It is in the bones of Tamriel where we can often discover her hidden history.

Long after flesh, muscle and sinew have rotted and decayed, or been picked away by skeever and crow; spell, curse and blessing will oft remain; and sometimes it can take but a fingers touch or a simple wish to awaken the witchery that is interred within.

At the central tower at the Traitor’s Tor in Eastern Rivenspire, it took just a touch of the skull and I awoke back 15 years in the past, witnessing the very climax of Ranser’s war through the eyes of one of his lieutenants.

Ranser was willing to fight to the last of his men against insurmountable odds on a faint hope of victory offered by that villainous Argonian Reezal-Jul.  Thus the mystery of why his soldiers still haunt the ruins is revealed, but just how Traitor’s Tor came by its name is made much less clear.

The bards of Westmark Moor sing that it was named for Ranser’s betrayal of King Emeric, his own soldiers, and of Rivenspire itself by taking her sons and daughters into a war for the sake of his hubris.  But could it not also be so named for General Dathieu’s final betrayal of Ranser when he thrust his sword through his back to end his life.  And what of King Emeric, whose initial betrayal when he chose to marry the Redguard Princess over Ranser’s daughter first provoked the war.  Or perhaps it is for the lizard Reezal-Jul, whose curse it was that has forced Rivenspire’s most loyal soldiers to continue to fight to the last in undeath, just as they did so in life.

It is in the bones of Tamriel where we can often discover her hidden history… but too often do we discover that our only answers are questions.

S.K

Directly east of Shornhelm, casting a scowling shadow over the Westmark road looms the ruins of what is now known only as the Traitor’s Tor.  It is here some 15 years ago that the irredeemable King Ranser and his most loyal soldiers, forced into retreat by the combined forces of King Emeric’s Wayrest Alliance, and with the fearsome Orcs of Wrothgar giving dogged pursuit, chose to make their last stand.

The Colovian’s have a saying, ‘one loyal soldier is the worth of ten stolid mercenaries’.  Though it is a sentiment I can’t argue with, it could not save Ranser and his guard from their fate; the brutes of Wrothgar have little regard for sentiment.

Few would brave the Tor’s crumbled fortifications today as Ranser’s dutiful guard are reputed to haunt the ruins still, yet on the roadside a student of history requests an escort to the ruin’s central tower.  He seems convinced that once there he may discover clues as to the mystery of the Traitor’s Tor.  How and why were these soldiers cursed to still serve and fight to the last in undeath, just as they did in life?

S.K

The ruins of Old Shornhelm in eastern Rivenspire now serve only as a base-camp for the Bitterhand Bandits… a fitting capital for one of the most ruthless gangs in all High Rock.

It is a stark reminder to High King Emeric that despite the turmoil that afflicts this region, the issue of the rule of Rivenspire must soon be settled.  For what is a country without a king, but gangs of bandits; and soon who will there be left to protect the towns and villages from these gangs, but worse bandits still.

S.K

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At the western rim of the Eyebright Feld Dolmen can be found the Flyleaf Catacombs; once opulent mausoleums of Rivenspire’s nobility, they have recently become overrun by a local band of brutes and brigands calling themselves the Bitterhand Bandits.  Perhaps it is that these bandits are the only ones foolhardy enough to brave the ghosts and phantoms that prowl the burial grounds that outlay the dolmen, but it is also likely that they have a more sinister interest in these tombs that are yet to be revealed.

When a country faces crisis, and its armies march away to war, its fields lay abandoned, and its roads deserted, there will always be those who will seek to profit from the people who are left behind.  The Bitterhands are a well-organized group of various kin and creed who have plagued much of Rivenspire in her time of frailty, much as the Red Rooks vexed Glenumbra.

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An elemental mage called Miremonwe Spellslinger leads this particular detachment, wielding a blazing fire staff and casting storm magic with an effortless aptitude, the ebony clad Altmer proves to be a most dangerous adversary.

S.K

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We watch from a short distance as the cultists gather to summon another of Molag Bal’s dark anchors into the dolman at the Eyebright Feld.  We might have rushed to try to prevent the sacrifice and stop the opening of the portal to Oblivion, but we would have never made it in time… Let them come.

Let the Worm’s give themselves to their master, let the storm clouds gather, let the dread horn bellow, let the anchor fall, Let the chains tighten, let the gate be opened… Let them come.

Forearmed with resolute defiance, shielded by our indomitable spirit, we shall greet them with savage war, for we shall cede not an inch of Nirn to Oblivion… Let them come.

S.K