Lore:Blackreach

The UESPWiki – Your source for The Elder Scrolls since 1995
Jump to: navigation, search
This page is currently being redesigned for the Lore Places Project (LPP).
The page may need work to meet the standards outlined on the project page.
This page or section is incomplete. You can help by adding to it.
missing ESO info
For more information, see the help files, the style guide, and this article's talk page.
Blackreach
Type Cave
Continent Tamriel
Province Skyrim
Appears in Skyrim, ESO
Blackreach (Skyrim)
Blackreach (ESO)

Blackreach, also called Fal'Zhardum Din ("Blackest Kingdom Reaches" in Dwemeris),[1] is an immense cavern located deep beneath the Pale and Winterhold, as well as possibly all Nine Holds,[2] within Skyrim. Many giant glowing mushrooms grow throughout the cavern, providing natural light. The cavern is rich in minerals, including rare geode veins, and a subterranean river flows through it. Originally settled by the Dwemer, Blackreach once served as an underground highway connecting several of their major cities in Skyrim. Following their disappearance, Blackreach has since become home to many dangerous creatures, including Giants, Frost Trolls, Chaurus, Falmer, and Wispmothers. The caverns are the only source of Crimson Nirnroot, a unique form of the common Nirnroot native to Blackreach.[3]

History[edit]

Blackreach was originally colonized by the Dwemer of Skyrim. They built Great Lifts to provide quick transport to the surface. Alftand, Mzinchaleft and Raldbthar were all connected thus to Blackreach. Irkngthand may also have contained an entrance, but it was no longer accessible as of 4E 201.[1] They constructed roads and buildings, culminating in the Silent City in the center of Blackreach. Dwarven Centurions were installed to guard the cavern's roads. The Dwemer farmed mushrooms in the damp environment. The Tower of Mzark, located in Blackreach, contained a device used to transfer the knowledge of an Elder Scroll onto a lexicon. Blackreach also acted as the lair of the dragon Vulthuryol.[3]

In the early First Era, the Dwemer took in the Snow Elves that were seeking refuge from the invading Nords after the Snow Prince was defeated. The Dwemer fed the Snow Elves fungi that grew in the caverns which rendered the Snow Elves blind. The Dwemer would later betray the Snow Elves by using them as slaves. The Snow Elves rebelled, overthrowing their Dwarven masters, and fleeing to the darkest corners of Blackreach. The cavern became the stage for the War of the Crag, a war fought between the Dwemer and Falmer for many decades. When the Dwemer disappeared from Tamriel in 1E 700, the devolved Falmer were free to spread throughout Blackreach.[4] Over the centuries, the Falmer came to inhabit the abandoned halls of their former masters. By taming the Chaurus, they were able to use its chitin to create primitive camps, many of which were set up in Blackreach.[3]

The cavern remained largely unknown to the surface-dwelling people of Tamriel outside of scholarly texts. An adventurer named Obeth Arnesian was the first outsider reported to have discovered Blackreach. During the Second Era, Crimson Nirnroot from Blackreach was prized for its rarity and its use in alchemy.[5] A Dominion scout named Vole fell down a shaft and ended up in Blackreach during the Alliance War. He managed to find a chaurus and ate it, but unknowingly consumed a soul gem in the process and gained an innate ability to tinker with machinery, fixing one of the great lifts and leaving the ruins.[6] The Icereach Coven would later use Blackreach to experiment on unwilling test subjects by luring them with flyers to the Grinning Horker Inn, though their plot was thwarted by agents of King Jorunn.[7]

In 4E 58, the master alchemist Sinderion arrived in Blackreach to study the Crimson Nirnroot, having been directed there by Obeth. The Crimson Nirnroot was a variant of the common Nirnroot found exclusively in Blackreach, where it grows symbiotically with the cavern's mushrooms.[8] Sinderion set up a field laboratory in one of the abandoned Dwemer houses, but he was then murdered by one of the still-functional Dwemer animunculi.[3]

In 4E 201, the scholar Septimus Signus sent the Last Dragonborn to Blackreach on a quest to retrieve the Dwemer's Elder Scroll. The Dragonborn also uncovered Sinderion's remains, and by collecting several samples of Crimson Nirnroot, was able to continue his research. Through use of the Thu'um, the Dragonborn awoke Vulthuryol. The two did battle, and the Dragonborn absorbed the dragon's soul.[3]

Gallery[edit]

  • The Silent City (Skyrim)

  • The Oculatory within the Tower of Mzark (Skyrim)

  • A Crimson Nirnroot (ESO)

  • Blackreach Rebuilder (Legends)

Graymoor Caves

Notes[edit]

See Also[edit]

Books[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Dwemer Inquiries Vol III — Thelwe Ghelein, Scholar
  2. ^ Lyris Titanborn's dialogue
  3. ^ a b c d e Events of Skyrim
  4. ^ The Falmer: A Study — Ursa Uthrax
  5. ^ On the Tel Var Stones: Volume 2 — Herminius Sophus
  6. ^ Vole's dialogue in ESO
  7. ^ The Coven Conspiracy and The Coven Conundrum quests in ESO
  8. ^ Sinderion's Field Journal — Sinderion
  9. ^ Graymoor Caves in Blades
  10. ^ The Staff of Magnus quest in ESO
Retrieved from "https://en.uesp.net/w/index.php?title=Lore:Blackreach&oldid=2191783"