The Red Year , Vol . II Content . Forward When I originally decided to write this accounting of the Red Year , I elected to travel across Morrowind and speak to the Dunmer people themselves . I sought first - hand accounts and personal views about the cataclysmic event . I felt that if I simply did the research in the library stacks at the College of Winterhold , I wasn ' t really telling the tale that needed to be told . What struck me as I moved from city to city , town to town , camp to camp , is that all Dunmer I met shared an incredible bond of sheer courage and unshakable faith . So what began as a chronicle of one of the worst events in the history of Morrowind became something altogether different , the celebration of a people who can never be defeated . Saldus Llervu Vivec City " I was a trader back then . Ran a pack guar from Vivec City clear down to Narsis . I was walking along the south road when the strangest thing happened . All of the noise around me stopped . . . the normal things one hears as they travel like the sound of the wind blowing through the treetops . It was just deathly quiet . I felt a tingling sensation all over my body and my guar began to stomp around . Whatever it was , it was driving him crazy . As I tried to get him under control , there was a massive explosion from the center of the city . I saw the cantons fall apart before I was knocked off my feet . Then I remember the ground starting to rumble . It lasted for a long time and it receded into the distance as if directed toward the center of Vvardenfell . A few minutes later , the Red Mountain erupted , sending a huge cloud of fire into the sky . My pack guar had long since fled , and I decided I should do the same . I never stopped running until I reached Narsis . " I asked him if he knew what had happened to Vivec City . " I didn ' t hear until much later that the Ministry of Truth had struck the heart of the city . What I do know for certain is that many Dunmer lost their lives that day and that Vivec City is no more . " Deros Dran Mournhold " The Red Year didn ' t heavily affect Mournhold itself , but it touched many of the people who lived there . A lot of us had relatives somewhere on Vvardenfell , and after the first day that the eruption occured we started receiving reports of widespread devistation in Vivec City , Sadrith Mora , Balmora , and Ald ' ruhn . I don ' t think a single night went by for months where you wouldn ' t hear someone openly weeping . It was a sad time for all of us . " I asked if Mournhold had sustained any damage during the Red Year . " I don ' t know why , but the destruction seemed to pass us by . A few Dunmer claimed that it was the Tribunal watching over us , but others claimed that the Tribunal was to blame for everything . I actually saw a few of those disagreements come to blows . It was a strange time . " I got an interesting response from Deros regarding Mournhold ' s role during the Red Year . " Relief efforts began almost a month after the mountain erupted . It was actually a directive that came from the House Redoran councilor that was living in Mournhold at the time . I can ' t remeber his name , but he took charge of the situation and sent soldiers , supplies , and able - bodied Dunmer to the outlying settlements that had been hit the hardest . I was sent to Balmora . The place was a mess ; hardly anything left in town was still standing . I spent maybe two months there , helping to rebuild the town and getting my fellow Dunmer back on their feet . It started out as a burden , but it ended up being the most rewarding thing I ' d ever done in my life . I started some friendships there that still last to this day , including my beloved wife . "