| Ilinalta's Deep | |
|---|---|
| Type | Imperial Ruin |
| Continent | Tamriel |
| Province | Skyrim |
| Hold | Falkreath |
| Appears in | Skyrim |
Ilinalta's Deep (formerly known as Fort Ilinalta)[1] is a ruined fort on the shores of Lake Ilinalta in Falkreath Hold, in the province of Skyrim. It was built sometime in the Fourth Era by a disenfranchised teacher from the College of Winterhold, Malyn Varen, and his followers. It eventually sank into Lake Ilinalta and flooded from within.[1] Ever since then, local fisherfolk have believed that the whole lake is cursed.[2]
HistoryEdit
At some point in the Fourth Era, the master enchanter, Malyn Varen came across Azura's Star. Through a series of experiments, he reverse engineered the Daedric artifact and turned it into the Black Star, the ultimate soul gem. He decided to gather his followers and leave Winterhold in the northeast to Lake Ilinalta, away from the prying eyes of his colleagues There, he built his new retreat, Fort Ilinalta. After some experiments, the island on which the fort was built on collapsed and brought the entire compound into the water. With the help of some enchantments, the fort stayed intact but flooded nonetheless. Malyn's goal was to reconfigure the star to absorb black souls like his, and hopefully achieve immortality like the Daedra.[1] In his dying moments, he trapped his own black soul into the star and achieved the impossible.[3]
Since then, Ilinalta's Deep became the source of superstition among the people of Falkreath Hold. They say that haunted spirits roam the halls and steal little children from their mother's cribs.[2] In 4E 201, a chosen champion of Azura delved into Ilinalta's Deep to retrieve the star at the behest of Malyn's former student, Nelacar. The hero found the ruins occupied by a coven of necromancers, the remnants of Malyn's following, and eventually entered the deluge where Malyn Varen's remains were located. They were able to recover the star and returned it to either Azura or Nelacar. However, Malyn's soul was still in the star, and it needed to be vanquished before the artifact could be restored. Malyn was destroyed, but the fate of Azura's Star is unknown.[4]
GalleryEdit
-
The sunken halls
-
Malyn Varen's tomb
See AlsoEdit
- For game-specific information, see the Skyrim article.
ReferencesEdit
- ^ a b c Malyn Varen's Grimoire — Malyn Varen, Master Enchanter
- ^ a b Fisherman's Journal
- ^ Nelacar's dialogue in Skyrim
- ^ The Black Star Daedric quest in Skyrim