The Cavern of the High Woods

By Sunaaye Direnni, librarian of the Adamantian Archives.

Many different Elven clans left Summerset between the end of the Dawn Era and the middle Merethic Era, following the example of the Velothi in the late Dawn Era. Most of these clans ended up and settled in Valenwood, along the coast of what is now Greenshade. Most notable of these the Weilea clan, which in the early Merethic Era founded Carac Veasorn, which the Altmer would later build the port town of Seaside Sanctuary on top of. But other clans did not land on the shores of Valenwood, and many ended up much further north. In western High Rock the Falond clan founded the cities of Enduum and Silumm during the last years of the Dawn Era. Other clans founded cities in Hammerfell, although few of those remained inhabited for long. Most of these clans worshiped Daedric Princes like Molag Bal, Boethiah and Vaermina. Therefore the Meridia-worshiping clan Varlalata were forced to settle elsewhere, to avoid conflict with the often hostile Molag Bal and Boethiah worshiping clans. The Varlalata clan came to the Gold Coast of Cyrodiil, which had not been settled by other Ayleids at that point. There they built the city of Garlas Malatar, which translates to "Cavern of the High Woods" from Ayleidoon, in the early Merethic Era.

The Varlalata clan was led by the Ayleid king Umaril, who would later earn the title of "Unfeathered". Umaril is said to have been a Demiprince by his followers, and Umaril himself claimed to have been born to an Aldmeri mother and her Daedric consort. This "consort" was often said to have been Meridia herself, in male shape. Umaril had made a covenant with Meridia, which supposedly granted him eternal youth and power. The city of Garlas Malatar had, without the main hall of Garlas Malatar, two main halls by the names of Ceysel (meaning "Hall of Shadow") and "Carac Abaran" (meaning "Throne of the Forbidden King"). While the Varlalata clan woshipped Meridia and the Light, they preformed many dark rituals in the Ceysel. These did not involve Necromancy, but they did involve foul conjuration spells and pacts with many kinds of Daedra. The Carac Abaran acted like both a throne room for Umaril and a shrine to Meridia. The Carac Abarad contained many Varla and Welkynd stones, which played an important role in summoning Meridia.

While the city was abandoned by the Varlalata clan in the late Merethic Era, it continued to be a sacred place of prayer for Ayleid woshippers of Meridia until the early First Era, when the city was sealed to protect it from those of the followers of Alessia who were determined to destroy anything and everything related to the Ayleids and their religion. A sentence was written above the gate of Garlas Malatar before (or after) it was sealed, which reads "As oiobala Umarile, ehlnada racuvar". This translates to "By Umaril's eternal power, the mortal gods shall be cast down". Scholars are uncertain what this sentence means, but many beleive that it is some sort of prophecy, predicting the return of Umaril who died at the hands of the by many hated "divine crusader" Pelinal, who attemted to purge all of Nirn from everything Elven during the early First Era.

Today the exterior of Garlas Malatar is inhabited by minotaurs, and the interior remains sealed. But these ruins are still important to anyone interested in the history of the Gold Coast Ayleids, and the legendary Umaril the Unfeathered.