Book:Father of the Niben/Fragment Three

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Father of the Niben
translated and with commentary by Florin Jaliil
Fragment Three

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The fetid, evil swamp lands and their human lizards

Retreated to the east, and Topal and his men's

Hearts were greatly gladdened by the sight of

Diamond blue, pure, sweet ocean.

For three days, they sailed in great cheer north-west

Where Firsthold beckoned them, but hope died

In horror, as land, like a blocking shield rose

Before them.

Topal the Pilot was sore wroth, and consulted he

The maps he had faithfully drawn, to see

Whether best to go south where the

Continent must end, or take the river that

Snaked through a passage north.

"North!" cried he to his sad men. "North we go

Now! Fear not, north!"

Tracing Topal's movements, we see that he has skirted the edge of Morrowind and delved into southern Blackmarsh, seemingly determined to follow his waystone as best as he can. The swamp he is leaving is probably near present day Caedon. Knowing what we now know about Topal's personality, we can understand his frustration in the bay between Black Marsh and Elsweyr.

Here is a man who follows his orders explicitly, and knows that he should have been going south-east through river ways to reach Firsthold. Looking at his maps, we can see that he attempted to find passages through, as he has mapped out the Inner Sea of Morrowind, and several of the swampy tributaries of Black Marsh, no doubt being turned away by the disease and fierce Argonian tribes that dissuaded many other explorers after him.

With a modern map of Tamriel in hand, we can see that he makes the wrong choice in electing to go north-east instead of pushing southward. He could not have known then that what he perceived to be the endless mainland was only a jutting peninsula. He only knew that he had traveled too far southward already, and so he made a smart but incorrect decision to go up the river.

It is ironic that this great miscalculation would today bear his mark of history. The bay he thought was an endless ocean is now known as Topal Bay, and the river that took him astray shares the name of his boat, the Niben River.