Chapter I: Family History III:
Astrid the Generous
I still remember how i walked through the crowds and made my way to the altar of the great temple,
the coronation gown felt heavy on me and i nearly dropped the coronation sword when it was given to my hand, but everything else went well, and the High Priest placed the crown of my Great Grandfather on my head saying:
”I crown thee Astrid Valomar, High Queen of Skyrim, Jarl of Whiterun and Falkreath, Thane of Korvanjund, of Greymarch, of Volunruud, of Scarstone, and of Whitewatch, Servant of the Divines, Protector of all Nords, Et Cetera, Et Cetera."
Gods save the Queen!
So began my reign, i took a long time to adujst to my new position because when i was a child, my mother often kept me away from the court, and after my only brother died, my mother started to invent rules to "protect" me, those rules involved things like food tasting and holding a hand of an adult whe walking down the stairs, but now i was free.
High Queen often travelled outside of Whiterun with just one bodyguard, and enjoyed the peace and silence.
Most pressing matter at the time of my ascension to the throne was the "question of Silgrad", Silgrad was a small region situated on a small valley between the Jerall and Velothi mountain ranges on the border between Skyrim and Morrowind.
Its inhabitants were mostly Nords, but the region was controlled by the Dunmer, who conquered it when the Interregnum began.
I was young and foolish, i wanted to be seen as a great hero like my predecessors, and to prove to everyone that a women can lead armies like men.
So i declared war against Fathis Indoril, the King of Morrowind, and prepared to lead to Morrowind the largest Nord army seen since the days of Jurgen Windcaller.
To Whiterun i left my three young daughters and my husband Marin, little did i know that i would never see them again...
Unaware of the future tragedies i led my army wearing a shining armor and the blue banners of Skyrim fluttering in the breeze as we marched into Morrowinds ashlands.
Wearing armour was not a strange thing for Nord women, and the Queen made it look particularly good.
Army quickly liberated the contested territory in the valley, and then move inland, where we met the enemy about 120km west of the river Thir.
Dunmer army was massive, even greater in number than our own force, tough only slightly.
Truth to be told, my generals took the lead during the battle, as i knew very little about commanding armies, but i still managed to get myself some glory.
During the battle i saw the Dunmer troops flanking one of our heavy infantry units, and decided to act without a question from my generals.
I took my cavalry, the least appreciated and smallest unit in our army, and charged the Elves.
They panicked and without the means to repulse a cavalry charge, they ran.
Slaughter continued for a few more hours before the field fell silent.
Battle ended with tens of thousands of casualties on both sides, but it opened the way for Mournhold, Morrowinds capital.
During the siege of Mournhold we received the most horrible news in our lives, darkness was spreading in Tamriel.
It was called the Knahaten Flu, it was a terrible disease that apparently started from Stormhold in Black Marsh, and quickly spreaded to Cyrodiil and Valenwood, and trough them to Hammerfell, High Rock and finally to Skyrim and Morrowind.
The disease wiped out entire citys and counties, and at least two significant royal dynastys came to an end, when the flu wiped out the entire family.
Soon everyone knew someone killed by the flu, all of us lost loved ones.
I worried for my family, but as the disease had not yet spread to Morrowind, we decided to end the war before returing home.
It was not hard, Mournhold soon succumbed to starvation, and King Fathis had to sign peace, by then the Knahaten Flu had already reached Morrowind, and as we marched home, we came across cillages and towns ravaged by this horrible disease, i prayed the Divines every night, and asked them to end this misery, many of us think that the Daedric Prince Peryite, Lord of Pestilence, sent this plague to Nirn for his amusement.
As the remains of the army reached the border and returned home to Skyrim, i received news from my ministers, who had travelled to meet me.
They told that the Flu had struck us hard, and more people were constantly dying, cemeteries and catacombs were filling fast, and in most towns bodys were burned in huge piles to stop the disease from spreading.
All this paled in comparison to the news i received about my own family;
Despite all attempts to keep my daughters quaranteed in the palace, they all were infected.
Youngest had died first, she was only seven, and had been dead for a year already, then died the middle one, she was eleven and had been dead for six months, my oldest daughter, named Astrid, was still alive, but very ill, my husband was also dead from the flu, as was my cousin, the Jarl of Haafingar, and most of the other members of my dynasty.
Race to Whiterun was intense, i left my army and rode like a wind to Dragonsreach.
But i was too late, little Astrid too was taken from me, and i was now alone.
I seriously wished that the disease would take me too, and release me from this world of pain and suffering, but the divines had other things in store for me, i was to help Skyrim recover.
After the Knahaten Flu had decimated Tamriel for about seven and a half years, it mysteriosly started to disappear, thankfully Skyrim was one of the first regions to be free from the disease, and a year later the flu was just a horrible memory in the minds of the survivors.
Death of my family, and the great disease, ended the first chapter of my life, old me died with the flu and i was reborn.
With a great vigour i began to rebuild and reform Skyrim, i worked days and nights, wanting to forget the past and focus on the future.
One day i realized that i was now over thirtyfive years old, i needed an heir!
My advisors said that i should marry an Imperial from Cyrodiil, that way my heirs would have at least some form of legitimacy, should they wish to conquer the Imperial territory.
I decided to marry a man named Attrebus Lex, his Great grandfahter took the lead of the Imperial City, when the empire collapsed, and the Lex family were very prestigious and famous in the city itself.
My new husband was almost ten years younger than me, and i learnt to love him, maybe even more than i loved my first husband.
Of course many felt that i should have married a proper Nord, but i silenced all opposition.
Now that i had found a new happines, Skyrim was blossoming again, altough manpower was still low, because of the flu, but other provinces were also affected by it.
In Northern Cyrodiil, close to Jerall Mountains, on the border with Skyrim, there was a sizable Nordic minority being oppressed by the Imperials, i was sure that they would want to join Skyrim.
Relying on this, i decided to begin a campaign that was later called "First Nordic Invasion of Cyrodiil"
I crossed the border with my army at Pale Pass, a site were Reman Cyrodiil famously defeated the Akaviri invaders long ago.
Over all the campaign went well, my leadership in battle was over however when my healers told me that i was pregnant!
This was a miracle and i thanked the Divines a million times, particularly Mara, Goddess of love and maternity!
I left my army to my able generals, and went to the city of Falkreath to wait for the war to end.
The Colovians were too disordered to offer much of a resistance after a few meetings with Nordic steel, and soon their king Rallas sued for peace.
Treaty of Bruma left most of Colovia under Skyrim, king Rallas abdicated and the Colovian nobles "offered" the crown to me, and thus i became Queen of the Colovian Estates.
I now had to race to Whiterun once more, as the child was almost ready to be born, he however wanted out as quickly as possible, so my retinue had to stop, and i gave birth to beautiful boy in the grassy plains below the starry night sky, and the twin moons, Masser and Secunda, were smiling at us.
High Queen of Skyrim rode to her city in triumph, with her heir on her lap and a new crown on her head!
This was truly a new era for Skyrim!
Skyrim and her territories after the Treaty of Bruma.
