West Skyrim

West Skyrim, Western Skyrim, or the West Kingdom is the western half of the province of Skyrim and is the parallel to the Old Holds in the East. While the Old Holds are more conservative and keep to the old ways, Western Skyrim is more progressive and has close ties to the Empire of Cyrodiil.

Geography
West Skyrim consists of the western holds of Skyrim which include Falkreath, Haafingar, Hjaalmarch, The Reach, and Whiterun. Each of these regions has distinct characteristics to them that distinguish them from each other and the other areas in Skyrim. The capital of the nation is the city of Solitude, located on a natural arch in the mountains of Haafingar. West Skyrim takes up a larger portion than the Old Holds since it consists of five different holds as opposed to the four in the east. Large landmarks in the area include the Karth River, Lake Ilinalta, and the Labyrinthian.

Second Era
During the Interregnum, the province of Skyrim was ruled by High King Logrolf and was a close ally to the Second Empire of Reman Cyrodiil III. When Reman was assassinated by the Morag Tong in his chambers, many leaders of the Empire were killed as well; this included Logrolf. Logrolf's daughter, Freydis was to assume the throne after Logrolf and the Crown of Verity chose her to lead her people in the coming years. A Moot was made in the city of Solitude, and the Jarls of Skyrim chose Jarl Svartr of Solitude to become the Next High King. Svartr had also claimed that Freydis was an illegitimate daughter to Logrolf and that she did not deserve the throne. This conflict resulted in the province of Skyrim to split into two separate kingdoms, one with Freydis being High Queen, and one with Svartr being High King. Svartr's Skyrim would become known as the Kingdom of Western Skyrim.

In 1E 980, the city of Orsinium was besieged by the combined forces of Daggerfall and Sentinel. As a result, the many Orcish tribes living in Wrothgar were scattered throughout the Reach and beyond. They settled in places such as Upper Craglorn and Western Falkreath, which brought trouble onto the city of Falkreath. Yashnag gro-Yazgu established an Orcish Kingdom in Western Falkreath to reclaim the territory lost from the Nords of ye old. Yashnag killed the Jarl of Falkreath in his conquest leaving the Jarl's son, Hakkvild to take revenge and assume the throne of Falkreath. The Orcish Berserkers gave West Skyrim and Svartr trouble by defeating squadrons sent from the capital. Hakkvild challenged Yashnag to a duel, resulting in Yashnag's defeat and the end of the Kingdom. Yashnag's endeavors would inspire Kurog gro-Bagrakh to build the second iteration of Orsinium.

Fourth Era
West Skyrim dissolved sometime before the Third Era, when Tiber Septim first became the new Emperor of Tamriel. Despite the Kingdom dissolving, remnants of this ideology still existed in Skyrim. The denizens of Western Skyrim were firm believers of the Third Empire and felt that Skyrim was in better hands with the Empire. Skyrim would not be split this way again at the beginning of 4E 201. The Jarl of Windhelm, Ulfric Stormcloak defeats High King Torygg in a duel that ultimately killed him in the process. Ulfric utilized the Thu'um to subsequently kill Torygg, which branded Ulfric, a murderer throughout the cities in Skyrim. The cities of Solitude, Markarth, Morthal, and Falkreath banded together to fight against the Old Holds and Ulfric's Army, the Stormcloaks. The city of Whiterun was in a gray area of the war, but it still saw support in the Empire. West Skyrim and East Skyrim would fight against each other in an event called the Skyrim Civil War.

Apperances

 * The Elder Scrolls Online: Horns of the Reach
 * The Elder Scrolls Online: Horns of the Reach
 * The Elder Scrolls Online: Horns of the Reach