Ok so I finally read the book in order to delve deeper in preps for a Morrowind mod, but being a noob in lore section I have a couple of questions.

For the start- what the heck exactly happens at the end? I have millions of versions of what exactly could have happen, but I'm unsure if it is supposed to be left to our imagination, or if there was a specific end I didn't caught? To be more specific, I am refering to Sul, his transformation and statement that Vuhon shouldn't have mentioned that they are actually in the realm of Oblivion, giving Sul the knowledge that he can transform? Or do I have a totally wrong concept of what happened?

2nd question is, as far as I picked up, Umbra, the sword that is, should still be somewhere on Tamriel, correct? And what's left of it? And what might have happened with Umbra (the being)?

Thanks in advance

It sounds like you haven't read the sequel novel, Lord of Souls. Infernal City ends on a cliff-hanger because it's just part one of two.

There's a 2nd book? oh come on. Guess I gotta fetch the other book too now, thanks.

Sul didn't transform, he conjured a daedra.

Yeah, I was confused because he mentioned they were in Oblivion and then he wasn't mentioned at all anymore, figured he transformed or something.

I'm a little disappointed that the events in the novels aren't mentioned in Skyrim at all. Or did I miss something?

Nah, seems like they were glossed over completely. Darn shame too.

I'm amazed that they kept so many things from the book intact, like the reemergence of the Aldmeri Dominion and the Thalmor along with the Mede dynasty and terms like "Saxhleel", but the game barely mentioned Umbriel at all. Were the extant ideas created by gamesas devs and lent to Keyes, and that's why they're in the game?

I'm also interested in the end of Lord of Souls. The whole path of Umbriel reminds me uncannily of the artwork from Yessongs:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d1/Yessongs_Escape.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a0/Yessongs_Arrival.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6e/Yessongs_Awakening.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/be/Yessongs_Pathways.jpg

Where it starts in Oblivion, travels to Nirn, wakes up from Vuhon, and travels back home to create a new civilization. Not to mention Roger Dean's floating island thing.

Okay, I forgot about the Thalmor, Aldmeri Dominion deal, and Saxhleel. Other than that, Tamrielian forgetfulness took over.

There are a few references to Umbriel but nothing like there should be in an event of that magnitude. It at the very least deserves a mention.

There is a certain Hist like tree though in skyrim not too far from whiterun. I think it is too the North East or so. If I find it again I will post a pic or something. Have no clue how it got there other than falling from Umbriel. The problem with tht is tht anything falling from Umbriel that is of Umbriel disintegrates after a certain distance correct.

In any case there are not enough references to it.

Are those things you mentioned (the Thalmor, Aldmeri Dominion, etc) written/created by Keyes? I was under the assumption that Keyes was privy to the lore being developed behind the scenes as Skyrim was being produced (secretly at the time).

I'm just left with the feeling that the novels are just works of published fan-fiction rather than canonical lore at this point.

Regardless of your feelings on the quality of the novels, Bethesda has confirmed their canonicity several times. Even if you don't like the writing, the events and ideas presented in them aren't bad.

I'm wondering where you think I made a statement concerning the quality of the novels

I didn't mean to imply that fan-fiction has anything to do with quality. I thoroughly enjoyed the novels. But if they are canon, where are all the references to a big ass floating city almost toppling the Empire? That's all I'm getting at. An in-game book or pamphlet celebrating Attrebus' heroism or something!

For example, I was really excited about the Dark Brotherhood mission when you need to hunt down the famous chef to assume his/her identity. I was like, "YES! We get to find out that Annaig went on to be a famous chef and we get to meet one of her descendants or pupils or something!" But no, it was an orc.

In the second book, Vuhon explains that Clavicus Vile's hold on his realm is what keeps people from leaving. Or maybe it was Vuhon that made it impossible for people to leave. Either way once the barrier was lifted people could leave.

That's the thing. I have no clue who thought up what. That's why I'm mystified as to why Skyrim features so many background ideas of the book but barely touches upon Umbriel. I guess it's because they don't want to spoil the books' plots and let people read them for themselves. It's not like the events of the books appeared in a pas game, where most TES players would have encountered them.

I have a feeling that most of the stuff that stuck was given by Bethesda to the author, like names, things that needed to happen, the Thalmor stuff like that and that's why a lot of it is in game. The Thalmor seem like a pretty mayor plot point to me, I would find it odd to leave something that to a third party.


Leave Whiterun head west, follow the path towards Rorikstead. On your map you can see two paths heading north about half way through, the paths later on meet again. Go there, they are dirt paths, there is also something resembling a Nordic ruin nearby, though this one does not have a map marker. The tree will be somewhere in that area. Don't think it's a hist tree though.

*Actually I don't know if the roads are on the map I use a mod for better map quality, and more roads... Otherwise just keep your eyes for any nordic ruin to the north. .

do you mean the sleeping tree-sap trees?

In your opinion, in my opinion they are pretty bad.

I didn't expect the first Elder Scrolls novel to be so heavily centered on Vile. So I was a little dissapointed.

The ingenium thing was tedious, too.