Lore:Ontus

Ontus
Type	Settlement
Continent	Tamriel
Province	Cyrodiil
Region	Colovian Highlands
Appears in	Oblivion, ESO

Ontus ca. 2E 582

Ontus is a historical settlement located in the Colovian Highlands, in the province of Cyrodiil. It was a town of workers on the Highlands Road, located near the border toward Hammerfell. It once boasted a mixed population of local Colovians and Redguards, and many of its people either worked the land or the mines. To the north, perched on a hill was a tower called the Ontus Reservior, which functioned as the town's water source. Years later after the town dissolved, the reservoir remained as the modern Imperial ruins known as Fort Ontus.

History

The Colovians have lived in and around Ontus since the early First Era when the Colovian West was divided by ancient kingdoms. In one of the many region's excursions into Reaper's March, the Ontus and Linchal cohorts followed the Hastrel cohort led by the famous General Thibault of Kvatch. When the general died, however, the Hastrel cohort stayed to bury his body in a Colovian crypt and settle in the township now known as Greenhill. The Ontus and Linchal cohorts returned home to Colovia.

By the mid-Second Era, Ontus was an active settlement that provided resources across Colovia. In the late years of the Longhouse Emperors, the town had two main sources of income. The southern ranch owned by Baron Carvain fed much of central Colovia, also known as the West Weald, however, the northern quarry had ups-and-downs throughout the years. It came under the ownership of Lady Raxalee, an Argonian granted the title of a Colovian noble and the land by Emperor Leovic himself. At its worst, Lady Raxalee contemplated selling the quarry to Baron Carvain, but she found great success when the Alliance War erupted, and her quarry supplied stone for the upkeep of fortifications.

In 2E 582, both the mines and ranch suffered low productivity and as a result, a loss in profits. That was until Lady Raxalee discovered an unusual stone that the alchemist, Surius believed could be ground into sand and turned into a potent elixir to increase productivity. With it, the two rivals, Lady Raxalee, and Baron Carvain teamed up and used this elixir to gain profit. However, it had a significant side effect called fatigue fever, and the workers died soon after. Constable Ulbren af-Ander began investigating and asked the town's healer, Nevama for help identifying the sickness. But fearing to have their work compromised, Raxalee and Carvain targeted the two and killed them with fatigue fever. Both eventually succumb to the disease but with the Constable's office empty, his daughter, Yabren returned from the West Weald Legion to fill that role.

Since she was alone to continue his father's investigation, she put out a job listing for a deputy and an adventurer answered. The two interviewed several people across Ontus and eventually Ulbren's old office, where they learned about Carvain and Raxalee's involvement. After questioning them and inspecting their homes, they found Surius' alchemy lab outside of town in a cave called Zeggar's Bluff. While the deputy destroyed the alchemy labs, the Constable returned to town to protect one of her contacts but was taken prisoner to the Ontus Reservoir. Carvain and Raxalee tried to kill the Constable and have their mercenaries dump the elixir into the water. But the deputy stopped them and Yabren apprehended them to later present them in front of Skingrad's magistrate.

In 3E 433, the Mages Guild was embroiled in a conflict with the Order of the Black Worm and their leader, Mannimarco. The Guild at the time had two of his artifacts, one of which was the Necromancer's Amulet but both of them were taken and thus divided the Council of Mages in the Arcane University. One council member, Caranya, took the amulet to Fort Ontus with her supposed reasoning being for the safety of the Imperial City. In reality, she planned to give the amulet to Mannimarco and help usher in his power. The amulet was ultimately recovered by a Wizard of the Guild who was sent by Arch-Mage Hannibal Traven to retrieve it.

Gallery

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  The Ontus wayshrine

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  The Raxalee quarry

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  Fort Ontus (Oblivion)

Notes

• The name "Ontus" is also a male name for Imperials.

See Also

• For game-specific information, see the Oblivion and Elder Scrolls Online articles.