The Wolf of the West-Weald

Penned by Sir Rivalen Mothril, Knight, East Empire Company.

The last chapter saw the calamitous collapse of House Hlaalu and a much needed re-evaluation of its reasons, beyond the frequently given “they did it because House Hlaalu supported the Empire” or “the Dunmer wanted to kill the Empire but couldn’t, so they blamed everything on Hlaalu”, both of which explain little and ignore vast discrepancies in the information we have. It seems, in short, there was much fear of Hlaalu’s burgeoning ambitions in the chaotic Imperial Province and also that many feared the massive debts the Grand Council had to House Hlaalu. Additionally, it is likely that the Grand Council did not want the Monarchy (a House Hlaalu dominated institution) returned or to sacrifice the power they had regained to the unpopular Hlaalu. Generously, we might also state that more liberal and moderate elements helped engineer the bloody events in Cheydinhal, as many did not want another long, drawn out power struggle to occur in Morrowind, which undeniably needed peace. If we combine these reasons, along with the petty feuds every house of Morrowind engaged in, we might find plenty of reason for what occurred.

But now the eyes of both Skyrim and Morrowind looked westward, while Black Marsh looked inward, and many could see that the course of history in the Fourth Era was being charted.

4E 11-17 – Events in the West

Between 4E 11 and 4E 17, in Colovia, events were proceeding apace. This was occurring whilst the Grand Council were scheming the fall of House Hlaalu, the Dunmer people moved through Eastern Tamriel, whilst Nibenay fractured and reformed and whilst the Nords of Skyrim dealt with the changes in the demographics to their home: of which we will speak more later.

When Ocato had died, or perhaps even before this, the princelings of Colovia had grown disgusted with what they saw as a growing weakness in the Potentate’s regime. In of itself, this was hardly unusual and not unique to the situation at the beginning of the Fourth Era. Even under Septim rule, especially during the reign of Cephorus II and the years shortly afterward, Imperial correspondence shows that Colovia had all but split into a separate realm, such was their disdain for the preoccupied and ineffective Nibenese-dominated Imperial government. When Imperial governments are efficient, strong and show the ability to exercise their strength effectively, the princes of Colovia follow them willingly. When the bureaucrats of Nibenay are divided, weak or grasped by fanaticism, the westerners of Cyrodiil have historically turned inwards and spurned their eastern neighbors. Colovia clings to the martial and legalistic austerity that has made it vital to the Empire. This is not to claim that east and west Cyrodiil are ultimately incompatible; Colovia has, largely by necessity of Man and Mer’s mass migration into Cyrodiil, absorbed some cosmopolitanism from Nibenay, but never their neighbour’s arrogant sophistication, grasping mercantilism, or greed. But Cyrodiil cannot be viewed like the other provinces. It is not, unlike Skyrim or Argonia, the home province of a single race and culture, but a land dominated by two ethno-cultural groupings (Colovian and Nibenese) and the countless migrant men and mer of every other race who have made themselves and their cultures an indivisible aspect of these two blocs.

Ocato’s handling of the An-Xileel crisis must have been a clarion call to the hardened Colovians. The Empire’s strength was collapsing and plutocracy was rampant; many of the Colovian nobles of the Elder Council were appalled at the treatment of Vedam Dren. Captain Honditar, a self described “Hunter and Mountain Man” of Chorrol, a Colovian and Legion Forester of the truest sort, described the situation in the Imperial city during the Accession War as “Rich, arrogant Nibbo wetbacks, pissing on the patriotism of rich, arrogant greyskins so they might get themselves richer and… arroganter.”

Honditar further described the collapse of the Imperial Province in detail.

“Why’d Colovia break off? (Spits on ground) Huh. I say leave philosophising to the goddamn Nibbo bean counters. I mostly s’pose coz no self respecting westerner could obey that goddamn Nibbo wetback, Ocato, who was too afraid of getting his silks dirty to mount his horse and lead the legions where they was needed. When the Usurper went rampaging through the west, we didn’t form a goddamn committee to discuss what needed to be done. We just…did it. My Granddaddy stood on the walls of Kvatch and fought. Just because it was right. Don’t need more reason than that… Can I ‘ave a smoke?”

At any rate, the cities of Colovia split from the effective control of the Imperial Government in the time after 4E 10. Certainly 4E 13, the cities of Chorrol, Skingrad, Anvil and Kvatch were all effectively independent of the rule of the Imperial City. Not all of them proclaimed this independence, for some influential individuals therein desired to reconstruct the Empire, but at this stage, all that remained of ‘the Empire’ was a rump domain that barely stretched beyond the shores of Lake Rumare and received the odd delivery of tribute.

In this environment, where the various cities were at each other’s throats and there was little in the way of national armies, mercenaries thrived. Blackwood Company, once all but destroyed by the Fighters’ Guild during the Oblivion Crisis, was reformed and rejuvenated to a greater extent than ever and we shall yet hear more of these men who are without doubt some of the most nefarious sellswords in the East. The Cyrodiilic Condottieri was enjoying a renaissance that she had not partaken in since the Second Era. Many mercenary companies became astoundingly rich and although most companies proved themselves happy to take the most heinous contracts, free of the Fighter’s Guild’s restrictions, some few chose to conduct themselves in a more honourable way. The mercenaries profited immeasurably from the rise in bandit activity in Cyrodiil (and many probably took part in it).

One of these companies was the Brotherhood of the Wolf, a company active mostly in the Colovian Highlands and the West Weald. Led by the brothers Titus and Andronicus Mede, the former a member of the Fighters Guild, the brotherhood had thus far avoided being drawn into the more gruesome events taking place. This was not to claim that the Brotherhood had not been active or done some things some might consider questionable. Some time after the beginning of 4E 11, Titus Mede had sacked the village of Hackdirt on contract of the Count of Chorrol. However, it ought to be noted that Hackdirt was the persistent refuge of a cult that had been plaguing the Colovian Highlands and the Imperial Reserve for more than a century. In fact Titus and his brother had been instrumental in the installation of Chorrol’s count. Pyrrhus Valga was the illegitimate son of Count Charus Valga and a Redguard mage in the Chorrol Court. Although he had been banished from the grounds of Castle Chorrol by Dowager Countess Ariana Valga by the time of the Oblivion Crisis, he spent the next years gathering men and money. Around 4E 10, Pyrrhus managed to hire a mercenary company, at that time branded outlaws, to help him take Chorrol back from his father’s wife. This they did in a daring nocturnal assault that took them over the walls of Chorrol. Countess Ariana was summarily imprisoned, and later starved herself to death. The result of this was the official charter of the Brotherhood of the Wolf and the lifting of their outlaw status.

The following years saw the Brotherhood taking contracts across Colovia, in Northern Valenwood, and even in Hammerfell, fighting in the internecine battles between Alik’r tribes and in the ongoing struggles of the Crowns and Forebears. However, by 4E 13, Titus Mede had been hired by the court of Skingrad to remove the bandits plaguing the West Weald. Naturally, the Brotherhood took to this role as effectively as every other contract they had been hired for. But in hiring Titus Mede the court of Skingrad had not reckoned on a brutish condottieri figuring out the count’s secret. For Titus Mede had been from a young age, a master tracker and huntsman; he was supremely talented at reading the land and people. Moreover, he actively cultivated an image to outsiders of a low intelligence. As such, while his forces had gained a reputation for effectiveness, he was widely underestimated.

As such by quiet observations, it was not hard for Titus Mede to figure out County Skingrad’s secret: that Janus Hassildor, ruler of Skingrad for over sixty years, was in fact a vampire, and not a magelord, as was publicly claimed. It is quite possible that Mede had known about Hassildor for years and only moved against him in 4E 13. But with this fact known, Mede utilised it effectively, having his men gossip about it in the various taverns of Skingrad. This process went on for some time, with the people gradually becoming more and more incensed. Eventually word reached the ear of the Vigil of Stendarr, who, with typical bluster, immediately demanded action. They were turned away by the Court, but Mede utilised the growing resentment well.

Because inevitably, the Vigil resorted to their only true talents: brute force and mob manipulation. By this time, Mede had managed to befriend a local paranoid schizophrenic, and convinced this manic Bosmer to break open the gates and allow the Brotherhood into the city by night. On a rainy night in Rain’s Hand, a mob assaulted castle Skingrad, outside the city walls, only to meet a savage response from the guards. Mede divided his forces and one division, led by his brother Andronicus, came to the aid of the townsfolk, while the elder Mede deftly seized control of Skingrad itself. The entire operation took a night to conclude and hundreds of Skingrad guards died, but by morning, Janus Hassildor had vanished and it was Titus Mede seated on the throne of Rislav the Righteous. Titus Mede emerged as the hero and protector of Skingrad’s people. Andronicus Mede was appointed Captain of the Guard. And, though previously dismissed as merely the town madman of Skingrad, Mede’s manic Bosmer friend would rise to occupy a high position in the Imperial Court and foiled at least seven plots on the Emperor’s life.

4E 14-16 – The Gold Coast War

From the throne of Skingrad, Titus Mede moved relentlessly, campaigning in every season, bringing his growing forces against the fractious lordlings of Colovia, in a rapid bid to unite the west under his rule. Kvatch, not yet restored to full strength, submitted easily, whilst Pyrrhus Valga, his prosperous mining city beset by raiders from the Alik’r and the Reach, readily approached his old friend Titus and joined his cause, wedding Titus Mede’s own lowborn daughter.

A much more serious conflict was fought against the Bosmer clans in the northern forests of Valenwood, who resented the rise of an active king in Skingrad (which isolated them from their cousins, the clans of the Great Forest) and were incensed at the fall of Janus Hassildor who had been, by word and deed, a friend to Valenwood. Additionally, correspondence seized from Cloud Ruler Temple suggests that this war was spearheaded by an insurgent group known as “Natives”, Colovian Nobles displaced by Mede, and other opportunists claiming to desire reinstatement of the Hassildor family. Moreover, they were quite amply funded by interests from Alinor. The new King of Skingrad frequently laid waste to insurgent strongholds, and won a number of minor battles against the massing Bosmer clanfolk who raided from the Arenthia district and across the Strid River. Much more serious was the coalition of Anvil, Rihad and Taneth, the appropriately named “Army of the Gold Coast” entering the war on the side of the Valenwood Clans. This was especially so, since the Arenthia Clans had just launched a devastating raid through the eastern marches of the West Weald, burning a number of Titus Mede’s most prosperous villages.

In 4E 16, on the 16th of Evening Star, the Battle of the Brina Cross took place. The battleground was a rocky field along the Gold Road near the town of Brina Cross. Of strong advantage was the composition of the armies facing Mede. Offered gold and trade concessions by Anvil, Rihad and Taneth had each sent some eight thousand men, strong contingents of Redguard knights and infantry; but not only were the two cities feuding over trade, they now found themselves opposite sides of the Crown-Forbear war (Taneth, traditionally Forebear, had recently passed, violently, into Crown hands). It is very probable that Mede knew this and had even, by subtle provocation, encouraged the situation. Anvil had sent a force of ten thousand, under Darius Umbranox, heir of Anvil, to meet the Redguards at the Brena River, assist their crossing, then advance en masse, on Kvatch, which the coalition had assurances would be delivered to them by agents of “the Natives”. Kvatch was to become the impregnable stronghold of the coalition, from which the allies might tear down Titus Mede at leisure.

But the coalition army’s discipline was poor from the outset. Crown and Forebear warriors incessantly fought against each other, preventing effective scouting and causing constant headaches for the Anvil troops. Unexpectedly, the Bosmer tribes of the Great Forest had made common cause with the King of Skingrad and a warband of Bosmer foresters had been harrying the coalition since they crossed the Brena River.

By the time they had reached the Brina Cross, between Anvil and Kvatch, the Anvillic army was both restless and in very poor spirits. As such, they were beyond surprised when, in mid Evening Star, Titus Mede’s army appeared just after dawn before them, ten thousand men in tow, near the village of Brina Cross. Save numbers, every advantage was on Mede’s side. He had, against all expectation, marched more than 300 miles from the east of the West Weald in a mere six days. The Army of the Gold Coast, exhausted and bitterly divided, was caught completely off guard. Additionally, the terrain at Brina Cross was rocky, cramped and ill suited for the powerful Redguard Knight Cavalry, and the torrential rain was in the faces of the Anvil and Redguard allies. Moreover, though one might not expect it on first glance of Mede’s army, lightly armoured as they were in Bosmer and Colovian leathers and furs, the muddy condition of the field was deeply unfavourable to the heavy armed Anvil soldiers and the Redguards, born for desert war.

Mede positioned himself well. His centre was a deep hoplite phalanx typical of Colovian soldiery, whilst he positioned the cream of his cavalry on the right wing and a Blackwood Company squadron on the left. He had definitive superiority in skirmishing capability; Bosmer Archers and his foresters screened his line.

He also hid dozens of his mercenary Battlemages in the rocky crags of the field. They stayed concealed as the Army of the Gold Coast advanced over the field to meet Mede’s line, which persistently gave ground before their foe. It was a brilliantly executed manoeuvre. Each time the coalition army passed a crag or boulder, they set off a rune created by Mede’s Battlemages. Unlike most runes, which simply release a fireball or ice blast, these runes summoned a single flame Atronach or a Clannfear. Whilst in of themselves, neither of these creatures is particularly powerful. However, when summoned in the midst of a marching army, especially an army filled with many Redguards who loathe conjuration, they seriously affected the cohesion and discipline of the coalition forces. Darius Umbranox’s forces began to falter, and Mede seized his moment. The rapid change from withdrawal to attack was a momentum that carried the day. The Redguard and Anvil forces could not withstand Titus’ attack and began to break up. Titus Mede personally cut his way through the Anvillic forces and killed Darius Umbranox, who was attempting to rally the army, with his own hand. Complete rout followed.

Some eight thousand prisoners were taken. Each and every Forebear and Anvillic prisoner was immediately granted their liberty; many chose to join Mede’s growing army. However, a far more gruesome fate was awarded the Crown prisoners; under direction of Pyrrhus Valga, the Crowns were crucified to the last man along with every Alik’r who declined to join the King of Skingrad. Soon, these prisoners formed a long, macabre parade along the length of the Brena River and southward toward Anvil, along the Abecean Coast; Titus Mede’s personal warning to the Crowns.

Within days of the victory, Mede had force marched his victorious army to Sancre Tor, scoured the bandits and goblins that occupied the site and summoned all of his subject nobles. My witness, Honditar, informed me that there, beneath the walls of the ancient fortress,

“The legions took the Wolf of Skingrad and raised him up on a large, round shield. Three times, we acclaimed him High Regent of Colovia. The Primate of Stendar, came from Chorrol and blessed the King as the “Light of the West”. We made sure everyone in Cyrodiil, everyone in Tamriel, would know that the Colovian Estates had a High Regent. We wanted them to know that the Colovian Legions were coming for each and every weakling, wetback usurper and that we were bringing back law and order to the continent.”

Mede might have crowned himself High Regent of the Colovian Estates some time earlier, but the victory over the wealthy port of Anvil and its allies cemented that strength. Titus made peace with Anvil by personally returning the body of Darius Umbranox and marrying Kintyra, the daughter of an Altmer Merchant Princess in Anvil and Count Corvus Umbranox, who apparently had sired this daughter during his shadowy, little spoken of youth. Lady Kintyra proved to be a shrewd and effective consort for the new High Regent. But regardless of the point when Mede might have done so, no one in Cyrodiil could miss the significance of the location where Mede was acclaimed as High Regent of Colovia. In his theatrical display beneath the walls of Sancre Tor, Mede was claiming for himself, the dignity of not only the High Regents of Colovia, but also the moral right of the Remans and the Septims. He was signalling his intent, his proclamation, to the rest of Cyrodiil’s rulers, that there would be only one sovereign in Cyrodiil.

The proclamation could not be ignored.

4E 17-18 – The Eastern Response

Nor was it. Not long after, Eddar Olin, of whom we have already heard much, undertook a lacklustre campaign against the Orums in Bravil. Olin had already consolidated all the Nibenay north of Blackwood under his rule, and now, excepting Bruma, the Imperial City and Leyawiin, every one of the Nibenese princelings named him lord. When the Orums made him a tempting peace offer, he took it.

In an rapidly assembled, and extremely lavish pavilion set amidst a city of tents on the shores of Lake Arius, Eddar Olin, was, at the hand of High Primate Tandilwe of the Temple of the One, ceremonially anointed Great King of Nibenay and “Protector of the Faithful”. He was described in correspondence as being garbed in purple silken robes dripping with pearls, crowned with a lavish diadem kept in the Imperial Library today, and wearing a choker bearing a ruby the size of an Orcish fist. That this butcher, who authored of one of the most sacrilegious massacres in Nibenese history (he had not hesitated to rape and kill Hlaalu victims who fled into the Great Chapel of Arkay) should have received such exalted honours was a sign of the corruption of the times. Many in House Sadras have come to bitterly lament their part in Olin’s title of “Protector of the Faithful”.

That Olin had emerged from so little however, was also indicative of his lethal charisma and ruthlessness. According to most sources, Eddaril ‘Eddar’ Olin was “half-Altmer” or “Altmer-blooded”; not dissimilar to descriptions of Jagar Tharn. He proved very much adept at manoeuvring through the cutthroat game of Nibenese politics. Most sources point out that Olin was born in the Nibenay basin, perhaps in Cheydinhal itself. My enquiries have found that numerous Nibenese natives insist that Olin was the baseborn son of one Sir Voranil, an unpleasantly arrogant nobleman, who owned the notable Riverview mansion in Cheydinhal. Voranil, who is still alive in our time, refused to comment on the matter, but he was well known as both a Skooma addict and as one of Nibenay’s most overtly licentious noblemen. Before 433, Olin was not the only Altmer-spawn wandering Cheydinhal, and he had several depraved half siblings who later joined his mercenary activities. While Voranil may have paid for an education for Olin, who collected a huge library, pay records certainly show that the young man was an officer of the revived Blackwood Company by 4E 8. Why Olin left is unknown, but popular Leyawiin rumour tells that Olin “drank a particularly bad batch of sap” and forcefully attempted to have his way with Archoness Hlidara Caro (Blackwood refute this story and deny any use of “sap” by their members).

Despite Olin’s brutal record and his removal of the Indarys family as rulers of Cheydinhal, he did not rule altogether badly. Though the Knights of the Thorn were still at large, and he had suffered the loss of some of his patrols to their guerrilla attacks, Olin was wise enough to rule with an even hand in terms of race. No reprisals were taken against the Nibenese Dunmer as a whole. Olin also surprised many, as he inclined to appoint men on merit, and he curbed the Nibenese practice of the sale of offices. He made laws protecting the poor. He undertook numerous campaigns against banditry, which seems to have become rampant around Cheydinhal. He constructed at personal expense, a large royal library in Cheydinhal, which was open to all, and commissioned a thorough reconstruction of Cheydinhal’s walls.

However, against his enemies, he was singularly bloodthirsty; the Harlun’s Watch revolt under the leadership of Istrus Angelus ended with the death of Angelus’ entire family except his infant son and daughter. His campaigns against bandits routinely ended with wholesale slaughters. Olin also seemed obsessed with breaking the power of the Nibenese nobility, who generally resented him as an upstart and whom he (correctly) suspected of bearing sympathy to the Indarys exiles.

Olin’s coronation was endorsed (and largely funded) by the Orums, in return for Bravil’s autonomy in the Nibenese Domains. Whilst the crown was purchased by filthy money, it sat on a ruthless and effective head. It caused consternation in other quarters. In Leyawiin, Marius Caro, who vehemently loathed Olin, was doubtless worried about his own autonomy, but was preoccupied with affairs in the marshes. The Carvain Princes of Bruma, fortified and isolated themselves in their fastnesses in the Jerall Mountains.

In Morrowind, the growing power of the two strongmen of Cyrodiil was turning heads. Eddar Olin caused discomfort among his Indoril sponsors, who had no desire to see a new Emperor crowned. Indoril advocated war, and were met with outright refusal from Redoran and the rest of the Grand Council, who far preferred to wait and observe than commit to open conflict. Records of the council reveal the pervading attitude.

“Resdayn needs peace, prosperity and time to rebuild… Morrowind will not traffic with kings nor with claimants, but with the one who sits the Ruby Throne…”

said Councillor Brara Morvayn, who was enjoying the profits gained from the burgeoning Ebony trade in Solstheim and her solid relationship with the East Empire Company. Morvayn’s reaction is noteworthy, as it is clear evidence that the Redoran were beginning to adopt roles, like Ebony traders, that were not traditional to the martial house. We might also consider that Morvayn’s words were indicative that by now Redoran felt that the end of the interregnum to be an inevitability.

If this is so, they were soon to be right.

4E 17-18 – Chapter Conclusion

Our chapter now ends with the ultimate clash for Cyrodiil and the Empire as a whole set up and looming ever closer. The two contenders had each crowned themselves in an appropriate manner and had made names for themselves in a strong and effective fashion. All that remained now was for Nibenay and Colovia to settle the question of who would claim the crown.

Because the Ruby Throne does not seat two.