Cherim ' s Heart of Anequina Summary . A book written by Livillus Perus , an Imperial University professor who provides insight into medium armor worn by the Khajiit during the Five Year War . Content . Contemporary with Maqamat Lusign ( interviewed in volume seventeen of this series ) is the Khajit i Cherim , whose tapestries have been hailed as masterpieces all over the Empire for nigh on thirty years now . His four factories located throughout Elsweyr make reproductions of his work , but his original tapestries command stellar prices . The Emperor himself owns ten Cherim tapestries , and his representatives are currently negotiating the sale of five more . The muted use of color contrasted with the luminous skin tones of Cherim ' s subjects is a marked contrast with the old style of tapestry . The subjects of his work in recent years have been fabulous tales of the ancient past : the Gods meeting to discuss the formation of the world ; the Chimer following the Prophet Veloth into Morrowind ; the Wild Elves battling Morihaus and his legions at the White - Gold Tower . His earliest designs dealt with more contemporary subjects . I had the opportunity to discuss with him one of his first masterpieces , The Heart of Anequina , at his villa in Orcrest . The Heart of Anequina presents an historic battle of the Five Year War between Elsweyr and Valenwood which raged from 3E 394 ( or 3E 395 , depending on what one considers to be the beginning of the war ) until 3E 399 . In most fair accounts , the war lasted 4 years and 9 months , but artistic license from the great epic poets added an additional three months to the ordeal . The actual details of the battle itself , as interpreted by Cherim , are explicit . The faces of a hundred and twenty Wood Elf archers can be differentiated one from the other , each registering fear at the approach of the Khajiti army . Their hauberks catch the dim light of the sun . The menacing shadows of the Elsweyr battlecats loom on the hills , every muscle strained , ready to pounce in command . It is not surprising that he got all the details right , because Cherim was in the midst of it , as a Khajiti foot soldier . Every minute part of the Khajiti medium - weight armor can be seen in the soldiers in the foreground . The embroidered edging and striped patterns on the tunics . Each lacquered plate on loose - fitting leather in the Elsweyr style . The helmets of cloth and fluted silver . " Cherim does not understand the point of plate mail , " said Cherim . " It is hot , for one , like being both burned and buried alive . Cherim wore it at the insistence of our Nord advisors during the Battle of Zelinin , and Cherim couldn ' t even turn to see what my fellow Khajiit were doing . Cherim did some sketches for a tapestry of the Battle of Zelinin , but Cherim finds that to make it realistic , the figures came out very mechanical , like iron golems or dwemer centurions . Knowing our Khajiti commanders , Cherim would not be surprised if giving up the heavy plate was more aesthetic than practical . " " Elsweyr lost the Battle of Zelinin , didn ' t she ? " " Yes , but Elsweyr won the war , starting at the next battle , the Heart of Anequina , " said Cherim with a smile . " The tide turned as soon as we Khajiit sent our Nordic advisors back to Solitude . We had to get rid of all the heavy armor they brought to us and find enough traditional medium armor our troops felt comfortable wearing . Obviously , the principle advantage of the medium armor was that we could move easily in it , as you can see from the natural stances of the soldiers in the tapestry . " Now if you look at this poor perforated Cathay - raht who just keeps battling on in the bottom background , you see the other advantage . It seems strange to say , but one of the best features of medium armor is that an arrow will either deflect completely or pass all the way through . An arrow head is like a hook , made to stick where it strikes if it doesn ' t pass through . A soldier in medium armor will find himself with a hole in his body and the bolt on the other side . Our healers can fix such a wound easily if it isn ' t fatal , but if the arrow still remains in the armor , as it does with heavier armor , the wound will be reopened every time the fellow moves . Unless the Khajiit strips off the armor and pulls out the arrow , which is what we had to do at the Battle of Zelinin . A difficult and time - consuming process in the heat of battle , to say the least . " I asked him next , " Is there a self portrait in the battle ? " " Yes , " Cherim said with another grin . " You see the small figure of the Khajiit stealing the rings off the dead Wood Elf ? His back is facing you , but he has a brown and orange striped tail like Cherim ' s . Cherim does not say that all stereotypes about the Khajiit are fair , but Cherim must sometimes acknowledge them . " A self - deprecating style in self - portraiture is also evident in the tapestries of Ranulf Hook , the next artist interviewed in volume nineteen of this series .