The highly anticipated Elder Scrolls 6 is likely to feature a largely unexplored province of Tamriel, bringing with it a plethora of new locations, factions, and conflicts to explore. While this can foster the introduction of brand-new groups that have not been seen before in the franchise, it can also allow for already-featured factions to be looked at from fresh perspectives.
An extremely important faction that could feature in The Elder Scrolls 6 in a new light is the Crimson Scars. An ancient and mysterious organization, many long-term fans of the Elder Scrolls franchise would be thrilled to see the Crimson Scars make an appearance in the upcoming title, which is strongly rumored to be set in the province of Hammerfell.
The Basics of the Crimson Scars
The Crimson Scars were originally formed in the Fourth Era, being an occult organization composed entirely of vampires. The organization initially existed in a covert manner amongst the ranks of the sinister and more well-known Dark Brotherhood, a faction that has featured in many Elder Scrolls games.
The founder of the Crimson Scars was a man named Greywyn Blenwyth, an assassin for the Dark Brotherhood who formed the Scars to cleanse the Brotherhood of its non-vampiric members. Greywyn was motivated to betray the Brotherhood in this way through recurring visions that he believed were divine interventions from a dark deity known as Sithis, who is largely worshipped by many within the Dark Brotherhood.
Spreading the word of his visions to other vampire members of the Brotherhood, the ranks of the Crimson Scars were significantly bolstered to the point where an all-out attack on the other Brotherhood members was feasible and imminent. However, before this betrayal could happen, a Scar named Silarian warned the Brotherhood of the secret organization's intentions, causing the Brotherhood to act first. Ambushing the Scars, the Brotherhood brutally and successfully quelled the threat from within their ranks, killing many Scars and essentially wiping out the organization.
How the Crimson Scars Could Appear in The Elder Scrolls 6
Despite the heavy losses that the Crimson Scars sustained, it is known that Greywyn himself survived and attempted to reform the organization from a location called Deepscorn Hollow. However, upon receiving another vision from Sithis that suggested no further harm should come to the Dark Brotherhood, Greywyn abandoned his efforts and instead turned to an obsession with curing his vampirism and the vampirism of his allies.
While this tale of the Crimson Scars is loosely outlined within the popular Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, the lack of finality to the saga makes the organization worth revisiting in the upcoming Elder Scrolls 6. Originally being situated in Cyrodiil, it is said that some surviving members of the Crimson Scars could have moved west to the neighboring province of Hammerfell in secrecy. This geographical migration could see the Scars either act in the same covert manner as they originally did or with more desperate and overt aggression due to their prior defeat.
In this way, the Crimson Scars could then play a large role once more in the Dark Brotherhood storyline of The Elder Scrolls 6, depicting an interesting and layered power struggle within what is already one of the most fascinating organizations within The Elder Scrolls. Depending on in which era the game is set, a return of Greywyn Blenwyth to either reaffirm or condemn his prior beliefs would additionally give the original limited portrayal of the Crimson Scars the finality and closure that it deserves.
The Elder Scrolls 6 is currently in development.