Lore:Sentinel

is a great city of the  s, and the capital of the  . It is located in the northwestern hills of  , overlooking the  .  Its population is relatively low due to the inhospitable nature of the surrounding  .   However, some fertile fields can be found along the coast near the city,  and the city is actually a major population center in Hammerfell.  

The main street of   is a great market between the docks and front gates.  The city is an exotic retreat for the nobility of   and  , who delight in the cooking, craftsmanship, and plays which can be found there.  Many great and famous people throughout history have called Sentinel their home, including the renowned poet   and the famous Redguard hero  .      
 
:Above the sea Sentinel shines,
:Her domes agleam in the Iliac dawn.
:Her people throng the bazaars, and find
:Their way between man's walls of stone.
:But even in the towered town,
:Sandals tread tracks in Alik'r sand.'' —  
 

History
The Rise of Sentinel
thumb|right|The banner of Grandee Yaghoub became Sentinel's crest
Before the Redguards arrived from Yokuda, the   and   established an outpost at what is now Sentinel in order to protect fisherfolk and seafaring merchants from inland  s and other hazards in the desert.  Little did they know that the greatest threat would come by sea.

:"And the shores were green with the leaves of pomegranate, and fig, and olive, and the men of the Grandee saw this and were hungry, and sought to come ashore, despite the warnings and cries of the port-rabble." —  
After the   first landed in  , the warrior-sailors of the Grandee   sailed north until they rounded  , becoming the first of the Ra Gada to discover  . Yaghoub decided to make his home there. As they sailed "toward   at dawning of the seventeenth of Second Seed", a watchman spotted a suitable harborage, and Yaghoub declared they would build a city there, calling it Sentinel after the watchman. 

They quickly discovered and established control over the locals' port with little if any opposition. Yaghoub conscripted the locals to serve as masons and servants in the building of his new palace,  , and the rest of the city.  Samaruik, also called Sentinel Palace, remains the oldest and largest architectural achievement in the city, and several additions have been built onto it over the years.  After Sentinel was attacked by Abecean pirates, Yaghoub built the   - a fortified storehouse under the city, most notable for housing the  .  When the   followed the   into Hammerfell, they considered Sentinel a "worthy seat", and many of the   settled there (but the city has always been considered a Forebear stronghold, though that term wouldn't be in use until the days of the  ).  

Of course, the people of Sentinel still had their share of setbacks. They had to adapt to life as merchants.  Once,   drove an entire Ra Gada flotilla back to Sentinel by using her prodigious sorcery to manipulate the waves of the Iliac Bay.  Like the rest of the Iliac Bay, they also faced the devastation brought by the  , the  , and an invasion from  . 


thumb|right|Sentinel Docks
Sentinel and the surrounding area have long been notorious for widespread, underground  .  In  , under the reign of the Forebear King  , Sentinel came under the threat of attack from an undead army. The army was vanquished, though, in what the Forebear king asserted was a   intervention. 

During the  , control of Hammerfell reverted to the hereditary monarchy of the Na-Totambu. To the chagrin of the Forebears, the new High King boldly moved his throne from the old capital Hegathe to the more prosperous Sentinel. By this time, Sentinel had mastered a third of the trade in the entire Iliac Bay. Upon the death of High King   in  , the Forebears retook their city by force. The vengeful Crown Prince   set sail to the city to avenge his father, resulting in one of the bloodiest massacres in Tamrielic history. When   swept in and reestablished   control over the province, it was seen as a humanitarian intervention. 


During the   in the late  , the city-state of Sentinel was an active settlement, being known as the "Guardian of  ." It was ruled by King Caacte, and it had a rivalry with  .  Sentinel was neighbored by several settlements, including   to the south, and   to the east. 

Despite the defeat during the   circa  , the city of Sentinel continued to flourish, and it was renowned at the time as the place to go to earn some quick gold or find a bit of adventure.  Hammerfell was controlled from the city's throne.  An unsuccessful assassination attempt on the life of Queen   was widely attributed to jealous Daggerfall royalty, though this was never proven. 


Thalmor agents were harassing and possibly murdering refugees in Balfiera and Sentinel around  ; the victims were all of mixed blood or had associations considered by the Aldmeri Dominion to be "unclean".   In  , Altmer dissidents who had fled to Sentinel from the Thalmor in Summerset Isle were attacked by Thalmor operatives in what became known as the Night of Green Fire. Their efforts to fight back against the Thalmor were in vain, and by the time Imperial Legion soldiers arrived, the entire refugee district of the city had been destroyed. The Dominion, not content with killing dissidents at home, came to Hammerfell to finish the job. An Altmer Legate known as Fasendil was one of the soldiers stationed there. 

Animosity between the Crowns and Forebears was sometimes so great that the factions have been known to leave each other to their own fates during foreign invasions.  But in  , when the Crown city Hegathe found itself besieged during the   by the seemingly unstoppable forces of the  , a Forebear army from Sentinel came to their aid and broke the siege. This led to the reconciliation of the two factions. 

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, Sentinel's gladiatorial team would have been called "the Deathbringers". 
Sentinel is home to a  . 
The   was brought to the   in Sentinel for study, though it vanished within three weeks. 

Gallery
 

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

Books
 
 
 
 
 

References