Your favourite towns in an Elder Scrolls game

[Barbas]

Well, any sort of settlement will do. I'm quite partial to the salty, colourful qualities of Anvil. From the mentally unhinged Bosmer sailor wandering endlessly up and down the pier, to the parade of haunted and abandoned landmarks, it's just got so much mystery to it. The Gold Coast is a particularly sunny, beautiful part of Cyrodiil, and you can even net yourself a cracking real estate bargain[footnote]Bargain may be haunted.[/footnote]!

Second place has to go to Skingrad, partly because of how much it looks like something out of a Dracula film. The town is even connected to a vampire's castle that perches on a rocky outcrop nearby, accessed by a lone stone bridge arching perilously over a killing drop. Skingrad is also the location of a fantastic Whodunit-style quest for the Dark Brotherhood. There's a vampire lair within short walking (or falling) distance of the castle, and most of the conversation in town revolves around wine, cheeses or how much fun it is to raid goblin lairs.

 

[RedDeadFred]

I always loved Skingrad for the reasons you mentioned. Also, it has some cool secret passages and the Count is the best. Not only that, it has the best player home.

 

[SmallHatLogan]

Mournhold! City of light! City of magic!

Not really (although I do like Mournhold).

I like Sadrith Mora. It's all about those sweet mushroom houses. You can also buy slaves there which is always nice. And you have Wolverine Hall nearby if you get sick of the Telvanni being a bunch of snobby jerks.

I'm quite partial to Markarth. Being built into the side of the mountain gives me a Tolkien-esque dwarven town vibe.

 

[Recusant]

Sentinel. The size, the majesty, the giant clearing surrounding the stupidly enormous palace with more hidden rooms than Wayrest has secrets, the Fighter Trainer guildhall with that kickass music that's totally what I'd use to walk into the ring if I was a professional wrestler... What's not to love?

 

[Saelune]

Ald-Ruhn. My stuff is there. Plus its pretty central to basically everything.

 

[TheVampwizimp_v1legacy]

Skingrad is pretty cool, it's one of the few Elder Scrolls cities that actually feels like a medieval city.

I always liked Bruma as well, it's a neat hybrid of Skyrim and Cyrodiilic styles. Or at least, it was until Skyrim came out and it turns out that Nords actually don't build their homes half underground. And I always like the snowy areas in TES. That's part of why Windhelm is my favorite city in Skyrim.

 

[happyninja42]

I can't name the town, as it was some hole in the wall village in Skyrim that I just bumped into on the way somewhere else, but it had the most memorable experience for me, so those villagers always will hold a warm place in my heart:

I was playing my pacifist priest of Arkay, with a sword of Arkay companion to fight for me. We were running around, heading...somewhere, I forget, when the music kicks up, and a draconic roar pierces the night. I see it fly down onto this village, that was outside a mining shaft, causing the people to freak out. I run up to go help them, casting my AE stamina buffing spell, that also makes the person effect not run in terror anymore. The entire village proceeded to turn around, and start attacking the dragon, with rocks, and arrows, and whatever they could find. I run around, keeping them alive with healing magic, when a random vampire attack squad jumps me (I had the Dawnguard DLC installed and it was active). So I'm now juggling what was basically an MMO raid situation, and I was main healer. The team was dealing with the dragon, while I was using Fus Ro Dah to crowd control the 3 vampires that had healer agro on me. In the end, the villagers, dogpile the dragon and kill him, and the death animation for the dragon was right when he was breathing fire. So he lifts his head in a death wail, as tendrils of flame escape his lips, while the villagers shout defiance and victory at their accomplishment, then turn on the vampires and rip them to shreds. In the end, nobody died, and the miners and their families would sing songs of the night they brought down a dragon and 3 vampires, all with the help of the mysterious wandering healer with no name.

So yeah, no clue the name of that village, but they were badass, and will live forever in song in my heart. xD

 

[sXeth]

I'm terrible with names, but the underground Dwemer capital. Blacksomething? was pretty cool. It'd be interesting if they ever did a game where you could visit one of the Dwemer cities while it was alive (either as a setting shift, or even time-travel shenanigans that the series dabbles in anyways)

It was never really used in the game itself, but the tree-city that migrates with the seasons in ESO was a cool idea.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Mournhold! City of light! City of magic!

This made me laugh more than it should have. I think cops in real life should have to say something about their city in an overly enthusiastic tone whenever anyone comes within their aggro range. "Dallas! City of heat! City of traffic!" XD

But my favorite Elder Scrolls city would have to be Balmora. It's nostalgia; it's where my love affair with Morrowind and Elder Scrolls truly began. It's just dense with possibilities for a new player, plus I made my first "home" there in Hlaalo Manor, joined House Hlaalu and built Rethan Manor just south of the city.

 

[Zydrate]

I've always had a soft spot for Balmora. It was quite the hub with interesting quests and characters. It was designed well with all the important stuff in the same general area and a lot of thiefy possibilities. It wasn't quite on the same level as Skyrim (Which design choices seem to be "Put at least one interesting thing in each house so exploring civilians isn't a waste of time for the player") but I once found an open crate with a bunch of gems hidden beneath pillows in some dude's house in Balmora. Good times.

 

[MrCalavera_v1legacy]

Balmora. And Ald'ruhn was cool too. The first one felt homely enough in a weird place like Vvardenfell, but without loosing it's regional vibe. The other was weird enough without getting confusing to navigate through.

The opposite to that would be Vivec, which was like a tomb divided by loading screens.

It may be because i didn't get that far in Morrowing(or in other TES games, to be fair), but i remember those two places most fondly.

 

[Saelune]

Balmora. And Ald'ruhn was cool too. The first one felt homely enough in a weird place like Vvardenfell, but without loosing it's regional vibe. The other was weird enough without getting confusing to navigate through.

The opposite to that would be Vivec, which was like a tomb divided by loading screens.

It may be because i didn't get that far in Morrowing(or in other TES games, to be fair), but i remember those two places most fondly.

The very first time I came across Vivec, I was intimidated by it. I happened upon one of the side entrances and it just looked like a giant dungeon full of monsters Id be unable to deal with. I think I just kept walking.

 

[Souplex]

I'm quite partial to Markarth. I like Dwarven architecture, I like the verticality, I like the water-features, and I like the Reach's foliage.
Also I play a Breton so it felt right.

 

[Beffudled Sheep_v1legacy]

Balmora is one of my favorites. It was the first town I visited in Morrowind that had good traders and good introductory quests its design was familiar and exotic at the same time, and I just loved everything about it.

Ald-ruhn is another I loved. Great, alien design, home of the higher level Fighters and Mages guild quests, and home of House Redoran. My characters were mostly warriors that got along well with the beliefs and behaviors of House Redoran, joining them and rising through their ranks was always fun.

Tel Aruhn was a nice, peaceful, cozy place to relax and restock after adventuring around Azura's Coast. Not very interesting, and not many quests, but it's pretty chill.

Cheydinhal was my favorite town in Oblivion. When it wasn't raining the town popped with bright and vibrant colors, it had one of my favorite quests (A Brush With Death), is the home of the best family of murderous psychopaths ever, and is also the place where my favorite player home is!
Seriously, the Cheydinhal house is just perfect. A good sized interior bathed in warm colors and light, a working fire place, just enough shelving for my books and knick-knacks, and a comfy bed-room. It was the kind of place I'd want to end my adventuring days in.
The only thing Cheydinhal lacks are lusty Argonian maids.

In Skyrim I was a pretty big fan of Markarth. I've been interested in the Dwemer for as long as I've been playing the games, and Markarth is full of great Dwemer architecture.
Nice place, the stone beds killed my back though. 7/10 would probably visit again.

 

[SantoUno]

Riften. I got the Legendary edition when Skyrim debuted on 11/11/11, and seeing the concept art of Riften followed by actually being in it, as well as the incessant corruption of it where the Black-Briar's and the Thieves Guild run things, it's a fantasy nirvana.

Also the cool waterways are reminiscent of cities in Italy, really beautiful from an aesthetic perspective.

 

[WolfThomas]

Balmora. I lived in "DC mages house" a lore friendly mod house built into the hill like a weird Dunmer hobbit hole (they had similar houses in Gnisis). Had the right amount of room for all my characters.

I liked the Skingrad house but not so much the town. I liked my upstairs study and bedroom. I liked my housekeeper.

 

[Zydrate]

Also the cool waterways are reminiscent of cities in Italy, really beautiful from an aesthetic perspective.

Riften's waterways were underutilized. I love the town myself but all the waterways had was one shop (Which I rarely go to) and a couple of houses. It -could- have been more Italian but there just wasn't much there.