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The artifact blade Keening is a fictional sword from the game The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. It is one of the weapons required to defeat the demon Dagoth Ur at the battle of Red Mountain. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, also known simply as Morrowind, is a first-person (also playable in third person) computer role-playing game in Bethesda Softworks The Elder Scrolls series. ... The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, also known simply as Morrowind, is a first-person (also playable in third person) computer role-playing game in Bethesda Softworks The Elder Scrolls series. ...

Creation

Keening was crafted by the Dwemer High Lord Kagrenac as part of a set of tools with which the power of the Heart of Lorkhan can be released and harnessed. This set of tools, commonly referred to as 'Kagrenac's Profane Tools' also include the artifact hammer Sunder as well as the artifact gauntlet Wraithguard. The Keening was created in such a way that if anybody attempts to wield Keening without having already equipped the Wraithguard, the Keening will instantly deal a mortal blow to the wearer, causing instant death. This was to ensure that no one outside of Kagrenac himself and the Dwemer would have the ability to utilise the Heart of Lorkhan which had the capacity to grant anyone wielding Kagrenac's tools divine powers. The artifact hammer Sunder is a fictional warhammer from the game The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. ...

Battle of Red Mountain

After Kagrenac's failed attempt to draw power from the Heart of Lorkhan (which subsequently caused the extinction of the entire Dwemer race), Kagrenac's Profane Tools were found by Indoril Nerevar, and his companion and friend, Dagoth Ur. Nerevar, upon inspection of the object, managed to guess their power and their abilities. Fearing that these tools would cause trouble in the wrong hands, Nerevar left Dagoth Ur at the heart of Red Mountain to guard the tools until he could return with people who he trusted would know the right thing to do. Dagoth Ur promised that he would not give up the tools no matter what, and Nerevar fled Red Mountain. The Dwemer (pronounced DU-WHEY-MIHR... DO you know what time it is, please WAIt for me, she is a MERmaid ) are a fictional race of elves from the Elder Scrolls universe. ... Indoril Nerevar is a fictional character in the game Morrowind. ... Dagoth Ur in the Third Era, as seen in the computer game Morrowind. ...

In the time it took for Nerevar to return, Dagoth Ur had already discerned by himself the powers of the tools as well as (to a limited degree) how to use it to draw power from the Heart. At this point, Dagoth Ur had already been corrupted by the impure powers that the Heart contained, and when Nerevar asked Dagoth Ur to return the tools, he refused, partly because of his own greed for power as well as claiming that he had promised Nerevar to never give up the tools. Nerevar, who was accompanied by Vivec, Almalexia and Sotha Sil fought Dagoth Ur at the heart of Red Mountain, and in the end, it was Nerevar who struck the final blow. The tools were retrieved from the hands of Dagoth Ur and the four used them to give themselves divine powers, three of them later forming the Tribunal. Vivec, as seen in the computer game Morrowind. ... Almalexia is a fictional character from the game Morrowind, one of the three living Gods of the Tribunal Temple. ... Sotha Sil is a fictional character from the game Morrowind, one of the three living Gods of the Tribunal Temple. ...

Since the creation of the Tribunal, the artifacts Sunder and Keening have been stolen by the forces of Dagoth Ur, who has risen in demon form and plans to use the tools to grant himself and his kin unlimited power. The artifact gauntlet Wraithguard was protected by Vivec, who took it into his safekeeping.

Use of Keening

Asides from being a particularly powerful enchanted sword, the Keening is integral to the process of drawing power from the Heart of Lorkhan. Quoted from the game:

 The normal procedure for establishing connection with the Heart is a three-step process. The wearer of Wraithguard strikes the Heart with the hammer Sunder, causing the Heart to produce a pure tone. Then the wearer of Wraithguard strikes the Heart with the blade Keening, shattering the pure tone into a prism of tone-shades. These tone shades are then imprinted upon the substance of the wearer of Wraithguard, giving him an immortal and divine nature. 

After striking the Heart with Sunder and then with Keening, the user must then repeatedly strike the Heart again and again until Kagrenac's own enchantments binding the heart is severed, which in turn severs the link to Dagoth Ur, removing his immortal powers. The third step which actually permanently imprints the divine powers onto the user is never revealed to the player.