Hero of the Ebonheart Pact (fanfic, opinions welcome)

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Hallo! This will be a thread for my Elder Scrolls fan-fiction series! It follows the events of the Ebonheart Pact storyline, but hopefully I can make it unique enough. Anyways, thanks for reading!

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((Plain Text)):



The Elder Scrolls Online: The Tale of Avarain Hlel, Hero of the Ebonheart Pact



Part 1



Ian S. McClure







By decree of His Royal Majesty of the Ruby Throne, Uriel Septim the Seventh, and with the Eight Divines as my witness, I, Kessius Laventar, will begin to detail the life and exploits of a Dunmeri hero of the Ebonheart Pact. His name was Avarain Hlel, also known as Banisher of the Brothers, Hand of Almalexia, Savior of the Saxhleel, Skald-King's Arrow, The Elf-Champion of Skyrim, and many other titles.



First, a history of the Pact. Although much of the Second Era remains lost to the entropy of time, there exists numerous records of an 'Alliance War', circa 2E 580. This conflict was over the then-empty throne of the Empire, and was carried out by three Alliances between the races of Tamriel. The First Aldmeri Dominion (not to be confused with the Second Dominion of 2E 830, or the modern radical Thalmor movement) was formed between the magical High Elves (a.k.a Altmer) of the Summerset Isles, the stealthy Wood Elves (a.k.a Bosmer) of Valenwood, and the feline Khajiit of Elsewyr, though beyond this I have found little about them. The Greater Daggerfall Covenant is slightly more well-documented—formed between the crafty Bretons of High Rock, the hardy Redguards of Hammerfell, and the powerful Orcs (a.k.a Orsimer) of an old version of Orsinium, they aspired to recreate the Empire under their rule.



And then, the Ebonheart Pact, between the tough Nords of Skyrim, the resilient Dark Elves (a.k.a Dunmer) of Morrowind, and the reptilian Argonians (a.k.a Saxhleel) of Black Marsh. Until recently, this storied army was little more than a name, but a recent discovery in the ruins of a keep, later identified as Kingscrest, changed that. Kingscrest was a major foothold of the Pact in Cyrodiil, and seemed to be a line of defense for one of the Temples of the Elder Scrolls they controlled. More importantly, an underground cache of documents was discovered there, shedding new light on the short-lived Alliance. It was formed in the aftermath of the Second Akaviri Invasion, where the Nords under Skald-King Jorunn and the Dark Elves under the Tribunal encircled the invaders in the region of Stonefalls. They were unexpectedly assisted by none other than the Argonians, who used their assistance during the conflict to ensure freedom from the slavery they had historically endured under the Dark Elves.



As with many armies, the Pact had many champions. There was Grand Warlord Zimmeron, who led from the frontlines in Cyrodiil. There was Kiskayeel, an Argonian recruit who fought off a Goblin horde single-handedly. And of course, there was Eulek War-Cry, the Nord who secured the Elder Scroll of Ghartok for the army. But Avarain Hlel was different than those heroes. For according to the texts, due to the machinations of the Daedric Prince Molag Bal, he had actually lost his soul. Though most scholars insist this is mere hyperbole or legend, it is documented that most notable Shezarrine heroes of the time were unusually focused on stopping Daedric plots (especially those of Molag Bal), to say nothing of their extremely potent abilities and resilience to harm. Examples include Narlat gra-Daralan, the Orcish heroine of Old Orsinium, and Faldaril, the High Elf who assisted in sealing the dro'm'Athra at the Maw of Lorkhaj in Elsewyr.





Of particular interest is that it was—indeed, is—common for great heroes to carry a journal or diary, and Avarain was no exception. However, the Kingscrest archives had a copy of his personal logs—evidently, it was common in the Second Era to use copies of such stories for inspiration and morale amongst troops, considering the other instances of Imperial scholars encountering such copies dating back to the time period. Owing to this, this record of Avarain's life can be augmented with his own personal thoughts, as he transcribed them in his journal.



Attached is a painting of the Dunmer made by an unknown artist. The next entry in these records will begin Avarain's tale. Until then, may the Divines keep whoever reads this safe.

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((Plain Text)):



The Elder Scrolls Online: The Tale of Avarain Hlel, Hero of the Ebonheart Pact



Part 2



Ian S. McClure







Avarain Hlel was, by all accounts, a rather unique Dunmer. The Hlel family was once a major player in the noble Great House Dres of the land of Morrowind, which is historically known to have been highly involved in the slave trade throughout said province. Indeed, both official records from the Era and Avarain's own journals reveal the Hlel family was responsible for managing the slaves in the entire Stonefalls region, and were therefore quite high in the Dres hierarchy. They were opposed to the Ebonheart Pact freeing the Argonians for this reason. However, despite this, and despite his own admitted dislike of the reptilian beastfolk, Avarain himself was a defender of their right to freedom. He wrote in his journal: “Though the lizard-men of the swamps are brutish, and honestly alien to most civilized races, it is obvious through their service to the Pact that they know loyalty and bravery. To continue enslaving our stalwart allies is clearly a mistake; they have more than earned to be free from our bonds.”



In all likelihood, it was for this reason that he got on rather poorly with his parents. This dislike, combined with a surprising prowess for offensive magic, led him to abandon the family home some years after the formation of the Pact, at the age of eighteen, to study at the newly-formed academy known as Shad Astula. According to his journals, Avarain desired to help the Dark Elven people take the Ruby Throne, and guide the other races of Tamriel, who he considered short-sighted at best, barbaric at worst, to a new era of prosperity for all involved. However, multiple other sources, as well as his own later account, tell that he also aspired for personal fame and glory—a way, perhaps, to separate himself further from his family and its' past, though this is of course pure conjecture.



His logs then go into detail on his journey from the city of Kragenmoor to the capital of Mournhold. The journey is largely uneventful, though at one point he writes of “a sense of doom, vague images of terrible things, and a rather bad headache”. It has been confirmed that this entry is concurrent with the events of a mysterious “Planemeld” reported by many texts from the time period. Though the details are lost, it seems that Molag Bal, Daedric Prince of Brutality and Domination, orchestrated an invasion of our world; something that defies Saint Alessia's holy covenant with the god Akatosh. Perhaps related to this defiance, many mages apparently went insane or even died during the start of the event—Avarain was lucky to have suffered little.



But his fate was intertwined with this invasion, though he did not of course realize it at the time. After a few days spent in Mournhold, Avarain embarked on a ship with various other hopefuls wishing to enter the academy. This ship, unfortunately, was attacked by a squad of Daedric cultists, who overpowered all aboard and sacrificed them to fuel Molag Bal's dark designs. The last entry recorded for a long while merely states: “They're coming. Too many to fight off. Going down fighting.”. Reportedly, he attempted to light the ship on fire, but was restrained and subsequently (if the reports and logs are correct) killed.



As aforementioned, this was the final entry recorded for some time. Indeed, the next entry, which a footnote dates a full four years later, is written as though the original journal had been lost—Divines only know how it was recovered for this archive. Here, Avarain seems confused—he believes it has only been three weeks since the attack—but he is certain that he is no longer whole, so to speak. He claims to have freshly escaped from Coldharbour, Molag Bal's realm of Oblivion, and his description of a ruined, defiled version of Tamriel matches common reports of the realm by Daedrologists. Moreover, his surroundings, though recognizably in our world, were wholly unfamiliar to him, though he recognized certain elements of Nordic architecture. He procured a sketch of his surroundings, which is attached to the end of this text. Accompanying documents reveal he had actually washed up from the sea on a small Skyrim settlement, Bleakrock Isle.



Curiously, practically nothing remains of this settlement by the Third Era, though there is a substantial ruined town to be found on the island. Though largely reduced to charred husks of buildings and rusted metal weapons beneath the snow, a personal voyage there was quite fruitful. In the large building, which was once a garrison apparently, I discovered a largely-intact journal from a Nord soldier called Mathor, who claims to have discovered various corpses dressed strangely, and one survivor, who he found unconscious along with the town smith. Considering this journal's date roughly corresponds to the footnote in Avarain's logs, it is clear that, whatever happened to him, he had traveled from a lake in central Morrowind to a small island off the coast of northern Skyrim—no small distance, to say the least.



Avarain's journals do not detail what he endured in Coldharbour—he actually writes “I can't and won't speak of Oblivion—I can't, if I wish to remain sane.”. But, whatever he endured, he was thankful it had ended. This entry ends with him deciding to find whoever was in charge, and procure some answers as to his situation—where he was, what had happened in his absence, and other such matters. I believe I will leave it there, for now—surely the next entries will be lengthy, and I must rest. Until then, may the Divines keep whoever reads this safe.

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((Plain Text)):



The Elder Scrolls Online: The Tale of Avarain Hlel, Hero of the Ebonheart Pact



Part 3



Ian S. McClure







My research in the ruins of what has now been confirmed as Bleakrock Village has borne even more fruit. Evidently, the commander of the Pact forces stationed there was an elf named Rana, who had been assigned to the remote outpost as punishment for a previous failure—what this failure was, I have not yet found. Interestingly, the name Rana was noteworthy enough to appear in other documents dated later, particularly those related to an area called 'Bal Foyen', where she scored a major victory against the Daggerfall Covenant along with the 'Hero of Bal Foyen' and various villagers from Bleakrock mentioned in the salvaged records. Owing to this, it seems likely that the Hero of Bal Foyen is actually Avarain, though of course this is not certain at this time.



Avarain wrote in his journals that he met with Rana, who feared that the Covenant would invade the island. Rana asked him to gather the villagers who were elsewhere on the island for various reasons; Avarain agreed. Though initially I was tempted to attribute this to his desire for recognition, he admits in his writings that he accepted so as to not remain idle. He also mentioned that Rana had suggested he begin at a site called Skyshroud Barrow, where she had sent the hunter Darj, who was seen as something of a local hero. Similarly to Rana, his name is mentioned in other Pact documents—namely, he led a mighty defense of Fort Zeren with another unspecified hero. I find it likely that this, too, was Avarain, though again this is unconfirmed.



Our hero then goes into detail on the village itself, with another sketch that shows us how life might have been there, back in the Second Era. Said sketch is at the end of the document. He mentions various interesting townsfolk—the Earth-Turner family in particular drew his attention. The Earth-Turners were farmers: Aera was the caring mother, Denskar was the ex-soldier father, Littrek was the youngest of the family, and Trynhild was an apprentice to the town smith in her spare time. Trynhild was of special note to Avarain; he wrote of her: “The human lass Trynhild, despite her humble origins, has the heart of a fighter. When faced with the prospect of evacuation, she scoffed, and said we should face the invaders head-on, despite being little more than a farm-girl. The fire in her eyes would be enough to scare any Breton!”



The journal then details his trek into the frigid wilderness to gather wood for crafting a magical staff. He describes Bleakrock as “brutal and harsh, but not without beauty. Rather like home in that sense.” Eventually, he came across a fallen tree, from which he collected the necessary materials, and returned to town. Unfortunately, he does not detail his process for creating staves, which still eludes scholars studying the Era, but he does mention the usage of a minute quantity of obsidian rock—this is an indicator that he was following the old Dunmeri style of crafting.



Curious, I contacted a friend, who shall be simply named “The Craftsman” in these texts. He is an expert on most known—and many frankly unknown—styles of making weapons and armor. He clarified that the rise of the Ebonheart Pact brought about a change in Dark Elven craftsmanship, relying more on “normal” materials than their preferred bonemold or chitin (though of course these were still present—especially on the island of Vvardenfell). However, the classic odd curves and protruding spikes that are present in their modern gear was present in the Second Era as well—indeed, it would seem the modern House Indoril armor especially is almost unchanged from common medium armor of this time period.



Once he had constructed a staff in this fashion, and bought some warm clothes for the frosty climate, Avarain began his trek to Skyshroud Barrow. However, he has waylaid by another villager—a hunter named Hoknir, who had lost a foot to some great beast. Avarain apparently tried to convince him to return to the village for help, but he refused to leave until the beast was dead. Avarain wrote: “Damn Nord. For Vivec's sake, he lost a foot! And still the stubborn idiot refuses to let me help him back to town. I'd just leave him there for the wolves, but then I wouldn't be doing the job right. So I guess I'm hunting down whatever this 'Deathclaw' thing is.”



Reportedly, Deathclaw was an unusually resilient giant bat. Avarain reportedly lured it with deer meat, then blasted it with fire magic. When the deed was done, Hoknir finally allowed him to bring him back to the village. Avarain then describes a conversation with Ottrogar, a Nord fisherman who desired Trynhild. Apparently, the affection was one-sided. Avarain notes a heavy dislike for the lad, who made lewd jokes at Trynhild's expense (some of which he transcribed, but I shall not, for I very much doubt the Emperor and his court would approve). I find it interesting, however, that Avarain cared so for Trynhild—she was not, after all, a Dunmer or even an elf. Avarain himself seems to acknowledge this in his journals: “She is smart—especially for her kind. And strong, too. I will not allow this fool to treat her like that!”



Avarain's entry ends there. Next time, I will elaborate on his visit to Skyshroud, which he reached the next day. Until I write that, may the Divines keep whoever reads this safe.

Azurya

and here is the reason why I have no chars in EP.....

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Azurya wrote: »

and here is the reason why I have no chars in EP.....

Not sure what you mean with that. Do you not like the story? If so, why not? Open to suggestions here.

Azurya

No, don´t mind me, your story is good and I liked it, read all of it.
It is just for my taste a bit to much self-congratulation, and to be honest I have 2 chars in EP
Just no chars in AD, although there I once started in the open-beta....
But my char stuck somewhere in the beginning and ZOS could not release it for weeks, and when they finally got it, I was already in love with DC and there I stayed, my EP chars now function as Crafter and banker, and they those both functions very well. And AD char was deleted.

But the layout I liked most, well done!

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Azurya wrote: »

No, don´t mind me, your story is good and I liked it, read all of it.
It is just for my taste a bit to much self-congratulation, and to be honest I have 2 chars in EP
Just no chars in AD, although there I once started in the open-beta....
But my char stuck somewhere in the beginning and ZOS could not release it for weeks, and when they finally got it, I was already in love with DC and there I stayed, my EP chars now function as Crafter and banker, and they those both functions very well. And AD char was deleted.

But the layout I liked most, well done!

Oh! Well, thanks for liking the story, then! When I get through the EP storylines, I'll tackle the rest of the Alliances. One thing at a time though.