Pocket Guide to the Empire , First Edition : Hammerfell Hammerfell is the eternal outsider of the human lands , either regarded by the Imperial citizen as Tamriel ' s dark and exotic west or its most tempestuous and dangerous quarter , full of barbarians and cutthroats . Both descriptions are apt , and can be equally attributed to its people , the proud and savage Redguard s . Some three thousand years ago the continent of Yokuda suffered a cataclysm that sunk most of it into the sea , driving its people towards Tamriel . The bulk of these refugees landed at the uninhabited isle of Herne , while the rest continued on to the mainland . This vanguard " warrior wave " of Yokudans , the Ra Gada , swept into the country , quickly slaughtering and enslaving the beastfolk and Nedic villagers before them , bloodily paving the way for their people who waited at Herne , including the " Na - Totambu " , their kings and ruling bodies . The fierce Ra Gada became , phonetically , the Redguards , a name that has since spread to designate the Tamrielic - Yokudan race in general . They ultimately displaced the Nedic peoples , for their own agriculture and society was better organized and better adapted to Hammerfell ' s harsh environment . They took much of Nedic custom , religion , and language for themselves in the process , and eventual contact with the surrounding Breton tribes and Colovian Cyrodilics hastened their own assimilation into the larger Tamrielic theater . Yoku , the Redguard oral language , was almost entirely replaced as the need for foreign commerce and treaties increased . Under the provincial organization of the Second Empire , two Redguard " parties " formed to aid Cyrodiil ' s administration of Hammerfell . The ancient " Na - Totambu " ruling class retained the rights of noble council as the Crowns , and the much - admired warriors of the Ra Gada were finally granted rights of ownership within their tribal districts . This empowerment fundamentally changed the Ra Gada , who began to call themselves the Forebears , firmly announcing their status as the first Redguards on Tamriel . This republic , however , lasted only so long as the Cyrodiils were strong enough to support it . During the Imperial Interregnum , control reverted back to the hereditary monarchy of the " Na - Totambu " . The new " High King " was even so bold as to move his throne from Old Hegathe to the more prosperous Forebear city of Sentinel , which had , by this time , mastered a third of the trade of the Iliac Bay . Thassad II was the last of these " High Kings , " for upon his death in CE862 , the honorable Forebears retook Sentinel by force . Crown Prince A ' Tor then sailed from Stros M ' kai to avenge his father , resulting in one of the bloodiest massacres of Tamrielic history . Tiber Septim , in his rightful duty as Heir to the Reman Dynasty , answered the Forebears ' plea for help , sending his men to end the mad Prince ' s butchery . A ' Tor found it impossible to stand against the superiority of the Imperial legions ; many of the Crowns had deserted him after seeing the glory of the reborn Empire . He and a few loyalists fled back to Stros M ' kai , doggedly pursued by the West Navy , where they were soundly defeated at the Battle of Hunding Bay . The Emperor , in his wisdom , deemed it best to assume responsibility for , where presently the Redguards spend their days as of the new Cyrodilic Empire . Physically , the Redguards can be intimidating to an outsider , with their dark skin and wooly hair , tall , gaunt frames and finely toned physiques . Custom and dress differs by district : the Redguards of Elinhir are Colovian in fashion and taste , while some in Rihad go naked in the streets . In demeanor , they are haughty and easily provoked , and , to the last , obsessed with personal honor . Though it is widely acknowledged that Hammerfell is home to the finest warriors of the Empire , they are but indifferent soldiers , being unwilling to defer to authority or endure military discipline , and few serve in the Ruby ranks . There is no standing army in Hammerfell , only paid militias of the oft - contested border - states and along its coastline . Ancient tradition has predisposed the Redguards to knightly orders , though , customarily in the service of royal families . Initiates of these orders must prove themselves in dangerous , even deadly , tests of skill . The youths of Crown Totambu , for example , must sail to the Dwemer Ruins of Stros M ' kai , to avoid its deathtraps and " wrestle its mechanical men back into shape " before they can join the Knights of the Scarab . The more severe Order of Diagna , on the other hand , stages an annual recreation of the Siege of Orsinium , where their initiates must play the part of the Orcs . . . The colonization of Hammerfell was a slow process , since it was mainly a barren and rocky place , with the vast Alik ' r desert in the center , and only a few grasslands that hugged the coastline in horseshoe fashion . As such , Redguard civilization is divided into the cosmopolitan coastal cities on one hand , and the numerous nomadic tribes that wander the desert itself on the other . The former have adopted Breton or Imperial manners of dress and architecture , modified with motifs and styles from lost Yokuda , and some have even reorganized their gods and tribal spirits to fit into the traditional The nomads are more primitive , either with trace - Nedic influences or stubbornly Yokudan , throwback castaways even to other Redguards . Devotees of Satakal the Serpent God are strewn among them , historically causing the border - states no end of strife . These revered madmen depend entirely on the charity of the other Redguards , though sometimes they rise in perilous bands , terrorizing the countryside in old Ra Gada fashion . Many , as in Rihad , go nude , rolling around in the dirt and nipping at the legs of passersby , " striking out " as if they were snakes themselves , while others perform terrible exhibitions of " shedding their skin " . They have been seen rolling in the desert sand sidewinder - fashion in continuous , hundred - mile stretches , from Balhar all the way to the Nohotogrha oasis . The Satakals have never liked the Imperial presence , and have recently taken to its civil servants . The Provisional Governors have been forced to run them out of the cities for the safety of its garrisoned troops and the native citizenry at large . Tourists have , historically , given wide berth to the Redguard cities outside of those facing the Iliac Bay . Considering the ( mostly deserved ) reputation of its people , Hammerfell is frequently seen as intolerant of " foreigners , " where trespass is dealt with in blood . This is a shame , and a situation that the Emperor seeks to rectify , for Hammerfell itself is a beautiful country . From the twin moonrises over the Alik ' r shade - temples to the austere ramparts of Old Hegathe , everywhere there is the appearance of antique splendor . Its people are harsh — four hundred years of internal conflict and corrupt government have made them so — but , taken singly , the Redguard is often a masterful work of a man . Perhaps a guiding power like the Empire , steering Hammerfell clear of the foul agents of A ' Tor ' s legacy , and protecting her from the , will bring the same prosperity to her people that it seeks to bring to the world . Places of Note . Sentinel . Second capital of Hammerfell , Sentinel sits on the edge of the Iliac Bay . It is most definitely a merchant power , for it sits on a rocky run of hills , and the barren plains behind it offer no good soil before they run into the desert sands of the Alik ' r . Its principal street is a vast marketplace stretching from the harbor all the way to the badlands gate . Sentinel Palace is the oldest and largest Redguard architectural monument , quickly built during the Ra Gada firestorm to ward against the Bretons and added to ever thereafter . Currently , this Palace is the headquarters of Provisional Governor Senecus Goddkey , who has been helping to administer the Forebear principalities since . Since its Imperial reorganization , Sentinel has become an exotic retreat for the nobility of Daggerfall and Wayrest , who delight in its native cooking , craftsmanship , and the bizarre morality - plays of its Royal Theatre . Stros M ' kai . Formerly the principality of Thassad II ' s heir , A ' Tor , Stros M ' kai ' s small island serves as the office of Provisional Governor Amiel Richton , who is charged with the protection and patrol of Hammerfell ' s barbarous southern coast . Annotations . Annotations by YR :