Lore:Elinhir

, also known as the City of Mages, is a town in eastern  , close to the border with both   and  . It is located in the   region, close to the Skyrim town of  . 
 
History
Elinhir is the oldest surviving city in Craglorn. It was originally a   settlement, as evidenced by the city's tall  s. According to some legends, it was built by the "Nameless Founder" at the impact site of a great skystone that fell from the sky.  The   of  , a powerful remnant of the Nedic religion, is located beneath the city. The city was overseen by Governor Pomptinus from   to   as part of the  , during which time the city sewerworks were constructed.  Before the beginning of the  , Elinhir was similar to the rest of Craglorn in that it was settled mainly by those unfit for life inside the Empire, and it was constantly preyed upon by bandits and  s.

Early in the Second Era, a group of rogue mages led by   arrived at the city after departing from the   and attempted to occupy the ruins of the Apex Tower. The mayor refused them, and in retaliation the mages seemingly made a deal with the Iron Orcs so that they would besiege the city. In a show of might, the mages drove the Orcs away, and subsequently signed the   with the town's leadership. Under this agreement, the mages would protect the town for as long as the people of Elinhir provided support for the operation of their mages' academy. 

From these rogue mages grew the  , who eventually came to rule over the city. Elinhir still served as a haven for outcasts, but was "civilized" under the strict rule of the mages. Despite being labeled as renegades by the Mages Guild, Elinhir prospered under the mages as their academy grew. This changed in  , when the constellations fell from the skies above Craglorn. An agent of the   made a deal with the mages, offering to unlock the true power of the Nedic devices in their towers in return for the location of the Mage's Apex Stone.   subsequently corrupted the Stone and gained control of the Mage, who caused chaos in the surrounding region.   guardians, who had been summoned to protect Craglorn from  's  , turned rogue, and people were transformed into mindless  s by the massive amounts of magicka permeating the region. 

The Blackcaster mages were similarly corrupted when they attempted to cast the Nedic spell. The results were horrendous, and the Blackcasters began to hunt down every mage in Elinhir to steal their magicka, killing many civilians in the process. At their nearby complex of  , the guild also created  s from the rogue elementals in an attempt to assemble a Daedric army for the Serpent. The guild's leader, Arch-Mage  , was driven insane by her lust for power, and Elinhir's surviving population were forced to flee or take refuge in the city sewers. The city's problems were ultimately resolved with the death of Yamanu-ko and the cleansing of the Mage's Apex Stone. 

thumb|right|Elinhir during the Imperial Simulacrum
By  , the  s of Elinhir were noted for their  n fashion and taste.  During the   in the late  , the city-state of Elinhir was an active settlement. At the time, it was known as the "Guardian of the West." It was ruled by Queen Fhimke-i, and it had a rivalry with  .  Elinhir was neighbored by several settlements, including   to the northwest,   to the south, and Skyrim to the northeast, towards  .   Elinhir was caught up in the  , having been claimed by the  s of Skyrim. Although resistance in Elinhir was feeble at best, there was much more conflict on the border regions in the countryside.  At around the same time, the High Prophet of Elinhir,   assembled the True Crowns of the north and started a rebellion against King   and the   to the west. Ayaan-si's efforts had started to pay off when he managed to liberate   from Sentinel. 
 

Notes
The city is spelled "Blinhir" on the Elder Scrolls Anthology map, though this is likely a misspelling. 
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, Elinhir's gladiatorial team would have been called "the Blackcasters".  It was later reintroduced as the name of a group of mages in the city.
During Saturalia, the youth of the gentry give each other licentious presents that are intended to dare the recipients into lascivious behavior, though the giver's name is never revealed—it's up to each recipient to guess who their 'Secret Sanguine' was. 

See Also
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References