Books:The Daggerfall Chronicles/Narrative

This is a summary of the "Narrative" section from The Daggerfall Chronicles, which recounts the story leading up to the events of TES II: Daggerfall. It is to be used when referencing the book in lore articles. Note that some portions of this narrative do not match events as presented in-game. When in conflict, in-game sources take precedence. 

Scenarist Guild
Nesmyt, the latest acolyte of the Mages Guild, was having hallucinations in his sleep.
Acolyte rank was sneered at by his colleagues for unknown reasons.
To rise in rank, he must pledge fealty to Vychamp, the Mercenary Guild's self-styled leader.
Vychamp had emasculated Nesmyt's children out of jealousy over his helpmate (spouse?).
The Scenarist Guild is for troubadours, bards and minstrels.
It existed hundreds of years before Nesmyt's "tortured path to membership" [in the Mages Guild].
The guild has a presence in each significant province or city, and provide guided tours.
The guild helps "traverse the Daggerfall landscape" physically, interactively, spiritually and historically. They answer riddles and puzzles.
A neutral guild member not associated with any geographic entity acts as an observer, keeping others' accounts honest and free from inborn/regional bias.
The Underking unleashed thousands of dark minions; the guild's Monster Watch Grid reveals all monster locations.
[Note: Nesmyt is probably Bruce Nesmith, who provided additional material for the book.]

Introduction to the Region
The Iliac bay has a lengthy and violent history, dating back long before Tiber Septim assumed emperorship and brought relative order to the land.
The current city-states of Daggerfall, Sentinel and Wayrest have long been the seats of power in the region; Daggerfall recently assumed the role of the mightiest after a land disagreement with Sentinel prompted a two-year war over Betony, a fishing village at the edge of the Abecean Sea.
The village had long been independent. Lord Mogref of Betony became a vassal of King Lysandus and Queen Mynisera of Daggerfall for monetary reasons.
King Camaron of Sentinel objected; on the advice of his warlords, he cited a two hundred year old agreement that the vassal village was rightfully Sentinel's, and declared war
Several members of both courts urged the kings not to enter the war.
Daggerfall: Medora (Lysandus' lover) and Nulfaga (the queen mother, a renowned mystic and necromancer) both foretold doom for Lysandus and Daggerfall.
Sentinel: In the wilds outside of Sentinel Camaron was warned against the battle by the Oracle, a blind old woman who served as an impartial court advisor.
The war began with a sea battle off the Daggerfall Bluffs; the victor was Daggerfall, thanks to Lord Bridwell who captained the military.
The next large-scale battle on the Glenpoint Foothills north of Daggerfall also went to Daggerfall; the Sentinel Warlord K'avar received his disfiguring injury from a fireball cast by a Dark Elf mercenary nightblade.
Nulfaga and Medora insisted that the war mustn't continue; Nulfaga, not a popular person in court, retired to her castle in the Wrothgarian Mountains, leaving her dragon familiar Skakmat behind to report to her
This caused Lysandus to reconsider the war; at the notorious Treaty of Gradkeep he met with Camaron and attempted to negotiate and end to the war. It was initially civil, but the Daggerfall priest Vanech considered Bretony to be the holy land of Kynareth, who is the goddess-protector of Daggerfall. He saw giving up the land as blasphemy. When an agreement was reached (in which Sentinel and Daggerfall were to be joint lieges of Betony), Vanech substituted a fake treaty designed to offend Lysandus.
Lord Bridwell (according to legend) shattered the treaty and its writing table with his battle axe, and the room descended into chaos. Camaron discovered the priest's treachery, and slew him.
Lord and Lady Graddock, the sovereigns of Reich Gradkeep attempted to restore order, but to no avail. The palace became soaked in blood. They, along with the heir, Lady Mara, were among the casualties. The town was devastated due to the battle and the ensuing looters.
In time the generals took control of their respective armies. Daggerfall retired to camp in the Ravennian Forest, Sentinel in the Yeorth Burrowland. The flowering meadowland of the Cryngaine Field separated them.

The Battle of Cryngaine Field
One week later the armies met at the Battle of Cryngaine Field. In the heat of battle, a sudden unnatural fog spread over the field, blinding the combatants. The source of the fog was Skakmat, who under Nulfaga's orders was attempting to halt the battle. When the mist eventually lifted, it was discovered that an arrow had pierced Lysandus' heart, apparently fired blindly by one of Sentinel's archers. Not wasting time in mourning, young Prince Gothryd (who had shown great bravery in battle and was very popular among the troops) was crowned King of Daggerfall.
The battle quickly turned in Daggerfall's favor: Lord Bridwell slew King Camaron, and the Sentinelian forces panicked.
Lord Oresme of Sentinel formally surrendered, giving up all rights to Betony. He later committed suicide on the march back to Sentinel.
As part of the formal peace treaty, King Gothryd asked for Princess Aubk-i's hand in marriage. The princess was the only daughter of Queen Akorithi and the late King Camaron. The request was intended to restore friendship between the two kingdoms, and was partially successful, although many in the royal court of Sentinel viewed the princess as a prisoner of war rather than a bond to Daggerfall.
The only surviving member of the ruling family in Reich Gradkeep was a sickly infant, so the state councilors appealed to Lord Auberon Flyte. The respect and gratefulness of the people was so great that when the infant ruler-to-be died they renamed the town in honor of his family. Reich Gradkeep became Anticlere.
Lady Doryanna Flyte was instrumental in her husband's success. She coerced councilors and merchants to agree to Lord Flyte's sometimes imperious demands.
Lord Flyte contracted Guedoilic Plague from an Argonian ambassador and retired to his bedchamber, refusing to admit to his infirmity. He allowed Lady Flyte to use his seal and hold audience. She replaced the elderly councilors with young handsome male advisors. Lord Flyte allowed this, as he was confident that his wife would never act unfaithfully.
Lord Mayor Perwright disapproved of Lady Flyte, but feared the repercussions of telling Lord Flyte. There were rumors that she was consorting with the imprisoned guildmaster of the Anticlere thieves, and even helped him escape nightly to go on midnight raids with him on the surrounding highways, thieving in disguise from passersby.
Wayrest had remained neutral. King Eadwyre and Queen Barenziah, the joint-rulers of the city-state, had internal problems to deal with. They were elderly and had to choose an heir, but none of their choices were attractive at all.
Princess Elysana, Eadwyre's daughter from his deceased wife Carolyna, was sweet but lacked intelligence.
Prince Helseth, son of Barenziah and her late husband Symmachus, was nearly the opposite: rash and bad-tempered, but capable. Many resented the idea of a Dark Elf presiding over a Breton kingdom.
Princess Morgiah, Helseth's sister, wasn't a true contender for the throne, denying any ambition for it. Public opinion was sharply divided over her.
Eadwyre and Barenziah were also concerned about the orcs to the north and the pirates in the Iliac Bay. They were unwilling to send any forces to fight in the Betony War, as this would leave Wayrest undefended.
They weren't concerned about Betony, as any who entered the Bjoulsae River has to pay them tax already.
The orcs to the north, led by King Gortwog, were trying to annex the area as the ninth province of Tamriel, Orsinium, and were willing to destroy any who opposed them.
The pirates had been troublesome as of late, but this ended after the Betony War. The island of Balfiera, which had been their haven, was declared haunted because Medora had retired to her castle there to await Lysandus, prior to the Battle of Cryngaine Field. Queen Mynisera, discovering her affair with her husband, had banished her from court. Medora had then attempted to conjure Lysandus' spirit, but had been unsuccessful. Trying greater and greater conjurations, she resurrected the dead all over the island, but Lysandus was still lost to her.
Medora's distress was caused by Lysandus' spirit haunting the city of Daggerfall. His spectre was screaming from the court to the streets for revenge. He brought with him a host of devils which plagued the citizens and nobility. The guards tried to attack these devils, and their souls soon joined the unholy army.
King Gothryd went from being an extremely popular king to a distrusted one as rumors began to spread that he may have killed his own father in the chaos of the battle. Mynisera, now the Queen-Mother, was also suspected. She was in love with Lord Bridwell, and some suspected she had conspired to assassinate the king.

The Real Story
When Medora was banished from court, the unambitious King Lysandus decided he'd rather spend the rest of his life with her at her castle than reign as king.
He made a deal with Gothryd, who wanted his father to be happy: an impersonator would ride into battle at Cryngaine Field and would feign the King's death.
The impersonator was an impoverished nobleman from just outside Wayrest, who was allied with Lord Woodborne, commander of the Wayrest military.
Two hours before the battle, a group from Wayrest led by Woodborne arrived at Daggerfall's camp; the noble and the king exchanged clothes, and Lysandus was taken to Tamarilyne Point to join his beloved on Balfiera.
The battle goes as planned&mdash;when the fog arrived, Gothryd shot the noble and killed him. When the fog lifted, the "king" was found dead and was taken to the Royal Healer. A full royal funeral is held for the impersonator, still in the royal suit of armor.
Along the way to Tamarilyne Point, Lysandus and Woodborne are discussing the king's retirement. 
Woodborne is ambitious and hopes that his romance with Princess Elysana will make him the new king of Wayrest. If Prince Helseth takes the throne, Woodborne is planning to oppose him by any means necessary. He had tried for months to get Daggerfall to support him, but had been rebuffed. The Minat orc tribe has agreed to ally themselves with him, provided he helped them in their claims to start Orsinium.
Woodborne asked Lysandus what he would do if he gets bored at Balfiera Isle. Lysandus said he'd sneak back to Daggerfall and give Gothryd advice.
A Minat orc meets the troop, and Woodborne tells the king that it is an emergency. Taking one advisor who didn't like him and didn't speak Orcish as an alibi, Woodborne departed. The rest of the troop continued travelling with Lysandus to the Point.
Woodborne tells the orc chieftain, Gortwog, to send a group to kill Lysandus. The orcs massacre Lysandus and the surprised troops at Tamarilyne Point. The orcs sink all the ships and put Lysandus' body in a silver casket in a catacomb nearby so that Woodborne can produce it if Gothryd proves to be as uncooperative as his father.
A blessing is usually placed on the suit of armor before it is ceremonially cremated, giving the king eternal rest and stopping the curse. Medora would have done the same. The orcs were not so nice&mdash;they hacked his body up, no blessing given. [This is ironic, as Lysandus' troubled spirit is what causes an investigation into the matter.]

Enter the PC
The PC has been sent to Daggerfall by the Emperor, who is concerned by the current events. Lysandus had been a great ally of the Emperor and a loyalist to the Empire. The Emperor gives the PC two quests: to liberate the soul of the king (as the Emperor can not bear the thought of his old friend in torment) and to find a letter sent to the Queen of Daggerfall, which contains unimportant old reminiscences that the Emperor would find embarrassing if they passed to strangers' hands.
The letter was supposed to have been given to Lady Brisienna Magnessen, sister of the Great Knight of the Blades. She is disguised as one of the witches of Popudax in the court of Daggerfall, Medora's sorcerer replacement.
The Blades are a group of knights who stealthily work for the good of the Empire all over Tamriel. Their goal is to repair the great iron golem, Numidium, which forcibly united the Empire thousands of years before under the rule of Tiber Septim. They have been joining together the pieces of Numidium ever since it was shattered by the Underking. They have the Totem, an artifact capable of controlling the Numidium.
Only one piece was needed to energize the golem: the Mantella, the great engine that is the heart of Numidium.
Nulfaga had discovered the location of the Mantella in her astral travels, and informed the Emperor that she would reveal the location if he guaranteed it wouldn't damage her son's power.
The Emperor didn't like this demand, so he sent a letter by priest addressed to Mynisera, although a special seal on the envelope would tell Brisienna that it was actually for her&mdash;he didn't send her a magic message because he feared Nulfaga would discover it.
The priest was delayed by the war, and delivers the letter not to Queen Mynisera but to the new Queen Aubk-i. The new queen's lady-in-waiting is not Brisienna, so Aubk-i receives it.
Aubk-i reads the letter, and falsely realizes that the letter was for Mynisera. She becomes very nervous about her mother-in-law and the Emperor, and files the letter away.
Brisienna has meanwhile left the Queen-Mother's service and is working for Popudax, unaware of the events.
Aubk-i cannot trust anyone, especially if she learns that Mynisera is sleeping with Lord Bridwell. She certainly won't trust the PC.
The lady-in-waiting reads the letter and sells the information to Gortwog, who wants as much dirt as he can get on the royal families of High Rock. He has no idea what the Mantella is, and consults the King of Worms, leader of the Necromancers.
The Underking is in a tomb in High Rock, still recovering from using up all his energy to blow up Numidium hundreds of years before. He's getting stronger, but isn't mobile yet.
Nulfaga has been driven mad by her son's undeath, and Lysandus must be put to rest for her to be cured. To do that, his killer, Woodborne, must be slain, and a ceremony must be performed on the site of Lysandus' death or over his bones.
The Blades lose the Totem and it is passed around from group to group.
When the Mantella is activated, its power races across the bay, bringing the Underking totally to life.

The Six Endings
If the PC activates Numidium and holds the Totem, Numidium will crush you and go on a rampage, being destroyed by the combined forces of the Empire, the local kings, the Underking and the orcs.
If the Underking is given the Mantella, he sucks all of the energy out of the gem, giving himself death at last and creating an anti-magic zone in a several mile radius around the area.
If Gortwog wins, Numidium defeats the forces of the Empire and the kings of the bay before the Underking destroys it and himself. This leads to the rise of Orsinium and the further crumbling of the Empire.
If the Blades win, Numidium will be created and defeat the orcs and the kings of the bay, uniting all the provinces of Tamriel under the Emperor. High Rock and Hammerfell become simply "Tamriel".
If one of the kings of the Bay wins, all the other forces are defeated by Numidium before the Underking shows up. It has the same results as Gortwog's victory, except there is no Orsinium.
If the King of Worms wins, he will use the power to make himself a god.

See Also