Mappa Solitudi Appendix I: Historia Solitudi

[Intraglyph: This is part of Vulf Bear-Hat's great Mappa Solitudi in its somniculized version provided by the great Athenaeum Telvannicum.]

 

In the age of the Dragon hegemony, a king known as Vol settled in the Valley of Vol, Volthaal. This valley became the center of a powerful kingdom that spanned most of what is now Haafingar. The Volsung kings of Volthaal endured until the Dragon Wars, when a large army of rebels approached the kingdom from the south, and the king decided to take his own life and become buried along with his loyal servants atop the mountain of Volskygge.

 

After the ending of the Dragon Wars, the area became part of the High Kingdom of Skyrim and a Jarl was appointed by the High King to oversee the region on his behalf. In 1E 356, High King Borgas founded the Collegium Bardi at the mouth of River Karth. The Collegium was to be an educational center dedicated to the teaching of Thu’um, and many powerful tongues resided here. When the War of Succession broke out in 1E 369, the Bards sided with Borgas’s son, Hanse, while their ruling Jarl sided with Olaf of Whiterun. Thus it came to internal war in the Hold. It was a long war that lasted for nearly fifty years, and in the end, the Hold was split in two. The part of the realm controlled by the Bards soon became known as Haafinaam and consisted of the northern and eastern coastlands, while the other became known as Karthaal and consisted of the interior lands centered on the great city of Kathgar (modern Kilkreath). In the long run, however, the Jarl of Kikreath could not stand against the powerful voices of the Bards, and the Elder of the Collegium seized control of the Hold. In eastern Skyrim though, the Bards’ ally, Hanse of Windhelm, was losing the war. After the defeat of Hanse, Olaf became High King and turned his gaze upon Haafingar. Olaf went north and pushed out the Bards from their strongholds. They retreated to the highlands where they continued harassing Olaf’s men. In return, Olaf’s men scorched the lands and steadings of Haafinaam so as to undermine the Bards’ relations with the locals. The Haafinaamskar are a tough lot though, and in the end, Olaf gave up and retreated from the highlands and northern coast, and Haafinaam became independent under the rule of the Elders in Solitude. Olaf managed to stay in control of the southern lands of Karthaal and Volthaal, and these lands continued to be ruled by a Jarl named by the High King.

 

In the following centuries, Haafinaam prospered and expanded into High Rock. Due to their independence, Alessianism was never properly purged in the area, although its popularity dwindled and eventually disappeared. By the time when it was conquered by the Reman Empire in late First Era, Haafinaam was once again ruled by a Jarl instead of by the Bard Elders. When the Reman Empire crumbled and the last Potentate was murdered, the Jarl declared himself King and invaded the Hold of Karthaal to the south, as their king had just been ousted due to accusations of vampirism. Thus, the realm of Haafingar was reunited after millennia of separation. The following centuries was a golden age for the kings of Haafingar - with the power gained by his predecessor around 2E 430, King Svartr managed to unite all Western Skyrim underneath him. Volthaal was not reconquered until around 2E 850 however, having been annexed by Reachmen.

 

These two kings were the only ones in that line though, for Svart’s son was an imbecile milk drinker, and the Concilium - a body elected by the freemen of Haafingar - was established to rule the land, severely decreasing the power of the king. When the Septims invaded however, the current king was raised to the rank of High King, and although the power of the High King in Skyrim as a whole remained scant, his power in Haafingar was soon restored to a level not unlike that of his ancestors, with the Concilium losing much of its influence.

 

King Mantrik of Haafingar, in Cyrodiilic better known as Mantiarco of Solitude, substituted the moots responsible for governing the shires and hundreds of the mountainous kingdom with noble Thanes and Lords so as to establish a better foundation for his rule, as he could replace these at will if they did not perform to his liking.

 

When Mantrik died in 3E 99 and was succeeded by his two years old son, Uriel, Mantrik’s widow, Potema Septim, daughter of the Emperor, took over as regent. She was a jealous, reckless woman who only wanted to see her young son on the Imperial throne, and in 3E 120 a rebellion was launched to place Uriel on the Imperial throne as Emperor Uriel III. Ultimately, the rebellion failed, when Uriel’s death by the hands of the angry Colovian peasants of Sutch set an end to the seven years long conflict, which would later become known as the War of the Red Diamond.

 

However, Potema was too proud to just give up the war, and for 10 years she kept on fighting her brothers despite standing no chance at claiming the Imperial crown. In order to increase the size of her armies, she resorted to the dark art of necromancy, and replaced the noble Thanes and Lords of Haafingar with necromancers and vampires. Her decade-long reign of terror earned her the epithet “Wolf-Queen” because of her great hunger for power. As she became more and more pressed by the Imperial Legion, she let her photophobic allies hunt her subjects to turn them into brainwashed minions. During the Wolf-Tide, as the last 10 years of Potema’s reign was named, the populace suffered greatly, and the number of living men and women was halved. Many of Haafingar’s modern day problems can be traced back to this dark time - the hold is still plagued by vampires, werewolves and undead.

 

When the Wolf-Queen was finally defeated in 3E 137, another Septim, Thoriz Pelagius Megnasun, was made King of Solitude. He soon proved to be just as insane as his predecessor. Finally, after 8 more years of troubles and misrule, he was brought back to Cyrodiil, and was replaced by the wise and just Queen Jolethe Megnadottir Septim and her loyal King Consort Jogar Dawn-Friend. But the many years of suffering under tyrannical monarchs had caused the people of Haafingar to cultivate a deep mistrust to monarchy. To provide for this, Queen Jolethe joined together with the estates of the realm in reestablishing the elected local moots. Queen Jolethe agreed that the monarchy had to be kept in check by the citizens, lest it falls into lunacy or necromancy, and so the local government of the moots was reintroduced in Haafingar.

 

The following centuries were full of peace for the inhabitants of Solitude. The scions of Queen Jolethe slowly rebuilt the country and worked on rooting out necromancy. In 247, the Elder Council elected King Cephorus Septim of Solitude as Emperor, and for nearly a century, the emperors of Tamriel hailed from this distant region of Tamriel, gaining experience by acting as monarchs of Solitude. This was favorable for the Concilium, which ascended to power once again, aiding the young emperor-sons with governing and making sure that no vampire gained political power ever again. It was also beneficial for the kingdom as a whole; money, trade and influence flowed into the hold, and the economy prospered.

 

The last monarch from Solitude ascending to the Imperial throne was Morihatha Urieladottir Septim, who was crowned Empress in 320. The crown of Solitude was left to her husband, King Ulfe Gersen of Winterhold. With this addition to his lands, Ulfe dominated the coast of Skyrim from west of Norinvaar all the way to just north of Windhelm, and he worked with great resolve towards diminishing the power of the Concilium.

 

Ulfe’s double kingdom lasted for about 70 years until the death of his grandson, Ulfe II, in 391. Ulfe II died young and childless, and a succession crisis followed. Ulfe’s uncle, Lord Rosk Kønredsen of Kastevirke (supported by the peerage of Winterhold), Lady Ulfahild Dragon-Blood of Festrinmar (supported by most of Haafingar), and of course the rightful heir with the strongest claim, Thiann Goat-Skull (supported by the Reach), all clashed for the right to rule Solitude and Winterhold. By means of his great strength and strategic ingenuity, King Thiann won the struggle against Lord Rosk and defeated the noble shield maiden Ulfahild in single combat, seizing the twin kingdoms for himself.