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by Destri Melarg
Biographical Note: Destri Melarg was a well-known historian
and translator of old Redguard verse, born as simply
Destri in the city-state of Rihad in the 20th year of the 3rd
Era. At the age of nineteen, he went to the Imperial City to
study. There were few Redguards who had been to the Imperial
Province at the time, and it may be that he took the last name
Melarg in order to assimiliate with the Breton, Nordic, and
Dark Elf cultures he encountered there.
When he died ninety-four years later, he left numerous
unfinished histories and untranslated verse. Very few of this
fragmented work has found its way out of collections. What
follows is an unmailed letter to Melarg's publishers in the
Imperial City. The insights into the man who put the oral
traditions of the Redguards to paper impressed me enough to
seek its publication.
Melius, it should be noted, was Melius Kane, Melarg's
publisher in the Imperial City.
--- Vune,
Redguardic First Scholar
Imperial University
|* * *
Melius,
This is the outline of my final chapter for the series on
Hammerfell heroes. I condensed Dendle's storytelling. I
have my notes, but the story gets long with all the quotes.
She puts a lot of dialog in her storytelling. I am amazed
that the old stories about the 5 swords keeps cropping up.
It's been a thousand years since Hellion's time, yet people
continue to believe in the stories.
The wagon master sat with me after listening to her story and
smoked a pipe with me. In discussing the story, he said that his
storyteller used to say that one of the five swords survived
the closing of the Goblin gate, and is yet hidden here in
Hammerfell. It was the least of the five, but the story has
it that it exceeds and modern blade magical or ebony by
several orders of magnitude.
Of course I take this with a grain of salt, since a ebony
weapon is unparalleled in its keen cutting ability and
personally I can't imagine a weapon doing more damage than
a Claymore of Firestorm or a Saber of Life Steal. Dendle even believes that out in the
countryside outside of Skaven in one of the Halls of the
Virtues of War, there are still people who follow the old
ways and can form a Shehai or spirit sword.
In collecting these stories, I once thought I was seeing a
Shehai being formed, by an old Hall master, but the thing,
if it was a spirit sword was so faint that even the sword shape
was questionable. I didn't want to insult the old man so I
claimed I saw it too. But if that was a Shehai, I can't
imagine it possibly used as a real weapon. Here's my
outline of the new story:
At the time of this story, Hammerfell is fully occupied by
Redguards. All the old cities of the Dwarves (but one - the
Ghost City of Dwarfhome) are now the cities of today's modern
Hammerfell. A second invasion of the giant goblins comes.
Hammerfell is unprepared, except for a few faithful
followers, all youths in the rural Halls of Virtue.
Hallin, being the only Ansei, rallies the armies of
Hammerfell. After a defeat, he brings back the old ways by
telling each warrior to read the Book of Circles. The army
fights the Goblins to a standstill, but things look bleak,
just as in Divad's song. Somehow the goblins keep being
resupplied both with arms and troops. Eventually the Army
of Hammerfell will lose.
The old master of Hallin's Hall of the Virtues of War has an
ancient copy of Divad's will and testament, and reads it to
Hallin. It tells him that the 5 swords aren't lost, just
hidden and well guarded in 5 caves. Each cave is home to a
master guardian, one of the old blind Ansei -- and also a
maze.
According to the will, Derik must, along with a virtuous
companion of pure heart enter the cave, defeat each Ansei Master and retrieve their sword.
Dendle went into great detail here. It seems that each Master
had an outstanding trait -- one Katrice, possessed feline
grace, and had become very catlike; another, who had icy
calm was something much like an Ice Golem.
On each blade is inscribed part of an intricate message on
how to use the power of the swords combined. Derik scours the
rural Halls for Brothers of the Blade and Maidens of the
Spirit Sword to accompany him in the quests. He finally one
by one finds his companions, and wins each sword.
They learn from the blades and together wield the force of
the 5 swords to seal the rent in space time that the Goblins
have made and from which springs their invasion. Hallin's
companions avoided blinding by the magic swords by hurling
the swords together into the void, and sealing forever the
giant Goblins in the void between their world and ours.
The land is saved and Hallin and his companions (3 women and
2 men) become Ansei and restore the teachings of Frandar
Hunding to Hammerfell.
That's the story in brief. I welcome any comments from you
or one of the other editors.
One other concern of mine. I understand that you are
considering using a better known writer, Uthilla Abuhk or
Casmyr Kreestrom, to write the stories I've researched. I can
understand that a better known writer may mean that a few
more copies of the books will be sold, but that should not be
your only concern. Abuhk and Kreestrom, while fine writers
and poets, will need to be lectured on the true history of
the Redguards. Even if you are willing to pay me to do that,
you will have to acknowledge that the books will take longer
to write than if you just allowed me to do it. Just something
to consider when you make the decision.
I hope this letter finds you, your consort, and children to
good health and humor.
Yours faithfully, Destri Melarg
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