You've experienced the Elder Scrolls Series in your own way, but want to learn more about
its story. Well, to get to the heart of the story- you have to go back to the beginning...
They are described as either savage berserkers swarming over the hills of the Reach with
war cries on their lips, or unseen anarchists plotting terror in secret and striking from
the shadows. But what is actually known of the group of insurgents known as the Forsworn?
Where have they come from? What do they want? And how have they grown from a scattering
of defeated rebels to the highly organized group of radicals they are today?
Millennia ago, in a part of the Reach known then as the Sundered Hills, there was a child
born who prophecy said would be a warrior without measure and a great ruler of men.
He was named Faolan; meaning Red Eagle. The prophecy came to pass, and Faolan grew
to be a great leader who united what were at the time the ten Kings of the Reach. Under
the banner of the Red Eagle, Faolan came to be known far and wide for his courage and
ferocity in battle. For a time, all was well, until Empress Hestra
of Cyrodil invaded the Reach in the name of the Alessian Empire of Men; and one by one
the Kings of the Reach knelt in submission...or were butchered, along with all those who stood
with them. Still the Red Eagle would not surrender, and
over the years he gathered Reachmen who would fight Hestra and her legions with stealth
and cunning. Yet for all the blows he struck against the Empire's forces, more would
emerge to do battle. He fought with all he had, and when he had no more left to give,
he cut out his own heart from his chest and offered it to a Hagraven as a sacrifice in
return for the power to slay his enemies. As a result, Faolan became a spirit of vengeance
and rained hell down on the Empire and her people.
Wielding a great, flaming sword he faced Hestra and her armies... and slew them all...
Over a thousand in a single day... Ultimately the Red Eagle fell dead from his
wounds, but not before giving his mighty sword to the people of the Reach along with a promise.
When the Reach was free of all foreign invaders, he would arise and return to lead his people
once again... Time went on, and the Reachman lingered until
the Great War of the Fourth Era. In the heat of the conflict between the Empire under Titus
Mede and the Aldmeri Dominion, troops from all across the land were summoned to fight.
This included most of the garrisons from the Reach, stationed in the nearest city of Markarth.
For many centuries the native Bretons of High Rock had intermarried with the Nords of Skyrim
and had in time created a unique bloodline and culture with elements based on both Nord
and Breton principles yet truly belonging to neither. There had been many disputes throughout
the years over the lucrative gold and silver mines in the area known as the Reach, and
this hybrid race of Reachmen had grown to hate the Nords. They considered them to be
invaders; stealing resources rightfully owned by the "true sons and daughters of the Reach"
and were committed to purging the area of all but themselves, even as they had millennia
ago, under the banner of the Red Eagle. With most of the Imperial Guards of Markarth
diverted to battle with the forces of the Thalmor, the city of Markarth was taken easily
by the fierce and brutal Reachmen who rebelled from within the city walls and were quickly
joined by those from the surrounding areas. The Reachmen drove the Nords away and would
hold the city for over two years, as the Great War played out and the Empire was unable to
divert forces to deal with the uprising of the indigenous people.
Enter Ulfric Stormcloak- Nordic son of Skyrim, and a war hero besides. As newly appointed
Jarl of Windhelm, he was asked to assist with the retaking of the city of Markarth by Jarl
Igmund. Ulfric and a militia of fighting men, men who would soon be known as the Stormcloaks,
sacked the city in a bloody, brutal assault that has come to be known as the infamous
Markarth Incident. The leader of the Reachmen, Madanach, was captured, but not executed in
the belief he was worth more as a living hostage than as a dead martyr.
The surviving Reachmen were driven into the hills to be joined by other Bretons who had
witnessed the massacre or lost loved ones. These Bretons bitterly decided to join the
hillmen to take arms against the murderous invaders as their hero, Faolan the Red Eagle,
had before them. The Forsworn are fiercely resolved to drive
all occupiers from what they feel are their ancestral lands, and have become experts at
guerilla warfare and surprise terrorist attacks designed to instill fear into the hearts of
the Nords and non-Bretons. The Forsworn continue to be a real and very present threat in the
city of Markarth and its surrounding areas. Organized into a collection of independent
cells, the Forsworn are believed to have infiltrated the ranks of city dwellers by blending into
society in dress and conduct, as opposed to their usual appearance of fur clad barbarians
wielding weapons made of bone and animal skin, for the purpose of causing chaos and disarray
from within. The Silver-blood family has taken particular
pains to root out the Forsworn and their operatives, since their allegiance lies firmly with Jarl
Ulfric Stormcloak. There are many bounty hunters who make their living solely by tracking down
Forsworn leaders and operatives and bringing them to justice.
It is believed by some that the Forsworn have retaliated by placing covert agents within
Silver-blood businesses and domestic staff, waiting for an opportunity to decimate the
Silver-blood clan from within. The fact that they have seamlessly integrated
themselves into the fabric of Markarth city life is a sinister indication that at some
point another Markarth Incident could occur. The Forsworn are sustained by a sort of religious
fervor, and worship several Daedric entities known to them as Et'ada, or "Old Gods",
who scholars actually believe to be Azura and Hircine the Hunter. Higher level Forsworn
have been rumored to sanctify themselves by offering their actual hearts to their revered
hagravens in return for becoming a unstoppable destructive force as had first been done by
Faolan. These arcane rituals are designed to turn ordinary Forsworn into the personification
of vengeance or Briarhearts. The fearsome, partly undead creatures are either melee fighters
or magic users, always male and always deadly. While relatively small in number, their desire
to see all non-Bretons driven from the Reach is fanatical and when combined with the powerful
magicks and weapons they have at their disposal, enemies such as the Forsworn are a frighteningly
potent danger. With increasingly bolder and deadlier attacks, they long for the day when
all those not of the Reach are dead or exiled, so that Faolan, the fabled Red Eagle may once
again return to lead his people to prosperity and greatness. Meanwhile, they strive to live
in harmony with the land their ancestors have occupied for centuries untold. They hunt as
their forefathers did, in the spirit of one of their primary deities, Hircine, whose feral
nature resonates with the untamed essence of the Forsworn. The legend of the Daedric
Prince Hircine is the story of the hunt, and of the savage beast that lies within the darkest
depths of the souls of all men. But that- is a story for another day...