Vvar - The Fourteen Hostages

[KuKulzA]

The Fourteen Hostages
A tale passed down in old Dunmeric

Once long ago, before the Tribunal, before Dumac was king of the Dwemer, a Dwemer noble named Frunthud captured two youths from seven main nations of Chimer. Two were nomads of the ashlands, another pair were sons of a warrior from the Redoran clans, another two were young initiates of the Telvanni clans, and the others were Dres, Hlaalu, Indoril, and Dagoth.

Frunthud was very interested in how these boys would react to one another. Each seemed to be proud of their clan and willing to die for their people. But each was also scared of the Dwemer. Frunthud thought maybe he could put them through an experiment. So while he had his servants teach them Dwemeric and feed them well and teach them proper Dwemer manners, he had a large area of land encircled in a high wall. Into the enclosure he put a small pack of nix-hounds, a group of guar, and a Kwama queen. Soon he had a small environment.
When the boys were a little older, and stronger, he called them together. He asked them each again if they were loyal to their clans and if they were still respectful to the Dwemer. The answer was the same. Frunthud then told them they were free to go and were led into the enclosure and locked within. They soon realized they were trapped in this environment and were for a time afraid. They stuck together as a pack and beat off nix hounds. The Indoril amongst them decided that it would be best if they settled by a small cave where many hacklo and ash yams grew nearby. Thus the fourteen boys settled there for some time.

The Dres boys quickly learned that they could get the guars to be friendly and carry things for them and learned to dominate them. The Hlaalu boys learned to be good mediators and traders, but were always scoffed at since they gathered no food. The Telvanni boys soon learned how to use scrib-paralysis to paralyze others and became feared outcasts amongst the group. The Redoran boys became very loyal to the settlement and defended it as best as they could from the roving nix-hound pack. The Dagoth boys learned to be swift and cunning, they scared the others with their loyalty to one another and their brutal treatment of anyone they saw as a threat. The nomad boys often left the camp for days, coming back with food, but often feeling restless in the cave. Finally, the Indoril boys, they kept the other together with their generosity and charismatic leadership.
However, one day the nomad boys left and never returned. The group did not care at all and insulted by what seemed to be desertion, the Indoril boys grew arrogant and pronounced the ashlander boys exiles. Disheartened, the Dagoth boys left, then the Telvanni boys, and the others grew nervous. The Hlaalu boys said they saw the Ashlander boys prowling with the Nixes. The Dres spied the Telvanni herding shalk and living apart from one another. The Dagoth brothers apparently found another cave that was being inhabited by a land-dreugh. They used magicks and food to tame it and no more nix hounds preyed on them.

One wily Nix-hound, a loner, had stolen a piece of meat from the camp. Blaming the theft on the Dagoth boys, the Indoril boys led the whole group to unite all the others to go find and kill the Dagoth boys. A Telvanni boy died in the fight, as did one Dres. However they finally felled the land-Dreugh with logs and beat to death the Dagoth boys.

One day, the Nix-pack attacked the camp. The Indoril boys swore on their lives that they would defend their camp and the other boys. But the Hlaalu fled into the cave and took the cache. The Redoran boys beat off the nix with sharpened sticks till they broke and they were forced to flee, but one was killed and eaten by the hounds. Scattered, the boys found their loyalties to the camp were gone.
Sensing that they had failed, the Indoril boys wept, and one committed suicide. Then quietly, a Hlaalu youngster snuck up and killed the last Indoril. Then the two drove the Redoran boy away to the rocky southern area where the Nix pack lived. The Redoran boy was forced to fight off both the Ashlander boys and the Nix-hounds. The Telvanni boy grew isolated and lived atop a tall mushroom, rarely coming down. However, the Telvanni boy realized he needed food. The Redoran boy realized he needed chitin to make sharper weapons to survive the Nix-hounds. The Dres boy realized that his Guar herd wouldn?t last him forever?.

So the Hlaalu boys devised a plan. They knew that the Dres had food, that the Redoran had access to wild animals, and the Telvanni had shalk. So the Hlaalu boys borrowed some ash yams from the Dres boy, traded them for chitin from the Telvanni boy, and then traded the chitin to the Redoran boy who gave them a wild guar, which they gave to the Dres boy. And eventually the other three grew to need each other?s goods, and the Hlaalu boys could demand more. However, one day, the Ashlander boys came back and saw what a sad state the others were in. They decided to attack. One Hlaalu boy was badly hurt and his goods stolen. But the other boys, realizing that the Hlaalu boys kept them alive with the bartering, and unwilling to venture too far into the wild for fear of Nix and the Ashlander boys, made spears and warded off the Ashlander boys from then on.

For all this time, Frunthud watched from a high tower. He saw everything. And he smiled and decided that this was the future of the Chimer. That the proud and kindly Indoril would be killed by their own. That the Dagoths would be massacred because others feared them. That the Telvanni would be disgusted with the warring and go on their own. That the Redoran would be great warriors but suffocated by poverty. And that the Des boys would become dependent on other?s labor. And finally, that the wily Hlaalu would eventually take control because of their knowledge of the others' needs.
So Frunthud walked into the environment and with his ax, killed each boy, one after the other and had his golems and servants tear down the walls. Time went by. The Dwemer disappeared. The Dwemer clanstead fell into ruin. Nomads were driven away by House-folk. House folk were deterred by the rocky landscape. Imperial Legions marched through here. Frunthud's ghost must be laughing at how close the prediction came to be.

[TheImperialDragon]

Originally posted by KuKulzA
So Frunthud walked into the environment and with his ax, killed each boy, one after the other and had his golems and servants tear down the walls. Time went by. The Dwemer disappeared. The Dwemer clanstead fell into ruin. Nomads were driven away by House-folk. House folk were deterred by the rocky landscape. Imperial Legions marched through here. Frunthud's ghost must be laughing at how close the prediction came to be.

Just one thing: I don't think the ashlanders knew about the Empire if we're talking about the Dwemer, I don't think Empire knowledge would be passed down from before the Empire happened. It should be one of those [wise person] tells a story books. IE "Master, what are the Dwemer", master says "Well son, a long time ago..." etc... Then the story teller says how Frunthud's ghost must be laughing, etc...

[KuKulzA]

ok, I'll work on that
and its not ashlander, its just an old dunmer tale

[raggidman]

This tale appears to be one of those handed down things that change over the generations.

What is most important is the 'homey' feel that it has - told by grandad or dad in front of a crackling log fire.

Technically much of the tale starts with happenings pre-Red M but the observations are more modern, and provoked by changes that were created by Imperial intercession. But that does not matter unless the actual book is dated.

This would be something the University of Silgrad would like to have on its shelves.

[KuKulzA]

alright, thats cool... I need to fix it up a bit though, with you and TID's suggestions in mind :yes:

thanks

[Ataridante]

hahah lord of the flies and freud's thanatos (death drive) theories.
a great study on the inevitabilities of existance, kukulza

this feels like something from the oral tradition, passed down and such- but then heard by imperials and analyzed. It feels like an imperial re-telling a tale he picked up on his travels, i really like it.

Personaly, though, I think the Dunmer are too proud a people to tell such a story about themselves and the enevitability of their mistakes. If I where a dunmer I certainly wouldnt tell a tale about how my people where captured by a dwemer and then killed each other for his scientific prusuits and enjoyment.

[KuKulzA]

yea, been working on a revision, and I'll keep that in mind thanks

perhaps its an old tale from the Sheogorad... no one knows, maybe it was Argonian slaves who told this tale, or Nord colonists, or a Dwemer or Dunmer tale passed down... hrug:

I realize I have some bad grammar here
I need to fix that up... AFTER my thesis paper for school

[Ataridante]

yes school does come first I've spent my last week wrestling with freud.

It is only after we finish our work that we can truely... um, enjoy things. :wasted:

it might be neat to see diffrent sides of the story. Dwemer research notes, paralleled a dunmer version that paints Frunthud as an evil guy and imperial essays on the matter.

but dont change it too much. I like it.

[Deeza]

Done with only minor changes