The Ebony Giant: Accounts from the battle of Fort Dragonclaw, 2E 584

This is my first piece of fiction, and this might not be quite up to the standards, so any and all criticism of any kind is welcomed

Author's Note: The following accounts are extracted from soldiers of Ebonheart Pact after the battle of Fort Dragonclaw in 2E 584, during the battle, the forces of Eboneheart were completely decimated by the Daggerfall Covenant, and this is the accounts from the few survivors of the incident interviewed in Farragut Keep

Ja-Taeed Argonian Guard Captain

"My man and I were stationed on the walls that night. A tiresome duty to say the least. The assault on the forts were frequent in the last two months, mostly it was the Covenant, but there was nothing we can't hold off. Only some breton mages messing around the place, a good arrow to the throat was all those lot need to settle down.

Anyway, that night was quiet, you can only hear the sound of blacksmith's hammer striking on steel plate through the night wind, all was quiet, my men was just coming around my post for another patrol, and I told them to take a break. The last few days have been fatiguing for my men, holding off those mages, it is harder than it sounds, with all those firebolts flying around, and some of them took a few hit before going down.

So, as I was saying, I told the men to rest a bit, as they were putting down their spears, one of them pointed through the veil of the night and asked almost in horror: " What is that?", I looked to his hand, and that was when I saw the most terrifying thing I have ever beholden."

Just as Ja-Taeed was saying this, a courier broke into the room

"Sir, your presence is needed in the commanders' chamber, I am afraid it's urgent" Ja-Taeed nodded " Of course", he turned to me "Now if you will excuse me, I have matters to attend to, perhaps we can talk later if you want to"

Bjeldsen Snow-Beard Nord Blacksmith

"Aye,lad, I was stationed in the fort, I am a blacksmith you see, have been working for the Pact for years. That night, I was rushing some orders from the commander, some damned nonsense with those milk-drinkers at the Covenant had him all tensed up and he needed the soldiers to stay sharp, and the blades too apparently. So, I was just working on my swords and I heard the bell rang, I didn't pay much attention to it at first. And why should I anyway? Damned breton mages have been dancing around the bloody place for weeks, and they are usually dead before reinforcements even get there.

As I was saying, I went back to my smithy and before I even began to strike the hammer, I heard this huge footstep sound banging through the walls, and the ground started shaking. Now, I may have been raised in East March of Skyrim and I have seen the occasional earthquakes back when I was wee child, but no, that day was unlike anything I have ever felt, the ground was almost bursting and even starting to crack, abandoning my forge I made a run for the gate. Climbing up to the walls, I saw something so terrifying that I was almost paralyzed by the sight of it.

By Shor's bones, it was a giant warrior clad in armor, and that armor, that armor was the most unbelievable thing I have ever seen. I have heard the occasional lords or commanders in high places spend a fortune on a set of ebony armor, but I have never seen a set so large and so thick, that it could fit on a creature of that size. Okay,now you are probably confused about what I am raving about, I bet my sweet mead that your dark elves have never seen these so-called giants before, and you are thinking I am just talking about perhaps a very large orc. But no, you would be wrong. No men or mer, even the pig-faces or those damned high elves can grow even half of this creature's height. In the plains of Skyrim, there lives a race of creatures so tall and so big, that they even dwarf the mammoths, and in fact, they actually herd them as pets, they are what us nords call the giants, or the Old Folks.

Anyway, when I saw that creature, I swear to the divines that it was a giant, I don't have any idea how the Covenant managed to get their hands on of them, much less bend it to their will. I have seen those creatures when I was young lad in Skyrim and I have some ideas about how tall they generally can be, but this one, it is somehow taller, it towers even above their siege engines. That thing struts across the battlefield like it was a mud castle made by toddlers, with a swing of its huge battleaxe, it cuts down a league of men, the swords and maces of our soldiers only pelted him with no effect, and with a slight kick of the foot, he dismissed of the soldiers with less contempt then a man who s challenging a bunch of ants. I was still rooted on the walls when he came charging towards it, and with a earth-shattering bang, he somehow managed to dismantle the wall using the back of his axe, and with a smooth backhand, he simply flipped the pieces of stone and pavement up in to the air.

Apparently, that was all I could remember, I must have been knocked out by the crushing force of the pieces of the wall, you should ask Ulain if you want to know more about the battle, I heard he was leading the attack on the giant.

Ulain Aralas Dunmer Battlemage

"Oh,hi, kinsman, nice to see another dark elf around here, so, yes, you were asking about the creature at the battle? No doubt the blacksmith have told you all about it, did he tell you that he thinks that it is a giant from Skyrim? Come on, a giant? How can the Covenant possibly get their hands on that, and how did they even tame it? If you ask me, I'd gather that it might be a daedra of some kind bound in a huge set of ebony armor. And oh yes, that armor, I would not have believed it had I not seen it with my own eyes, back in Morrowind, even the richest of the nobles couldn't afford a set without some serious commitments, and on that scale? It is unthinkable.

So, after the giant hacked through our front gates, our soldiers rushed out to hold off the rest of the forces, leaving me and a group of veterans to deal with this creature. I wrapped my hands with fire and hardened my body with stoneflesh and shouted:" On me!" to my men, before the giant could take a step forward, I sent out three volleys of incinerate spell to his chest, normally, with any other metal, it would just melt straight through, even ebony would have a hard time resisting it, but after the ember and smoke cleared away, I saw the chest plate, merely tarnished by the flame, taking a deep breath, I shouted onto my man, "Hit him with everything you got", as my voice fell, we unleashed a storm of fireballs, ice blasts and lightning bursts onto the beast, glass arrows slicing across the wind, finding their marks on the giant's helmet, but like wooden darts on a fine steel plate, they simply bounced off, the giant, not even slightly tickled by the barrage of fire, raised his axe high into the air, and with forces that would even shame Malacath, he swept across my men, three were caught in the swing and they were tossed aside like ragdolls.

Crackling lightning, I summoned a daedra from beyond the realms, a storm atronach materialized from my hands, with a full charge, my atronach unleashed his wrath upon the giant. And there he was, as if he was laughing at the childish trick I seemed to have pulled off, he threw down his axe, picked up the atronach and ripped him apart with his bare hands without even a pause. Taken aback by his monstrosity, I ordered my men to retreat inside the fort, but not before the giant picked up his axe and hacked another two of my men to pieces.

That was all I can remember before I fled to the back of the fort, after which, the commander ordered to abandon the place. Nobody knew, who or even what the giant was, but know this my fellow kinsman, he destroyed a fort with a brutality even the gods themselves would tremble, his armor was stronger even than tempered dragonbone forged in the red mountains, and his strength is enough to tear apart hardened stonewalls with contempt, he is the ebony giant, and a horror at the battle of Fort Dragonclaw."