Burned Fragment From The Cesparian Annuals

*This text was found in a bottle in the Alik'r desert, seemingly carried and dropped there by a traveler. The page is covered in scorch marks.

####Proem By Raerht-si

“Cespar, the Blazing Torch of the Abecean Sea, has been one of the ancestral holdings of my people, the Redguards, since our arrival in Tamriel in ancient times. My family has called it our home for generations, and I have traversed every inch of it since my youth. The island has kept an unique tradition like but unlike mainland Hammerfell, upholding the beliefs and practices of lost Yokuda avidly.

I have decided to create an in-depth guide book comprising of everything relating to Cespar, from its geographical regions to its culture to its heroes and everything else in-between. It has taken me many years to write and compile these texts, but I am certain that it will aid both Redguard travelers as well as visitors from other lands. May Uqunda bless you in your readings.”

####First Era: Charge of the Flaming Men and The Taking of Cespar

When the legendary Pankratosword technique was used by the Hiradirge in 1E 792 the atomos was cut in such a way that Yokuda imploded and sank beneath the sea, with only a few islands remaining on the surface of the water. Our Yokudan ancestors sailed westward in order to survive, exploring and sacking islands for food and supplies.

It wasn’t until the 808th year (by Tamrielic reckoning) that the Yokudans reached the outer shores of Tamriel. The Na-Totambu – ancient Yokudan royalty – settled Herne while the First Ra Gada Wave went on to the mainland to establish territory in the region of Volenfell, home of the now extinct race known as the Dwemer and what would soon become modern Hammerfell. The Yokudan warriors annihilated entire tribes of Nedes, Mer, and Orc-kin to secure their permanence and make way for the Na-Totambu.

But this aggression was not appreciated by the native peoples and a few tribes sought to harm those on Herne. Nedes and Orcs launched attacks from an island to the southeast, but the Le-Hantai (Old Yoku for ‘Bearers of the Flame’) – an elite priest-warrior class that had remained behind to protect the Na-Totambu from harm – repelled each strike ferociously. Led by Saun Laj, the Le-Hantai were a group of mighty Ansei (sword-singers) dedicated to Uqunda, God-Spirit of the Inferno. They had followed the god since times no can remember, resulting in their teachings of the Shehai Shen She Ru being unique when compared to the teachings of Frandar Hunding. When they manifested their Shehai, it burned with the intensity and hotness of the desert sun.

Eventually growing irritated with the repeated attacks that only seemed to grow in number, Saun Laj prayed to Uqunda to give him guidance on how to protect the royal family during the night. Legend states that Uqunda sent a phoenix to fly over the distant island and Saun knew then what he had to do. Gathering the rest of the Le-Hantai, he sailed under the cover of darkness to the southeastern island with unlit torches and oil. It was only until they made landfall that the Sword-Singer unleashed his plan – he was going to burn every single inhabitant of the island into ash.

The fighting was brutal but quick. The Nedes and Orcs had not been expecting the invading Yokudans to launch a surprise attack on the island, resulting in their guard towers being overrun with hours. The Le-Hantai spread across the island ferociously, slaughtering natives and razing entire villages to the ground. It is said that the flames that burned across the island could be seen all the way in High Rock, as if the very water had caught alight. It took twenty days until the inhabitants had been all but eradicated from the island, and Saun Laj established it as a holding of the Na-Totambu.

But upon returning to Herne, the royal family scorned the Le-Hantai for abandoning their posts of guarding them. Although they had done an honorable thing at the behest of the gods, they had lost their integrity in the eyes of the Yokudan people for leaving Herne unprotected. Angered at this turn of events, Saun Laj ordered the rest of the Le-Hantai to gather their spouses and children so they could return to the island they had liberated without aid. The Na-Totambu were furious, but knew that this was the only way to settle the dispute and hereby declared the Bearers of the Flame exiles.

It had turned the 809th year when the island was fully settled by the Le-Hantai and their families, along with a few other Yokudan cultural groups that followed them. Because of its blackened soil and bare vegetation – as well as the battle that had won it – the island was named ‘cespar’, meaning ‘Blazing Torch’ in Old Yoku. Saun Laj ordered the construction of the city of Phoenix, in honor of the flaming bird that helped him defeat the former natives. He also ordered Ya-Fe Citadel, a fortress to oversee the town from invaders as well as serve as a training academy for new Le-Hantai, to be built as well. Both establishments were finished in 1E 813, and a large bulwark was completed in 1E 818. Saun Laj was declared King of Phoenix in the same year, and his reign is said to be one of peace, prosperity, and progress for Cespar. The first maps of the island were created during this time as exploration accelerated and new towns flared up in new areas.

Saun Laj, although a healthy and lively man, eventually succumbed to the passing of time at the age of ninety-four in 1E 881. His body was preserved until the massive necropolis of Sun’s Rest was completed so his ashes could be interred within them, and his son Javien Laj ascended to the throne. Although wise and loved by the people, Javien was not interested in military applications and pursued more scholarly fields of study, something that would eventually lead to one of the greatest failures in the island’s history.

Although the tribes of Orc-kin (Ogres, goblins, gremlins, and the like) had been eradicated from the island long ago, on mainland Tamriel they numbered in the thousands and were becoming a growing threat. In an attempt to destroy their nation of Orsinium, the Redguard city of Sentinel, the Breton city of Daggerfall, and the Order of Diagna launched an attack that would soon become known as the Siege of Orsinium in 1E 950. It lasted for thirty years, eventually resulting in the city’s destruction and the exile of those that called it home.

During the siege many of the Orcs fled to different locations across Tamriel to escape the bloodshed. A large group of them sailed to the northern shores of the Ashtear Mountains, in the place now called Pariah’s Landing in 1E 954. Although considered more intelligent and arguably less-brutish than the rest of the Orc-Kin, the animosity between the Cesparians and the Orcs still ran strong in the blood and at the behest of his advisors Javien amassed a large force of warriors to drive them away.

The subsequent battle, now known as Javien’s Failure, was disastrous. The old king attempted to direct his troops, but his little experience on the battlefield only succeeding in getting his own warriors killed. At the end the army was terribly defeated and the Orcs drove them out of the Ashtear and claimed the mountain range as their own (because of this they are now called the “Ash Orcs”1). With Pariah’s Landing lost, more creatures were able to be migrate from the mainland to Cespar. Ogres[...]