House of Vvards

An at-a-glance guide to the improved world of TES III: Morrowind

Seyda Neen Still the Gateway to Morrowind

Here’s a sight that should be instantly familiar to anyone who played The Elder Scrolls III a full 15 years ago: Seyda Neen is the first place you visit when you step off the boat. The same is true in The Elder Scrolls Online’s take on Morrowind, too: after a tutorial zone elsewhere (Zenimax Online Studios isn’t saying where just yet), the port town also introduces you to the island of Vvardenfell – and is home to the ancestor of a familiar character who tries to welcome you in exactly the same manner…

Ald’ruhn The town where everyone’s a bit crabby

Long before both The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and The Elder Scrolls Online, a giant Emperor land-crab named Skar roamed the Ashlands. When Skar was eventually slain, a settlement was formed around its carcass and beneath the solid shell. More than a simple burrow, Under-Skar quickly became a great base for House Redoran, and the city attracted enough Dunmer to become one of the busiest settlements in all of Vvardenfell. Cue all the Genji: Days Of The Blade flashbacks…

Sadrith Mora Morrowind’s wizards are fungis

The district seat of House Telvanni is home to the Telvanni wizards, and the mushrooms are dead giveaways of their power. The larger the plants growing around a tower, the stronger the wizard inside – that Redwood-like central growth with multiple, parasol-esque toadstool offshoots is clearly housing the mightiest, shroomiest wizard of all. Sadrith Mora’s also an island settlement in the Zafirbel Bay, meaning you can’t simply stroll into the area from Vvardenfell’s mainland.

Balmora Lose yourself in Vvardenfell’s stone forest

The second largest town in Vvardenfell, the city of Balmora is bisected by the Odai River and has four main districts. Located in the superbly named West Gash region of the island, it was a keystone point for multiple quests in The Elder Scrolls III – though returning fans will see it’s far lusher than before, having not yet had the life choked out of it by the Ghostfence. Of the five great Houses of Morrowind (TESO is set in the early days of the Sixth House’s rise), the settlement is affiliated with House Hlaalu.

Ashlands The early days of the fiery wastelands

You don’t need a geology degree to understand why the area cupping the base of Vvardenfell’s volatile volcano, the Red Mountain, is known as the Ashlands. But compare The Elder Scrolls III’s map (right) with that of The Elder Scrolls Online’s depiction of Morrowind and you’ll see that the Ashlands are set to be much smaller on PS4 – the result of fewer volcanic eruptions due to TESO being set over 700 years in the past. Warning: the Red Mountain will erupt deep in the main quest…

Vivec City Discover the capital before it was finished

Morrowind’s Dunmer worship the three gods of The Tribunal: Almalexia, Sotha Sil and Vivec. It’s Vivec who’s the focus of TESO: Morrowind’s main story – the warrior-poet is severely ill and it’s up to you to cure him during the main questline. The infamously sprawling Vivec City is actually still under construction during TESO, meaning the majority of cantons are covered in scaffolding, and a huge moonlet stone floating above the city will fall and crush the capital if Vivec grows much weaker…