Lore:Fort Grief

Fort Grief
Type	Imperial Ruin
Continent	Tamriel
Province	Cyrodiil
Region	Heartlands
Appears in	Oblivion, ESO

Fort Grief circa 3E 433

Fort Grief is a ruined Imperial Legion fort located on Fort Grief Island, an island at the mouth of the Silverfish River in Niben Bay.

History

The fort circa 2E 582, during the Waking Flame's occupation

The Riven Cataclyst chamber beneath the fort

First Era

Fort Grief was built early in Emperor Reman I's reign, between 1E 2709 and 1E 2718, to protect the eastern shoreline of the Niben Bay from attacks to the south. Before it completed construction, it was deemed unnecessary as the Second Empire's rapid expansion made it impossible for any threat to ascend up the Niben River, even for aggressive Argonian raiders from Black Marsh. Despite that, Fort Grief served a better purpose as a thriving command center for the Imperial Legion and it saw a lot of use for at least two hundred years by custom officials and patrols from nearby cities to mitigate smuggling and piracy in the area. Fort Grief was eventually abandoned by 1E 2900 and no serious effort was made to refurbish the fort ever since.

Second Era

Circa 2E 582, the Order of the Waking Flame took up occupancy of the abandoned fort. It was here that Sister Celdina built the Riven Cataclyst, a machine capable of transforming Daedra into manifestations of destruction known as Incarnates. The Riven Cataclyst had been designed under duress by Elegian, a former Moth Priest who had served Emperor Moricar prior to being abducted by the forces of Mehrunes Dagon. In order to keep the Cataclyst's location secret, the Waking Flame opened a permanent portal to Fort Grief atop Annihilarch's Summit, a high peak in the Deadlands considered largely inaccessible to mortals and Daedra alike.

After her defeat at Burning Gyre Keep, Sister Celdina and her minions fled to Fort Grief, bringing many captured Dremora with them for the purposes of creating an army of Incarnates. However, Celdina was followed by the Vestige, who entered the portal atop Annihilarch's Summit and rescued the remaining Dremora prisoners. Although Celdina successfully managed to create a Storm Incarnate, she was confronted in the depths of the fort by the Vestige and the Anchorite, who managed to defeat the Incarnate and destroy the Riven Cataclyst. The destruction of the Cataclyst damaged Fort Grief, causing the citadel to collapse and forcing the respective parties to flee.

Third Era

By the late Third Era, the ruins had come to be used by an Orc usurer named Kurdan gro-Dragol as the location for the "Hunter's Run", a bloodsport event where people would pay a great deal of money to hunt and kill live human prey. Kurdan would promise to clear debts in exchange for the recovery of a fictional family heirloom, the Axe of Dragol; he would arrange for transport to the island, and the victim would then become trapped within the ruins via a complex locking mechanism. The only way for the prey to "win" was by descending into the underground depths of the ruins and killing all the hunters. However, the game was monitored by Kurdan, who would ensure that no one left the island alive even if they managed to defeat the hunters.

In 3E 433, the Hero of Kvatch was lured into the Hunter's Run in search of a missing Breton man named Aleron Loche. The Hero successfully defeated Kurdan and his clients and escaped from the island, but Aleron was killed in the process. It was at around this time that Fort Grief possessed one of the last samples of Shadowbanish Wine in Cyrodiil. It was collected by the Hero and later given to the publican of Weye's inn, Nerussa, who was also an avid wine collector.

Gallery

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  Fort Grief circa 2E 582

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  Fort Grief circa 2E 582

See Also

• For game-specific information, see the Oblivion and Elder Scrolls Online articles.

Books

• The Restoration of Fort Grief by Devastator Idrian Volturno, Spring, 2E 580 — Plans to reconstruction an old fort in Niben Bay