The Political Game of 4th Era Telvanni Isles: An Account
from Temdryn Calydos
The years before Red Year were turbulent ones for House Telvanni. They had recently made the switch, at the urging of several of the Masters of the House, and with assistance from the disorganization of the House during the Oblivion Crisis, to segue from their old system of ranks to a new, imperial system, where the names of the ranks were the same, but their applications were different. In this way, all those under the rank of Spellwright were not able to control land, but those above it, that is, Spellwrights, Wizards, Masters, and Magisters, were able to control sections of the Telvanni holdings, with Spellwrights often presiding over a house or outpost, Wizards over cities or towns, Masters over small regions, and Magisters often over large regions.
This change did, however, cause much unrest, as the Magisters who had been bestowed with smaller samples of land, or less important ones, were instantly filled with jealousy of those who had been given larger plots over which to preside. In one case, the farmland under the Magister of the Outlying Isles was burned heavily, and the next morning no one could find the Magister of the Country (him being the governor of the countryside of the Telvanni Isles) to tell him of the happenings. In another, two Magisters both attempted to assassinate the other, hoping to take the others land when they were found dead. Things continued this way for some time, until the Red Year. When the Mountain erupted, Vvardenfell Territories were the hardest hit, and to this day, only three Telvanni survivors are known, though they fled to other provinces, or are otherwise missing. Second hardest hit were the Morrowind settlements (Morrowind denoting the areas of the region that were bordering the sea or other provinces), and few still survived there. Least hit were the areas known as the Outlying Isles and the Telvanni Isles, though some small islands were still found to have sunk, and indeed are still somewhere underwater today, as well as some areas of Port Telvannis itself, it being on the southern end of the Isles.
After the events of the Red Year, many believed all Houses to have been destroyed, and indeed, all, save for Telvanni, had been, in many respects. Some Telvanni even believed their House annihilated, that is, until they returned to the Isles. There, a now consolidated House Telvanni was beginning to rebuild, as well as send out expeditions for survivors.
Missions of this sort continued for a short while, perhaps a month, and their end was marked by the invasion of the Argonians into Morrowind. All expeditions that had been sent thus far (I through V) failed to return, and are still presumed dead to this day. The Argonians proved ruthless, and, wherever there were, or may have been, Telvanni, they burned hotter than the Red Year had.
Though the Argonians focused moreso on the lands of Morrowind and Vvardenfell, they still maintained a desire for vengeance against the Telvanni, the greatest perpetrators of the slavery of their kind and of others since as long as time and fate intermingled. After the apparent destruction (for the second time) of most of Vvardenfell, and of Morrowind, a small subset of unwearied Argonians set their sights on the Telvanni Isles, as well as their Outlying Isles.
This war, referred to as the Ash Isles War, was a long and costly one for both sides, though it was, ultimately a victory for the Telvanni. The war’s cost was so much, that some put the estimates of Telvanni losses at fifteen or twenty percent of their entire population, and the commonly regarded estimate for the Argonians is seventy percent of their invading force. The War lasted from the year of 4E 8 until the year 4E 31.
It was during this war that the island of Solstheim was given to the Dunmer, though the Telvanni were still warring. Even though the Archmagister wished against it, Master Neloth travelled there, and has stayed for the entirety of the Fourth Era so far.
This war proved too much for the government of the Isles, and a schism was created between two families, the Telvanni, who made up the Magisters and the Masters of the Isles and the Outlying Isles, and the Samdryn, whose family had been a military one for several centuries, and had taken the brunt of the losses during both the Oblivion Crisis and the Ash Isles War. For several decades, an increasingly escalating level of hatred became between these two families, the elders of the families clashing in the courts, and the younger in the streets -- brawls were commonplace, and only broken up out of the elders of both families beliefs in the sanctity of clean streets, and not out of respect for one another.
The Samdryn Coup came to pass in the year 4E 49, late in that year. It was in a time of weakness, when two of the Telvanni Magisters were off visiting the Outlying Isles, and several Masters were all convened in one location, allowing for their consolidation by the Samdryni usurpers. Little actual fighting took place -- indeed the Telvanni are known for their hesitance to lose their own lives -- though there were several passionate debates between the two parties. By the next morning, most of the high-ranking Telvanni members had been imprisoned, and the Samdryn had control over all happenings in the kingdom. Thus began the era known as Novo Loginquitas.
The first order of the new Archmagister, Saldrys Samdryn, was the ceasing of all trade. Trade with other survivors had just recently begun, but, still, the need for its end was seen by the Samdryn -- their hypothesis for the root of all Telvanni’s problems was the lack of the old isolation, and the end of their distrust of outsiders. This angered survivors, who had not learned about the insurrection until they received letters and charters detailing the new arrangements. This would prove to be the root of the War of the Fourteen Isles.
The second thing to be done by the Samdryn was the resuming of the expeditions to all sorts of ruins, be they of Dwemer or other origins. The first expeditions proved uneventful, as well as unsuccessful -- the researchers, and their armed guards, found nothing of use except some scrap, which might make a suit of armor or an ornament, and few mages preferred the weight of the former.
This account maintains its subject matter outside of archaeology, and therefore a summary will be here of the Third Expedition, so as not to alienate those readers uninclined to read other accounts. The summary:
The third expedition, however, was the antithesis of the first few. It was the third day of the expedition to the ruins of the old Dwemer fort of Ashkanzdel. Having already discovered the purpose of the ruin -- it had once been a factory for Dwemeri war machines -- they (the researchers) had been tasked with the location of any factories or assembly areas that appeared still in working order. In one room, they discovered one, mostly intact. The order from the Archmagister was to clean it and make it work.
After several years, and many tries, it was turned on again, and refitted Dwemer automatons began to roll off the shelves, though they were referred to by the Samdryn as Leviathans, they were still inherently Dwemer. These automatons had been, however, changed, so that they might follow the commands of the Dunmer, rather than the ancient ones of their old masters.
And with these new machines came the rapid expansion of the Samdryni territory in the decade of 4E 60-70. Their first objective was to cement their grasp on all their current holdings, those at that time being the Telvanni Isles, the Outlying Isles, and also some unnamed islands, which are uninhabited, and are sacred as the sites of several battles of the Ash Isles War. With their leviathans, they thought they might police the streets better, and stamp out the thugs and the Telvanni still lingering in the alleys. Thus began the period known as Exitum Telvannis.
The Samdryn found quickly though, that their drones required the accompaniment of some Samdryn mage or warrior, for their beasts of Dwemer origin had one flaw, that they were susceptible to the spells of the Telvanni, all of whom knew spells for turning their enemies to allies, and with these the Telvanni would attack the Samdryn with their own machines.
After the failure of their proposition -- though they did kill some number of Telvanni -- the Samdryn took instead to assaulting the Ashlanders and other survivors, who they had cut off trade with some many years ago. The number of these tribes was seven--they had, after Red Mountain, experienced great fracturing, the accounts of that are detailed elsewhere--they are anything but political in nature. Their names: the Sonnab, the Ranabi, the Ashumaliit, the Calydos, mine own, the Addunidi, the Yahahul, and also the greatest, the Ashlanders of old, whose skin was of darker soot than the others, the Il.
At this time, several of the Samdryn, most notably the Magister of the Outlying Isles, and several Masters under her, began to tell of their apprehensions to the Archmagister. To this he replied with harsh punishments -- there was no written Samdryni law, it was all at the Archmagister’s whim. He gave the order to several of his guard to hang all who mentioned peace with the Ashlanders or the survivors. In this way, the Magister of the Outlying Isles, and two of his Masters, were all hanged by a post in the structures of Port Telvannis.
After their replacement, and a period of peace, the Samdryn began their first campaign against the nearby tribes, and thus began the Fourteen Islands War, in the year 4E 93. It proved a short and bloody war, though nothing to compete with the Ash Isles. Though the Ashlanders were for a long time on the defensive, they were able to hold off all of the Samdryn assaults, using often tactics they had acquired from the Argonians, when they had been assaulted during the Red Year (blessed be the survivors). One notable victory for the Tribes was the Battle of Kalas Fathyrn, an ambush of a Leviathan company in a thin pass. That battle is detailed elsewhere.
The repercussions of this battle were far-reaching. This became the turning point for the war, and after that the Ashlanders and the Survivors were always attacking, and rarely defending, staying always nomadic and mobile, and only choosing battle when they had an advantage.
The Ashlanders, however (and, to a lesser extent, the Survivors), tired just as quickly of war as the population of the then named Samdryni Isles. After pushing back the Samdryn to the Isles, and halting their offensive, the Ashlanders resumed their peaceful lives, and the Survivors also, and the war ended quietly, the proud military family of the Samdryn embarrassed over their losses, and shamed. At this point, so began the insurrection of the Telvanni, and their eventual new reign over their old territories.
It was the year 4E 119, and the Samdryn were still recovering from their heavy losses in the Fourteen Islands War. It was the month of Frostfall, and all were beginning their preparations for the winter. In one night, three stockpiles of Samdryn food were destroyed, and afterwards, raided. The Samdryn, who had let down their guard -- it had been some years since the war -- were unprepared, and so was their downfall. When many of the guard had been mobilized to go to those locations, several government houses were assaulted on the other side of the town, and the hostages taken were many in number: two Spellwrights, one Master, and also the son of one Magister, who was next in line for his father’s job. The Telvannis’ demands were simple: that they should have back all their places, and their rightful jobs also. A weary and weak Archmagister accepted their terms.
It was three months before the change had taken place fully, and several skirmishes erupted between the two parties, though the Telvanni always won -- they were back at their old strength. At this time came the Decrees, the first orders of the new Archmagister.
The first order was this:
“Go and reclaim our connections on Solstheim, and with Master Neloth especially. Take to him all your knowledge of these past years, and ask of him his progress.”
And the second Decree:
“Go now, to the ruins of our capital, and rebuild them. Use chitin for the supports, and the rock of our own quarries for the walls, and employ all of these jobs to our own people -- pay no mercenary miner or contractor.”
The point of that Decree being to regain the people’s trust, and also to promote again trade with other peoples.
And the third Decree:
“Reconcile now with all of the Ashlanders, and all the Survivors as well, and welcome them to Port Telvannis. Go most of all to the Calydos, who our wars with have decimated, and also to the Il, for formidable allies they may be, the greatest of all the Ashlanders.”
This Decree of course being to gain allies, and have the Isles’ borders protected by allies, so as to consolidate the patrols of the Telvanni Guard.
All of these decrees were sent out, and the new Masters of the regions affected went instantly to work. The first decree was almost instantaneous -- Master Neloth was glad to be back in contact, and he had made great progress on some research of his, as had the houses he had planted.
The second decree also took some time, and was finished only in the year 4E 122, the same year, for context, in which Winterhold, the city of Skyrim, collapsed.
The third Decree, however, took much longer, and it was not until the year 4E 137 that the trust of all the tribes had been regained.
From the years 4E 138 through 4E 178, the events known as the “Card-Walk” took place -- Card meaning in the old Dunmeri of course, “ancestor”. At this time, the House Telvanni established their first official religion since the Red Year, them having neither time nor money before to build temples. This religion was called Cardism, and was a great uniter of the people, and indeed one of the main reasons that this time of peace occurred.
The religion itself was marked by its large mausoleums, similar to Skyrim’s Halls of the Dead. In these mausoleums were moved the remains of any man or woman’s ancestors who wished to worship. Here, shrines of everyday objects would be constructed in front of the ashes or corpses of one’s ancestors. One would pray with various chants. These chants are detailed elsewhere, as well as in my own book, Chants for the Card.
This new religion had a profound impact on the government of the Telvanni. Its first was the new “enlightenment” or peacefulness of the Telvanni. This new religion soothed them, and many criminals who had been found guilty of some lesser offences were let off. This event proved also to be good for the general morale of the people.
Its second impact was the (limited) resistance, and, indirectly, the formation of the New Tribunal and the attitude among some peoples that the Telvanni were not all-holy rulers. These first skirmishes were known as the Dissensions.
The leader of these rebels was the long time trouble maker, and cousin of an old Master of the Samdryn, Krathas Semdryl. This man was a rabble-rouser of epic proportions, even creating flyers and posters around the towns to advertise his rebellion. This, however, was put down quickly. Several men, the best of the Telvanni guards, needed only to ambush the leaders with fire in their hands to stop them. Four were imprisoned for treason, and are kept in an undisclosed area.
After this however, came the Advenio Champitus, the arrival of the The Champions, also known as the New Tribunal, the Champitus, or the Antitheses. These three were Altmeri champions, the strongest of their kind, and the most well-armed and armored. These three were directly correlated to the Tribunal, and also the three gods of the old Dunmeri religion. These three were the Antithesis Almala, Antithesis Silia, and Antithesis Viveca. Their origin is unknown, though it is quite possible they were sent by the Thalmor, in order to disrupt the now burgeoning strength of the Telvanni, though the always-informed Thalmor may have been the only ones who knew of the Telvanni’s rise again to power.
The three Antitheses caused trouble for many a year, and from the time of 4E 182 through 4E 191, they roamed the outlying lands and countryside, causing much havoc and spreading thin the Telvanni Guard, and also apprehending much information about the general lay of the land and the political situation on the Isles. The climax of this came when the Antitheses led a raid on the Archmagister’s chambers. Though they failed to kill him, they were able to ransack the palace before the Guard could even be mobilized, and then left, the only traces being the holes left in the walls from their spells.
They had, however, also left a small letter on the Archmagister’s bed, which he would not discover until that night. In it were listed the demands of the Antitheses, that they said would have to be met before the three would leave. They were these: That the Telvanni would cut off all trade that they had, that the Telvanni would abandon their religion, and that the military of the Telvanni would be destroyed, and their walls demolished.
The Telvanni, apprehensive and unsure about the next course of action, took some time to discuss the demands, which they considered seriously. They were given time, as well...the Antitheses would give them one month to think these things over.
The Telvanni would not have to make a decision after all, due to the arrival of she who is known as the mysterious hero, the savior, or Bellatortrix. This woman, a master of all magicks and weapons, came to the Isles alone, and arrived at the Port in 4E 192, though she did not stay. Immediately leaving for the countryside, which had been ravaged by the Antitheses, she did not return for several days. When she did, however, she left as quickly as she had arrived, and some believed her to be a god of some sorts. Though none are sure of her origins, all can be sure of her accomplishments.
The Bellatortrix had banished the Three, with some powerful magic. They had left, and all the evidence that was left of their arrival were the burnt out farmhouses and unattended camps of their followers, whom had all proclaimed self-exile, and went into hiding in their various places.
From then onwards, only some seven or eight years, there has been little of note. All that remains of the New Tribune are whispers and rumors, and the Antitheses are long gone. The Isles are appearing to be at peace again, and there are some who say the Ashlanders may reform their old tribes once again.
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