Stirk Histories

Lying almost exactly between the prominent ports of Cyrodiil, Hammerfell, Valenwood and the Summerset Isles, the isle of Stirk is a safe harbor for the many trade-ships that frequent the treacherous Abecean Sea. Though often maligned as a provincial backwater, the island's excellent fishing grounds and temperate climate (compared to the sweltering conditions of the Heartlands) have   many a pilgrim on their way to the temples and gambling halls of Anvil. Indeed, interest in the local Abecean Longfin, a fish of exceptional taste, has poised this town for an economical awakening which is surely just around the corner. It behooves us to look back on the rich heritage of this windswept rock, which has so often been in the eye of the Empire's great upheavals.


The Ayleid were the first people to set foot on Stirk. The utter west was of little interest to the Ayleid  , whose culture was centered around their mighty Heartlands cities. It was only in the late decadent era that the Elven lords, mistrustful of their cousins in Alinor, Direnni, and Valenwood, founded the sea-fortresses of Wormusoel and Vabriasel, designed to repel foreign invasions. Of course, the fall of the Ayleid did not come from without, but from within.

Following the Rebellion, the west cities were easily toppled by the incumbent Colovian kings. The Abecean strongholds were an exception, and long plagued the Strident Shore with skirmishes and incursions. But the efforts of these remnants were no match for Colo-Nordic courage and knowledge of the sea, and in 1E 343 the island was subjugated by Skalgar Hellebor, a vassal of the Shore-King, and first Baron of Stirk.

Early records make little mention of this settlement. The great epics of the Colovian tradition occasionally note a hero or war-party from Stirk, rarely of any significance. One saga tells how the Ra Gada invasion of 1E 808 was repelled at Stirk, one of the few counterpoints in that one-sided conflict (though Redguard scholars naturally dispute this).

The defenders of Stirk were much less   against the Thrassian Plague. The island was one of the first victims of the plague, which all but eradicated the population. Baron Alvor, spared from the plague by a timely pilgrimage to Sancre Tor, swore vengeance on the Sloadic menace and supported Bendu Olo's bid for the Strident throne after the demise of the last Shore-King. The Barons of Stirk continued to play a prominent role in the short-lived Oloman Confederacy and the War of Righteousness, in which Baron-Captain Aravest is said to have led many daring raids up the Niben river.

After the First Interregnum, the town reappeared among the oath-bound of Reman. It played a small part in the great conquests as a military harbor and supply station, and records show many young fishermen served in Reman's Navy, exchanging their peaceful island life for the duty and honor in serving the Empire.

Stirk would reprise these roles during the Tiber Wars, as a key military asset in the great feats of Admiral Richton. The town was assaulted twice, first by outlaws of the Restless League, and later by the Altmeri Navy, whose occupation caused grievous destruction before the land could be reclaimed. After the war, the defeated elves were tasked to finance the city's rebuilding.

After war, peace returned, and Stirk became a calm fishing town. It remained untouched by the Camoran Usurper's passage, though it was much plagued by the heinous pirates that sailed in those lawless days. Liberation came through the grand campaign of Commodore Umbranox, later to be named Count of Anvil. Though the terrors of the Simulacra and recent unrests in the Iliac Bay may have caused a resurgence of such acts of piracy, it will surely only be a short while before the West Navy scours these seas again, and every inhabitant of Stirk can sleep safe with the knowledge that they, too, live under the Law and Peace of the Empire.