 Aurelia Draconis' History Book |
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| Added by | Tamriel Rebuilt | ||
| ID | TR_m3_OE_bk_EbonhtHistory1 | ||
| Prev. | None | Next | Unfinished History Book |
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Volume One
Ebonheart. An ancient Dark Elven city destroyed by pride and folly. A bustling port and a symbol of Imperial commercial prowess in the wild East. Ebonheart is both these things and more.
Firm historical records concerning the Ebonheart of old are hard to come by. It is presumed that most of the documents that might prove of interest to historians were kept within the city itself and subsequently lost in the great fire that consumed Ebonheart at the beginning of this Third Era. Sadly most of what remains is incoherent and largely apocryphal.
Ebonheart was a great city of the Dark Elf people, built sometime in the First Era along with its great rival, the city of Mournhold. It is said that the two cities continually competed with each other for the right to call themselves the most beautiful in all Morrowind. When the King of Ebonheart demolished a row of houses to build a statue garden, the King of Mournhold would knock down an entire quarter and hire the finest sculptors in all Tamriel. It is unfortunate indeed that no paintings exist of Ebonheart at its height, for they would surely command pride of place in the Museum of Tamriel in the Imperial City!
Whilst the accounts are vague in their exact details, it seems clear that by the closing decades of the Second Era Ebonheart was a shadow of its former self. Although many of its most stunning pieces of architecture were still standing, the passage of time had not been kind to them. Mournhold had long since eclipsed Ebonheart as the cultural, political, economic and religious capital of Morrowind, and the money and will to restore Ebonheart were completely absent. It was at that point when the leaders of Morrowind, the Tribunal, signed the Armistice with Tiber Septim and Morrowind became part of the Empire of Tamriel.
The men and women of Cyrodiil have a knack for business, so when the lands of the East opened up for the first time many Imperials jumped at the chance to visit these strange places and hopefully make a bit of money as well These link-minded individuals formed the East Empire Company and dispatched a delegation to Ebonheart to negotiate the setting up of a trading post in the city. Ebonheart is very well positioned on the mouth of the great Thirr river, so most of the trade from inland Morrowind to the rest of Tamriel passes through its gates. The EEC hoped to kick-start this trade, which had languished under years of neglect.
As the delegation made its way overland across the Valus Mountains and up through Morrowind they were impressed by the Dark Elves they met and their willingness to integrate with the Empire and its trading routes. At Almas Thirr they boarded a ferry making its way north along the river to Ebonheart, their mood optimistic and their thoughts of cooperation and the benefits thereof. But as they neared their destination they saw the sky fill with smoke and their good mood disappeared like a tiny pebble thrown into a vast river flowing towards a city ablaze.