The War of Ash and Snow

The War of Ash and Snow by Commander Devyn Orlam, Dunmer Veteran of the War of Solstheim, 4E 241

Author’s Note:

Although I am an ex-commander in the House Redoran military and fought on the Dunmeri side in this war, I am attempting to write a completely professional monograph about the somewhat recent war that occurred on the island of Solstheim, because it has been brought to my attention that no one else has bothered to; I am pretty convinced that much of Tamriel has yet to be informed of this small, but brutal war, and I do not want the deaths and lives of the soldiers on both sides of this war to go unacknowledged by the rest of Tamriel. I apologize if my personal bias interrupts once in a while; I am still fairly new to writing, but I can assure you that this will be far more accurate and reliable than anyone of those s’wits in Skyrim will be able to produce.

Setting the Scene:

‘The War of Solstheim’, also referred to as ‘The War of Ash and Snow’, was undoubtedly one of the most ill-filled and cruel wars ever fought in Tamrielic history. Thousands of soldiers not only died on the battlefield, but suffered from frostbite, ashed lung, and starvation. Soldiers had to wear special masks to protect themselves from inhaling ash when fighting in the southern parts of the island and and wear heavy fur clothing, in addition to the burden of their armor, to prevent themselves from freezing when traversing through the frozen parts of the island. The war commenced in 4E 236, subsequently to the War of Alinor and the Argonian Invasion of Morrowind, and ended in 4E 238. The two forces were the House Redoran of Morrowind and the Nords of Skyrim. Solstheim is a known valuable piece of land, economically and strategically speaking. The land was first discovered and settled by the Atmorans that immigrated from Atmora to Tamriel, they settled on Solstheim as well as Skyrim. It was then rediscovered and settled by the East Empire Company, the company discovered that the island was plentiful in Ebony ore veins, which can be turned into a very strong metal for forging armor, weaponry, and even jewelry. The Imperial soldiers had to be removed from Solstheim to aid Cyrodiil in the Oblivions Crisis, the Nords eventually retook the island subsequently to its abandonment. After some time, the Red Year occurred in Morrowind, then an invasion from the Argonians of Black Marsh hit Morrowind pretty hard as well. The Nords pitied the Dunmer that suffered from the Red Year on Vvardenfell and the Argonian invasion, therefore, they donated Solstheim to Morrowind so that the Dunmer refugees could take refuge there, the Nords also allowed Dunmer refuges to reside Skyrim, hence why there is an abundance of Dunmer in Northeastern Skyrim. The Nords realize how annexing Solstheim could benefit Skyrim’s economy and power. Plus, the Nords felt that they possessed some entitlement to rule, because their ancestors settled and fought for that land, and there is an abundance of Nordic ruins and relics on the island. High King Ulfric Stormcloak convened with his thanes and advisors in the Palace of Kings in Windhelm, they all agreed that Solstheim would be a strategically wise addition to their land. Within the last several decades, they had emerged victoriously alongside the Redguards from the their most war, the War of Alinor, which resulted in the fall of the Third Aldmeri Dominion, this made their confidence boost remarkably. High King Ulfric Stormcloak, was growing far too old to fight in another war, so he dispatched one of his greatest generals and war tongues that he had trained himself, General Hrogiir Quick-Arm, to command the massive campaign he had formulated. The war resulted in the annexation of Solstheim to Skyrim territory, but it was no easy victory for Skyrim, we Dunmer showed them that even in times of strife, we are truly a force to be reckoned with.

The Sacking of Raven Rock:

Under the command of General Hrogiir Quick-Arm, The Nordic armada sailed to Solstheim from the city Windhelm, ships compact full of siege weapons, soldiers, and supplies. The Nords decided to immediately attack Raven Rock directly from the sea. It seemed to them like it was their only logical option, because their only other option was to attack Raven Rock on from the rear or sides, but that would leave them to face the imposing Bulwark the Dunmer had built to protect Raven Rock and its inhabitants, which would difficult to penetrate, plus they didn't want to have to rebuild it once they knocked it down. The armada arrived at Raven Rock at midnight, the ships were armed with lightweight catapults, fit for sea travel and naval combat, the ships pelted the city with catapult fire, destroying buildings, homes, and temples. Once the ships reached shallow waters, the Nordic marines departed from their longboats and began to storm the ashen beach. Redoran Guards, who were suddenly woken up by the attack, quickly began to fire arrows upon incoming Nords. This of course, did not prevent the Nords at all from prevailing, it was but a guard unit attempting to defend a vast invasion force. Citizens were awoken to sounds of explosions and their homes being incinerated. The Nordic forces penetrated the Redoran Guard with ease. Councilor Borthryn Morvayn, the current House Redoran Councilor that was ruling Raven Rock and successor to Lleril Morvayn, knew that there was no chance at a successful defense against the Nords; their attack was too sudden and spontaneous, they were severely outnumbered and unprepared. Borthyn ordered what was left of his guard to guide the citizens out of the city, the Dunmeri citizens scrambled out of the city and into the wilderness. The Dunmer are now stranded, cold, panicked, and afraid in the ashen, barren wasteland of what used to be the Hirstaang Forest.

The Siege of Tel Mithryn:

The Dunmer of Solstheim were in utter shock; they could not believe that after countless years of peace with Nords, the Nords have ruthlessly attacked them for seemingly no reason. The Redoran guard rallied most of the surviving citizens and directed them to Tel Mithryn, a nearby House Telvanni fungal city, and seek refuge there. The House Telvanni were hesitant to allow them to stay in their homes, but once they realized that the Nords of Skyrim hadhave invaded Solstheim in large numbers, they knew they had to collaborate. The Nords predicted that the surviving Dunmer fled to Tel Mithryn, it being the closest Dunmer civilization. One month of preparation and reconstruction later, the Nords deployed a battalion to hunt what was left of the Dunmer survivors. Meanwhile, in Tel Mithryn, Councilor Borthryn Morvayn, sent out a courier ship to House Redoran in the city of Blacklight, the current capital of Morrowind and major House Redoran city to notify them that Solstheim was in distress. A large fleet, comprised of compact with skilled, strong Redoran Dunmer soldiers of House Redoran arrived on Solstheim shores within that month. They set up barriers around Tel Mithryn to fortify the community, as they were preparing for an imminent attack from the Nords. The battalion of Nords struggled to march across the ashen shores of Solstheim, and they were not prepared for such a formidable defensive force, they were anticipating some petty scared, weak, Dunmer citizens and guards, not an entire army of highly trained Redoran soldiers. The Nords were immediately stupefied when they arrived at Tel Mithryn, the Redoran army immediately attacked the Nords from both sides Nordic steel clashed with Bonemold. The battle was long, fierce, and gory, but due to Nords’ lack of preparation, Dunmer ultimately outmatched the Nords in the end, forcing them to retreat back to Raven Rock. Although a Nord will tell you that their defeat was due to them fighting out of their element; the Nordic lung has yet to adapt to inhaling ash like that of a Dunmer, this, according to the Nords, "decreased their performance in battle". The Nords were humiliated because of their defeat, but there was quite a celebration held in Tel Mithryn. This defeat over the Nords was spiked their confidence; it inspired them fight harder, and more aggressively and offensively, rather than playing defense. It was because of this battle that woke General Hrogiir up and forced him to come to a realization that this campaign of his will be no stride through the forest.

The Battle of Isinfier Plains:

Coming off from a crushing defeat, General Hrogiir knew this would not be a war that he would be able to win with sheer, brute force, but with more of a tactical mindset; he decided to think more strategically for their next encounter with the Dunmer. Instead of fighting them in their element, the ash, he decided to lure them into their own element, the snow. General Hrogiir requested more soldiers from Skyrim, which arrived within a couple of months. A few months after the arrival of the newly requested troops, he made a decision to march his refreshed army North, to the frozen Isinfier Plains, which suffers from frequent blizzards and snowstorms all year long. General Hrogiir led his army up the Iggnir river and into Isinfier Plains, he made sure to have half of his army to march just barely within eyesight of Tel Mithryn, so that it would appear to the Dunmer that the Nords only had a medium sized force left. Councilor Borthryn Morvayn was too desperate and ambitious to end the war as immediately as he could; he saw the bait and took it. Ignoring all my advice to him, he ordered the entirety of his army to follow the Nords up the Iggnir river and into the Isinfier Plains. The farther North Borthyn followed the Nords, the more he began to believe that they were falling into a trap. General Hrogiir split up his army into multiple battalions when his army arrived at the Isinfier Plains; he was preparing a flank. After over a month of travel, the Dunmer, that were struggling to traverse through the frozen, wintry Isinfier Plains, and suffering from frostbite, confronted General Hrogiir’s first battalion. The battalion taunted the Dunmer from across a field, the Dunmer charged the Nordic battalion and clashed blade to blade with them. This left the Dunmer vulnerable for the bombardment of catapult fire and an arrowstorm from Hrogiir’s second battalion atop the hill to the West of the Dunmer. Subsequently to the second battalion’s catapult and arrow bombardment, the third battalion stormed down the hill to the East of the Dunmeri forces. Councilor Borthryn knew his forces were definitely routed at this point; it went from being a battle to a slaughter, he then ordered his troops to fall back and retreat to Tel Mithryn. Predicting this would happen, General Hrogiir ordered his three battalions to not chase them, so he could conserve soldiers, he sent his fourth battalion, which was a cavalry to slaughter what was remaining of the Dunmeri army with ease. and the Dunmeri lines collapsed, their troops fleeing in all directions. Tasting victory, General Hrogiir ordered his cavalry to cut them all down.

Battle of Lake Fjalding:

This is the battle that really changed the mood of the war for both forces; they left Tel Mithryn started off as two confident, healthy armies, but after this battle, those once strong and eager armies became fatigued and demoralised. transformed into two depressed, injured armies. After the battle, soldiers, on both sides, began to question the importance and point of the war. Councilor Borthryn Morvayn struggled to survive the slaughter at the Isinfier Plains and made it back to Tel Mithryn with a few select fighters (one of them happened to be me). He was demoralized by this catastrophe and it required quite a bit of persuasion by his guards and citizens to drive him to continue fighting for Solstheim. After he was successfully persuaded by his peers, he sent another request for troops from Black Light. House Redoran informed Councilor Borthryn that this would be the last shipment of troops, seeing that they could not spare anymore of their soldiers’ lives, they were running too low on soldiers, and it was affecting the security safety and power of House Redoran on the mainland of Morrowind. Another Redoran large arrived fleet arrived on Solstheim and deployed its forces the soldiers on the shores near Tel Mithryn within a week, subsequently to Borthryn’s request. This time, Councilor Borthryn took the proper precautions for the next encounter with the Nords; he had his soldiers adorn coats of wolf and bear fur so that they could be more comfortable in the freezing climates of Northern Solstheim against the Nords. Councilor Borthryn sent out a reconnaissance squadron of scouts to retain information on the location of the Nordss’ current location. The scouts discovered that General Hrogiir and his armyNords were temporarily camped out on the far western side of Lake Fjalding. They returned to Borthryn with this information and he decided that his army must move quickly before the Nords garrison their defenses or change locations, so he lead his troops into the north once more, but this time, they were well prepared. Borthryn and his army arrived near at the Nord basecamp by dusk, he decided to wait, hidden in the forest, until nightfall, when most of the Nords slept in their tents. Night fell upon armies, most of the Nord soldiers were asleep in their tents. Councilor Borthryn ordered his troops to assassinate the Nords in their sleep. Unfortunately for the Dunmeri army, one Dunmer soldier stepped into an alarm that the Nords had set out to alert them if anything roamed into their camp while they slept. The Nord soldiers struggled to scrambled out of their tents in a hurry, but the Dunmer still had the advantage; they were prepared. The Dunmer quickly began to slay the Nords while they were still in their undergarments. Luckily for the Nords, General Hrogiir’s tactical genius saved the dayir army. Before the Nords had settled down for the evening, General Hrogiir decided to divide his army in half; one half set up camp near the lake while the other situated themselves on the other side of forest. The distant cries of woe and distress from their comrades on the other side of the forest barrier alarmed them. While the Dunmer massacred the Nordic soldiers, out of the dark forest, General Hrogiir and his men ambuscaded the Dunmer. The Dunmer were dazed, Councilor Borthryn quickly commanded his troops to form a phalanx. Many Dunmer and Nord soldiers lost their lives during this battle, but the Nords found themselves outnumbered, since nearly half of their army was slaughtered beforehand before the battle had even started. This battle weakened both forces severely, but the Nords were too low on numbers, forcing General Hrogiir to retreat his army t back into the forest. We The Dunmeri army emerged as the victors of this battle, but is was no easy victory.

Last Stand at Skaal Village :

This battle was the battle that concluded War of Solstheim; it definitely proved to be the most difficult battle for both sides. I can speak for the Dunmer on their behalf, but it was quite apparent that the Nords weren't at their best as the battle commenced. The Nordic army had immensely decreased in size and strength since they first stepped foot on Solstheim. They were struggling to traverse through the freezing, snowy forests of Northern Solstheim. General Hrogiir knew that the Skaal, a semi-pacifistic tribe of Nords that still continued to practice the tradition and religion of the Nords of old, had resided in a village not far north from their current location. Hrogiir knew that requesting their aid was the Nords’ only chance of survival, seeing that the Nords would starve or freeze to death without the Skaal’s assistance. After a week of travel, the remaining Nord soldiers arrived at the Skaal Village in a blizzard. It was difficult for the Skaal to identify them in the snow, all they saw were armored figures with weapons hanging from their bodies, therefore the Skaal immediately armed themselves for combat. The Skaal charged the struggling soldiers, but when they got close enough to to see their armor and appearance, they realized that they were their kinsmen. The Skaal helped them soldiers back to their village and into their main mead hall, where they gave them mugs of mead and hearty meals. General Hrogiir implored the Chieftain of the Skaal, Flognok Snow-Eyes, to permit him and his soldiers to take refuge in their village. After thinking the situation through, Flognok decided to allow the soldiers to live in their homes; he supplied them with food, water, and mead. But, he informed General Hrogiir that under no circumstances, would he help them fight the Dunmer. Not only was it too much of a risk for his people, but the Skaal are a mostly peaceful tribe, they only desire to live with the land and worship the All-Maker. Meanwhile, Councilor Borthryn essayed decided to command his soldiers to hunt down what was left of the Nords. He was completely aware that his troops were very weakened, but he knew that General Hrogiir’s troops were even more soweakened.; \Tthey tracked down the Nords bBy using their footprints in the snow; they tracked the Nordsthem all the way to the Skaal Village. Both forces knew that this battle was their last stand; it was do or die. The Nords soldiers had regained their strength over the week ’s time it had takentook the Dunmer to get to the Skaal Village, but they were still very outnumbered. Flognok tried to explain to the Dunmer that they wanted to no part in this battle, but Councilor Borthryn ignored every one of his words. He commanded thehis troops to commence their attack on the Skaal Village, and it was then that the Skaal knew that there was no peaceful way out of this battle -; they had to fight. They couldn’t fight the Nords, because first of all, they were their kinsmen, and second of all, the Dunmer were attacking them as well as the Nord soldiers, so they had no choice but to help their kinsmen in this battle, despite Flognok’s words. This would be the last time that Nords and Dunmer would clash on Solstheim for quite a long time. The Dunmer charged down the hillside while General Hrogiir once again split up his forces in two and positioned them on opposite sides of the village, the Skaal tribesmen stood their ground in the center of the village. This confused the Dunmer and threw them off of their original plan, but they still had numbers. The battle endedlasted as a stalemate for about an hour. Suddenly, a war party of battle-hardened, skilled, Nord warriors, clad in armor and weapons forged out of Stalhrim, heroically blitzed the Dunmer army from the rear, flanking the Dunmer. They were the warriors of the Thirsk Mead Hall. It was from this point on that the battle started to go downhill for the Dunmer. Councilor Borthryn knew this would be no victory for him; Dunmer soldiers were getting slaughtered by the second at that point, he made the a tough a decision to abandon his comrades and fleebook it tofor Tel Mithryn, but General Hrogiir could not allow this to happen again. As Borthryn ran away from the battle, Hrogiir used his Thu’um to shout Borthryn off of his feat and into the air, when he landed, breaking bones, Hrogiir lunged his blade into his heart. I, being the next Dunmer in charge, recognized my soldiers' numbers were way too low to continue this battle, and unlike Councilor Borthryn, I cared about their lives. So I ordered my diminished Dunmer soldiers to drop their weapons and stop casting spells, and we surrendered. The battle and war was won for Nords. and Solstheim once again belonged to Skyrim.

Aftermath:

After the war was over, there was much to be done around Solstheim for the Nords. Reinforcements, carpenters, stonemasons, and craftsmen were shipped in from Skyrim to help renovate, fortify, and colonize the land. The surrendered Dunmer soldiers fromthat surrendered at the Battle of Skaal Village, the surviving Dunmer civilians of Raven Rock and Tel Mithryn, and the wizards of Tel Mithryn were exiled to the city of Black Light on the mainland of Morrowind. SGeneral Hrogiir transported stonemasons and carpenters were instructed to the Isinfier Plains by General Hrogiirto build a massive city of stone. In memorial of General Hrogiir’s good deeds for the Nords, the High King insisted on naming the city after him, Hrogiir, which would later become the capital of Solstheim. The city of Raven Rock was mostly burnt to ashes from the invasion, so the Nords renovated and expanded the city, but used their own architecture. Tel Mithryn was expanded, its fungal structures remained standing due the Nords’ fascination by them, but Nordic architecture was integrated and added to the settlement. General Hrogiir was astonished by the Stalhrim armor and weaponry utilized by the Skaal and Thirsk, but the Skaal refused to teach the blacksmiths of Skyrim’s military the art of forging Stalhrim; they believed that the use of Stalhrim was sacred and should not be used for war. However, the more militant and warlike Thirsk were willing. to bestow their knowledge of forging Stalhrim.; the blacksmiths of the Thirsk directed tThe Nordic military were shown to where the remaining Stalhrim deposits were located on Solstheim, but additionally how to mine Stalhrim, and even how to forge with it make it. Once the military got a firm grasp on Stalhrim forging and creating, it was added to the military’s arsenal of armor and weaponry, but due to its rarity and difficulty to forge with, it was bequeathed mostly given to higher ranking soldiers. The chieftain of the Thirsk, Vroklari Iron-Back, allowed Skyrim carpenters and stonemasons to construct a large city around their mead hall, the name “Thirsk” remained the name of the city. Ebony was also added to the arsenal as well due to the Nords having total control over Solstheim’s massive Ebony mines with their seemingly infinite Ebony ore veins. Skyrim’s economy improved tenfold now that the Nords had control of the Ebony mines of Solstheim, Skyrim’s wealth and health improved vastly. More villages, settlements, and towns were constructed around Solstheim. Citizens of Skyrim that had a desire for a new beginning or an interest in the mining business immigrated to Solstheim and populated the newly constructed cities and settlements. The annexation of Solstheim to Skyrim territory exceeded the High King's expectations, but for the Dunmer, it was another devastating blow; they lost countless resources and troops for fighting that seemingly pointless war. It was after this war that that scholars started to predict that the province of Morrowind would sooner or later fall to its neighbors and the Ashlanders... But we Dunmer won't give up Morrowind with ease; they'll have to take it from us. May Azura guide us all!