50 Fun Facts About The Elder Scrolls Online

Which Monty Python star voices Sir Cadwell, the cheerfully mad lost soul in The Elder Scrolls Online?

John Cleese plays Sir Cadwell as a man who fears no one, not even a Daedric Prince, and whose almanac later guides players through the other alliances' stories.

Which Elder Scrolls tradition does The Elder Scrolls Online continue in the way every new character starts the story?

As a prisoner, like the heroes of earlier games, though this captive is already dead: a soulless husk enslaved in a Daedric Prince's realm.

Which company became the ultimate owner of The Elder Scrolls Online in 2021 by acquiring Bethesda's parent company?

Microsoft completed its purchase in March 2021, putting the game under the same roof as Xbox even as it kept running on PlayStation.

In which central province of Tamriel, the setting of Oblivion, do The Elder Scrolls Online's three alliances wage war?

Cyrodiil is one vast player-versus-player battlefield, where alliances storm keeps and steal each other's Elder Scrolls like flags.

What did The Elder Scrolls Online drop in March 2015 when it relaunched as Tamriel Unlimited?

The monthly subscription gave way to a buy-once model with an optional membership, and the game's reviews improved markedly after the switch.

Which Harry Potter film actor voiced the Prophet, the blind guide of The Elder Scrolls Online's main quest?

Michael Gambon, Dumbledore from the third Harry Potter film onward, voiced the blind old man who guides players on the quest to recover their stolen souls.

What does Molag Bal send down across Tamriel to pull the mortal world into his realm in The Elder Scrolls Online?

Dark Anchors, also known as Dolmens, are enormous hooks on great chains that bite into the ground until players band together to destroy them.

Which island, the setting of 2002's The Elder Scrolls III, did The Elder Scrolls Online revisit in its first Chapter?

Vvardenfell returned in 2017's Morrowind Chapter, an expansion later folded into the base game for every player.

Which Daedric Prince rules Apocrypha, the realm whose runes and tomes power The Elder Scrolls Online's Arcanist class?

Hermaeus Mora is the keeper of forbidden knowledge, and Arcanists channel his realm's ancient runes and lost tomes to attack, heal or defend.

Which Elder Scrolls Online Chapter, set on the High Elves' home island, won GLAAD's Outstanding Video Game award?

Summerset took the prize at the 30th GLAAD Media Awards, and the same expansion added jewelry crafting to the game.

What premium currency, bought with real money, is spent in The Elder Scrolls Online's in-game store?

Crowns cannot be earned by playing: they are bought outright or arrive as a stipend with the game's optional membership.

Which bleak realm of Oblivion, ruled by Molag Bal, do new characters escape at the start of The Elder Scrolls Online?

Coldharbour is also where the main story ends: the player storms Molag Bal's own stronghold there to win back their stolen soul.

Which alliance in The Elder Scrolls Online unites the Nords, Dark Elves and Argonians under Jorunn the Skald-King?

The Ebonheart Pact was formed reluctantly: its three peoples share an ancestral hatred but banded together to protect their borders.

Which developer, founded in 2007 to build massively multiplayer games, released ESO as its first project?

ZeniMax Online Studios, based in Hunt Valley, Maryland, spent seven years building the game before its 2014 launch.

Which animal appears on the banner of the Daggerfall Covenant, the Breton-led alliance in The Elder Scrolls Online?

A lion stands for the Covenant of Bretons, Redguards and Orcs, whose High King Emeric is voiced by Bill Nighy.

In which era of Tamriel's history, about a thousand years before Skyrim, is The Elder Scrolls Online set?

The Second Era setting falls at a time when the imperial throne sits empty, which is why three alliances are free to fight over it.

Which 1970s television star voices Azura, the Daedric Prince of Dusk and Dawn, in The Elder Scrolls Online?

Lynda Carter, television's Wonder Woman, also voiced characters in Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim; her husband ran the parent company of the games' publisher.

Which British actor voices Molag Bal, the Daedric Prince who steals the player's soul in The Elder Scrolls Online?

Malcolm McDowell had already voiced President Eden in Fallout 3 before taking on the game's primary antagonist.

Which British film actress voices Queen Ayrenn, leader of the Aldmeri Dominion, in The Elder Scrolls Online?

Kate Beckinsale voices the High Elf queen, who spent her years as a princess exploring Tamriel before taking the throne.

Which monuments let players fast-travel around Tamriel in The Elder Scrolls Online, at no charge from one to another?

Wayshrines are free to hop between, but recalling to one from the wilderness costs coin, and more of it when done in quick succession.

Which collectibles, hidden across The Elder Scrolls Online, grant one skill point for every three absorbed?

Skyshards are optional, except for one that the main story's opening quest has the player absorb in order to return to Tamriel.

What is the name of The Elder Scrolls Online's optional paid membership, which includes a bottomless Craft Bag?

ESO Plus began in 2015 at the same price as the old compulsory fee, and its Craft Bag holds unlimited crafting materials for a whole account.

Which Elder Scrolls Online Chapter, set in the homeland of the Khajiit, brought dragons back to the skies of Tamriel?

Elsweyr freed a whole rage of dragons from the Halls of Colossus, opening a war against them that ran through four releases in 2019.

What do characters in The Elder Scrolls Online earn in place of new levels once they reach level 50?

Champion Points replaced an older Veteran Rank ladder and are spent on perks in three constellations: the Warrior, the Mage and the Thief.

Which deck-building card game arrived in The Elder Scrolls Online with the High Isle Chapter?

Tales of Tribute is a two-player game that began, in the lore, on the Systres islands before becoming popular all over Tamriel.

Which Elder Scrolls Online Chapter pits players against Mehrunes Dagon, the Daedric Prince who invades in Oblivion?

Blackwood stretches from the city of Leyawiin into the bogs of the Argonian homeland, some 800 years before the Prince's famous invasion.

Which monuments in The Elder Scrolls Online grant a lasting blessing named for a constellation such as The Lover?

Mundus Stones allow only one blessing at a time, so switching to a new sign means giving up the old one.

Which guild of dungeon-delving adventurers recruits players in the taverns of The Elder Scrolls Online?

The Undaunted have a skill line built for group play, levelled by clearing dungeons and by daily contracts known as pledges.

Which crafting skill line in The Elder Scrolls Online requires a learned recipe for every item it makes?

Provisioning turns ingredients into cooked food and brewed drinks, whereas the other crafts can make items as soon as the materials are to hand.

Which nature-themed class of frost magic and summoned beasts joined The Elder Scrolls Online with the Morrowind Chapter?

Warden magic is framed as storytelling: the in-game description calls its members defenders of the Green whose nature stories become magical reality.

Which faction in The Elder Scrolls Online raises its skill line when members kill Daedra and undead?

Fighters Guild is a mercenary company with halls all over Tamriel, and a character can sign up at any of them whatever their alliance.

By what title is the player character known in The Elder Scrolls Online after being sacrificed to Molag Bal?

The Vestige is a title bestowed by the blind Prophet, who had read of a Soulless One destined to save Tamriel.

Which High Elf wizard, the King of Worms, sacrifices the player in the opening of The Elder Scrolls Online?

Mannimarco leads the Worm Cult, and he tricked a ruler into the corrupted ritual that tore the veil between worlds.

Which class in The Elder Scrolls Online has abilities flagged as criminal acts, earning a bounty if cast near guards?

Necromancer arrived with the 2019 expansion as a master of corpses and undead thralls, which is exactly what the guards object to.

Which living god of Morrowind built the Clockwork City, a brass realm added to The Elder Scrolls Online as DLC?

Sotha Sil gave the realm his own name as well, and it is said to copy the mythic structures of the world in metallic miniature.

Which treasure-hunting system, built on Scrying and Excavation skills, came to The Elder Scrolls Online with Greymoor?

Antiquities sends players scrying for leads and then digging up relics that range from house furnishings to powerful Mythic items.

Which free 2017 update gave The Elder Scrolls Online its player housing and furniture crafting?

Homestead offered houses in styles drawn from all ten playable races, and its tutorial quest hands every player a free room at an inn.

Which Daedric Prince shields the Hollow City, the players' refuge inside Molag Bal's realm in The Elder Scrolls Online?

Meridia was worshipped there when the city was a settlement in Tamriel, and her blessing later sends the hero off to live another alliance's story.

Which Nord warrior, voiced by Jennifer Hale, fights beside the player in The Elder Scrolls Online's opening escape?

Lyris Titanborn, a towering half-giant, served as a ruler's personal bodyguard, and she returns as an ally in the Greymoor story.

Which annual event in The Elder Scrolls Online hands out reward containers called Plunder Skulls?

Witches Festival usually runs in October, turns players into skeletons, and doubles the experience they earn while it lasts.

Which long-forgotten realm of caverns beneath Skyrim did The Elder Scrolls Online open up in its Greymoor Chapter?

Blackreach makes up roughly 40 percent of the expansion's playable area: four caverns joined by Dwemer ruins and reached by Great Lifts.

Which Orc city do players help King Kurog rebuild in The Elder Scrolls Online's 2015 DLC set in Wrothgar?

Orsinium grows as players finish quests around Wrothgar, and the DLC that carries its name also brought the solo Maelstrom Arena.

Which Dark Brotherhood weapon lets players in The Elder Scrolls Online instantly kill an unaware NPC from behind?

Blade of Woe kills pay only a quarter of the usual experience, so its real use is dispatching innocents without earning a bounty.

Which stretch of western Colovia, home to Anvil and Kvatch, hosts The Elder Scrolls Online's Dark Brotherhood DLC?

Gold Coast arrived in 2016 alongside poison crafting, in the same update that retired the old Veteran progression ladder.

Which moonlet hangs above Vivec City, its threatened fall driving the Morrowind Chapter of The Elder Scrolls Online?

Baar Dau is said to have been stopped in mid-fall by the god Vivec, who left it looming there in case his people ever ceased to love him.

Which city among Valenwood's giant graht-oaks is capital of the Aldmeri Dominion in The Elder Scrolls Online?

Elden Root takes its name from the Elden Trees, a titanic species of graht-oak counted among the oldest living things on Tamriel.

Which wild region of north-eastern Hammerfell was built as The Elder Scrolls Online's veteran-only Adventure Zone?

Craglorn was designed for groups of four and holds 12-player trials, but the One Tamriel update reopened it to solo players of any level.

Which former ruler of the Empire is revealed as the blind Prophet in The Elder Scrolls Online's main quest?

Varen Aquilarios took the throne by rebellion, and his failed attempt to light the Dragonfires set off the game's whole catastrophe.

Which MMO of three warring realms did The Elder Scrolls Online's director produce at Mythic Entertainment?

Dark Age of Camelot set three realms fighting over keeps and relics, much as the three alliances later fought over keeps and Elder Scrolls.

Which Skyrim city, ruled by High King Svargrim, is the hub of The Elder Scrolls Online's Greymoor Chapter?

Solitude is ruled from the Blue Palace atop the Great Arch, in a kingdom sundered from eastern Skyrim years before.