Cyrodiil is a fictional province in the Elder Scrolls series of games, homeland of the fictional race of Imperials in the Elder Scrolls series. It was most prominently featured in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, where it was the setting and backdrop of the game. Cyrodiil is the largest region of Tamriel, and seat of the Empire, united by Tiber Septim at the end of the Second Era.
Cyrodiil consists mostly an expanse of endless forest. Its heart, the Nibenay Valley, is a great grassland, enclosed by temperate rain forests. Many rivers flow through this area, and as one ventures further down the rivers, the land slowly becomes more tropical, eventually giving way to the swamps of the Black Marsh. The elevation rises gradually to the west and sharply to the north. The western part of the region is relatively dry, and the Velothi Mountains to the west have some roads, but mostly travel in Cyrodiil is dominated by rivers.
The Nibenay Valley is the most prominent area of the land, a great grassland with Lake Rumare in its heart. Several small islands and one large island dot the surface of this lake, and between them stand great bridges. It is on the large City Isle islands that Cyrodiil Imperial City stands. The rest of Cyrodiil also contains the cities of Anvil, Bravil, Bruma, Chorrol, Cheydinhal, Kvatch, Leyawiin and Skingrad. Beyond these major cities, small villages dot the individual counties around Cyrodiil.
Cyrodiil was featured in The Elder Scrolls: Arena, and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
Anvil
Anvil is the political capital of County Anvil. It is the westernmost city in Cyrodiil, located along the Abecean Sea. The Great Chapel of Dibella, where followers of the Divines seek her blessing, dominates its skyline. Anvil has a local guildhall for both the Mages' Guild and the Fighters' Guild. In the northeast portion of Anvil lies the Statue of The Selkie of West Ferry, who is said to guide sailors along the Gold Coast. Castle Anvil, home of Countess Millona Umbranox, lies on a small island just to the south of the city. Another landmark in Anvil is the Benirus Manor, which is notable to be haunted but yet one of the largest houses that may be purchased after following a quest.
Anvil is a major port city in Cyrodiil.
Bravil
Bravil appears to be the most financially depressed city in Cyrodiil. Several of Bravil's citizens are skooma dealers on the side, and a large majority are addicts. It is a series of run-down slums where diseases and pollution run rampant. In addition to the poverty found in the city, the house, which may be purchased for a small amount of gold, is disappointing although it is neither as small nor as cheap as the shack available in the Imperial City's Waterfront district. In the center of the town, the statue of the Lucky Lady is a monument of good fortune in such a rundown place, though even it has a darker, more sinister side.
Bruma
Bruma is the northernmost city in Cyrodiil province. It is located in the Jerall Mountains near the Skyrim border. Its architecture is very Nordic in style as the population mostly consists of Nordic immigrants. The current ruler of County Bruma is Countess Narina Carvain. North of the town, the Cloud Ruler Temple is a base for the Blades. A Curiosity of Bruma architecture is that the sleeping area is often built in the basement of buildings allowing for insulation against the bitter cold of winter in the Jerall Mountains.
Cheydinhal
Cheydinhal is located in the Nibenay region of Cyrodiil. Due to its proximity to the province of Morrowind (the setting for the Elder Scrolls III) the population is comprised of quite a few Dunmer (Dark Elves) as well as other races of the Elder Scrolls universe. The count of the city is also a Dunmer, further emphasizing that a lot of immigration from Morrowind has occurred. Most of its residents come from the middle or upper classes. The city is split into an eastern and western section by a river (named the Corbolo in the in-game travel guide, but geographically consistent with the tributary Reed River indicated on the map). The local ruler is Count Andel Indarys.
On the eastern section of Cheydinhal lies a mysterious, boarded-up old house, which is a sanctuary for the secret organization known as the Dark Brotherhood.
Chorrol
Chorrol is located in the Great Forest, near the Hammerfell border. The city itself is heavily fortified as it serves as county seat for County Chorrol. Weynon Priory, a monastery of the Order of Talos, is located nearby. To the east is Castle Chorrol, home of Countess Arianna Valga, a widow. Countess Alessia Caro of Leyawiin is the daughter of Arianna Valga.
Imperial City
The Imperial City of Cyrodiil is the capital of the third Tamriel Empire and of its largest province, Cyrodiil, featured in the Elder Scrolls universe. For a very long time, the City was the place where the consequtive Empires were ruled from and by the end of the Third Era, it is where the Emperor Uriel Septim VII resides.
Districts
The Imperial City is divided into six main districts, arranged around the Imperial Palace like spokes on a wheel. These are the Market, Arena, Arboretum, Temple, Talos Plaza and Elven Gardens districts.
There are also three districts that are not directly connected to the Imperial City's Palace District - the Imperial Prison, Arcane University and Waterfront districts. They lie on the outer parts of the City Isle. There is also an extensive network of sewers located beneath the Imperial City, infested with rats, mudcrabs, goblins and other vile creatures. The sewers have also been used extensively by the Blades to maintain cover during critical missions. Entrances to the sewers can be found in every district, except for the Imperial Palace district and the Arcane University.
However, unlike any other locations in Cyrodiil, there are no official guilds anywhere, but instead, the Arcane University serves as a larger Mage guild, which can only be accessed by receiving recommendations from all Mage guild masters, along with a hidden , which may only be found in the Waterfront district during the evening.
The Imperial Palace itself centers around White Gold Tower, an Ayleid construction from when the Aldmer ruled over Tamriel. It houses the Elder Scrolls Library, a central barracks for the Palace Guard, the Elder Council Chambers, and, presumably, the chambers of the Emperor himself, although they are never seen in the game.
Kvatch
The game starts with Kvatch devastated and essentially leveled by a Daedric attack. When the player arrives at Kvatch, they find that an Oblivion gate has opened outside the city, and that the remnants of the City Guard are trying to shut it. The only buildings still standing are the Great Chapel of Akatosh and the distant Castle Kvatch. It is in Kvatch's ruined chapel that the player discovers Martin Septim, the illegitimate son of the late Emperor Uriel Septim VII. Count Ormellius Goldwine was Count before the city was destroyed, during which he was killed. Even though the Oblivion portals have been forever sealed, as well as Mehrunes Dagon, Kvatch, throughout the game, will still be in ruins. Before Kvatch was destroyed it was the only city in Cyrodiil, other than the Imperial City, which contained an Arena. Mods can be used to restore Kvatch to its former glory, although an official mod has not been released by Bethesda as of yet.
Leyawiin
Leyawiin is a coastal city located on the western bank of The Lower Niben river in Southern Cyrodiil and is the southernmost city in Cyrodiil. Because of its proximity to both the Black Marsh and Elsweyr borders, County Leyawiin has large Argonian and Khajiit populations. Castle Leyawiin is the home of Count Marius Caro and his wife, Countess Alessia Caro who is the daughter of the Countess of Chorrol. The Countess interests herself with making Leyawiin more cosmopolitan and refective of the culture of the Nibeny Valley as opposed to the city's more traditional Khajiit and Argonian infuences.
Skingrad
Skingrad is one of the more mysterious of Cyrodiil's cities. Its architecture is very distinctive and its people are very secretive. It is divided into two sections (north and south) by a trench that runs through the middle of it.
Janus Hassildor, the general count of Skingrad, resides in the Castle of Skingrad, but unlike and other counts or countesses, he is a vampire, which would explain why citizens "do not see him during the day or in the morning". He and his wife were accidentally infected with the disease and in the Vampirism Cure quest you will set out to find two potions to cure them and yourself.
Cyrodiil consists mostly an expanse of endless forest. Its heart, the Nibenay Valley, is a great grassland, enclosed by temperate rain forests. Many rivers flow through this area, and as one ventures further down the rivers, the land slowly becomes more tropical, eventually giving way to the swamps of the Black Marsh. The elevation rises gradually to the west and sharply to the north. The western part of the region is relatively dry, and the Velothi Mountains to the west have some roads, but mostly travel in Cyrodiil is dominated by rivers.
The Nibenay Valley is the most prominent area of the land, a great grassland with Lake Rumare in its heart. Several small islands and one large island dot the surface of this lake, and between them stand great bridges. It is on the large City Isle islands that Cyrodiil Imperial City stands. The rest of Cyrodiil also contains the cities of Anvil, Bravil, Bruma, Chorrol, Cheydinhal, Kvatch, Leyawiin and Skingrad. Beyond these major cities, small villages dot the individual counties around Cyrodiil.
Cyrodiil was featured in The Elder Scrolls: Arena, and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
Anvil
Anvil is the political capital of County Anvil. It is the westernmost city in Cyrodiil, located along the Abecean Sea. The Great Chapel of Dibella, where followers of the Divines seek her blessing, dominates its skyline. Anvil has a local guildhall for both the Mages' Guild and the Fighters' Guild. In the northeast portion of Anvil lies the Statue of The Selkie of West Ferry, who is said to guide sailors along the Gold Coast. Castle Anvil, home of Countess Millona Umbranox, lies on a small island just to the south of the city. Another landmark in Anvil is the Benirus Manor, which is notable to be haunted but yet one of the largest houses that may be purchased after following a quest.
Anvil is a major port city in Cyrodiil.
Bravil
Bravil appears to be the most financially depressed city in Cyrodiil. Several of Bravil's citizens are skooma dealers on the side, and a large majority are addicts. It is a series of run-down slums where diseases and pollution run rampant. In addition to the poverty found in the city, the house, which may be purchased for a small amount of gold, is disappointing although it is neither as small nor as cheap as the shack available in the Imperial City's Waterfront district. In the center of the town, the statue of the Lucky Lady is a monument of good fortune in such a rundown place, though even it has a darker, more sinister side.
Bruma
Bruma is the northernmost city in Cyrodiil province. It is located in the Jerall Mountains near the Skyrim border. Its architecture is very Nordic in style as the population mostly consists of Nordic immigrants. The current ruler of County Bruma is Countess Narina Carvain. North of the town, the Cloud Ruler Temple is a base for the Blades. A Curiosity of Bruma architecture is that the sleeping area is often built in the basement of buildings allowing for insulation against the bitter cold of winter in the Jerall Mountains.
Cheydinhal
Cheydinhal is located in the Nibenay region of Cyrodiil. Due to its proximity to the province of Morrowind (the setting for the Elder Scrolls III) the population is comprised of quite a few Dunmer (Dark Elves) as well as other races of the Elder Scrolls universe. The count of the city is also a Dunmer, further emphasizing that a lot of immigration from Morrowind has occurred. Most of its residents come from the middle or upper classes. The city is split into an eastern and western section by a river (named the Corbolo in the in-game travel guide, but geographically consistent with the tributary Reed River indicated on the map). The local ruler is Count Andel Indarys.
On the eastern section of Cheydinhal lies a mysterious, boarded-up old house, which is a sanctuary for the secret organization known as the Dark Brotherhood.
Chorrol
Chorrol is located in the Great Forest, near the Hammerfell border. The city itself is heavily fortified as it serves as county seat for County Chorrol. Weynon Priory, a monastery of the Order of Talos, is located nearby. To the east is Castle Chorrol, home of Countess Arianna Valga, a widow. Countess Alessia Caro of Leyawiin is the daughter of Arianna Valga.
Imperial City
The Imperial City of Cyrodiil is the capital of the third Tamriel Empire and of its largest province, Cyrodiil, featured in the Elder Scrolls universe. For a very long time, the City was the place where the consequtive Empires were ruled from and by the end of the Third Era, it is where the Emperor Uriel Septim VII resides.
Districts
The Imperial City is divided into six main districts, arranged around the Imperial Palace like spokes on a wheel. These are the Market, Arena, Arboretum, Temple, Talos Plaza and Elven Gardens districts.
There are also three districts that are not directly connected to the Imperial City's Palace District - the Imperial Prison, Arcane University and Waterfront districts. They lie on the outer parts of the City Isle. There is also an extensive network of sewers located beneath the Imperial City, infested with rats, mudcrabs, goblins and other vile creatures. The sewers have also been used extensively by the Blades to maintain cover during critical missions. Entrances to the sewers can be found in every district, except for the Imperial Palace district and the Arcane University.
However, unlike any other locations in Cyrodiil, there are no official guilds anywhere, but instead, the Arcane University serves as a larger Mage guild, which can only be accessed by receiving recommendations from all Mage guild masters, along with a hidden , which may only be found in the Waterfront district during the evening.
The Imperial Palace itself centers around White Gold Tower, an Ayleid construction from when the Aldmer ruled over Tamriel. It houses the Elder Scrolls Library, a central barracks for the Palace Guard, the Elder Council Chambers, and, presumably, the chambers of the Emperor himself, although they are never seen in the game.
Kvatch
The game starts with Kvatch devastated and essentially leveled by a Daedric attack. When the player arrives at Kvatch, they find that an Oblivion gate has opened outside the city, and that the remnants of the City Guard are trying to shut it. The only buildings still standing are the Great Chapel of Akatosh and the distant Castle Kvatch. It is in Kvatch's ruined chapel that the player discovers Martin Septim, the illegitimate son of the late Emperor Uriel Septim VII. Count Ormellius Goldwine was Count before the city was destroyed, during which he was killed. Even though the Oblivion portals have been forever sealed, as well as Mehrunes Dagon, Kvatch, throughout the game, will still be in ruins. Before Kvatch was destroyed it was the only city in Cyrodiil, other than the Imperial City, which contained an Arena. Mods can be used to restore Kvatch to its former glory, although an official mod has not been released by Bethesda as of yet.
Leyawiin
Leyawiin is a coastal city located on the western bank of The Lower Niben river in Southern Cyrodiil and is the southernmost city in Cyrodiil. Because of its proximity to both the Black Marsh and Elsweyr borders, County Leyawiin has large Argonian and Khajiit populations. Castle Leyawiin is the home of Count Marius Caro and his wife, Countess Alessia Caro who is the daughter of the Countess of Chorrol. The Countess interests herself with making Leyawiin more cosmopolitan and refective of the culture of the Nibeny Valley as opposed to the city's more traditional Khajiit and Argonian infuences.
Skingrad
Skingrad is one of the more mysterious of Cyrodiil's cities. Its architecture is very distinctive and its people are very secretive. It is divided into two sections (north and south) by a trench that runs through the middle of it.
Janus Hassildor, the general count of Skingrad, resides in the Castle of Skingrad, but unlike and other counts or countesses, he is a vampire, which would explain why citizens "do not see him during the day or in the morning". He and his wife were accidentally infected with the disease and in the Vampirism Cure quest you will set out to find two potions to cure them and yourself.
These are several notable characters in the computer and video game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
Baurus
One of the youngest Blades ever to serve in the Emperor's personal guard. The player's character meets him early on in the prisons of the Imperial City, where he is the only bodyguard of Emperor Uriel Septim to survive his assassination. He appears later on in the game helping in the player track down the Mythic Dawn and search for the Amulet of Kings. During the final stages of the game, Baurus fights alongside the player and Martin Septim at the Battle of Bruma and the Relighting of the Dragonfires, provided he doesn't die while helping the player obtain the last of the four Mythic Dawn books or at the battle of Bruma.
Gray Fox
The Gray Fox is the hidden leader of the in Tamriel. The name the Gray Fox is attributed from the Daedric cowl (the Gray Cowl of Nocturnal) he wears, which was stolen from the Daedric Prince Nocturnal over three hundred years ago by the first Gray Fox, Emer Dareloth, and passed down to the successor Guild Masters.
The nature of the Gray Fox is inherently tied into the Gray Cowl. Unbeknownst to the original thief, the Gray Cowl was cursed. Anyone who wears the Cowl is erased completely from history, even if the Cowl is removed. The most recent Gray Fox proves this by stating his real name twice to the player during their first meeting. Because of the magics of the Cowl, however, the player forgets it.
During the events of the Thieves' Guild in Oblivion, the current Gray Fox seeks to remove this curse from the Cowl, in order to return to his previous pre-Fox life. He realizes that there is only one thing which would give him the information required to do so: an Elder Scroll. Planning the heist, the Fox uses an up-and-coming thief (the player character) to pull it off. The player meets the un-Cowled Fox during his missions, but cannot realize that this 'Stranger' is the Gray Fox due to the Cowl's magic.
Once the Scroll is in the Fox's possession, he uses its power, before taking off the Cowl. Thanks to the magics of the Elder Scroll, the Cowl cannot prevent people from remembering who the man used to be. He gives the Cowl to you, the player character.
Because of the Elder Scroll's modification of the Cowl, the player character has two identities. Instead of being known only as the Gray Fox, the player can remove the Cowl and be known only as the player character. For example, Bob can talk to a fellow thief, put on the Cowl, and be greeted as the Gray Fox. The fellow thief does not realize that Bob was standing before him moments ago, because Bob doesn't exist as long as the Cowl was on.
Players who are seen by guards when wearing the Cowl will still be attacked, even after removing it, unless the player character yields. In addition, any bounty acquired with the Cowl on won't stick to the playable character once it is removed, however, with the cowl on, the wearer automatically garners a 500 gold coin bounty including any other amount of fines you have accumulated under while wearing the cowl, as the Gray Fox is wanted by all law enforcement in Cyrodiil. This curse makes wearing the Cowl in public very difficult, but is extremely helpful when worn in dungeons or caves due to its enchantments (+100 infamy, +200 Feather, Life Detection of up to 120 feet, and Sneak Fortification of 25 points.)
The Gray Fox, although a master thief, has given protection to the beggars. In return, the beggars serve as his eyes and ears. He has also given protection to the Umbranox Family in Anvil for personal reasons.
Throughout the whole of the thieves guild quests, the Gray Fox always remains a mystery until the end, and several rumours are about such as "He is a daedric prince", and that "He is immortal". These will become clear as the player advances.
Hannibal Traven
The current Arch-Mage of the Mages' Guild in Cyrodiil. He has prohibited the practice of necromancy and placed restrictions on new members. This had resulted in the resignation of many prominent guild members, some joining Necromancy cults devoted to Mannimarco. At the conclusion of the Mages Guild quest series, he sacrifices himself to save the guild by placing his soul in the colossal black soul gem recovered at a necromancer hideout.
Haskill
Haskill is the Daedric Prince Sheogorath's majordomo in The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles. The player first meets this character when he/she enters the Daedric realm from the Niben bay, and serves as the player's advisor there. He can be summoned at will, and provides valuable advice as the game progresses within the Isles. When the player stops the Greymarch, and Sheogorath reverts to his true form of Jyggalag, Haskill becomes the majordomo and advisor of the player as he/she assumes the role of the new Sheogorath.
Should the player approach the shrine of Sheogorath, to do the prince's Daedric Shrine quest in Cyrodiil after stopping the Greymarch and gaining lordship, Haskill talks to the player (instead of Sheogorath) wondering why the new Daedric prince would "pray at his/her own shrine". He then assigns the task that the player's predecessor left unfinished.
Hieronymous Lex
An overzealous Imperial City guard captain who is bent on capturing the Gray Fox. Some citizens seem to be fed up with him, while others believe he is chasing a ghost. Depending on the affiliation of the player, Lex can be a nuisance or just a guardsman with a pipe dream of making the big sting. Due to his fierce loyalty to his orders, and with credit due to the player, Lex is sent to be the Countess of Anvil's personal bodyguard. The Gray Fox's goal was to subtly get the best protection for the Countess.
Janus Hassildor
Count Janus Hassildor is the Count of Skingrad. He is probably the strangest of all Cyrodiil's nobles. He does not hold public audience hours, and only appears to people who require his immediate attention. As the protagonist, you will most likely discover one way or another, that Count Hassildor is in fact a vampire. His wife, Rona Hassildor, is also affected by the same disease. The Count gave up his vampiric desires long ago to serve his people. He bears a very strong resemblance to famous Dracula actor Bela Lugosi.
Janus Hassildor factors into several Mages Guild quests as well as another, slightly more "bloody" quest. He plays a large part in helping cure vampirism.
Jauffre
Jauffre is Grandmaster of the Blades - the Emperor's personal bodyguards and spies.
In his younger years, while serving as captain of the Blades, Jauffre was called into Emperor Uriel Septim’s private chambers. A baby boy lay sleeping in a basket. He was told by Uriel to deliver the child somewhere safe. Jauffre took the child, Martin Septim, to the chapel of Akatosh in Kvatch where the priests there would take care of him.
Many years later, now Grandmaster of the Blades, Jauffre resides at Weynon Priory. It is here that the protagonist comes with the Amulet of Kings and news of the Emperor’s death. Upon hearing the players story Jauffre takes possession of the Amulet for safekeeping and sends you the player to the Chapel of Akatosh in Kvatch to find the illegitimate son of the deceased Emperor.
Moments before you return with Martin, Mythic Dawn agents ambush Weynon Priory in their attempt to steal the Amulet of Kings. Only by pinning Jauffre in the nearby chapel are the agents successful.
With the Amulet of Kings stolen and fearing more attacks from the Mythic Dawn, Jauffre and the player escort Martin to the ancient fortress of the Blades, Cloud Ruler Temple. It is here that Jauffre orders you to rendezvous with Baurus, a Blade, in the Imperial City to find the Shrine of Dagon, a Daedric cult lair that is believed to be the location where the Amulet was taken. It is during this quest that it is revealed that Mankar Camoran, the head of the Mythic Dawn, is behind everything and that he now has the Amulet of Kings.
After a failed attempt to reclaim the amulet, the player returns with a book called the Mysterium Xarxes. It is with this book that Martin discovers that to get the amulet back they need to enter Camoran's Paradise, a small island realm in Oblivion, which is only possible with the following objects; a Great Welkynd stone, an artifact of a Daedra god, the Blood of a divine and a Great Sigil Stone. After the player acquires the first three objects, Martin and Jauffre create a desperate plan that involves allowing Bruma to be attacked by the Daedra so that a Great Gate can be opened. The player then must venture into the gate and recover the Great Sigil Stone in a limited amount of time. Arriving on the battlefield of Bruma, Martin gives a moving speech before himself, Jauffre, the player and the combined forces of guardsmen from every city in Cyrodiil go charging into battle against the Daedra. Many men are lost, but a Great Gate is finally opened. The protagonist rushes in and the stone is recovered, closing the gates outside Bruma. Martin then tells the protagonist to meet him in Cloud Ruler Temple when he is ready to venture into Camoran's Paradise.
When the player defeats Mankar Camoran they are returned with the Amulet of Kings to Cloud Ruler Temple. It is from here that Jauffre and yourself escort Martin to the Imperial Palace where inside the Elder Council chamber, Chancellor Ocato can proclaim Martin Emperor. But before Ocato can do so an Imperial messenger charges in with news that Oblivion Gates have opened all over the Imperial City and it is now over run with Daedra.
Jauffre, Martin and the player must now fight their way to the Temple of the One where Martin can relight the Dragonfires to end the Oblivion invasion and stop any chance of Mehrunes Dagon from entering Tamriel. Unfortunately, they arrive too late, and Dagon has already arrived. Martin devises a plan to banish Dagon back to Oblivion. With Jauffre’s protection Martin and the player enter the Temple of the One. Moments later as Dagon smashes the dome roof of the temple to pieces, the Avatar of Akatosh appears. The two giants do battle with the Avatar triumphant. Jauffre enters the temple only to find the player standing beside a giant stone statue of the Avatar, the Avatar was Martin.
With the Oblivion crisis over, and no emperor to serve, Jauffre returns to Cloud Ruler Temple.
* It is possible for Jauffre to die after the battle of the Great Gate, as he is no longer a "necessary" character from this point onwards.
King of Worms
The King of Worms is a fictional character from the games Daggerfall and Oblivion in the Elder Scrolls series.
The King of Worms, Mannimarco, is a monstrously powerful necromancer and lich, and the leader of the organisation known within Tamriel known only as The Necromancers, and, as such, he is the traditional enemy of the Mages' Guild. He was originally an Altmer and a Psijic, and a contemporary of Vanus Galerion, also a Psijic. At some point Mannimarco broke away from the Psijic order (as well as Galerion, who went on to found the Mages' Guild) to further practice his necromancy, and this is the point at which he actually first styled himself "The King of Worms." From Scourge Barrow, a large, well-fortified centre of operations in the Dragontail Mountains, he has cleverly played all the political games and powers for millennia. His influences have even reached back to the Summerset Isles, homelands of the Altmer. The Sload, slug-like creatures among whom necromancy is common practice, and who's domain is the Thrassian Coral Reef, worship him as a "God of Worms."
Mannimarco's influence has led him to be responsible for several notable happenings in Elder Scrolls lore. He is one of seven people who have been in control of the Totem of Tiber Septim. According to ambiguous accounts, he used the Mantella which powers the Totem to ascend beyond the mortal realm and become a god. From the book "Arkay the Enemy", signed by a "KW" assumed to be the King of Worms, Mannimarco states "Once I was a lowly man such as yourselves. By my will I entered the ranks of the gods." However, Mannimarco's presence in Cyrodiil at the end of the Third Age argues circumstantially that things didn't happen quite that way. However, it is also hypothesized that time fluctuations, such as the Warp of the West, allow every eventuality of a choice to happen at the same time, which would explain the existence of two versions of Mannimarco, one the King of Worms which did not receive the Mantella from the player at the end of Daggerfall, and the other the Mannimarco that did receive the Mantella and became the deity that his "Order of the Black Worm" worships, the "Revenant Moon" or "God of Worms" mentioned in the book, "Necromancer's Moon."
The King of Worms is the creator of the Necromancer's Amulet and the Bloodworm Helm, two legendary magical items that of course aid in the practice of necromantic magic.
In The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, the player gets a chance to fight and defeat the King of Worms if following the Mages' Guild quest line. The King of Worms holds power over the large underground necromantic cults known as "The Order of the Black Worm," and "The Order of the Black Rose," which typically meet in Ayleid ruins or old Reman forts, to avoid the prying eyes of the Mages' Guild and other interlopers. When confronted by the player, Mannimarco reveals that not only is he responsible for the death of Galerion the Mystic, but he has also reanimated him as a worm thrall servant, and has also killed and reanimated several arch-mages throughout his existence. The player, however, is rendered immune to this by the possession of a black soul gem containing Hannibal Traven's soul. Thus, Mannimarco's attempt to enthrall the player fails, forcing him to try to kill the player through more conventional means. After his defeat, the player can wield his staff, the Staff of Worms, which enables temporary (30 seconds) reanimation of dead bodies, and appears as a collection of bones, with three hands gripping a skull at the top. Within the community of long-time Elder Scrolls fans, there was an amount of controversy regarding his appearance in Oblivion, specifically concerning the very fact that he is defeatable at all, and the fact that he is depicted within the game as being a living, breathing Altmer (albeit a very powerful arch-mage), rather than the immortal, shadow-palled lich he was depicted to be in Daggerfall, and described as in Arena.
Lucien Lachance
Lucien Lachance is a Speaker for the illegal, underground society known as the Dark Brotherhood, an assassin's guild. He is the first member of the guild to contact the player. He will play a large part in the Dark Brotherhood quests until his gruesome demise at the hands of four other guild members.
Maglir
A Bosmer (wood elf) who can't seem to complete a task. He is part of the Fighters Guild but ultimately leaves to join the Blackwood Company to make more money. When the player destroys the Blackwood Company's capability of operating in Cyrodiil, Maglir attacks the player due to the fact Maglir saw the Blackwood Company as his way of life and making a living.
Mankar Camoran
Mankar Camoran (Born ?? - 3E 433) is the leader of the Mythic Dawn cult.
:He is voiced by Terrence Stamp.
Martin Septim
Martin Septim (3E ?? - 3E 433) is the illegitimate child of Emperor Uriel Septim VII and eventually, due to circumstances, the last of the Septim Emperors.
:He is voiced by Sean Bean.
Modryn Oreyn
A Fighters Guild officer. As the player rises through the ranks, Modryn Oreyn and the player become confidants. After his expulsion from the fighters guild, it is up to the player to re-enstate him. He became second in command of the fighters guild managing the day to day affairs; while the player is free to continue his/her alternative affairs. If the player completes the fighters guild quest line, Oreyn gives them the Helm of Oreyn Bearclaw. This is a reference to Morrowind, in which the player could earn the same helm by killing one of Oreyn's relatives. Oreyn says that a stranger (the player character from Morrowind) returned the helm to him.
Ocato
Ocato is an Altmer politician who serves as High Chancellor and head of the Elder Council. Previously, he was the Chief Imperial Battlemage and one of Uriel Septim VII's most trusted advisers until the Emperor's death 3E 433.
In The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, he is seen briefly during the opening cinematic alongside Uriel Septim. In The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Ocato makes no personal appearance but is known to serve as a high-ranking Imperial Battlemage. He wields considerable influence within the Mages' Guild, as he sends a letter forcing Trebonius Artorius to step down as Arch-Mage of Vvardenfell.
In The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, having ascended to High Chancellor and head of the Elder Council, Ocato is left to govern Tamriel in the wake of Emperor Uriel Septim VII's assassination. He gladly accepts Martin Septim as new Emperor but is left alone as interim head of state when Martin sacrifices himself during the final confrontation with Mehrunes Dagon in the Temple of the One. Technically, this leaves the Elder Council in complete control of Tamriel, and therefore Chancellor Ocato is the de facto emperor.
Owyn
Owyn is a Redguard that runs the Bloodworks section of the Imperial City Arena. He's quite cocky, at first disrespecting the player and his abilities. As the player wins more and more Arena matches, he soon comes to respect him or her as a strong and promising combatant, eventually becoming a good friend.
Rythe Lythandas
A famous artist known throughout Tamriel. Upon visiting Cheydinhal, the player learns that he has been missing for some time. Upon speaking with his wife and investigating his study, a portal is discovered inside of a painting that leads to the "Painted World". Inside, Rythe tells the player that he was knocked into the painting by a thief who was trying to steal his magic paintbrush called the Brush of True Paint. After fighting through painted trolls and recovering the brush, the player escapes with Rythe, who then rewards him with a magic apron.
Ulrich Leland
The corrupt captain of the Cheydinal Guard. Leland is behind the massive increase in taxes and levies placed on the city after Uriel Septim's death. If he fights at the battle of Bruma, he shows his tremendous skill with the claymore, felling many Daedra. However, his crimes eventually catch up with him and the player, as part of a side quest has the choice to lead him to his death or have him imprisoned.
Umaril the Unfeathered
Umaril the Unfeathered was an ancient Ayleid sorcerer-king, and is the main antagonist in The Knights of the Nine mini-expansion. Many years ago, Pelinal Whitestrake defeated Umaril using the armor and weapons of the crusader, which were crafted by the then Nine Divines themselves. While he destroyed Umaril's physical form, Umaril's spirit still escaped to Oblivion, where he regained his physical form and eventually returned to Cyrodiil and defiled the Chapel of Dibella in Anvil using Daedric minions known as "Aurorans". After the attack, a prophet appears and tells the main character that they must restore the Knights of the Nine and acquire all of the relics of the crusader if there is to be any hope of defeating Umaril. At the end of the quest, the main character along with many new Knights of the Nine assault Umaril's stronghold on the Gold Coast, fighting through hordes of Aurorans until the main character faces Umaril himself.
Umbacano
Umbacano is an extremely wealthy high elf who lives in the Talos Plaza district of the Imperial City. He has a number of servants and guards and will not see the player at the beginning of the game. However, Umbacano is a collector of Ayleid artifacts and will eagerly seek to buy Ayleid statues from the player if he or she sells one to a merchant. This leads to several quests in which the player must obtain artifacts for Umbacano, despite some fierce competition. Although the quest line features multiple endings, its conclusion will center around Umbacano's attempts to transform himself into an Ayleid king.
Uriel Septim VII
Uriel Septim VII (3E 346 - 3E 433) was the twentieth ruler of the Septim Empire.
:He is voiced by Patrick Stewart.
Ocheeva
One of the Argonian leaders of the Dark Brotherhood, a female assassin and quest-giver to the protagonist (should they choose to join the Brotherhood). She and her brother, Teineeva, are both Shadowscales, Argonians with The Shadow birthsign that are sent to the Dark Brotherhood to become assassins. Both have a grudge against Scar-Tail, an Argonian they, as well as the Black Marsh government, want dead for being a "traitor" for not going staying in the brotherhood. Ocheeva dies by the player's hand in "The Purification" quest along with the rest of the occupants of the sanctuary she rules over.
Vicente Valtieri
A vampire who is part of the Dark Brotherhood. He is an experienced assassin of considerable age due to his vampirism. Vicente tries to be a father-like figure to the player if the player considers accepting Vicente's offer to join him as a vampire. The protagonist may be bitten unwillingly, and then must embark on a quest to cure their vampirism (if it is not cured within the three days it takes to contract the disease).
But later on in the game Lucien makes an order to the character telling the protagonist to kill everyone in the Brotherhood Sanctuary including Vicente.
Baurus
One of the youngest Blades ever to serve in the Emperor's personal guard. The player's character meets him early on in the prisons of the Imperial City, where he is the only bodyguard of Emperor Uriel Septim to survive his assassination. He appears later on in the game helping in the player track down the Mythic Dawn and search for the Amulet of Kings. During the final stages of the game, Baurus fights alongside the player and Martin Septim at the Battle of Bruma and the Relighting of the Dragonfires, provided he doesn't die while helping the player obtain the last of the four Mythic Dawn books or at the battle of Bruma.
Gray Fox
The Gray Fox is the hidden leader of the in Tamriel. The name the Gray Fox is attributed from the Daedric cowl (the Gray Cowl of Nocturnal) he wears, which was stolen from the Daedric Prince Nocturnal over three hundred years ago by the first Gray Fox, Emer Dareloth, and passed down to the successor Guild Masters.
The nature of the Gray Fox is inherently tied into the Gray Cowl. Unbeknownst to the original thief, the Gray Cowl was cursed. Anyone who wears the Cowl is erased completely from history, even if the Cowl is removed. The most recent Gray Fox proves this by stating his real name twice to the player during their first meeting. Because of the magics of the Cowl, however, the player forgets it.
During the events of the Thieves' Guild in Oblivion, the current Gray Fox seeks to remove this curse from the Cowl, in order to return to his previous pre-Fox life. He realizes that there is only one thing which would give him the information required to do so: an Elder Scroll. Planning the heist, the Fox uses an up-and-coming thief (the player character) to pull it off. The player meets the un-Cowled Fox during his missions, but cannot realize that this 'Stranger' is the Gray Fox due to the Cowl's magic.
Once the Scroll is in the Fox's possession, he uses its power, before taking off the Cowl. Thanks to the magics of the Elder Scroll, the Cowl cannot prevent people from remembering who the man used to be. He gives the Cowl to you, the player character.
Because of the Elder Scroll's modification of the Cowl, the player character has two identities. Instead of being known only as the Gray Fox, the player can remove the Cowl and be known only as the player character. For example, Bob can talk to a fellow thief, put on the Cowl, and be greeted as the Gray Fox. The fellow thief does not realize that Bob was standing before him moments ago, because Bob doesn't exist as long as the Cowl was on.
Players who are seen by guards when wearing the Cowl will still be attacked, even after removing it, unless the player character yields. In addition, any bounty acquired with the Cowl on won't stick to the playable character once it is removed, however, with the cowl on, the wearer automatically garners a 500 gold coin bounty including any other amount of fines you have accumulated under while wearing the cowl, as the Gray Fox is wanted by all law enforcement in Cyrodiil. This curse makes wearing the Cowl in public very difficult, but is extremely helpful when worn in dungeons or caves due to its enchantments (+100 infamy, +200 Feather, Life Detection of up to 120 feet, and Sneak Fortification of 25 points.)
The Gray Fox, although a master thief, has given protection to the beggars. In return, the beggars serve as his eyes and ears. He has also given protection to the Umbranox Family in Anvil for personal reasons.
Throughout the whole of the thieves guild quests, the Gray Fox always remains a mystery until the end, and several rumours are about such as "He is a daedric prince", and that "He is immortal". These will become clear as the player advances.
Hannibal Traven
The current Arch-Mage of the Mages' Guild in Cyrodiil. He has prohibited the practice of necromancy and placed restrictions on new members. This had resulted in the resignation of many prominent guild members, some joining Necromancy cults devoted to Mannimarco. At the conclusion of the Mages Guild quest series, he sacrifices himself to save the guild by placing his soul in the colossal black soul gem recovered at a necromancer hideout.
Haskill
Haskill is the Daedric Prince Sheogorath's majordomo in The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles. The player first meets this character when he/she enters the Daedric realm from the Niben bay, and serves as the player's advisor there. He can be summoned at will, and provides valuable advice as the game progresses within the Isles. When the player stops the Greymarch, and Sheogorath reverts to his true form of Jyggalag, Haskill becomes the majordomo and advisor of the player as he/she assumes the role of the new Sheogorath.
Should the player approach the shrine of Sheogorath, to do the prince's Daedric Shrine quest in Cyrodiil after stopping the Greymarch and gaining lordship, Haskill talks to the player (instead of Sheogorath) wondering why the new Daedric prince would "pray at his/her own shrine". He then assigns the task that the player's predecessor left unfinished.
Hieronymous Lex
An overzealous Imperial City guard captain who is bent on capturing the Gray Fox. Some citizens seem to be fed up with him, while others believe he is chasing a ghost. Depending on the affiliation of the player, Lex can be a nuisance or just a guardsman with a pipe dream of making the big sting. Due to his fierce loyalty to his orders, and with credit due to the player, Lex is sent to be the Countess of Anvil's personal bodyguard. The Gray Fox's goal was to subtly get the best protection for the Countess.
Janus Hassildor
Count Janus Hassildor is the Count of Skingrad. He is probably the strangest of all Cyrodiil's nobles. He does not hold public audience hours, and only appears to people who require his immediate attention. As the protagonist, you will most likely discover one way or another, that Count Hassildor is in fact a vampire. His wife, Rona Hassildor, is also affected by the same disease. The Count gave up his vampiric desires long ago to serve his people. He bears a very strong resemblance to famous Dracula actor Bela Lugosi.
Janus Hassildor factors into several Mages Guild quests as well as another, slightly more "bloody" quest. He plays a large part in helping cure vampirism.
Jauffre
Jauffre is Grandmaster of the Blades - the Emperor's personal bodyguards and spies.
In his younger years, while serving as captain of the Blades, Jauffre was called into Emperor Uriel Septim’s private chambers. A baby boy lay sleeping in a basket. He was told by Uriel to deliver the child somewhere safe. Jauffre took the child, Martin Septim, to the chapel of Akatosh in Kvatch where the priests there would take care of him.
Many years later, now Grandmaster of the Blades, Jauffre resides at Weynon Priory. It is here that the protagonist comes with the Amulet of Kings and news of the Emperor’s death. Upon hearing the players story Jauffre takes possession of the Amulet for safekeeping and sends you the player to the Chapel of Akatosh in Kvatch to find the illegitimate son of the deceased Emperor.
Moments before you return with Martin, Mythic Dawn agents ambush Weynon Priory in their attempt to steal the Amulet of Kings. Only by pinning Jauffre in the nearby chapel are the agents successful.
With the Amulet of Kings stolen and fearing more attacks from the Mythic Dawn, Jauffre and the player escort Martin to the ancient fortress of the Blades, Cloud Ruler Temple. It is here that Jauffre orders you to rendezvous with Baurus, a Blade, in the Imperial City to find the Shrine of Dagon, a Daedric cult lair that is believed to be the location where the Amulet was taken. It is during this quest that it is revealed that Mankar Camoran, the head of the Mythic Dawn, is behind everything and that he now has the Amulet of Kings.
After a failed attempt to reclaim the amulet, the player returns with a book called the Mysterium Xarxes. It is with this book that Martin discovers that to get the amulet back they need to enter Camoran's Paradise, a small island realm in Oblivion, which is only possible with the following objects; a Great Welkynd stone, an artifact of a Daedra god, the Blood of a divine and a Great Sigil Stone. After the player acquires the first three objects, Martin and Jauffre create a desperate plan that involves allowing Bruma to be attacked by the Daedra so that a Great Gate can be opened. The player then must venture into the gate and recover the Great Sigil Stone in a limited amount of time. Arriving on the battlefield of Bruma, Martin gives a moving speech before himself, Jauffre, the player and the combined forces of guardsmen from every city in Cyrodiil go charging into battle against the Daedra. Many men are lost, but a Great Gate is finally opened. The protagonist rushes in and the stone is recovered, closing the gates outside Bruma. Martin then tells the protagonist to meet him in Cloud Ruler Temple when he is ready to venture into Camoran's Paradise.
When the player defeats Mankar Camoran they are returned with the Amulet of Kings to Cloud Ruler Temple. It is from here that Jauffre and yourself escort Martin to the Imperial Palace where inside the Elder Council chamber, Chancellor Ocato can proclaim Martin Emperor. But before Ocato can do so an Imperial messenger charges in with news that Oblivion Gates have opened all over the Imperial City and it is now over run with Daedra.
Jauffre, Martin and the player must now fight their way to the Temple of the One where Martin can relight the Dragonfires to end the Oblivion invasion and stop any chance of Mehrunes Dagon from entering Tamriel. Unfortunately, they arrive too late, and Dagon has already arrived. Martin devises a plan to banish Dagon back to Oblivion. With Jauffre’s protection Martin and the player enter the Temple of the One. Moments later as Dagon smashes the dome roof of the temple to pieces, the Avatar of Akatosh appears. The two giants do battle with the Avatar triumphant. Jauffre enters the temple only to find the player standing beside a giant stone statue of the Avatar, the Avatar was Martin.
With the Oblivion crisis over, and no emperor to serve, Jauffre returns to Cloud Ruler Temple.
* It is possible for Jauffre to die after the battle of the Great Gate, as he is no longer a "necessary" character from this point onwards.
King of Worms
The King of Worms is a fictional character from the games Daggerfall and Oblivion in the Elder Scrolls series.
The King of Worms, Mannimarco, is a monstrously powerful necromancer and lich, and the leader of the organisation known within Tamriel known only as The Necromancers, and, as such, he is the traditional enemy of the Mages' Guild. He was originally an Altmer and a Psijic, and a contemporary of Vanus Galerion, also a Psijic. At some point Mannimarco broke away from the Psijic order (as well as Galerion, who went on to found the Mages' Guild) to further practice his necromancy, and this is the point at which he actually first styled himself "The King of Worms." From Scourge Barrow, a large, well-fortified centre of operations in the Dragontail Mountains, he has cleverly played all the political games and powers for millennia. His influences have even reached back to the Summerset Isles, homelands of the Altmer. The Sload, slug-like creatures among whom necromancy is common practice, and who's domain is the Thrassian Coral Reef, worship him as a "God of Worms."
Mannimarco's influence has led him to be responsible for several notable happenings in Elder Scrolls lore. He is one of seven people who have been in control of the Totem of Tiber Septim. According to ambiguous accounts, he used the Mantella which powers the Totem to ascend beyond the mortal realm and become a god. From the book "Arkay the Enemy", signed by a "KW" assumed to be the King of Worms, Mannimarco states "Once I was a lowly man such as yourselves. By my will I entered the ranks of the gods." However, Mannimarco's presence in Cyrodiil at the end of the Third Age argues circumstantially that things didn't happen quite that way. However, it is also hypothesized that time fluctuations, such as the Warp of the West, allow every eventuality of a choice to happen at the same time, which would explain the existence of two versions of Mannimarco, one the King of Worms which did not receive the Mantella from the player at the end of Daggerfall, and the other the Mannimarco that did receive the Mantella and became the deity that his "Order of the Black Worm" worships, the "Revenant Moon" or "God of Worms" mentioned in the book, "Necromancer's Moon."
The King of Worms is the creator of the Necromancer's Amulet and the Bloodworm Helm, two legendary magical items that of course aid in the practice of necromantic magic.
In The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, the player gets a chance to fight and defeat the King of Worms if following the Mages' Guild quest line. The King of Worms holds power over the large underground necromantic cults known as "The Order of the Black Worm," and "The Order of the Black Rose," which typically meet in Ayleid ruins or old Reman forts, to avoid the prying eyes of the Mages' Guild and other interlopers. When confronted by the player, Mannimarco reveals that not only is he responsible for the death of Galerion the Mystic, but he has also reanimated him as a worm thrall servant, and has also killed and reanimated several arch-mages throughout his existence. The player, however, is rendered immune to this by the possession of a black soul gem containing Hannibal Traven's soul. Thus, Mannimarco's attempt to enthrall the player fails, forcing him to try to kill the player through more conventional means. After his defeat, the player can wield his staff, the Staff of Worms, which enables temporary (30 seconds) reanimation of dead bodies, and appears as a collection of bones, with three hands gripping a skull at the top. Within the community of long-time Elder Scrolls fans, there was an amount of controversy regarding his appearance in Oblivion, specifically concerning the very fact that he is defeatable at all, and the fact that he is depicted within the game as being a living, breathing Altmer (albeit a very powerful arch-mage), rather than the immortal, shadow-palled lich he was depicted to be in Daggerfall, and described as in Arena.
Lucien Lachance
Lucien Lachance is a Speaker for the illegal, underground society known as the Dark Brotherhood, an assassin's guild. He is the first member of the guild to contact the player. He will play a large part in the Dark Brotherhood quests until his gruesome demise at the hands of four other guild members.
Maglir
A Bosmer (wood elf) who can't seem to complete a task. He is part of the Fighters Guild but ultimately leaves to join the Blackwood Company to make more money. When the player destroys the Blackwood Company's capability of operating in Cyrodiil, Maglir attacks the player due to the fact Maglir saw the Blackwood Company as his way of life and making a living.
Mankar Camoran
Mankar Camoran (Born ?? - 3E 433) is the leader of the Mythic Dawn cult.
:He is voiced by Terrence Stamp.
Martin Septim
Martin Septim (3E ?? - 3E 433) is the illegitimate child of Emperor Uriel Septim VII and eventually, due to circumstances, the last of the Septim Emperors.
:He is voiced by Sean Bean.
Modryn Oreyn
A Fighters Guild officer. As the player rises through the ranks, Modryn Oreyn and the player become confidants. After his expulsion from the fighters guild, it is up to the player to re-enstate him. He became second in command of the fighters guild managing the day to day affairs; while the player is free to continue his/her alternative affairs. If the player completes the fighters guild quest line, Oreyn gives them the Helm of Oreyn Bearclaw. This is a reference to Morrowind, in which the player could earn the same helm by killing one of Oreyn's relatives. Oreyn says that a stranger (the player character from Morrowind) returned the helm to him.
Ocato
Ocato is an Altmer politician who serves as High Chancellor and head of the Elder Council. Previously, he was the Chief Imperial Battlemage and one of Uriel Septim VII's most trusted advisers until the Emperor's death 3E 433.
In The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, he is seen briefly during the opening cinematic alongside Uriel Septim. In The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Ocato makes no personal appearance but is known to serve as a high-ranking Imperial Battlemage. He wields considerable influence within the Mages' Guild, as he sends a letter forcing Trebonius Artorius to step down as Arch-Mage of Vvardenfell.
In The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, having ascended to High Chancellor and head of the Elder Council, Ocato is left to govern Tamriel in the wake of Emperor Uriel Septim VII's assassination. He gladly accepts Martin Septim as new Emperor but is left alone as interim head of state when Martin sacrifices himself during the final confrontation with Mehrunes Dagon in the Temple of the One. Technically, this leaves the Elder Council in complete control of Tamriel, and therefore Chancellor Ocato is the de facto emperor.
Owyn
Owyn is a Redguard that runs the Bloodworks section of the Imperial City Arena. He's quite cocky, at first disrespecting the player and his abilities. As the player wins more and more Arena matches, he soon comes to respect him or her as a strong and promising combatant, eventually becoming a good friend.
Rythe Lythandas
A famous artist known throughout Tamriel. Upon visiting Cheydinhal, the player learns that he has been missing for some time. Upon speaking with his wife and investigating his study, a portal is discovered inside of a painting that leads to the "Painted World". Inside, Rythe tells the player that he was knocked into the painting by a thief who was trying to steal his magic paintbrush called the Brush of True Paint. After fighting through painted trolls and recovering the brush, the player escapes with Rythe, who then rewards him with a magic apron.
Ulrich Leland
The corrupt captain of the Cheydinal Guard. Leland is behind the massive increase in taxes and levies placed on the city after Uriel Septim's death. If he fights at the battle of Bruma, he shows his tremendous skill with the claymore, felling many Daedra. However, his crimes eventually catch up with him and the player, as part of a side quest has the choice to lead him to his death or have him imprisoned.
Umaril the Unfeathered
Umaril the Unfeathered was an ancient Ayleid sorcerer-king, and is the main antagonist in The Knights of the Nine mini-expansion. Many years ago, Pelinal Whitestrake defeated Umaril using the armor and weapons of the crusader, which were crafted by the then Nine Divines themselves. While he destroyed Umaril's physical form, Umaril's spirit still escaped to Oblivion, where he regained his physical form and eventually returned to Cyrodiil and defiled the Chapel of Dibella in Anvil using Daedric minions known as "Aurorans". After the attack, a prophet appears and tells the main character that they must restore the Knights of the Nine and acquire all of the relics of the crusader if there is to be any hope of defeating Umaril. At the end of the quest, the main character along with many new Knights of the Nine assault Umaril's stronghold on the Gold Coast, fighting through hordes of Aurorans until the main character faces Umaril himself.
Umbacano
Umbacano is an extremely wealthy high elf who lives in the Talos Plaza district of the Imperial City. He has a number of servants and guards and will not see the player at the beginning of the game. However, Umbacano is a collector of Ayleid artifacts and will eagerly seek to buy Ayleid statues from the player if he or she sells one to a merchant. This leads to several quests in which the player must obtain artifacts for Umbacano, despite some fierce competition. Although the quest line features multiple endings, its conclusion will center around Umbacano's attempts to transform himself into an Ayleid king.
Uriel Septim VII
Uriel Septim VII (3E 346 - 3E 433) was the twentieth ruler of the Septim Empire.
:He is voiced by Patrick Stewart.
Ocheeva
One of the Argonian leaders of the Dark Brotherhood, a female assassin and quest-giver to the protagonist (should they choose to join the Brotherhood). She and her brother, Teineeva, are both Shadowscales, Argonians with The Shadow birthsign that are sent to the Dark Brotherhood to become assassins. Both have a grudge against Scar-Tail, an Argonian they, as well as the Black Marsh government, want dead for being a "traitor" for not going staying in the brotherhood. Ocheeva dies by the player's hand in "The Purification" quest along with the rest of the occupants of the sanctuary she rules over.
Vicente Valtieri
A vampire who is part of the Dark Brotherhood. He is an experienced assassin of considerable age due to his vampirism. Vicente tries to be a father-like figure to the player if the player considers accepting Vicente's offer to join him as a vampire. The protagonist may be bitten unwillingly, and then must embark on a quest to cure their vampirism (if it is not cured within the three days it takes to contract the disease).
But later on in the game Lucien makes an order to the character telling the protagonist to kill everyone in the Brotherhood Sanctuary including Vicente.
In Bethesda Softworks series of role playing games entitled The Elder Scrolls, Black Marsh is a swampish southeasterly region of continent of Tamriel. It is presented as the homeland of the reptilian humanoid race of Argonians and a race of sentient trees known as the Hist. An alternate name, Argonia, is also used by the Mer races of the Elder Scrolls series, following the name of an obscure ancient battlefield, and to avoid the negative connotations of the term "Black Marsh".
As described in the series games, Black Marsh is lush and threatening, profuse with poisonous plants and violent predators. The region possesses a tropical climate, lending its plants the tendency to overgrow all attempts to tame them. Foreign agricultural, colonial, and commercial ventures beyond the slave-trade have met with abject failure. The native Argonians organize themselves on the tribal level with success and efficiency, and are only loosely integrated into the ruling Empire of the series.
Black Marsh appeared in The Elder Scrolls: Arena, the first Elder Scrolls series game, but has been absent in every game following. Nonetheless, despite the region's absence from the games following Arena, regional lore was still developed in game dialogue and in in-game literature. A continuing narrative of the enslavement of the Argonians, and of continuing conflict with and infrequent raids by its Dunmer neighbor to the north, was most recently quieted in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion by a reported cessation of slavery by the newly regnant king. Oblivion also contained a travel narrative concerning in the voice of a reluctant Imperial bureaucrat, which is also the first substantial account of the region from the series.
A game titled "The Eye of Argonia", which would have involved the province, progressed through some early planning stages at Bethesda in the wake of The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard, but was ultimately cancelled to make way for the more ambitious The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.
Role in The Elder Scrolls series
Black Marsh plays an admittedly small role in the Elder Scrolls series, outside the scope of every game following The Elder Scrolls: Arena. In Arena, the player's goal is to gather up the various shards of the Staff of Chaos, piece them together, and use the completed staff to defeat the usurper Jagar Tharn. One of the shards lies in the Black Marsh region of Murkwood. Arena, ironically, is not the main source of information about the region, lacking, as it were, the exhaustive literature and game dialogue of later games.
Black Marsh may play a small role in Oblivion as a cultural influence on the Argonian populated towns of the southern Nibenay basin, Leyawiin and Bravil, who border the region, but such influences remain unmentioned both in in-game description and external commentary.
Arena found the region dotted with lakes and heavily forested, characterisations reinforced by later lore. ' companion Pocket Guide to the Empire gives a description and a brief Imperial history of the region;
The game would presumably have had the same third-person action-adventure elements of the Redguard game, but would focus on the quest for the mythic jewel, the Eye of Argonia, which would lead the player to the Lost City of the Black Marsh. The jewel's location was known to the character Dreekius, who refers to it as "the priceless king's jewel of ancient Black Marsh" and to its seeker Tobias as "another softskin all sword and swagger."
The Eye is also mentioned in a retelling of an archaeologist's travels, where it caps off the tale as the subject of the archaeologist's next destination. The Eye was further referenced in an easter egg for the Morrowind expansion pack Tribunal, where a player who describes himself as "Looking for the Eye of Argonia" is congratulated for "providing an original and entertaining excuse." The Eye of Argonia remains an in-joke for the series, but hasn't been developed any further than the above mentioned fragments and remains extremely obscure.
History
Merethic Era
Within the Elder Scrolls legendarium, the earliest inhabitants of the Black Marsh and environs are believed to have been the Hist, great life-giving trees of unknown capacities. According to the Morrowind game book, The Annotated Anuad, a Bosmeri creation myth, the region presently known as the Black Marsh was once part of a much greater landmass within the domain of the Hist, but the greater part of the region was flooded during the wanderings of the humanoid Mer races. "The Hist were bystanders in the Ehlnofey war, but most of their realm was destroyed as the war passed over it. A small corner of it survived to become Black Marsh in Tamriel, but most of their realm was sunk beneath the sea." According to The Imperial Library's History of Tamriel, based on information once held on developer Michael Kirkbride's now defunct website, Argonians came to inhabit Tamriel in small, preliterate communities by the Early Merethic Era. The common companion to the collector's editions of the series games, the Pocket Guide to The Empire holds that the term "Argonia" originated as an appelation by the games' Elves, for whom it refers to an obscure ancient battlefield.
First Era
Canonical information for the period in-between the mythic origins of Black Marsh and the latter part of the Third Era is sparse. Most in-game fragments occur in various parts of the extensive literary corpus of the series. Ted Peterson's lengthy Morrowind novellas, 2920, The Last Year of the First Era and The Wolf Queen respectively state that the major Black Marsh city of Soulrest had an Argonian battlechief by 1E 2920, and that Lilmoth had an Argonian priest-king by the first century of the Third Era.
The Third Edition of Pocket Guide to the Empire, shipping with the collector's edition of Oblivion, gives the only example of Argonian territorial expansionism within the series. Argonian armies from Black Marsh are described therein as having come into conflict with the neighbouring Cyrodiilic Imperials. The last of these Argonian armies was defeated by a Cyrodiilic force in 1E 2811. A possible contradiction ensues with an earlier account from Morrowind, which states that "No army of Morrowind or Black Marsh has ever threatened the security of any other Imperial province, let alone the security of Cyrodiil itself," but this particular passage could be explained in any number of ways, particularly given that the book in question is generally polemical.
Black Marsh was eventually to be incorporated within the Cyrodiilic Second Empire in 1E 2837. Imperial domination changed little of the tribal organization of Black Marsh's society, but wrought disastrous changes to its economy, as the small farms of Argonian peasants were replaced with massive cash-crop farms, and traditional forms of transportation were usurped by foreign methods unsuited to the native terrain. These changes were eventually remedied as the land's administration chose to return to previous methods of business. There have been some small attempts to convert the residents of Black Marsh to the Cyrodiilic pantheon of the Nine Divines, but most have been unsuccessful.
Though it is not directly indicated in any in-game lore, a passage in the Morrowind book A Short History of Morrowind implies that Black Marsh was incorporated into the Empire by treaty or pact rather than by military dominion. "Resdayn was the last of the provinces to submit to Tiber Septim; like Black Marsh, it was never successfully invaded, and was peacefully incorporated by treaty into the Empire as the Province of Morrowind."
Third Era
During the later years of the Third Era, Black Marsh came into conflict with its Dunmer neighbours to the north in the bloody Arnesian War. The Black Marsh's armies were destroyed, but an Argonian was able to capture and murder an influential Dunmer merchant called Roris who was later made a saint by the Dunmeri Temple.
Interestingly enough, the documents prepared for Lord Vivec by the Temple imply that Black Marsh retains control of some historically Dunmer provinces, despite their loss in the Arnesian War. In their detailing of Dagoth Ur's plans, they state that he wishes to "Recover ancient territories stolen by Skyrim and Argonia." The Dunmer and the Argonian races, perhaps unsurprisingly, have a "long standing and bitter hatred for one another".
In ' Pocket Guide to the Empire, it was revealed that sometime after the events of Morrowind, the Nerevarine and Vivec disappear from Morrowind, leaving King Helseth the sole power in the region. Helseth, representing his own house of Hlaalu, forms an alliance with House Dres. Subsequently, he renounces the slave trade, setting the remaining Houses of Indoril and Redoran against him in a bloody civil war. Helseth emerges from the war battered, but without the loss of his essential powers, leaving the slave trade generally destroyed, and slavery without a foothold in all of Tamriel.
Geography
Within the Elder Scrolls universe, Black Marsh is located in the southeastern part of Tamriel. The Elder Scrolls: Arena's maps of the continent place it in the southeastern part of the continent of Tamriel, bordering Morrowind to the north, and Cyrodiil to the west, a location it has kept in later games in the series. "Most of the Argonians reside in the inland waterways and swamps of the southern interior. There are few roads, and the principal method of travel is by boat," according to both Morrowind's in-game dialogue and the book Provinces of Tamriel.
Fictional novelist Waughin Jarth's description of the region in The Argonian Account confirms this characterisation. The Argonian Account concerns the trials and tribulations of a one Decumus Scotti, a moderately influential Imperial bureaucrat who finds himself in exotic locations at exciting times. Jarth, in an in-character interview by developer Ted Peterson, attested that Decumus Scotti is, within the context of the series, a real person, though "Decumus Scotti" is just a convenient pseudonym.
Jarth's original Morrowind novella, Dance In Fire found Scotti caught in the recurring conflict between the Khajiit of Elsweyr and the Bosmer of Valenwood, to which he responded with the characteristic quick thought of a management type and brought himself some authority within his organisation. The Imperial Library preserves an email in an appendix to their edition of Dance In Fire, where Ted Peterson implies that Scotti's next adventures would find him in Black Marsh. Jarth, though he has himself never "been anywhere in Black Marsh but Gideon", claims to have interviewed Imperial travellers to the province, and attests to having the descriptions right. The main character, Decumus Scotti describing the goods, "grain, meat, and vegetation," of his caravan as being "in various stages of corruption." Lord Vanech, principal administrator at the Imperial Building Commission, says in the novella that "despite staggering investments of time and money, the trade along those routes only gets slower and slower."
Impediments to road travel are seen to abound; fast growing grasses that cover important trade routes as quickly as they are cut down; insects, affectionately known as fleshflies, that feast on the soft skin of non-natives; rivers that seasonally flood several feet;
Jarth's novella finds it a solely Imperial desire to make trade land-based, and to build large scale plantation complexes; and it is a desire that has done little good for Black Marsh itself. The novella finishes by having Scotti clear up most issues relating to Imperial interests in Black Marsh, returning travel to its historical form, by boat and Underground Express, and by ceasing Imperial efforts to change Black Marsh's economy from one oriented on subsistence agriculture into one oriented on export crops. As Jarth writes, the situation is that "Black Marsh simply was, is, and always shall be unable to sustain a large-scale, cash-crop plantation economy." "Black Marsh," in Jarth's summation of Scotti's accomplishments, " better off than it been in forty years." The cities of Black Marsh are also described in another piece of material, the semi-canonical city descriptions from the early development of Arena, while it was being planned as a fighting game. Each city is given a short monograph describing the player character's entry to the city and first impressions.
Lilmoth is described as "the home of the Dark Tide," "gloomy and foreboding," pervaded by an "unnatural fear," holding "much underneath its streets." Gideon is described as the "black city of the followers of Seth." Blackrose is located "near the legendary forest of Murkwood." Stormhold is apparently given over to tension, understandably, because of its "proximity to the Dark Elven lands." Thorn is described as the "Jewel of the East," and as "deadly as it is beautiful," where "vagabonds eye your purse strings and guards seem to turn lazy eyes elsewhere." Much of the other information is given in the same style, leading the reader to wonder if all cities in Tamriel are dangerous and deadly, or just the ones the player character visits. Not so much of the rest is useful, however, focusing the warrior teams present in each city rather than the cities themselves.
TheArgonian Compendium postulates that the description of Gideon's reference to "followers of Seth" may be a reference to the chaos god Sithis, or an Argonian corruption thereof. Jarth's novella provides some further information on Gideon. Though never arriving there himself, Scotti describes Gideon as "a large settlement more or less laid out like an Imperial city, with more or less Imperial style architecture, and all the Imperial comforts and traditions, more or less,"
Another fragment, a series of RP posts made in a TES forum by a former dev describing Stormhold in the north, is more in-depth, but perhaps less reliable. The author of the Argonian Compendium describes the source thusly. "RPing is first and foremost an exercise in fiction and so even though this comes from an ex-dev with a continuing involvement in the Elder Scrolls games, it must be approached with caution. This may or may not be drawn from lore known to Tedders that's part of the ES canon; it may be all his own imagining." Various racial categorisation schema within the series find them as "beasts", or "Betmeri", in opposition to the developed humanoid races of Elves, Imperials, and other Mer. Argonians are often given descriptors telling of their alien nature. The Daggerfall manual describes Argonians as "strange", the Morrowind website describes Argonians as "expressionless," "reserved" peoples, "slow to trust and hard to know", and manuals as far back as Daggerfall show signs of a similar viewpoint.
Morrowind's in-game dialogue describes Argonians as "cautious and secretive" because of their history of "persecution and enslavement" by other races. Dreekius speaks of Black Marsh in anticipation of trials to come. "'How have the denizens of Black Marsh resisted the Empire so long?' 'A thousand miles of swamp, bog and stink aren't attractive to most humans, and terror of the Knahaten Flu still holds most at bay. But our days of testing will come.'"
Hist
The Hist have been tossed around quite frequently on The Elder Scrolls Official Forums, all due to one dangerously mislaid sentence. In the Players Guide to The Empire, Argonians are said to never have left their homeland "except for a relatively intelligent strain called the hist. " Werelions, which Black Marsh shares with Cyrodiil and Elsweyr, werecrocodiles, which Black Marsh shares with southern Morrowind, tree-dwelling lizards, are other curious purported forms of indigenous life.
Jarth records Scotti seeing what are called Hackwings in Black Marsh, "giant birds with long, saw-like beaks nearly the size of the rest of their bodies." A fellow traveler is written speaking of them. "like everything else in this damnable place, they'll eat you if you don't keep moving. Beggars pounce down and give you a nasty chop, and then fly off and come back when you're mostly dead from blood loss." Dragon's Tongue is a fernlike herb lethal to the touch. It gains its name from the fire-red fronds that surround its golden efflorescence. The Somnalius Fern is light green and delicate, and crumbles at the touch. It has the effect of fatiguing the creature that inhales it. Both plants are also found in Cyrodiil. The Dragon's Tongue is also found in Oblivion, along the Golden Road separating Skingrad from the Imperial City, and the Somnalius Fern along the Eastern vale of the Nibenay basin, and as far north as the Great Forest.
As described in the series games, Black Marsh is lush and threatening, profuse with poisonous plants and violent predators. The region possesses a tropical climate, lending its plants the tendency to overgrow all attempts to tame them. Foreign agricultural, colonial, and commercial ventures beyond the slave-trade have met with abject failure. The native Argonians organize themselves on the tribal level with success and efficiency, and are only loosely integrated into the ruling Empire of the series.
Black Marsh appeared in The Elder Scrolls: Arena, the first Elder Scrolls series game, but has been absent in every game following. Nonetheless, despite the region's absence from the games following Arena, regional lore was still developed in game dialogue and in in-game literature. A continuing narrative of the enslavement of the Argonians, and of continuing conflict with and infrequent raids by its Dunmer neighbor to the north, was most recently quieted in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion by a reported cessation of slavery by the newly regnant king. Oblivion also contained a travel narrative concerning in the voice of a reluctant Imperial bureaucrat, which is also the first substantial account of the region from the series.
A game titled "The Eye of Argonia", which would have involved the province, progressed through some early planning stages at Bethesda in the wake of The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard, but was ultimately cancelled to make way for the more ambitious The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.
Role in The Elder Scrolls series
Black Marsh plays an admittedly small role in the Elder Scrolls series, outside the scope of every game following The Elder Scrolls: Arena. In Arena, the player's goal is to gather up the various shards of the Staff of Chaos, piece them together, and use the completed staff to defeat the usurper Jagar Tharn. One of the shards lies in the Black Marsh region of Murkwood. Arena, ironically, is not the main source of information about the region, lacking, as it were, the exhaustive literature and game dialogue of later games.
Black Marsh may play a small role in Oblivion as a cultural influence on the Argonian populated towns of the southern Nibenay basin, Leyawiin and Bravil, who border the region, but such influences remain unmentioned both in in-game description and external commentary.
Arena found the region dotted with lakes and heavily forested, characterisations reinforced by later lore. ' companion Pocket Guide to the Empire gives a description and a brief Imperial history of the region;
The game would presumably have had the same third-person action-adventure elements of the Redguard game, but would focus on the quest for the mythic jewel, the Eye of Argonia, which would lead the player to the Lost City of the Black Marsh. The jewel's location was known to the character Dreekius, who refers to it as "the priceless king's jewel of ancient Black Marsh" and to its seeker Tobias as "another softskin all sword and swagger."
The Eye is also mentioned in a retelling of an archaeologist's travels, where it caps off the tale as the subject of the archaeologist's next destination. The Eye was further referenced in an easter egg for the Morrowind expansion pack Tribunal, where a player who describes himself as "Looking for the Eye of Argonia" is congratulated for "providing an original and entertaining excuse." The Eye of Argonia remains an in-joke for the series, but hasn't been developed any further than the above mentioned fragments and remains extremely obscure.
History
Merethic Era
Within the Elder Scrolls legendarium, the earliest inhabitants of the Black Marsh and environs are believed to have been the Hist, great life-giving trees of unknown capacities. According to the Morrowind game book, The Annotated Anuad, a Bosmeri creation myth, the region presently known as the Black Marsh was once part of a much greater landmass within the domain of the Hist, but the greater part of the region was flooded during the wanderings of the humanoid Mer races. "The Hist were bystanders in the Ehlnofey war, but most of their realm was destroyed as the war passed over it. A small corner of it survived to become Black Marsh in Tamriel, but most of their realm was sunk beneath the sea." According to The Imperial Library's History of Tamriel, based on information once held on developer Michael Kirkbride's now defunct website, Argonians came to inhabit Tamriel in small, preliterate communities by the Early Merethic Era. The common companion to the collector's editions of the series games, the Pocket Guide to The Empire holds that the term "Argonia" originated as an appelation by the games' Elves, for whom it refers to an obscure ancient battlefield.
First Era
Canonical information for the period in-between the mythic origins of Black Marsh and the latter part of the Third Era is sparse. Most in-game fragments occur in various parts of the extensive literary corpus of the series. Ted Peterson's lengthy Morrowind novellas, 2920, The Last Year of the First Era and The Wolf Queen respectively state that the major Black Marsh city of Soulrest had an Argonian battlechief by 1E 2920, and that Lilmoth had an Argonian priest-king by the first century of the Third Era.
The Third Edition of Pocket Guide to the Empire, shipping with the collector's edition of Oblivion, gives the only example of Argonian territorial expansionism within the series. Argonian armies from Black Marsh are described therein as having come into conflict with the neighbouring Cyrodiilic Imperials. The last of these Argonian armies was defeated by a Cyrodiilic force in 1E 2811. A possible contradiction ensues with an earlier account from Morrowind, which states that "No army of Morrowind or Black Marsh has ever threatened the security of any other Imperial province, let alone the security of Cyrodiil itself," but this particular passage could be explained in any number of ways, particularly given that the book in question is generally polemical.
Black Marsh was eventually to be incorporated within the Cyrodiilic Second Empire in 1E 2837. Imperial domination changed little of the tribal organization of Black Marsh's society, but wrought disastrous changes to its economy, as the small farms of Argonian peasants were replaced with massive cash-crop farms, and traditional forms of transportation were usurped by foreign methods unsuited to the native terrain. These changes were eventually remedied as the land's administration chose to return to previous methods of business. There have been some small attempts to convert the residents of Black Marsh to the Cyrodiilic pantheon of the Nine Divines, but most have been unsuccessful.
Though it is not directly indicated in any in-game lore, a passage in the Morrowind book A Short History of Morrowind implies that Black Marsh was incorporated into the Empire by treaty or pact rather than by military dominion. "Resdayn was the last of the provinces to submit to Tiber Septim; like Black Marsh, it was never successfully invaded, and was peacefully incorporated by treaty into the Empire as the Province of Morrowind."
Third Era
During the later years of the Third Era, Black Marsh came into conflict with its Dunmer neighbours to the north in the bloody Arnesian War. The Black Marsh's armies were destroyed, but an Argonian was able to capture and murder an influential Dunmer merchant called Roris who was later made a saint by the Dunmeri Temple.
Interestingly enough, the documents prepared for Lord Vivec by the Temple imply that Black Marsh retains control of some historically Dunmer provinces, despite their loss in the Arnesian War. In their detailing of Dagoth Ur's plans, they state that he wishes to "Recover ancient territories stolen by Skyrim and Argonia." The Dunmer and the Argonian races, perhaps unsurprisingly, have a "long standing and bitter hatred for one another".
In ' Pocket Guide to the Empire, it was revealed that sometime after the events of Morrowind, the Nerevarine and Vivec disappear from Morrowind, leaving King Helseth the sole power in the region. Helseth, representing his own house of Hlaalu, forms an alliance with House Dres. Subsequently, he renounces the slave trade, setting the remaining Houses of Indoril and Redoran against him in a bloody civil war. Helseth emerges from the war battered, but without the loss of his essential powers, leaving the slave trade generally destroyed, and slavery without a foothold in all of Tamriel.
Geography
Within the Elder Scrolls universe, Black Marsh is located in the southeastern part of Tamriel. The Elder Scrolls: Arena's maps of the continent place it in the southeastern part of the continent of Tamriel, bordering Morrowind to the north, and Cyrodiil to the west, a location it has kept in later games in the series. "Most of the Argonians reside in the inland waterways and swamps of the southern interior. There are few roads, and the principal method of travel is by boat," according to both Morrowind's in-game dialogue and the book Provinces of Tamriel.
Fictional novelist Waughin Jarth's description of the region in The Argonian Account confirms this characterisation. The Argonian Account concerns the trials and tribulations of a one Decumus Scotti, a moderately influential Imperial bureaucrat who finds himself in exotic locations at exciting times. Jarth, in an in-character interview by developer Ted Peterson, attested that Decumus Scotti is, within the context of the series, a real person, though "Decumus Scotti" is just a convenient pseudonym.
Jarth's original Morrowind novella, Dance In Fire found Scotti caught in the recurring conflict between the Khajiit of Elsweyr and the Bosmer of Valenwood, to which he responded with the characteristic quick thought of a management type and brought himself some authority within his organisation. The Imperial Library preserves an email in an appendix to their edition of Dance In Fire, where Ted Peterson implies that Scotti's next adventures would find him in Black Marsh. Jarth, though he has himself never "been anywhere in Black Marsh but Gideon", claims to have interviewed Imperial travellers to the province, and attests to having the descriptions right. The main character, Decumus Scotti describing the goods, "grain, meat, and vegetation," of his caravan as being "in various stages of corruption." Lord Vanech, principal administrator at the Imperial Building Commission, says in the novella that "despite staggering investments of time and money, the trade along those routes only gets slower and slower."
Impediments to road travel are seen to abound; fast growing grasses that cover important trade routes as quickly as they are cut down; insects, affectionately known as fleshflies, that feast on the soft skin of non-natives; rivers that seasonally flood several feet;
Jarth's novella finds it a solely Imperial desire to make trade land-based, and to build large scale plantation complexes; and it is a desire that has done little good for Black Marsh itself. The novella finishes by having Scotti clear up most issues relating to Imperial interests in Black Marsh, returning travel to its historical form, by boat and Underground Express, and by ceasing Imperial efforts to change Black Marsh's economy from one oriented on subsistence agriculture into one oriented on export crops. As Jarth writes, the situation is that "Black Marsh simply was, is, and always shall be unable to sustain a large-scale, cash-crop plantation economy." "Black Marsh," in Jarth's summation of Scotti's accomplishments, " better off than it been in forty years." The cities of Black Marsh are also described in another piece of material, the semi-canonical city descriptions from the early development of Arena, while it was being planned as a fighting game. Each city is given a short monograph describing the player character's entry to the city and first impressions.
Lilmoth is described as "the home of the Dark Tide," "gloomy and foreboding," pervaded by an "unnatural fear," holding "much underneath its streets." Gideon is described as the "black city of the followers of Seth." Blackrose is located "near the legendary forest of Murkwood." Stormhold is apparently given over to tension, understandably, because of its "proximity to the Dark Elven lands." Thorn is described as the "Jewel of the East," and as "deadly as it is beautiful," where "vagabonds eye your purse strings and guards seem to turn lazy eyes elsewhere." Much of the other information is given in the same style, leading the reader to wonder if all cities in Tamriel are dangerous and deadly, or just the ones the player character visits. Not so much of the rest is useful, however, focusing the warrior teams present in each city rather than the cities themselves.
TheArgonian Compendium postulates that the description of Gideon's reference to "followers of Seth" may be a reference to the chaos god Sithis, or an Argonian corruption thereof. Jarth's novella provides some further information on Gideon. Though never arriving there himself, Scotti describes Gideon as "a large settlement more or less laid out like an Imperial city, with more or less Imperial style architecture, and all the Imperial comforts and traditions, more or less,"
Another fragment, a series of RP posts made in a TES forum by a former dev describing Stormhold in the north, is more in-depth, but perhaps less reliable. The author of the Argonian Compendium describes the source thusly. "RPing is first and foremost an exercise in fiction and so even though this comes from an ex-dev with a continuing involvement in the Elder Scrolls games, it must be approached with caution. This may or may not be drawn from lore known to Tedders that's part of the ES canon; it may be all his own imagining." Various racial categorisation schema within the series find them as "beasts", or "Betmeri", in opposition to the developed humanoid races of Elves, Imperials, and other Mer. Argonians are often given descriptors telling of their alien nature. The Daggerfall manual describes Argonians as "strange", the Morrowind website describes Argonians as "expressionless," "reserved" peoples, "slow to trust and hard to know", and manuals as far back as Daggerfall show signs of a similar viewpoint.
Morrowind's in-game dialogue describes Argonians as "cautious and secretive" because of their history of "persecution and enslavement" by other races. Dreekius speaks of Black Marsh in anticipation of trials to come. "'How have the denizens of Black Marsh resisted the Empire so long?' 'A thousand miles of swamp, bog and stink aren't attractive to most humans, and terror of the Knahaten Flu still holds most at bay. But our days of testing will come.'"
Hist
The Hist have been tossed around quite frequently on The Elder Scrolls Official Forums, all due to one dangerously mislaid sentence. In the Players Guide to The Empire, Argonians are said to never have left their homeland "except for a relatively intelligent strain called the hist. " Werelions, which Black Marsh shares with Cyrodiil and Elsweyr, werecrocodiles, which Black Marsh shares with southern Morrowind, tree-dwelling lizards, are other curious purported forms of indigenous life.
Jarth records Scotti seeing what are called Hackwings in Black Marsh, "giant birds with long, saw-like beaks nearly the size of the rest of their bodies." A fellow traveler is written speaking of them. "like everything else in this damnable place, they'll eat you if you don't keep moving. Beggars pounce down and give you a nasty chop, and then fly off and come back when you're mostly dead from blood loss." Dragon's Tongue is a fernlike herb lethal to the touch. It gains its name from the fire-red fronds that surround its golden efflorescence. The Somnalius Fern is light green and delicate, and crumbles at the touch. It has the effect of fatiguing the creature that inhales it. Both plants are also found in Cyrodiil. The Dragon's Tongue is also found in Oblivion, along the Golden Road separating Skingrad from the Imperial City, and the Somnalius Fern along the Eastern vale of the Nibenay basin, and as far north as the Great Forest.
Definition and terminology
A collegiate entrepreneur is an active college student who seeks to capitalize on new and profitable endeavors or business; usually with considerable initiative and risk. The term is occasionally used to refer to an entrepreneur that is of college age (under the age of 25) but is not actively attending a school, as in someone that forgoes college to launch a business.
Etymology
The word "entrepreneur" is a loanword from French. In French the verb "entreprendre" means "to undertake", with "entre" coming from the Latin word meaning "between". In French a person who performs a verb, has the ending of the verb changed to "eur", comparable to the "er" ending in English. Therefore, an entrepreneur is an undertaker, a person who undertakes a task.
Enterprise is similar to and has roots in, the French word "entreprise", which is the past particple of "entreprendre".
Entrepreneuse is simply the French feminine word for "entrepreneur".
According to Miller, it is one who is able to begin, sustain, and when necessary, effectively and efficiently dissolve a business entity. These are most common in the Bahamas.
Entrepreneur as a Leader
Scholar R. B. Reich considers leadership, management ability, and team-building as essential qualities of an entrepreneur. This concept has its origins in the work of Richard Cantillon in his Essai sur la Nature du Commerce en Général (1755) and Jean-Baptiste Say (1803) in his Treatise on Political Economy.
A more generally held theory is that entrepreneurs emerge from the population on demand, from the combination of opportunities and people well-positioned to take advantage of them. The entrepreneur may perceive that they are among the few to recognize or be able to solve a problem. In this view, one studies on one side the distribution of information available to would-be entrepreneurs (see Austrian School economics) and on the other, how environmental factors (access to capital, competition, etc.) change the rate of a society's production of entrepreneurs.
A prominent theorist of the Austrian School in this regard is Joseph Schumpeter who sees the entrepreneur as innovator.
The Collegiate Entrepreneur Phenomenon
According to Young Money Magazine arecent phenomenon in the United States is the growing number of college students who are launching their own company while still in college. Thirty years ago only a handful of colleges offered entrepreneurial programs; today the number of has grown exponentially. A few trends have added to the momentum of these collegiate startups. With the notable collapse of Enron, Arthur Anderson and other major firms - the prior perception of job security has crumbled and college students are finding that working for their own company guarantees, if nothing else, job security.
Also adding to the trend are super collegiate successes such as Mark Zukerberg. While a junior at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, Zuckerberg developed a web based community of fellow students. His site, Facebook, enabled them to share pictures, jokes, and discuss anything their hearts desired. Today Facebook has become one of the most clicked on websites on the internet, and has had acquisition offers in the billions. Another super success was Michael Dell, founder of Dell Computer, who started out of his dorm room. These super successes, while not common place, have added to the allure of starting young.
Risk Tolerance & Youth Advantage
Besides the allure of riches, and the guarantee of job security, collegiate entrepreneurs also typically benefit from high
risk tolerance and thin personal financial needs. Traditional older entrepreneurs have the burden of family and housing costs, that the collegiate entrepreneur often does not have. Many students live off their parents dime or educational funding while at school and afterward, great discounting their immediate financial needs. Younger entrepreneurs in general have higher risk tolerance, due to the inherent saftey net of youth - time and energy.
Startup Methodologies
Traditional Methods
For any business to continue long term as an entity it needs two critical components, customers and positive cash flow. Customers are a source of ongoing revenue and positive cash flow provides the money necessary to support the ongoing entity. During a startup phase, some companies are able to sustain on just one or the other, customers or cash, or at least a disproportionate balance of the two.
Some startups are able to exist without cash being infused or derived from customers for a short term. Often when founders or other participants in the company are willing/able to work for free, the company can build a customer base that ultimately will yield revenue. Alternatively, some business start exclusively with an influx of cash, and the business then seeks growing its customer base. Most frequently business start with a disproportionate mix.
Many traditional methods of introducing cash and clients to a new business are outlined below:
Bootstrapping & Organic Growth
Bootstrapping is a term used to cover different methods for avoiding using the financial resources of external investors. Bootstrapping and Organic growth can be defined as “a collection of methods used to minimize the amount of outside debt and equity financing needed from banks and investors” (Ebben and Johnsen, 2006:853) and utilizing funds generated as a result of sales to sustain growth.
The Four F's
When raising capital for new businesses, some people advise asking for cash from the Four Fs first: Founders, Friends, Family and Fools. This can be a quick way of getting the money in return for a lower stake than e.g. a venture capitalist, although personal relationships could suffer if the business folds.
Venture & Angel Capital
Venture capital is a type of private equity where outside investors infuse money to rapid grow a businesses. The intent is specifically as an investment and most venture capital firms expect a high return within a short time period (typically 3 to 5 years). Some notable venture capital firms include Sequoia Capital and Edison Venture Fund. Venture Capital
An angel investor or angel, is an affluent individual or group of individuals (known as an angel group or angel network) who provides capital for a business start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity.
Alternative Methods
Incubators
Business incubators are organizations that support the entrepreneurial process by providing discounted or free office space, resources and advice. Incubators help to increase survival rates for innovative startup companies, as well as often focus on improving the economic client of specific economically deprived areas.
Growth Accelerators
A growth accelerator is a hybrid of a venture capital firm and business incubator. These firms generally offer a complete staff infrastructure, micro-funding and strategic relationships. Growth accelerators started appearing in the business landscape only recently and are technically referred to as Private Hybrid Incubators (PHI).
A collegiate entrepreneur is an active college student who seeks to capitalize on new and profitable endeavors or business; usually with considerable initiative and risk. The term is occasionally used to refer to an entrepreneur that is of college age (under the age of 25) but is not actively attending a school, as in someone that forgoes college to launch a business.
Etymology
The word "entrepreneur" is a loanword from French. In French the verb "entreprendre" means "to undertake", with "entre" coming from the Latin word meaning "between". In French a person who performs a verb, has the ending of the verb changed to "eur", comparable to the "er" ending in English. Therefore, an entrepreneur is an undertaker, a person who undertakes a task.
Enterprise is similar to and has roots in, the French word "entreprise", which is the past particple of "entreprendre".
Entrepreneuse is simply the French feminine word for "entrepreneur".
According to Miller, it is one who is able to begin, sustain, and when necessary, effectively and efficiently dissolve a business entity. These are most common in the Bahamas.
Entrepreneur as a Leader
Scholar R. B. Reich considers leadership, management ability, and team-building as essential qualities of an entrepreneur. This concept has its origins in the work of Richard Cantillon in his Essai sur la Nature du Commerce en Général (1755) and Jean-Baptiste Say (1803) in his Treatise on Political Economy.
A more generally held theory is that entrepreneurs emerge from the population on demand, from the combination of opportunities and people well-positioned to take advantage of them. The entrepreneur may perceive that they are among the few to recognize or be able to solve a problem. In this view, one studies on one side the distribution of information available to would-be entrepreneurs (see Austrian School economics) and on the other, how environmental factors (access to capital, competition, etc.) change the rate of a society's production of entrepreneurs.
A prominent theorist of the Austrian School in this regard is Joseph Schumpeter who sees the entrepreneur as innovator.
The Collegiate Entrepreneur Phenomenon
According to Young Money Magazine arecent phenomenon in the United States is the growing number of college students who are launching their own company while still in college. Thirty years ago only a handful of colleges offered entrepreneurial programs; today the number of has grown exponentially. A few trends have added to the momentum of these collegiate startups. With the notable collapse of Enron, Arthur Anderson and other major firms - the prior perception of job security has crumbled and college students are finding that working for their own company guarantees, if nothing else, job security.
Also adding to the trend are super collegiate successes such as Mark Zukerberg. While a junior at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, Zuckerberg developed a web based community of fellow students. His site, Facebook, enabled them to share pictures, jokes, and discuss anything their hearts desired. Today Facebook has become one of the most clicked on websites on the internet, and has had acquisition offers in the billions. Another super success was Michael Dell, founder of Dell Computer, who started out of his dorm room. These super successes, while not common place, have added to the allure of starting young.
Risk Tolerance & Youth Advantage
Besides the allure of riches, and the guarantee of job security, collegiate entrepreneurs also typically benefit from high
risk tolerance and thin personal financial needs. Traditional older entrepreneurs have the burden of family and housing costs, that the collegiate entrepreneur often does not have. Many students live off their parents dime or educational funding while at school and afterward, great discounting their immediate financial needs. Younger entrepreneurs in general have higher risk tolerance, due to the inherent saftey net of youth - time and energy.
Startup Methodologies
Traditional Methods
For any business to continue long term as an entity it needs two critical components, customers and positive cash flow. Customers are a source of ongoing revenue and positive cash flow provides the money necessary to support the ongoing entity. During a startup phase, some companies are able to sustain on just one or the other, customers or cash, or at least a disproportionate balance of the two.
Some startups are able to exist without cash being infused or derived from customers for a short term. Often when founders or other participants in the company are willing/able to work for free, the company can build a customer base that ultimately will yield revenue. Alternatively, some business start exclusively with an influx of cash, and the business then seeks growing its customer base. Most frequently business start with a disproportionate mix.
Many traditional methods of introducing cash and clients to a new business are outlined below:
Bootstrapping & Organic Growth
Bootstrapping is a term used to cover different methods for avoiding using the financial resources of external investors. Bootstrapping and Organic growth can be defined as “a collection of methods used to minimize the amount of outside debt and equity financing needed from banks and investors” (Ebben and Johnsen, 2006:853) and utilizing funds generated as a result of sales to sustain growth.
The Four F's
When raising capital for new businesses, some people advise asking for cash from the Four Fs first: Founders, Friends, Family and Fools. This can be a quick way of getting the money in return for a lower stake than e.g. a venture capitalist, although personal relationships could suffer if the business folds.
Venture & Angel Capital
Venture capital is a type of private equity where outside investors infuse money to rapid grow a businesses. The intent is specifically as an investment and most venture capital firms expect a high return within a short time period (typically 3 to 5 years). Some notable venture capital firms include Sequoia Capital and Edison Venture Fund. Venture Capital
An angel investor or angel, is an affluent individual or group of individuals (known as an angel group or angel network) who provides capital for a business start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity.
Alternative Methods
Incubators
Business incubators are organizations that support the entrepreneurial process by providing discounted or free office space, resources and advice. Incubators help to increase survival rates for innovative startup companies, as well as often focus on improving the economic client of specific economically deprived areas.
Growth Accelerators
A growth accelerator is a hybrid of a venture capital firm and business incubator. These firms generally offer a complete staff infrastructure, micro-funding and strategic relationships. Growth accelerators started appearing in the business landscape only recently and are technically referred to as Private Hybrid Incubators (PHI).