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Near the valley of the Dark River
In the time of the Great Struggle the storms that raged in the mountains washed away what roads provided ease of travel and flooded the hidden warrens beneath the stony crags. The relentless falling of the rain also set the streams and rivers to swelling and in places entire cliff faces were simply washed away by the rushing water. Among those pieces of mountain stone that had been swept away was the splintered seam of an ore-bearing vein, a seam broken into several large stones lined with a deep black metallic substance. Ebony it is called in the distant lands of Tamriel * where skilled craftsmen have labored long to master the secret of shaping it into weapons and armor of great strength and value. Rumor speaks of a mine, long forgotten and now flooded, somewhere in the mountains wherein such ore might still be found in great quantity, but rumors such as this are notoriously difficult to verify. Be that as it may, ebony bearing stones were left at the edge of this vale as the flood waters of the Dark River receded. Those who lived at the edge of the vale, not knowing the nature nor the value of such stones, and seeing their obvious strength, fixed them into the foundations and walls of their houses.......
.......And so it was that four families were slaughtered for the sake of stones.
All is silent at the edge of the vale, save for the muted striking of tools from within the houses, and a bit of singing that accompanies the swinging of picks and the striking of hammers against chisels
And it’s go, boys, go!
They’ll time your very breath,
and every day you’re in this place
you’re two days nearer death.
But you goooooooooooooooo!
* The setting for the Elder Scrolls games.
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