The Infernal City
Gregory Keyes
 The Infernal City takes places in 4E 41 (40 years after the events of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles.) Tamriel is a continent inhabited by many races, and is ruled by an imperial authority. A floating city known as Umbriel is devastating Tamriel. Any person caught beneath Umbriel dies, and is resurrected as undead. Annaïg Hoïnart, a seventeen-year-old Breton girl, and her Argonian friend Mere-Glim, escape from Black Marsh just ahead of Umbriel. They witnessed Umbriel moving toward the city, and after Glim is overcome by an urge to run back to the city, Annaïg During their journey, Sul and Attrebus met a group of Khajiit who joined them. Sul explained to Attrebus that he intended to short-cut through Oblivion to beat Umbriel to Vvardenfell. He explains that Umbriel was undoubtedly a product of Vuhon, the man who had engineered the ingenium, the device that had kept the Ministry of Truth in place in Vivec's absence. He killed Sul's love, Ilzheven, and caused the Ministry of Truth to crash into Vvardenfell, in turn causing Red Mountain to erupt and destroy the entire island. Sul and Vuhon both were thrown into Oblivion, and a being named Umbra took that opportunity of the barrier between worlds opening to throw a sword, also called Umbra, into Tamriel, preventing Clavicus Vile from imprisoning him in it again. Sul is looking for the sword to destroy Umbriel. After nearly being recaptured, Sul opens a portal to Oblivion and he, Treb, and the Khajiit entered the planes of Oblivion, traveling through different planes, noticing the differences through the pain of the transitions. The path was interrupted in Hircine's plane, and Sul guided the party through Oblivion as Hircine and his drivers hunted them. One of the Khajiit was killed during the chase, and those remaining stayed behind at the end of the course to delay Hircine from reaching Attrebus and Sul. Attrebus and Sul exited Oblivion directly into the ruined Vivec City. There, Sul explained that Azura told him he'd find Umbra here, and that it must be what Vuhon was after. He found that the place where Umbra should have been was gone, and spoke with the spirit of Ilzheven. He questioned her about Umbra, and she told him that Dunmer found it and took it north, toward the Sea of Ghosts. As Sul wandered the ruined city, Attrebus kept an eye out for Umbriel and opened Coo, finding Annaïg looking back at him. She told him that she couldn't wait for him, that she and Glim would use her flying potions and leave Umbriel. When she closed her locket, a few moments later Attrebus saw the bottom of Umbriel poking out from the bottom of the clouds, heading toward them and very close. Annaïg, working in Toel's kitchen on Umbriel, received a bucket of ingredients from a skraw that contained her locket, and inside it a message from Glim. She responded to Glim’s note and they met the following midnight, at the dock. They consumed flying potions Annaïg had made, and begin to fly away from Umbriel, only to find that they had become like the other residents of the city; if they traveled too far from Umbriel, they began to lose their substance. Though Colin had been pulled from the Attrebus investigation, he continued investigating. The last person Gulan had spoken to, Letine Arese, an assistant to the Prime Minister, made her way deep into the Market District and entered a building, and Colin climbed a nearby building in order to reach a third-story window. He entered a small empty bedroom and made his way downstairs until he heard the voices of Arese and a male. She seemed concerned that the "job" was not accomplished as it should have been. Colin learned that a courier brought news to the Emperor that the Prince lived. As their conversation escalated, among the screams of men it seemed that Arese changed form into a sort of beast. It moved past him, up the stairs, then a few moments later came back down and exited through the door. The building was burning, and Colin escaped through the window. Unable to search the house, he wondered why Arese wanted the Prince dead, and why she didn't accomplish the task herself. Sul was drawn back to Attrebus by his screams, to find Umbriel nearly upon them. They attempted to move back to their entry position, but were transported to Umbriel, suspended in a type of spiderweb-like net in front of Vuhon. As they spoke, Sul accused Vuhon of murdering his love, Ilzheven, and destroying Vvardenfell; Vuhon contested that it was actually Sul that did that. It was revealed that Ilzheven had a very special type of soul, and Vuhon was using her to power the ingenium, to hold the Ministry of Truth aloft over Vivec City. When Sul freed her, it sent the Ministry of Truth crashing into Vivec City, killing Ilzheven and throwing Sul and Vuhon into Oblivion. Vuhon also revealed that he had an ally inside the Imperial Palace, the person that was trying to have Attrebus killed. He said he'd need the Imperial City, specifically the White Gold Tower, and offered Attrebus the chance to convince his father to back down. Through his close relationship with Oblivion, Sul shattered Vuhon's glass world by summoning a monstrous daedra. While Vuhon was distracted, Attrebus tried to attack from behind, but was discovered by Vuhon and trapped once more. At the last moment, Sul sprang to the prince's side and said "Not now," before laying a hand on his shoulder and pulling them both into another part of Oblivion. The book ends with Glim and Annaïg back on Umbriel, defeated. They spent a few hours together before saying their goodbyes, and Annaïg headed back to the kitchen. She promised Glim that, while all they could do was continue to move forward, eventually they would be free. She then resolved to become stronger and more ambitious in order to survive.