Father of the Niben Content . Writing the biography of anyone is a challenge . Usually the problem lies in assessing one ' s sources , comparing the prejudices of one chronicle versus another versus another . Waughin Jarth , I have been told , in writing his well - regarded series on the Wolf Queen of Solitude used over a hundred contemporary narratives . I cannot complain about my task having a similar issue . There is but one record of the man called Topal the Pilot , the earliest known Aldmer explorer of Tamriel . Only four short verse fragments of the epic " Father of the Niben " have survived to present day , but they offer an interesting if controversial look at the Middle Merethic Era when Topal the Pilot may have sailed the seas around Tamriel . Though " Father of the Niben " is the only written record of Topal the Pilot ' s voyages , it is not the only proof of his existence . Among the treasures of the great Crystal Tower of Summerset Isle are his crude but fascinating maps , his legacy to all Tamriel . The translation of the Aldmeri Udhendra Nibenu , " Father of the Niben , " is my own , and I accept that other scholars may disagree with some of my choice of words . I cannot promise my translation lives up to the beauty of the original : I have only strived for simple coherence . Fragment One : For centuries , strange crystalline balls were unearthed at the sites of ancient Aldmer shipwrecks and docks , peculiar artifacts of the Merethic and Dawn Era s that puzzled archeologists until it was demonstrated that each had a tendency to rotate on its axis in a specific direction . There were three varieties , one that pointed southward , one that pointed northeast , and one that point northwest . It is not understood how they work , but they seemed attuned to particular lines of power . These are the " waystones " of the fragment , which each of the pilots used to point their craft in the direction they were assigned to go . A ship with a name not mentioned in the fragment took his vessel north - west , towards Thras and Yokuda . The Pasquiniel took the southern waystone , and must have sailed down toward Pyandonea . Topal and his north - east waystone found the mainland of Tamriel . It is clear from this fragment what the three ships were assigned to do - find a passage back to Old Ehlnofey so that the Aldmer now living in Summerset could learn what became of their old homeland . As this book is intended to be a study of Topal the Pilot , there is scarcely room to dedicate to different theories of the Aldmeri exodus from Old Ehlnofey . If I were using this poem as my only source , I would have to agree with the scholars who believe in the tradition that several ships left Old Ehlnofey and were caught in a storm . Those who survived found their way to Summerset Isle , but without their waystones , they did not know what direction their homeland was . After all , what other explanation is there for three ships heading in three opposite directions to find a place ? Naturally , only one of the ships returned , and we do not know if either or both of the other two found Old Ehlnofey , or perished at sea or at the hands of the ancient Pyandoneans , Sload , or Yokudans . We must assume , unless we think the Aldmer particularly idiotic , that at least one of them must have been pointing in the right direction . It may well have even been Topal , and he simply did not go north - east far enough . So , Topal setting sail from Firsthold heads north - east , which coincidentally is the longest one can travel along the Abecean Sea without striking land of any kind . Had he traveled straight east , he would have struck the mainland somewhere in what is now the Colovian West of Cyrodiil in a few weeks . Had he traveled south - east , he might have reached the hump of Valenwood in a few days . But our pilot , judging by his own and our modern maps , sailed in a straight line north - east , through the Abecean Sea , and into the Iliac Bay , before touching ground somewhere near present day Anticlere in two months time . The rolling verdant hills of southern High Rock are unmistakable in this verse , recognizable to anyone who has been there . The question , of course , is what is to be made of this apparent reference to orcs occupying the region ? Tradition has it that the orcs were not born until after the Aldmer had settled the mainland , that they sprung up as a distinct race following the famous battle between Trinimac and Boethiah at the time of Resdayn . It is possible that the tradition is wrong . Perhaps the orcs were an aboriginal tribe predating the Aldmeri colonization . Perhaps these were a cursed folk - - " Orsimer " in the Aldmeris , the same word for " Orc " - of a different kind , whose name was to be given the orcs in a different era . It is regrettable that the fragment ends here , for more clues to the truth are undoubtedly lost . What ' s missing between the first fragment and the second is appreciable . It must be more than eighty months that have passed , because Topal is on the opposite side of mainland Tamriel now , attempting to sail south - west to return to Firsthold , after his failure at finding Old Ehlnofey . Fragment Two : We can see that in addition to Topal ' s prowess as a navigator , cartographer , survivalist , and raconteur , he is a master of archery . It may be poetic license , of course , but we do have archeological proof that the Merethic Aldmer were sophisticated archer s . Their bows of layers of wood and horn drawn by silver silk thread are beautiful , and still , I have heard experts say , millennia later , very deadly . It is tempting to imagine it a dragon , but the creature that Topal faces at the beginning of this fragment sounds like an ancestor of the cliffracer of present day Morrowind . The treacherous cliff coastline sounds like the region around Necrom , and the island of Gorne may be where the nest of the " bat lizard " is . No creatures like that exist in eastern Morrowind to my knowledge at the present day . Fragment Three : Tracing Topal ' s movements , we see that he has skirted the edge of Morrowind and delved into southern Blackmarsh , seemingly determined to follow his waystone as best as he can . The swamp he is leaving is probably near present day Gideon . Knowing what we now know about Topal ' s personality , we can understand his frustration in the bay between Black Marsh and Elsweyr . Here is a man who follows his orders explicitly , and knows that he should have been going south - east through river ways to reach Firsthold . Looking at his maps , we can see that he attempted to find passages through , as he has mapped out the Inner Sea of Morrowind , and several of the swampy tributaries of Black Marsh , no doubt being turned away by the disease and fierce Argonia n tribes that dissuaded many other explorers after him . With a modern map of Tamriel in hand , we can see that he makes the wrong choice in electing to go north - east instead of pushing southward . He could not have known then that what he perceived to be the endless mainland was only a jutting peninsula . He only knew that he had traveled too far southward already , and so he made a smart but incorrect decision to go up the river . It is ironic that this great miscalculation would today bear his mark of history . The bay he thought was an endless ocean is now known as Topal Bay , and the river that took him astray shares the name of his boat , the Niben River . Fragment Four : This last fragment is bittersweet for a number of reasons . We know that this strange , friendly feathered people the Pilot encounters will be lost - in fact , this poem is the only one where mention is made of the bird creatures of Cyrodiil . The literacy that Topal gives them is evidently not enough to save them from their eventual fate , likely at the hands of the " cat demons , " who we may assume are ancient Khajiit i . We know that Topal and his crew never find a route from the eight islands which are the modern day Imperial City through to the Iliac Bay . His maps tell the tale where this lost poem cannot . We see his hand as he traces his route up the Niben to Lake Rumare ; and , after attempting a few tributaries which do not lead him where he wants to go , we can imagine Topal ' s frustration - - and that of his long - suffering crew - - as they return back down the Niben to Topal Bay . There , they evidently discovered their earlier mistake , for we see that they pass the peninsula of Elsweyr . Eventually they traveled along its coastline , past the shores of Valenwood , and eventually home . Usually epic tales end with a happy ending , but this one begins with one , and the means to which it was accomplished is lost . Besides the extraordinary bird creatures of present day Cyrodiil , we have caught glimpses of ancient orcs ( perhaps ) , ancient cliff - racers , ancient Argonians , and in this fragment , ancient Khajiit . Quite a history in a few lines of simple verse , all because a man failed to find his home , and took all the wrong turns to retrace his steps back .