Elder Scrolls Shower Thoughts: The Lands of Morrowind are a Manifestation of the House of Troubles

Supreme_Atromancer

Dead, burning rock with rivers of fire are very reminiscent of the Deadlands of Dagon or the Ashpits of Malacath, while the mind-stretching, bizarre fungal forests found on the fertile soils of the Ascadian Isles, Zafirel Bay and The Deshaan remind me of Sheogorath's Shivering Isles. The Dunmer wouldn't be the first real or fantasy culture to formulate the adversary devils of their pantheon as the manifestations of the earth upon which they etch a living. The land itself must have represented- for the early Dunmer at least- the greatest of adversaries (and also must have inspired the need for the principles of the "Good" Daedra- forcefull self-actualisation and harsh morality).

No part of Morrowind we've explored so far resembles anything like Molag Bal's Coldharbour, but we haven't seen *all* of Morrowind yet. "Blacklight", with the dreadfully enigmatic name, on the icy shores of the Sea of Ghosts comes to mind. Its a place that's been mentioned repeatedly throughout the series, but never so far explored or described. Its also one of the locations of Tamriel that many in the community would dearly like the opportunity to explore one day. Is it possible that the lands around Blacklight, on the other side of the Velothi Mountains from Eastmarch could be defined by qualities reminiscent of the Daedric Plane of Coldharbour?

Maybe its just one of those random thoughts that seems really compelling at first but can't really stand up to much thinking. Alternatively, if and when we ever get to see the city of Blacklight, the ancestral heartland of House Redoran, whoever is going to tackle it might want to make it distinct from Skyrim and Northern High Rock. Not that I'd complain either way- those snowy northern landscapes are my absolute favourites. But the great appeal of Morrowind has always been in its bizarre, alien world. The world represented by Morrowind has been carved out of fire and ash, and tangled in alien fungal forests. What sort of alien landscape could be envisioned from a world of ice and black rock?

Master_Fluff

Did anyone else expect a photo/video of a lore nerd taking a shower while rambling on about lorestuff and feel a bit disappointed?

Interesting post. Yes, Morrowind does indeed seem to be a little bit daedric plane-ish in places.

OgrimTitan

Yes, in my circle it was theorized quite a bit Morrowind is akin to the Deadlands (Mehrunes Dagon) and the Asylums (Sheogorath) on purpose. For years and dozen of years we theorized about man/mer cities in Oblivion, Namira being japaneze horror and other things ended up in TESO.

100% this idea was not intended at the start, and most likely even now it's on some subconscious level of the designers at best, based on religious view of dunmeri concerning Mehrunes Dagon (him being the representation of Morrowind terrain).

The idea to stretch that concept to all Corners ends with mushroom trees/the Asylums analogy and becomes a full stretch after that. Although you can theorize Coldharbour influence manifests in dunmeri being slavemonger nation (partially), there is no Coldharbour metaphysical reference, as you said, and no Ashpit as well. Morrowind is many things, but hardly an ash desert. Perhaps only the regions close to Ash Mountain/Tormented Spire/Red Mountain on 1:1 scale of the world. I, for one, always perceived Ashpit as a wast white ash desert. Seems to fit palaces of smoke described in books. Both features are hardly present in Morrowind.

It would be interesting to see the Left Arm of Morrowind sharing some similarities to Coldharbour, it will add some new depth. In my circle we talk a lot about possibility this region being snowy - there are upsides and downsides to this idea. But they have to stuff this adorable guar somewhere..