If nothing else, The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) knows how to use the decades of lore its universe is built on.
Most of the expansions, known as Chapters, released over its 10-year lifespan have revisited familiar locales, and its freshly-revealed 2024 Chapter, dubbed Gold Road, is no different. Gold Road will bring players back to the Cyrodiilic city of Skingrad and its surrounding regions, known collectively as the West Weald, which hasn’t been seen since 2006’s The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
As with the rest of Tamriel, the West Weald is a region steeped in history both fictitious and not, and even seems to be going through a few turbulent, never-before-seen changes in Gold Road. Let’s start with the basics: the West Weald is a beautiful slice of sun-kissed countryside in Southern Cyrodiil (the Mediterranean-inspired province home to the Empire, who you may remember from the time they tried to cut to your head off in Skyrim).
Generally, Skingrad is considered a fairly relaxed place, famous more for its wines and cheeses than any kind of conflict. But since an Italian vacation wouldn’t make for a very compelling plot hook, that’s changed in Gold Road. Almost overnight, a jungle known as the Dawnwood has inexplicably appeared on the West Weald’s borders, displacing the Imperials and Wood Elves who live there and bringing with it deadly, otherworldly creatures to twist and corrupt the very land it occupies.
As if that weren’t enough, a new Daedric cult has moved in: followers of Ithelia, the forgotten Daedric Prince of Paths. They seem to believe Ithelia has something to do with the Dawnwood’s appearance, and more pressingly, that she might be found somewhere within its murky depths. You’ll have to contend with mutated beasts, Daedric cultists, and more as the very laws of the universe seem to splinter around you.
This is, to put it lightly, a bit of a departure from Skingrad’s appearance in Oblivion. The biggest problems it faced back then were a paranoid conspiracy theorist and a house full of zombies, and it otherwise served as a fairly nice place to unwind in between world-threatening delves into Oblivion Gates.
ESO‘s version of Skingrad looks to be bigger, prettier, and more dangerous than the version players got to explore almost 20 years ago. Luckily, you won’t have long to wait before you can step foot in the West Weald.
