317. A cold welcome to the Desert

317 (a). A cold welcome to the Desert

Shoals of Longfin and Sablefish dance excitably about the hull of the Posset in the clear, turquoise waters of the Iliac Bay, whilst noisy gulls swoop the decks mistaking our tall ship for a trawler.  From the bow, I watch as the flaxen sands of the Alik’r Desert come slowly into focus.  As we drift into the great Sentinel docks, even in the baking hot Hammerfell sun, I felt a chill shake me to my core; something is very, very wrong.

317 (b). A cold welcome to the Desert

There is a deathly silence that hangs over the usually bustling docks of the Redguard city, an unnatural stillness, a dullness that rings like wooden bells.  The air is heavy with a stench, not of fish or brine, but of blood and decay.  The gulls fly no more, ousted from the piers by giant vultures.  One of the most prosperous sea-ports in all Hammerfell, and there is little sign of movement upon the jetties.

Captain Marck and the Altmer mage Neramo, who I had not seen since the Spearhead dropped me in Daggerfall, are aground already, but they fear to go any further.  Too soon I meet the reason for their timidity, a zombie charges me in unsteady gait.

317 (e). A cold welcome to the Desert

The undead have risen to take Sentinel harbour from the living, and there seems not a guard alive or willing to defend the crews of inbound ships, unaware of the monsters that gluttonously await their landing.

S.K

316. The Queen’s request

316. The Queen_s request

Whilst still in grieving for the loss of her beloved sister Lakana at the Alcaire Castle, it is no surprise that Queen Maraya worries for the safety of her father. She speaks of rumours of an evil risen in the Alik’r, a threat that the desert people have not faced for many years.  She asks of me, as the King’s champion, if I would travel to the home of the Redguard and investigate these rumours on her behalf.

I will not journey to Sentinel as the King’s Champion.

For I remember too well, that whilst the High King wallowed in his own melancholy and self-doubt in the Dreamweaver’s nightmares, it was the Queen who, despite suffering her own grievous loss and pain, stood firm to offer strength and empathy to the people of Stormhaven in their time of most need.

Maraya is no mere consort, she is a leader, and it is her compassion that fills the hearts of the people with hope; like a bright doorway on a cold winter’s night, or the first blossoms of spring, she is the very soul of the Daggerfall Covenant.

She is a Queen, and I shall travel to the Alik’r as the Queen’s champion.

S.K

315. A rather curious coronation

The nobles and notables of Rivenspire gather at Shornhelm castle for the coronation of a new King or Queen of Shornhelm.  High King Emeric admits that the triumvirate was a mistake and has come North to choose between the Baron Dorell and Countess Tamrith for who should rule over this fractured land.

315 (d). A rather curious coronation

Or rather curiously, he has proxied that decision to a foreign-born former Imperial soldier without a soul, who has twice now cut the High King down with his sword, albeit in the nightmare realms of Vaermina and Sheogorath.

Countess Tamrith promises to restore the faith, prioritizing care for the displaced, and rebuilding Rivenspire with the peoples interests at its heart; whilst the Baron promises to lead with a firm hand, primarily strengthening the countries defences by rebuilding the Shornhelm guard to protect land and people.

I firmly believe both would make capable rulers, but disparate times requires particular leaders.  Only with hindsight, that vice of the historian, could I be sure that I was making the correct decision, but as the Argonian’s are fond of saying, one should never ride a Guar up a mountain backwards.

315 (g). A rather curious coronation

Rebuilding this land and its people will require hard, unpopular, and unpalatable decisions.  When it came to making such a decision about his son, for right or wrong, Baron Dorell showed he was both willing and capable to make it.  If High Rock was at peace, I may well have chosen differently, but the Three Banners war shows no sign of end, and the anchors still fall.

S.K

314. In defence of Ravenwatch

314 (a). In defense of Ravenwatch.

Montclair is defeated, and the cursed relic has been removed from Tamriel, yet Rivenspire’s noble houses cannot yet rest their guard.  Montclair loyalists, led by a hitherto unknown nephew, still operate throughout the region, and they have made targets of Adusa-daro and the vampire house Ravenwatch.

Even for a soldier an unforeseen assassin is almost certain death, but an assassin expected, is but a coward with a very small knife.

S.K

313. Goodbye Verandis

313. Gwendis says goodbye to Verandis

A memory of his tenderness,
as sorrowful as a caged Netch,
like the sojourn of her first tear,
in parting anguish of one so dear.
A memory of his windless words,
like Kynareth’s sigh, felt unheard,
shackles her heart with silken chains,
she thought grief but mortal’s pain.
An arid trance of lingering gloom,
yet fervid dreams of phoenix plume,
crisp night air, and fresh morn’s hew,
a rose, a thorn, and a memory of you.

S.K