Corpus Tamrielicum - The Imperial Library

80 2. THE ELDER SCROLLS CHAPTER 2: DAGGERFALL
Ah this is hard to tell. I grew up in my noble family, the only one of three brothers and two
sisters that felt the calling, the Song of the Sword. Father understood, for he too had felt the
call. He had become a master, and Ansei long before settling down with in our estate to raise
a family. At eleven, I entered the Hall of the Virtues of War and joined the Maidens of the
Spirit Sword. In my band there were six of us. Daring Julia, solid Patia, big Kati, svelte
Cegila, wise Zell, and me - all are gone now, save me, and soon I will join them. ... Join them
in the halls of the unknown gods of war.
We drank together, we fought, we wept, we grew in the way of the sword. We joined in our
learnings in the Hall with our Brothers of the Blade. Learning from each other, we all sat at
the feet of the Hall Master striving to learn the depths of the Shehai - making the spirit blade
into a real weapon as Frandar Hunding had. Only a few have the purity of heart and virtue to
be able to take the step and learn the mysteries of Ansei. Sword Sainthood.
Somehow, of all the Brothers and the Maidens, I only possessed the unique qualities, the faint
but strong enough flicker of magicka to call forth the Shehai. Many times I called it, seldom
would it become substantial enough to be a weapon. To be a Ansei of the first level you just
need to be able to call it, and that I could, so I became the first Ansei from our local hall in
two generations.
Oh I have so much to tell, so many memories, so many treasures to share with you, my
unknown companion. How do I start?
Umhhh, the pain is still out there lurking hungry, slowly consuming what's left of me. I guess
I had better tell of the final battle, the one that has left me here, and then if I have the will left
tell you of my life, of my love Raliph. Oh what a lad he was. What times we shared ...
Ebonarm ... Forgive me, my mind wanders ... Let me go to the Final Battle.
Umm to start, in the middle humm. Yes. We Maidens grew, learned, mastered the Way, and
upon completing the Walk-About. To you who are not Singers, this is a wilderness trek
emulating the times of Frandar Hunding - where we each wander the country side righting
wrongs, defeating monsters, performing quests in the name of virtue. Some of us in our Hall
took years to finish. Always there is danger, we six Maidens each returned in our own good
time, but many are they who do not live to return from the Walk About.
We returned, each to our own lives, to meet in the hall once a week to tell our stories to the
new Maidens and Brothers, and to perform as instructors in the Way of the sword. All was
well till the night of the MidYear Festival.
All our people were reveling and ... excuse ... enjoying the repast, but for we six Maidens. It
happened that the festival day fell on our day of meeting in the hall, our day of prayer and
fasting and honor to the Way of the Sword.
As we met, late into the night, a knocking rang on our door. When I opened, it there was a
guardian the Bankorai Pass in the Wrothgarian Mountains, wounded and near death ... He told
us of betrayal from the north, an invasion sponsored by the Crystal Tower of High Rock, led
by King Joile of Daggerfall -- our ally in the war with Orsinium!