Sympathise with that feeling - it happens.

The book's not on general sale in the UK so I have to go by opinion and hearsay, but there is one aspect touched on here that bugs me and that is the use of Umbra. To me the Umbra I met at the edge of the ashlands was an inspiring guy and his sword was a medium kinda artifact - useful to a point but not so special in itself. You could use it to soul trap and you had longer to make your kill, but that was all it showed.

That Morrowind artifact had 120 seconds to make the hit and capture the soul, a limited range and the spell could only target one person/creature at a time. Plus it had to recharge as all atrifacts do. It was an enchanted artifact and so could not be changed. That 'was' the nature of the sword ...

Now it is a mega-fantastic thing that powers a city ... how?

There is precedent for a flying citadel - see the ES game Battlespire ... but that required something rather more than a tiny underpowered artifact like Umbra to fly. I do not underestimate the power of necromancy either - simply the use of Umbra in the way it is described does not ring true to me.

Now all the devs in the world - or just one would be enough to make it cannon. But what has been described here does not sit right.

I would have been better 'Lore' for example if there had been a new artifact linked to the original Umbra in some way perhaps. Are you guys sure you are not leaving out vital detail in your descriptions?

That could just be game-play and storyline Segregation at work. How powerful was Umbra in Oblivion?

Probably the result of Oblivion. The "OMG BEST SWORD IN TEH GAMEZ!" (which it isn't even that) mentality of Oblivion players no doubt led the writers to decide it was some kind of beloved reference point.

They aren't using the sword to make Umbriel float, they're using Umbra himself to power it. Umbra escaped the sword, and when in Viles realm, stole a lot of power from Vile and teamed up with Vuhon to power Umbriel in exchange for finding the sword. I presume Umbra wanted to destroy it so he couldn't be trapped in it again.

Goddammit, snobishness be damned, I'm just going to have to import this book if I want to make any sense out of it, aren't I?

Hey, as long as Umbra has good aim and can land that jalopy, right on top of the Imperial City, I'm cool with a witch's sword becoming the evil lord. Vvardenfell would be a small price to pay, for getting that eyesore smashed.

I'd say so. It's only 290 pages so it should only take a day to read, and by owning it you have the added benefit of being able to catch any BS people try to say happened but really didn't, or didn't happen the way they're describing.

Hmm, is The Imperial City in the book described as the one in Oblivion or is it the awesome maze of bridges and towers from the pocket guide?

I'm just assuming it is (the eyesore). A safe assumption, too.

ty antibody - that makes sense in book terms - just dony tell them I killed Umbra and set his soul free as he begged me to do - he was a brief acquaintance and a good mate in that short time. Ah well - stuff always gets lost when you bring in new people

It's described as a "God's Wagon Wheel", so it's the one from Oblivion.

I personally enjoyed this book and found it very lore-friendly.

Nope, it said the blade took part of Vile. When we gave Vile the sword in Oblivion, it managed to steal a small portion of his power, which allowed Umbra-the-being to free himself from Umbra-the-sword, and presumably made him capable of helping to create Umbriel.

The way I saw it is like this. You have Umbra the being and Umbra the sword. Umbra the being was the soul used to enchant Umbra the sword most likely. That soul took over the user of the sword and that person called himself Umbra. Umbra the being had a deal with clavicus vile and because of that deal Clavicus Vile wanted Umbra the sword for the soul inside so he could complete his deal. Umbra then took over part of clavicus vile himself until he became a semi-deada prince. He then sent Umbra the sword through the ingenium portal to nirn.

The rest is speculation:
I believe that Umbra the sword can recapture Umbra the being somehow and is why everyone is afther it. also I believe that Umbra the sword is simiar in structure to a black soul gem which was used to hold Umbra the being.

As a reference to show that souls still exist afther being enchanted look the fiction book feyfolken not real evidence but still.

A certain sword from Redguard could also be taken as evidence about souls and enchantments...

IDEA! maybe it is a way to undo Oblivion's Imperial City. All the citizens of that will die and, when Umbriel leaves, The city will be based off of thousands of ssmall islands.

No they didn't, Umbra corrupts a man or mers soul with each kill, or touch, even in the vicinity of someone it gets stronger. Umbra apparently got strong enough to escape his shell. Besides, we are fans, but it's not our story.



Again, nay, Morrowind can always be rebuilt, with a strong and extremely rich foundation.



1 resident? Then it wasn't deserted, he obviously moved on and rebuilt his town, his city, and obviuosly he does very well, look at the power of what one man can do, Washington? Obama? They are just examples. And as far as expansion space, he has an entire territory to move up and down. And obviously side to well, atleast the border. From what I know there is no law against a town growing on the lore.



It was good, I really think the book is good for the lore and series and can really expand oblivion and the lore of the princes. It's opening up a door that from what I know hasn't been touched before, and think about think cinematic opportunities Bethesda has now that it didn't really get with the games. I think this is one of the best things Bethesda has done for this series.

Heh - nice one redmer the wise nord/elf - I must agree that feyfolken is one of the best Lore books in-game. A great read and it shows you that souls can not only survive the process as other books do, but also they may have a measure of power over their holders. That last is kinda scary for incautious enchanters. Previously I had speculated that 'Feyfolken' was simply a Daedric Horror story with fiction added but the original Umbra meeting cured me of that. That Orc was telling his story - and you have to respect that.

Your separation of the 3 Umbras (3 is the charm) is most useful and clear also - thanks again

@ TheRealWolfman - I myself created a scenario that had a town begun from a series of log platforms perched on otherwise useless rocks in a channel at the western edge of the sea. But there were very good reasons behind that. Including the desperate straights of the original builders who were fishermen and the availability of an important wreck for salvage nearby etc that brought them together with others who had more resources. However, please do not mistake naming a City after a man who is leader of a powerful nation with the circumstances and capabilities of one man alone.

It takes seriously fortuitous happenstance for Cities to aggregate in the best of circumstances.

The resulting carnage will prove to be rich fertilizer for the soil, and in conjunction with a potential flooding of the Niben, the land will become re-jungled!

I'd like this to show up in a game text from TES V.

"... And it was that one hand-full of the Red Mountain's ash reached Cyrodil. Unpon It's landing, Emperor Titus called to his Battlemages and army to arrive at the spot at which this Hand-full lay. Titus said onto his soldiers, 'You have suffered for me to win this throne, and I see how you hate grass. Let me show you the power of Titus Mede, born among you. I breath now, in royalty, and reshape this land which is mine. I do this for you, Red Legions, for I love you.' As Titus Spike, the great Rumare burst its banks like a beast from its cage and covered al of Cyrodil with water. As quickly as it came, the water receded, leaving vines and trees were it had been. Rumare Island was torn into hundreds of pieces, restoring the city to its original greatness."

well, I loled. The book is justifiably quiet on whether the province is jungled or forested, although the IC is described as the wagon wheel. Personal rule of cool?

The first Time I read the PG1, I almost cried of how wrong they got Cyrodil City (The Imperial City)

Bah, they didn't get it wrong, you see - once the Nerevarine got bored over in Morrowind he decided to host a clutter-throwing contest with Fargoth and Vivec, somebody threw the suddenly godlike weapon the Fork of Horripilation toward Cyrodill where it did what the Fork always does, drains magicka.

As the magical epicness of Cyrodill was drained away, we were left with Middle Earth - a land devoid of rainforests and river dragons and depth.


*casts 100% resist fire*

Thanks, Redmer, for setting my thoughts straight on the Umbra matter.
The pieces kind of fell in place now, why they are looking for the sword and all that.

And yeah, I agree wholeheartedly on the subject of having Umbriel crash into the Imperial City. Then the centerpiece of the entire Empire would be more than a giant concrete sausage with spokes at the bottom. Perhaps they could integrate it like Dalaran in World of Warcraft? That would be awesome.

I believe that the book described the West Weald as something along the lines of beautiful forest, so at least that part is presumably not jungle. I'd say Keyes probably chose to go with the most up-to-date version of Cyrodiil in regards to vegetation, that is, the forested one presented in Oblivion.