Biography of Barenziah , v 1 Summary . This book is part of a three - volume series on the " Biography of Barenziah " . Content . Late in the Second Era , a girl - child , Barenziah , was born to the rulers of the kingdom of Mournhold in what is now the Imperial Province of Morrowind . She was reared in all the luxury and security befitting a royal Dark Elven child until she reached five years of age . At that time , His Excellency Tiber Septim , the first Emperor of Tamriel , demanded that the decadent rulers of Morrowind yield to him and institute imperial reforms . Trusting to their vaunted magic , the Dark Elves impudently refused until Tiber Septim ' s army was on the borders . An Armistice was hastily signed by the now - eager Dunmer , but not before there were several battles , one of which laid waste to Mournhold , now called Almalexia . Little Princess Barenziah and her nurse were found among the wreckage . The Imperial General Symmachus , himself a Dark Elf , suggested to Tiber Septim that the child might someday be valuable , and she was therefore placed with a loyal supporter who had recently retired from the Imperial Army . Sven Advensen had been granted the title of Count upon his retirement ; his fiefdom , Darkmoor , was a small town in central Skyrim . Count Sven and his wife reared the princess as their own daughter , seeing to it that she was educated appropriately - and more importantly , that the imperial virtues of obedience , discretion , loyalty , and piety were instilled in the child . In short , she was made fit to take her place as a member of the new ruling class of Morrowind . The girl Barenziah grew in beauty , grace , and intelligence . She was sweet - tempered , a joy to her adoptive parents and their five young sons , who loved her as their elder sister . Other than her appearance , she differed from young girls of her class only in that she had a strong empathy for the woods and fields , and was wont to escape her household duties to wander there at times . Barenziah was happy and content until her sixteenth year , when a wicked orphan stable - boy , whom she had befriended out of pity , told her he had overheard a conspiracy between her guardian , Count Sven , and a Redguard visitor to sell her as a concubine in Rihad , as no Nord or Breton would marry her on account of her black skin , and no Dark Elf would have her because of her foreign upbringing . " Whatever shall I do ? " the poor girl said , weeping and trembling , for she had been brought up in innocence and trust , and it never occurred to her that her friend the stable - boy would lie to her . The wicked boy , who was called Straw , said that she must run away if she valued her virtue , but that he would come with her as her protector . Sorrowfully , Barenziah agreed to this plan ; and that very night , she disguised herself as a boy and the pair escaped to the nearby city of Whiterun . After a few days there , they managed to get jobs as guards for a disreputable merchant caravan . The caravan was heading east by side roads in a mendacious attempt to elude the lawful tolls charged on the imperial highways . Thus the pair eluded pursuit until they reached the city of Riften , where they ceased their travels for a time . They felt safe in Riften , close as it was to the Morrowind border so that Dark Elves were enough of a common sight .