Elder Kings AAR - The Way Life Should Be.

[KlinkerFyren]

So this is going to be my first AAR, tell me if its good or not and so on. For music I recommend the Skywind ost its quite good, just search for "Skywind ost" on youtube and a playlist will come up. Now without further ado!

THE WAY LIFE SHOULD BE - THE LIBERATION OF MORROWIND.

 

[stnylan]

Welcome to AAR writing. I hope you enjoy yourself.

Always nice to see another Elder Scrolls AAR.

 

[Levgar]

its been forever since I've read a Elder kings AAR. I'm excited to read this one.

 

[KlinkerFyren]

THE WAY LIFE SHOULD BE - CHAPTER I: Four Certainties, One Path.

The Ashlands where once the people of Veloth were free to live and roam as they saw fit.

There were four things Ulath-Pal knew with absolute certainty. The first was that life was harsh for his people. Unlike the soft weak Dunmer of the Great Houses, who lived in the lap of luxury in fertile lands with hordes of slaves to tend to their every need, the Ashlands of the Urshilaku gave nothing for free. Every meal had to be earned, every season was a struggle to survive. The second thing he knew was that in the Ashlands a mer will only posses what he takes by his own hand. His father had taught him this lesson first hand when he seized the lands of Maar Gan for the Tribe.

Chief Hairan despite being a bookish mer had managed to rally the Tribe to seize the lands of Maar Gan for themselves.

His father had lead the Urshilaku to victory in driving several minor tribes and bandit clans from Maar Gan. Though costly and bloody the victory had allowed the Urshilaku to settle Maar Gan with their own people. His fathers conquest had secured new lands for their people and during Hairan's long rule, the Urshilaku had grown plentiful and becoming the Ashlander tribe with the largest amount of warriors.
The third thing Ulath-Pal knew was that his people would never be safe as long as Vvardenfell was under the rule of the False Gods of the Tribunal.

Another example of the folly of the Great Houses, letting themselves be enslaved by a soft-hearted weak priest-king.

For ages the Archcanons of the Tribunal Temple had worked the will of the False Gods, robbing the Dunmer people to fund the seemingly endless construction of elaborate temple cities dedicated to glorification of the Tribunal God-Kings. The Archcanon would collect tithes from the Great Houses as well as conscripting their people to enforce the will of the Tribunes in their armies or building their ziggurats. Whilst the current Archcanon of the Tribunal Temple had been contented to leave the Ashlanders alone and focus on building projects in Vivec City, Ulath-Pal knew this peace would not last. The current favorite to replace the Archcanon was a greedy mer who had used his fair appearance and mastery of magicka to worm his way through the Tribunal hierarchy.

Canon Midari would surely be the doom of the Urshilaku.

Among the people of the Great Houses there where nothing as low as a houseless mer. Despite this Midari had managed to claw his way to up the Tribunal food chain. Not only managing to be confirmed as a Canon, a potential successor to the current Archcanon. But also gaining control of the Baar Dau, the Ministry of Truth and its Ordinator Inquisitors. In addition to this he had gain much sway over Archcanon Farwill working as his chief architect, rumors said that even Vivec the Lying God knew his name. By all accounts he was now favored to replace Archcanon Farwill, whether it would be sooner or later only time would tell, Canon Midari was certainly patient enough to bide his time and not risk loosing his hard won position by trying anything stupid. But eventually Ulath-Pal, suspected, Canon Midari would turn his greedy eyes to the Ashlands and what little wealth his people possessed.
The last thing Ulath-Pal knew was that his people were dying. As long as his people's sacred and ancient traditions were continually being eroded away, they would have no future.

More blind servants of the False Gods arrive each day. Their eyes shall be torn open to reveal the falsehoods upon which they have built their houses.

Each year the Temple sponsored the building of Temple settlements on Vvardenfell. The Temple had even allowed the Great Houses to build their own settlements and strongholds, removing the tribes that had lived in those lands for ages beyond counting and banishing them into the more hostile and desolate parts of Vvardenfell. Ulath-Pal knew this would be the end of their people eventually.

However the final disgrace came when the Temple banned slavery within its territories.

The Temple makes a mockery of the ancient rights of the Dunmer.

Slavery had always been a part of Dunmeri society. Since time immemorial the Dunmer had captured the beastly races of Black Marsh, Elsweyr and the Kingdoms of Men to serve their betters. Among the Ashlanders it there had always been a strong tradition of enslaving defeated warriors and stealing wives and the fact that the Temple outlawed it only within the territories of Vvardenfell and Necrom, but not the lands of the Great Houses, was a clear signal that the Temple was on a clear collision course with the Ashlanders. Ulath-Pal thought to himself that his could only be the work of the wicked Canon Midari, seeking to provoke a conflict with the tribes, likely to create a pretense for seizing their lands.
To save his people Ulath-Pal would have to walk the path of blood and sorrow. The path of Boethiah.

Many will suffer, but the People shall endure.

And as Boethiah cast down Trinimac in ages past, so shall the Urshilaku cast down the serpents of the Temple! For Boethiah! For Nerevar!

 

[KlinkerFyren]

THE WAY LIFE SHOULD BE - CHAPTER II: A Sad Sate of Affairs.

The Ashlanders were not strong enough to openly rebel against the Temple. That much was obvious. Whilst the leaders of the Temple had never been great warlords and despite the warriors of the Temple being vastly outnumbered by the Ashlander tribes, brute force were not the true strength of the Temple. Indeed Ulath-Pal had knew that the true strength of the Temple was twofold, firstly their wealth. The tithes drawn from the Great Houses, whilst nominally earmarked for building temples for the Almsivi and tending to the sick and poor, could potentially also be used to employ hundreds of foreign mercenaries. In fact Ulath-Pal had heard from passing travelers that the Archcanon himself had disputed six hundred foreign mercenaries, in addition to his regular Ordinator forces, to the Dres-Argonian borderlands.

The beasts will suffer for their arrogance.
An Argonian warlord had arisen from among his brothers to lead their tribe. Spreading lies that the Dunmer were weak and now was the time to strike and liberate occupied Argonian lands. The fool's had deceived his people into a crusade of folly. They could never win against the combined forces of the Temple and House Dres.

This one's weakness allows beasts to rampage across his lands.
Had it not been for the intervention of the Temple, House Dres might very well have lost the war against the Argonians. The Dres were lead by a sickly cruel coward, barely able to hold back the tide of savage Argonians. But the Argonians and the Dres were faraway. Ulath-Pal had more immediate concerns closer to home.

The Ahemmusa Chieftain cannot be trusted.
The Ahemmusa Chief Assamanut was well know for his two-faced nature. Styling himself was a devote follower of the ways of Alandro Sul, harbinger of the truth of the Ashlander ways. Yet also being famed for his elaborate lies and greedy nature. In fact he was infamous for inviting travelers into his camp, only to murder them in their sleep, taking their possessions for himself. However it was also his greedy nature that allowed the Temple to easily control him. The Archcanon having bribed him by putting the town of Gnisis under his control. The Ahemmusa Chief could not be relied upon to lend any significant aid in Ulath-Pal quest to drive the Temple from Vvardenfell.

An impious mer who questions the nature of the gods and impotently desires all that he cannot have.
The Zainab were the weakest of the tribes. Being unable to stop the encroachment of Telvanni settlements in the Grazelands. Their Chief Zainat had grown bitter and cynical from his dealings with the Telvanni. They had originally come promising wealth and trade to benefit the Zainab, but over time as more settlers arrived tribute and trade from the Telvanni ceased. Now almost half of the Grazelands were under Telvanni rule. When the truth dawned on the Zainab Chief Zainat was powerless to reverse the trend. But Chief Zainat was a proud mer and would enviously eye the town of Vos and the stronghold of Tel Mora desiring for himself. Perhaps, Ulath-Pal thought to himself, his envy could levied against the Great Houses and the Temple, indeed with the right amount of familial bonds between the Urshilaku and the Zainab they could even be made into useful allies in the wars to come.

A hound of the False Gods, a traitor to his own kind.
Much worse off were the Erabenimsun. As a child Erur-Dan had been captured by the Ordinators whilst hunting and brought to the Temple fortress of Molag Mar. There he had been forcefully converted to the faith of the false Almsivi. To Ulath-Pal Chief Erur-Dan was a portent of future misfortunes that would befall his people unless he acted against the Temple. However despite his Almsivi convictions Erur-Dan was still Erabenimsun and thus a warrior-chief. He sought power and glory in the battlefield and had even taken to lead the Temple armies in the Dres campaign to repel the Argonian attack against southern Morrowind. Perhaps, Ulath-Pal thought to himself, this was in order to ingratiate himself with the Archcanon so that the Erabenimsun would be granted the fortress of Molag Mar. It was after all no secret that the ambitious Chief Erur-Dan desired the easily defended and strategically positioned temple-fortress for himself. Regardless the Erabenimsun could not be counted upon to aid in the liberation of Vvardenfell, their Almsivi inclinations made them too much of a gamble to rely upon when the time came. However before such a liberation could commence Ulath-Pal would require two things, strength and wealth. Wealth would be acquired by launching raids into the lands of the civilized Dunmer, sacking their encroaching settlements and taking their wealth as booty for the tribe. More elusive was strength. Lands could be seized from the Temple settlements around Vvardenfell, but strength of numbers would also go so far. True strength came from knowledge of the ways of war. So when the Archcanon offered a position as Marshall of the Temple forces in Vivec City Ulath-Pal accepted.

We shall wait patiently. Gathering knowledge of their armies before striking.
Whilst Ulath-Pal's days would mostly be spend on the outskirts of Vivec City, training the Ordinator and city militia forces, his newfound position did allow him access to the Library of Vivec in the Temple Canton.

Reman Son of the West might very well have been the greatest human warlord to ever walk the face of Nirn.

The book "The Wars of Reman: Logistic Supremacy and its Practical Applications." was very fascinating to the tribal Ulath-Pal. Traditionally Ashlanders foraged when on longer raids however "The Wars of Reman" argued that such tactics slowed armies down too much, allowing for enemies to catch them unprepared and possibly too hungry to fight. So when Ulath-Pal sent a message to the Urshilaku in the Ashlands to launch a raid upon the Telvanni town of Dagon Fell, Ulath-Pal made sure to include instructions to bring enough food to last them several days before marching out.

Muthsera Ethal Demnevanni was sadly unprepared for the Urshilaku raid.

The sacking of Dagon Fell was a roaring success. With the supplies the Urshilaku brought with them, there was no need to stop in order to forage and hunt. This allowed the tribal raiders to move swiftly and undetected to the town itself. Without the raiders being detected had no knowledge of their coming and therefore Muthsera Demnevanni had not gathered supplies for a siege and after three weeks and no sight of a Telvanni army coming to their rescue she was forced to surrender the town to the raiders, who in return for being allowed to strip the town of anything of value promised to leave thereafter. The Urshilaku swiftly took possession of the settlements gold and silver before quickly returning home to the Urshilaku camp. It was better that way least they be slaughtered when Telvanni forces finally did arrive. Whilst the Telvanni and the Temple had always had strained relations, owning to the Telvanni distaste for worshiping beings other than themselves, Ulath-Pal knew it was too dangerous to press his luck by raiding their lands too much. Least they begin putting pressure on the Archcanon to put an end the increasingly warlike Urshilaku. No, it would be better Ulath-Pal thought to himself that the next raid target lands further away from the gaze of the Temple and the Great Houses. To this end he praised the foresight of his father Hairan who in his latter years had ordered the construction of a small shipyard in a inlet in the northern parts of the Ashlands. Ulath-Pal had heard many tales of the wealth of the Kraken-Men of Quey in the East. He quietly wondered what strange sights the Urshilaku would see in such distant lands

 

[Crusader Enthusiast]

very nice!

 

[stnylan]

Nicely portrays his point of view, and how Ulath-Pal sees himself in a some apocalyptic situation.

 

[KlinkerFyren]

Nicely portrays his point of view, and how Ulath-Pal sees himself in a some apocalyptic situation.

Thanks. I figured that a guy who had spend his entire as a tribal in the Ashlands with could easily see his struggle against the Temple as a mystical struggle between the righteous faithful and the false, weak and wicked Temple Dunmer. His world view is a bit........ limited? One could say. While he might acquire more knowledge about the world, it will always be viewed from his tribal ashlander perspective.
That is also why I called the AAR "The Way Life Should Be" its about him making the world more as it should be in his mind.

 

[KlinkerFyren]

THE WAY LIFE SHOULD BE - CHAPTER III: The Kraken-Men of Quey.

The second biggest navy in all of Morrowind, only the Telvanni could boast superior numbers.
The Urshilaku fleet was the strongest among all of the Ashlanders. It had always been a point of pride for Ulath-Pal that even the Temple could not match his ships. As a matter of fact the it had always puzzled Ulath-Pal that the Temple did not invest in a greater fleet. However speaking with merchants of Vivec City revealed why. When the Temple transported troops from their holdings in Necrom to reinforce their grasp on Vvardenfell the recruits were fed, housed and outfitted at the expense of House Indoril. The Indoril saw the Temple hounds as holy pilgrims who could not be refused housing, food and holy armaments for their future duties. This only confirmed what Ulath-Pal knew about the House Dunmers, that they were weak obedient fools deceived into mindless servitude to the Temple and its corrupt leaders.

Fool! The ash-vampires of Vvardenfell serve the Sharmat and live beyond the Ghostfence.
Ulath-Pal's tenure as Marshal of Vivec City was becoming increasingly intolerable. The Temple appointed mayor of the St. Olms Canton had come to Ulath-Pal claiming that a young priestess in the Temple was a vampire. Ulath-Pal was very skeptical of his claims. Among the Urshilaku it was well know that the ash-vampires of Vvardenfell served the Sharmat at Red Mountain and were all exclusively male. Ulath-Pal explained that since she was a woman and lived in Vivec City she could clearly not be a ash-vampire. Sadly Mayor Lliram did not see this as an acceptable answer and demanded that Ulath-Pal help him with a mad plot at murder the poor woman. Gesturing wildly, spitting everywhere and calling for the woman's death Ulath-Pal realized the poor mer was mad, possessed by an evil spirit. Unfortunately Ulath-Pal was not a wise-woman can could therefore not exorcise the evil from the mer's soul, instead he had his guards remove him from the barracks. Ulath-Pal looked on as the mad mayor ran through the streets raving about blood eating monsters to passersby. Truly a sad sight to behold, if only the lore of the Ashlanders not been kept from the settled Dunmer by the Temple, every Dunmer would know the difference between ordinary people and the ash-vampires of Red Mountain.

Not the warrior son that Ulath-Pal had prayed for, but luckily still young enough to learn.
Ulath-Pal's son Ainab was chosen to lead the Urshilaku warriors to the east. Although Ainab was not a great warrior like his father, he was nonetheless like among the tribe for his generous and honest ways. He had spend more of his earlier years among the tribes traders, accompanying them when they journeyed to the lands of the settled peoples for market days. In the best traditions of the Velothi he never made a purchase if the omens were ill. However he had yet to be tested in the ways of war, which was why Ulath-Pal had instructed him to lead the raid against the Quey. Hopefully he would mark himself as a leader of mer so that Ulath-Pal could consider him a worthy successor.

The Rebellion of the Rabbit Lords would devastate the Redoran lands.
In Vivec City the latest news was that three lords of the proud Redoran had risen in revolt against Archmaster Rothis. Muthsera Ginur of Aldera, Muthsera Maner of Silgard and Muthsera Mervis of Comaris had revolted against the Archmaster of the Redoran after a series of slights against the three lords. Archmaster Rothis had angered Muthsera Ginur of Aldera when he had petitioned the Temple to annul the marriage between Ginur's daughter Bilsa and his brother Threvul on the grounds that such an incestuous relations was a pollution of the Dunmer bloodlines and a affront to common Temple morality. Unfortunately for Archmaster Rothis the petition asking for the annulment was intercepted when the ship carrying it was wrecked in a storm near Almhold, along the Sea of the Bitter Coast, and the letter found in a strongbox among the wreckage by Muthsera Ginur's men. Archmaster Rothis had made an enemy of Muthsera Maner of Silgrad when he openly criticized him, during a feast in Blacklight, for failing to effectively stop Nord raiders from pillaging the area around Lake Hlaalu long the Skyrim-Morrwind border. Rumors said that Muthsera Maner had even collaborated with the Nords, taking a cut of their pillage in return for not opposing them, in order to fund his vain and licentious lifestyle. Being openly humiliated and shamed like this had infuriated Muthsera Maner and he had immediately left the feast to plot retribution. Muthsera Mervis had always been a patient and trusting mer. So when he journeyed to Blacklight to propose a marriage between his sister Lladsa and son of the Archmaster, Theldyn, he had assume that such a reasonable request would be met. However in court Prince Theldyn had mocked the less than fair appearance of Lladsa before striking Muthsera Mervis in full view of the court. The Archmaster did not intervene nor punish his son for his outrageous behavior. Rebellion soon followed as the three lords rose against Archmaster Rothis. In the early days of the rebellion the three lords had imported a strange breed of creature from the West called a "Rabbit". Curious creatures who the lords had trained to carry messages over long distances, or so the rumors in Vivec City said anyway, thus the war in popular naming became the Rebellion of the Rabbit Lords.

In the lands of Quey men pray to the Four Corners of the House of Troubles.
Quey was a strange land. There the men worshiped only the Bad Daedra of the House of Troubles. They gave great importance to the appearance of sea monsters like the Kraken, considering those to be a omen of blessed times to come. As Ainab's warriors laid siege to a city which the natives called Sassari, he had ample time to interrogate the locals about their strange ways. Apparently if a man, engaged to be wed, saw a harpy in the sky he was by tradition to take his beloved to temple so they could be married immediately so as to prevent the harpy from claiming the man as her own. Furthermore among the Quey a order of hermit monks existed who would watch the tides in order to scry the fates of mortal men, carving these prophecies into the naked rock of the islands as a testament to the inevitability of fate. However the most disturbing rumor that Ainab heard was that apparently on the outer islands of Quey, there lived a race of tall golden-skinned mer who styled themselves as Velothi. Ainab dismissed this as lies and fanciful imaginations. Like any good Ashlander he knew the old tales of the Nerevarine Cult, of how Azura had cursed the Chimer to become Dunmer after the False Gods of the Temple had betrayed her chosen, the Hortator Nerevar at Red Mountain. Obviously there could not exist any Chimer anymore since they had all become Dunmer. Instead he reasoned that rather than being Chimer, the outer islands of Quey had to be inhabited by shape shifting monsters who assumed the guise of the ancient Chimer to frighten their enemies. However just to be safe he forbade his warriors from going to these outer islands, better to be safe than sorry when it came to shape shifting monsters.

The campaigns of Reman, Light of the West, continued to be a source of inspiration for Ulath-Pal.
In Vivec City the situation had lighten somewhat. Having received word from his good friend and close confidant Assantus had improved Ulath-Pal's mood. In the absence of both Ulath-Pal and his son Ainab, Assantus had taken to watching over the Urshilaku in his capacity as the most skilled sorcerer among the tribe and head priest of the Nerevarine Cult among the Urshilaku. Ulath-Pal had always considered Assantus to be one of the most reliable of his tribesmen. His quick wit was only matched by zealous commitment to the faith and traditions of his people. The tribe had undertaken a number of great hunts over the last month and had even managed to make a bit of gold selling their spare chitin in the markets of Gnisis. Ulath-Pal himself had enjoyed several good months of peace and quiet. The training of the city militia of Vivec City had progressed slowly. He saw no need to teach them anything besides the most basic elements of warfare. Since Ulath-Pal was certain that the militia would inevitably be turned against the Ashlander people, he purposefully kept the more useful aspect of war from the city militia. To at least nominally fulfill the duties of his office he had trained them in basic spear wall formations and had them patrol the areas around the city. Fortunately these days the patrols and drills of the militia could be delegated to senior members of the militia itself, allowing Ulath-Pal to spend his time studying the war manuals in the Library of Vivec. While the library had many such books, most of them were unfortunately Temple approved books and as such they usually stressed faithfulness and the divine intervention of the Almsivi as the deciding factor in winning a battle. However a passage in the book "Lives of the Saints" did catch Ulath-Pal's eye. It accounted how a Almsivi saint had stopped a battle using only her piety. It had Ulath-Pal wonder if perhaps in future wars he should employ women dressed as Almsivi saints on the battlefield to cause confusion, maybe it could even result in the Temple soldiers throwing down their arms refusing to slaughter saints, leaving them as easy targets for his tribesmen. It was something to consider at least. Ulath-Pal had instead taken to buy imported war manuals in the Foreign Canton from the West. In particular he had learned much from a book called "The Breaking of Evermore: Reman's Greatest Triumph Reexamined" . The book detailed how, whilst Reman Cyrodiil's legionaries had taken the city's walls by storm, the true breaking of Evermore came when he had their captured king executed by having him be devoured by a monster called a "bear" in full view of the city's defenders. Having broken their morale the city war easy to overrun. Ulath-Pal had no desire to ever encounter one of these horrific bear creatures, he did however wonder if a herd of hungry nix-hounds eating a city's leader could produce a similar effect. These were important lessons for the future. However the current peace on Vvardenfell would not last, Ulath-Pal did not know it at the time, but war was coming to the island.

 

[WildPeacock]

Very nice, keep them coming!

 

[KlinkerFyren]

THE WAY LIFE SHOULD BE - CHAPTER IV: The Dissident Rebellion.

Ulath-Pal would have joined Anasour as a brother-in-arms and helped him to cast out to the Temple if not for their tribal and religious disagreements.
Among the Ashlanders there were obviously from time to time tribesmen who violated the codes of honor that held their society together. When such a violation occurred it was custom to cast them out into the wilds to suffer Boethiah's judgement, alone. Over time this naturally created a subculture among the Ashlanders of exiled tribesmen. Often these would congregate and form smaller tribes of their own. Often they would simply seek residence within the settled lands of the Temple and Great Houses. However in recent years a great number of exiles had congregated in the areas around Ald'ruhn. Whilst the Ahemmusa nominally ruled these lands, there were few actual Ahemmusa living in them and rather than banishing the growing number of exiles or incorporating them into the Ahemmusa tribe, Chief Assamanut had instead been content to collect tribute from the exiles for the privilege of living in his lands. When no tribute could be found among the exiles he would instead take some of them as slaves and sell them on the market of Gnisis. Eventually tensions had boiled over and a warrior-poet had arisen among the exiles. Calling them to armed rebellion against the Temple and to crush the Ashlander tribes who had spurned and mistreated them, styling themselves the Dissident Ashlanders. Opposed to both the tribes and the Temple they would unleash bloody war upon Vvardenfell. This could not have come at a worse time.

Chief Erur-Dan's beloved Vivec did not come his aid on the battlefield.
With the Temple's armies tied up in aiding House Dres and Redoran with their respective conflicts, the Archcanon instead decreed that the Great Houses of Telvanni, Indoril and Hlaalu would send their armies to defeat the Dissident Ashlanders. On Vvardenfell Chief Erur-Dan 'the Hound of the False Gods' was put in charge of the islands remaining Ordinator forces as well as rallying his own Erabenimsum tribal warriors. As the weeks dragged on several hundreds more joined Anasour's rebellion numbering now more than three thousand strong. Chief Erur-Dan met up with Ahemmusa forces sent to recapture Ald'ruhn and met the Dissident Ashlanders in open battle. Having been trained in the Temple way of warfare Erur-Dan believed the faith of his Ordinators and the tenacity of his tribal warriors would carry the day. Unfortunately, for him, the Dissidents quickly overwhelmed them and broke their lines. Slaughtering four hundred of the five hundred warriors under his command. Putting his faith in a false god on the field of battle was foolish Ulath-Pal thought to himself when he heard the news. However in the lands of the Temple such foolishness is rewarded, not punished. The wounded Erur-Dan had been transported to Vivec City for healing and a week after his arrival a letter had come from the Archcanon himself. Several months prior to the rebellion the Archcanon had, during a religious ceremony in the High Fane, received a vision wherein he lead the armies of the faithful to triumph against the heathen Argonians. So he announced that he would lead the Temple armies in Black Marsh himself, Ulath-Pal had quietly at the time wished the Archcanon would march his armies over a cliff and fall into the sea. But now a letter from Archcanon Farwill had arrived, it was read aloud in the halls of the High Fane for all the members of the court, including the wounded Erur-Dan who had been carried into the hall on a chitin stretcher. It announced two things, firstly that he was returning from the Black Marsh campaign and secondly that Erur-Dan for his valiant stand at Ald'ruhn would be named Regent of Vvardenfell. After the announcement was made Erur-Dan declared that even in his wounded state he would accept the responsibility with grace and honor. He then proceeded to lead the Temple priests in prayer for the swift and safe arrival of the Archcanon. Ulath-Pal quietly left the assembly.

Oh great Boethiah grant me strength and guile to strike down Erur-Dan in your name!
Ulath-Pal left the High Fane fuming with anger. Not only had that traitorous heretic Erur-Dan botched the battle at Ald'ruhn, but now that idiot Farwill would reward him for his incompetence with stewardship over Vvardenfell in his absence. Intolerable! Unacceptable! Arriving beneath the St. Delyn Canton, in a ruined and disused service tunnel, Ulath-Pal knelt before a shrine of Boethiah. He had discovered the ruined service tunnel months before and had built himself a discrete, if humble, shrine to Boethiah there. Ulath-Pal had carved a wooden icon of Boethiah grasping a three-headed serpent and upon each of the serpents heads were carved the symbols of the False Gods. In that dark place Ulath-Pal swore he would one day drag Erur-Dan before Boethiah's alter and spill his traitor's blood for the glory of the Prince of Plots!

While the Archcanon was nominally in charge of the Temple army, most tactical decisions were left to the more experience Chief Zainat of the Zainab.
Little over a month later the Archcanon finally arrived with his forces. During that time Ulath-Pal had been assigned by Erur-Dan to hastily improve the defenses of Vivec City, in case the Dissident army marched on the city itself. Ulath-Pal had erected barricades all around the city, allowing for the town militia and remaining Ordinators to fight whilst also being able to fall back to the next line of defense in case they would be overwhelmed. Ulath-Pal had contemplated leaving vital openings and gaps in the city's defense and sending word to the Dissident Army about these before abandoning it. Granted as the city's marshal blamed would inevitably be placed at his feet and his timely disappearance would certainly reveal his guilt. However it was a pleasant thing to fantasize about. Ulath-Pal liked to imagine, that as the High Fane burned, Vivec would step out of his palace and despair at the sight of his holy city being destroyed. Only for Ulath-Pal to emerge from the shadows and thrust his blade between Vivecs ribs and quietly whisper in his ear "For Nerevar". Such idly fantasies aside Ulath-Pal's defensive barricades would never see any use as the Dissident Army marched north to bring ruin to the Ahemmusa.

True Ashlanders never break. Anasour was weak, unworthy to even be mentioned in the same category as the Urshilaku. He was found dead in his cell, murdered, a few days after the Archcanon's entry into Vivec City.
As the Dissident Army ravaged the West Gash and occupied the city of Gnisis the united and reformed Temple army smash into Anasour's forces at the Battle of Gnisis. Apparently Anasour had been captured in the early hours of fighting and brought before the Chief Zainat of the Zainab. Following his capture the Dissident Army had quickly surrendered. However many of the Dissidents had fled into the wilds of the West Gash, continuing to fight as partisans throughout the region. The Temple army stay in the area for a few months hunting down these last remnants. Archcanon returned to Vivec City in triumph, holding a massive religious procession throughout the city with Anasour being lead into the city bound by one hundred chains covering most of his body. Archcanon Farwill was even granted a brief audience with his false god Vivec 'the Spawn of Infinite Untruths'. Ulath-Pal did not partake of these celebrations. Having caught a bad case of Dampworm and he spend the next months in bed recovering. However even in his sickness he knew that this was not the time to remain still, the next phase of his plans required a large amount of gold and to that end he would send word for his son Ainab to assemble a party of tribal warriors and journey into the West. To raid and pillage in the lands of men. Ainab would have to travel to the lands of the savage barbarians of Skyrim.

 

[KlinkerFyren]

Very nice, keep them coming!

It really is quite motivating to know people like them. After AAR one I might just do another one. Been think about something lines of "House Dres's Bizarre Adventure". Were in a minor noble of House Dres migrates into the Quey islands, marries a nice Chimer girl, learns the ways of her people and creates a Chimer Dres Empire in Akavir.

 

[stnylan]

I rather like Ulath-Pal's perspectives on bears. A little little bit of verisimillitude to enhance his perspectives.

 

[Levgar]

Will you continue after Ulath-Pals death, playing as his son? or will the AAR end? That's if he dies.

Awesome chapter by the way!

 

[KlinkerFyren]

THE WAY LIFE SHOULD BE - CHAPTER V: Skyrim in Ashes.

The Urshilaku Wise Women had chosen a good wife for Ainab.
Among the Urshilaku it was custom for the Wise Women of the tribe to arrange marriages, after several days of consultation with the spirits of the Urshilaku ancestors obviously. Important decisions life altering decisions would rarely be undertaken without their approval. Marriage was a most serious matter among the Urshilaku, in order for the right pairing to be achieved the movement of the stars would also have to be consulted. That Ainab had been born under the sign of the Lady meant that he would need a wife born under a complementary sign for a harmonious union. Chief Ulath-Pal's and Chieftess Shullay, born under the Mage and the Ritual respectively, had their union arranged under similar celestial interpretations. A mage works wonders with his magicka, but without proper rituals there cannot be any magic in the first place. Ainab's new wife Assi was born under the sign of the Lord. A fortuitous sign, lord and lady ruling the lands as one. Ulath-Pal had been especially favorable towards this match when he learned that Assi too was a devout worshiper of Lord Boethiah. In Vivec City he had commissioned a gilded wooden icon of Boethiah in his aspect as the divine pathfinder who lead the ancient Chimer to the promised land of Morrowind. The icon itself had been crafted by a exiled Erabenimsun Ashlander.

Another victim of the cruelty of the Almsivi.
The poor mer had been cast out by the traitor Erur-Dan for refusing to bow before a statue of Vivec, that he had erected in the Erabenimsun camp, instead she spat upon the image of the False God. Erur-Dan had then, in furious anger, disfigured her beyond recognition so that her people would no know her and exiled her to wander the wastes of Molag Amur to die. Hearing nothing but the voices of her ancestors in her mind as she wandered through ash storms, she was safely lead to the city of Suran. After a time recovering she made her way to Vivec City where she had been cared for by the local Ashlander merchant community. She had later begun carving icons of the Good Daedra, Saint Veloth, Blessed Nerevar and their various aspects and gifting them to the Ashlander merchants as repayment for their kindness. Despite having most of her sight due to her horrific disfigurement, she was able to carve the most beautiful icons from pure blessed memory. Ulath-Pal upon hearing of this holy woman had taken her in as his personal mystic and had later commissioned her to craft a wedding gift for his new daughter-in-law. After the wedding ceremonies were concluded and the customary 33 days of marital isolation, in a yurt separation from the rest of the Urshilaku camp, were over Ainab was sent once again into strange lands to raid, pillage and seek glory.

The Ghost Sea Merchants Company had seen better days.
Sailing along the Coast of Blacklight Ainab and his warriors spotted what appeared to be a Nord town. Unlike the Kraken-Men of Quey the Nords of Skyrim were no strangers to Dunmer raids into their lands. Therefore as soon as the black-flagged Dunmer-styled ships of the Urshilaku was spotted in the distance the townspeople who lived on the outskirts of the township immediately withdrew behind the fortified walls of the town. Ainab's warriors quickly landed and began to make camp for a siege. Traditional Ashlander warfare dictated that against a better fortified enemy it was vital to deny access to necessary resources, most importantly food and water. During the night the Nords might send out runners through secret openings and tunnels to collect supplies from secret granaries hidden in the woods or worse yet send word nearby to Nord cities asking for aid against the raiders. Ainab therefore concluded that it was vital for the success of his raid to his warriors patrol the neaby woods during the night to ambush any Nord nightrunners. Later during the evening as the sun began to set, Ainab's scouts came back to the camp with a captured Nord boy. The young child had been out hunting in the woods when the raiders had landed and when he was on his way back to his family from a successful hunt he had been captured by Ainab's scouts. Now when it came to prisoners like this young boy his father, Ulath-Pal, had stressed in his recent letters that they should be executed horrifically before the walls of a besieged town to demoralize the defenders. However on this point Ainab would disagree with his father. Instead Ainab thought to himself that the boy might reveal useful information about this area, that might prove useful. Obviously the boy did not know of any gabs in the town's defenses, but he did have some interesting news and rumors about the area and state of the Nord tribes in general. Firstly the town was called Shoreflow, named after a nearby river that was said to have been created when a Nord god cried great waters from his eyes in mourning of a fallen comrade. Secondly the town of Shoreflow was ruled by a plutocratic council charged with overseeing and regulating the trade coming in from the Sea of Ghosts. Thirdly the Nord Kogokhan that the plutocrats answered to, ruled from his palace in a city to the west called Winterhold. Lastly this tribe had fallen on hard times loosing many battles to their numerous enemies. Currently the Kogokhan of the Winterhold tribe was fighting a loosing war against the Ashkhan of the Skyborn tribe over a place called 'the Dawn's Star'. From the boy's descriptions of the town, with its large tower-temple on the outskirts, it sounded almost like a temple city dedicated to the holy goddess Azura. Ainab was quite excited to visit this place. Surely a town known as 'the Dawn's Star' with a temple referred to by the boy as 'the Tower of Night's Call' would have to be a most pious place, dedicated to Queen of Dusk and Dawn Azura. Ainab had always wondered if there lived other Ashlanders outside of Vvardenfell. Whilst no Ashlander tribes lived on the Mainland within the lands of the settled Dunmer, perhaps some had migrated into the West and founded a city of their own within Nord lands. This had to be investigated, so when Shoreflow finally fell Ainab rewarded the young boy with a share of the booty and left to travel further along the coast to find this lost city of Ashlanders.

Sadly the Dawn's Star was not host to a long lost civilization of western Ashlanders.
Upon landing near the outskirts of the Dawn's Star Ainab's weary warriors was sadly not greeted by the warm embrace of long lost cousins, but rather a small warband of Nords. Numbering no more than around eighty men strong. Their leader was a tall Nord covered with blue tribal markings upon his pale skin, depicting what Ainab assumed to be various Nord saints and heroes. The tall Nord leader demanded that they leave their lands immediately and never return, failing to do so would invoke the wrath of the Kogokhan of the Winterhold tribe. However the Nords had miscalculated to important things. Firstly, that the tired and weary Ainab was in no mood for having a foreign stranger bark orders at him, secondly, that a meager warband of Nords were not going to stop him from finding out of there existed a Ashlander city in the western lands. Ainab thrusted his spear in to the tall Nord's throat as his warriors fell upon the remaining warband. The trek from the inlet they had landed in was mercifully a short one and soon they came upon the Dawn's Star. It was perhaps the greatest disappointment of Ainab's young life that the town held no Ashlanders whatsoever, nor a great temple to Azura.

Invoker Rakoslod was very reasonable for a Nord.
Ainab found the town to be a shabby place. Many of the Nord residents where dying from fever and what was supposed to have been a temple to Azura was instead a decrepit ruin dedicated to the worship of Bad Daedra. Ainab's disappointment in this place was great, after spending a few hours clearing his head in his tent, he resolved to finish what he had come to the West to do in the first place, raid. So he gave his men the order to being stripping the town of anything of value. Soon after they had begun this a band of warriors from the Skyborn tribe arrived. Lead by their shaman, a Nord called Rakoslod, a meeting was called between Ainab and him. The shaman explained that whilst his Skyborn tribe desired the town of Dawn's Star, he was aware that the Ashlanders held superiority in numbers and would instead agree to a deal between them. Rakoslod would aid Ainab in stripping the town of valuables but afterwards the Ashlanders would leave it in their hands. Ainab agreed to this resonable request and afterwards honored his bargain with the Nord shaman. Ainab gathered his warriors and sailed away from the disappointment of Dawn's Star.

The Morthal marshes was a cold and lonely place.
Ainab and his warriors traveled further along the coast of Skyrim. After a friendly encounter with a group and Hlaalu merchants on their way back towards Morrowind, Ainab learned that the nearby marsh town of Morthal was poorly defended. Or so the Hlaalu claimed anyway. Apparently the local warlord had broken ties with the Kogokhan of the Cursebraid tribe over a dispute about grazing rights for cattle. The warlord of Morthal had stopped sending tribute to the Cursebraid Kogokhan, as a response the Cursebraid Kogokhan had then stopped sending his soldiers to patrol the lands of Morthal, leaving them lightly defended. As they travel between the marsh islands with their ships Ainab stopped on one of the islands on the way. On a hill on this islands he decided to cremate his fallen warriors. Some of the raiders had caught the fever in Dawn' Star during their stay there and Ainab thought it prudent to cremate their corpses and gather up the ashes to bring home with them. Ashlanders never abandon the bodies of their fallen comrades on the battlefield, to be laid to rest away from their ancestors was a fate worse that death. However bringing a large number of decaying corpses with them on a longer journey like this was dangerous. The smell of rotting corpses attracted angry spirits who could curse the crew with bad luck and bring bad dreams that cursed the soul. Finishing the ceremony and sending the urns back to the ships, Ainab and his warriors set upon the town of Morthal. To Ainab's great fortune the Hlaalu merchants had spoken the truth. The town of Morthal was indeed lightly defended, the local Nord warlod could not even rally more than a mere hundred or so warriors to defend her home. Morthal was swiftly sacked and looted. In tower of the town's shaman Ainab found a strange box that could not be opened. He decided to take it with him anyway hoping to one day unlock its secrets. But now Ainab longed for home and their ships were filled to the brink with valuables and loot and so he gave the order to sat sail towards home. Back home much had changed.

 

[KlinkerFyren]

Will you continue after Ulath-Pals death, playing as his son? or will the AAR end? That's if he dies.

Awesome chapter by the way!

No I will continue beyond Ulath-Pal's lifespan if need be, the Dunmeri live long lives after all. Also I am glad you liked it, my personal favorite part is when Ulath-Pal fantasizes about stabbing Vivec to death while his city is burning down all around him. Its telling that he believes he could kill a god like Vivec just like that.

 

[stnylan]

Well that sounds like a successful expedition, even if it did not achieve all that Ainab perhaps had hoped for.

 

[Levgar]

Is the mod up to date with the newest version of CK2?

 

[KlinkerFyren]

THE WAY LIFE SHOULD BE - CHAPTER VI: I New Changes and Old Beginnings.

Once again the Mad Mayor of St. Olms Canton torments Ulath-Pal with his incessant ravings about female blood eating ash-vampires infiltrating Vivec City.
Ulath-Pal had enjoyed the last two years in Vivec City. The with the Archcanon perpetually away on affairs of war and the Dissident Army smashed to pieces, peace had returned to Vvardenfell. Even the most wretched Erur-Dan had left the island to campaign in the west against the rebellious Redoran lords, leaving Ulath-Pal with no direct overseer to meddle in his affairs. However the insane Mayor of St. Olms Canton Lliram had begun to infuriate Ulath-Pal once more. His continuous ravings about how Vivec City was being infiltrated by cabals of flesh eating female ash-vampires who where operating out of a brothel disguised as a Almsivi temple in the Hlaalu Canton was becoming intolerable. To humor him Ulath-Pal had even bothered to visit this supposed ash-vampire brothel. Finding nothing other than a timid shy Temple priestess. Ulath-Pal did not bother to ask if she was the mastermind behind an illegal Sharmat driven brothel-ring. Ulath-Pal even took Mayor Lliram to see Kurapli, his personal mystic, who could hear the voices of the ancestors. When she told him that there where no servants of the Sharmat in Vivec City, Lliram flew in a rage and attack poor Kurapli claiming that she too had to be a female ash-vampire. Ulath-Pal and his guard had to subdue the man and forcefully escort him back to his manor in St. Olms. Ulath-Pal swore that if Mayor Lliram came to him one more time with these outlandish claims he would lock him up in the dungeons himself. Regardless of the unfortunate incident with the Mayor, Ulath-Pal could not shake off the feeling that something strange as afoot. As if there was some kind of conspiracy brewing with the city. The other day he came home and discovered that someone had tampered with the locks to his apartment, something odd was going to happen soon and Ulath-Pal would have to be on his guard.

The High Chief Assamanut, new overlord of the Bitter Coast. A greedy man bribed into compliance by the wicked Archcanon.
However more discomfiting news came from the north. Rumors where abound that rebellious Redoran lords were preparing to land an army on Vvardenfell. In response to this the Archcanon appointed Chief Assamanut of the Ahemmusa as a High Chief and overlord of all the Bitter Coast, charged with keeping the coast lands secure. Ulath-Pal resolved to send his scouts to watch and observe the Ahemmusa in case their new power would cause them to attempt a foolhardy attack on the Urshilaku.

Finally by the strength of his tribe's arms Ulath-Pal was at last recolonized as the High Chief of all the Ashlands.
When new reached Ulath-Pal that his son Ainab had return from his long journey into the West he immediately traveled home to the Urshilaku for the celebrations. The feasts lasted for almost two whole months culminating with a solemn ceremony where the Wise Women and all assembled warriors of the tribe acknowledged and confirmed Ulath-Pal as High Chief of all the Ashlands, Trueborn Descendant of Saint Alandro Sul and Ashkhan of the Urshilaku. In return for his son's dutiful service to his father and people, Ulath-Pal bestowed upon his son Ainab the titles of Steward of the Tribe, Regent of the Ashlands, Chief of the Urshilaku Scouts and Master of the Blade. This was so far the proudest movement of his long life. Standing before his kinsmen he swore that he would not rest yet. That he, Ulath-Pal would one day lead them to glory unheard and undreamed of. As he had reclaimed the mantle of High Chief of all the Ashlands for the Urshilaku once more, he would restore the glory of the Ashlander people across all of Vvvardenfell! He also re-instituted the proper practice of slavery to among the Ashlands, for Ulath-Pal knew that whilst the Archcanon had banned slavery on the Temple controlled territory of Vvardenfell he could enforce such an edict in the Ashlands, far away from Vivec City. Ulath-Pal and Ainab then spent the next week traveling to their kinsmen the Urshilaku of Maar Gan. They had sent a representative to the feasts in the Urshilaku camp in the Ashlands, however the envoy had mention to Ulath-Pal that the tribe in Maar Gan need his aid. Having recently suffered a string of bad hunts, which had unfortunately killed some of their best hunters, Ulath-Pal arrived and promptly oversaw the construction of a new hunting lodge. This lodge would house the veteran hunters of the main Urshilaku camp, who would be shortly sent to aid their brothers through the season. Two herds of Guar was also to be sent to the Urshilaku of Maar Gan to help them. However on his journey back to the main Urshilaku camp a courier arrived, calling Ulath-Pal back to Vivec City. Troubling developments had occurred in southern Morrowind in his absence.

The Dres could not oppose the might of the Indoril.
War had broken out in the South. The King of Ebonheart, Mertis Ra'athim, had pressured his liege Grandmaster Rythe of Great House Indoril into waging war against Great House Dres over a supposed claim to the fortress of Aldsotha. Supposedly the father of the current lord of Aldsotha, Muthsera Nilos, had owned an outstanding debt to the King of Ebonheart and had mortgaged the stronghold of Aldsotha in security for this loan. When the money never materialized and the current lord of Aldsotha, Muthsera Nilos Dres, refused to pay it. The King of Ebonheart had sent a petition to the Temple to have them resolve the dispute. With war against the Argonians and the rebellion in the West the Archcanon had never had time to deal with this. Eventually the King of Ebonheart was tired of waiting and instead petitioned the Grandmaster of House Indoril to help him seize Aldsotha by force. As the Marshal of Vivec City Ulath-Pal's presence was required in order for the Temple to take any stance official on the current conflict. In the weeks that followed Ulath-Path attended several meetings in the High Fane regarding this issue. On one hand the Temple armies where still tied up in putting down the western rebellion, which had lasted for almost five years now, and the Indoril where clearly the aggressors in this conflict. However on the other the Indoril where also the most staunch supporters of the Temple. In fact Archcanon Farwill was an Indoril himself, distantly related to the current Grandmaster by blood. Erur-Dan had returned to Vvardenfell and had resumed his role as Regent of Vvardenfell and object of Ulath-Pal's undying loathing. Erur-Dan stressed that if the Temple did nothing the people of Morrowind might begin to loose faith in them and worse yet the other Great Houses would accuse them of playing favorites with the Indoril. Ulath-Pal thought to himself that nothing could be better for his plans than to drive a wedge between the Temple and their pets, the Indoril, and argued for that a full scale invasion of Ebonheart and forceful occupation of Mournhold should be their response to this ciris. Erur-Dan instead counter argued that the wholesale slaughter of Temple faithful would serve no one. Ulath-Pal drank deeply of his flask of sujamma and promptly accused Erur-Dan of being a coward . Erur-Dan called Ulath-Pal a warmonger and used his authority as Regent of Vvardenfell to overrule him and make binding decision on the matter. While the Temple would offcially enter the war on the Dres side, no Temple armies where to be sent to aid the Dres. Instead the Temple armies would remain in the West and finish putting down the Redoran rebellion. Ulath-Pal threw his flask of Sujamma on the ground in anger and stormed out of the High Fane. A few months after this meeting word came of the outcome of the Dres-Indoril War. After loosing the battles of Aldsotha, Sereva and Silnion and having their fortresses at Padomai and Desmora overrun by Indoril forces along with an Argonian slave uprising rampaging through their lands they had no choice but to sue for peace with the Indoril.

Erur-Dan's stay in Ulath-Pal's prison yurt will be short indeed, soon his lifeblood shall flow across the alter of Boethiah and in his last dying moments he shall look upon the triumphant face of Ulath-Pal!
After the Dres-Indoril War had concluded an eerie peace settled over Morrowind. The Archcanon returned to Vivec City, having finally put down the last of the Redoran Lords in the four day long battle of Lake Hlaalu. Erur-Dan had been rewarded for his handling of the Dres-Indoril crisis with Overlordship of all the Grazelands and elevated to the position of High Chief. He was invested into his new office in an elaborate ceremony culminating in Erur-Dan taking his oaths of office on the steps of Vivec's Palace, sunshine supposedly appeared from nowhere and bathed in city resplendent light, as if Vivec himself had parted the clouds to mark this momentous occasion. Not that Ulath-Pal would know. He did not attend the ceremony. Instead upon heard the news the Erur-Dan was to rule all the Grazelands and was charged with overseeing the conversion of these lands to the Almsivi faith, he despaired. He wandered in a daze through the wilderness outside the city. When he awoke it was raining. He was sitting beneath one of the large mushroom trees were common in the Ascandian Isles. As he huddled beneath the tree, he looked to his left and saw a young Dunmer girl sitting there quietly. When he asked who she was, she instead asked if him had ever heard the story of the Cliff Racer and the Guar. When Ulath-Pal said he had not, the girl explained that once there were a cliff racer and a guar. Flying overhead the cliff racer had spotted a mangy looking guar, when the cliff racer tried to swoop down and eat the guar it defended itself fiercely in a mad panic, so the cliff racer retreated to the skies and instead followed the guar overhead. There it saw that the guar had found some wild berries and ate them, when the cliff racer swooped down to kill the guar it again defended itself fiercely. So once again the cliff racer retreated and flew above it. There it waited until the guar had eat all the berries it could find and had grown fat. The guar then lay on its back as the sun set in the distance and fell asleep, only then did the cliff racer strike and with its beak gorged deeply into its insides, when the guar tried to get back on its feet it could not, for it was now too heavy with fat and so the cliff racer feasted on the corpse of the guar. Ulath-Pal then turned to the girl again to ask her name, but blinked and when his eyes opened she was gone. Ulath-Pal then sat under the tree until the rain stopped, contemplating the story and the girl. As he walked towards Vivec City in the distance he concluded this was not a ordinary encounter. That girl had to have been Lord Boethiah herself. The tale of the Cliff Racer and the Guar had a hidden meaning. Ulath-Pal was the cliff racer and the guar was Erur-Dan. Like the cliff racer Ulath-Pal would soar above Erur-Dan until he had grown fat and lazy and then strike and engorge himself on Erur-Dan's entrails! To that end he would first have to craft a net to catch the traitorous Erur-Dan. Luckily Erur-Dan had made enemies among the Ashlanders.

 

[KlinkerFyren]

Is the mod up to date with the newest version of CK2?

Yes, its also on Steam.