Lore:Spiral Skein

Mephala's Realms
Type	Plane
Realm	Oblivion
Appears in	ESO

The Spiral Skein

The Spiral Skein is the realm of Oblivion created and ruled over by Mephala, the Daedric Prince of Lies. Some portions of the realm resemble a dark, sprawling cavern with a high ceiling, dotted with luminescent mushrooms. Spiders, hoarvors and all manner of crawling creature inhabit the plane, and tall buildings with arches and spires dot the landscape. Crystals of deep red hues jut from the cliffs, ceilings and walls in geometric clusters comprised of prism-like shapes.

Geography

The Spiral Skein is metaphysically constructed in a similar manner to Nirn. At the center is the Tower, known only as the Pillar Palace of Mephala, since its true name is too awful to be uttered. The Spokes are called the Eight Strands of the Skein, and the spaces in between are each devoted to a different sin. The first is a cavern devoted to lies, filled with pedestals pretending to hold up the sky. The second is made up of cramped chambers representing envy, while the third is maggot-filled grottoes filled with seductive light. The fourth contains eternally dark tunnels of fear; the fifth, a place of betrayal; the sixth, an arena of murder. The seventh space is home to arcades of avarice and appetite, containing all things mortals would kill or die for, while the eighth is a flaming skein of fury, representing the death that comes to all mortals.

Mephala's realms are said to be numerous and obscured, collected together by vast strands of magical ghostweb. All of them are devoted to her spheres of sex and secret murder.

Flora

The Spiral Skein has diverse flora and fungi that thrives in the darkness, most possessing a form of bioluminescence. The Glowbush, Midnight cap, Nettlecap, Scarlet Sawleaf, and Shadowpalm are all native to the realm. The Bat Bloom on the other hand is a type of plant that grows naturally on Vvardenfell in the shady regions of the Bitter Coast, Ascadian Isles, and Azura's Coast, though whether it originated from the Spiral Skein or Tamriel is unknown; only that it calls both realms home.

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  Glowbush

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  Midnight Cap

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  Nettlecap

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  Scarlet Sawleaf

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  Shadowpalm

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  Bat Bloom

Fauna

The realm is populated by Spiderkith and Hoarvor Daedra, along with various Skein Invertebrates such as beetles, spiders, scorpions, and wasps. Two coral varieties also grow in the Spiral Skein. Brittle-Vein Coral thrives on the remains of people who fell victim to the realm's spiders, and Spiral Skein Elkhorn gives off a welcoming bioluminescence that the spiders use to lure victims into their webs.

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  A giant spider within the Spiral Skein

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  A Spiderkith, clinging to a web as a lookout

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  Skein Beetle

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  Brittle-Vein Coral

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  Elkhorn Coral

Notes

• In a speech to the Hero of Kvatch, Mankar Camoran incorrectly names Mephala's realm as "the ten Moonshadows", whereas Moonshadow (singular) is the realm of Azura.

References

Note: The following references are considered to be unofficial sources. They are included to round off this article and may not be authoritative or conclusive.