Elder Scrolls Mythology

broken image


The UESPWiki – Your source for The Elder Scrolls since 1995
  1. Hinduism And Elder Scroll Lore/mythology : Teslore
  2. Elder Scrolls Mythology
Jump to: navigation, search

The Elder Scrolls: Legends made a solid initial impression, and Bethesda put real effort into supporting it with multiple expansions based on the deep Elder Scrolls mythology. It continued to.

Also known as Cyrodiils, Cyrodilics[1], Cyro-Nordics and Imperial Cyrods[2], the well-educated and well-spoken Imperials are the natives of the civilized, cosmopolitan province of Cyrodiil. Imperials are also known for the discipline and training of their citizen armies, and their respect for the rule of law.[3] Though physically less imposing than the other races, the Imperials have proved to be shrewd diplomats and traders, and these traits, along with their remarkable skill and training as light infantry, have enabled them to subdue all the other nations and races and erect the monument to peace and prosperity that comprises the Glorious Empire.[4][5] Their hegemony has waxed and waned throughout the eras, and most historians refer to three distinct Empires, the ends of which each mark a new epoch in Tamrielic history.

  1. From the description of the book, 'The Elder Scrolls series has entranced gamers for two decades with its deep mythology, complex history, and intriguing locations. Players have explored a world in The Elder Scrolls rich with kings, demons, heroes, magic, and gods.
  2. The origins of the Aedra are the subject of many, often conflicting, creation myths. This account will endeavor to create a single narrative while highlighting where such variances occur. The et'ada were formed either through the interactions of two primal beings, Anu and Padomay, or their conflict.
Cyrodiil, the home of the Imperials
  • 1History
  • 2Gallery
  • 4See Also

History[edit]

An engraving of Tiber Septim

The Imperial race emerged out of the original Nibenese tribesman, Nedes and Cyro-Nords in the Merethic Era.[1][6][7] They were subjugated by a race of Aldmer, the Ayleids, but a rebellion against these rulers, formed under the guidance of Saint Alessia in 1E 242, would prove so successful that Ayleids were driven to extinction (though they left behind many treasures[8]).[1][6][9] The Alessian Empire united Imperials and pursued campaigns in other provinces, but when the Colovian west broke away, the resulting civil war in Cyrodiil ended the Empire.[6] How to upgrade safari on macbook pro.

The eastern Nibenay Valley region and the western Colovian Estates developed distinct cultures, but still united under the Colovian Reman I to repel an Akaviri invasion in 1E 2703, creating the Second Empire.[1][6] The Akaviri had devastated many human lands, and Reman feared invasion from the Summerset Isle, so he allowed the remaining Akaviri to live and fight for him against the Elves.[6] Soon the Second Empire controlled every province of Tamriel except Morrowind.[6] The events surrounding the attempted conquest of Morrowind led to the end of the Reman emperors, and the First Era, in 1E 2920: the Akaviri Versidue-Shaie, who had earned a position as a trusted advisor, took control following the deaths of the Remans and the disastrous Four-Score War.[10]

Weapons

The Akaviri Potentates would rule until 2E 430, but eventually assassinations and poor leadership would make the Empire crumble, leading to the Interregnum: for four hundred years, petty states all over Tamriel quarreled with each other, especially Cyrodiil.[1][11] The Imperial Province devolved into a collection of warlords squabbling over a no-man's land of cultural stagnation.[1][12] Eventually, it would take a Nord to reunite the Imperial Province: Tiber Septim was appointed general of the forces of Cuhlecain, a petty Colovian king. He routed all of Cuhlecain's enemies who would face him and his armies on the battlefield, quickly reuniting Cyrodiil. When Cuhlecain was assassinated in 2E 854, Tiber Septim assumed the throne.[6] In a few decades, the provinces would be reunited once more under his Third Empire, and this once-outsider to Cyrodiil had become the symbol of the whole realm.[1]

Ironically enough, most if not all of the Emperors of the Third Age would be Nordic or Breton, not Imperial. Following the cataclysms of the Oblivion Crisis, the leaderless Empire would once again begin to crumble, but it was an Imperial who seized the opportunity for glory: Titus Mede, a Colovian king, would seize the Imperial City with less than a thousand men and declared himself the new Emperor, though not much is yet known about this new dynasty.[13]

A color-coded map showing the different regions of Cyrodiil

Society[edit]

The defining feature of Imperial culture is its cosmopolitanism.[1] Although some individuals may be the most arrogant bigots in Tamriel,[14][15][16] culturally the Imperials are very conciliatory and congenial, making them skilled diplomats and traders.[1] Even Imperial Vampires claim some semblance of civility.[17] It's easy to understand given their geography and cultural schisms: Cyrodiil borders almost every other province, and the historical separation yet underlying unity and interaction of the Cyrodilic regions made the Imperials well practiced at building bridges and maintaining order. Though there are many regions, the two most powerful effectively controlled all regions close to them: the western Colovian Estates and the eastern Nibenay Valley. Starcraft 2 review.

Early Imperials in eastern Cyrodiil strongly believed in the Alessian Doctrines, even after the Empire's fall, which made them disfavor many practices, notably farming.[6] They defaulted to mercantilism, and became a wealthy merchant power with a vibrant society that made colorful clothing, conducted elaborate ceremonies, and loved tattoos and philosophy.[6] Through their river network, they were able to export many goods, including textiles, fabrics, moon sugar, rice and armor.[6] Though their beliefs were monotheistic, they often focused on the numinous nature of some facet of society, and many diverse cults operated openly over the years, dedicated to many animal spirits and hero-gods, as well as ancestor worship.[6][18][19] The Colovians, in contrast, took on a more austere but adventuresome lifestyle, in keeping with their Nordic ancestry, and often became mercenaries and pirates.[6][18] The unification under Reman I didn't eradicate these differences, although, of course, the Eight Divines was predominant all over the province by the end of the First Era.[1][6]

The respect and admiration Imperials had for Tiber Septim is nothing compared to the veneration they have for him as a god of the Nine Divines, regardless of the heresies often espoused about him.[20][21] His accomplishments inspired them to believe they could do anything they set their mind to.[22] The end of his dynasty was greeted with great mourning, although also with great pride, as his last known descendant, Martin Septim, sacrificed himself to save all of Tamriel.[23] Imperials know all too well that dynasties are destined to rise and fall; all it will take is time before the Glorious Empire once again reigns over Tamriel.

Gallery[edit]

Appearances[edit]

Notes[edit]

  • Common Cyrodilic names, certain aspects of Nibenese architecture, and Colovian martial tradition (military organization and equipment) should seem familiar, as they are inspired by the real-world Roman Empire.
  • Imperials were not considered a distinct race within the games until Redguard, but have been a playable race in every major entry since. The only named character from the earlier games that has been confirmed to be an Imperial is Emperor Uriel Septim VII, though this knowledge only comes from the later games of the series.

See Also[edit]

  • For Imperial names, see here.
  • For game-specific information, see the Redguard, Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, ESO, Legends, and Blades articles.

Books[edit]

  • Crafting Motif 10: Imperial Style by Doctor Alfidia Lupus — Being notes by Doctor Alfidia Lupus for a series of pamphlets on the major cultural styles of Tamriel
  • Frontier, Conquest by the University of Gwylim Press, 3E 344 — Details the presence of humans in Tamriel prior to the original Nordic conquests thought to bring humans to Tamriel
  • The Last King of the Ayleids by Herminia Cinna — Chronicles the downfall of the Ayleid Empire in the First Era
  • Modern Heretics by Haderus of Gottlesfont — An account of one researcher's visit to the shrine of the Daedric Lord Azura
  • Pocket Guide to the Empire, 1st Edition: Cyrodiil — Imperial Geographical Society, 2E 864
  • Pocket Guide to the Empire, 3rd Edition: The Seat of Sundered Kings: Cyrodiil — Imperial Geographical Society, 3E 432

References[edit]

  1. ^ abcdefghijPocket Guide to the Empire, 3rd Edition: The Seat of Sundered Kings: Cyrodiil — Imperial Geographical Society, 3E 432
  2. ^Crafting Motif 10: Imperial Style — Doctor Alfidia Lupus
  3. ^Legal Basics — Anchivius, M.Z.F.
  4. ^Morrowind character creation description
  5. ^Provinces of Tamriel
  6. ^ abcdefghijklmPocket Guide to the Empire, 1st Edition: Cyrodiil — Imperial Geographical Society, 2E 864
  7. ^Pocket Guide to the Empire, 3rd Edition: The Throat of the World: Skyrim — Imperial Geographical Society, 3E 432
  8. ^Magic from the Sky — Irlav Jarol
  9. ^The Last King of the Ayleids — Herminia Cinna
  10. ^2920, The Last Year of the First Era — Carlovac Townway
  11. ^Pocket Guide to the Empire, 3rd Edition: Arena Supermundus: The Tapestry of Heaven — Imperial Geographical Society, 3E 432
  12. ^Dwemer History and Culture — Hasphat Antabolis
  13. ^The Infernal City — Gregory Keyes
  14. ^Guide to Anvil — Alessia Ottus
  15. ^Guide to Bravil — Alessia Ottus
  16. ^Pocket Guide to the Empire, 1st Edition — Imperial Geographical Society and 'YR', 2E 864
  17. ^Manifesto Cyrodiil Vampyrum
  18. ^ abShezarr and the Divines — Faustillus Junius
  19. ^Modern Heretics — Haderus of Gottlesfont
  20. ^Varieties of Faith. — Brother Mikhael Karkuxor of the Imperial College
  21. ^The Arcturian Heresy — The Underking, Ysmir Kingmaker
  22. ^The Knights of the Nine — Karoline of Solitude
  23. ^Events of the Oblivion Crisis.
Retrieved from 'https://en.uesp.net/w/index.php?title=Lore:Imperial&oldid=2346469'


Introduction


Characters

Magic

Religion

Alchemy and
Enchantment

Monsters

Adventures:
Elsweyr (Skooma)

Tools

About The Elder Scrolls: GURPS

I really enjoy the Elder Scrolls games (Morrowind is the best), and I've been described many times as a 'lore monkey'. So when a few years ago a couple of people in my gaming group convinced me to do some GMing, I got all the GURPS books and set to translating the Elder Scrolls games into the system. The system I've built, I'm going to tentatively call TES:G.
The games* are mostly self-consistent in terms of lore, but the systems do change (climbing was removed for Morrowind, flying was removed for Oblivion, and worse, the most interesting School of Magic was removed for Skyrim). Nevertheless it was quite easy to convert the systems. For the most part, I used the rules and stats for Oblivion, with a little Morrowind thrown in here and there where it was easier (Skyrim wasn't out at the time).
Since then, a few people have asked for the source and notes, so I decided to put the whole lot up here on my website for anybody to peruse. I'd like to point out that I have no connection whatsoever to Steve Jackson's GURPS nor to Bethesda's Elder Scrolls, other than being a tremendous fan of both. This website is ENTIRELY non-official and non-profit, and to the extent that I'm legally able to, I'm releasing everything on this page into the public domain. If any copyright holders would like to discuss this website, please email me, but I hope you'll support your fans.

* For some reason, I refer to Bethesda's games as 'the games' and mine as 'GURPS'. Don't know why.

But what is The Elder Scrolls?

The Elder Scrolls is a series of computer games by Bethesda, the most recent being the incredibly successful Skyrim. They're single-player, first-person-perspective roleplaying games, with an extraordinary amount of freedom - each game has an extensive and elaborate main quest as well as hundreds of detailed and (mostly) well-written side-quests, but you can have a lot of fun even if you just explore independently, never even picking up a single quest after the introduction.
The worlds are enormous and beautiful, and recent games have a very active modding community, supported by some powerful tools released by Bethesda. But what makes them truly great, in my opinion, is the absurdly detailed lore, with extensive historical and geographical background, intricate mythology, and even its own cosmological and philosophical principles.
If you haven't, I highly recommend you play the games (I'd personally suggest starting with TES IV: Oblivion). If you've played a bit already, and are interested in learning more of the lore and backstory, there are three excellent websites:
The Imperial Library (lore and backstory, including the full text of every in-game book);
The Elder Scrolls Wiki (mostly technical gameplay-related information); and
The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages (a mix of technical and lore information).

And what is GURPS?

Before we go into the rules and statistics, a quick primer on the system I used, GURPS 4th edition (a great system, not to be confused with the 4th edition of certain other systems which are shite). This assumes that you know at least the basics of what a tabletop roleplaying game is.
Rather than more 'traditional' systems, GURPS characters have no class (Heh heh), and there are no levels. Instead it's a point-buy system; you buy stats, skills, abilities, and starting wealth and items using Character Points.
In GURPS, a typical human has basic stats (strength, dexterity, intelligence and health) of 10, and most stats derived from those are 10. Player characters will spend some of their points increasing the basic and derived stats. Note that typical hitpoints are also 10; you can spend points to increase them, but it's a very rare person who has hitpoints above 15.
Skill checks and combat rolls use 3D6 rather than D20. This gives more or less the same range of results, but average results are much more common than either extreme. In my opinion, this is more realistic; most people don't fail at things they're good at five times in twenty!
That should be enough to get you going. For more information, buy the Basic Set from SJGames, or download the free GURPS Lite pdf. I'd also recommend GURPS Magic if you do decide to play TES:G.

Hinduism And Elder Scroll Lore/mythology : Teslore

So where's TES:G?

Elder Scrolls Mythology

TES:G is far from a full-fledged sourcebook, and isn't even especially well-written. Basically it's a few pdfs that I made for my group, with a bit of background text to explain my thinking behind each of them.
Have a look at each of the pages linked at the top of this page. Chocolat 3 2 1. They're in my suggested 'chapter order'.





broken image