Lore:Salas En

Salas En
Type	Ayleid Ruin
Continent	Tamriel
Province	Hammerfell
Region	Alik'r Desert (Myrkwasa)
Appears in	ESO

Salas En ca. 2E 582

Salas En is a historical settlement located on the coastal bluffs of Cape Shira, in the province of Hammerfell. Three different cultures have claimed this former city, from the Ayleids that originally built it, to the Corelanya Clan of Altmer that made it the seat of a vast kingdom, and to finally the Crown Redguards that fled their lost homeland. Today, the present-day people of the Alik'r avoid it out of superstition and reverance to burial grounds, even for other races.

History

The Elves of Salas En

Kinlady Iniel of Clan Corelanya

Salas En was first settled by an unknown clan of Ayleids and built by their Nedic slaves in the Merethic Era. The Ayleids of Salas En are virtually unknown in history but off all additions to the city, their structures have lasted the longest. Its construction in the Merethic Era means it predates the Ayleid settlements in northwest Tamriel that were built during the Ayleid Diaspora. The Ayleids here were eventually assimilated with the most prominent elven culture in the area, the Direnni of Balfiera, who live there to this day.

Modern archaeologists that investigate the city have found Bosmer relics mixed with classical high-period Altmer relics, suggesting that it was briefly a stopover for Bosmer merchants, during the historic height of their coastal trade. By the sixth century of the First Era, Salas En was abandoned until an Altmer noble named Sundavar Corelanya arrived in 1E 522 to establish his own kingdom. His people settled in Salas En, where they lived in its abandoned halls and built over old structures.

The Corelanya Clan came to Hammerfell after High King Tenalarion of Alinor enacted a harsh ban on daedra worship, and rather than submitting to it, Sundavar and the clan left. Corelanyan ships traded across the Abecean Sea, remained neutral with the Summerset Isles, and were friendly with the Direnni Hegemony and Bosmer kingdoms. The clan thrived in their new home, and under the protection of their daedric patrons.

The Corelanya Clan had their foes, namely the giant goblins of the deep desert and the Alessian Order, and considering the hostility of the mainland, the clan's main focus was on the sea and the exploration of new lands for riches and exploits. There were many Corelanyan outposts and ports across the Abecean Sea and Topal Bay. Perhaps their most accomplished explorer was Iniel Corelanya, who would become Salas En's kinlady after an ill-fated invasion of Solstice, an island on the Southern Sea in 1E 723. Iniel's reign was strong and uncompromised, but brought some alienation with the clan's allies. Even rumors spread of her dealings with more malevolent daedric patrons.

The Ra Gada Invasion and Onward

King Xakhwan, formerly of Yath

In 1E 808, the Ra Gada arrived on Hammerfell and spread themselves out to conquer the land. Grandee Yaghoub of Akos Kasaz sailed into the Iliac Bay and conquered the elven settlement that would become Sentinel. Neither Iniel nor Sentinel were interested in sharing land so for years, the two were at odds, with Sentinel growing to despise the "accursed city". The Corelanya Clan defended Salas En with powerful magicks and stealthy raids, even hindering Ra Gada expeditions with sandstorms, mirages, and daedra.

This feud ended in 1E 853 when King Xakhwan of Yath led an army of neighboring Yokudan realms to sack Salas En with his sons, Princes Haqmir and Sameer leading the charge. In desperation, Iniel Corelanya called to her patron, Molag Bal, and used powerful necromancy she found on Solstice to defeat them. While the princes confronted her on the seaside cliffs, their father was slain by Iniel's most powerful necromancer, Wraithmaster Venerien. In the end, the princes defeated her and had one final confrontation with Venerien and their father. Despite their sacred traditions of preserving dead, the necromancer was killed and their father's body was destroyed.

Very few Corelanyans survived the sacking of Salas En. Their use of necromancy turned the feud into a holy war as more of their settlements were destroyed. But by the time the Ra Gada invaded, a third of Corelanyans were abroad and with little options, returned to their estates on the Summerset Isles, at the time governed by Iniel's cousin, Earlenque. While one Ra Gada prince was banished for destroying Xakhwan's body, the other took over as King. The Yath Yokudans that invaded turned Salas En into their new home, and lived there for much of the First Era. It was abandoned again by the mid-23rd century, which would correspond with the Thrassian Plague outbreak.

As late as the mid-Second Era, Salas En sat abandoned and partially buried in sand. The ruins had never been properly explored or studied and Alik'r locals greatly avoid it. Sometime during the Corelanya Clan's occupation of Salas En, there was an Altmer noblewoman named Nuralanya, who had an Orc slave named Gurlak and they were madly in love. But the other elves discovered their relationship and punished them with a spell, one that bound the both of them and another that prolonged Gurlak's life for hundreds of years. Gurlak was helpless as he saw Nuralanya eventually die of old age. He even lived through the Ra Gada invasion. Throughout the years, adventurers discovered Gurlak's prison and tried to free him but to no avail.

In 2E 582, Lady Clarisse Laurent, a famous archaeologist from Daggerfall launched an expedition into Salas En to uncover its ancient history with the Ayleids. Her researchers provided her base level information and she wrote a book called the The Salas En Expedition to detail it. With her assistant, Stibbons and a mercenary-for-hire, Tamien Sellan, they traveled to the ruins. Inside, they found a portal and she sent Stibbons through it, only for him to come back with an invading army of Aldmeri Dominion soldiers. Laurent enlisted help from the Vestige and successfully closed the portal, ending a potential threat to the Daggerfall Covenant. While they were there, the Vestige helped Laurent's companions recover tools around the outer site and free Gurlak from his eternal prison, reuniting him with his love.

Known Rulers

• Corelanya Clan
  • Kinlord Sundavar Corelanya (1E 522 – 1E ?)
  • Kinlord Roliondil (ca. 1E 667)
  • Kinlady Iniel Corelanya (1E ? – 1E 853) – Iniel became the Kinlady of Salas En not long after her failed invasion of Solstice in 1E 723.
• Crowns of Yath – The Yokudans took over Salas En in the mid-ninth century of the First Era, up until the mid-23rd century, corresponding to the Thrassian Plague outbreak.

Gallery

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  Wraithmaster Venerien

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  Prince Sameer

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  Prince Haqmir

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  Gurlak, the Oldest Orc

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  The portal dias of Salas En

Notes

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  Clarisse Laurent's dialogue claiming that the Ayleids built it in the Merethic Era and that they defeated by the Ra Gada contradicts other pieces of information. Ayleid Survivals in Valenwood explains that the Ayleids first settled the Iliac Bay and Valenwood in the early First Era. It also contradicts Clarisse's own book, The Salas En Expedition as well as lore introduced later in History of Clan Corelanya, which explains that the Altmer that settled after the Ayleids were the ones to be displaced.

See Also

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

Books

• History of Clan Corelanya by Lady Karinwe Corelanya — A series written by the Regent of Sunport regarding Clan Corelanya's history
• The Salas En Expedition by Lady Clarisse Laurent — An academic study into the ruins of Salas En