The first chapter of The Elder Scrolls Online: Gates of Oblivion expansion is here, taking players to the swampy borderlands of Blackwood to uncover a plot that leads all the way to Mehrunes Dagon, the Daedric Prince of Destruction. Fans of the MMO have a new zone, companion system, and more than 30 hours worth of story to enjoy as they attempt to thwart Dagon’s schemes 800 years before his re-emergence in The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion.
With so many elements from the fourth game, it’s easy for the premise of The Elder Scrolls Online: Gates of Oblivion to get confusing. Here’s a breakdown of the Blackwood story, Mehrunes Dagon’s role, and some the characters players will meet during their adventures through The Elder Scrolls Online’s latest expansion.
The Black Drake’s Bargain
The Elder Scrolls Online takes place during in the Interregnum, a strange period in Tamriel’s history after the fall of the Second Empire but before the rise of Tiber Septim and the establishment of the Third Empire. During this time, the Empire of Tamriel lay dormant as the Empire of Cyrodiil. Standards of living dropped, the Dark Brotherhood grew in power, Tamriel fractured in factions, and a strange series of Reachmen rules known as the Longhouse Emperors had control of the Ruby Throne. The first of these emperors was Durcorach, also known as the Black Drake.
Durcorach’s rise saw him ascend from the leader of the Blackdrakes Clan to the Emperor of Cyrodiil. His true breakthrough, however, came when he allied with the Tagh Droiloch, a coven of Witchmen which taught him how to make bargains with the Daedric princes of Oblivion.
Durcorach made a deal with the Daedric Prince Mehrunes Dagon to seize the Imperial City, which the Reachmen were able to do in 2E 533, around 50 years before the time Gates of Oblivion is set. Eventually, an ill-fated campaign into High Rock saw the Black Drake killed by Emeric of Cumberland. His deal with the Daedra, however, would have implications for Tamriel long after his death.
When the Black Drake struck his bargain with Mehrunes Dagon, the Daedric Prince of Destruction gave Durcorach’s son Moricar the power to forge four powerful weapons known as the Four Ambitions. Although these weapons were intended to ensure the eternal rule of the Longhouse Emperors, this reign would be short lived. Moricar’s son Leovic was killed by Duke Varen Aquilarious of Chorral in 2E 576 because he legalized Daedra worship. Before he died, Leovic hid the Four Ambitions across Tamriel. Players are tasked with finding them in the new expansion.
The Order Of The Waking Flame
The Blackwood chapter sees players come into contact with several cults worshipping Mehrunes Dagon. In The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, Mehrunes Dagon was worshipped by a cult known as the Mythic Dawn. In Blackwood, players face the Order of the Waking Flame. According to in-universe investigator Peregrina Pompitalus, many believed the Order of the Waking Flame wasn’t much more than a social or philosophy club that gripped the nobility of Gideon and Leyawiin, the two cities of Blackwood.
Most of its members are wealthy or members of the aristocracy with ties to the now-collapsed Longhouse dynasty. While the Black Drake believed he could bargain with the Daedric Prince of Destruction, the Waking Flame cultists want to bring about Dagon’s true ambition - the destruction of all of Nirn. Some new characters and familiar faces are standing up to stop them.
New Characters in Blackwood
One of the Blackwood chapter’s main returning characters is Eveli Sharp-Arrow, the Wood Elf adventurer players first met in Wrothgar in The Elder Scrolls Online: Orsinium. She was witness to Orsmir King Kurog gro-Bagrakh’s betrayal of the other Orsimer chieftains, as well as his defeat. Now, she’s looking to uncover the secrets of Emperor Leovic and the Waking Flame, recruiting players to help her.
While adventuring in Blackwood, players can also come across two characters who are a part of The Elder Scrolls Online’s new Companion system. While Skyrim’s followers often had little story to speak of once recruited, these companions promise to have far more involvement in the chapter’s main narrative.
One of those companions is human male Bastian Hallix. He can be found tied up on the ground in Deepscorn Hollow, in the south of Blackwood. A battlemage and a craftsman, he has been snooping around Leyawiin searching for Quistley Silvelle on behalf of Quistley’s family; a powerful noble house from Daggerfall. He became the family’s ward after his father, Lord Martel Hallix, fell out of favor with the local king.
Another recruitable companion is Mirri Elendis, a young Dunmer from Mournhold who became an expert on the Daedra. Like Bastian, Mirri’s family has its own troubled past, with a reputation for treasure hunting. She worked for a time tracking Daedric artifacts on behalf of the Tribunal as a “Daedra Consultant.”
The two major cities are run by interesting characters in their own rights. Leyawiin is ruled by the Imperial Elder Council, a group of six Imperial legislators who survived the troubles in the Imperial City and are now living in Blackwood. Gideon is ruled by Argonian governor Keshu the Black Fin, a war hero and leader of the Black Fin Legion of Argonians, now acting as the city militia.
While players will uncover the exact nature of Mehrune Dagon’s plot for themselves as they journey through the Blackwood chapter and its follow-ups, there are a few things fans of the franchise already know for certain about Gates of Oblivion’s story. For a start, Mehrunes Dagon may be vanquished, but as Oblivion shows he will not be gone for good. Just how close he will get to conquering Tamriel this time around, and the lessons he learns, remain to be seen.
Elder Scrolls Online and Blackwood are available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S
