Season Unending

Second Edition, Volume 1

Preface to the Second Edition: A Letter from the Author, Valentinian Antario

Dearest Reader,

With warmest sentiment I welcome you to this second edition of Season Unending. It is fitting that, after largely positive reviews (I was most honoured to be deemed "the Fourth Era's most innovative archivist and documentarian" by the Synod Publishing House in Leyawiin), the second, expanded, edition of this book should be published at such a time as this. Two years ago, upon the initial publication of Season Unending, I opted not to include some of the content I had collected over the course of the novel's publication, both for the sake of brevity and affordability. However, with the success of the book in the months since, White Wolf Publications has seen fit to commission a revised and expanded edition with a broader reach of publication.

Here we find ourselves in the two-hundred and fifth year of the Fourth Era. It has been about two-and-a-half years since Ulfric Stormcloak's victory in Skyrim's Civil War (or the Northern War, for my fellow Cyrodiils), and we find ourselves on the eve of the long-awaited Moot which will determine the next High King of Skyrim. By all accounts, the outcome is not in doubt. Ulfric has secured the backing of all the Nord Jarls, including that of the widowed Elisif- though whether hers is by coercion or begrudging acceptance is still a subject for debate. The war was ended as it began: with the swing of an axe, after years of quietly-escalating conflict that culminated in the breakout of open war after Ulfric's fateful duel with High King Torygg in the two-hundred and first year of this era. As in the first edition, I will give here a brief summary of the events of the last five years, in order to provide context for a first-time reader. For a more detailed chronicle, I recommend two works: Etienne Savill's Cold Winds Blow, a dense yet beautiful text; and Into The World-Eater's Eyrie, a collective work published by the Bards College here in Solitude, an epic more in the style of the old Nord sagas.

The height of Skyrim's internal conflict was brief, but intensely bloody, and marked by numerous massacres, reprisals, and sectarian violence. It also coincided with the return of the dragons, a fact hailed by many Nords as a fulfillment of prophecy. The Dragon Crisis, which lasted for all of a year, became intertwined with the Civil War relatively quickly. The role of the Dragonborn in bringing peace to Skyrim cannot be overstated. In the years since the conclusion of the war and the Dragon Crisis, he has proven a hard man to reach. It is known that he resides with his family in a manor on the northern fringe of Hjaalmarch, but has largely receded from the public eye in order to lead a quieter life than that which was thrust upon him by fate. It is understandable, if tragic from a historian's perspective, that he may not wish to provide his own perspective on the traumatic and challenging endeavour he undertook to banish Alduin from Skyrim. He later became an officer in the Stormcloak ranks, leading the charge at the battles of Whiterun and Solitude. His name is a mystery to many- it is known that he is a Nord, and the most common rumour is that he is called Torgen, however this cannot be confirmed definitively, as he has kept a low public profile.

Ulfric Stormcloak, on the other hand, was his comrade-in-arms for the latter part of Skyrim's Civil War, and has been eager to credit the Dragonborn for his victory. The war can be considered to have started in earnest with the death of Torygg at his hands. The popular narrative of this duel is that he "shouted" the High King asunder; the truth of this is still under heavy debate and subject to conjecture on the parts of its witnesses, some of whom I was able to speak to in the process of writing this tome. Ulfric's flight from Solitude on that day in the early parts of the two-hundred and first year led to the first outbreak of open conflict in Skyrim. In the time immediately following the Markarth Incident and Ulfric's later release from prison for his role in it, the "war" presented itself as more of a low-level insurgency. What would later become the Stormcloak Rebellion first manifested in the form of small scale attacks on Imperial officials. Assassinations of local magistrates, sabotage of Imperial operations through the Penitus Oculatus, and asymmetrical warfare waged from the deep forests that amounted to little more than banditry for a cause. These early rebels never bore Ulfric's official endorsement; at best, he tolerated it within the reach of his own power as Jarl of Eastmarch. Nonetheless, masses of "Stormcloaks" pledged their loyalty to Talos, and their fealty to Ulfric.

However, as violence begets violence, the decade between the eighties and nineties of the first hundred years of the Fourth Era saw an uptick in Imperial resources being dedicated throughout Skyrim to root out these guerrilla fighters. The introduction of Thalmor Justiciars operating with the hesitant approval of the High King Istlod, only further heightened tensions within Skyrim. Their ferocious and unyielding uprooting of Talos worship across Skyrim drew much controversy- as their activities intensified, so too did the resistance to it on the part of loosely-organized secret societies dedicated to the liberation of Skyrim. The civic unrest, fuelled by discontent and resentment of Elves which had only increased after the signing of the White-Gold Concordat, precipitated the eventual outbreak of war. In the years approaching the two-hundred and first, the cities of Windhelm and Riften saw surges of sectarian violence which resulted in massive riots and attempts at ethnic cleansing by local Nord populations. These events have been termed pogroms, an old Colovian word describing organized massacres targeted at certain races. What little remained of the dwindling Altmer populations in Skyrim's cities, quickly fled in a gradual exodus, as Elven neighbourhoods became flashpoints for conflicts between nationalist paramilitaries and the ghetto militias that formed to protect their communities. Reprisal killings were all-too common in these days, with scores of civilians dying in the crossfire in the taverns, streets and markets of Skyrim.

In the two-hundred and first year, Ulfric Stormcloak declared an open rebellion against the Mede Empire. He successfully defeated Torygg in a duel, in the ancient tradition of the Nords. This was considered an act of treason (regicide) by the Empire, and years of backroom maneuvering came to a watershed moment: the tenuous peace which held Skyrim together came unraveled, and Jarls across the land came out to declare their allegiance as Imperial loyalists or Nord sovereigntists. The bulk of the early fighting took place in the northern reaches of Skyrim, through small, indecisive pitched battles in the marches dividing Hjaalmarch and the Pale. At the request of Jarl Elisif of Solitude, the de facto political leader of Skyrim's loyal holds, General Martinus Tullius was appointed as the military governor of Skyrim. He was given a handful of legions and tasked with aiding the Jarls' levies to wrangle this nascent rebellion in its cradle. Tullius marched from Bruma with a large retainer of Imperial Legion conscripts, through the Jerall Mountains. He intended to begin a summer campaign eastward through the Rift. Fortune struck his legions quickly, as his tactical prowess succeeded in catching Ulfric and his personal guard near Darkwater Crossing. He was apprehended and placed in a cart, along with his troops, and sent to the nearby garrison town of Helgen. It was thought, for a brief few days, that by summarily executing the figurehead of the rebellion, the Stormcloaks would lose spirit and quickly surrender. This, of course, was not to be.

As is common knowledge now, Ulfric rode in a cart with his mouth gagged, alongside the prisoner who was later to become the "Last Dragonborn" (according to Nord myth). In the hour preceding his low-key execution by beheading, Alduin appeared from the sky and razed the town to the ground, giving Ulfric and his men a chance to escape. From here, the next months of the war proved a stalemate, as Whiterun declared its neutrality in the conflict. Jarl Balgruuf "the Greater" refused military access to his hold to both the Stormcloaks and the Empire, forcing the war to proceed in the rough terrains of Skyrim's extreme north and south. Neither side was willing to provoke him into taking a firm stance, for fear of driving Whiterun into the opposing camp. However, the Dragonborn was summoned to High Hrothgar by the Greybeards shortly after his first duel with Mirmulnir outside Whiterun. After taking the mantle of Dovahkiin, he swore allegiance to Ulfric, and soon entered the fray of the war. This proved crucial to the Stormcloak war effort, as Ulfric was emboldened by his newfound power in a fellow wielder of Dragon shouts; a capable warrior, even more proficient than him in the use of the Thu'um. Balgruuf was challenged by Ulfric to take a side or face invasion. Faced with this impossible decision, he threw in his lot with the Empire, setting the stage for the Battle of Whiterun. After two days' bloody battle, Whiterun was finally seized by Ulfric's army, with the aid of the Dragonborn himself. The remaining forts of the hold fell in turn, capturing the breadbasket of Skyrim for the rebels.

The newly-invigorated Stormcloak army, bolstered by the support of the Dragonborn, spilled across the plains with a nigh-unstoppable momentum. They carved bloody swathes through the west, a period best characterized by the battle outside Rorikstead. Imperial soldiers had positioned themselves in a pincer formation, intending to lure Ulfric's army into an unwinnable position. Instead, the battle turned into a rout as Nord cavalry swept up from the rear of Tullius' army. The Stormcloak shield-wall on the other side proved insurmountable, and the legion was forced into a hasty and disorganized retreat. The head of Legate Quintus Cipius was mounted on a pike outside Rorikstead as a braggadocious statement after the battle. This momentum was interrupted, for a time, by the summit at High Hrothgar. With the approval of Elisif and Emperor Titus Mede II, Tullius met Ulfric at the Greybeard monastery atop the Throat of the World, with the Dragonborn as mediator. The truce was intended to create a temporary peace in order for the Dragonborn to capture the dragon Odahviing at Dragonsreach, in Whiterun. However, it is generally accepted that the Empire was on the losing side of this ceasefire. Markarth and the Reach were given to the Stormcloaks, in effect surrounding Haafingar and cutting off what supply chains could pass through High Rock. In exchange, the Empire received the Rift, bordering Eastmarch. This proved disadvantageous in the end, as the Jeralls proved mostly impassable to reinforcements from the Nibenay Basin.

Within two months, the Dragonborn had staged his famous fight with Alduin in Sovngarde, ripping his soul apart and saving Tamriel from the dragon threat. The war resumed in short order, however, the time bought by the truce at High Hrothgar was utilized invaluably by Ulfric, who in effect had cut a gash through the Imperial holdings in Skyrim. Falkreath quickly fell, as did Hjaalmarch. Riften, cut off and encircled by Ulfric's army in the north and skirmishing insurgents in the south, surrendered on the sixth day of siege. Within weeks, a concentrated Stormcloak army cut its way through Haafingar, seizing its mountain forts and ransacking the Thalmor Embassy. The last major battle of the war was the Battle of Solitude. I was not present for that tumultuous siege- I had undertaken a three-month sojourn with family in Skingrad. The Stormcloaks ultimately claimed victory in the halls of Castle Dour, where Ulfric, the Dragonborn and General Galmar Stone-Fist did battle with General Tullius and his Legate, Rikke Dagmar. The exact nature of the five-person duel within the castle is unknown, but it is generally accepted that Rikke was felled by the Dragonborn, who gave to Ulfric the honour of finishing a vanquished General Tullius with a blow of his axe. Thus ended the war, and initiated the long process of rebuilding a shattered province.

In the interval between the end of the war, which is when I published the first edition of this book, and now, much has changed. Despite Imperial loyalists holding out in some pockets across the land, what remained of Cyrodiil's presence in Skyrim quickly collapsed. The surrendered legions were permitted an orderly retreat through the Jeralls into Bruma, and within a month the Emperor had declared his intention to commit to a full withdrawal from the oldest province of the Empire, and recognize Skyrim's independence. He had hoped sufficient concessions to Ulfric would help begin a process of reconciliation in order to face the greater threat of the Aldmeri Dominion, but these hopes were dashed weeks later with his assassination at the hands of a Dark Brotherhood agent. The Emperor had come to Skyrim for his cousin's wedding, extending a symbolic olive branch to the newly-installed Stormcloak government. Whether Ulfric had anything to do with his murder in the confines of his ship the Katariah is unknown. The political implications of this killing were massive, though. With no surviving heirs, the Mede dynasty was vanquished and relegated to history. Today, a Potentate rules in the Imperial City with the aid of the Elder Council, a situation not unlike that which the Empire faced after the death of Uriel Septim VII at the close of the Third Era. The already fractious relationship between Cyrodiil and the Kingdoms of High Rock have been further strained, making the Empire's grip on the Breton lords tenuous at best. The Empire is in a dire strait as things stand, though the situation isn't all negative. Ulfric, soon to be crowned High King, has made no secret of his desire to work with the Empire, which now has a free hand to focus on getting its house in order in Cyrodiil instead of continuing to expend large amounts of resources to quell a rebellion in Skyrim. Whether this will prove fruitful to the common goal of eventually defeating the Aldmeri Dominion and restoring Talos worship across Tamriel, is yet to be seen.

And so, dear reader, I leave you armed with a practical understanding of the political reality which currently faces Skyrim. In the time during and after the Civil War, I endeavoured to document its history in a novel way which should prove more authentic than those accounts which have preceded mine. I have titled this work Season Unending, an old Nord term for war. This book serves to tell the tale of a mighty clash of beliefs; one which took place in the streets of Skyrim's cities, in her vast expanses of land, and in the hearts of her people. I do not claim to speak for the common Nord- I am a Colovian, a pious worshiper of the Eight Divines, and ultimately a foreigner to this beautiful land of song and sword. I will present to you a collection of interviews with various people in Skyrim, all of whom had their own small part to play in this fateful epoch. I will conclude this (rather long-winded, admittedly; I have forsaken the brevity and conciseness imposed upon me in drafting the first edition) preface with a short note on the methodology of my documentation.

What you are about to read is an array of interviews, transcribed exactly as they occurred. Uncensored, unedited, and unfiltered. Because this is a documentary work and not a political treatise or other sort of propaganda, I have been granted permission to publish these interviews by the Imperial Bureau of Censors in the Imperial City, with the written approval of the Thalmor Ambassador to Cyrodiil. I am most grateful to be given the privilege to publish this work across Tamriel, in cooperation with White Wolf Publications. Every interview was conducted in a private setting, with only myself, the interviewee, and occasionally my assistant scribe Talian Junius. I give my special thanks to my wife, Alannis, for helping me organize my writings and serving as my editor; Talian Junius, for assisting me in transcribing my interviews; the Cyrodiil Synod, for providing me the magickal technology to accurately document, word-for-word, what was said by the interview subjects; the diligent staff of White Wolf's offices in Solitude and Skingrad, for their unfaltering determination to see that my works reached the light of day; Haytham Rind, Jeanne Delacourt, and Hargrim Ice-Shaper for helping me to get in contact with people across Skyrim whose stories needed to be heard; and finally, to my many innumerable friends whom I have not mentioned, all of them equally important in their encouragement and all of them deserving of praise for helping me to make this dream a reality. Deepest, most heartfelt thanks to all of you. And thank you, dear reader, for choosing to take the time to read my book. I hope you will find it equal parts enlightening, entertaining, and fascinating. Do enjoy.

With sincere love, yours truly,

Valentinian Antario