Solitude

The city's western district is known as the Well District (also called the Market District). To the north, on the mountainside is Castle Dour, the city fortress that contains the Temple of the Divines and the Emperor's Tower. The city's eastern district, known as the Avenues District (also called the "Stately Avenues of Old Solitude" or commonly the "Avenues") is the residential area, known for its regal and grandiose streets. The Bards College, the Hall of the Dead, and the seat of power, the Blue Palace are located here. Both the east and west sides are separated by an arching bridge that connects the Castle Dour to the Windmill, one of Solitude's most iconic landmarks. Its wind power is used to open the massive warehouse that is stored underneath the mountain. The docks are located underneath the Great Arch, but it is said that it can contain a hundred shops. There is a vast cavern underneath the mountain that is currently used by the East Empire Company as one of their largest warehouses.

Solitude's founding dates back centuries ago before it extended onto the great arch. It was an encampment on the Karth River situated at the base of the landmark, where it was used as a windbreaker. It was an ideal base for the ancient Nords, who built fur and wooden shelters on the river's shores. The founders of Solitude were said to be deeply devoted to the Divines, and this sentiment continues to live in modern-times as the local temple became the biggest place of worship in Skyrim. The town started as a simple castle keep, which is now known as Castle Dour, but it later gained more of its footing as a well-defended settlement during the coronation of High King Erling, who ordered the construction of Solitude's outer walls around the keep, and requested for each stone of the wall to be blessed by the Divines. He later ordered the construction of a towering bridge that separates the Well District from the east-side. The city's unique style of architecture was chosen by the High King himself, but the true mastermind that created it is unknown, though the person, Thryrahilde is said to have championed the motif before the walls were built.Sometime before the province of Skyrim was formally founded by High King Harald in 1E 143, the Emperor's Tower, the original home of Haafingar's kings and the centerpiece of the keep was replaced by the Blue Palace.   The Burning of King Olaf The earliest known texts that describe Solitude as a well-established kingdom date to the early First Era, when the province held ties with the First Empire, concurrent to the formation of the Bards College. The Kingdom of Solitude was one of the greatest oppositions against Olaf One-Eye, who rose to supremacy in the wake of the War of Succession. Olaf's wrath over the city was swiftly-executed and animosity between the king and the city created one of Solitude's longest-living traditions, the Burning of King Olaf. It is held annually in the courtyard at the Bards College. Solitude has since become one of the most significant trading ports, collaborating with other cities of worth such as Senchal, Wayrest, and West Anvil. Following the First Akaviri Invasion in 1E 2704, Emperor Reman I shifted focus to the Reach, splitting into its east and western-half. He utilized several forays from both Solitude and Evermore to quell the spirits of the local Reachmen, but these attempts were unsuccessful since taming the landscape was much harder for these soldiers.   The Wolf Queen & The Mad King In the early Third Era, the elderly King Mantiarco reigned over Solitude in the years of the Third Empire, under the rule of Emperor Uriel Septim II. However, the relations between the Nordic kingdom and the Empire had slowly waned, prompting the union between King Mantiarco and the then fourteen-year-old, Potema Septim. At first, she was only a pawn of a political marriage, but the King's love for her had led to her rise in power to totality. After several miscarriages, in 3E 97, Potema gave birth to Uriel Mantiarco and he was quickly named the heir of Solitude. In 3E 99, the Emperor and later in the spring, King Mantiarco had passed away, leaving the kingdom in a joint-rule between King Uriel and Queen Potema. In this time, the Queen had established relationships across the northern tier of the empire, (i.e., Ebonheart and Glenpoint), sowing the seeds of contempt against the Empire. Her relationship with the Empire came to a climax in the coronation of Empress Kintyra II when she degraded the newly-named ruler and her mother, Magna by questioning their legitimacy to the Ruby Throne. King Uriel III and Queen Potema were banished from the inner court, returning to Solitude to form a large-scale rebellion against the Third Empire. These events gave way to the War of the Red Diamond, which escalated to the death of the Empress in 3E 114 and the ascension of Emperor Uriel Septim III. But the conflict slowly ended in the favor of Kings Cephorus I and Magnus when the former defeated the Emperor and brought him to his death in Gilane.   By 3E 137, the kingdom became a land of death and the elderly Queen Potema was kept in the Blue Palace, as Emperor Cephorus I relentlessly sacked the city of Solitude. With no real army at her disposal, Potema used daedra, her necromancers and the undead to face against her brother. She died sometime during the siege but her legacy continued through underground factions like the Hörme. But some theologians hypothesized that Potema became a spiritual-daedra that continually haunts the Blue Palace and turns its monarchs insane. This is one of the theories that is attributed to Pelagius III's insanity.   Following Potema's defeat, Pelagius III was named the King of Solitude, placed there by Emperor Cephorus. In his time spent in Solitude, Pelagius began to exhibit signs of insanity which earned the moniker, "Pelagius the Mad." There were many stories of his peculiar eccentricities, such as his constant shift in weight but expressive personality. These were far and few between, but only became worse when his father, Magnus I became the Emperor of Tamriel in 3E 140 and more attention went towards the Kingdom of Solitude, knowing that Pelagius III was the heir-apparent. Legends had spread throughout the Empire as Pelagius III's exploits became more well-known, such as countless declarations of war to the Kingdom of Silvenar or the many cases of stripping during public speeches. By the decree of his father, Pelagius III married Duchess Katariah of Vvardenfell, whose family, the Ra'athim Clan was acquainted with Potema during the war. Despite the political motives, it was also a personal choice by the Emperor, who recognized Katariah as a shrewd diplomat. When the Emperor passed away in 3E 145, Pelagius III and Katariah moved to the Imperial City and his sister, Jolethe became the Queen of Solitude. The Fourth Era Though it has been the capital since the beginning of the third era, Solitude was not always the capital of Skyrim, the former capital was Winterhold, but its legacy was later destroyed by the Great Collapse in 4E 122. By the next couple centuries, Solitude was ruled by High King Istlod, who led for nearly twenty-five years until he passed away. The moot later chose his son, Torygg to be his successor. In 4E 201, the High King was approached by the Jarl of Windhelm, Ulfric Stormcloak, who challenged him in a duel for leadership. What many did not realize was that he used the power of his Thu'um to obliterate the High King and kill him. With the help of his supporters, he escaped Solitude and prepared for war.   The Skyrim Civil War followed suit, between the Imperial power in west Skyrim that was spearheaded by the military-governor, Tullius and the ruling-regent, Elisif the Fair, and the Stormcloaks, the nationalist rebellion in the Old Holds maintained by Ulfric Stormcloak's court in Windhelm. General Tullius and Legate Rikke oversaw the operations of the Imperial Legion from Castle Dour while Jarl Elisf continued to govern Haafingar from Solitude. As the Skyrim Civil War raged on, Skyrim became a nation divided, with three of its nine holds, The Pale, Winterhold, and The Rift, allying with Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Eastmarch Hold and Windhelm, and his Stormcloak rebels, while The Reach, Falkreath, and Hjaalmarch remained a part of the Empire, leaving Whiterun Hold neutral and middle ground between the two sides. Much of Solitude's coffers and supplies were diminished and its security became increasingly vulnerable with many of its Hold Guards conscripted to serve in the Legion's army, leaving very few to patrol the settlements within Haafingar Hold to keep them safe from threats. Jarl Elisif considered these sacrifices necessary in order to quell the rebellion and defeat Ulfric and was resigned in her belief that General Tullius would do what is best since they were so dependent on him.   In that same year, a necromantic cult tried to resurrect Potema from the mountains and her spirit later fled to the Solitude Catacombs, to take her corporeal form and pose a significant threat. She was later exorcised by a warrior serving the court. For the first time, the Burning of King Olaf was postponed for the year. The Jarl had seen it as poor taste following the malice at the palace, but it was something that the Headmaster at the Bards College, Viarmo could not take lightly. To convince Elisif to start the festival, he sent a student to retrieve a lost part of the Poetic Edda known as King Olaf's Verse, in the hopes to convince the Jarl to commence the festival. Fortunately, their endeavors worked in their favor, and the Burning of King Olaf had went successfully.   After the truce between the Imperials and Stormcloaks achieved in 4E 207 at High Hrothgar, Solitude attempted to rebuild but with the enduring threat posed to all Skyrim by the return of the Dragons and later the War for the Dawn, and with Skyrim remaining split in two for the duration the process of rebuilding was slow. There was progress however, and when both the Dragon crisis and the War for the Dawn came to be resolved just a few years later. The rebuilding process began in earnest, with tentative trade even being restablished with the rebellious holds, though not without serious restriction and much to the disdain of General Tullius. Imperial attention was shifted away from the rebellious holds though and General Tullius's influence at least temporarily diminished when in 4E 210, in the port of Solitude itself, Emperor Titus Mede II was assassinated by the Dark Brotherhood. This followed the assassination of the Emperor's couin Vittoria Vici at her own wedding and a prevoius failed assassination attempt on the Emperor, also in Solitude in the Tower of the Emperor in Castle Dour.   The Skyrim Civil-War did reignite however in 4E 215 after Ulfric Stormcloak launched a suprise offensive on Whiterun, which was repelled much to Imperial relief. What followed was a devastating counter offensive with the Imperial fleet launching from Solitude sailed personally by General Tullius. Overwhealming the port city of Dawnstar in mere days, with all the holds except Windhelm and Winterhold falling back under Imperial control in the space of two years. It was then in 4E 217, with Winterhold lost to all sides and Windhelm under prolonged Imperial siege that a moot was finally called and Jarl Elisif the Fair proclaimed High Queen of Skyrim.

Solitude is one of Skyrim's largest cities, as well as one of its key ports, built on a natural landmark known as the Great Arch. This arch proved vital in Solitude's growth as a kingdom. In its later years, the main city was built atop of this arch while the busier-sections of Solitude, such as the crowded harbors on the coast are built underneath, next to the  runs underneath the arch and goes around the region's east coast until it reaches the hinterlands and the provincial border. The city lies on the southern highlands of Mount Kilkreath, specifically, the highest point on top of the arch. Because of the uneven terrain outside of the city walls, there is very little room for private land for farms. There was a lumber mill built on the Karth River and even small farms on the highlands, between the main road and the docks. Solitude is neighbored by several settlements, including Dragon Bridge to the south and High Rock to the far west, towards Jehanna. The road towards Solitude's entrance is heavily-defended by the gates, the Squall Gate and the Storm Gate, as well as several towers. Solitude contains a unique style of architecture only seen in Haafingar, consisting of rounded architecture and pointed roofs. This is attributed to High King Erling.