| Tear | |
|---|---|
| Type | Settlement |
| Continent | Tamriel |
| Province | Morrowind |
| Region | Dres |
| Appears in | Arena |
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Tear (also known as Dres)[1] is one of the eight major cities on mainland Morrowind.[2] Tear is the capital of the Great House Dres, whose sphere of influence revolves around an agrarian agricultural society, building its vast fortune from the export of saltrice and its grip on the slavery industry.[3][4] Tear is also known as the Jewel of the East and it is the most open to trade and commerce compared to other cities on the mainland. But even so, strange happenings occur in the night and few people ever complain about it.[5]
Layout and GeographyEdit
The Tear region is notably hot and humid, given its proximity to Black Marsh[1] and the greater Dres District, which mainly sweeps across the province's southern borderlands, is a blend of the central plains in Deshaan and the swampy interior of Black Marsh. Tear is the epicenter of a series of plantations[4] that harvest everything from saltrice[3] to lichen.[6] These plantations are walled-off and heavily guarded by Dres spearmen, sometimes riding on large wasp-like insects called parraptons.[7] Tear is neighbored by several settlements, including Corkarth Run to the north-northwest, Silnim Dale to the far west-northwest, and Black Marsh to the south,[2] toward Thorn.[8]
Notable LocalesEdit
HistoryEdit
It is currently unknown when Tear was founded, but House Dres was given its status of a Great House sometime before the 84th Year of the Golden Peace after a slave-raid on Tear's neighbor, Thorn orchestrated by Grandmaster Thalthil Dres. This event was what also established House Dres' role as a predominant supplier in the slave industry.[3][11] Scholars from the Antiquarian Circle have stated that House Dres had been at the forefront of the Dunmeri slave trade since the mid-First Era.[12]
Ten years after his initial battle near Gnisis, the Warrior-Poet, Vivec re-encountered the Ruddy Man near Tear, who already ransacked three villages. The monster's carapace was now worn by a wayward shaman of the House of Troubles. The Dreugh had imbued the armor with mythic inflexibility, making it molt onto the shaman and have their bones stretched. Vivec defeated the monster with the Symbolic Collage and entrusted the carapace to the loyal mystics of the Number Room.[13]
At some point in the First Era, Tear was caught amid a conflict called the War for Silyanorn, between the First Empire and Morrowind. The Imperial Navy defeated House Indoril's fleet at the Battle of Tear Harbor. In honor of their defeat, they gave one of their ships to the legion, who named it the Dominus Fatum. It later perished during the chase for Red Bramman in 1E 1033, re-surfacing in northern Murkmire.[10]
In 2E 573, Tear suffered a series of disasters including summer chills, a flood, a miasma that settled over the city, fouled drinking water, and plague. With the healers of the city overwhelmed, and nearby communities declining aid for fear of spreading the plague, the healer Rindral Thirano was driven to bargain with the Daedric Prince Peryite for the city's survival. At the cost of taking all the ills of the city upon himself, Rindral ensured Tear's recovery and good health.[14] Sometime in the late Second Era, the Khajiiti crime boss, S'rathra sent his band of brigands to a plantation outside of Tear to free his kinsmen from Dres slavers. The Redguard, Cyrus freed some of the slaves, causing a giant revolt across the plantation. In the end, the Dres slavers were defeated and the slaves were liberated. But Cyrus left S'rathra's company to work alone and his path eventually brought him to Stros M'Kai.[15]
During the Imperial Simulacrum in the late Third Era, the city-state of Tear was an active settlement. It was ruled by King Niasth and had a rivalry with Mournhold.[5] When Red Mountain erupted in 4E 5, cities on the mainland like Mournhold were mostly unaffected,[16] however, Tear suffered greatly from the cataclysm. An account from the farmer, Drallin Vess, claims that the ground turned into mush and the swamp essentially swallowed up half the city. Earthquakes tore through the ground and caused water to spill in until people were knee-deep in muck water. People tried to save their families and livestock from the flooding water and when the quakes stopped, the city's southern wall crumbled. Other farmers tried to help everyone they could in Tear's destruction, poor and wealthy alike.[17] It is unknown how Tear fared during the Accession War, which saw the Argonians cut a bloody swathe across southern Morrowind until they were put down by House Redoran.[18]
Known RulersEdit
Culture and SocietyEdit
Tear is the capital of House Dres, whose territory spans across Morrowind and encompassed other notable cities, like Kragenmoor,[3] which was at one point the Great House's capital,[19] and for a brief time, Ebonheart[20] and Necrom.[UOL 1] House Dres separates themselves from the rest of Morrowind as being proud isolationists and by maintaining a persistent tradition of ancestor and daedra worship.[3]
The crop that fueled Tear and House Dres' wealth was saltrice,[3] which is exported across Tamriel via the East Empire Company.[21] Fermented saltrice is an ingredient in Dunmer cuisine,[22] especially for a staple Dunmer beverage called Mazte.[23] But while Tear is known for its saltrice fields, it is especially known for its hand in slavery. The slave-pens of Tear are infamous. Most people that are brought in as slave died an early death in its plantations.[4]
The Sload of Thras would sometimes make routine trips to Tear and buy slaves from House Dres. There is a rumor that the Sload only practice their necromancy on the races of Tamriel, which the author of Corpse Preparation believes is why they purchase as many slaves as they do from Tear.[24] The Last Scabbard of Akrash is a fiction novel set in Tear in 3E 407. It is about a Dres noblewoman named Peliah and her love affair with her Khajiit slave, Kazagh, whose nightly persona is the Lopper, a mass killer that targets Dres slavers.[25] Because the book has an emphasis on smithing, it is sometimes used to teach people the craft.[26]
GalleryEdit
Banner of House Dres
Baron of Tear (Legends)
See AlsoEdit
- For game-specific information, see the Arena article.
BooksEdit
- Last Scabbard of Akrash by Tabar Vunqidh — Story of a slaver's daughter and her Khajiit lover
NotesEdit
- Arena was 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, Tear was known as the "Jewel of the East", and its gladiatorial team would have been called "the Immortals".[UOL 2]
ReferencesEdit
- ^ a b Drulene Falen's dialogue in Morrowind
- ^ a b Map of Morrowind – The Elder Scrolls: Arena
- ^ a b c d e f Understanding House Dres — Solamar Dres, Grand Historian for the House
- ^ a b c Pocket Guide to the Empire, 1st Edition: Morrowind — Imperial Geographical Society, 2E 864
- ^ a b c d e f Tear location and rumors in Arena
- ^ a b People of Morrowind — Various
- ^ Slaver Camp Panel – The Origin of Cyrus!
- ^ Map of Black Marsh – The Elder Scrolls: Arena
- ^ East Empire Company (4th Era Map) – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- ^ a b Strillian Callidus' dialogue in ESO: Murkmire
- ^ Dres Grandmaster Memorial Medal contraband in ESO
- ^ Great House Gold Chalice antiquity codex entries in ESO: Greymoor
- ^ 36 Lessons of Vivec, Sermon 28 — Vivec
- ^ Deal with a Daedric Prince — Rindral Thirano, healer of Tear, circa 2E 573
- ^ The Origin of Cyrus! — Michael Kirkbride
- ^ The Red Year, Vol. II — Melis Ravel
- ^ The Red Year, Vol. I — Melis Ravel
- ^ Adril Arano's dialogue in Skyrim: Dragonborn
- ^ The Improved Emperor's Guide to Tamriel: Stonefalls and Deshaan — Flaccus Terentius, 2E 581
- ^ Drathus Othral's dialogue in ESO
- ^ East Empire Company generic description in Morrowind
- ^ A Feast Among the Dead, Chapter III — Severia Quasitto, renowned traveler
- ^ Mazte generic description in Morrowind
- ^ Corpse Preparation v I
- ^ Last Scabbard of Akrash — Tabar Vunqidh
- ^ Ghorza gra-Bagol's dialogue in Skyrim
Note: The following references are considered to be unofficial sources. They are included to round off this article and may not be authoritative or conclusive.
