Lore:Blacklight

Blacklight is one of the eight major cities on the mainland of Morrowind,  situated on the northwest point of the province, near the Velothi Mountains. Blacklight is most well-known as the capital of the Great House Redoran,  whose values revolve around the virtues of maintaining honor and persevering through hard-work as a valiant warrior.  Since the provincial capital, Mournhold was sacked by the Argonians in the Accession War of  , Blacklight has become the new capital  and the Council of Great Houses have been held in the city's Rootspire.  
 

Layout & Geography
Blacklight is the capital of the Great House Redoran, and by extension their district, which spanned all of northwest Morrowind, from   to the far south,  the town of   from across the   in the east,  or even   in the frontier to the north.  The town has hedge mazes in its parks and the city harbors are marked by wharfs and piers.  The city's region and its neighboring borderlands has been riddled with bandits and thieves since the early First Era and as far as the late Third Era. They are typically held up in caves throughout the mountains and would raid villages and farms on both sides of the border.  One of the most well-known examples was the   of the First Era, a band of   adventurers that attacked other bandit clans and raided tombs across the land. But as time went on, they robbed villagers in the Blacklight region for their family heirlooms and sacred relics.  By the Fourth Era, Blacklight's size and scope rivaled that of Mournhold.  Blacklight is neighbored by several settlements, one of them being   to the west. 

Notable Locales


History
According to the historical-fiction novel,  , King   of   visited the King of Blacklight and brought his younger brother, Prince   along so that he would not cause trouble. He sent the prince into town to have his knife mended and had the local stableboy,   serve him as his guide to the city. Seeing no need for an escort, Moraelyn left the stableboy behind, but Mith relentlessly followed suit through four blocks and the city wharves before the prince was able to evade him. Once Moraelyn reached the smith however, he realized that his coin pouch was stolen by Mith and the guards were called him, even though he was able to dispatch them with ease, he retreated to the hedge maze of a local park where Mith found him later. The two shared a laugh and quickly became friends. The stableboy became one of Moraelyn's first companions before he became a well-known champion of Tamriel. 

Since roughly  , House Redoran has continuously improved on Blacklight as a whole.  By  , the Great House Dunmer of Blacklight would finance operations on the then sparsely-populated  , specifically in the upper northwest region for exploitable resources.  By that time, House Redoran held vast control over Vvardenfell's western region, from   to  , and even in  ,  but made much of their business with  , much to their dismay. 

By the late  ,   and his   stationed themselves west of Blacklight and nearby   for their invasion of Morrowind. House Redoran assembled a motley defense of Redoran mercenaries, and an elite unit of house nobles,  , and  , however, the other Great Houses refused to bolster the western flank for their own reasons. The situation was changed when   announced a peace agreement would be arranged with Tiber Septim, called the  . House Redoran agreed to the treaty, grateful enough to not face an army of such a scope alone.  At some point after Vvardenfell was opened to the public in  ,  the Redoran Council moved to their newly-occupied territory, Ald'ruhn by the decree of the Archmaster,  . 

During the   in the late  , the city-state of Blacklight was an active settlement. It was ruled by Queen Vermith and had a rivalry with  .  After the   left Morrowind in a state of ruin and grief, the Argonians of   took swift advantage and invaded the province in a conflict known as the Accession War.   The capital city, Mournhold was sacked by the Argonians, but with their army, House Redoran was able to withstand the invasion and force them out of the province, but the damage had already been done. Their own capital, Blacklight was proclaimed the capital of Morrowind  and the Council of the Great Houses would convene in the Rootspire. Since the last thousand years, Blacklight had improved substantially and its grandeur rivals that of Mournhold. 

Gallery
 

Notes
In a similar situation as the town of  , the city of Blacklight has both a localized Tamrielic name, which is "Blacklight," while the Dark Elves have their own equivalent which is translated into the  . 
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, Blacklight's gladiatorial team would have been called "the Dark Knights". 

References