Death From A Thousand Cuts

Foreword

In my homeland-archipelago of Yneslea, the Westerners – Tamrielics, as my people have come to call them – often do not understand the significance that we Echmer place on our zake (our blades/swords; the singular form is zak) and zak’timashu (swordsmanship). The Redguards are the only culture that comes close to understanding this significance, with their Ansei and sword-singing that we have come to admire and respect, but even they do not fully understand the scope of the art that we practice.

I am Balodeyl of the Shattering Fusion, zakdouka (a title-phrase that means ‘follower of the way of the sword’) and zaksei (‘blade-master’, a well-respected title amongst my people) of the First & Second Ways of the Silent Moon-Flower, which I created. Ever since I was a child I have studied the sword, at the hands of ceroe (‘teachers’; cero in singular) and through my own research and development. It took me fifty years – the majority of which I either spent as a member of the armare (‘military’), training in isolation, or undergoing intense meditation – to be considered a zakdouka. It took an additional one-hundred years to become a zaksei, although it might have taken less time if I had decided to simply follow one of the established Nine-Hundred and Ninety-Four Honorable Arts written in the War Praxis instead of making my own.

I have decided to write this tome for the benefit of Tamrielics, who often question the strange practices of my people and wish to learn more about them. In its pages you shall learn the importance and significance of swords in Echmeri society, the concept of zakdouka (which nearly all warriors of my kind practice to some extent) & it’s interesting connection to magicka, and some common techniques all followers of zakdouka can perform. May it enlighten you.

Spirits of our Swords

“The greatest hypocrisy of the Echmeri people is this – they preach peace, but teach violence.”

Uriel Septim V

The above quote, spoken by the former emperor of Tamriel that my people respected and feared so much that we memorialized him as the ‘Bane’, has been dissected so much by our sages and warriors that an outsider – a jajou’iy – might come to find it humorous. Some of us have viewed it as the ultimate insult by the godling that brought us into the Western Fold, but over time a few of us – including myself – have come to understand it’s deeper meaning. Despite his animosity and general disdain for others, Uriel V did respect our people a great deal for our fierce resistance to his will, and was generally perplexed and astonished to discover that we are not just a race of warriors, but scholars as well.

We Echmer do not enjoy to fight, for when our race was still young and new to the world we warred for years after our Begetters, the Noraken Dwemer, disappeared from our archipelago. Because of that, we as a people have tried to cover up our violent past by dedicating our lives to educational pursuits that lead to a better, peaceful existence. But in our hearts we still know that we are warriors, and because of that we continue to fight if and when we must, but not for the sake of fighting itself. We continue to craft weapons, forge armor, instruct armies, and war with both foreign and domestic enemies because we all fight for the day that war will be a thing of the past: “War is not just the bloody cut that ends countless lives; it is also the long road to tranquility paved by much hardship and pain.” Us bat elves are hypocrites for this reasoning, and that is a fact we have both acknowledged and grieved over for centuries.

For example, look at the tool that encompasses both the light and dark sides of war: the zak. Although other weapons like daggers, axes, bows, hammers, maces, and etcetera are also used for battle, it is the sword that has been the instrument of war since the days of the peaceful songs sung by the world when it was young. Zake are traditionally designed to slash, slice, and stab your opponents until their defeat, and because of that, some view them as only tool used for death.

But in the eyes of my people – in the eyes of an Echmer – a sword symbolizes so much more. A zak is the representation of an Echmer’s Voice, a corporeal manifestation of their very soul; think of a warrior as a mouth and his sword as his tongue – when one uses their zak, they are not only chanting their defiance, their honor, their love, and their hatred to their foe and the world itself. They are chanting the feelings of the entire Echmeri race whenever they wield it in their hands and have it sheathed at their side or on their back; an endless choir of our pain and laughter, of our joy and tears.

Because of the intimate connect we feel with our swords, we often do not forge new zake (a fact that most Tamrielic warriors and smiths find surprising and confusing; usually only aspiring zakdoukae and zakseie make requests for personal swords). Instead, swords are always treated with the utmost care and passed down through the generations of a sect (our word for ‘family’, or ‘clan’) until that sect either dies out, is assimilated into another sect, or is removed from the genealogical annuals for some reason or another (and even then, zake are still passed on to honorable and deserving individuals). The majority of the swords we carry into battle are the same that our forebears forged during the First Aeon; a scarred and marked zak is not a tragedy, but a beautiful canvas marked by those that wielded it to show their worth.

If a new sword has to be forged, however, there are special rites hat must be performed. First, the blade must be forged from solarite ore – solidified sunlight, the tears of GANUS (or ‘Magnus’, to you Westerners) – and, as is the custom since the First Aeon, is hollowed out in the middle of the blade (this hollow is then covered with a translucent glass-like material later). Once molded into either a cutlass, rapier, or saber the smith is then given a small portion of the future wielder’s blood to partially fill the hollow after the blade is cooled. The glass-like covering is then placed over the hollow, so the future wielder may take the zak to the ocean in order to appease the memories of their ancestors and pray for their blessing.

While Echmeri souls cease to exist after entering the Yregrui-a’sazt (the Black-Welkin, our term for the Void, which are essences enter after death so we may escape from the Aurbical Prison), it is common knowledge amongst my people that the soul’s spirit (it’s memories, emotions, and personalities) go on to become one with the waters of Nirn. Water is well-respected amongst my people because it is a testimony to the fact that our ancestors are never truly gone, and for this reason, the future wielder fills the rest of the hollow space of his zak with water so that they can always be consoled by the fact that their kith (‘friend’, ‘friends’) and kin are with them on the battlefield to protect them from harm and guide their thoughts.

After the hollow is sealed permanently and the blade has been bonded to the hilt the zak is given back to the smith so they may inscribe the motto and insignia of the future wielder’s sect on the pommel, as well as their name, in order to imbue it with the soul and spirit it as well. So as you can see, zake are more than just mere tools; more than just an instrument for violence. They can feel, speak, hear, and see like you and me. Stealing an Echmer’s zak is like kidnapping their child and breaking it is like killing their mother – in Yneslea, these crimes are punishable by death. But even if this vengeance is carried out, if the sword is not recovered or repairable then it is common for the warrior to vow never to fight against lest they forfeit their own life.

It is not uncommon for a warrior to name their sword or refer to it as their ‘brother’ or ‘sister’. In fact, it is perhaps one of the greatest shows of trust for an Echmer to share the name of their zak with you. Some of my people’s legends even depict circumstances where familial swords absolutely refuse to be wielded by certain individuals, sometimes even striking them down on their own accord because they can sense the corruption and dishonor within them.

So when you see an Echmer cradling their zak, or using it in battle, perhaps it will give you a higher respect for your own sword – for all swords hold life, all swords hold meaning, and all swords hold swords.

The Way of the Sword

“Strike first, strike fast, strike hard, strike last…”

Ancestral Proverb

Now that you understand the nature of zake and their roles in Echmeri society, it will be easier to explain the path to becoming a true zakdouka. Before you continue reading, I would like to warn you that attempting any of the methods I describe without the proper guidance and mental fortitude can lead to dangerous and even fatal consequences. If you wish to become a zakdouka, I recommend finding a cero or zaksei who is willing to take on eroe (‘pupils’; singular form is ero).

To walk the path of the zakdouka, one must begin to meditate and think deeply on something that people usually don’t associate with swordsmanship – magicka. Tamrielic mages tend to refer to my people as magnephobic, which means we have a strong dislike or fear of magic. Although it is true, yes, that our Protoechi ancestors were taught by the Noraken to not trust or rely on magic, it is not true that we hate it (if that was the case, the Confined Abyss would not exist and neither would the elementalists of Mustikos’arcere). We simply prefer to construct with metal and deal with the artificial than create with mana (our term for magic) and deal with the natural.

And yet mana is essential to all followers of the way of the sword, for it resides in the soul and is an invaluable part of the dasein (a term we Echmer use that is the equivalent of ‘human nature’) of an individual. To fully understand one’s self, one must come to completely understand their own heart, mind, body, and magic to come to terms with their soul. Zakdoukae and zakseie are not mages despite our harnessing of mana, and we do not like being referred to as such, as our zak arts utilize techniques that are neither spells, incantations, or rituals; we channel magicka in a way completely different from the practices used in the West.

First, the inspiring zakdouka must meditate relentlessly until they are capable of dispersing their mana from the center of their being and attune it to every fiber of their body (from bone to muscle) and zak (from tip to pommel). The soul consists of two parts – the spirit (which contains the personality, memories, and emotions of an individual; their AE) and the animus (which contains the spark of creatia that allows one to live, and the reservoir of magicka that mortals draw in from the sun, stars, and other minor sources). Mana, while a part of us all, is not intimately connected with the body; we draw on it from our souls and through our bodies in order to use it efficiently and safely. This is in stark contrast to aedric and daedric entities, whose vestiges and corporeal forms are completely saturated with magic and raw creatia.

Becoming a true zakdouka involves ‘removing’ mana from its central location in the animus and attuning it permanently with the body & sword to improve one’s strength, speed, endurance, agility, reflexes, taste, hearing, smell, and sight. This unlocks the capabilities of the individual so that they may reach their maximum physical potential, but because the individual’s magicka no longer resides in the animus, they lose the ability to cast spells and perform enchantments (as I said, we are not mages).

To aid in this dangerous process while meditating, we often visualize a hole in our minds that leads to our mana core and with every passing subconscious second – in a calm, diligent manner – we extract every fiber of magicka and intertwine it with every fiber of our physical being as well as our swords. This process is excruciating and usually takes years, and if not done correctly can lead to spontaneous combustion, accelerated aging, permanent paralysis, mental illness, or the loss of magical ability. If one survives, they must then learn how to control their new abilities safely and correctly through intense and isolated training.

The Redguard Ansei went through a similar process while attaining their Shehai, or spirit-swords, but it differs in one major way – whereas Ansei focus their magicka outwards from their animus and manifest it in a temporary pseudo-corporeal form that represents their soul, we zakseie focus our magicka inwards and spread it permanently throughout our physical forms and our zake as union between the flesh and the soul. To put it even simpler: a sword-singer uses their ability to perform magical feats while a follower of the way of the sword uses their ability to perform physical feats. I have often wondered what would happen if an Ansei and Zakseie crossed blades, but since there are not many sword-singers around anymore these theoretical spars might never happen. A great relief, as well as a great pity.

Now that we have explored the way of the sword, let me move on to discuss the abilities gained from becoming a zakdouka.

A Sword of Heart, A Heart of Swords

“Violence is best left avoided but is ultimately unavoidable. The best warrior remembers that the bloodshed of both friend and foe is disheartening.”

Ancestral Proverb

As I have previously stated, zakdoukae follow one of the Nine-Hundred and Ninety-Five Honorable Arts created in the past and written in the War Praxis. Zakseie are individuals (like myself) who have either completely mastered an Honorable Art or have created their own; the First & Second Ways of the Silent Moon-Flower is the Art that I formed. These Honorable Arts all share standard techniques, but also have their unique techniques that distinguish them from one another. To better distinguish their Arts, most zakseie associate them with a particular element/zak enchantment that becomes standard for all zakdoukae who train it. For example, the Silent Moon-Flower Art incorporates strokes and movements reminiscent of lunar cycles and the omnivorous Secundean Lily that grows on the eponymous heavenly body, as well as a lunar enchantment that strengthens the zak and zakdouka under moonlight.

While some Honorable Arts may seem similar, it is wise to remember that they are all different. The Roaring Sun Art incorporates fire as the rage of Magnus’ Eye, but the Whispers of Steam & Sorrow Art incorporates fire as the tears of the wronged dead. Despite these differing techniques, all zakdouka and zaksei can use the following generic abilities.

Utinak’taisu (‘Shadow Step’)

Speed and agility is important during a battle, and through utinak’taisu an individual can increase it tremendously for short durations. By awakening the mana in their legs and feet, a zakdouka can move at speeds five to ten times faster for two-minute intervals to close the distance or catch up with an adversary quickly. This technique can only be used around twenty to fifty times per day without exhaustion depending on the strength of the zakdouka.

Genkouno (‘Metal Skin’)

Because our zake are just as attuned to our mana as our bodies our, we zakdoukae are able to take on some of the properties of our swords due to this link. Through using genkouno we can make our skin as hard as the ore that makes up our swords for a limited time, allowing us to deflect some blows and avoid serious or fatal injuries.

Yori’naki (‘World Scar’)

Through the use of yori’naki a zakdouka can pierce the very air around them so fast and so strongly that they can literally leave these scars in the environment, and if an opponent stumbled into one of them it’d hit them with the same amount of force and power as if they were literally struck with the zak itself. The yori’naki technique is actually one of the few generic moves that uses minimal stamina and mana, allowing for it to be used multiple times during a fight, but the scars themselves only remain imprinted in the air for a few seconds.

Deyl’naki (‘Sound Scar’)

A difficult technique to master, deyl’naki revolves around not piercing a physical form and instead piercing the soul itself. Because a zakdouka is one with their body, soul, magic, and sword they are capable of – for a small amount of time, a mere fraction of a second – completely ignoring flesh and attacking the intangible. Over use of this technique can lead to the harm of one’s own soul, so followers of the way are advised to use it sparingly.

Inii (‘Definite Cut’)

One of the most powerful mundane abilities of a zakdouka is the inii. This technique utilizes the mana within the body and the sword in order to generate a pseudo-physical beam of raw power from a single stroke of a zak. As a reflection of the sword and its enchantments, this power can manifest as a plethora of elements from fire to rose petals and everything in-between. Inii can only be used one to three times at best due to its strain on the sword and body, and should not be considered an ‘ultimate’ technique.