Atop a hill to the Southwest of Cheydinhal once sat the Juncus estate, now it is but the carcass of a family home, burnt to the ground by flame atronachs. I am told it is the Shadowed Path cult who are responsible for this atrocity, laying their Daedric stones about the estate to summon deadly atronachs with which to waylay travellers and even soldiers foolish enough to traverse the Nibenay Basin alone.

This is the farthest east I have seen the Shadowed Path Cult operating. To the West they attempted to raise a Lich in Lindai, and to the south they searched caves, mines and delves for a mystery artefact they believed would will help them in conquering the Capitol and all of Cyrodiil for their brutal patron. What they lack in talent, they make up for in ambition and numbers. For they have managed to overrun sites all over Southern Cyrodiil, and now there may well be more Shadowed Path Cultists operating in Cyrodiil then there are legionnaires.

They have proven a well organized group capable of focusing many hands upon on a single purpose, but their activities here seem somewhat vagrant from their labours to the west and south. What is the purpose of their wicked endeavours here at the burned estate? Could it be just to establish a foothold in the region, or do they have larger ambitions yet to come? Perhaps the summoning and gathering of an atronach army much like that of the Celestial Serpent?

Only one thing is clear, the leaders of Cheydenhal will need to pay many more adventures to climb this hill in the future to smash their daedric stones, else the verdant green Nibenay Basin may be turned into the grey wastes of Eastern Craglorn.

S.K

Perhaps because of the garrison, and certainly because of the armed militia, the people of Cheydinhal have suffered less from attacks by bandits, cultists and the roaming dead then other towns. They have not been wholly unaffected though. Many of the once affluent estates that lie outside of the city’s high walls have been overrun or destroyed since the Banner’s first invaded the Heartlands.

When the first troubles erupted in Cheydinhal between the garrison and it’s citizens, a bandit gang calling themselves the Thorns took advantage and descended upon the city from a local estate they had overrun. Amidst the desperation and chaos of the people the bandits pillaged most of their valuables before retreating back to Thorn Lodge. It is unclear whether the bandits took their name from the estate, or the estate was renamed by the bandits, but I guess that matters little. What does matter however is that the people need their valuables back, so that they may trade them for desperately needed supplies.

I pray the people of Cheydinhal do indeed make use of the valuables I return to them. Too many people in troubled times hoard away their gold and valuables, whilst their neighbours are forced to beg for food and dry cloths. There was a time when our neighbours were as close as our kin, a time when neighbour helped neighbour, sharing what little we had out of necessity, as well as decency. Hoarded food is not all that rots.

S.K

The legionnaires at Cheydinhal will not speak with me, treating me as the outsider I am, and a potential threat; I cannot blame them. In these troubling times for the scattered Legions I too find it difficult to tell friend from foe, ally from enemy. I guess the paranoia of the garrison’s leaders is what has kept them alive whilst most others have fallen. The leaders of the rebellion on the west side of the river however are far more accommodating to a fellow Cyrodil, and upon inspecting my weapons and armour, are eager to enlist my aid. Alas that many of their requests require direct confrontation with the legionnaires across the river, asking that I attack their archers and lieutenants, and even poison their food supply.

Not for the first time I am forced to ask myself where my loyalties lie? In Hammerfell when faced with Septima Tharn’s Seventh Legion, it was their disloyalty to the people of Tamriel that forced me to take up arms against them. And again within the Imperial City itself, out of greed, fear or simply despair, the members of Legion Zero turned traitors for Molag Bal and the Worm Cult. Whilst riding through the Heartlands I have tried to avoid many of the small camps of Legionaries dotted about for lack of trust to whom they now serve. And now, here in Cheydinhal I find a garrison still loyal to the Empire, yet disloyal to their own people, forcing me to ask once more, am I loyal to my country, my former comrades, or to my people?

The strength of an army lies in the soldiers loyalties to each other, whilst the strength of the soldier lies in his loyalties to his own principles of faithfulness and sincerity. Despite my empathy for the plight of the people of Cheydinhal, I cannot, and will not raise arms against another legionnaire if they seek not conflict with me first. I cannot shake the sentiment that ‘there by the grace of the Divines go I’. For were it not for the carnivorous dagger of the worm king that forever changed my destiny, I may well have found myself walking in their boots right now.

Even so, I agree to aid the people of Cheydinhal where my honour allows. Fate though can be a spiteful prince, and inevitably I cannot avoid all contact with the Legionaries. For example, as they no longer have access to the city’s Chapel of Arkay, I am asked by Sylvian Herius to deliver written petitions from his militia to a shine outside the city’s walls to boost their morale. As I reach the relic I am ambushed by two Imperial soldiers. Thus I have been deemed a traitor; this does not mean I will act as one.

I can only hope that in time the Garrison and the rebels will come to realize that they are all in the same boat upon a stormy sea, and they owe their loyalties to each other.

S.K

The walled city of Cheydinhal in eastern Cyrodiil is one of the few cities left in the province still under the control of the Imperial Legion. The good news is the presence of an Imperial garrison seems to have ensured that the people do not suffer attacks from bandits, goblins, or wayward Banners as other settlements in the area have. The bad news however is that the garrison’s leaders have acted overly oppressive towards the people of the city, even going so far as to try and force all able-bodied residence to draft into their ranks.

Unsurprisingly the people have revolted against this tyranny, forming their own militia, and I arrive to find the city is split in two by the river that runs through its heart; with the west side under rebel control, and the east controlled by the Legion. Despite this civil war within their walls, many of its people have chosen not to flee, staying in their homes and putting their faith in the leaders of the revolt. In reality they probably wouldn’t find anywhere safer outside the city’s high walls anyhow. At least the troubles within the walls seem to be keeping the troubles outside, out.

I remember visiting Cheydinhal as I was growing up, the first landmark one would look for on the approach to the city was the top of the spire of the Great Chapel of Arkay. I recall it being a lively, prosperous city; a bustling stop-over for merchants and adventurers upon the blue road to Morrowind. It is also the ancestral home of House Tharn, though despite Meridia suggesting he would return to Cyrodiil after the Planemeld, I don’t expect to find Abnur hiding out in the bosom of his loving family.

S.K

In the Muck Valley Caverns in eastern Cyrodiil, I discover another tribe of goblins sharing caves with kwama, and giant spiders. It has been suggested that some goblin caves contain networks of tunnels and secret passages that connect all the way back to Morrowind, although I was unable to find any evidence of them here.

What has always intrigued me about goblins is their ability to co-exist side by side with other species, like the spiders and kwama in these caves, without any noticeable friction. Indeed they have even managed to domesticate some species like durzogs, and welma, to serve the needs of the tribe.

Goblins are of course native all over Tamriel, including the Summerset Isles where the Altmer were said to have successfully traded with the tribes for many years until they decided to enslave them. In the 1st era goblins fought alongside the Orcs of Hammerfell against the invading Ra Gada. And Orsinium itself was built with the aid of freed goblin slaves, yet now I hear there is not a goblin to be found within the whole city.

It seems the only creatures that goblins cannot co-exist peaceably with are men and mer. What does that say about us?

S.K