Lore:Derik Hallin

Derik Hallin
Derik Hallin in HoonDing's Watch
Race	Redguard	Gender	Male
Born		1st Era
Died		1st Era Ojwambu
Appears in		ESO

Derik Hallin (sometimes referred as Hallin) was a Redguard warrior from the mid-First Era, best remembered as the last Ansei. He assembled several sword-singers and recovered Divad Hunding's five mythical swords to forever defeat the giant goblins that invaded Hammerfell. Derik's name is attributed to the northern city in the Fallen Wastes, Hallin's Stand and the landmark in Stros M'Kai, Hallin Falls.

History

The Second Goblin Invasion

By the time Derik Hallin had passed away, the days of the Ra Gada were long over and the Redguards were rebuilding their society from the ground-up. "The True-Told Tale of Hallin" describes it as, "three spans of a person's life". At an unspecified time in the First Era, a second invasion of giant goblins hit the province and Derik Hallin assembled the ill-prepared armies of Hammerfell to fight back. After an unspecified defeat, Hallin told his warriors to read the Book of Circles and in turn, brought back the old ways of the Sword. His army was able to bring the war to a standstill, but just as Divad's song stated, the goblins were unaffected and kept resupplying; seemingly foreshadowing Hammerfell's defeat.

The old master of Hallin's Hall of Virtues had an ancient copy of Divad Hunding's last will and testament, which claimed his five magical swords were not lost but hidden in five caves, well-guarded by old blind Ansei masters. The only way to claim these swords was for Derik to assemble companions of pure heart, defeat the old Ansei and retrieve their swords. He traveled all over Hammerfell's rural country to Halls of Virtue for companions and eventually found three maidens and two brothers of the Spirit Sword.

Together, the six warriors quested all over the province and fought each master. Most of their names are currently unknown, but each of them had a distinct trait. One of them, Katrice possessed a feline's grace and was described as "catlike", and another had an icy calm like an Ice Golem. One by one, Derik and his companions claimed the swords, and all together, they sealed the rift in space-time the goblins used to resupply. To avoid blinding from the swords, Derik's companions threw them together into the void and sealed the giant goblins in between worlds.

Hallin's Last Stand

An elderly Derik Hallin taught in the lowly Hall of Virtues in Ojwambu, to a meager audience of the city's youth. Despite the mockery they received, the students held Derik in high regard. At some point in time, the goblin warlord, Mahgzoor Rockhand led a vast army of goblins and descended from the Dragontail Mountains onto the region. With all of the Fallen Wastes packed into the city, Queen Ojwa called for anyone that knew the Way of the Sword and could defeat the enemy. Hallin and his students stepped forward, offering to teach the Redguards the ways of the sword. But with little time on their hands, Hallin offered to stall the goblins alone while his students taught the people. Derik stayed in Ojwambu alone while the city evacuated west into the Alik'r Desert and read the Book of Circles daily.

While the city's populace was away, Queen Ojwa sent the Father of Owls to observe Hallin's defense. The Ansei pointed his Shehai and summoned familiars of past sword-singers along the battlements. On the north end was every female Ansei before his time, and on the south end was every male Ansei, all of whom saluted him. The Ansei defended Ojwambu for seventeen days until it eventually came down to Hallin, who stood at the city's east gate and clashed with Warlord Mahgzoor. Come nightfall, Hallin had been struck down by the warlord's sword, Bone-Hewer, but decapitated the goblin as he fell. Hallin died in the end, but his effort did not go unnoticed.

Legacy

Hallin's students were finally able to teach the people the ways of the sword and before they marched back, the Queen declared that the city would be renamed "Hallin's Stand" once it had been reclaimed. Suffice to say, it goes by that name to this day. The very spot where Hallin confronted Mahzgoor Rockhand and died is where the city's Yokudan Heritage House is currently located. When a hero or pilgrim traverses through the trials at HoonDing's Watch, a temple south of Kozanset, the spirits of past Redguard heroes, such as Derik Hallin may appear before them and challenge their virtue. Derik's spirit makes reference to magical swords that were kept hidden away and asks the hero if they would seek out these swords even if they were possibly hidden for a reason. The gist of his lesson was that a single choice could define the future and that even the smallest of decisions could lead to consequences.

According to research conducted by the Antiquarian Circle, the goblins' attack on Ojwambu was one of several to justify the Siege of Orsinium, a conflict that started in 1E 950 and lasted for thirty years. They also theorized that the attack on Ojwambu took place in the seventy-four-year timespan between the beastfolks' exodus from Hammerfell in 1E 874 and the start of the siege. But this contradicts Derik's status as the last Ansei because it would place his death several years before Makela Leki's fight against King Joile in 1E 973.

Artifacts

Hallin's Legacy

Hallin's Legacy (Castles)

Hallin's Legacy is the name of a set of plate armor crafted in a Redguard style, said to have been worn by Hallin during his last stand against the goblins. It is rumored to still be crusted with the blood of the warlord Bone-Hewer. It increases its wearer's stamina and health, as well as their proficiency with swords.

Gallery

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  Hallin's Stand

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  Hallin Falls in Stros M'Kai

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  The Yokudan Heritage House

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  HoonDing's Watch

Notes

• In the Daggerfall Preview, one of the three playable demos for The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, there is a text file called REDGUARD.TXT, which has either early drafts of books in the final build or unreleased books. Two of these include the Song of Divad and the Tale of the Dragon's Toe, which provides more context for both "Divad the Singer" and "Notes For Redguard History", as well as bridging both stories together.
  • The Tale of the Dragon's Toe provides more information about Derik's background and his quest but because it is not part of the official release, it cannot be part of the page's main text. Derik was born two hundred years after Makela Leki's time in Hammerfell's backcountry and was able to manifest his Shehai at a young age. It also says that the five Caves of Divad were all located in a terrain feature called the Dragon's Toe, an extension of the Wrothgarian Mountains that separates High Rock from Hammerfell. The last cave in his quest was called the Shem Pit.

See Also

• For game-specific information, see the Elder Scrolls Online article.

Books

• Notes For Redguard History by Destri Melarg — An unmailed letter from an author to his publisher
• Shrine to Derik Hallin — A plaque dedicated to Derik Hallin, last of the Ansei
• The True-Told Tale of Hallin — A tale about Sword-singer Hallin and his defense of Ojwambu