Lore:Deepscorn Hollow

Deepscorn Hollow
Type	Settlement
Continent	Tamriel
Province	Cyrodiil
Region	Blackwood
Appears in	Oblivion (Vile Lair), ESO

Deepscorn Hollow

Deepscorn Hollow is a hidden underground lair located beneath a small islet in Topal Bay, off the coast of Cyrodiil. The island is located within the Blackwood region, south of the swamps of Bogwater and far southeast of the city of Leyawiin. It was originally built in the First Era as a temple to Sithis by the ancient Nibenese.

History

First Era

The Fane of Scorn

Originally, Deepscorn was simply a system of natural caves. Like all natural caves, the tunnels once served as the capillaries of Nirn, pulsing with the divine essence of the Aedra. A temple to Sithis was built within its subterranean halls in the First Era, during the early years of the Alessian Empire. Although Sithis worship is generally associated with Argonians, Deepscorn is believed to have been a center of worship for the ancient Nibenese. The complex was possibly home to a sect or cult that sought to emulate Ayleid worship of Daedric powers.

The name "Deepscorn" is derived from carvings found within the temple, specifically symbols signifying "beneath" or "below" coupled with "anger" or "wrath". The temple structure eventually fell into ruin and sank into the southern coast, although various vile cults were known to have taken shelter within the temple ruins over the years.

Second Era

Deepscorn Hollow was rediscovered on the 6^th Hearthfire, 2E 575 by Lovirithel the Sage, who came across records in Castle Leyawiin of a temple complex located beneath an otherwise unremarkable islet along Blackwood's deserted coastlands. He and his two assistants gained access to the ruins via a crudely excavated tunnel that had seen recent use from various parties, likely smugglers or bandits. Lovirithel studied the ancient inscriptions carved into the temple architecture, and discovered vast lower levels behind a crumbling wall. Some of the caves and chambers beyond appeared to be unfinished, and Lovirithel's assistants reported a chill in the subterranean air, as if an unseen power was beginning to stir. After one of his assistants disappeared into the darkness in the Fane of Scorn, Lovirithel alone remained within Deepscorn to continue his studies. His ultimate fate is unknown.

By 2E 582, Deepscorn Hollow was being used as the base of operations of the Unmaker cult, a group of Sithis worshippers led by the self-styled "Daughter of Sithis", an Imperial woman named Lalais. It was at this time that the Vestige entered Deepscorn in search of Quistley Silvelle, a noble from Daggerfall who had fallen in with the cult. Together with the mercenaries hired to track down the lost nobleman, the Vestige killed several members of the cult, including Lalais, in order to rescue him.

Third Era

The Shrine of Sithis

Deepscorn briefly served as a hideaway for Greywyn Blenwyth, a vampire who was once held there as a prisoner by the Unmakers.

A homestead was built on the island at some stage along with a bridge connecting it to the mainland, although the house burned down and was abandoned.

Greywyn later went on to found the Crimson Scars, a vampiric splinter faction of the Dark Brotherhood that planned to infect the entire guild. When the group's treachery was revealed to the Black Hand in 3E 421, Greywyn was forced to flee from Purification. He retreated to Deepscorn, planning to use it as the new headquarters of the Scars. Months passed while Greywyn waited for any surviving Scars to contact him. Eventually, a Breton Scar named Rowley Eardwulf made contact, and helped Greywyn in acquiring the resources needed to restore Deepscorn to its former glory. The caves were transformed into a crypt complex, and Greywyn constructed a great shrine to Sithis in the hope of reconciling his treachery.

After many sacrifices, Sithis deigned to speak with Greywyn. He agreed to accept the Crimson Scars as the rightful leaders of the Brotherhood, as long as Greywyn cured himself of his vampirism as punishment. With a heavy heart, Greywyn labored to create a cure, eventually learning of the alchemical processes needed to create Purgeblood Salts. He spent months gathering the ingredient necessary to refine the salts. After gathering the ingredients, he infused the rock walls of Deepscorn Hollow with veins of Purgeblood crystal formations and built a Font of Renewal to bathe himself in. In 3E 433, almost twelve years after having found the cure, Greywyn sensed his impending death. He tracked down the Hero of Kvatch, a long-lost relative of his and the heir to Deepscorn Hollow. For a time Greywyn watched the Hero of Kvatch from afar, and eventually delivered a note making himself known. He provided the Hero with a map to Deepscorn Hollow, requesting only that the Hero honor Sithis with the darkest of deeds. With all his preparations for the cure complete, Greywyn approached his shrine to Sithis for one last prayer, when he was stabbed in the back by an assassin from the Dark Brotherhood, which had finally tracked him down.

After arriving in Deepscorn Hollow, the Hero made contact with Rowley Eardwulf in the village of Weye, and arranged for further improvements to the lair. Among these was the Garden of Venomgrowth, a garden designed to cultivate various poisonous plants, including the rare Chokeberry Vine. Eardwulf also arranged for human cattle to be brought to the lair for vampiric feeding purposes, as well as a Dunmer vampire minion who maintained the lair and regularly killed in the name of Sithis.

Notes

• The official obliviondownloads.com description states that Greywyn was assassinated by the Dark Brotherhood before being able to use the Purgeblood Salts, which had only taken months to prepare. Greywyn's Journal states that preparations began in 3E 421. However, the Bloodstained Note states that Greywyn was still alive in 3E 433, almost twelve years later, a slight discrepancy.
• Greywyn Blenwyth claims to have discovered the caves and named them Deepscorn Hollow, although this is contradicted by the etymology contained within the Notes of Lovirithel the Sage in The Elder Scrolls Online.

See Also

• For game-specific information, see the Oblivion^VL and Elder Scrolls Online articles.

Books

• Notes of Lovirithel the Sage by Lovirithel the Sage — A scholar's journal detailing their discoveries within Deepscorn Hollow