Lore:Rihad

thumb|right|Map of Hammerfell 
Rihad is one of the eight major cities in the province of Hammerfell,  situated in the southernmost point of the province, near the mouth of the Brena River. Rihad is a port city occupied by the Forebears, the modern-day remnants of the Ra Gada.  
 

Layout & Geography
Rihad is located in the southern region of Hammerfell, where the Forebears cities are much more cosmopolitan in nature than the traditional Crowns cities to the north.  The city itself sits at an ideal spot on the  , next to the Brena River to the south and   to the north. Rihad's region has a tropical wet-dry climate and is prone to the occasional forest fire likes their neighbors in  .  Not far from the city, just to the south, is an impressive   called  .  Rihad is neighbored by several settlements, including   to the northwest and   to the northeast. 

Notable Locales
Rihad Docks 
Rihad Palace 

History
Early History
It is unknown when the city was founded, but the   wave of the   moved along the southern coast of Hammerfell,  which is now prominent Forebears country.  One of the city's oldest known citizens was the Red Dervish of Rihad,  , who is attributed with the quote, "a daughter of the House of   shall not marry an infidel of another house." It is a mantra that both the Crowns and Forebears have upheld for many years. 

Since the  s began to trade with the Colovians in the tenth century of the First Era, Rihad has been in close contact with them for better or for worse.  Sometime in  , the Colovians were engaged in a conflict known as the   and used  i archers before they realized that they were too undisciplined and desertion was common.  By the late  , Colovian Princes would hire bodyguards from Rihad. 

At the time of the  's occupation of Hammerfell, the   reigned over a province split apart by the Crowns and Forebears. Prince   of   inherited a throne rife with conflict and needed a solution to mend the province. After he received a vision from   the World-Eater, who appeared as the  , he traveled to the Fresco of the   and saw that   was nested with two mates, instead of the one that is normally there. King Ar-Azal took it as a sign from the   and married one noblewoman of each faction. He married  , daughter of the Forebears Grandee of  ,  , and also married  , daughter of the Crowns Grandee of Rihad,  . 

Rihad in the Third Empire
thumb|left|The ruined halls of Stonekeep
thumb|right|Prince Dinahan-Al-Rihad
Rihad and nearby Taneth were on the path of the  's invasion of western Tamriel, which started in  . The Redguards were fully confident that the two cities would have defeated the Usurper, but the Forebears cities were defeated in the   in  .   Refugees from these cities fled north into the Iliac Bay and went as far as  .  Since the Crowns of   noticeably did not help the cities to the south, the Forebears of Rihad and Taneth also did not help them in the midst of the   years later. They preferred to watch from afar instead of helping them. 

During the   in the late  , the city-state of Rihad was an active settlement. It was ruled by Queen Blubamka and had a rivalry with  .  After their escape from the  s, the   was set forth on a quest by the spirit of   to retrieve the eight pieces of the  . The spirit tells the warrior to locate  , where the first piece is located.  Their quest eventually took them to the city-state of Rihad, where they garnered an audience with Queen Blubamka. The Queen would have relayed the information, but a band of  s led by   stole a special parchment from Rihad Palace. The parchment was able to decipher an   that would in turn reveal Fang Lair's location. The Eternal Champion returned with the parchment from the goblins in   and traveled north into Fang Lair, where they found their first piece.  Ever since the champion's victory over  , Imperial-loyalists would retrace their steps across the provinces and make their way through Rihad. 

Not much is known about Rihad during the  , but what is apparent is that the cities across southern Hammerfell had fallen to the  , with only   to the west left standing. The entire southern region was left in shambles by the end of the war, even when the Redguards re-claimed the entire region, it was still in a state of ruin. When the   was signed in  , Hammerfell had officially ceded from the Empire,  and at that point, the noble house of Rihad faced some issues. Prince  , an Imperial loyalist was exiled from the throne and later granted asylum in Cyrodiil by the Empire. During his time there, he became an arena combatant and had active intent to retake the throne. 

Culture
thumb|left|The Coffee Scorpion of Rihad
thumb|right|The Tattooed Shorn Camel
The   are a faction of talented and religious sword dancers. Sometime in the mid-Second Era, they dueled with the young and adventurous Princess  .  They shave their   and tattoo them with mystic symbols so that spirits of the deep desert would not lead them astray. 

The   of Rihad is named in homage to the city's kaveh, which is considered strong, dark, and sweet.  The musk of the local   is turned into a perfume, which is considered very fashionable for the nobility of southern Hammerfell, including Rihad. 

The   makes it apparent that some of the people of Rihad like to strip down naked and roll around in the dirt. However, these are more attributed to the devotees of   the World Serpent. They reportedly nip people on the leg like they are  s and perform exhibitions of "shedding their skin". They also roll on the sands for hundreds of miles, from   to the   Oasis. When the Empire moved onto Hammerfell, they took the streets and bit at people until they were forced out of the cities by the Provisional Governors. 

One of Rihad's most esteemed citizens was  , a well-known historian and translator of   verse in the early  . He was only born as "Destri" but may have taken up the surname when he traveled to the  , to assimilate with other cultures in the area. When he died at the age of 94, he left behind hundreds of unfinished text and untranslated verses. One of these   was later published by the first Redguardic scholar of the  ,  .  In the  , Rihad was one of the main ports of the  's western lines. It is connected to several cities along the mainland's coast, such as  , Taneth, and  . 
 

Gallery
 

Notes
Arena was originally conceived as a fighting game featuring a tournament that took the player to each of Tamriel's cities to challenge different gladiatorial teams. According to a file from that stage of development left behind in the final game, Rihad's gladiatorial team would have been called "the Bane". 

See Also
For game-specific information, see the Arena article.

References