Historical archives of the Black Horse Courier

Cocius Laenius,

I received one of the many letters you penned that have been floating around historical circles. I do, in fact, have quite a large number of Black Horse Courier articles in my archive dating back to the third era. You will find several copies in the package attached – Please, keep them. I admire your work and would be more than happy knowing that I have contributed to your latest piece. All I ask is that they’re taken care of and handled carefully, although I doubt you would treat them otherwise.

Judging by your letter, I assume you have had trouble finding much historical background on the paper, so I’ll share with you what I know. The Black Horse Courier was founded in 3E 426, sponsored by the Elder Council itself. Prior to this, several private news sources were prominent in the Imperial City: The Morning Quill and the Imperial Herald, for example. Each county operated their own papers independently, such as the Voice of Bruma and The Harborside Rumor of Anvil. Unfortunately, due to the multiple operating sources and vast distance between them, news from the Imperial City was often distorted by what we would call a mass-scale game of ‘Khajjiti-whispers’. By the time news reached Leyawiin or Kvatch, the message conveyed was usually vastly different than the original.

To remedy this, the Elder Council granted three (ironically) Khajjiti brothers and entrepreneurs - Hassiri, Ra’jiradh and Urjabhi - the funds to establish a more ‘official’ news publication with the resources to quickly distribute accurate news across Cyrodiil and the Empire. To combat any accusations of favouritism or bias, the Council decreed that all issues would be distributed free of charge across the Imperial Province. Of course, as a direct result nearly all private competition went out of business almost overnight.

By 3E 430, The Black Horse Courier operated with some two-hundred and fifty of the fastest horses bred in Cyrodiil, most provided by or bred from the stock of Black Waterside Stables in Cheydinhal, hence the publication’s name. The Courier operated directly from its head office located in the Market District of the Imperial City, although it co-operated with many regional stables to form ‘way-stations’ where riders could swap out a fatigued horse for one fresh from rest to immediately continue onwards. By 4E 46, the Courier had purchased many of these stables outright and even operated its own breeding ranch at the foot of the Colovian Highlands.

During the Great War, the Black Horse Courier was accused several times of bias towards the Enemy – some even went so far as to suggest that the then head publishers, Ja’Rakhada and Ra’nirda, were Aldmeri spies. In my personal opinion, such a notion is absolutely preposterous. The Black Horse Courier was definitely not a front for Dominion propaganda, although with its predominantly Khajjiti workforce I would not be surprised if there were one or two sympathisers among the ranks.

In any case, the Black Horse Courier’s head office was seized by the Aldmeri Dominion during the occupation of the Imperial City in 4E 174. Horses and couriers alike were slaughtered in an effort to cut communication between the Empire and resistance forces operating within the city. The printing presses themselves were used to produce Aldmeri propaganda (once again strikes the irony), rules and curfews during the entire occupation, as can be seen by early such notifications still bearing the namesake and symbol of the Black Horse Courier, which were pre-printed on the publication’s paper stocks (You’ll find an example in the package attached, note the blood). If the Black Horse Courier had any sympathy for the Dominion, the Dominion had no sympathy for the Black Horse Courier.

As we both know, this marked the bitter end for the Courier. By the time the Imperial City was recaptured in 4E 175, the publication and its staff were well and truly obliterated. Since then I’ve made sure to preserve the few copies of articles I already owned and have been fortunate enough to quite cheaply purchase older issues from merchants and homeowners ignorant of their historical value.

Below I have collated my personal knowledge on each individual article attached. Frustratingly, the Black Horse Courier never dated their releases, making chronologically cataloguing articles most troublesome. One would assume this was intentional; despite being famous for their rapid circulation, issues could take days to reach the outer counties of Cyrodiil. Omitting the date, however, gives the impression that each article is breaking news and prevents complaints about late deliveries. I’ve tried my best to approximate dates of publication, but your own research may yield more accurate results.

I hope that this information assists you in your work. Please do not hesitate to write back to me if you require further knowledge, I’ll continue to search my library for any other copies I have misplaced over the years.

Yours truly,

Varnand Bienne

Emperor and his heirs assassinated!

(Almost certainly the 27th of Last Seed, 3E 399)

The most expensive of my collection. Unfortunately, I have been unable to obtain any subsequent pages, I imagine the full three or so would easily fetch over a thousand gold together. I needn’t tell you of the importance of Uriel’s assassination or the Oblivion Crisis that followed.

Mysterious tremors shake Cyrodiil

(3rd or 4th of Sun’s Dawn, 4E 5)

The ‘tremor’ was obviously a result of the eruption of Vvardenfel, although neither the Black Horse Courier nor anyone in Cyrodiil at this stage realised it. I’m sure once the smoke started to blow across from Morrowind it would have become obvious enough.

Skyrim cedes Solstheim to Morrowind

(4E 16)

Note the change in design, I believe the earliest articles in this format were first printed around 4E 12.

‘Flying City’ sighted South-East of Blackmarsh

(4E 40)

Cyrodiil’s first report of Umbriel, to believe we had a first-hand witness so early! I also have an interesting article covering the sacking of Cheydinhal, but it seems I’ve misplaced it.

Winterhold taken by ocean storm

(4E 122)

I actually managed to purchase this copy and a few others in Riften; apparently citizens of Bruma would often mail copies to family members back in Skyrim. Again, note the new design - Pages were widened and content was shortened to just one page per article to increase efficiency, often leading to multiple articles printed per day if current events required it.

Wayshrine of Talos vandalised!

(4E 171)

I remember this case myself, it’s a shame the ranger was never found… Then again, I suppose he could have been the vandal.

NOTICE: Citizens of the White-Gold City

(4E 174)

I’ll let this one speak for itself. Needless to say, the Thalmor were ruthless during their occupation of the Imperial City. A fellow historian and I have argued whether the blood was sprayed on it while hanging on a wall or whether it was already on the paper during printing, perhaps from the Courier’s owners being slaughtered in the printing room.

^Edit: ^Corrected ^the ^date ^of ^the ^Umbriel ^Crisis, ^as ^pointed ^out ^by ^/u/phil_hinds