Summary
Thanks to being set in the 2E and being set across the entirety of Tamriel, theElder Scrolls Onlineprovides many opportunities to expand onThe Elder Scrollslore.The Elder Scrolls Online’s latest expansion,Gold Road, offers the latest additions to that lore, with a focus on the Empire’s capital province, Cyrodiil, as the main setting.
Cyrodiil in the fourth era consists mostly of small forests and lush plains, but lore in certain texts implies that it was jungle before Tiber Septim changed the landscape. Thedepiction of Cyrodiil in theElder Scrolls Onlinetakes place before Tiber Septim’s reign, and yet Cyrodiil is depicted the same as inThe Elder Scrolls, with no jungle.Gold Roadsolves this discrepancy with the addition of a jungle that’s contained to the West Weald around Skingrad, and is tied to Ithelia, the new Daedric Prince who was introduced inNecrom.
The Elder Scrolls Online Moves to Cyrodiil in Gold Road
Gold Roadcontinues from the story and events ofTheElder Scrolls Online: Necrom, which revealed that there was another Daedric Prince who had been kept a secret from Tamriel. The expansion also includes the Ayleid ruins that are familiar toOblivionplayers.
Cyrodiil served as the setting ofThe Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivionand proved to be a popular province thanks to its central location and the nexus of Tamriel.Gold Roadtakes its focus a step further and expands on a specific region in western Cyrodiil known as the West Weald.Oblivionplayers will be familiar with the area, as the capital of this region is the Colovian city of Skingrad.
Answering an Old Elder Scrolls Question
The West Weald and Colovian Highlands see some notable changes thanks to theadditions of the Valenwood jungles. Jungles in Cyrodiil have previously been alluded to inThe Elder Scrollslore but had never been seen before thanks to Tiber Septim turning Cyrodiil from a jungle into more temperate plains.Gold Roadaddresses this lore discrepancy by including jungles inGold Road, but also ensuring they aren’t a permanent feature of Cyrodiil by tying them toGold Road’s main storyline.
The Elder Scrolls Online Adds a New Daedric Prince in Gold Road
Thebiggest addition toThe Elder Scrollslore is the new Daedric Prince, Ithelia. The Daedric Prince count inThe Elder Scrollshas remained very consistent, with no additions to the pantheon since Jyggalag inOblivion’s 2007 expansionShivering Isles. Ithelia’s existence as a Daedric Prince was erased thanks to the influence of Hermaeus Mora and the cooperation of the rest of the Daedric Princes.
Ithelia is the Daedric Prince of Fate, with the power to change reality. Her power to alter reality is the reason the Daedric Princes erased her from the collective memory of Tamriel and imprisoned her in Apocrypha,Hermaeus Mora’s plane of Oblivion. Despite her influence and presence inGold Road, her memory and knowledge are erased once again at the conclusion of the story arc.
Returning to Ithelia
The addition of Ithelia opens more potential for her inclusion in future games inThe Elder Scrollsseries, as well aspossibly adding more Daedric Princes, though adding more Daedric Princes should still remain limited. Some players felt that Ithelia’s depiction didn’t live up to her potential, and a reappearance in a futureElder Scrollsgame with better resources could give her the storyline and lore she deserves.
