THE BLACK HORSE COURIER: LEGIONS OF ORSINIUM MARCH ON WAYREST

All across the Wrothgarian and Dragontail Mountains, the traditional homelands of the Orcish people, and one of the Empire’s most fertile recruiting grounds, the Ruby Ranks are mustering, arming themselves, and moving toward Wayrest.

For more than a decade, the noble city of Wayrest has been the stomping ground of a grand series of different pirate captains, drawn from every race, most of whom have met their ends at the hands of their compatriots. These cutthroats call themselves the ‘Iliac Corsairs’ and have proven themselves a scourge on all merchant shipping within the Iliac Bay, regardless of affiliation. This has drawn vast anger from the people of High Rock, and also from the Forbear Kingdom of Sentinel. However, as much as any of these groups, the Orcs of the Orsinium communities of Hammerfell and High Rock have felt the pain of these villainous heathens and their depredations on the Iliac Bay, since Wayrest is the primary port on the Iliac which Orc merchants have ventured to.

More recently, the Imperial City was overjoyed to play host to the King of Orsinium, who charmed the people with his charitable gifts and his prowess in the Imperial City Arena. Even the Gourmet, that most infamous of chefs, put in an appearance for the visit of Orsinium’s monarch. The visit was also made all the more historical, since King Marius gro-Shak of Orsinium made his visit in conjunction with Queen Isabelle of Daggerfall; some pundits were even heard discussing the proposition of a marriage between the two. Our noble Emperor, Titus Mede II, praised the loyalty and vibrant cultures of Daggerfall and Orsinium, and said of the visit that “such public unity amongst the people of the Empire is grand news for the future of the realm”.

Yet, while the visit was a great public celebration, the King of Orsinium and Queen of Daggerfall made public to the Elder Council their plans for a joint campaign to remove the malevolent corsairs from Wayrest and from the Iliac. Orsinium proposed to provide the legionnaires, and Daggerfall the fleet. King Marius, a great knight, advised that he would lead the forces personally. Whilst the royal line of Wayrest is lost, an interim government would be established between appointees of King Marius, Queen Isabelle and guaranteed by Emperor’s writ and representatives. All parties noted that they would accept, after consultation and negotiation, a fairly appointed monarch from Cyrodiil. Notably, the Motierre family of Chorrol has been vocal in expressing its willingness to adopt this role, but as yet, the Emperor has made no decision. Many in the Empire would welcome such a move to restore one of the most vital cities in the west; the spokesperson of the East Empire Company called it “inspiration from Zenithar”.

However, the proclamation was not without its critics. Other High Rock Kingdoms, such as Northpoint, Camlorn and the Nordic outliers, Jehanna, all resent the great influence of Daggerfall in High Rock, and have no desire to see it increase. Many Bretons in High Rock also fear the possibilities of setting an Orcish Army loose on one of their most august cities. Duke Rene Direnni, representative of Balfiera to the Elder Council, expressed his views that the actions of Daggerfall and Orsinium are heavy handed and too unilateral, and that a traditional moot between the princes of the Rock, held in the Adamantine Tower, is required to truly decide what should be done. Students of Breton history will know that the Direnni have traditionally held the positon of neutral arbiters and that the duty of interpreting and meshing the laws of the Empire, High Rock and even Hammerfell, in the many disputes of the Iliac, a duty they perform to this day. However, Queen Isabelle retorted that Duke Rene’s words were inspired more by his desire to see his family profit as the traditional arbiters of the Iliac, than out of honest disagreement.

More serious are the situations in Hammerfell and in the Reach. After the signing of the Second Treaty of Stros M’Kai, Orsinium was left as the only Imperially controlled territory within the old provincial borders of Hammerfell. The Orcs had also previously seized the Crown city of Dragonstar, and then in 177, evicted its Crown population. At that time, it was claimed to be a punitive measure against the Redguards who had continued fighting in defiance of the recently proclaimed White Gold Concordat. This of course, did Orsinium no favors in the eyes of the Redguards, nor in Nord opinion, since the crown of Skyrim still maintains Dragonstar (and Elinhir, Jehanna and Farrun) is and shall always be, Nordic land. Whilst the Forbears, especially Sentinel, have continued to pursue conciliatory policies with the Empire, this has led to the Forbear relationship with the Crowns becoming increasingly strained at times, since the Forbears have (to the fury of the throne of Hegathe) pointedly ignored the issue of Dragonstar. Forbear and Lhotunic diplomats of Sentinel have maintained that “the territorial integrity of all Redguard factions is their own business”. Crowns and Ali’kr maintain that proclamations like the one above are fuelled by kickbacks from both the Ruby Throne and the Imperial Cult to the progressives. The Imperial Cult meanwhile, denies this, stating that the Chapel’s strong relationship with Sentinel, notably shown by the recent canonization of the late King Owen, was due solely to King Owen’s compassion in marching to Hegathe and his valor during the Great War.

In the Reach, within both Skyrim and High Rock, the native Reachmen have been increasingly restive of late. Calls for removal of Nords, Bretons, Imperials and Orcs have been growing louder. From 174-176, the Reachmen were involved in aggression against the Empire. Jarl Igmund of Markarth claims that if the Orcs are busy making war on Wayrest, instead of present to keep the Reachmen afraid of their western flank, the whole region will be up in arms, and a new Durcorach could arise to terrorize the north. However, Tullius, the newly appointed general to Skyrim has stated that this is farcical, as the Empire is already pushing Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak (who is besides, an avowed foe of the Reachmen) back to Windhelm.

Political commentators say that the upheaval in the Wrothgarian and Dragontail Mountains, from the march of Orcish armies could lead to the Crowns becoming overly ambitious and attempting to seize control of Dragonstar. This in turn could destabilize what the Penitus Oculatus call a delicate balance between Crowns and Forbears. Though the Empire has largely withdrawn for the time being from the politics of Hammerfell, Titus Mede II has on more than one occasion mentioned that he wishes only “for peace and prosperity in Hammerfell, for all its citizens”. The pro-war party in the Imperial Court however, led by luminaries such as Prince Farwil Indarys, have noted that they welcome the fallout from a shakeup in Hammerfell because they tire of waiting for the emperor to confront the Aldmeri Dominion. Grand Ambassador Cirion of the Consulate of Amity has stated that the Aldmeri Dominion merely hopes that the Emperor will choose what is best for continued stability of his empire.

It seems that a great many in Tamriel hang upon the events unfolding within the Wrothgarian and Dragontail Mountains, and upon the Iliac bay, and await with baited breath, the reaction which our most noble, but tight lipped Emperor, Titus Mede II, will most assuredly soon reveal to his subjects.

Long live the Empire!