Lore:Dune

thumb|right|Map of Elsweyr
  
Dune (alternatively known as Dunei in Ta'agra ) is one of the eight major cities in the province of Elsweyr,  in which it serves as the largest Khajiiti-settlement on the borderlands of Reaper's March. Present-day Dune is most well-known as a prominent merchant town with its graceful architecture and abundance of tea houses,   but in ancient times, the city was the seat of a kingdom that was known for their moon priests and scholars. At that time, the Kingship of Dune also held the title of Moon-Bishop.  
 

Layout & Geography
thumb|left|The Sweet Plethora Teahouse Foyer
thumb|right|The Shrine of Lorkhaj
Dune is located on the northwest corner of the province, on the borderlands of Reaper's March. Both geographically and politically, the city is located in the savannahs of  , which are generally known for their arid and dry climates.  More specifically, Dune is located east of the  , which forms the north border of the province with Valenwood. The land that surrounds the city is rocky and riddled with dried-out ravines, but behind the city is a large river that pours into the city and creates lakes and ponds.  Dune is neighbored by several settlements, including   to the east-northeast,   to the far southeast,   to the south, and   to the west,  towards  . 

The city is built on a very large hill and it is layered five times toward the top. The bottom and first layer is where the local wayshrine, as well as several camps are located. The main road runs past the city goes through the camp and under an arching bridge that connects the third layer of the city to the wayshrine. The second layer is the city's plaza, where many homes are located, all of which centered around a watering well. There is enough space for merchants to camp more stalls and caravans. On the wall east of this area are three stairways that lead to the third layer, a grand avenue with tapestries and high pointed walls.  From the north and south end are stairways that descend into the city's local merchants district and the temple district respectively. The former is a stretch of paved road with several guildhalls and crafting stations. At the end of the road is a waterfall and basin. The latter is a somewhat flooded courtyard with three shrines dedicated to Jone, Jode, and Lorkhaj respectively. The central stairway continues to the highest layer, where the Temple of the Two-Moons Path is located. 

Notable Locales


History
Early History
thumb|right|The border town, Rawl'kha
Since the long-lost annals of the  , Dune has been one of the ancient sixteen kingdoms that would become modern-day Elsweyr. In its time, the kingdom was known for its priest and scholars, and the highest form of authority in the kingdom was the Moon-Bishop of Dune.  The city's architecture was designed to venerate the Two-Moons, Jode and Jone, and it is reminiscent to those bygone times, when the sixteen clans were governed under the authority of the Moon-Emperor.   The Kingdom of Dune encompassed much of modern-day Reaper's March, from as far as present-day  . 

In the Merethic Era, the sixteen clans were ruled by a cruel hunter-aristocracy led by Hunt-Lords, one that clashed with the  . The Hunt-Lord,   paid a flock of criminals to raze the Temple in Rawl'kha, and in retaliation, the clergy and monks assembled a small army of warrior-adepts. But the Hunt-Lord was able to quash the rebellion and forced them out of Dune's kingdom. He cited the violence at the temple as evidence of the clergy's treason and with the other northern Hunt-Lords, confiscated weapons from the people and suppressed any religious order that did not comply with them. In deep isolation and contemplation, the disparaged adepts developed the  , the Khajiiti martial arts. By the late Merethic Era, the peasant class of the northern kingdoms were drafted in many wars and fell into a state of famine. When the adepts passed their newfound knowledge to the peasant-folk, they started to revolt and eventually overthrow the Hunt-Lords. Within a century, the hunter's caste system was diminished. 

The Mane and the Kingdom of Anequina
thumb|left|Fort Sphinxmoth
thumb|right|Temple of the Two Moons Path
When the   swept through the continent in the twenty-third century of the  , the sixteen kingdoms were decimated and the sheer number of deaths forced the clans to come together and survive. The northern clans including Dune joined with the   and turned into the modern-day Kingdom of  , who continued their long established traditions and roamed the arid landscape. The King of Anequina,   later married the Queen of  ,   in  , which formally created the province of Elsweyr. 

The   of   had at some point took over Elsweyr  and by its late years, established a stronghold in the northern plains near Dune called  . It was placed there to moderate the level of crime and banditry that took place in Reaper's March. From the Khajiiti side of the march was the notorious  , who eventually decided to take over organized crime in Dune and nearby   at the height of their power. In response, the upper class of Dune hired mercenaries and formed militias to take them down. The remnants of the Dakarn Clan became the   and peace was restored throughout the region. 

After the death of the royal family in  ,    was named the first   of Elsweyr and re-shaped the culture of the Khajiiti. Since then, a new tradition had been created for the process of a new Mane, in which they travel down three paths, starting from the temple in Rawl'kha. The final path is called the   and it takes places in the   in east-central Dune.  The candidate walks down these paths with the Moon Hallowed, a herald blessed by the Manes of past that appears in troubled times and guides the Mane to a better tomorrow. Their role is determined at the  , an isolated shrine in the  . 

The Planemeld and the Lunar Champion
thumb|right|The Ascension Ceremony of the Mane
thumb|left|The Dark Anchor in the Lorkhaj Shrine
Sometime in   in  , the   of   crash-landed near the city walls of Dune. Out of the scars where the anchors landed, the   crawled out. Various   such as the   and   were deployed and commanded by the   and  s, the latter of whom also summoned an army of undead. A feeble defense of armored Khajiit formed at the city gates but the horde was left unfazed. As the dark anchor grew more powerful, the landscape began to glow faintly blue like   and a   descended onto the city. It is unknown how the city faired in the end, but it managed to rebuild later, at the expense of many lives. 

A year later in  , the high-ranking authorities of the   traveled to Dune to witness the   and the   walk the Two Moons Path, but as the  n invasion still raged in the north,   and his   unleashed a slew of daedra from the middle of town, even paid off the local   officials. With a re-configurated sacred Khajiit relic, fueled by the arcane magic of  s, the Moon Hallowed destroyed every portal throughout the town. In the Merchants District, the Moon Hallowed defeated the corrupted guildmagister and destroyed the portal, and later traveled to the Temple District, where the shrines were defiled and a dark anchor opened in the Shrine of Lorkhaj.  Once the town had been liberated, the Moon Hallowed and the Lunar Champion disembarked on the Moonlit Path, where they defeated the   and Javad Tharn in the bowels of the  . After they defeated Tharn, the spirit of Rid-Thar-ri'Datta proclaimed the Lunar Champion as his successor. 

Dune in the Third Empire
During the   in the late  , the city-state of Dune was an active settlement. It was ruled by King Ab'ir and had a rivalry with  .  The border land near Dune and Fort Sphinxmoth, where many northern skirmishes in the   took place. By the spring of  , the Five Year War moved closer to the Dune region. 

Gallery
 

Notes
Arena was originally conceived as a fighting game featuring a tournament that took the player to each of Tamriel's cities to challenge different gladiatorial teams. According to a file from that stage of development left behind in the final game, Dune's gladiatorial team would have been called "the Blades".  The name "the Blades" was later reused and became the current Blades.

See Also
For game-specific information, see the Arena and ESO articles.
Books


References