The Adventurer's Companion To Black Marsh: Blackrose

Written By: Eis Vuur Warden, Circa 3E 430 (Historian and Scholar of the Imperial Geographic Society)

An Overview of Blackrose: It’s Geography, History, Famous Inhabitants, and Outline

Foreword
Only a few miles away from the city of Soulrest and concealed within the darkest mud that sloshes like shadows in the night lies the notorious city of Blackrose. It is probably the main city in Blackrose with the most diversity, but not for good reason. For in its depths and nearly considered an actual part of the city itself is the legendary Blackrose prison, which houses the most dangerous criminals in Tamriel.

Strangely, however, many outsiders tend to live in Blackrose. But why is that? Well, because it houses the securest prison within Tamriel, Blackrose also functions as the safest city in Tamriel as well. Thus, many people live within its sturdy walls. Thus, this guide was written to give the reader a better perspective of Blackrose and its current condition today.

Geography
Blackrose has a much muddier climate than other Argonian cities, and is well known for its perpetual darkness. This darkness results from the presence of an unique species of trees that appear have drowned with large canopies, resulting in much sunlight being blocked from reaching the city.

However, the marsh itself has adapted to this unique situation. Many of the mushrooms and ferns that cover the landscape are capable of self-illumination, allowing my people and visitors to the city to see without the aid of torches, which are dangerous to use near the great trees (along with the city-tree). The air is tropical, but can also be somewhat chilly as well.

History
Blackrose was founded by my ancestors’ vulpine neighbors – the Lilmothiit – as a small kingdom. I do not how or why the city was constructed, but it was built with black stone in the image of a flower. For reasons unknown, the kingdom fell into disarray and its inhabitants left never to return. The Paatru were more than eager to take over the land, and that is what they did. Soon the ruins of the city became a bog of mud and torchbugs that was relatively peaceful.

All of that changed during the year the Cyrodiils refer to as 1E 1033, when a terrible pirate king known simply as Red Bramman saw Black Marsh as the perfect location to hide from the Empire’s authority. He sailed through our land and eventually found himself at the remnants of Blackrose, which he and his fleet of criminals violently took from the Paatru. As some of the first humans that my kind met during that time, our people became both disgusted and fearful of them. Red Bramman himself began to claim that he was unkillable, and that the Empire would never take him alive. This caught the attention of Empress Hestra, who made a public decree that the pirate-king will meet his end. The Imperials fought their way though Black Marsh until reaching the ruins, where they were able to capture the so called ‘king’. To avoid much conflict with the Argonian tribes in the area, Hestra allowed our kind to keep Red Bramman imprisoned within the very ruins he lived in. His final fate is unknown, but this was the first incident regarding the area.

Later on during the Second Empire of Men, the Akaviri Potentate known as Versidue-Shaie heard of the tale of Red Bramman, and commissioned for the area to be constructed into a massive security prison for both his political enemies and hated criminals. During the construction, the Imperial architects kept to the original design the Lilmothiit had done so many years before and thought the city resembled the petals of a rose and so they named it Blackrose.

The most recent event to happen in Blackrose was the Rose Rebellion during the Septim Dynasty, where the prisoners inside the prison were able to overthrow the guards and take over the city. Empress Morihatha immediately sent a garrison of troops into Black Marsh to quell the threat, among them the prestige battlemage Welloc. Having spent previous time in Black Marsh, Welloc was able to use his arcane spells to destroy the rebellion and the prison was fortified like it had never been before.

Notable Inhabitants
One of the most well known residents of Blackrose was the serial killer known simply as ‘The Riverman’. A terrifying soul, he was well known for luring many of his victims to their deaths by masquerading as a ferryman, only to drown them in the very river they wished to cross and eating their remains to leave no evidence. He later committed suicide in his cell, but to this day many other prisoners say that his ghost still haunts the halls moaning about the souls of his victims, whose spirits he ate as well.

Another man, to contrast the evil one above, was the Blackrose guard Mailliw, who many suspected was a descendant of one of the Kothringi tribes that bred with the Imperials. A former criminal himself, he spent the rest of his days aiding those like himself see the horrors of their actions and repent their ways. He was also one of the last followers of the obscure deity Z’en, who many say is Zenithar but who many say isn’t. Supposedly on his deathbed, his god used his soul to bring great fortunate to Blackrose.

City Outline
Blackrose consists of five major districts that are arranged and resemble a rose petals. They are:

The Commercial Petal
The Commercial Petal is where industry takes place. Our kind is well known for our jewelry, and Blackrose is built near many gem mines that contain much of my people’s lively hood.

The Market Petal
The Market Petal is where trade and shop happens, and is nearly always full with noise and bustle from many types of vendors.

The Armed Petal
The Armed Petal is the military quarters of Blackrose, and is conjointly operated by both Imperial and Argonian troops.

The Living Petal
The Living Petal is the home district for the citizens of Blackrose. Because most of its inhabitants are ex-convicts released from their prison sentences, it is also patrolled by many guards.

The Rose
The Rose is the prison which Blackrose is famous for, and is the city’s biggest building. Built with enchanted stone and surrounded with a thousand guards that are constant shifts every hour, the Rose is virtually impenetrable.

Conclusion
And so ends the guide to Blackrose. For our next stop, we will be visiting the troubled city of Archon, Tamriel’s most eastern point.