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Overview The idea to include Hirraen came when I was revising the main quest. As it used t be, the villain in the story was going to be Ebonheart, but, I eventually decided that if that was so, it would cause too many conflicts, so I began thinking of an alternative. I liked the idea of a rival city, and a main quest involving some politics. I developed three main quest ideas. First was a battle against some new evil. I didn't do this because it seemed like it wouldn't blend with the current lore at all, and it also seems that it is a very common thing in other mods. Second, I could make the enemy be the Sixth House, but again, this doesn't fit with the story well, and it would also be going into the usual type of enemies. The third idea was for Fallaran's enemy to be another city. This idea I like, and has turned out to be the final result. Hirraen is a large city, about the size of Vivec, located north of Fallaran in the Sea of Ghosts. It is the enemy of Fallaran, and is ruled by a Sronius III. It is named after the High Elf, Hirrae, who was the man that discovered the rocks that Hirraen is built upon. [OVERVIEW OF CITY HERE WHEN HIRRAEN IS COMPLETE] Quests Hirrarn offers no quests of its own, but it is the place where most of the later quest take place. I'm sorry to anyone who is hoping for another free-to-explore city, as this will not be one. I just don't have the time to do all the interiors, dialogue, quests, and anything else. So, I hope that you can live with this. History Hirraen, Fallaran's arch-nemesis, is its twin city. Sironius Velian, a pauper tricked and mislead a group of his fellow peasants into believing that Szazmyrr II was ignoring their plea for better treatment. Sironius showed them his plan. His followers plotted against Fallaran, and rose up against the leaders of Fallaran. The conflict was brutal. Death was among the city of Fallaran. Peasants banded together and assaulted the western city, but were held off by Fallaran Elite at the bridges. It was a massacre. Bodies littered the streets. The dead were uncountable, but with each peasant slain at the hands of a Fallaranean Guard, more took his place against Fallaran.
Each struck at each other, but not able to knock the other over. The war became a senseless slaughter, until Sironius made a mistake. He thought that his men had secured the southern bridge, but he was oblivious to the trap that lay ahead. He lead his army of battered, but not quite broken, peasants across the bridge, attempting to capture the southern portion of the city. His men decimated the Fallaranean soldiers, but suddenly, out of nowhere, Fallaranean soldiers emerged out of homes and off of rooftops behind him. The soldiers captured the traitorous men, one by one. They we're sent to separate prison cells in Under Fallaran. However, there was one other man that was on their side. Acturus the Second. Second in command of the forces of Fallaran. Son of Acturus I, friend of Szazmyrr I. Acturus freed the prisoners, in an attempt to rid them of their ill fate in Fallaran, but there was a price. He was banished along with the freed prisoners, never to set foot on Fallaran soil again. The city of Fallaran lay broken, but not beat. Flames devour the city, brought about by the chaos of conflict, yet Fallaran will remain.
Sironius Velian and Acturus, banished from Fallaran, make way to the rock forms of Hirrae where they found what will become the city of Hirraen. Sironius, growing mad with power orders Acturus to assassinate the governor of Fallaran, Szazmyrr II, in revenge for his banishment. Acturus, now only a mere, subordinate , of Sironius has no choice to agree, or become a once-leader without a land. On the day of Fallaran's restoration, the day of celebration and remembrance of those died defending Fallaran, Szazmyrr II was killed by Acturus, his once most trusted friend and aid. The arrow, shot from his own bow, pierced his neck and severed his life. Yet, it would not sever his kingdom. The city of Fallaran.
Hirraen grew in size, as Fallaran sat, licking its wounds. Sironius could not stand that Fallaran survived his attempt to cripple it. He knew that as long as it existed, it would be a threat. As time passed, both cities built up their strength, but what Fallaran did not know was that Sironius had a plan. It would turn out to be a devastating plan, as time would show. A series of cold-blooded attacks on merchant vessels from Vvardenfel followed. There were survivors, of course. Only one on each massacre, one who clearly saw the Fallaranean flags flying on the ships of their attacker. Yet, these were not ships of Fallaran. These clever disguises were doing of Sironius. As more innocent blood was spilled, the crisis' came to the attention of Vvardenfel. Their economy and their people were being slaughtered. At this time, Vvardenfel issued a statement that the city of Fallaran, would "...hereby be suspended from the affairs of Vvardenfel, be they political, economical, or any other form, owing to the blatant disgrace of their honor and regard for life."
Sironius' thirst for power grew and grew. Smashing his enemies was not enough. His own city was not enough. He was in a mad lusting search for power. He wanted all of Vvardenfel. He began plotting the Hirraen invasion of Vvardenfel. As this transpired, Acturus' role in the way things died, and eventually he disappeared from Hirraen and his disgrace. Meanwhile, in Hirraen, Sironius' plot grew out of proportion. Not just Vvardenfel. All of Morrowind. He ordered the construction of a grand assault force. A fleet that would be unstoppable. A decade passed, and the construction of his doom fleet was nearly done. As the last ship was finished, and the last soldier boarded the vessel, he began his strike. Any ship met at sea, met the sea's bottom as quick as they saw a dot on the horizon. At last his fleet had sailed to Ebonheart, where they would wage war on Vvardenfel. Cannons fired, and ships exploded. But not the ships of Ebonheart, the ships of Hirraen. A fleet of vessels from Ebonheart bombarded his ships from afar. Before he had time to direct their attention, half his fleet was buried in mud, at the bottom of the Inner Sea. Legend has it that only two Ebonheart ships were sunk and all the Hirraen vessels lay at the sea bottom, but in reality, the victory of Ebonheart was not as glamorous. The losses combined were staggering. Only seven Hirraen ships drifted back to their home port, while Ebonheart lost nearly fifty percent of their force, but was victorious overall.
After this appalling act of treason against Vvardenfel, another statement was issued, this time to Hirraen. It read "May the city, known as Hirraen, hereby be not again mentioned by word of mouth, or on paper and suspended from the affairs of Vvardenfel, be they political, economical, or any other form, owing to the horrendous and incomprehensible treason that they have committed toward the land of Morrowind." With his dishonorable and embarrassing defeat, Sironius went mad, and killed himself.
Soon after the death of Sironius, his son (Sironius II) took the throne of Hirraen. The city was in chaos after their defeat at Ebonheart. Violence ruled the streets and poverty was widespread. Sironius II would not make his father's mistakes, he vowed to emerge victorious over Fallaran. He knew that he could no rush his plan, nor could he afford to underestimate the enemy. However, there was one thing that he did not know. While Hirraen recovered from it's losses and patched up its battered economy, Fallaran was alive and well, preparing their own force. And in less than a year it would be ready to set sail for the shores of Hirraen. Fallaran's force was more than enough to crush the meager Hirraen force, but once again, the war would be prolonged. The Fallaranean fleet set sail for Hirraen and began bombardment of the southern islands. Sironius knew that he could not hold them off for long, and that if they reached the top of one of the, all would be lost soon. He had one hope, one idea. It was insane at best, but there was always a chance. A single ship, Sironius aboard, sailed towards the mainland. The ship arrived at a mainland dock, soon after. Sironius pleaded to the Imperial Legion of the mainland to help him, and they agreed, since they still believed that Fallaran was the one who assaulted their ships many years ago. A fleet set sail for Hirraen, in order to aid the cause. Upon arriving, the Imperial ships wreaked havoc upon the forces of Fallaran, forcing them to retreat. Yet, it was not a victory for either side. Fallaran would return home and rebuild, while Hirraen lay in broken pieces. The city was damaged beyond belief, the southernmost islands completely devastated. Fire spread, and continued to burn all that was left to the ground.
Sironius dedicated himself to rebuilding the city. He knew that if he did not focus his attention, at the task at hand, he would fail overall. His dedication paid off, and in months the city was restored. He then re-concentrated his effort on continuing the construction of his fleet. It would take time, but he had all the time that he needed. Also, unwilling to let Fallaran go unchecked, he periodically launched quick and deadly raids upon the rival city, keeping Fallaran on its toes. And because of this, Fallaran was being forced into a situation that would soon become desperate. Sironius' plan was working, and he was pleased. He was confident of his plan, but not so confident that he would fail. Yet, he would not live to see his plan executed. He died during his sleep, in [YEAR].
His first son, Sironius III took control of the city after his father's
death. But, in the end, his arrogance may be the downfall of Hirrraen. |
