Hammerfell Revolt

The **Hammerfell Revolt** (3E 299 - present) is an ongoing rebellion in Hammerfell against the rule of the Third Empire.

## **Background**

Hammerfell, like much of western Tamriel, was devastated by the invasion of Haymon Camoran in the mid-third century of the Third Era. The long-term impact of the Usurper's onslaught was the absence of imperial authority in the province; the legions of Emperor Uriel V were occupied with the conquest of Akavir. Thus Hammerfell enjoyed or suffered (depending on one's viewpoint) almost half a century of imperial neglect, and was by the 3E 290s effectively an independent, albeit disunited, region.

The Akavir campaign was hugely expensive, and its disastrous end in 3E 290 almost bankrupted the Empire. The Elder Council, now governing on behalf of the boy-emperor Uriel VI, determined that imperial control of Hammerfell should be revived in order to reap its taxes and reassert the Empire's damaged prestige.

Publius Tremulus was selected as Provincial Governor, entering the region with the Third Legion in Rain's Hand 3E 296. In Frost Fall 3E 297, Tremulus established his headquarters in Taneth and dispatched Imperial Prefects to the cities of Sentinel and Hegathe. The refusal of Ramzi at-Iyad, King of Hegathe, to admit the governor's deputy resulted in a brutal occupation on the city by general Protus Barbatus in First Seed 3E 298.

## **Rebellion**

The revolt began as a local uprising in Hegathe following a year of increasingly despotic occupation by the Third Legion. Barbatus had conquered the city with only 1,500 legionnaires, whose numbers had dwindled through desertion and disease. In mid-First Seed 3E 299, the downtrodden and hungry populace of the city stormed the royal palace which the remnants of the Third Legion had fortified, massacring all imperial personnel stationed there. Barbatus himself was hauled through the streets by the mob and beheaded with a meat cleaver.

Ramzi at-Iyad, hitherto the prisoner and pawn of fallen general, was released from captivity. To mollify the bloodthirsty rabble and obscure the embarrassment of his defeat, the king gave an impassioned speech calling for the restoration of an independent Hammerfell:

> *"I summon the blood of old Yokuda – the noble Na-Totambu and the brave Ra Gada – to cast off the perfidious yoke Cyrodiil; the yoke of a boy-emperor and his perfumed minions. The blood and the might of the Dragon is long spent, for the time of the Serpent and the Scimitar comes once more."*
>
>

Heralds were dispatched bearing written copies of this speech. Whilst agents of the Blades silenced many of these agitators, malcontents in the region were roused. By the close of Second Seed 3E 299, Stros M'Kai and Elinhir had joined Hegathe in revolt. umerous less significant principalities also raised their banner in rebellion. A small uprising in Rihad was suppressed by its Imperial Prefect. In response to these developments, the Elder Council finally dispatched reinforcements to the province in the form of the Nineteenth Legion, commanded by the Colovian legate Felix Carus. The Council correctly dismissed the uprising in Elinhir; by renouncing the emperor's protection that city was almost immediately pillaged by Nordic warbands.

The strategy devised by the Elder Council involved the embarkation of the Nineteenth Legion at Anvil, whereupon it would descend upon Stros M'Kai and swiftly neutralise the revolt there. The fleet would then continue north and blockade Hegathe by sea, whilst the Sixteenth Legion besieged the city by land.

Despite the unrelenting heat of high summer, King Ramzi unexpectedly advanced eastwards across the desert and threatened Gilane. The Sixteenth Legion, commanded by Julius Novianus, marched at once from Fort Uriel to garrison the city. They were soon joined by the Provincial Governor, escorted by warriors provided by Queen Atusa of Taneth. The governor's urgent letter to the Elder Council, recommending the diversion of the imperial fleet to Hubalajad's Bay to join the defence of Gilane, arrived too late.

The imperial fleet, consisting of thirty-five ships transporting five thousand legionnaires, was greeted by the combined armada of Hegathe and Stros M'Kai on the southern coast of Khefrem's Boot. Felix Carus had anticipated an uncontested landing, but was instead engaged in an epic sea battle as the imperial ships sought to break through the rebel blockade. Carus, though a brilliant and audacious commander, had little experience in naval warfare. Communication between the legate and his captains soon broke down, and the disorganised imperial fleet was overwhelmed and scattered by their seafaring adversaries. In all, over two thousand imperial legionnaires and mariners were killed, drowned or captured in the Battle of Khefrem's Boot on 27th Sun's Height 3E 299. Twelve ships of the Imperial Navy were additionally lost. Carus, with his surviving vessels, was repelled back to the haven of Anvil.

Gilane, defended by the Sixteenth Legion, was now invested by the host of Ramzi at-Iyad. Oblivious to the events at sea, Tremulus and Novianus trusted that the imminent attack on Hegathe by the Nineteenth Legion would oblige the king to lift the siege. No such relief was forthcoming, and the plight of the defenders became increasingly desperate as disease spread between soldier and citizen.

A dogged messenger of the Praeco Avium, eluding the enemy lines, delivered more dire news to the governor on 20th Last Seed 3E 299. A large rebel fleet had entered Hubalajad's Bay and was bearing on Taneth. The elite of Queen Atusa's warriors had accompanied the governor to Gilane, rendering Taneth extremely vulnerable. Tremulus surmised that the the Nineteenth Legion had been defeated, or had not departed Cyrodiil at all. In either case, he concluded that no aid was coming to Gilane. Taneth, accommodating the imperial treasury and gubernatorial headquarters, was paramount to the Empire's dominion over Hammerfell. Its fall would furthermore trap the Sixteenth Legion between two hostile armies, without hope of escape.

The Provincial Governor elected to forsake Gilane to rescue Taneth, and dolefully ordered the evacuation of the Sixteenth Legion. Sacrifice was the theme of this strategy, for it would be necessary to engage the enemy in battle to cover the legion's retreat. As the governor hesitated over which of his cohorts to doom {Champion}, the champion of Queen Atusa, volunteered himself and the warriors of Taneth to lead a sortie against the rebels. Thus on 23rd Last Seed 3E 299 the Sixteenth Legion, with a great many civilian refugees, vacated Gilane as {Champion} made a glorious yet forlorn final stand. On the same day the city's defences were finally breached. Despite King Ramzi's efforts to marshal his warriors in pursuit of the retreating imperial forces, the rebel army descended into murder, rape and plunder as Gilane was brutally sacked.

On the evening of the 25th Last Seed, the Sixteenth Legion encamped outside the village of Bustan. A rebel force, led by Prince Malik at-Ramzi, caught up with the legionnaires the same night and assaulted the encampment on horseback. The legion's close order formation prevailed and these skirmishers were repelled; the Battle of Bustan would have been been an insignificant engagement if not for the capture of Prince Malik – the son of King Ramzi. With this valuable prisoner in chains, the Sixteenth Legion pressed on to Fort Uriel where two cohorts were appointed to halt the advance of the rebels in the west.