Lore:Atatar

Atatar
Type	Ayleid Ruin
Continent	Tamriel
Province	Cyrodiil
Region	Blackwood (Niben Forest)
Demonym(s)	Atataric
Appears in	Oblivion, ESO

Atatar ca. 3E 433

Atatar (translated as "Fatherwood" in Ayleidoon) is an Ayleid ruin found in the rainforests of Blackwood, in the province of Cyrodiil. It is located within the Niben Forest region, in the glens situated off the Yellow Road to Leyawiin. It was once home to the Atataric clan of Ayleids. Its subsections of Haelia Dagon, Haelia Anga, and Loria translate to "Terrible Destruction", "Terrible Iron/Cold", and "Darkness" respectively.

History

First Era

In its time as a powerful city, its last known monarch, King Glinferen, was a Daedraphile and fought in the wide-scale conflict against the Barsaebic Ayleids in the late Merethic and early First Era in what became known as the Narfinsel Schism. This conflict culminated in the Scouring of Wendelbek in 1E 198, where Glinferen led the combined Daedraphile forces to ultimately drive out the Barsaebics into the inhospitable region of Argonia.

A half-century later, the Alessian Slave Rebellion occurred in 1E 242, and many Ayleids were either killed or displaced by their former Nedic slaves. In the hopes of saving his kingdom, King Glinferen sent an envoy to the Barsaebic settlement, Twyllbek for a call to arms. However, the King of Twyllbek gave a rather blunt objection to the call and left Atatar to perish, as the humiliation of exile was still a burning thought to the Barsaebics. The Barsaebics, by that time well established in Argonia, refused admittance to the Atatarics, and most of the clan died on an ill-fated expedition to Elsweyr.

Second Era

Atatar ca. 2E 582

Circa 2E 582, the subterranean halls of Atatar were sealed. The surface ruins were inhabited at this time by imps and ogres. That year, the Toad-Tongue Tribe of goblins chose a new war chief, a particularly fierce individual named Zathmoz. Under his leadership, the tribe took control of Atatar and set up a war camp to attack caravans and raid nearby homesteads. This aggression effectively brought trade in northern Blackwood to a standstill. The tribe eventually came to the attention of Leyawiin's ruling Chamber of Legates when Zathmoz murdered a scholar who had come to Atatar to observe the goblins, believing her to be a spy. The scholar's apprentice contracted Britta Silanus of Leyawiin to recover her research notes from the site, and Britta subsequently hired a number of adventurers to kill War Chief Zathmoz and his small army of goblins and durzogs. It was believed that his death would pacify the Toad-Tongues, as the tribe did not usually cause much trouble.

Third Era

By 3E 433, the Ayleid scholar Azani Blackheart and his bandit allies took up residence in Atatar after his previous hideout, the nearby ruins of Arpenia, was raided by the Fighters Guild in their failed attempt to claim the ancient blade Sinweaver for the wizard Argoth. 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 Atatar. However, the Fighters Guild second-in-command Modryn Oreyn, along with a new recruit, subsequently entered the ruins and confronted Blackheart, where they killed him to avenge their fallen comrades. Oreyn took Azani's ring as proof that the Blackwood Company had not completed their contract, exposing them as frauds.

See Also

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