Lore:Xi-Tsei

Xi-Tsei
Type	Argonian Ruin
Continent	Tamriel
Province	Cyrodiil
Region	Blackwood (Gloomire)
Appears in	ESO

Xi-Tsei ca. 2E 582

Xi-Tsei is a ruined Argonian temple located on the southern strip of Blackwood, which falls under the province of Cyrodiil. Xi-Tsei is infamous among the locals of the region. By the mid Second Era, it was one of the haunts of the Sul-Xan, an Argonian tribe of Mehrunes Dagon worshippers but historically, the xanmeer was the site of a gruesome massacre in the Blackwater War and locals claim the area is cursed ever since.

History

Following a series of crushing defeats during the Blackwater War, in 1E 2820, General Augurius Bucco and the Fourth Legion fled west from Black Marsh's interior and sought a brief respite in the abandoned ruins of Xi-Tsei before returning to Cyrodiil. To their misfortune, on the 14th of Last Seed, Bucco and the Fourth Legion were slaughtered in what was known as the Xi-Tsei Massacre; however, details of the massacre have brought about debates among scholars. The general consensus is that a large Argonian war party wiped them out, but evidence was spotty at best. Archaeologists managed to recover a couple hundred bodies and some weaponry but a hundred more soldiers were missing. There were no reports to suggest that they made it back home on their own nor excavations in war camps suggest prisoners were taken. The question has since been, "what happened to those soldiers"? The historian, Valenca Arvina believes that the Argonians know more than they let on. But since then, no one from Black Marsh has come forward to provide details.

In the time since then, Xi-Tsei has remained the source of superstition among the people, who claim that it is cursed. But during the Interregnum, the Sul-Xan tribe of Naga Argonians took residence in the xanmeer and it became their favored shrine. In 2E 582, the Sul-Xan in Xi-Tsei were led by Raaj-Kal Ioraxeek and they acquired the Idol of Xulunaht, an artifact they planned to use as a conduit to siphon the spirit of innocents and summon a spirit of pure destruction. They kidnapped several people to perform the ritual on and one of those peoples' friends, Jela enlisted the help of an adventurer to free them. The two fought their way through the dungeon and freed each prisoner. In the end, the adventurer destroyed the idol and Jela's friends managed to escape.

Circa 2E 582, a nisswo's apprentice in Blackwood sought to carry out his master's dream of uncovering the Nightwielder's Tome, as unfinished business led to his soul to stay on the mortal plane. The Tome is an artifact written by Azra Nightwielder in runes that cannot be read by mortal eyes. The nisswo see things without using their eyes, and the Argonian speculated that perhaps Azra used a similar method in its writing. The Argonian tasked an adventurer with retrieving the tome from the Xi-Tsei Xanmeer, which was taken over by the Sul-Xan, an Argonian tribe of Dagonites. The apprentice gave Azra's Tome to the Clutch of Nisswo for safekeeping.

Gallery

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  Xi-Tsei (ESO)

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  Map of Cyrodiil

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  Map of Blackwood; Xi-Tsei is south of Gideon and northwest of Rockgrove

Notes

• ^	Although the temple is distinctly Argonian and sources such as The Blackwater War collection suggest it is located in Black Marsh; when comparing the delve's location in ESO to maps of Cyrodiil, it would place the ruin in Cyrodiil.

See Also

• For game-specific information, see the Elder Scrolls Online article.

Books

• The Blackwater War, Volume 4 by Valenca Arvina, Historian-in-Residence at Gwylim University — A historical account of Black Marsh's annexation as an Imperial Province