Reports on the Blackwood Company

Foreword

I, Marcus Averius of the Synod, have been tasked with the research of events that occurred during the Oblivion Crisis. Though my research will not be directly tackling the Crisis itself, I will be researching events that occurred within the same time period which is overlooked by modern historians. There have been many events that occurred during the Crisis that call for further investigation. Such events include The Rapid Emergence of the Blackwood Company, the sudden reappearance of Count Corvus Umbranox, and the appearance of a so called “Oblivion Portal” on a small Island outside Bravil, are only a few of the vast amount of events that went largely unnoticed during the Oblivion Crisis. Since most of these accounts most likely had some sort of Magical help or another, further research on them will be of benefit to the Grand Council in the long run.

The Blackwood Company

Not many can remember the notorious Blackwood Company a once powerful organization that rivalled the Imperial Fighter’s Guild around the time of the Oblivion Crisis. The failure of these small groups of mercenaries is not uncommon, yet what called my attention to this topic is the sudden rise and fall of the Blackwood Company, you could say that the Company only lasted for a few days, since Investigators from that time were more focused the Oblivion gates, the exact life span of the company remains unknown. But from the information that was gathered from, Reports to the Count Leyawiin, Fighter’s Guild Records, Records recovered from the Blackwood Company’s Headquarters, and Eye witness accounts, is enough information to go on, to finally conclude the Rise and Fall of the Blackwood Company.

The Rise

The Blackwood Company started out as a mercenary group stationed in an undisclosed location in the Province of Black Marsh. The Company was originally composed of Argonians and Khajiit mercenaries, which later recruited a more varied personnel. Over time they started receiving jobs from Cyrodiil and they eventually moved their Head Quarters to the City of Leyawiin. The contracts they received grew more and more and so did their fame. The Company once announced that they were willing to take contracts that the Fighter’s Guild was not willing to take. They also did not have a standard for recruiting new members other than being able to fight, while the Fighter’s Guild on the other hand followed strict standards on their members conduct. The lack of requirements and standards of the Company furthered its fame more and more, causing clients of the Fighter’s Guild to switch to the Blackwood Company who was deemed more effective. One occasion was when the Guild was sent to do a contract to recover a staff and sent fifteen of its men to handle the situation, when none of the men returned, the Company was sent in to do the job and they claim to have succeeded where the Guild had failed. This claim of course only caused more hostility between the two Mercenary Groups.

The Controversy

Since the Company had little standards compared to that of the Guild, people argued that they were recruiting bandits, and felons into their ranks. The Fighter’s Guild also experienced a number of its members switching to the Company, due to the drop in the amount of contracts that the Guild was receiving. There was no evidence that bandits ever joined the ranks of the Company, for they did not record anything other than payments. The only records we have of any actual members of the Company come from the Fighter’s Guild’s records, and notes found within the Company’s Headquarters. There were also claims on the Company’s effectiveness, wherever the guild would go the contract would have been finished fast but at the cost of civilian casualties. One known occasion of the Company’s misbehaviour occurred in a small village, North of Leyawiin, called Water’s Edge. The sole survivor, Marcel Amelion reported that a group of bandits entered the village and murdered its citizens, luckily however Amelion was not in the village when the slaughter occurred.

The Investigation

Amelion reported the incident to the Count Leyawiin, Marius Caro, a day after the incident, the investigation showed that witnesses report seeing members of the Company headed off to Water’s Edge an hour before the incident most likely occurred. There was also a broken shield found at Water’s Edge with the unmistakable insignia of the Blackwood Company. Count Marius Caro then ordered an Investigation and questioning of the leaders of the Company the next morning following the investigation. When the Investigators arrived at the Blackwood Company Headquarters, they found everyone inside the building dead; all the members appeared to have been killed in combat. Investigators also found a Hist tree within the building, which appears to have been connected to a machine that collected its sap. Who killed them however is still a matter of debate, witnesses report seeing a Fighter’s Guild member enter the building but the Guild denies it has anything to do with the incident; another theory is that a member of the Company was high on the Hist Sap and killed everyone else before ending his own life.

Current Situation

How the Blackwood Company ended is currently unimportant to the interests of the Synod; however the Hist tree that was found in their Headquarters was confiscated, by the Count Leyawiin. The tree was to be burned, until a member of the Mage’s guild asked it be given to the Arcane University for research. The tree has now been placed in the Arcane University’s Lustratorium ever since, even now that the Arcane University is owned by the Synod. It is currently under research for its alchemical properties, and to see if it does in fact have life. Being the only Hist tree accessible outside Black Marsh, it is vital that this tree stay alive, as travel to Black Marsh is difficult, and not to mention the religious issues it would cause to transport a tree back to the Arcane University. This particular tree is currently around 400 years old, and is currently held in the Basement of the Lustratorium, anyone who goes near it is advised to ward themselves against poisonous gas first, as the smell of the Hist’s sap has become concentrated and is poisonous to Non-Argonians. The effects of this “poison” is similar to that of the symptoms of the Knahaten Flu, if this means anything is yet to be confirmed.