Winds of the Ashfall: An Elder Scrolls Tale

Greg J Miller

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Chapter 5

Loredas the 27th of Last Seed 4E71 Afternoon

It was still early in the afternoon as Alaron Suvaris returned to his rented room, upstairs at the Baan Malur Oad Inn. In preparation of the next morn, he made some effort to pack away as much as possible into his travelling pack. Except for his weapons and what he'd be wearing, that meant most of what he had with him.

Two of those books that he'd purchased had already been packed away, but he kept the other book out, intending to read from it to pass the remainder of the day.

That tome was entitled, 'Morrowind Absent Tribunal'. From the introduction page inside the cover, it was clear enough that it was intended to represent an historical overview of the Dunmer homeland following the events of the Oblivion Crisis. Though the author's name clearly indicated that he was Dunmer, it was all written in plain Imperial. In fact the tone of it seemed to indicate that the book was more targeted toward readers outside of the homeland, than those within.

In truth, Suvaris might have otherwise hesitated to consider reading a book like that if it had actually been written in Dunmeris. Naturally, he was able to read the language and script of the homeland, but perhaps not nearly as well as some of his ancestors. Even within Morrowind, it seemed that the native tongue of his people had gradually become something of a secondary language.

Since he'd been raised in a small farming community during his formative years, hearing spoken Dunmeris had been more common than seeing it in the written form. Aside from those few times he'd visited Kragenmoor as a child, he'd rarely had reason to read anything written in Dunmeris. His father made effort to ensure that his children could read Dunmeris script, but his mother put more stock in ensuring that they knew how to read and write the common Imperial word. Under the influence of the Septim Empire, the Imperial tongue really had grown far more common over the centuries, in both the spoken word and the written word.

Suvaris had come to hold mixed views over that circumstance. Of course, he was fully aware that many Dunmer of the homeland maintained sustained animosity toward the Empire of Cyrodiil. At least, some of that might have been deserved. Perhaps some other parts of it, a little less so. He'd come to observe that many things were not quite so simple.

Suvaris could see the value in maintaining certain aspects of Dunmer tradition and firmly believed that the past should not be forgotten. At the same time, he was not one of those to believe that the future should be unerringly chained to the past. He believed that the lessons of the past served best to advise the path ahead, rather than constrain it.

He didn't really blame the Empire quite so harshly for failing to properly live up to its aspirations. Certainly, he held his disappointments, but he still recognised that nothing was ever quite so uncomplicated. He understood that Tiber Septim had once sought to unite all of Tamriel under a single banner, with the goal of bringing about an end to widespread conflict across the lands. It might not have worked out quite so perfectly, but he imagined that it might have otherwise been far worse.

Events of the past few decades had already begun to demonstrate the broader wisdom of that particular slant. Though he felt that Emperor Attrebus could be doing far more, he expected that things could be more dire, if he hadn't been trying at all.

Suvaris' perspective had become possibly more informed than some of his fellow Dunmer, who had never ventured much outside the homeland. Some of that arose from personal experience. A great deal of it was derived from what he learned from others. Of course, whenever not involved in training or the pursuit of Guild contracts, his many decades with the Fighters Guild had afforded a great deal of time for reading. Though he was hardly a scholar or the like, Suvaris had become quite well read across a broad spectrum of topics. He wasn't quite sure what he expected to learn from that book he'd acquired, but he'd come to believe that one could never be exposed to too much knowledge.

As he pulled off his boots, Suvaris noted that it was starting to feel uncomfortably warm in that room. With some minor effort, he managed to force the window to shift on its hinges and get it open. The layers of soot clinging to the outside of the glass remained undisturbed. The fresher air coming from outside immediately made some difference. The sounds of some screeching gulls could be heard coming from somewhere over near the docks. Looking outside, he observed that the southern sky did appear to be clearing, with patches of blue interrupting the thinning cloud cover. It seemed likely that the following day would see a return to clear and warm weather, as the last days of summer reasserted their influence.

Suvaris settled into that chair by the window with that book in his hand and started to read. As a starting point, the first part of the book went on to gently lament the loss of the living gods of the Tribunal, pointedly reminding that though Almalexia and Sotha Sil were gone forever, Lord Vivec was only missing. From there, it briefly touched upon the emergence of return to worship of the original Dunmer faith. Of course, that involved the worship of ancestors and those three purported 'good' Daedric Princes, Azura, Mephala and Boethiah. In the eyes of the New Temple, those three Daedra were referred to as 'The Reclamations' and those former gods became labelled as members of the 'False Tribunal'.

A little further into the book, it touched upon the struggles taking place during the Oblivion Crisis of seventy-odd years before. Though the Empire had its hands full dealing with the assassination of an Emperor and the numerous Oblivion gates opening up across all of Cyrodiil, its absence of support within Morrowind during that period was viewed harshly by the Dunmer of the homeland. That was casually acknowledged in the text of the book.

In Morrowind, it was perhaps only some measure of luck that so many of those Oblivion gates had manifested some distance from the most heavily populated centres of the land. However, the Redoran city of Ald'ruhn had been a notable exception. That city had been situated on the western side of the isle of Vvardenfell, about halfway between Red Mountain and the coast.

During the Oblivion Crisis, Ald'ruhn suffered much the same fate as Kvatch in Cyrodiil. The city had been completely overrun by Daedric hordes pouring through the Oblivion gates nearby. The tiny contingent of Legion soldiers at the nearby Buckmoth Legion Fort did not survive to demonstrate the futility of their number. Only relatively few of the citizens of Ald'ruhn escaped the carnage to speak of it.

Much like Kvatch, efforts had been expended to rebuild Ald'ruhn in some fashion after the dust had settled upon the ending of the Oblivion Crisis. Given the prevailing circumstances in Cyrodiil at that time, next to nothing in the way of support came from the Empire. Added to that, the events of the Red Year served to undo those strained efforts to restore Ald'ruhn.

Suvaris had never been to Ald'ruhn before its demise. In fact, he'd only ever set foot upon the isle of Vvardenfell just the once. Upon that occasion, he passed just two days at Vivec City. A Fighters Guild contract had taken him across the Inner Sea, serving as an escort for a simple delivery. After completing that task, he was back upon the mainland, and since that time, circumstances soon saw to it that he would never have another opportunity to see it again.

Though he'd hardly seen any of Vvardenfell, he knew quite a bit of what was there, or rather what had once been there. After pausing on that thought, he continued reading the book to learn what fresh insights might be revealed.

After only a short time, Suvaris began to realise that the book's author was largely telling him much of what he already knew. If fact, he soon began to feel that some of it he actually knew in far better detail than the book was detailing.

After reading the same passage on a page at least three or four times over, his mind began to wander. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, casting his mind back over things he'd previously read some time before.

As he recalled, the vast isle of Vvardenfell had once represented the most densely populated area of all of Morrowind. He understood that there had been perhaps as many people living there as all the rest of the surrounding mainland and lesser islands combined. Vivec City and its immediate surrounds easily hosted the greatest population of Vvardenfell. Not even the great cities of Balmora and Ald'ruhn were said to come quite so close. Though he'd never seen anything beyond Vivec City, he held no reason to doubt that assessment. Of course, he understood that there had been several other localities across the isle, but none quite so heavily populated as Vivec City or those other two cities.

Still, all of that circumstance shifted rather rapidly and markedly just sixty-six years before and it all started at Vivec City, or more the case, just above it. Known alternatively as Baar Dau or the Ministry of Truth, a huge rock hovered above the cantons of the stone city, just as it had done since earlier times, when Lord Vivec was said to have halted its descent from the heavens. Though he'd only seen it from below, he understood that it had been partly hollowed out to serve as a prison for dissidents.

Suvaris didn't know anything about it at the time, but after the disappearance of Lord Vivec, the magic holding that object in place had begun to wane and local mages had contrived other methods to maintain the position of the mighty rock suspended above the ancient city.

Apparently, the machinations of those mages seeking to maintain the delicate circumstances of Baar Dau eventually proved unsustainable.

In the fifth year of the fourth era, the Ministry of Truth resumed its suspended descent and crashed down upon Vivec City with unimaginable force, utterly destroying all in its path. The land shook violently from the impact and the ground-quakes were felt from many leagues away in every direction.

On that day, Suvaris had been on the road, well south of the Inner Sea. His current duties had placed him upon the Mournhold-to-Narsis-to-Kragenmoor route. The trade caravan he was escorting was two-thirds of the way to the southern city of Narsis when they felt the trembling of the ground beneath them.

Without knowing any different, they reasonably expected that the restless mountain near the centre of Vvardenfell was the likely cause. After all, it was known to rumble and grumble and release some smoke and ash from time-to-time. Some of those other fiery mountains of mainland Stonefalls were also known to smoulder, but generally far more quietly than Red Mountain.

During the northward return from Narsis, along the road to Kragenmoor, ashen clouds darkening the distant northern skies seemed to support those earlier suppositions. None of them held any notion of the full extent of what had transpired until some time later.

Reportedly, aside from destroying Vivec City and the surrounding land, the force of the fall of Baar Dau had left a broad crater and opened up fresh lava flows all about those southern parts of that main island, both on land and in the sea. Since that time, the boiling waters and charred shores of that part of the Inner Sea became known only as 'Scathing Bay'. Periodically, fresh lava flows or the like would serve to bring renewed troubles to the region, much like what had occurred only just recently.

The impact of the Ministry of Truth resulted in other more far reaching effects further from where it struck. Though situated many leagues apart, the ground-quakes from that impact had triggered another violent eruption of Red Mountain.

It had been far more than the usual minor rumblings of recent times and more like the catastrophe spoken of during a much earlier time. The third of Sun's Dawn that year came to mark the greatest eruption of the mountain since the time of the first era.

It was known that many parts of the isle near to the mountain had been almost immediately struck down by first rain of molten rock and hot ash. Some parts located a little further afield survived just a little longer, but did not go unscathed. As the ash rained down from above and noxious clouds of gases spread outward, lava flows poured out from the mountain, incinerating everything in its path.

Native Dunmer and outlanders alike, far fewer managed any escape from calamity than the number of those who met their demise during those terrible days. In one way or another, by the end of the following day, the central landmass of Morrowind had become more or less fully depopulated.

By no means had the devastation been limited to the isle of Vvardenfell. Across the narrow waters of the Inner Sea, many other places along the shores and relatively nearby had suffered greatly, as well as some locations situated even much further afield.

Though located far away to the south along the eastern coast of mainland Morrowind, the port city of Tear had suffered from violent ground-quakes. Many parts of the city had been brought down by the devastating tremors. It was likely triggered from the initial event causing far reaching reverberations that affected unstable ground below that southern region.

To the immediate south of the isle of Vvardenfell, the port of Old Ebonheart might have escaped total destruction during the first days of the disaster, even from those unexpected floods from the sea. However, the following rain of ash and drifting clouds of poison had quickly rendered that place uninhabitable at the time. That situation only eased somewhat with the passage of further time.

From what Suvaris understood, a similar circumstance had transpired in that city where he'd been staying for the past week. The city of Blacklight was situated upon a northward-facing bay in the north-western region of mainland Morrowind. To the east, a relatively narrow stretch of land stood between the city and the Inner Sea. Though not terribly high, those hills served as a limited barrier of sorts. Still, the waters separating that eastern peninsular from Vvardenfell were not so broad at that point.

Though Blacklight was not far from the large island, it had not been destroyed outright by the effects of the initial eruption of Red Mountain. It was likely only good fortune and happenstance that more of the mountain's initial blast had been directed upward and northward. Added to that, it was built upon sturdier ground than Tear. If not for that, Blacklight might not have remained standing at all.

He'd heard a number of variations of the tales, but each of them effectively told the same thing. Though the city of Blacklight had been shaken, it had not been violent enough to break it or bring it down. Following the ground-quakes and thundering booms from beyond the visible horizon, the skies began to darken as the distant mountain disappeared behind a blackened cloud. The billowing ash-clouds appeared to rush both upward and northward with some great speed, but seemingly rolled westward far more slowly.

That same day, a great wall of water rushed across the Inner Sea toward the mainland shores. However, it seemed to have expended much of its force before crashing upon the peninsular of land just east of that city. It was not nearly enough to wash over the hills and reach Blacklight. Evidently, someone had witnessed, as it was said to resemble no more than a violent storm-swell by the time that the angry waters crashed upon those shores.

Still, though most parts of Blacklight remained standing, the city had soon been rendered effectively uninhabitable. Firstly by the noxious gas cloud that slowly drifted across the greater region, and secondly by the dark ash that gently rained down upon those lands.

By the time that it had finally reached Blacklight, it was not quite the searing hot ash that had burned much of the isle of Vvardenfell. Nonetheless, the cooler ash that fell across the land had still brought lasting devastation to the region.

During the disaster, the inhabitants of Blacklight and the immediate surrounds were evacuated by whichever means had been quickly available. Some number had escaped by sea, upon whatever vessels had been at port at the time. Many more departed across the land, rushing toward the west. The fortunate few travelled by cart or wagon, or similar method. Many more made their way on foot.

He imagined it was fair to presume that anyone left behind, or else stubbornly choosing to stay behind in the city would have been unlikely to have survived to speak of it.

Some of the sea-going vessels escaping the port had sailed westward for Skyrim. A few travelled northward, bound for the large island of Solstheim. By then, the Imperial port settlement upon the southern coast of that isle was already being evacuated, but the Raven Rock mining settlement to the west was in a better sheltered position. Added to that, that secondary township already hosted a notable Dunmer populace.

Some of those fleeing westward overland made their way for the northern pass into eastern Skyrim. Some gathered in the mountainous highlands of western Morrowind. Some others began to make their way southward with other destinations in mind.

In the immediate aftermath, it was understood that Blacklight remained empty for a short time, blanketed under a liberal coating of soot and ash. At some point, looters had arrived to pick through the city. A brief time passed before a small number of Blacklight's inhabitants came back, then gradually more returned.

Even after the passing of the Red Year, when the skies had cleared somewhat, the state of the land about Blacklight still saw to it that things remained harsh for any of those seeking to return to living in that place.

The difficulty of securing adequate supply of potable water was one problem not easily overcome. Added to that, many crops remained unable to flourish in soils heavily affected by fresh ashfall. Very little could be produced from fields near to the city.

The land situated further off to the west had been only somewhat less affected. Even with the passage of time and adjustment to more ash-tolerant crops, it seemed that sea-going trade vessels became an increasingly important part of sustaining the modest populace of that city.

Above all of that, the restless threat from the distant mountain remained. Though Red Mountain had settled somewhat, no longer regularly spewing forth bursts of molten rock into the sky, it continued to lazily drip lava flows down its sides and smoulder in a menacing fashion. As such, billowing ash-clouds above the mountain tended to wax and wane, but seemed rarely absent for very long. Even many years afterward, during certain conditions and easterly winds, sooty clouds of light ash would sometimes still drift over the city of Blacklight, adding to existing hardships as the mountain reminded all of its presence.

Of course, Suvaris was also well aware of that other great calamity which afflicted Morrowind beyond the earlier days of the Red Year. Though it might have later seemed somewhat futile, a great deal of recovery effort had been expended before that other terrible circumstance came to pass.

Following the destruction that laid waste to Vvardenfell and localities nearest to the isle, many of those who were able soon became involved in assisting the survivors of the primary disasters. Once word had spread, some number of Dunmer currently living outside of Morrowind had begun to return to the homeland to assist. Though they did not act at all alone, House Redoran had been instrumental in leading the relief efforts out of the former capital of Mournhold.

For a relatively brief period of time, the outer city surrounding the inner temple city of Mournhold swelled with the populace of refugees from nearby regions. To the west, places like the ancient township of Bodrum also ended up with a temporarily swollen populace. A similar thing occurred with other small settlements across the land. A great many sought refuge over in Kragenmoor and some number fled southward to Narsis; both places still tenuously under House Hlaalu at that time.

By bloodline, Alaron Suvaris never truly belonged to any of the Great Houses of Morrowind, nor even any of those lesser ones seeking to rise. At most, he'd lived under their broader influence as fortunes shifted about him. During his youth, those things were mostly matters far above his own station. Nonetheless, even back then he held at least some general awareness of the broader detail of it.

Even when the land itself had turned against them, it seemed that the ruling houses of Morrowind still failed to rise far above certain matters of self-interest. House Redoran had lost significant holdings in the destruction of Vvardenfell. Before that, the Redoran city of Ald'ruhn had been all but lost to the devastation of Daedric incursion during the Oblivion Crisis. However even after that event, House Redoran had still managed to possess the closest thing to a standing army in the homeland. Though the surviving Redoran forces had been deployed to drive the relief efforts, it did really seem as though other political motivations were not completely ignored.

During that fresh crisis, some criticism had been levelled toward House Telvanni for not contributing nearly enough to the efforts. Though participating in the relief efforts, House Indoril had also been the target of such sentiment for somewhat different reasons. Even during such dire circumstances, there were some zealots of House Indoril who seemed to hold fervent piety above matters of practicality.

Though in a notably lesser position of influence, House Dres appeared motivated to contribute as best it could. Given that its remaining holdings were primarily rural farming communities, House Dres did actually have something of great value to contribute at that time.

By then, House Hlaalu no longer enjoyed the staunch support of Imperial backing and had lost significant holdings from the destruction across Vvardenfell, but it still employed some effort to be part of the relief process. Food, water and safe-harbour were the greatest assets of those days, and like House Dres, House Hlaalu could provide for some of that.

Of course, very little assistance came directly from the Imperial province during that time. The sting of the Oblivion Crisis only five years before also remained fresh in the minds of native Dunmer. Much of the forces of the Imperial Legion had been withdrawn from Morrowind back then and there had been little opportunity for subsequent replacement with all the ongoing troubles elsewhere. In parts of Morrowind, that circumstance had been both welcomed and derided in somewhat equal measure.

Since the death of the last Emperor on the Ruby Throne, Potentate Ocato had been struggling to maintain the Elder Council and retain some hold upon the Septim legacy, but other forces were working hard to undermine such intent. Some of those forces both within and without were easy enough to identify. Some others remained hidden from clear view for a time.

Following the Oblivion Crisis, the Argonian rebellion in Black Marsh had resulted in that province fully seceding from the Empire at a time when it was in no position of strength to oppose that action. At the same time, following the assassination of the Mane, the Kingdoms of Elsweyr had already begun to splinter that province. One by one, each of those parts of the whole had been breaking away to declare independence and seemingly concentrate upon fighting one another.

Of course at that time, the internal strife upon the Summerset Isles had yet to fully arrive at its ultimate destination, but it was already creating notable problems for the struggling Empire.

In the wake of the resolution of the Oblivion Crisis, the Thalmor clans had risen to prominence within the governing body of the Altmer homelands and had begun a campaign of sewing unrest both within and without. The trading ports had been closed off to vessels from outside the southern isles and the first steps had begun of a more sinister move to purge the homeland of those not of Altmer blood.

Though the Summerset Isles had yet to officially make any declaration of intent to break from the Empire, the actions of the rulers of that province had already begun foreshadow what lay not so far ahead.

Even within Cyrodiil, the counties of Bravil and Leyawiin had disrupted the unity of the central province. The counts of both those cities had vocally opposed the elevation of the High Chancellor to serve as Potentate in the absence of a suitable heir to the Septim rule.

None of that directly affected the events which unfolded within Morrowind, except of course that the Empire which struggled for so long to impose its will upon that land was notably absent when it came time to provide greatly needed assistance.

During that time of great need, Morrowind found itself largely on its own with woefully limited resources. Even though a number of Dunmer had streamed back to the homeland, what might have really made far more difference would have been greater assistance from the Empire, were there any to provide. The meagre Legion presence which remained at just a few locations across mainland Morrowind hardly qualified.

As the Dunmer homeland was still in the process of struggling to recover and rebuild, another great crisis plagued the broken lands. The appellation of The Red Year came not only from the eerie glow from Red Mountain during the hazy skies of those months. Before the full passing of one year, several regions of the mainland saw the spilling of even more Dunmer blood. That matter was something that he knew far too well.

With a sudden start, Suvaris realised that several hours had just skipped by as he sat in that chair. Setting the open book down upon the small table, he looked out the window, noting that the partially obscured sun was quite near to setting.

He rose from the chair with a huffy sigh of annoyance. He'd intended to go take an evening meal before it became busy downstairs. He understood that he might have left it a little too late to avoid having to negotiate a boisterous crowd. Wasting no further time, he hurriedly pulled on his boots and headed for the door, locking it behind himself, before going downstairs to the tavern.

~O~