Travails and Triumphs of a Monarch This text was retrieved from " The Elder Scrolls Online " website . Content . Chapter 3 : At the Gates of Daggerfall ! For a dozen years after the Battle of Granden Tor , the kingdoms of High Rock were at peace , and the merchant ships of Wayrest , Daggerfall , and Sentinel traded near and far to all the ports of Tamriel . In my father ' s hall of business in Wayrest I learned of the tracking of shipments , the balancing of accounts , and the fluctuation of currencies , but Pierric of Cumberland knew the nature of the world , and he was not content to have his son learn only of the ways of peace and trade . Every morning I sparred with the Cumberland Master of Arms , and every afternoon the weather permitted I rode a warhorse , exercising with the Menevia Heavy Dragoons . It wasn ' t just practice : for two months every summer , I traveled as lieutenant of the mounted escort of the Evermore Caravan , and a half - dozen times we fought off hill bandits , goblin raiders , and Reachman war bands . I was fortunate to have spent so much time with a hilt in my hand , for in 2E 541 , when I was but twenty , Durcorach the Black Drake spread his wings in the Reach and mustered his feral tribesmen to war . Erupting from their mountain lairs like ants from a kicked anthill , the Reachmen howled down into Bangkorai , burning and looting . After only three days ' siege , Evermore fell to this horde . The land was pillaged and its people massacred . Hallin ' s Stand held out longer , but eventually it was also overrun by the heathen swarm . Within days , they were across the Bjoulsae and bearing down upon Wayrest . Then all were grateful that King Gardner had built new walls and battlements around Wayrest , for the town had grown so that it had burst the bounds of the old walls . Throngs of people swarmed in from the countryside , and soon it seemed that all Menevia , Gavaudon , and Alcaire were within the city walls . But when the Reachman storm burst upon Wayrest , the crowded conditions seemed a small price to pay for protection from the fury of those Daedra - loving heathens . Thus began the epic Siege of Wayrest , when for fifty - seven days and nights the Bretons of Stormhaven manned the walls and repulsed the savage assaults of our terrible opponents . The Reachmen , lacking siege engines , were unable to breach our new walls and take the city by storm , and lacking ships they were unable to blockade our harbor and reduce the city by starvation . Stalemate : was Durcorach ' s invasion of High Rock at an end ? Indeed , no : your Reachman warrior , though fearless and fierce , is not as a rule very patient . The Black Drake left enough troops in the revetments around our walls to keep us bottled up inside and simply marched off west into Glenumbra . Taken by surprise , the newly - independent city - state of Camlorn fell and was sacked . And then Durcorach turned his eyes south , toward Daggerfall . Fortunately , King Gardner heeded my advice to use our merchant ships as transports for the Heavy Dragoons . That was how I found myself at the head of the lances of Wayrest ' s finest as we charged into the rear of the Reachmen massed before Daggerfall ' s city gates . All Bretons know how the Black Drake ' s warriors were caught completely by surprise , how I smote Durcorach and tore down his Unholy Banner . They know of the sortie of the Knights of Daggerfall in which King Bergamot finished the work we ' d begun , scattering the broken army of heathens like autumn leaves before a gale . Only one fortnight after that I watched , head bowed , as the kings of Daggerfall , Camlorn , Shornhelm , Evermore , and Wayrest signed the first Daggerfall Covenant . Chapter 6 : Ranser ' s War — Wayrest Besieged . Ever since my accession to the throne of Wayrest in that momentous year of 2E 563 , the question of who should become my queen consort was ever on my — and my advisors ' — minds . King Ranser of Shornhelm had a goodly daughter , Princess Rayelle , and her hand was offered to me by my brother of Shornhelm both early and often . Indeed , my mind was almost made up to accept the Princess of Shornhelm when , on a visit to Sentinel , my eyes first beheld the Princess Maraya , daughter of King Fahara ' jad . From that moment , I swore that Wayrest would have no queen but Maraya . Of course , there was another unexpected benefit : as her dowry , she brought a trade agreement between our two states that resulted in great prosperity for all . King Ranser , alas , was wroth that I had not accepted the hand of his daughter , and he withdrew his ambassador from the court of Wayrest . Although Ranser was invited to my wedding to Maraya in the spring of 566 , like the other kings of the Covenant , he stayed , seething , in Shornhelm . I should perhaps have paid more attention to Ranser ' s choler , but I was so taken with my new bride and trade issues around the Iliac Bay that mountainous Shornhelm seemed distant and irrelevant . That mistake almost cost me my throne . For over a year , Ranser had been quietly mustering his troops and emptying his treasury to hire mercenaries . In Last Seed of 2E 566 , he led his army out of Shornhelm in a lightning strike to the south . Ranser had marched through Alcaire and Menevia almost before we were aware of his approach . The Shornhelm advance guard reached the gates of Wayrest while the local militias we had quickly mustered were still filing through them . This was a moment when history trembled upon a cusp : if the attacking Oldgate Lancers scattered our militia and took the gate , Wayrest could fall to her attackers within the hour . Fortunately , I was personally present at the gate , along with my Cumberland Guard . Recognizing the gravity of the situation , I had my bannerman sound the charge . I led the gate guards and my household troops out against the Oldgate Lancers . My men wore full armor , and I , though unarmored , bore at my side the mighty Orichalc Scalpel , an enchanted broadsword of many virtues . The Scalpel , drawn for the first time in anger , flashed and hummed like a blade in a sawmill as we hurled ourselves upon the Lancers . Our enemies , who suddenly found themselves opposed by armored veterans rather than panicky irregulars , were further confounded by the sudden onset of a thunderstorm . Lashed by hail , their horses terrified by lightning , faced with the Orichalc Scalpel scything through their necks and limbs , the vaunted Oldgate Lancers hesitated , then broke and ran , pell - mell , from the gate . By the time Ranser ' s main forces arrived on the scene , our troops were all within the walls . The gates were shut up tight , but the King of Shornhelm was undeterred . The city of Wayrest found itself once more under siege , and Ranser , with more craft and foresight than the Reachman Durcorach , had come with siege engines in his train . Chapter 10 : The Summons of Destiny . With the Siege of Wayrest lifted , and Ranser defeated , my story comes to its end . You have read now of my carefree youth in Cumberland House , how my father Lord Pierric saw to my training in the crafts of trade , of war , and of state , of my first great victory over Durcorach at the gates of Daggerfall , and of the vast Orichalcum lode our family struck in the Cumberland Mine . You have heard of the tragic coming of the Knahaten Flu , how it took both my father and the entire royal family of Wayrest , leaving our kingdom leaderless in a time of chaos . You now know with what reluctance I was persuaded to assume the throne of Wayrest . You know of the Halo of Gold that outlined the Sun on the day of my coronation . That omen of approval by the Divines dispelled all my doubts and converted even my most envious rivals into heartfelt allies . You have now learned the true history of Ranser ' s War , and how it led to the Second , or Greater , Daggerfall Covenant , embracing the Redguards of Hammerfell as well as the Orcs of Orsinium , who came to our aid in our hour of direst need . The free peoples of northwest Tamriel have vowed to stand together against all threats , be they from within or without . We were soon tested : in 2E 579 the Emperor Varen , with whom I was negotiating a treaty , disappeared from the Imperial City , and Cyrodiil once again fell under the pall of the Daedric Cabal . In Varen ' s unexplained absence the " Empress " Clivia assumed the Ruby Throne . Since then , the heart of the Empire has fallen into madness , murder , and decay . It is fortunate for our peoples — indeed , for all the peoples of Tamriel — that the true flame of the Empire of Man still burns in the Daggerfall Covenant . These are terrible times , but our destiny lies before us as straight and true as the Reman roads : we must march on Cyrodiil , overthrow the false empress and all her brood , and restore the Empire of Tamriel . Then once more peace and justice will rule the provinces , rather than blood and fire .