New Book - the Barsaebic Ayleids

[Deeza]

Here is a short book, which explains one theory as to why the Barsaebic Ayleids of Black Marsh were separated from their Heartland fellows...

[Deeza]

I have added this book to the CS.

Who were the Barsaebic Ayleids?

by Deesius Dewyrd

In terms of historical fact, even less is known about the Barsaebic Ayleids of Black Marsh than their Heartland cousins. Who were this mysterious group, and why were they viewed as separate from the mainstream of their civilisation? Apart from the name itself, all records of this people were destroyed during the worst excesses of the Alessian Order, denying us the chance to find out.

But fortune, or mayhap even divine providence, have preserved one tiny but very telling scrap of information, through (of all things) the actions of the Marukhati Spectralists, a sect of the Alessian Order itself which ultimately lost the struggle for theological supremacy with the Selectives, of whom readers are likely to be more familiar. A minority grouping who advocated the incorporation of certain Elven aspects of divinities into the Alessian pantheon, rather than the outright rejection expounded by the Selectives, the Spectralists translated sections of numerous Ayleid texts in an attempt to support their case. The so-called “Barsaebic Fragment” was copied in error during part of this exercise, and preserved when its parent text was used for many years as a practice work for initiate monks. The Fragment reads:

Barsaebus struck at him with fiercely barbed words,
At which the King's face grew dark with anger,
“If you fear so much the unbound sticks of Mermorphic Bet-kind,” said he,
“Then go and live among the sweet-dream-trees and fetid stench you prefer.”
With that Barsaebus took exile and made new holds,
Taking all who refuted, dastardly, the judgement of the King.

From this short text it seems that Barsaebus was the founder of the Ayleid cities of Black Marsh. Apart from the obvious shared root of the two names, the identification is confirmed by his exile to the land of “sweet-dream-trees”, a clear reference to the hallucinogenic properties of Hist sap (a type of spore-tree confined to deepest Black Marsh today, but believed to be more common at the time the Fragment was written).

Though this is mere guesswork from the limited Fragment, it seems that Barsaebus was exiled with his followers after a heated argument with the Ayleid King, implying that he was of a very high rank himself. “Mermorphic Bet-kind” appears to refer to the human slaves (set apart from all other “beasts” due to their superficial resemblance to Elves). We may conjecture that Barsaebus appeared to fear the possibility of these slaves becoming “unbound” and rebelling, which as we know was what ultimately took place. Perhaps, like the Dunmer, Barsaebus considered the Argonians of Black Marsh a more suitable slave race, and this is why the King said he would “prefer” the “fetid stench” of the swamps.

If this is the case, then it is ironic that by ignoring Barsaebus' advice, the Heartland Ayleids inadvertantly sealed their own fate. In this light we must reappraise too the fate of the Barsaebic Ayleids themselves, and consider that their holds persisted long after the Alessian Revolt not because of their great distance from the capital, as is widely believed. Switching to an Argonian source of slave labour would have insulated them from the rebellion's effects, allowing them to survive much longer than their peers. As for what fate ultimately befell them, however, we can only guess. Archaeological evidence suggests that their cities were abandoned long before the terrible outbreak of Khnaten Flu, and the reasons why seem likely to remain forever a mystery.