The War of Bloody Ravens

>#The War of Bloody Ravens: The True Account of the Battle of the Reaver Incident

Authored By: Commander Falos Veleth

Author’s Note: The contents of this book detail the events that led up to and happened during the battle known as the Blood Years , The Assault on Raven Rock, the Reaver Incident , or most famously the War of Bloody Ravens. The facts contained within are a combination of my own experience in the event, interrogation of enemy prisoners, and the allies who fought beside me. This is dedicated to my father, Captain Modyn Veleth, who served faithfully as the head of the guard here on Raven Rock before his demise in the war. May his soul rest in peace.

>##PROSPEROUS RAVEN ROCK

The year of 4E 201 was eventful for not only the town of Raven Rock, but the entire island of Solstheim as a whole. During this period, a dark influence had resurrected itself from beyond the grave. Miraak – an ancient and powerful Nordic Dragon Priest – returned seemingly from the afterlife to take control of the entirety of Solstheim. Using the power of the Nord magic called the thu’um, he was able to take control of the minds of the islands inhabitants and force them to work on the standing stones that are revered as the ‘All-Maker Stones’ by the Nord tribe known as the Skaal in the northeastern part of the island. With an army of resurrected dragons and half the population under his control, the Dragon Priest’s plot went almost unnoticed by the locales.

The island itself was saved by the arrival of the hero known as the Last Dragonborn, who was alerted to the return of Miraak due to a failed assassination attempt. With the aid of House Redoran, the Skaal, and (surprisingly) House Telvanni, the hero was able to successfully vanquish Miraak’s influence from the island forevermore. While many thought that the Dragonborn would soon return to Skyrim, the hero decided to stay on Solstheim for personal reasons – a decision that would turn out to ensure Raven Rock’s return to greatness.

The Dragonborn went on to perform a great number of deeds for the good of Raven Rock for the next few months. When mysterious creatures called Ash Spawn attacked the town, the hero went out and destroyed the source of the attacks, unraveling a plot revolving around a resurrected Imperial General within Fort Frostmoth in the process and subsequently destroying the creator of the Ash Spawn as well. The hero also entered the dried out ebony mine and discovered more ore veins, resulting in the mine reopening and many townsfolk receiving jobs once again. But the greatest thing the Dragonborn did was rescuing Councilor Lleril Morvayn from an assassination plot by the now dwindling House Hlaalu, saving the Rock from losing a valiant leader as well from a power struggle by the other Redoran Councilors. Shortly after these incidents the Last Dragonborn departed from Solstheim, and never returned.

With the ebony mines reopened, Raven Rock attracted the attention of both House Redoran and the East Empire Company once again. A trade was officially signed in 4E 202 between the two, bringing in profit for Raven Rock and creating a supply line between it and the city of Windhelm in Skyrim. With the septims flowing in again, the town was able to expand twice its original size and more Dunmer were able to settle in. The Rock began to thrive once again as it did in olden times.

>##THE CROWNING OF EMPRESS HELLANA AND NORTHERN TROUBLES

With the death of Emperor Titus Mede II in 4E 201 shortly after the ending of the Skyrim Civil War (some say he was assassinated by the led to be destroyed Dark Brotherhood, but the Penitus Oculatus claim these rumors as false), the Empire was left in disarray. His only heir was his six-year-old granddaughter Hellana Mede, child of his deceased son Reginitus Mede and his equally deceased wife Morgana. Quiet and reserved, Hellana was deemed unfit to rule until she turned eighteen and so the Breton Chancellor William Fallade was named Emperor Regent. However, the Emperor Regent solely concentrated on his native land of High Rock instead of the entirety of Tamriel, leading to many political disasters, especially amongst the Imperial territories. The island nations of Yneslea and Esrionet seceded from the Empire in 4E 208 and 209, respectfully. Reasons for this separation are unknown, and it is believed that the Aldmeri Dominion played no part in it. Both isles remained trading partners with Tamriel, however, as Yneslian cream and Esri spices remain some of the East Empire Company’s primary imports.

In 4E 211, the island known as Roscrea also attempted to establish itself as its own independent nation like the islands of Yneslea and Esrionet. The natives tried to create a coup to remove Lord Admiral Trotin from his seat of power, but troops from Imperial Skyrim quickly silenced the rebellion by slaughtering all of those present and imposing a heavy tax on the territory. The Roscreans were outraged by this, and continued to fight against the Empire for its deeds for the next two years. In 4E 213, the Roscreans contacted the High King of Windhelm and negotiated in the sending of troops for defeating the Imperials on their island. The Nords agreed to the request, and sent ships to Roscrea to aid the rebellion. However, this proved to be a ploy when the soldiers betrayed the Roscreans and attacked them as well as the Legion; they simply wanted Roscrea for themselves. Unable to handle an attack by both enemies at the same time, the Roscreans desperately attacked Solitude (the launching point for the ships attacking Roscrea) and captured it. Despite all attempts to remove them from the city, the Nords and Imperials discovered that they could not penetrate their defenses, allowing the invaders to begin to push back the Nords and Imperials as well as expand further into Skyrim along the western coast.

This all changed in 4E 214-215; Hellana – now eighteen and a formidable maiden of war – was coroneted as Empress of Tamriel. A fiery-head beauty with a passion for both swordplay and scholarly pursuits, her first act as Empress was executing Chancellor Fallade for his mishandling of the Empire before declaring that it was time for the battles in the north to end. Arriving in Skyrim dressed in full combat regalia and with several hundred troops, the Empress reunited the separated east and west of Skyrim and chased the Roscreans bloodily out of northern Tamriel and back to their island. Arriving on Roscrea herself, Hellana personally executed the rebellion’s leaders to set an example for all who defied the Mede Dynasty. All of Skyrim was soon officially reincorporated back into the Empire, and the three-year-long conflict that came to be known as the Battle for Roscrea ended.

>##THE COMING OF THE REAVERS AND THE WAR FOR SOLSTHEIM

For the next few years Tamriel found itself underneath something it hadn’t known for quite sometime: Peace. But this peace was strained in multiple ways, with the Aldmeri Dominion pressuring Empress Hellana and conflicts between High Rock and Hammerfell developing in 4E 218 over border disputes. The Empress intervened as much as she could in all matters, but the efforts left her drained in more ways than one. Finally, the Empress simply began to spend less time in public and kept within the Imperial Palace while having the Elder Council speak for her to the citizens.

A Nibenese Prince known as Davideus (who had been previously scorned by the Empress when she rejected his hand in marriage) openly proclaimed this as a sign of weakness in Hellana, and began rallying the people against her. Finally, in the later months of that year he led an assault on the Imperial City itself to try to secure the Imperial Throne as his own. The Legion was able to force back the mob out of the city, with Hellana herself leaving White-Gold Tower to fight again. The mob was scattered, and Prince Davideus was captured and later executed for his crimes. This event however left the city in much disrepair, and the Empress found herself dealing with more angry protests and rebellions within her own city than outside of it.

With the Empire concentrating on Cyrodiil and the Imperial City, the island of Roscrea saw this as a golden opportunity. Still suffering from heavy taxes and embittered from their past losses, the Roscreans decided to once again rebel against the preoccupied Empire. This coup was however successful, as the Imperial garrisons on the island found themselves unaided by the Legions on mainland Tamriel and were defeated swiftly and brutally. Roscrea was once again its own independent state by early winter of 4E 218. However, the island itself desired more land and set their eyes on the isle of Solstheim to the east. In the past, the population of bandits on Solstheim known as the Reavers originally hailed from the island of Roscrea, setting off from their native land due to internal strife. In recent years, the Reavers had found themselves accepting Dunmer criminals and refugees from Raven Rock, which bolstered their ranks. However, they never wished to conquer the territory and merely used it as a base of operations.

This is all changed however. The Roscreans summoned their largest fleet in history and set sail for the Dunmeri land in the sea, believing if they captured it they could eventually take control of eastern Skyrim as well. They made landfall in early 4E 219, in the northern crags of the island unbeknownst to its inhabitants. Setting up their base of operations as Norfar Point, the initial one hundred and fifty men military was led by War-General Marflargi. The native Reavers immediately joined up with Marflargi, and the War-General sent out scouts to the various settlements scattered across the land except for Raven Rock. These villages were attacked and occupied by the invaders, and those that escaped sent word to the mining village to the south. The war had officially begun.

>##REDORAN’S ‘BLOODY RAVENS’ AND THE ROSCREANS DEFEAT

When Redoran heard of the Roscreans intentions, Councilor Lleril Morvayn immediately had Raven Rock’s security bolstered and called for every citizen to be armed with a weapon. Most of the villagers were miners, and because of that they were hardy and strong. Being outfitted in Bonemold armor, the initial Raven Rock army consisted of merely ninety men and women.

The first of the villages that were to be saved was the Skaal village to the north, where the invaders had attacked the peaceful Nords for no other purpose but to acquire land. Their march was to be one of secrecy, but was remarkably thwarted by the Rieklings and Nords of Thirsk who intercepted the Roscreans and killed half of their army. After sending word to the Redoran, the Raven Rock warriors (which took on the moniker of ‘Bloody Ravens’ due to their fight for their freedom) traveled along with the Thirskers and the Rieklings and demolished the scant remains of the men. The Skaal then relocated to Raven Rock during the duration of the war.

The second village that was attacked was Tel Mithryn, the only Telvanni settlement on the island. War-General Marflargi bit off more than he could chew, however, as the adept mages were able to defeat the men he sent almost laughably, and the tactic cost the lives of many of his soldiers. Despite this, a second landfall of an additional one hundred and fifty soldiers made it to bolster the Roscreans ranks.

To counter this, the Redoran Councilors requested the aid of every mercenary in Tamriel money could buy to aid in the battle, and allegedly over one hundred came to help for free. The Telvanni living on Solstheim begrudgingly joined with the Redoran in a moment of Great House unity against a common adversary. The ninety-men and women had grown into a force of over three hundred. The Bloody Ravens decided to besiege Norfar Point, a battle that lasted eight days and eight nights before War-General Marflargi and the eighty-men and women remaining in his army escaped after using magicks to collapse Norfar Point down upon the Bloody Ravens (this is where my father died, but not before taken three dozen of them with him) and began on a march south towards Raven Rock themselves.

Most of the Bloody Ravens had survived, however, and they chased after the Roscreans only to find to their horror Raven Rock being razed to the ground, and civilians being killed amongst more horrible things. The Roscreans had also utilized the town’s natural garrisons against them. In what would become known as the Rape of Raven Rock, the Bloody Ravens fought for an entire month against the invaders, being pushed back and driving themselves forward while also trying to rescue civilians caught in the bloodshed.

The War finally ended after lasting for two years when the Bloody Ravens captured and executed War-General Marflargi, resulting in the remaining Roscreans (which were only nine in number) surrendering and subsequently being executed. Solstheim was saved from the ill intentions of Roscrea by standing together despite being from many walks of life, and was not only a victory for House Redoran, but a victory for Tamriel as a whole against any foreign invader that dared stand a