Tamriel Data:On Stirk

Book Information On Stirk
Added by	Tamriel Data
ID	T_Bk_StirkHistoriesPC
	20		1
Locations
Found in the following locations: Project Cyrodiil Charach, Saint Naharine Sailors' Home Charach, Plaza Taverna Charach, Harbormaster Charach, Docks Storage Charach, Damola Protia: Smith Charach, Chapel of the West Wind: Basement Charach, Auderic Romaud: Apothecary Charach, Abecean Trading Company More Brina Cross, Karlorume: Bookseller Brina Cross, Halgern Manor

On Stirk

by Calixta Avidrian

A history of Stirk from its settlement by the Ayleids to the Third Era

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Set into the Abecean Sea like a gleaming pearl, Stirk Isle has long served as safe harbor for the many trade-ships that frequent the treacherous Abecean Sea. Though sometimes relegated to a rural backwater in less fortunate times, the island's excellent fishing waters and tropical climate have distraced [sic] many a pilgrim after a long journey to the temples of Anvil.

As far as history has recorded, the Ayleid High Elves were the first people to set foot on Stirk. The isle seems to have been of little interest to the Ayleid sorceror-kings, whose culture was centered on their mighty Heartlands cities. It was only in the late decadent era that the Elven lords -- mistrustful of their cousins in Alinor, Valenwood, and the Direnni lands -- founded the sea-fortresses of Wormusoel, Nagaiarelle, and Vabriasel, designed to repel foreign invasions from the sea. Of course, the fall of the Ayleid Empire did not come from without, but from within, and these sea-fortresses were left to the mercy of wind and wave and time.

Following Saint Alessia's Rebellion, the western Ayleid cities were easily toppled by the insurgent Colovian kings and their defecting elven allies. The Abecean strongholds were an exception, and their rump fleets long plagued the Strident Shore thereafter with skirmishes and incursions. But the efforts of these remnants were no match for Colo-Nordic courage and knowledge of the sea, and in 1E 343 the island of Stirk was finally conquered by Skalgar Half-Scorned, a vassal of the Shore-King. For his services, Skalgar was made the first Marshal of the Isles.

Early records make little mention of settlements on Stirk. The great epics of the Colovian tradition occasionally note a hero or war-party from Stirk, though they rarely play roles of any significance. One saga tells how the Ra Gada invasion of 1E 808 was repelled at Stirk, one of only a few such cases in that one-sided conflict (though Redguard scholars naturally dispute this).

The defenders of Stirk were much less successful against the Thrassian Plague. The island was ravaged by the disease, which all but eradicated the local population. Marshal Alvor Hurilus, spared from the plague by a timely pilgrimage to Sancre Tor, swore vengeance on the Sloadic menace and supported Bendu Olo's bid for the Strident Throne after the demise of the last Shore-King. The Marshals of the Isles continued to play a prominent role in the short-lived Oloman Confederacy and the War of Righteousness, in which Marshal-Captain Aravest the Night-Eyed is said to have led many daring raids up the Niben River.

After the First Interregnum, the Marshals of the Isles were listed among the oath-bound of Reman. The isle, and the town of Charach (which is mentioned here in the histories for the first time), played a small part in the great western conquests as a military harbor and supply station, and later served as the most vital forward outpost of the Remans in their centuries-long cold war with the Summerset Isles.

Stirk would reprise these roles during the Tiber Wars, as a key military asset in the great feats of Admirals Vasi Hadrach and Amiel Richton. Charach was assaulted twice, first by Redguard outlaws of the Restless League, and later by the Summerset Navy, whose occupation caused grievous destruction before the island could be reclaimed. After the war, the defeated elves were tasked with financing Charach's rebuilding and the construction of Duskwatch Keep, so that Imperial order in the surrounding seas might be preserved in perpetuity.

Stirk was lucky to escape the ravages of the Camoran Usurper as his monstruous forces swept north through the mainland of West Colovia, though it was much plagued by the infamous pirates that sailed in those lawless days. For over a decade the Marshals of the Isles ruled their isolated lands much as their ancient ancestors had, alone, until the campaigns of Commodore Fasil Conomorus, later King of Anvil, finally put an end to the Usurper's scourge in Cyrodiil. Though the terrors of the Simulacra and recent unrest in the Iliac Bay have caused a resurgence of such acts of piracy, it will surely only be a short while before the West Navy scours these seas again, and every inhabitant of Stirk can sleep safe with the knowledge that they, too, live under the Law and Peace of the Empire.