Eldarin

This city was once home to the Bosmer, the progenitors of wood elves, who were strictly carnivorous. Thousands of years ago, a plague swept over the lands and killed the animals and beasts that they relied on for food. Some turned to eating plants, which caused horrific hostility between those who wanted to survive and those who wanted to honour their beliefs. Many, however, turned to cannibalism, killing and eating their brethren and neighbours. Some managed to flee but most killed each other in a frenzy until the city was silent. Sylvos, the patron deity of the city, was twisted by this event. They retreated back into the earth, mourning the loss of their once thriving people, and were slowly driven mad by loneliness and sorrow. The city was buried beneath the earth, preserved in a vaulting cavern through Sylvos’ sheer will to keep it safe, and lost to the ages.
And so, Eldarin has been hidden away in this breathtaking cavern, with its roof arching far overhead. Everything is bathed in a dim glow light emanating from the thousands of fireflies that flitter lazily in the air and cling to the trees. Structures and homes, thousands of years old, are still standing although in slight states of disrepair. The architecture is simple and rustic and familiar, save for one thing. Everything is built from bones, and each bosmeri bone bears the etched name of the person it belonged to. The foundations of these buildings are enormous rib cages and cemented together bones, filled in with stone and mud bricks. Skulls keep watch over doorways and lanterns made from human jaws remain unlit. Nature has reclaimed this place. Enormous oaks pierce through bony roofs and wildflowers spill over onto the cobblestone streets. Tall grass stands perfectly still with no winds to disturb it. Birds chatter in the boughs of firs, squirrels dart amongst the leaves, butterflies and bees flit lazily from flower to flower. The edges of the cavern have been swallowed by dense forest.
Those bones became overgrown with oaks and blossoming flowers and Sylvos hungered. The earth had to be sated, had to be fed bones as the Bosmer had done for centuries, and as their magic turned the ancient city into a thriving forest, creatures from far and wide were attracted – sacrifices to be made.
Eldarin was visited in 1232 FR by the party, accompanied by the unicorn hunters Cinder, Tawny and Kane Kingford. They defeated Sylvos, who brought down the entire northern end of the cavern. They were commended by Alitura for doing so.

Districts and notable locations

• The Entrance Promenade is lined with statues of bosmer deities and leads towards an ornate fountain with a statue decpiting Sylvos.

• The Brittlebones District was home to the poor and middle class bosmer of the city, so called because they could not afford the sturdier construction of those more well-off. The streets are narrow and the buildings are cramped together.

• The City Centre is a huge, grassy hill that overlooks the city. From it grows an enormous oak tree with branches that brush the ceiling of the cavern. Etched into the bark of its wide trunk is a message in elegant Bosmeri that reads: "The bosmer and the Earth Mother welcome you to Eldarin. Here we protect Her roots so that She shall protect ours. Here the sun kisses our skin. Here the bones slumber all around us."

• The Markets was the commercial hub of the city, with stores and stalls selling all manner of gear, food, weapons and armour.

• The Jeweljaw District, closest to the shore of the lake, was home to the rich and affluent of the city. The houses are lavish and extravagantly decorated, the streets were once well kept and lined with topiaries, the plazas are ornate and filled with marble statues.

• The Docks District was a hub of business, where fishing vessels set out from and goods were stored in the warehouses that lined the shore. Luxury vessels set out from here to take tours round the river.

• The Redearth District was home to farms and abbatoirs where animals were raised for slaughter, so called because of the animal blood that watered the soil there.

• The Dragon Bridge spans the length of the Deus River which bisected the city. It is the remains of an enormous dragon, sprawled from shore to shore, with its tail and head anchored at either end, its skeletal wings disappearing beneath the water, and its ribs filled in to make a traversable surface.

• Lake Lucidity, which the Deus River flows into, sits at the centre of the city and has crystalline water and fine white sandy shores.

• The Graveyard once occupied the entire northern half of the cavern before it was buried by rubble. It was once a towering forest. There were no grave markers or tombstones, as the Bosmer only briefly buried their dead before exhuming the skeletons.

• The Palace, before being buried beneath rubble, was a large mansion built from white marble streaked with gold, its facade grown over with withered creeping ivy. Within, there was an ostentatious foyer, a throne room with two thrones of antlers and bones (the bones of each bosmer ruler were added the throne, resulting in a macabre shrine to those who reigned before), royal chambers, a study, a dining room, and servants quarters.

• The Calvarian Shrine, before being buried beneath rubble, was dedicated to Sylvos. Buried in the bedrock of the cliff face was an impossibly gargantuan humanoid skeleton, bleached white bones decorated with curling vines and moss. Its arms wrapped around the northern edges of the cavern, gnarled fingers outstretched. Its skull was flush with the ground, blank and empty eyes watching on, its teeth jagged and interlocking. A gap between the fangs allowed passage to the temple housed within. Inside, it was dimly lit and cavernous. The floor was earthen. A bony chandelier draped with vines and crystals hung from the ceiling. Pews carved from marble – white and black and threaded with gold – sat before a dais from which an enormous tree grew. In the time of the Bosmer, its branches brushed the roof of the skull, it was verdant and beautiful with fireflies glittering in its outspread branches. With Sylvos' twisted presence, it had grown withered and hunched, the bark grey and dull, the leaves a mottled carpet on the ground below.

RUINED SETTLEMENT
Unknown.

Type

City

Location under

Glimmerwood