Lore:Thorn

Thorn
Type	Settlement
Continent	Tamriel
Province	Black Marsh
Region	Thornmarsh
Appears in	Arena

Thorn (Arena)

Map of Black Marsh

Thornis one of the eight major cities in the province ofBlack Marsh,in theThornmarshregion. Historically, the settlement has ties to the Great House ofDres,whose slave-raid on the city earned it its title as aGreat House.Thorn earned the epithet of theJewel of the East,and the town is just as deadly as it is beautiful; vagabonds are always eyeing purse strings and the guards always turn a blind eye.

Layout and Geography

Thorn is located in a region known as Thornmarsh, located somewhere in northeast Black Marsh. In the city's outskirts are fields ofsaltricethat House Dres have profited from since their occupation of the city and even further outside of the city are villages owned by theArcheins,a tribe of kleptocraticArgonians.Thorn and the rest of the east coast (ArchonandArnesia) was historically occupied by elven dissidents such as theBarsaebic Ayleidsfrom the west, or theCantemiric Velothiform the north.Thorn is neighbored by several settlements, includingBranchmontto the southwest,Riverwalkto the west, andMorrowindto the north,towardTear.

Notable Locales

• Saltrice Fields
• Thorn Palace

History

At some point in the mid-First Era,Thorn had been attacked by the then minor House Dres and their warriors, led by CouncilorThalthil Dres.The slave raid proved instrumental in the house's elevation into the status of Great House, as well as their position as figureheads in the slave industry, which they maintained for several centuries.The event is memorialized in a popular silhouette-painting called "The Slave-Coffles of Thorn", which is described as heartbreaking.

At some point in time, Thorn had been razed to the ground when aNagacitizen namedAvumarmanaged to make contact with aDremoraand hastily agreed to the daedra's terms, which led to the city's destruction. Avumar's process in the ritual was modified from past rituals that sought the same outcome, and these past attempts led to destruction. She used an earthen vessel, specifically her boiler to converse the immense energy from theDeadlandsinto steam, which reached sufficient temperatures to successfully make contact with the realm.

By the mid-Second Era,House Dres took complete control of Thorn and it was administrated by CouncilorGlathis Dres.When theSecond Akaviri Invasiontook place in2E 572,many soldiers and able-bodies were called to arms byAlmalexiaand the city was left with few armed fighters. Before she became an influential figure,Heita-Meenwas a slave from Thorn and while she worked in the saltrice fields, she escaped into the wilderness with her friends until they were captured by Archein guards. In their village, Heita-Meen received a vision of the war in the north and saw it as an opportunity for her people. When she was taken back to Thorn, she killed Glathis Dres and defeated the Archein centurion, gaining control of the guard. Heita-Meen took her warriors and traveled north withWalks-in-Ashsand theShellbacksofStormhold.When theEbonheart Pactwas founded that same year, the northern regions around Stormhold and Thorn joined the alliance and greatly benefited from the cessation of slave raids to their tribes.But becauseHouse Telvanninever joined the Pact, they were free to take Argonians, even from the north.

During theImperial Simulacrumin the lateThird Era,the city-state of Thorn was an active settlement. It was ruled by King Tibus and had a rivalry withArchon.

Gallery

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  Thorn Histmage (Legends)

Notes

• Arenawas 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, Thorn's gladiatorial team would have been called "the Warlords".

References

Note:The following references are considered to beunofficial sources.They are included to round off this article and may not be authoritative or conclusive.