Good morning, sir! Good morning.
Fine mine you’ve got here. I’m sure you’re pulling Corundum up by the bucketworth.
I do alright. Won’t be retiring anytime soon, but it’s a job.
Ah, a pity. No man should labor with no end in sight.
Have a good day, then.
Wait, I think we’ve got something that can help, don’t we?
Yes, of course! Now, where was it?
What use do I have for an old skull? I'm a miner, not some wizard.
It's a good luck charm.
A magic trinket then?
No magic here. It doesn’t need it!
This isn't just any skull, it's the skull of one of the denizens the Argonian settlement
built on this very spot in the 580s of the Second Era, the time of the Ebonheart Pact!
Today, Argonians are forced to sleep on the docks in Windhelm, but nine hundred years
ago, their settlements stretched across eastern Skyrim and southern Morrowind, built on land
granted to them by the Nords and the Dunmer. They were equal citizens in an alliance that
drove off the Kamal of Akavir and made numerous bids for the throne of Tamriel.
Nine hundred years ago my people were slaves to the dark elves, just as they were two hundred
years ago or two thousand.
The Ebonheart Pact was a brief exception, but it was an exception none the less. It’s
what makes this skull so lucky: this person was born at precisely the right time to live
here in Skyrim, with full citizen's rights. A few years before or a few after, and they'd
likely have lived out their life on some plantation or deep underground in a kwama mine. Such
incredible luck sticks around.
I’ve heard of this Pact once or twice, but it’s got to be wishful thinking. Why would
the Dunmer ally with their ancient enemies? Why would they free their Argonian slaves?
Who can claim to know the minds of gods? No one knows why the Tribunal did what they did,
just that they did it. I’m sure they had ulterior motives, like always.
No god, living or not, can control the minds of all their people.
That they can't, but there were other factors involved.
Skyrim and Morrowind were being invaded by Akaviri demons. It took the combined forces
of the Tribunal, the ghost of the Nordic hero Ysmir, and a vanguard of trained Argonian
fighters to finally drive them off. As soon as the unlikely allies succeeded, they found
themselves having to repel invasions from the Aldmeri Dominion and Daggerfall Covenant.
Tolerating each other for a while was a small price to pay for survival.
But how did they agree to tolerate each other in the first place?
The history books tell us that the Argonian's part in the alliance was thanks to a young
woman named Keshu the Black Fin. She had been the captain of a group of guerrilla fighters
seeking to strike back at the House Dres slavers that had been raiding her homeland. When the
Kamal tore through Skyrim and Morrowind, she saw it as an opportunity to prove that her
people had more worth as free men than they had as slaves. She assembled a core of Shellbacks
-- her elite fighters -- and joined the battle at a crucial moment, flanking Ada-soom Dir-Kamal's
troops and letting the forces of Jorunn the Skald King and the lady Almalexia drive them
towards the ocean, where Vivec flooded the land and drowned the invaders. The Argonians
within the Pact's lands were freed as a sign of thanks, and given land to settle down on.
Darkwater Crossing was one such settlement.
I've had Dunmer spit on me, you expect me to believe that all slaves were freed, the
Nords and the Elves got over their differences, and everyone became friends?
Well, no. I don't expect you to believe that, because that's not what happened. There were
many who kept to their old views, and not all of the provinces' territories were under
the Pact.
Skyrim was divided then, much like it is today. Only the western half allied with the Tribunal.
Neither did all of Morrowind gladly adopt the alliance: the Telvanni were notably absent,
and Vvardenfell, still largely unsettled, could not have cared less about the goings-on
of the mainland. Keshu, bargaining on behalf of all Black Marsh, did not have the support
of every single tribe, though she believed herself to be acting in the best interest
of the whole nation.
She was right! If it wasn't for the courage of Keshu, and the help of Jorunn and Almalexia,
this person here would never have been able to live a free and prosperous life here in
Darkwater Crossing.
What do you take me for?!? Some spirit worshiping elf? Ebonheart Pact or not, the dead should
stay buried where they belong.
Oh come on mister! We've got no use for it, not being Argonian 'n' all, but we'd love
to trade it to someone who it could help.
What do you say? A hundred drakes and a share of your breakfast?
You sure this thing’s good luck?
Definitely!
Absolutely.
I suppose it couldn't hurt. You sit down and I'll fetch the gold.
What do you say we go fishing, yes? Try out this luck of yours...