The Rise of Orsungur

Eis Vuur Warden, Historian and Scholar of the Imperial Geographical Society

Circa 4E 201

When the Ynesleaic archipelago was declared open to Tamrielic settlement in 3E 425 the first of the races to begin migrations to the Ice Cream Isle were the Orcs, even before the first Imperial ships left the docks. Ever the Pariah People, most of these Orcs were self-made exiles that refused to adhere to the regime of King Gortwog of Old Orsinium, who gained acceptance for his whole during the strange event remembered as the Warp in the West. Known as the Oztraki, these Orcs were strong believers in the Code of Mauloch and believed that their admittance as full citizens into the Empire would only weaken their race, as well as finding Gortwog’s reverence of Trinimac an utter disgrace to Malacath.

As soon as the Orc Exiles landed on the island of Yne they immediately traveled north of the Ambient Littoral, the region the Empire was mainly focused, to the Opal Coast where most Tamrielics had not yet traversed. With them they brought many of their Wrothgar pigs, which they traded with the native Echmer Exul for the highly prized Ynesleaic yak. In fact, the East Empire Company jealously note that the Orsimer had adapted to the strange trading customs of the Bat Elves before they were able to fully understand them. The Echmer and the Orcs over their mutual respect for one another, and it wasn’t long before the Council officially gave them the original plot of land that would become Orsungur. Because of this the denizens of Orsinium gave their estranged brethren the ignominious moniker of ‘Ice Cream Orcs’, but when the Oztraki of Yneslea gained wind of the title they began to use it proudly to show their detachment to the Orsimer of Tamriel.

When Martin Septim ended the Oblivion Crisis in 3E 433 the entirety of the Tamriel suffered in the years following the Stormcrown Interregnum. Although Yneslea like a few of the other Imperial territories had been attacked by Mehrunes Dagon’s forces as well during the Great Anguish, it was also one of the fastest to recover. The Ice Cream Orcs helped demolish as many Oblivion Gates as they could find and aided in caring for the wounded and repairing towns. Their greatest obstacle, however, was the one they had already predicted many years before – the destruction of Orsinium. When the Redguards and the Bretons joined forces once more to sack Orc Town, the Orcs that dwelled within were forced to scatter throughout the Empire. Many Orcs joined the long march to the Dragontail Mountains, escorted by the Imperial Legion, where the new kingdom of Orsinium Novum lies protected. But a few dozen Orcs decided to leave Tamriel altogether, tired of the constant persecution their people have suffered through, and sailed eastwards in hopes of joining into the Orcish community of Yneslea.

What they found waiting for them was the Ynesleaic Oztraki ready for battle. The denizens of Orsungur absolutely refused to have any Trinimac worshippers living in their stronghold, which had grown fairly large over the years. The two groups fought bloodily over the settlement for months until the East Empire Company forcibly intervened and separated the two groups. The Cult of Trinimac founded the small stronghold of Mor Gornikh to the southeast of Orsungur and primarily traded with the EEC, Tamrielic settlements, and the Dunmer refugees that came to the archipelago during the Red Year in 4E 5.

It was fate that finally brought the two groups together in 4E 175 when a large group of Brigands known as Hannar’s Legion attempted to conquer the surface of the islands in memory of the original plans of the First Era Lord of Bandits, Hannar Almost-King. Mor Gornikh was chosen as the first target of the lawbreakers, and the stronghold became immediately besieged in an effective sneak attack at midnight. Although the East Empire Company and the Exul Militia were able to send warriors to the stronghold (the Council of Dull Chimes were launching an attack on the old castle of Hannar’s Bastion, and therefore could not be reached), the Brigands still outnumbered them four to one. Ultimately a Cult of Trinimac warrior called Boruk gro-Makoza decided to travel to Orsungur, who had not sent any warriors at all to Mor Gornikh to turn the tide against the Legion. He ran all the way to the Oztraki stronghold, where he challenged then Chieftain Durgs gro-Frolok for the right to lead the stronghold. In one of the fiercest and bloodiest duels in Ynesleaic Orcish history Boruk won the leadership of Orsungur (although he lost his left eye, right hand, and his tongue in the process) and led the Oztraki to help Cult of Trinimac. With the arriving Orcs the Legion’s line was able to be broken and the Brigands were scattered into the hills, the battle won. Negotiations between Orsungur and Mor Gornikh led to the latter stronghold being dismantled and added to the former, increasing its size and importance on Yneslea. The Cult of Trinimac had finally become Ice Cream Orcs after over a hundred years and Orsungur began to prosper, with even an orichalcum mine being opened within its walls.

Today the stronghold is guided by its Chieftain Krognaz gro-Makoza, the infamous ‘lost son’ of Boruk. His mother had fled Orsungur and left him to die in the hills before disappearing, but a traveling Exul caravan found him choking a snake with his bare hands and named him ‘Myrrlyn’ (Of Great Strength). At the age of seventeen he eventually left his adopted family behind and traveled back to Orsungur, where he told his story to the ailing Boruk. The Chieftain immediately knew that Myrrlyn was his missing eldest son, but needed him to prove himself to the rest of the stronghold. Already growing old and weak, Boruk challenged made it seem that Myrrlyn had insulted him and their beliefs deeply and challenged the newcomer to a duel for the title of Chieftain. When Myrrlyn won as he had predicted he revealed that he was his son to the whole stronghold before dying and the young Orc took on the name Krognaz (from an Orcish story he had overheard) gro-Makoza (both in honor of and in spite of his cowardly mother), and became the new Chieftain.

Neither Oztraki or Cult of Trinimac, Krognaz is able to rule his citizens both firmly and neutrally – even though he is still new to and confused about even the most simple Orcish traditions and beliefs. His younger brother Argug stands at his side as his Fist and helps him control Orsungur, which looks like it’ll be a part of the Ynesleaic archipelago for many more years to come.