Nord Combat after the Civil War

Tristayn Delacourt, Morthal
13th of Rain's Hand, 4E 293

Starting shortly before the return of Dragons to Skyrim, the land was increasing in its dangerousness thanks to insurgent skirmishes between Imperial troops and local Nords, and vampire attacks.

Villages were nearly emptied by enlistments to both pro- and anti-Imperial militias and military, but also by a sobering number of mysterious kidnappings which, as we now know, were a means for Volkihar clan to obtain human cattle.

In conjunction to the latter, Fort Dawnguard was restored and made headquarters of the now-notable Dawnguard vampire hunters.

It was upon the death of King Torygg, and the return of the Dragons, that Skyrim's civil war truly began. On the day of Helgen's destruction, two notable Stormcloak figures began to mobilize anti-Imperial groups into action. One was Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak, the other a Nord man from Bruma who would take the name Rogin Stormblade.

With that background, the stage had been set for a major cultural shift among Nords. This would come to include several definitive elements of Nordic combat and technology that we now take for granted, but would not be possible if not for the events of 4E 201.

Had the man from Bruma remained a simple bounty hunter, this might not have occurred. He came to Skyrim, however, with the intent to join Ulfric Stormcloak's supporters. He found his way to making a living as a brutish sellsword--working and killing for everyone from the Jarl of Windhelm, to the Black-Briar family of Riften, to the Dawnguard vampire hunters.

Funded mostly by Stormblade himself, the Dawnguard managed in a short time to develop an array of anti-vampire tactics and materials, including, as we see throughout Skyrim today: trained trolls, crossbows, and a specifically-enchanted type of silver alloy weaponry.

In this way, the civil war and the vampire threat in Skyrim at the time shaped how Nords today hunt, battle, and defend their homes. But few now know how and why these techniques were developed.

The Battle for Whiterun is the first documented example of Stormblade's uniquely violent and questionable tactics (now best explained first-hand by the anonymous author of "The Mor Khazgur Massacre"). Not least of these was the inclusion of trolls in Stormcloak military operations. By utilizing the knowledge of the Dawnguard, Stormblade developed advantages against the Imperial forces such as trolls, crossbows, and explosive alchemical ammunition for said crossbows. By the end of the war, one could scarcely find a Stormcloak wielding a bow rather than a crossbow, and nearly every major Stormcloak victory included reports of trolls on the battlefield.

It is imperative, then, not to overlook the cultural impact of Rogin Stormblade. It is easy for most of us to know only the horror stories associated with the monster who eventually emerged--yet the man from Bruma who aided in King Ufric's rise to power played a pivotal role in the progression of the Nord way of life in Skyrim.