A History of Daggerfall Content . There is sufficient archaeological evidence for the modern historian to believe that there has been some variety of human settlement in the city - state of Daggerfall starting at least a thousand years before recorded history . The first use of the name Daggerfall to refer to the area around the current capitol was most probably in the 246th year of the First Era . The north half of the Iliac Bay , in fact all of the current province of High Rock , was conquered by invading Nords who brought a rough sort of civilization with them . One of the first civilized acts the Nords performed was a census — the so - called Book of Life . Listed on page 933 of the Book is this entry : " " North of the Highest bluffs , south of the moors , west of the hills , and east of the sea is called DAGGERFALL . 110 men , 93 women , 13 children under 8 years of age , 58 Cows , 7 bulls , 63 chickens , 11 cocks , 38 hogs live here . " " Nearly four thousand years after this census was taken , we can see that these two hundred and sixteen people have multiplied heartily . The last census , in the year 3E 401 , lists the population at over 110 , 000 . It is always difficult to find an exact number , but the capitol city of Daggerfall certainly outnumbers her rivals , Sentinel and Wayrest . It has been a , if not actually helpful amusement of historians to find the origin of placenames . Daggerfall , by tradition , is said to refer to the knife the first chieftain threw to form the borders of his lands . But there are other legends that may have equal validity . The Daggerfall entry from the Book of Life actually supports one theory about the reason for Daggerfall ' s longevity . The people were coastal fishermen , but they also found the land itself sufficiently rich to support raising livestock . This inclination of the early citizenry toward reinforcing their principal products brought stability to a fickle land . Daggerfall thrived during the years of the Skyrim occupancy . When the Wild Hunt killed King Borgas of Winterhold in 1E 369 , the northlands engaged in the War of Succession and Skyrim , greatly weakened , lost her holdings in High Rock and Morrowind . The Iliac Bay had become important strategically , and Daggerfall began to expand her military . There were multiple opportunities for her to exercise this army and navy during the Direnni conflicts with the force of the Alessian Order . The Dirennis were native Bretons and Bretons are hardly ever given to excessive religion . Daggerfall became a minor base of operations for the Dirennis and their allies . Raven Direnni , the enchantress whose magic helped secure the final victory over the Alessians in the Glenumbria Moors , was one of the earliest occupants of Castle Daggerfall . Over the centuries that followed , the Dirennis felt into obscurity , but Daggerfall continued her growth . In 1E 609 , King Thagore of Daggerfall defeated the army of Glenpoint and became the preeminant economic , cultural , and military force in southern High Rock . A position the kingdom has precariously kept ever since . Ironically , it was another successful military exercise three hundred and seventy years later that ended Daggerfall ' s monopoly of Bay trade : the annihilation of the Orcish capitol Orsinium by a joint effort of Daggerfall , the new kingdom of Sentinel , and the now extinct Order of Diagna . The scattering of the orcs from southeastern High Rock made the river route to the Bay more accessible . The tiny village of Wayrest grew like a flower that no longer feared the mow . In twenty years , Wayrest ' s trade profits Daggerfall ' s . In forty years , Wayrest was the acknowledged master of Iliac Bay trade . In one hundred and twenty years , Wayrest became the Kingdom of Wayrest . The Kingdom of Sentinel ( Daggerfall ) did not exhibit Wayrest ' s aggrandizement during the First Era . The Redguards were warriors learning the ways of the merchant s , and their land was enemy enough to keep their population checked . Indeed , the number of people in all areas of the Iliac Bay was halved once in the First Era by the Thrassian Plague , once again by the War of Righteousness , and a third time by the invading . If Daggerfall had not spent its first thousand years preparing for the battles of the next thousand years , it is indeed conceivable that the Iliac Bay today might be Akavarian . The Second Era , like the latter part of the First Era , is a tapestry of wars , insurrections , and plagues . Daggerfall , Sentinel , and Wayrest continued to expand and improve their military and economic positions in the Bay . Daggerfall and Wayrest would transpose positions as major trading center of the Bay , and Daggerfall and Sentinel likewise bandied over which was the superior military power . The Iliac Bay has continued to hold an important position in the Imperial government of the Third Era . Rarely allies ( though the combined armies in opposition to the Camoran Usurper in the 3rd century of the 3rd Era is a notable exception ) , but not always enemies , Daggerfall , Sentinel , and Wayrest have weathered the storms of contention , plague , famine , and pestilence . The recent War of Betony was typical of Iliac Bay warfare : sincere , frighteningly violent , and peaceably resolved .