Lore:Arpenia

Arpenia
Type	Ayleid Ruin
Continent	Tamriel
Province	Cyrodiil
Region	Blackwood (Niben Forest)
Appears in	Oblivion, ESO

Arpenia circa 3E 433

Arpenia (translated as "[the] Nobility" in Ayleidoon) is an Ayleid ruin found in the rainforests of Blackwood, in the province of Cyrodiil, along the Yellow Road to Leyawiin. It is noted for the illuminating white crystals that light its subterranean halls.

History

First Era

The Ayleid settlement of Arpenia was abandoned at some point after the Alessian Slave Rebellion in 1E 243 and subsequently fell into ruin.

Second Era

Arpenia circa 2E 582

Arpenia's interior merging with the Evergloam

Circa 2E 582, a faction of Crow Daedra called the Blackfeather Court came to Tamriel after hearing whispers of great treasures hidden in Blackwood. They came to the ruins of Arpenia in search of this, where they were targeted by a cult of Nocturnal worshippers known as the Whispering Shadows. One of the cultists, a mage, planned to trap the crows within Arpenia and channel Nocturnal's power from them in order to reach her and call her attention to the ruins. The cult achieved this by placing mirrors throughout Arpenia's many tunnels, transfixing the crows with their own reflections. As the cultists drained the crows of their energy, the ruin's subterranean halls began to merge with Nocturnal's realm of Evergloam, summoning Daedra and shadow creatures in the process. This culminated in the arrival of Shadow Knight Nassuphae, a powerful Gloam Knight that killed the cultists who summoned it before being swiftly banished by the Vestige.

The Vestige also agreed to help free the Blackfeather Court from the ruins by smashing the mirrors that had trapped them. However, during their time in the ruins, the crows had created nests and laid a number of eggs. Due to their Daedric nature, these crow eggs came to the attention of Leyawiin's ruling Chamber of Legates when two competing parties contracted Deetum-Jas of Leyawiin with retrieving as many of these eggs as possible from Arpenia. Rugrol, an Orcish priest of Azura, wished to obtain these eggs to destroy them, believing Crow Daedra to be evil beings. The competing client, Allereth, was a Bosmer assassin who revered Nocturnal and wished to obtain the eggs to protect the crows until they hatched. Deetum-Jas hired a number of adventurers to obtain these eggs, with little regard for which of the two parties ultimately received them.

Third Era

White crystals

Circa 3E 433, the Ayleid scholar Azani Blackheart and his bandit allies had taken up occupation of Arpenia. The ruins were raided by twenty-one members of the Fighters Guild in an attempt to claim the ancient blade Sinweaver for the wizard Argoth, but the attack failed and the Guild lost a lot of men in the process. Among the dead was Vitellus Donton, eldest son of Guildmaster Vilena Donton. The Guild lost the contract and Argoth turned to the Blackwood Company to complete the job, but was double-crossed when the Company seemingly made a deal with Blackheart: if he gave them Sinweaver and departed from Arpenia, the Blackwood Company would pay him off and reveal Argoth's location. Blackheart agreed, and subsequently killed the wizard, retrieving his weapon. He then moved his base to the nearby ruins of Atatar.

However, the Fighters Guild second-in-command Modryn Oreyn and the Hero of Kvatch subsequently journeyed to Arpenia and found the ruin abandoned and absent of any signs of battle. Suspecting foul play, Oreyn tracked Blackheart to Atatar and killed him, thereby exposing the Blackwood Company as frauds.

See Also

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