Lore:Senchal

Senchal (also spelled Senchel)  is one of the eight-major cities in the province of Elsweyr,  serving as the largest settlement in the Quin'rawl Peninsula and the capital of Pellitine.  Senchal is known for being an infamous, yet an influential port-city among southern Tamriel. Filled to the brim of crowded bazaars and open-aired markets. The highly-populated harbor contains all sorts of pirates and smugglers that operate across the Southern Sea, and the Topal Bay.  Senchal was one of the original sixteen kingdoms of Elsweyr,  known for their harbors and nautical people.  

 

Layout & Geography
Senchal is found in the southern rainforests and river basins of  , it is built on strategic grounds in the coastal highlands of the Quin'rawl Peninsula. In fact, the region's population is mainly centralized in the Senchal region, in both the city and the nearby port-town of South Guard. The Senchal Sound is sporadically populated by the occasional whirlpools and water eddies. The city is built on a hilltop that overlooks the bay, crowned by the Senchal Palace. The main city itself contains a motley assortment of open-aired markets, bazaars, and stone buildings, all of which circle around the central square. As the city openly dissolves into the outskirts, shanty-towns, and ruins from the many fires are cluttered about. Because of its location, Senchal is the meeting spot of several criminals and gathering of illegal goods,  even fresh corpses ripe for the pickings of the  .  There are several city districts in Senchal, all of which are led by their respective clan leaders.  These include the harbor district,  ,  ,  but the most notorious is the underground slums known as  , the source of the   when it broke out in Elsweyr.  Senchal is neighbored by several settlements, one of them being   to the west. 

Notable Locales


History
The Kingdom of Senchal & the Second Empire
thumb|left|200px|Senchal gained power when the new moons were out
Much like the other major cities, Senchal was founded many years into the   as one of the original sixteen kingdoms of what is now Elsweyr. It was founded by the eponymous   of nautical-folk and shipwrights that favored the harborage that served as the city's foundation. The town had grown in size as dwellings and businesses started to form, but the city has notably used stone in their architecture after these buildings started to catch on fire. A class system evolved in Senchal, among the honest tradesmen to the dishonest. Out of this, the modern-day slums of Black Kiergo were created as a place for the thieves and ruffians that did not benefit from the caste.  In that time, power between theses kingdoms shifted depending on the phases of the moons. For example, when the moons are both in syzygy (new moons), the Kingdom of Senchal gains prominence across the lands. These kingdoms lived together in harmony, often working with each other's primary skill. That was until the   in  , when these kingdoms had fallen and were slowly absorbed into two kingdoms. Senchal's destruction is attributed to the people's panic, who burned down buildings to kill the sickened, beginning with the slums of Black Kiergo.   What remained of Senchal was brought into the Kingdom of  .  

thumb|right|The Palace of Senchal
Senchal's early years after the plague was prosperous, the city was efficiently rebuilt both physically and socially. While Black Kiergo continued its infamous reputation, the city itself became the capital of Pellitine considering it was the largest city at the time. Although, clan identity was no longer a measure of power, only what is contributed to the community, a model that was taken from the  s and the  s. Regardless, the political situation in Senchal was fair and stable. By  , the city was ruled by the Mad King,   and his wife, Queen  , a couple that held a strong connection with the  . King Dro'Zel was an infamous leader, known for his eccentric personality and high connections. But his most egregious action was summoning   to destroy the town of  .  In time, King Dro'Zel became a servant of the then Emperor,   and relations between the Kingdom and the Empire strengthened. 

However, political change came much harder with the formation of the Elsweyr Confederacy, between Queen   of Pellitine, and King   of   in  . Since then, stability in the province shifted between peaceful times to a great power struggle between two ideally-different nations that threatened foreign intervention.  The tension was later followed with a mass scandal in Senchal, the assassination of the Potentate,   in  , at the city's palace by a burgeoning faction known as the  , who displayed their name in his blood.  Before the family could seek consul from the Potentate, the provincial mayhem had reached a climax. Thus leading into the sacking of the capital,   and the slaughter of the royal family in   by rebels.   Amidst the downfall, the people of Senchal reverted to their modern traditions and social structures to stay strong. That was until the disaster two centuries later. 

Senchal and the Knahaten Flu
thumb|left|Ruins from the Fires
thumb|right|General Meric Renmus of the Thirteenth Legion
In  , the   had sprung from the bowels of   until it reached the skooma-dens of Black Kiergo. The clan leaders of Senchal dismissed the flu as a toxin in the skooma, however, it soon spread into Dagi's Pride and Squint-Eye, until it left the city for  , where it would spread across the province.  Much like with the Thrassian Plague, mob fires was seen as the solution and the slums were razed to the ground, but the fires had spread not only across the city, but into the surrounding region, encompassing nearby  . Some people were killed by the disease (among them was Governor   of Senchal and members of the royal Pellitine bloodline), while other people died from the smoke and fumes.  It took many years for Senchal to fully-recover from the damage while it was cut off from the rest of Tamriel. 

The malcontent had swiftly takeover Senchal in the void left by the flu, leading to dark times in the city's history that continued the senseless destruction. But in  , the  , led by the recently-crowned Emperor   had aided the city's recovery period in the form of doctors  and the  . General   led the legion and took control of Senchal Palace, slowly but surely bringing law and order into the ruined city-state. However, when the   led to the disappearance of the Emperor, the Thirteenth Legion was left to their own accord and gained favor from the local populous, earning the name, the Shields of Senchal. Meric Renmus had successfully driven the criminal world into the underground remains of Black Kiergo while maintaining the peace for a couple of decades.  In  , the Speaker of the  ,   had signed the   with the   and the  , leading to the formation of the First   and the alliance's help in resolving the flu epidemic across Elsweyr. 

The New Moon Cult & the Dragon Incursion
In  ,   had re-surfaced across the province of Elsweyr, wreaking havoc across the countryside between the northern wastelands to the southern rainforests. The threat of Dragons had greatly loomed over the Quin'rawl Peninsula, burning down the villages and farms across the region that displaced them into Senchal. At that time, the former captain of the  ,   had appeared in the city to gather forces to face the Dragon threat, but was denied warriors by General Renmus to hunt a   that roosted in the island of  , so that Senchal was not left undefended. His daughter,   joined Sahan's taskforce to raid the island and subsequently joined the reformed Dragonguard. 

The threat of Dragons became more apparent when the   began to appear across Senchal. Countless refugees had flocked to the cult as they preached their gospel across the streets. The people's perception of the cult hood ranged from contempt to concern as it encouraged the denial of the old gods in favor of their   and the New Moon.  The Dragonguard had approached General Renmus to help investigate the disappearances across town and attempt to infiltrate the cult. As more and more people joined the order, extra measures were taken to recruit more suitable applicants. The order's   became acquainted with the arena master, using his tournament to attain strong warriors. The Dragonguard were able to win the arena match and learn about the cult's intentions. 

Eventually, the Shields of Senchal became involved in the defense of the region against the Dragon incursion, as the Dragonguard prepared for the final fight against the new moon cult's dragon-lord, Laatvulon. One of the Shields' battles occurred higher in the region, on the highlands near the west sentry tower.  The dragon conflict came to an end after an assault on   that led to the island's subsequent destruction and the death of the dragon-lord,  .  For their resilience, Queen   of   had offered the Shields, and by extension the city-state of Senchal membership that would re-establish the  . It is unknown whether they accepted their offer but Senchal was liberated from the dragon threat. 

Senchal in the Third Empire
thumb|right|Moon Sugar and Skooma
As the   had left Elsweyr in utter ruins, the province refused to stand down from the adversity of the  . Despite the chances of surrender given by General  , Senchal was among the last stand that marked the brutal end of the province's retaliation. The Sack of Senchal had been omitted from the Empire's official history due to the massacres conducted by the  . Men, women, and children alike were slaughtered by the Imperial soldiers until the city had forfeited and the province was absorbed into the Empire.  By  , the city remained in ruins, its air polluted with chimney-smoke and charred skylines since the fires of the Knahaten Flu. It has since been considered the ugliest city outside the Empire's jurisdiction. But after the Empire's claim over the province, Senchal's inland highways became heavily-guarded, shifting illegal activity directly to the city's harbor. All the while, Black Kiergo had surfaced into the open and its streets filled with sugar-dens and junkies. 

During the   in the late- , the city-state of Senchal was an active settlement. It was ruled by King Huskir and had a rivalry with  . 

In the waning years of the Third Era, in  , Senchal went through a renaissance from the drug-capital of the Empire, to a coastal resort-town populated by powerful merchant-lords of Elsweyr. Although, this change came from the increase of moon-sugar export that expanded multi-fold in the past twenty years. The kingpin,   the Gold Cat is said to have an extravagant villa in Senchal and the abundance of money that pays for the city's strong security. From his home, Ya'Tirrje continued his enormous drug-ring that encompassed other major cities such as  ,   and  .  

Gallery
 

See Also
For game-specific information, see the Arena and ESO articles.
Books


Notes
The "Senchal life" for thieves is when they stolen wealth is given back to the hungry and less fortunate, keeping only just enough to survive with. Thieves flaunt their skills, keep each other in check and all the while keep things interesting in the market. 
When the New Moons of   and   came out from the sky, it gave the ancient kingdom its regional power over everyone else. It is also the phase in which Khajiit are born into the   furstock. 
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, Senchal's gladiatorial team would have been called "the New Gods". 

References