Herne and Cespar are two large islands in the Abecean Sea, located southwest of mainland Hammerfell and the Iliac Bay.
Herne Pronounced: "Her" + n
Cespar Pronounced: Keh-"Spar"
Herne, the "Old Isle," lies northwest of Cespar and is named after its inhabitants and guardians, the Tomba do-Hirn. Originally known by the Redguards as Stros M'Utu (Isle of Kings), Herne was the first island discovered and colonized by the Yokudan Migrant Fleet, and was the capital of Raguda for decades. The island was originally inhabited by Nedes, who were routed onto Cespar by the warriors which would settle there. When Uei-utei (High King) Zutun departed Herne for Hegathe, he left the old capital of Ino and the island itself in the perpetual care of the Tomba do-Hirn, who had already been caretakers of the shipyard at Eko for many years. With the center of power now in Hegathe, the island steadily declined in importance, and the old capital city at Ino was abandoned in favor of the small coastal village around the shipyard at Eko. That, too, has become a shadow of its former self, as the population and resources have dwindled over the years. With the recent death of their chieftain and spiritual leader, the last thread of staunch Yoku traditionalism has been cut.
Isolation: Herne is an island on the edge of the world, a considerable distance even from Chora, much less from Stros M'kai or the mainland. Out here there is no support, no lifeline.
Generational Divide: Herne as a settlement has dwindled considerably. With the death of their chieftain and spiritual leader, the village is almost entirely in the hands of the younger generation. A generation without a staunch traditionalist to keep the oath alive. It is up to these younger residents to decide the fate of this long-standing oath to stay on the island.
Tradition vs Practicality: The oath that keeps the Tomba do-Hirn from leaving the island creates a lot of hardship. Herne is hardly a lush island, and outside trade is a necessity. When conflict occurs, such as the conflicts that occured around Herne between Hegathe and the Aldmeri Dominion, Herne has few tools to deal with such combat. Indeed, in the course of combat it is said that several Tomba do-Hirn did break their oath, and step on the ships of Hegathe to aid them. But since then, the oath has been enforced as it was. But the generation who currently lives in Herne has a decision to make. Whether the practicality of life outside the island is worth the destruction of this eons-old tradition.
Cespar, the smaller island, is occupied by the Tomba do-Cespar, descendants of great Yoku warriors. These warriors initially came to kill the last of the Nedes who fled from Herne, and found an island full of goblins. The warriors killed most of them, driving them underground to be reborn into ghouls by Sload magic. Since the Red Wave moved on to conquer mainland Hammerfell, Cespar has stagnated in importance and power. So much so that disgraced mainland nobles were exiled to a crumbling Yoku tower on the island. During the Tiberian conquest, the Empire forcibly repurposed that tower, renaming it Fort Liminos. Since the Empire's eviction from Hammerfell, the dilapidated Fort has sat abandoned save for the occasional enterprising pirate. Chora, once a mighty stronghold famed for its heroic warriors, has been reduced to a humble village of farmhouses with only a few residents keeping up the old ways of war and worship.
Lost Valor: Chora was once a society of famed warriors, venerated by the rest of redguard culture. But over time this has stagnated, and the Tomba do-Cespar have been subjected to humiliation after humiliation. The symbol and nexus of which has been Fort Liminos, a place so shameful to the people of Cespar that they did not bother to repurpose it when the Empire fled.
The Fallout of Bloodshed: When the warriors who would become Tomba do-Cespar cleared the island of goblins, they inadvertently created an ample supply of easily raised corpses for nearby sload to take advantage of. They experimented, as is their way, and created the plague of ghouls, undead goblin carrion eaters who infest the underground of Cespar. War may not always bring the eternal valor that it promises. And war never changes.
Scars of an Uncaring Empire: Fort Liminos stands as a scar of the exploitation that the empire wrought on Cespar. It began simply enough, as nobles were exiled to the crumbling Yoku tower on the island, which was an inconvenience at worst. Then the Tiberian Conflict began. Needing a strong outpost in the Isles, the empire forcibly repurposed that same tower into Fort Liminos. From then on, Cespar became an attachment to the fort, where misbehaving soldiers would be dumped or discharged. Drunks and vagrants wandered Chora until they could find passage home, or died in the sand. Then the empire left, and just as quickly Cespar lost the last of its relevance to the outside world. The fort still stands, abandoned without a second thought. The residents of Chora could not utilize a place which had been such a source of shame. And where there is shelter, ghouls and enterprising pirates moved in. Even after they've left, the Empire's actions continue to harrow the residents of Chora.
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Little is known of the islands during the Merethic Era. While they appear on Aldmeri navigational maps and may occasionally have hosted small elven settlements, the first known groups to establish a lasting presence were the ancient Nedic peoples and various goblin-ken. Periodic attacks from the elves of Hegathe and their Ayleid cousins left the Nedes battle hardened and wary. By the fifth century of the First Era, the Dwemer had arrived, setting up observatories and small outposts while maintaining a tense stalemate with the natives. They had long disappeared by the time the Ra Gada landed.
Herne and Cespar were settled by the Redguards around 1E 800, as the Ra Gada fled the sinking of Yokuda. The Nedic tribes, likely related to the Khanovak tribe of mainland Hammerfell, put up a strong resistance, but were ultimately obliterated alongside the goblin-ken, a precursor to the exterminations on mainland Hammerfell.
Once the Ra Gada leadership left the isles for Heigidh (Hegathe), the isles began to stagnate. Cespar was too weak to refuse the Tiberian fleet when they established Fort Liminos, a port on the eastern edge of Cespar built over an older Yoku tower. The Imperial presence was a thorn in the side of every Tomba do-Cespar, sometimes even leading to violence, until the Empire as a whole left Hammerfell territories at the beginning of the Fourth Era. Now, Casper has been left to waste away on its own with a gaping wound.
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