Bruma is a city under occupation. When the Planemeld first struck, Bruma was attacked by both Dremora and Shadowed Path cultists. A Dark Anchor was swiftly built and opened above the city in an attempt to stream Daedric reinforcements into the north of Cyrodiil. It is even believed by some that they planed to draw the city itself into Coldharbour. But surely that would have been a strategic mistake, for when you have an agent in play on the Tribute board, why remove it on your own turn?

Yet in some peoples eyes Bruma has always been occupied territory, a Nordic city within the Heartland borders. But it’s not just a Nibenese city become occupied by Nord migration or conquest. It’s architecture is Nord, it’s leaders are Nord, it’s militia is Nord, and it’s icons are Nord. And it is an occupation that seems to have been acceptable to both Imperial politicians and people alike, for who else would want to live in the cold, inhospitable climes of the Jerall Mountains, but Nords.

It is clear however that the Dremora and cultists believed that the Nord city would get little support from the rest of the region, and it turns out they were right. The few survivors who have barricaded themselves within the chapel and manor house sent out pleas to the alliances for aid, but none came. Now they must rely upon wandering mercenaries and small bands of Alliance soldiers for aid, and this has meant that they now suffer another occupation, by the Banners themselves who fight blade and spell over a flagpole.

S.K

Whilst training to become a legionnaire our barracks was visited by a priest of Arkay. He spoke to us long and piously about the difference between light and darkness, good and evil. His message was that it isn’t just enough to take a stand against the darkness, we have stand apart from it too.

Toadstool Hollow seems a strange name for such a cold and icy cave, but then this is a strange and unaccountable place. For hidden beneath the frozen caverns infested by spiders and bats, there lies a long forgotten crypt. It’s residents, whether by necromantic means or in reaction to the anguish and turmoil in the lands above, have risen from their tombs and walk once more. I would be content to let them roam their catacombs until their bones crumble to dust, only recently some have begun to find their way above ground.

But I was also to discover a journal whilst in the crypts that suggested that some foolish residents of the near-by occupied town of Bruma, seek to reanimate more of these long-dead soldiers to rise again in defence of their land. Some might consider the undead to be but neutral tools, marionettes obeying their puppeteers strings. But it is the act of raising a corpse, be they soulless skeletons, or soulful spirits, that is at the very least, morally questionable.

No matter the adversity we face, the Priest of Arkay taught that we cannot make the mistake of fighting evil with evil. But then ask yourself, is it better to die virtuously, or to survive immorally? The lonely priests who gives up all for their calling hold their piety aloft like a torch. But for the everyday man and woman with family and friends, questions of morality can only ever be answered in twilight.

S.K

Northern Cyrodiil is littered with ancient Ayleid ruins that were built into the foothills of it’s mountain ranges. Most are now blocked and inaccessible to the modern explorer, and some believe this is for the good; that the evils waged by the heartland elves is a history best buried. Others of course, like the scholars and archaeologists attempting to break into these lost settlements, disagree, arguing that only by looking at what lies beneath our feet, can we learn not to repeat.

So what can we learn from the perceived evils of the Ayleids? Their eventually downfall seems to have began with the rise in the influence of the Daedric cults, especially amongst their kings and aristocrats. Indeed, their domination and enslavement of the Nedic people for generations was enabled by their deals with the Princes, with entire armies of Daedra helping them to conquer and subjugate other cultures.

But it also led to a fierce civil war between the Aedra and Daedra-worshipping Ayleids of Cyrodiil, and even wars amongst themselves; it was in the company of Sees-All-Colors that I witnessed first-hand the conflict between the city states of Abagarlas and Delodiil. And eventually when the Nedic peoples rose up during the Alessian Slave Rebellion, many rebel Aedra-worshipping Mer joined forces with Alessia to help her take the White-Gold Tower, thus founding the Alessian Empire, and the resulting Ayleid diaspora.

How familiar this history to the downfall of our own Imperial Empire, which arguably began when Emperor Leovic legalized Daedra worship. Perhaps the Longhouse Emperors should have been looking more closely at what lay beneath their feet.

S.K