After over eight years, a brand new trailer has dropped for The Elder Scrolls 6, revealing the game’s full official title for the first time. Being just a minute long, the trailer ends by revealing the full title as The Elder Scrolls 6: Sentinel, followed by a quote from a moth priest dated as only a few years after the events of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. While this might not seem like much to some, the short trailer actually reveals a lot about the game to those who are well-versed in The Elder Scrolls lore and those who have played The Elder Scrolls Online.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Sentinel being the game’s title doesn’t just refer to standing guard, it is a known location within the Elder Scrolls universe, serving as the largest city in Hammerfell, the capital of the Redguard people and a kingdom of its own. This confirms that the homeland of the Redguard will serve as the game’s central location, but also heavily suggests that Sentinel itself will play a central part in the game’s setting. Because Sentinel exists in The Elder Scrolls Online, Arena, and Daggerfall, we already have a strong foundation of existing lore surrounding the location that we can use as a reference for what The Elder Scrolls 6‘s setting might look like.
The Capital of the Redguard
A strong warrior race hailing from the continent of Yokuda, the people that would become known as the Redguard fled the catastrophic destruction of their homeland and eventually settled the lands known as Hammerfell. Settling mostly along the fertile Illiac coast, the Redguard built many large and impressive cities, but none more so than Sentinel.
Sentinel was founded by the warrior Yaghoub, named so by the watchful guard who spotted the harbor where they would build the city from atop the mast of his ship. Yaghoub and his warriors conquered the High Elves who lived there, using them as stone masons to build his palace and the city that would come to surround it. The crescent moon would come to be the symbol of Sentinel, based on the sight of the full moon looming above the city’s gates every night.
Founded in the first era, Sentinel continues to stand thousands of years later, making it one of the oldest and most storied cities in Tamriel’s history. The city’s strategic location on the Illiac Bay makes the city incredibly wealthy, serving a practical as well as cultural importance to the Redguard.
A Kingdom of its Own
Sentinel is not just a city, but the capital of the Kingdom of Sentinel, a throne will claims much of the northern coast of Hammerfell and much of the Alik’r Desert.
While Skyrim has its High King, Elsweyr has the Mane, and Cyrodill is united by the Emperor, Hammerfell lacks a centralized, united leadership. Much like High Rock, the region is comprised of many relatively small kingdoms, each of which is based around one of the region’s larger cities. Of these kingdoms, Sentinel could easily be considered one of the greatest.
The kingdoms of Hammerfell are separated by more than just borders, with a long-standing internal conflict between two political groups dividing the region. The Crowns, the ancient descendants of the Yokudan ruling class, battle with the Forebears, the most assimilated culture born from trade in the northernmost ports, with each group seeking to hold power in the many kingdoms. Sentinel itself has swapped hands between the groups multiple times, and currently resides under the control of the Forebears.
A History of Conflict
From the earliest days of Sentinel’s founding, the city and kingdom have been engulfed in many major conflicts, with the city itself being founded by the slaughter and enslavement of the local High Elf population.
In 1E 950, Sentinel took part in the siege of Orsinium, a response to Orc-led raids on several settlements in Hammerfell and High Rock. With the combined powers of Daggerfall, Sentinel, and the Order of Diagna, the united front took the battle to the Orc king Golkarr gro-Igrun in a siege that lasted 30 years and ultimately culminated in the destruction of Orsinium. The armies of Sentinel not only attacked the walls of Orsinium, but also attacked several other Orc fortresses in the region, including Fharun. This conflict was the first of many that would take place over the years, as more Orc kings would try and ultimately fail to revive the city of Orsinium under opposition from High Rock and Hammerfell.
Immediately after the siege, the weakened forces of Sentinel were attacked by the armies of Daggerfall at Bangkorai Pass. This betrayal, planned by King Joile of Daggerfall from the start, nearly wiped out the armies of Sentinel, but the sword-singer Makela Leki managed to carve through the enemy lines and decapitate Joile before succumbing to her wounds. She was laid to rest on the rock where she fell, and her spirit sword Shehai became the stuff of legends.
Sentinel continued to be engulfed in conflicts in the years leading up to the fourth era, including multiple civil wars, a siege from an undead army, many conflicts with the kingdoms of Hammerfell across the Illiac Bay, and the Three Banners War. Eventually, all of Hammerfell became part of the Empire, after which Sentinel’s conflicts became intertwined with those of the Imperial Legion.
Of all of these conflicts, the most recent of which, known as the Great War, may be the most important. It united the Crowns and Forebears together at the city of Hegathe, where the united Redguard forces were able to find off the Dominion and prevent the region from falling into their hands.
Refusing to Surrender
While the war ended for the Empire with the Aldmeri Dominion victory in 4E 175 when the White-Gold Concordat was signed in Cyrodill, Hammerfell refused to surrender. They rejected the terms of the Concordat, being removed from the Empire and returning to a land of independent kingdoms. However, they remained united against the Dominion for five more years, until the signing of The Second Treaty of Stros M’kai ended the conflict in a stalemate.
This last major conflict sets the stage for Sentinel in The Elder Scrolls 6. Having united to defeat the Aldmeri Dominion, we will more than likely see the region of Hammerfell in a state of unease. After centuries of conflict, the Crowns and Forebears now have proof that they can coexist, but no longer have a common enemy to unite them.
With Sentinel being the capital of the Forebears, this uneasy peace will more than likely play a central part in the game’s story. As players, we will more than likely find ourselves working to maintain this peace from boiling over into conflict, or, like in Skyrim, may even see ourselves taking a side to decide who shall rule the kingdom of Sentinel, and perhaps all of Hammerfell, once and for all.
Which faction, Crowns or Forebears, do you plan on siding with in The Elder Scrolls 6? What other iconic locations in Hammerfell are you hoping to see? Leave your answers in the comments below.
More Gaming
-
Courtesy of House House -
Courtesy of S-GAME Studio
