The Curious Case of Corvus Umbranox

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 Count Anvil

Count Corvus Umbranox is something of a local legend in Anvil, and for good reason. His disappearance and reappearance have gone unexplained well to this day. Before his disappearance, the nobility of Cyrodiil had a rather low opinion of him, there were rumours that he was a member of the Thieves’ Guild, which I should note that at that time its existence was said to be false if Imperial Guard reports are to be believed; there were also rumours he was a part of the Mythic Dawn and that he only re-emerged when he saw that Mehrunes Dagon would fail the invasion; there is even a claim that he was a vampire, for there were rumours of there being a vampire as a count at that time. After years of reviewing records and papers both within the Imperial Palace and at Anvil, and even an eye witness account of his reappearance, I think we can finally come up with a solid conclusion on what really happened.

The Reappearance

Our only sources on the reappearance is the written statement of a guard at Castle Anvil who witnessed the event, and a Journal of a maid who was working in the Castle when Umbranox reappeared. The day that Umbranox reappeared, a messenger arrived to give Countess Milona Umbranox the ring of her husband Corvus. Who this messenger was, we have no clue, the accounts simply state "messenger", no description about the messenger was mentioned in both documents. When the Countess received the ring, that was when a man approached with what is believed to be an Elder Scroll in hand. Then the man spoke words that neither of the witnesses could interpret, but both recall suddenly realizing that this stranger was indeed Corvus Umbranox. Both witness accounts state that they were unable to recall what was spoken, and thus what he said does not appear in any record, mental or written. It is currently unknown why they were unable to understand his words. The count then turned to the Messenger and handed over what both eyewitnesses refer to as simply, "a Gray Cloth" while sharing a few hushed words with this mysterious individual. They never saw the messenger ever again. A few days after the incident Umbranox was asked to be interviewed by the Black Horse Courier, but they were denied by Umbranox via letter. His only words regarding his disappearance was “a Daedra did it.” though his words were taken as a joke and was later dismissed.

Debunking the Rumours

There have been many rumours to what really happened to the count and it seems that an Investigator at castle Anvil kept records of all this, these records were discovered in a chest in the basement of the guard barracks in Anvil. One famous rumour is that apparently Umbranox was part of the Mythic Dawn, this cannot be true as, there is no evidence to support this claim, since the Mythic Dawn had never got their hands on an Elder Scroll as far as anyone knows. Another rumour is that he was a vampire, since that there were rumours at the time that there was a Count that was a vampire. This is not true as Umbranox, was usually seen visiting the chapel during the day, it should be noted however that old records from the Mages’ Guild point that Count Skingrad Janus Hassildor was the vampiric count, this secret was well guarded within the Mages’ Guild and within the Skingrad Court. As for the rumour that Umbranox was held hostage it should be noted that he himself appeared at Castle Anvil and no ransom was ever made. And finally we have other rumours that I do not even have to explain such as Umbranox being reincarnated, rumours that he was abducted by Ayleids, and rumours that he became a Mad God.

The Thief Theory

The Thief Theory is the most likely theory to have been true, and it is also the least known. To understand the Thief Theory one must remember that a day before the reappearance of Umbranox an event happened in the Imperial Palace known as “the Ultimate Heist” an Elder scroll was stolen from the Imperial library, they never knew how the thief managed to escape but recovered evidence shows how the thief could have. Evidence suggests that this thief entered the Palace through a series of sewers and ruins known as “the Old Way”. The description given by the witnesses of Umbranox’s reappearance could fit well with that of the Stolen Elder Scroll, and the Gray Cloth, could very well be the Gray Cowl of Nocturnal, otherwise known as the Mask of the Gray Fox, leader of the Thieves’ Guild. Upon further research of the Gray Cowl in the Imperial Library, I discovered a legend that tells of a curse placed by Nocturnal upon the Cowl, erasing knowledge of the bearer’s true identity from history and even the memory of those around them. If my knowledge of daedric princes is right then one way to break a curse cast by a daedric prince can only be broken with an Elder Scroll. This evidence suggests that Umbranox was indeed the Gray Fox and that the cowl itself became sort of a “badge of office” of the Cyrodiil Thieves’ Guildmaster. By donning the cowl for the first time Umbranox was affected by Nocturnal’s curse and became unrecognizable by the people he knew. He then infiltrated the Imperial Palace and stole an Elder Scroll in order to lift that curse. When the curse was lifted he passed on the Gray Cowl to this Messenger who then became the Gray Fox. Thus proving that Umbranox was telling the truth when he said, “a Daedra did it.”

Current Situation

The fate of the Messenger is unknown, we have no trace of who this person was, but we are sure that he/she became the Gray Fox. Though attaining the Gray Cowl would bring much prestige to the Synod, it wouldn’t be of much practical use, and obtaining it would require going up against the Thieves’ Guild, which as history has shown, would lead to much consequences. I recommend that we turn our attention to the recovery of Umbranox’s Elder Scroll instead, if this Theory is true then attaining an Elder Scroll with the power to lift a Daedric Prince’s curse would be of much use to the Synod. I also recommend that we not pursue the search for this Gray Cowl as the consequences and cost would be too great.