Lore Reporter #5- A Few Things to think about in the Empire
By Hendrix
The fascinating Imperial Government is generally not discussed outside of the Emperor, Elder Council, and Imperial Army, yet it can be quite an interesting subject. After all, there certainly are plenty of sects of government, such as the East Empire Trading Company, that play a role in shaping the way the provinces are ran, and it involves a hierarchy that many do not see or care to see in games. Yet, when you live in a world as immersive as the one in Morrowind, or Cyrodiil, you have to think of every little thing that exists around there. Anyway, that's one thing to realize, it's not just the emperors, OR the Elder Council that manage everything, and we don't even know what exactly the emperor does besides command troops and give random orders.
One more Imperial thing to think about is the amount of rights the people are given within the empire. Looking at the games as an example, the people (at least Imperials, redguards, bosmer, nords) as examples, feel fine within the empire, and don't mind working for it. We do know they have property rights, and economic rights, as someone can own their own business, and set prices based on their own free will, with no governmental action involved. And obviously, the empire shines in kindness over the likes of Morrowind, where they had to make sacrifices like allowing slavery, simply to keep the province.
On the other side though, guards can certainly come into your home, and search throughout likely without permission. Obviously, being an empire, the people likely can't speak out against the government either, but aren't that limited in the Black Horse Courier. So, just thinking about it, the empire is not perfect, and there is a lot we simply don't know about it, but from what we know, it is actually fairer than much at what can be compared throughout general history, and anywhere in Tamriel as well. Again, just a few things to think about.
Lore Reporter #4- Dwemer
By Lettuceman44
The Dwemer are the lost race of Mer(group of races including elves and orcs). The term Dwemer means "Deep Folk". They had long busy beards, but they were not short. They were about the same height as elves. They primarily lived in Morrowind, but a clan called the "Rourken" went to Hammerfell in 420 First Era in self-exile.
They have ruins and remnants in many places in Tamriel, especially in Morrowind, High Rock, and Hammerfell. The Dwemer were a highly advanced race having many mechanical machines, and mechanical guardians. Many of them still run, and you can see the gears moving, and the guardians moving.
The Dwemer also explored the Arcane Arts, harnessing supernatural powers to use within their mechanical machines. There is some specualtion that says this lead to the Dwemer being arrogant, which in turn led to their demise when they tried to use the heart of Lorkhan.
There are still many Dwemer things left other than the ruins. Dwemer Ghosts still lurk their ruins.
Also, there is still one living Dwemer left, Yagrum Bagarn. He is infected with corprus, so he looks bloated and confined to a spider like chair mechanism.
There are many weapons and armor left that many collectors and scavengers can find.
There are lots more things to cover, but we will do that in later articles.
Unfortunately this once great race just mysteriously disappeared. It was durning the Battle of Red Mountain between the Chimner and Dwemer, but there were many different varying accounts. Some say the nerevarine fought alongside the Dwemer, others say that House Dagoth allied themselves with the Dwemer. Then there is Vivec's account where House Dagoth fought alongside the Nerevarine against the Dwemer.
The actual disappearance of the Dwemer is still not known. Some possiblities are Kagrenac, one of the Dwemer leaders used the tools on the heart, it worked and the Dwemer left the mortal plane.
There is also the theory that Kagrenac used the tools on the heart, failed and his whole race dissapeared and the other possibility is that Kagrenac never had a chance to use the tools, and the Dwemer were banished to Oblivion.
Not even the last Dwemer alive can really tell what happens, and we may never know. The past of the Dwemer is still shrouded in mystery. There are many things that you can research about the Dwemer. This article just scrathes the surface.
If you would like to learn more, here is a great article to look at. The Definitive Guide to Dwemer.
Lore Reporter #3- Akavir
By lettuceman44
Akavir, which is also known as "Dragon Land" is a major continent on the Planet Nirn east of Tamriel. It has repeatedly tried to invade Tamriel giving it the title of Tamriels arch nemisis though this could be of part of not enough knowledge on Tamriels part as not every single region in Akavir has bad ties with Tamriel.
The contintent is divided into four major regions. Tang Mo, Kamal, Tsaesci and Ka Po'Tun. Each reason is home to a different race.
Tang Mo- Thousand Monkey Isles
Tang Mo is home of the Monkey Folk, which are simply refered to as "The Tang Mo". These monkey people are described as kind, brave and lighthearted. The other regions of the land, most notably The Kamal, and the Tsaesci have periodicly tried to enslave them so the Tang Mo are always defending their land, and they have always won. They have an alliance with the Ka Po'Tun which is also the Tsaesci greatest enemies. The Tango Mo isn't mentioned much in Tamrielic lore, so we don't know that much about them.
Kamal- Snow Hell
Kamal is described to be the worst part of Akavir, inhabited by the race of snow demons. This race is also simply known by Tamriel as "Kamal". They will periodicly launch attacks on other regions once the temperature allows it. Ada'Soom Dir-Kamal, once a king of the Kamal launched an attack on Morrowind, but failed and was destroyed by Almalexia and the Underking at snow mountain. Just like the Tang Mo we know very little about this race and place.
Tsaesci- Snake Palace
Considered the most (in)famous race on Akavir, the Tsaesci are a serpent like race. While we don't know exactly how they look, some say they look like actual serpents while other accounts say it is a metaphor. At one point a Tsaesci ruled the Empire for 400 years after Reman III gets assassinated by the Morag Tong.
Ka'Po'Tun- Tiger-Dragon's Land
The Ka'Po'Tun are described as a tiger like race. It is also suggested in the book The Mysterious Akavir that this race can change to have dragon characteristics, hence making them dragons. They are the Tsaesci's biggest enemies. They have become stronger than the Tsaesci, at least on land and is one of the top powers in Akavir. Tosh Raska, largest dragon there is and leader has a goal to wipe out the Tsaesci. After that he plans on conquering Tamriel, and with no heir to the throne and no leader Tamriel could see some trouble. The Ka' Po'Tun are the largest threat that Tamriel has from Akavir.
Uriel V tries to invade Akavir taking two settlements but going no further. Two years later Uriel V gets killed and the Imperials leave Akavir, but since then Akavir has not bothered Tamriel. You can only wonder what they are planning.
Many influences came from Akavir like the Dragonscale Armor, the Blades Armor, tantos and the different types of katanas. Cloud Ruler Temple is also influenced from Akavir.
Lore Reporter #2- Cyrodiil Then and Now
By Lettuceman44
The Change in Cyrodiil
Well, it is no secret that Cyrodiil was vastly changed in the latest TES installment, Oblivion. Once, considered a large tropical jungle, it is now a big forest with some other varieties of landscape. Lets take a look at how Cyrodiil was changed.
Pre-Oblivion Cyrodiil, or The Lore Cyrodiil
The actual Cyrodiil though is quite different. It is no longer jungle, and there are no rainforests. It is largely forested with many decidous trees instead of the jungle varient, and there is a lot more variety instead of just jungle. To the north is the Jerral Mountains where it is snowy, and to the east is the Colovian Highlands. The Nibbeny Basin on the Niben River where agriculture is big, the West Weald where it is open and much flatter than other areas and Blackwood where it is swampy.
No one knows for sure why Bethesda decided to change how Oblivion is. Maybe the jungle would be to hard on current pc's to handle, or maybe they decided to just do something new. Regardless, this is how Cyrodiil is and will be.
http://imperial-library.info/maps/obcodex_cyrodiil.jpg
*credits for pictures go to the Imperial Library
Lore Reporter #1- History to the Map of Tamriel
By Hendrix
The original map of Tamriel was portrayed in Arena, since the game encompassed nearly every province imaginable over there. As you can see, many many of the cities that were there are not currently there now, although Morrowind did contain much of the same. However, the odd thing was that there were little to no cities mentioned in Cyrodiil, so it was definitley not fully realized at that time
Here's the link for your viewing pleasure. Now moving on to Daggerfall, where this map of High Rock and Hammerfell described these provinces in detail. Or if you'd like to call the whole region by its proper name, Iliac Bay. Again, check out the map here. The map that came with Redguard added Yokuda, the original home of the redguards, to the mix, along with a few interesting islands we never got to check the name of. This is the most map-like of all the maps, and here's a link to it. The games Morrowind and Oblivion added Morrowind and Cyrodiil provinces respectively, detailing these provinces as lore-correct as possible, with cities, daedric shrines, etc. Here's the Morrowind map, and then the Oblivion map.
Besides those detailed inner-province, regional maps, we move back to the elderscrolls.com codex map of all of Tamriel as it was slightly before Oblivion was released. You'll see the difference in cities, etc. These are quite important for cartographers of the TES world to know about, because all of these can help aspiring mapmakers make an even better map for the next game. Cheers, and please comment on the first edition of the Lore Reporter!