Blackwood Company



The Blackwood Company is a minor faction based in Leyawiin. The Company mostly consists of Khajiit and Argonians. The Company takes jobs the Fighters Guild cannot or will not handle. They are reputed to accept any contract offered, to act recklessly and indiscriminately in their tactics, and to lack any screening process for new members. This is in contrast to the Fighters Guild who have a strict charter and set of rules to abide by.

According to second-in-command, Commander Ja'Fazir, "'Blackwood' refers in part to the Blackwood Forest but it also carries reference to the 'thoghatt', or 'charcoal warriors' of Khajiit tradition." Ja'Fazir also says, "The Company provides expert jihatt for selected customers. Very discreet." The Blackwood Company is the subject of the Black Horse Courier article "A New Guild for Fighters?"

The Blackwood Company is only joinable as part of the Fighters Guild Questline. They have only 2 ranks of which only one is available to the player:
 * Probationary Member
 * Company Member



Members
There are many Blackwood Company Members but a few notables stand out:
 * Ri'Zakar - Leader
 * Jeetum-Ze
 * Commander Ja'Fazir - Second-in-command of the Blackwood Company.
 * Sergeant-of-Sharpshooters Geel
 * Lieutenant Rana
 * Ajum-Kajin
 * Hears-Voices-in-The-Air
 * Sings-Like-Thunder
 * Maglir

Blackwood Company Hall
The Blackwood Company Hall is in Leyawiin across a plaza from its competition the Fighters Guild. There is a display case containing a Blackwood Shield; a heavy shield bearing the Blackwood Company crest, and also a Silver War Axe and a Silver Shortsword crossed at the hilt to resemble the same crest. The second floor of the Blackwood Company Hall has a Nirnroot in a plant pot on the mezzanine. There is another in Jeetum-Ze's room.

Hist Sap
In the quest Infiltration you will find out the Blackwood Company is using Hist sap. Hist sap is the sap of the tree called Hist from the Argonian home land of Black Marsh. It is an illegal drug like Skooma, the Blackwood Company somehow got a hist tree and are using the Hist from it to give them a "Boost". You can't get any Hist in the rest of the game only in this quest.

Quests

 * Infiltration (Oblivion): Become a member of the Blackwood company to discover what their secret is.
 * The Hist: Find and destroy the Hist tree.
 * Seeking Your Roots: A Nirnroot can be found in the company's headquarters.

Trivia

 * A similar mercenary group, Talon Company, is featured in Bethesda's post-apocalyptic role-playing game, Fallout 3. There are several similarities between the groups, most notably that they both take contracts and jobs "other mercs won't". Another similarity is their liability to utilize vicious tactics, and their lack of a working morale.
 * The Blackwood Company also shows similarities to The Black Company in the novels of the same name by Glenn Cook, both in name and actions. Both are companies of ruthless mercenaries in a fantasy world.
 * The Blackwood Company may be a reference to the mercenary company Blackwater USA and Blackwater Worldwide, later known as Xe, Llc, now called Academi. They were known at the time of the game's development and release for their extralegal methods as demonstrated in the Iraq war.

Appearances

 * The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion