Lore:Castle of the Worm

Castle of the Worm
Type	Settlement
Realm	Oblivion
Plane	Coldharbour
Appears in	ESO

Castle of the Worm

The Castle of the Worm was an enormous complex built in Coldharbour. It served as the Order of the Black Worm's stronghold during the time of the Planemeld.

Following the Soulburst caused by Mannimarco in 2E 578, Nirn was cast adrift so that Molag Bal could merge it with his realm of Coldharbour. Although acting as his loyal servant, Mannimarco planned to usurp Bal's place as the God of Schemes and rule over both Nirn and Coldharbour. The Castle of the Worm was built using dark magics and the slave labor of Soul Shriven as a monument to the necromancer's hubris. Although Mannimarco himself continued to rule from the Imperial City, the Castle was used as a prison and cattle pen. Overseen by Worm Cultists, countless mortals were sacrificed to Molag Bal at the Castle, losing their souls to become Soul Shriven. Their corpses were then used as material for the creation of undead servants to guard the fortress. A small Soul Shriven village called the Wretched Squalor sprung up outside the walls of the Castle.

One of the Castle's many prisoners was Chancellor Abnur Tharn of the Elder Council. Despite submitting to Mannimarco following the necromancer's betrayal of Emperor Varen Aquilarios, Tharn was eventually removed from his position of power in the Imperial City and confined to the Castle. He was given meaningless tasks, overseeing minor Worm Cult cells on Tamriel and sorting soul gems, and was kept alive for political reasons only until such time as he could be disposed of. By chance, in 2E 582 following his escape from Coldharbour, Varen Aquilarios came into possession of a magical orb that Tharn used to communicate with a subordinate. Seeing it as a chance to escape, Tharn promised to reveal the location of Sai Sahan if he could be extracted from the Castle. Aquilarios created a portal to Coldharbour for Lyris Titanborn and the Vestige, who were then able to enter the Castle through its cistern with the help of Sir Cadwell. Fighting through the Daedric, mortal and undead guardians, the intruders succeeded in freeing Tharn from captivity and were teleported out by Aquilarios after a brief confrontation with Mannimarco's projection.

After his failure to secure the Amulet of Kings from the Five Companions later that year, Molag Bal learned of Mannimarco's plans to replace him. The King of Worms was pulled into Coldharbour to be tortured for all eternity, and although he later escaped from the Prince's clutches, it can be assumed that the Worm Cult fell out of favor within Coldharbour. The fate of the Castle of the Worm is unknown following the failure of the Planemeld.

See Also

• For game-specific information, see the ESO article.