Lore:Maelstrom

Maelstrom
Type	Plane
Realm	Oblivion
Appears in	ESO

Maelstrom

Maelstrom is the realm of Demiprince Fa-Nuit-Hen, the Multiplier of Motions Known. It appears in the style of an arena where mortal challengers can battle the demiprince's Barons of Move Like This in rounds reminiscent of other Daedric or Tamrielic locales. In addition to the various arenas, the realm itself resembles a desert at dusk, with a collection of Redguard-style buildings in its center; this is the area where Daedric spectators gather between each round.^[1]

Maelstrom is what is known as an Oblivious Vortex, where fragments of creatia from all across the planes of Oblivion drift to. In addition to Fa-Nuit-Hen himself, the realm is home to seven other Daedra known as the Barons Who Move Like This, each of whom is an absolute master of his chosen style of martial arts. Their skills are complementary, and inform Fa-Nuit-Hen's own combat mastery, allowing him to act as the Multiplier of Motions Known.^[2]

Fa-Nuit-Hen continuously learns from his barons as they discover new martial styles during their adventures outside the realm. However, the demiprince has an acutely weak memory, and the lessons of his barons begin to fade if they are away for too long. In response to this, Fa-Nuit-Hen created Tutor Riparius, a factotum that acts as a form of peripheral memory storage for the demiprince when he goes "dreaming". Riparius, who appears to be a living Dremora, tutors Fa-Nuit-Hen in his old memories when he returns to a fully lucid state.^[2]

Maelstrom Arena[edit]

One of the methods by which Fa-Nuit-Hen endeavoured to learn new martial forms was through the conversion of his realm into an otherwordly arena, using the creatia from other planes to construct various fantastical realities.^[2] Maelstrom Arena consisted of nine rounds, with each arena constructed by an individual baron. The barons put much of themselves into the creation process, basing each one on the lessons they learned while adventuring. Four of the arenas would be themed after a Daedric Princes' realm. The Baron who Moves like a Shivering Droplet served Sheogorath, and built the Vale of the Surreal, which resembled the Shivering Isles. The Baron Who Moves Like Flickering Flame created the Spiral Shadows, which resembles the Spiral Skein. The Baron who Moves like a Torrent in Spate created the Igneous Cistern, which showed reverence to Malacath. The Theater of Despair was created by The Baron who Moves like a Smoking Plume, who served Mehrunes Dagon, and therefore resembles the Deadlands. Two areas within the arena were modeled after the Clockwork City; Seht's Balcony was built by the Baron Who Moves Like a Dancer's Hips after accompanying Sotha Sil for a season, while Fa-Nuit-Hen himself accompanied The Baron Who Moves Like Heat Lightning to Sotha Sil's City, prompting a second part of the arena, Seht's Flywheel, to be modeled after it. The other arenas resembled regions of Tamriel. Two arenas resemble Black Marsh, with the Baron who Moves like Wind in the Reeds creating the Drome of Toxic Shock, and the Baron who Moves like a Wary Moth creating the Vault of Umbrage. The Baron who Moves like Sunlight on Waves created Rink of Frozen Blood which resembled the Wrothgarian Mountains.^[3]

Unfortunately for Fa-Nuit-Hen, this endeavor would cost him, as his barons tried to outdo each other, pouring too much of their essence and animus into creating their respective sections of the arena that they ceased to exist.^[3] This was especially costly to him due to his weak memory, as over time the demiprince slowly began to forget his barons, potentially leaving nothing but their arenas to remember them by.^[2] Fortunately, circa 2E 582, the Vestige entered the realm through a portal high in the mountains of Wrothgar and accepted Fa-Nuit-Hen's challenge to beat all nine arenas. Since each arena had been effaced with the memories of its respective baron, the demiprince was able to recall each baron by witnessing the successful completion of each round. By the completion of the ninth round, the grateful Fa-Nuit-Hen had managed to recall each of his barons, allowing him to summon them back to his realm in order to restore his full power.^[4]