Silver Hand

The Silver Hand were a group of monster hunters based in the province of Skyrim. Their organization had once been noble cause seeking to protect the people of the province, but in time had become radicalised and zealous in their plight, to the point of society viewing them as a danger to regular citizens.

(Several versions of the faction exist, although the linked histories of each can be found on this page. For reference, the original members of the organization will be referred to as the Paladin's, the version that succeeded this are the Advocate's, and the splinter faction of this group the Reclaimer's).

Foundation and Early Years (4E 165-176)
The Paladin's, or founders of the Silver Hand, were a series of acclaimed monster-hunters from all across Tamriel, who had made their living fighting the abominable creatures that plagued Skyrim. Many of them had originated from prominent factions across the continent dedicated to similar causes. Initially formed to organize their territories of influence, the group eventually banded together in order to face down powerful threats that could only be vanquished by their combined might.

The Silver Hand became legends of the early Fourth Era, earning the respect and admiration of the mortal folk all across the province. In their prime they faced and triumphed over powerful adversaries such as Malkoran the Necromancer and the Wolf Queen Potema. On occasion they would clash with the Movarth Imperium, but never openly declared the vampires as their enemy.

These members, though powerful, were not invincible however, and in darker times a member would sometimes fall in battle. Reputable hunters of evil would be invited by the Silver Hand to join their ranks in order to maintain their number; the second generation of the Paladin's were referred to as the Luah-Mineire, as their comparative youth symbolized the factions lasting vigilance over the province. Unfortunately, it was one of these Luah'ae that would bring about the end of the original faction.

The individuals name was Beryahrf the Merciless. True to his title, the Nord had triumphed over many monstrous foes with disturbed prejudice in the past, to a point where his reputation made the Silver Hand hesitate to recruit him. They did however, and Mehnuriel Fayedor became a mentor to the troubled young man. Despite her efforts however, Beryahrf was driven by an unquenchable rage to brutally punish all of the abominable races of the province, and his abhorrent methods led to his eventual expulsion from the group.

Fall of the Silver Paladins
Bitter with his former comrades, and holding the belief that their methods were inefficient and too limited, Beryahrf rounded up a large following of thugs and mercenaries to compete with the Silver Hand, known under the same name and distinguished as the 'Advocate's'. At first they would simply exemplify their own goals by slaying monsters and placing their mutilated corpses on display outside towns and settlements, but in time they began to attack members of the Silver Hand, weakening the faction to the point where their ability to aid the people was diminished.

In 4E 176 Beryahrf led the Advocates in an attack on Fort Hraggstad; the hidden headquarters of the Paladin Silver Hand's. In this surprise attack the founding I'zalu and Luah'ae were greatly outnumbered and placed on the defensive. They were eventually overrun, with the bodies of only a few members not being recovered. After the battle the Merciless One led his forces to Solitude, where it was publicly announced that the Silver Hand was 'under new supervision'.

The Years of Infamy (4E 176-181)
It took several months for the province to learn that the Advocate's had destroyed the old faction, and every Hold deemed the new Silver Hand as criminals in their lands, to be held accountable for the murders of the Paladin's. People were strictly told to never hire the faction under any circumstances, and the resulting financial shortcomings drove the group to conduct raids on unfortunate merchants, giving the public the impression of the Silver Hand being nothing more than glorified bandits.

Despite this the group continued to fight the abominable creatures that plagued the province, causing the organization to receive private sympathizers and benefactors. Eventually they were able to discontinue their marauding, and with this factor gone the Hold governments became lax in their prosecution of the Hand's members. It was during this time that the Silver Hand gained particular affluence as hunters of Lycanthropes, because the growing unification of vampire clans under the Movarth Imperium made them a more challenging group of foes, whereas the isolated werewolf packs made for easier targets whose deaths would still improve the factions reputation.

The Battle for Hjaalmarch
In 4E 181 the Silver Hand were drawn to the Hold capital of Morthal after the historical event known as the Morthal Incident occurred. Seeing this as a fantastic opportunity to prove themselves as valid protectors of the mortal folk, the Hand's entered an alliance with the present Knights of the Blazing Sword and the local militia to combat the publicly exposed Imperium. Almost a hundred members joined the attack with Beryahrf's approval.

When the allied mortals triumphed over the vampires and the Cyrodiil knightly order left soon after, the Silver Hand were briefly seen as heroes across the entire province, and experienced a peak in their recruitment rates; many of the young new arrivals were oblivious to the organisations fanatical attitudes. They began to track down any intact covens and vampire splinter groups that had endured the fall of the Imperium.

Krev the Skinner and the Eastern Pioneers
Krevelan Stag-Pelt had developed a fearsome reputation in the Silver Hand by 4E 181, owing to his pastime of collecting the ears of his werewolf victims to wear as trophies. Tracking a Lycan that had killed his father years ago to the Grimclaw Pack in the Rift, the Skinner launched an expedition into the eastern Holds; an area neither version of the Silver Hand had ever held much influence in. The expeditionary group's first move was to claim Gallow's Rock as their headquarters in the region, which they did without ever picking up on its recent occupation by the Phantomsnare Coven.

From there the newly-founded Eastmarch chapter of the Silver Hand began to make inroads in their corner of the province. Werewolves of the Grimclaw Pack became their main target, and an attack on Clearspring Cave prompted a conflict between the two groups. Riften provided a reward to the monster hunters for seemingly removing the Lycans.

In truth, the pack was far from broken, and now their animosity towards the Silver Hand grew tenfold. When captured Lycans were later released from the torture chambers of Gallow's Rock by an unknown assailant, many of the hunters garrisoned there were slaughtered, with Krevelan himself being wounded in the fight. It was during a subsequent attack on the keep that this chapter of the Silver Hand finally met its end, with the Grimclaw's successful push into the keep distracting its occupants from Krevelan's assassination at the hands of a vampire sent by the Phantomsnare Coven.

Investigation
The Advocate's would not attempt to regain a footing in the eastern holds, instead seeking to consolidate their influence in the west. Despite this plan their defeat was not missed by the residents of the province, and many began to openly question the strength of the organization. In a bureaucratic push to regain reputation the Silver Hand began to capture innocents and accuse them of being abominations, occasionally being correct but secretly getting away with the murders of dozens of regular mortal folk who had challenged their organization.

One member, by the name of Caldr Frostveins, grew weary of the factions new tactics, and wanted to investigate the loss of Krevelan's force in the hopes of re-establishing the Gallow's Rock outpost. He was ordered by his superiors to abandon this goal but ignored it, quietly departing and making his way East anyway. His investigation and collaboration with the Eastmarch hold authorities eventually cost the Phantomsnare Coven their headquarters at Mara's Eye Pond, but the Nord was forced to stop his pursuit when approached by his comrades and blackmailed into returning with them to Driftshade Refuge. He was sentenced to imprisonment for disobeying orders and potentially consorting with the vampires.

Return of the Argent Knight
In the closing weeks of 4E 181 a surviving Luah'ae named Cellathiel Fayedor silently infiltrated Driftshade Refuge, possibly hoping to kill Beryahrf and disband the organization. However her main success in this mission was to rescue Caldr and several other 'traitors', and though Beryahrf survived the night many of his men were turned against him by the words of Cellathiel. This event was followed by the splitting of the faction into an uneven two; the splinter group fought the Advocates for their independence under the command of the Luah'ae, and when the fighting ceased the group retreated into the East of the province, accessing secret stockpiles left behind by the Paladin's and building up a specialized arsenal. They eventually claimed Gallow's Rock in Eastmarch, and slowly began to rebuild the fort.

Both groups remained distant from one another, each maintaining their influence within distant corners of the province. Despite their more honorable conduct, this new chapter of the Silver Hand lacked the reputable history of their counterparts, leaving the recruitment rates of both groups fairly even. Both would ignore one another upon becoming embroiled in separate conflicts, the Advocate's facing the western remnants of the Movarth Imperium and the Reclaimers eventually joining the Silentium War.

The Reclaimers
Cellathiel's chapter strongly opposed the barbaric treatment of abominations at the hands of the Advocate's; they swiftly dispatched any bounty they had claimed, and only took prisoners if they needed information. In the month of Sun's Dusk a task force was dispatched to capture Mara's Eye Pond, where a handful of Phantomsnare vampires had holed themselves up. They succeeded and promptly converted the hideout into an outpost, but on the 21st of Evening Star the force vanished under mysterious circumstances. They also fought to gain control of Fort Amol, which became a forwards base for their operations in Riften.

Though their members would cross the paths of these officially hostile factions in the region as early as Morning Star of 4E 182, it was only midway through the year that the Reclaimers officially declared war on both the Midnight Pantheon and Autumnshade Coven. Their position at this point allowed the Silver Hand to flank the Pantheon's forces at the Battle of Nasphödol, likely costing the triumvirate its victory. However the Reclaimers forces were depleted in what Cellathiel had planned to be a push to occupy Nasphödol, but had turned into a crippling defeat as they found themselves facing both an entrenched defense bolstered by long range artillery, and daedric entities they were ill-equipped to combat.

The surviving monster hunters retreated to their forward base at Fort Amol, unable to intercept retreating Pantheon forces. This meant they were not present for the Culling at Ivarstead, where the task of defending of the settlement fell to the Autumnshade Coven, to their public merit and the Silver Hand's shame.

By 4E 184 the Reclaimers were no longer active, with many former members becoming independent hunters dedicated to protecting the mortal denizen's of Eastmarch.

*End of currently established canon*

Advocates
Beryahrf's chapter was not as brazen as their eastern counterparts in fighting the vampire epidemic, and were still seeking maximum profit for their reputation by hunting isolated Lycan groups and accused citizens. This changed when they were anonymously tipped off about the first Blood Summoning of the vampire clans, and Advocate ambushes following the gathering claimed the lives of many of the undead ambassadors, destabilizing the peace between the covens and making them more vulnerable targets for the Advocates.

Driftshade Refuge had lost its Headquarters status after Cellathiel's visit, as it was deemed tactically vulnerable by the remaining occupants. Instead they chose to occupy the former Paladin-controlled Fort Hraggstad, and Driftshade Refuge was reverted to an outpost.