa undertook the creation of the Walkabout, Tu'whacca found a purpose; he became the caretaker of the Far Shores, and continues to help Redguards find their way into the afterlife. His cult is sometimes associated with Arkay in the more cosmopolitan regions of Hammerfell.
Zeht
(God of Farms)
Yokudan god of agriculture. Renounced his father after the world was created, which is why Tall Papa makes it so hard to grow food.
Morwha
(Teat God)
Yokudan fertility goddess. Fundamental deity in the Yokudan pantheon, and the favorite of Tall Papa's wives. Still worshipped in various areas of Hammerfell, including Stros M'kai. Morwha is always portrayed as four-armed, so that she can 'grab more husbands'.
Tava
(Bird God)
(Bird God) Yokudan spirit of the air. Tava is most famous for leading the Yokudans to the isle of Herne after the destruction of their homeland. She has since become assimilated into the mythology of Kynareth. She is still very popular in Hammerfell among sailors, and her shrines can be found in most port cities.
Malooc
(Horde King)
An enemy god of the Ra Gada. Led the goblins against the Redguards during the first era. Fled east when the army of the HoonDing overtook his goblin hordes.
Diagna
(Orichalc God of the Sideways Blade)
Hoary thuggish cult of the Redguards. Originated in Yokuda during the Twenty Seven Snake Folk Slaughter. Diagna was an avatar of the HoonDing (the Yokudan God of Make Way, see below) that achieved permanence. He was instrumental to the defeat of the Lefthanded Elves, as he brought orichalc weapons to the Yokudan people to win the fight. In Tamriel, he led a very tight knit group of followers against the Orcs of Orsinium during the height of their ancient power, but then faded into obscurity. He is now little more than a local power spirit of the Dragontail mountains.
Sep
(The Snake)
Yokudan version of Lorkhan. Sep is born when Tall Papa creates someone to help him regulate the spirit trade. Sep, though, is driven crazy by the hunger of Satakal, and he convinces some of the gods to help him make an easier alternative to the Walkabout. This, of course, is the world as we know it, and the spirits who followed Sep become trapped here, to live out their lives as mortals. Sep is punished by Tall Papa for his transgressions, but his hunger lives on as a void in the stars, a 'non-space' that tries to upset mortal entry into the Far Shores.
HoonDing
(The Make Way God)
Yokudan spirit of 'perseverance over infidels'. The HoonDing has historically materialized whenever the Redguards need to 'make way' for their people. In Tamrielic history this has only happened three times-twice in the first era during the Ra Gada invasion, once during the Tiber War. In this last incarnation, the HoonDing was said to have been either a sword or a crown, or both.
Leki
(Saint of the Spirit Sword)
Goddess daughter of Tall Papa, Leki is the goddess of aberrant swordsmanship. The Na-Totambu of Yokuda warred to a standstill during the mythic era to decide who would lead the charge against the Lefthanded Elves. Their swordmasters, though, were so skilled in the Best Known Cuts as to be matched evenly. Leki introduced the Ephemeral Feint; afterwards, a victor emerged and the war with the Aldmer began.
Onsi
(Boneshaver)
Notable warrior god of the Yokudan Ra Gada, Onsi taught Mankind how to pull their knives into swords.

 

The Ra Gada: Hammerfell

Author: 
Imperial Geographical Society

Map of Hammerfell

The most recent arrivals to Tamriel's shores are the Redguards of Hammerfell. They quickly adapted to the harsh desert of their new homeland and made a former wasteland into a power to be reckoned with.

History

Hammerfell only acquired its name with the coming of the Redguards. Before then, it was called Hegathe by the Aldmer, and Deathland by the Nedic people, roughly saying the same thing. Hegathe, as a name, lives on a the name of the original Redguard capital, but into the First Era, the Nedic name began to be used by one and all to refer to the barren land north of Colovia, south of the Iliac Bay. Not that there was much reference to it historically. It was desolation, a wasteland where hot winds blew over burning rock, and the only feet that walked the sands belonged to monsters.

Redguard RaceThe elves and later the Bretons did set up outposts in what are now Sentinel and Lainlyn in order to protect their fisherfolk and seafaring merchants from the Orcs who had taken over the interior of the land. Nor were these the only dangers of record. Wind spirits, fire spirits, goblins, trolls, and scorpions the size of horses regularly crept in from the desert, and were rebuffed at the frontier, sometimes at a terrible cost.

In the year 420 of the First Era, a tribe of Dwemer arrived in the Deathlands from the east. They were of Rourken's people, rebels against the alliance of Dunmer and Dwemer in Morrowind. Settling far from the Bay, along the southern coast, they soon established an easy trading relationship with the elves to the south and Bretons to the north, and the Deathlands took the Dwemer name of Volenfel, "City of the Hammer", after the Dwemer capital whose ruins now lie buried under the sands of the Alik'r near Gilane.

The House Rourken's severing of ties with the Dwemer in Resdayn did not protect them from the results of the War of the First Council. Like the other Dwemer, the Rourken seem to have vanished suddenly from Hammerfell, leaving their wonders to the open sky. Akaviri and Nordic pirates plundered much of value from the abandoned cities, predators from the inland desert prowled the empty streets, and the harsh elements took their toll as well. By the time of the Ra Gada, over a hundred years has passed since any civilization had touched southern Volenfel.

The Yokudans left their continent following a cataclysm (discussed in a later section of the Guide), arriving in Tamriel in an invading fleet called the Ra Gada. The disorganized Orcs fell to them quickly, as did all the infestations of monster and beast further inland. The Reguards, as the Ra Gada came to be called, made no concession to the Breton settlements along the coasts, slashing through the southern Iliac Bay, winning the entire area that is now the Province of Hammerfell in only a few major battles. The Na-Totambu, the government of Yokuda, was transplanted whole, together with their traditional system of agriculture and religion which was well suited to the unforgiving climate of the Redguards' new home. The high domes, the flying dew sails, and the mosaic colophons were constructed over the old and new ruins of past civilizations.

HammerfellThe Redguards' slaughter of men along the coast was not quickly forgiven, and their open scorn for their neighbors did nothing to ease relations between the newcomers and the Bretons. Over a century of unrelieved hostility only came to an end at the appearance of a common enemy in the form of the Orcish kingdom of Orsinium. Following the successful alliance, the cities of Hammerfell - as Volenfel had come to be called - finally began trading with High Rock and the Colovian West, joining the battles against new foes, such as the Sload of Thras, thanks to an alliance with Bendu Olo, the King of Anvil.

Over time, Redguard society divided into two groups, depending on their allegiance to the old Yokudan ways or the new ways of Tamriel. The Crowns, who followed the traditions of the Na-Totambu, violently resisted the efforts of the Forebears, named for the original warriors of the Ra Gada, to assimilate. With the death of the Crown High King Thassad II in the 864th year of the Second Era, Hammerfell was taken by the Septim Empire, though some concessions were made following a successful revolt in Stros M'Kai.

The division in Hammerfell society was not mended by joining the Empire, even to this day. In general, northern Hammerfell continued to be more traditionally Yokudan, in style, dress, and personality, and the southern lands, where the Forebears landed, tended to be more cosmopolitan; but, in truth, Hammerfell was and is a patchwork, with conflicting traditions nestled side by side. It is for this reason that Elinhir, a Crown city, did not answer the clarion call of the Forebear cities Rihad and Taneth, in the 253rd year of the 3rd Era, allowing the Camoran Usurper to continue his northward march. In return, the Forebear cities did not assist the eastern Crown cities during the War of Bend'r-Mahk against Skyrim, preferring to watch as they were overtaken by Nords.

Current Events

Following the Miracle of Peace, the Forebear kingdom of Sentinel grew to encompass the entirety of the northern coast of Hammerfell, from Abibon-Gora in the west to Satakalaam in the east, at the mouth of the Bjoulsae River. As most of the formerly independent lands in this northern area were Crown in sympathy, King Lhotun has continually been involved in military, diplomatic, and even religious mission to keep then under his wing. Lhotun has been forced to create what some consider a third party, one with reverence for the Yokudan past but respect for the Imperial ways, which is appropriately enough called Lhotunic.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the moderate Lhotunics have attracted nothing but contempt from the Crown and Forebear kingdoms alike. Clavilla, the Queen of Taneth, has tried without success to have the charters of the independent guilds revoked from all Sentinel lands, saying that the accepted worship of Satakal is grounds enough for heresy against the Empire. Ayaan-si, High Prophet of Elinhir, has called upon the True Crowns of the north to rebel against Lhotun, and financed a number of forays against the borders in Bergama and Dak'fron. His one success, thus far, has been significant. The land of Totambu, named in ancient days after Na-Totambu of Yokuda, the progenitors of the Crowns, has returned to his fold and declared independence from Sentinel. As Lhotun's kingdom surrounds Totambu on all four sides, it is questionable how much longer it can assert itself, but at the time of this writing, its people are holding their resistance.

Eastern Hammerfell, less concerned with Sentinel, has continued its efforts to take back the lands conquered by Skyrim in the War of Bend'r-Mahk. There is no question that Redguards, while currently lacking the cohesiveness as a society to form effective armies, are excellent warriors and unmatched at guerrilla warfare. Still, little ground has been regained, for the Nords too are renowned warriors.