The Mystery of the Fiendroth

By Marcentillus Ansevian - 3E 46

Most of you have surely heard the rumours of the large, poisionous beetles inhabiting the Imperial City Sewers. But not a lot is known about these mysterious creatures. From my expeditions down into the City Sewers I can conclude that they are indeed quite common. After only thirty minutes there I saw more than fifteen of the little (or not so little) buggers. They generally move rather slowly, but can move extremely quick at times. If approached they raise the stingers on their backs towards the approacher. When I attempted this this it almost felt as if I was hearing voices speaking in my head, speaking an unknown language. This made me dizzy and unconcentrated and almost game the Fiendroth enough time to sting me. So I would encourage anyone to be cautious around these creatures. After that encounter I felt forced to leave the sewers.

As for the name "Fiendroth", the first time it is mentioned is from the journal of a soldier of the Daggerfall Covenant. The journal is dated "First Seed 2E 583" and mentions large armoured insects living in the Imperial City Sewers. It also directly refers to them as them "Daedric" and "servants of Molag Bal". This is very interesting as the name "Droth" means "Ancestor" in the Aldmeri language. An Ayleid writing, recovered from the Ayleid Library of the Imperial City during Queen Alessia's reign mentions that king Anumaril of Abagarlas had a pet "Haeldroth" (although that may simply be the name of the individual pet). It was supposedly a gift from the God of Schemes to the king of Abagarlas for his loyal service. According to a friend of mine in the Mages Guild "Haeldroth" means "terrible ancestor" or "fiendish ancestor". This could very well be where the Covenant soldier got the name from, or he might simply have come up with it himself. What's important to note is that no source mentions creatures like the Fiendroth inhabiting the Imperial City Sewers before the Planemeld of the mid-second era.

This would certanly suggest that the Fiendroths indeed have a daedric origin. The Fiendroth who today inhabit the Imperial City Sewers are most likely the remnants of those who came from Molag Bal's plane of Coldharbour to Tamriel during the Planemeld. I decided to test if these creatures truly were od daedric origin by briging a Mages Guild mage knowledgeable in conjuring and banishing Daedra down into the sewers with me. We quickly found a Fiendroth specimen and I asked the mage to cast a "banish daedra" spell on it. The mage did what I asked and as soon as the blue-glowing spell hit the Fiendroth the beetle like-daedra simply vanished without leaving a trace. Unless the mage has completely tricked me that is sufficient evidence to say that the so-called Fiendroth is indeed daedric in origin. That, gentle reader, is all the evidence I have been able to uncover about this mysterious sewer-dweller and there is still much to be learned. I hope that new evidence will one day be revealed to the citizens of this geat Empire and that we may one day know everything about this ample, stinging, and it it's own way cute beetle-daedra.