The Fall of Abagarlas
The City on Lake Rumare
Abagarlas was an Ayleid city-state built on the shores of Lake Rumare, on the northeast coast of City Isle. A centre of worship for Molag Bal, the Daedric Prince of Domination, the city thrived on mercenary wealth and the dark patronage of its master. At the height of Ayleid rule, Abagarlas was wealthy, militarised, and ambitious - ambitious enough to challenge the neighbouring city of Delodiil, whose people served Meridia, Lady of Light.
The Mortuum Vivicus
King Anumaril of Abagarlas, envious of Delodiil's glorious temple to Meridia, constructed a far larger temple to Molag Bal. When King Cenedelin of Delodiil dismissed it as crude, Anumaril was consumed by rage. He ordered the destruction of Delodiil and commissioned the Mortuum Vivicus - a devastating weapon gifted by Molag Bal himself, designed to drain all life from an enemy city and raise its dead as servants.
Meridia's Judgment
But Meridia warned her faithful. The Knights of the Gleaming Blade - a small band of warrior-priests from Delodiil - infiltrated Abagarlas, slew Queen Palolel and Prince Malyon, and disrupted the ritual before the Vivicus could be unleashed. Molag Bal pulled the weapon into Coldharbour to prevent its destruction. In response, Meridia struck the city with divine lightning, collapsing its structures and burying its halls beneath layers of earth and ancient root.
What Remains
Meridia's lightning buried the city, but it did not purge it. The halls survived - collapsed in places, intact in others, sealed beneath centuries of stone and root. The Daedric resonance that saturated the walls during millennia of worship did not fade. If anything, it settled deeper, seeping into the bedrock like ink into parchment.
Abagarlas was not forgotten - it was sealed. Its corridors remained intact beneath centuries of stone, the Daedric resonance undimmed by time. The Mortuum Vivicus survived in Coldharbour, and would be encountered again during the events of 2E 582 when Molag Bal attempted to deploy it against the forces that opposed his Planemeld. What slept beneath the rubble of Abagarlas did not rot. It waited - patient as stone, hungry as the Prince it served.