Work Text:
The Legend of the Snow Dwarf
by Ivaat Elisel
as translated from the original Falmeri
by Lumi Yevra
In the 1st Century, there lived in Skyrim many peoples, most notably the Falmer, a pale, magically-inclined people, and the Dwemer, a brilliant, yet cruel people who preferred the sciences to magicka. These peoples often fought, but in times of peace, were as close as (illegible).
By the 6th Century, war and pestilence had caused many of the Falmer, once a prosperous people, to be almost completely eliminated from the lands of Skyrim after the death of the illustrious Snow Prince. The Dwemer, in their cruelty, had enslaved and killed many Falmeri men, women, and even children. Small rebellions, known as the People of the Red Snow, were building among the Falmer of Skyrim, as this was their ancestral land.
A Dwemer city-state called (unintelligible), ruled by a wicked leader known as Haikedez, an evil, lazy, man with no intentions of peace, lay hidden underground in the northern lands of Skyrim. Hard-hearted as he was, Haikedez allowed a small group of Falmer people to live within his walls, in the misguided hope that they would willingly give themselves as slaves out of gratitude for his protection. He worked the people hard, and in the guise of kindness, paid them with food and shelter. These Falmer were led by a brave knight named Einno Imoti, who saw through Haikedez' deception and did not want his people to become blinded thralls like the others. The Falmer of (unintelligible) were talking amongst themselves of joining the Red Snow, planning to attack the Dwemer who persecuted them. They brought their thoughts to Einno, who patiently listened to his people's ideas. Hoping to settle things without spilling any more Falmer blood, he decided to confront Haikedez with his people's plan to rebel and intimidate the cowardly Dwemer with violent action if were not freed or, at the very least, paid for their work in coin, believing that Haikedez would yeild when threatened.
Gaining audience with the leader of (unintelligible) was not easy, but brave Einno climbed the Many Steps to Haikedez' Citadel, demanding to speak with the leader himself. Haikedez' steward, a mean, fat Dwemer named Yelgnal, tried futilely to keep Einno from speaking with his master, but Einno would not back down. Einno flashed his dagger, sparkling with old magic, at Yelgnal, whose cowardice got the better of him, and he allowed Einno to enter Haikedez' throne chamber.
"O mighty Haikedez," Einno addressed the Dwarf sitting upon the throne with respect, as the leaders of two peoples should when conducting business. "I, Einno Imoti, leader of the Falmer you so kindly let stay in your city, wish to speak with you."
Haikedez glared at Einno. His cruel heart had sensed disdain in Einno's voice. "What would you wish to bring to my attention, Snow-born? Have I not treated your people fairly?" Haikedez sneered.
"I wish you to let my people go free from the bondage you keep them, and me, in," Einno replied boldly.
Haikedez laughed, bitter and unfeeling.
"And what would you give me in return?" he responded, a sickening, lecherous plot forming in his mind.
"I offer you this dagger, so infused with a powerful and ancient magic, that which will destroy any who wish to harm you with one swipe."
In those days it was common knowledge among the people, both Dwemer and Falmer, of (unintelligible) that Einno Imoti had the most beautiful wife in all of Skyrim, an honorable woman with skin paler than freshly fallen snow and hair whiter than tundra cotton. Haikedez desired her more than any woman in his grand harem. Compared to Cele these women were mudcrabs and frost trolls. Haikedez refused Einno's gift of the dagger.
"Give me your wife, the most lovely Cele, if only but for one night, and your people shall be released from their servitude in my city and be free to go wherever they please."
Einno was shocked, for he had not foreseen this manner of treachery.
"My wife?"
"Your wife," Haikedez smiled wickedly.
Gnivri, the Matron of Haikedez' harem, who had been standing silent behind her husband, spoke.
"My Lord, shall not the woman's thoughts be taken into account? Surely her opinion counts; if not important to you, it may be to her and her husband."
"Of course, of course!" Haikedez laughed again. "The woman should weigh in on this matter. Snow-born, get your Cele's judgement on this 'trade'. If she should accept, you and your people will be freed. If she refuses, you will be bound to stay underground forever in darkness, never to see the sun shine upon the Snow again. Bring her and her answer to me by tomorrow evening."
Einno reluctantly agreed to Haikedez' vile proposal, disgusted, and returned to the hovel where he lived with his wife. Cele was overjoyed to see her husband return safely from the Citadel, but her heart fell seeing the defeated look on his face as she embraced him. Einno immediately called a meeting of all his Falmer and explained to them Haikedez' depraved proposition. Cele appalled at what Haikedez had offered in exchange for her people's freedom, but, tears welling up in her eyes, she nobly accepted her part in saving her people from a life of blind slavery. Always a woman of strong loyalty to her race, Cele would willingly sacrifice herself to save her beloved people.
The next evening Cele and Einno emerged from their hovel and resolutely marched the Many Steps to Haikedez' Citadel together. Cele bowed before Haikedez and turned herself over to his whims for the night being. As Gnivri led her away to the bedchambers, Cele looked back over shoulder at her dear husband Einno, whispering her oath of love to him, Yelgnal ushering him quickly away.
The morning came and Einno returned for his wife at the appointed time. Haikedez, pleased with Einno and Cele's payment, as promised, bade the Falmer of (unintelligible) rise up and go. He had marked Cele with a cut across her cheek, a permanent reminder of his power over her that she would take with her when she left his Citadel and (unintelligible). Though Cele's beauty had been marred, her bold spirit remained unbroken.
Einno's Falmer dispersed as they left the City, most preferring to travel to other countries as an escape from the memory of the evil Dwemer that held them hostage, while others chose to return to their ancestral homes and attempt to rebuild their lives. Einno and Cele, accompanied by a few of their closest and truest companions, returned to what was once a wondrous Falmer city, to find it burned and destroyed by the vicious Atmoran armies that had first driven the Falmer underground to the Dwemer cities for refuge. Einno, though enraged at the loss of his people's home, began to restore his city, happy to finally be free from the hands of the Dwemer.
As time progressed, Cele began to show signs of being with child, and though she prayed the child would be her husband's, she knew in her heart that this child was the misbegotten offspring of her time with foul Haikedez.
In time the child was born, a boy Cele chose to call Eiznekcam, a Dwemer name as a testament to his spurious ancestry. This child was unlike any child ever born to a Falmer woman, not even those who had bred with Atmorans or Manmeri, as instead of a pale complexion, the boy's skin was ashen in color, his eyes a grayed purple, and his hair the color of fertile soil. The boy's appearance seemed to be a complete amalgamation of his parents' Dwemer and Falmer features, a Snow Dwarf, the first seen in Skyrim. Einno and Cele sensed great things would come from this boy, whose birth could only be an omen of great change in Tamriel's history, a fulfillment of an ancient prophecy of unification among Nirn's peoples.
As the years went by, news of the birth of a half-breed child spread across the country, and eventually reached the ears of Haikedez, sitting high in his Citadel. He heard of how the child was the son of a Falmer woman, and instead having of the pale features of his snow-born mother, the boy had the distinctive look of a Dwemer child. Haikedez was troubled, also sensing the importance of the birth of such a child, though he knew not of the prophecy, and resolved that such an abomination should not be allowed to live, lest the boy grow to someday best him in battle. Haikedez sent armies of Dwemer soldiers to find his child and destroy him, but they never returned. He sent automata, spiders and spheres and even great centurions, after the child, but neither did they come back to (unintelligible). Haikedez, in desperation, sent the most horrifying of beasts after the Falmer and the Snow Dwarf child: the Betrayed.
The Betrayed are an affront to nature, a testament to the cruelty and vile nature of the Dwemer. The Betrayed were once Falmer who, like Einno Imoti, trusted the Dwemer to keep them safe from the Atmorans' attacks. However, the Dwemer, in their wickedness, tricked these Falmer into becoming their slaves, poisoning and blinding them with toxic mushrooms cultivated deep beneath the Dwemer Cities. These slaves were then forced underground, to live in pure feral savagery, fearing only their Dwemer masters in the darkness.
Einno and his remaining people, driven again from their city by the Dwemer forces, had found sanctuary in a ruined ice cave on the shores of the Northern Sea (original: Falnen). They had heard horror stories of the Betrayed from escaped Falmer who sought refuge with their own kind, how fierce and wild these creatures had become in their blind rage! If only these refuging Falmer had known that those tormented Betrayed were hunting them down even as they spoke!
A dark night fell upon the land of Skyrim. As the Falmer slept, sheltered deep in the embrace of the icy cave, the Betrayed tunneled their way to where Einno had hidden his people and attacked. Surprised from their slumber and unaccustomed to the darkness, the Falmer were unprepared to defend themselves. Both Valiant Einno and Honorable Cele fought bravely against the Betrayed, but Einno was slain by a roughwrought sword driven into his chest, and Cele, calling out for her husband and children, fell to a barrage of the Betrayed's prong-tipped arrows. The Betrayed mercilessly slaughtered what remained of those who were once their own race.
A small cry of fear came from behind a rock, alerting the Betrayed. There, hiding, they found three small children cowering beneath a blanket of wolfskin. The Betrayed sniffed the air around the children like dogs getting the scent of their prey, rising to strike down the children, when the smell of Dwemer blood reached their nostrils. The Betrayed shrank away in fear. One of these children must be a Dwemer, the masters of these foul brutes! A small dark-haired boy stood against the Betrayed, a glowing dagger clutched in his small gray fist, shielding the two pale children behind him, even as he bled from a wound courtesy of an errant arrow.
"Do not come any closer!" the Snow Dwarf yelled, "Leave us alone and return to where you came from!"
The Betrayed obediently disappeared into the tunnel they had dug into the cavern, back to he who had sent them, and likely a grave punishment for their failure.
A great tragedy occurred that black night: of the many Falmer who had sought safety in the sacred Ice, only four survived to see the sunrise.
The Snow Dwarf lives.
All these things I write as I have lived them. If any word be untrue, may my quill fly away and my paper sprout leaves.
I. E.
to (original: zei)
E. I. and C. I.