The Systres

(Excerpts from The Systres, a book about the three islands, a colonial venture to them, and the events leading to the formation of an expedition to find out what had happened to the colonists)

The Systres are three islands far out in the Abacean Sea. They have captivated the minds of man and mer since the Merethic era. Very few have landed on them, and fewer have been able to tell the tale. Maps, specifically newer ones, have a tendency to omit their existence altogether. It is not known if this omission is due to superstitious fear, or merely shoddy cartography...

A budding colonial expedition formed in 2E 253 by Soliman Utman, the half-breed son of a fallen Altmer baron and a Dunmer house servant was set on building a powerful state on the Systres Islands. Supplies were gathered, mercenaries mustered, and colonists collected. The Republic of The Systres was formed in Sumurset, and it set off to find a new home in the Abacean Sea...

It has been nearly eight hundred years since those voyagers went out for a new home. Their names are almost erased by time itself. No known ship has been near the Systres since then, but that will change soon, so soon.

The sailor Jalan Amond and his crew of men have agreed to take me and three other scholars to the Systres. One of his forebears, also named Jalan, is said to have landed on one of the Systres Islands. A description of the island is recorded in Jalan’ journal, which has been published under the title A Redguard’s Roam.

“As day broke, we saw driftwood out on the fog-wrapped water. We knew we were close to land, we had no idea what land it was however. Captain Hajim ordered our charter and cartographer S’hargo to track down where we were. The cat determined we were close to the Systres. We decided to draw straws, the two with the longest were to be sent out. I drew first and the longest, Xarxis drew the second longest after three others had drawn short ones. We hopped into a small rowboat, and paddled it up through the driftwood. Three hours of intense labour had led us to shore, tired and hungry. Black sand stretched across the upper parts of the beach in dunes; the fog had died down by now, and we could see a great mass of brown vines in the distance. We pulled the boat up to the black sand and sat in rest. Later, we went out into the forest of vines in search of food, treasure and signs of civilization. The vines were truly bizarre, coming from a strange sort of tree that grew them rather than leaves. They burrowed into the ground, and held strong as bronze. We found no food, but we came across a pile of strange, man-like bones. Xarxis took with him three vines and a femur, and I took two vines and a skull. We rowed back to the boat, and told Captain Hajim what we had seen. He rewarded us with twenty drakes and a loaf of bread each.”

Jalan Amond has shown me the skull, a family heirloom of sorts. It bears the general shape of a man’s skull, but has strange, baleen-like teeth and a circular structure made from copper jutting out from the top of its head. It bears three puncture wounds, two on the left temple, and one on the right. Though the holes are small, one can not doubt the lethality such a wound may have dealt to the poor creature....

Supplies have been gathered, mercenaries mustered, and sailors collected. The Expedition to the Systres was formed in Stros M’kai, and has set off to find out what happened in 2E 253.