User:IceFireWarden/Provinces of Tamriel (Annotated)
[This book, reportedly written in the mid-to-late Third Era, has seen better days. Its pages have become yellowed with age, and have been stained by countless substances. It seems like the former owner has used bibliomancy to bold the original contents for reading effect, while also inserting their own cursive notes in red ink between paragraphs.]
Hmph. Apparently the Tamrielics are so ignorant of their own environments that they must create a book detailing their ‘Empire’ in greater detail for their citizenry. Ta’dastan’s public educational system never ceases to disappoint me. Nevertheless, this guide of sorts should do some good for our pups as they learn more about the lands outside of our own.
The Empire of Tamriel encompasses the nine Imperial provinces: Skyrim, High Rock, Hammerfell, Summerset Isle, Valenwood, Elsweyr, Black Marsh, Morrowind, and the ancient Imperial province itself, Cyrodiil. Morrowind was among the last of the provinces to be integrated into the Empire, and because it was added by treaty, and not by conquest, Morrowind retains exceptional power to define local law by reference to ancient Great House precedents.
Humorous knowing that although In’eslae, Roscrea, Esrionet, and Cathnoquey are all considered Imperial Territories (for the moment), we’re not even loosely included in this passage. Such indigitation! Also, where are they getting this nine from? In recent correspondence with the Empire it was stated very clearly that the nation of Orsinium was recognized as a province due to that Weir in the West that brightened up the world. Or was it Warp in the West? Warg in the West? I can’t be too bothered to remember names, it seems.
Either way, this shameless prejudice against the Orsimer needs to come to a halt. My people and the Orcs have grown to acquire a mutual respect with one another due to our bestial natures despite being ‘elves’, and the Council gladly welcomes any of them to our far shores. The Hyu-Ket also adore their ‘bigger cousins’ from the West, even if their timid natures prevent much cultural exchange.
Skyrim, also known as the Old Kingdom or the Fatherland, was the first region of Tamriel settled by humans from the continent of Atmora: the hardy, brave, warlike Nords, whose descendants still occupy this rugged land. Though more restrained and civilized than their barbarian ancestors, the Nords of the pure blood still excel in the manly virtues of red war and bold exploration.
Ah, the descendants of the inhabitants of the Frozen Continent. Stubborn, hot-tempered, and a bit too rowdy for their own good. Still, they are an honorable―albeit superstitious―people (Nordic travelers still think of us to be Dwemeri monsters, despite it being centuries since we’ve met one another haha!). Not to mention they have a great love for heavy drink that rivals my peoples’ own, which means we finally have some people who can keep up with us in the taverns, thank Sh’aemi!
But I suppose we aren’t going to mention their slaughtering of the Falmer, hm? Oh, I suppose not. I forget that this is a guide, not a self-critical history book.
Hammerfell is primarily an urban and maritime province, with most of its population confined to the great cities of Sentinel and Stros M’kai and to other small ports among the islands and along the coast. The interior is sparsely populated with small poor farms and beastherds. The Redguard love of travel, adventure, and the high seas has dispersed them as sailors, mercenaries, and adventurers in ports of call throughout the Empire.
It would probably be good thinking for the Orders to look into the nature of Yokuda’s partial sinking at greater length in the future. Clearly it was the result of spontaneous combustion of some sort, perhaps through the use of improper, dangerous, and therefore wrong magics. Regardless, the Redguards are an admirable people and their ‘more recent’ connection with the Tamrielics shows. They too do not like meddling in the arcane, which we can respect. I wonder if any of them would be interested in becoming witch-hunters and exorcists someday…
I am also interested in their martial practices, and these ‘spirit-swords’ they can form through intense training. Reminds me of my people’s own philosophy regarding Familial Weapons and focus on using magicka from within the body instead of outside the body to enchant and bolster defense, which allows us to enchant our arms and ourselves without the need of those wretched soul gems. Perhaps our ideals are similar?
High Rock encompasses the many lands and clans of Greater Bretony, the Dellese Isles, the Bjoulsae River tribes, and, by tradition, the Western Reach. The rugged highland strongholds and isolated valley settlements have encouraged the fierce independence of the various local Breton clans, and this contentious tribal nature has never been completely integrated into a provincial or Imperial identity. Nonetheless, their language, bardic traditions, and heroic legends are a unifying common legacy.
It is almost…right to say that the race that contains the combined blood of man and mer controls the land that surrounds Adamantia Tower, which pushes up from the Underworld itself. But aren’t bardic traditions and heroic legends more associated with the Nords? When I hear about or encounter Bretons, I always think of their honorable knight traditions and strange nature magic; they really shouldn’t let their Empire sell them so short as if they’re nothing important.
And how do they get things remotely done in their lands? High Rock is composed of hundreds of cities, each hailing a solitary monarch. A simple act of messaging a rival kingdom must be an incredibly horrid and tedious headache for their lot. Despite this, their diplomatic skills are excellent, which is why I prefer dealing with Bretons more than any of the other Tamrielic races personally.
They also know how to gamble, and I can toss some dice to that.
The Summerset Isle is a green and pleasant land of fertile farmlands, woodland parks, and ancient towers and manors. Most settlements are small and isolated, and dominated by ruling seats of the local wizard or warlord. The Isle has few good natural ports, and the natives are unwelcoming to foreigners, so the ancient, chivalric high culture of the Aldmer is little affected by modern Imperial mercantilism.
(Several indecipherable racial slurs and foul metaphors that have become hard to read due to the passages of time).
Arrogant, pompous…! These ‘High Elves’ come to our islands, and ‘politely request’ that we remove the -mer suffix from Echmer. How dare they! Yes, we may not be mer in the truest sense of the word but we have more than earned the right to bear the title. Next time they request my associates and I to deal with another exorcism, I’ll kick a spell right up their asses! Because that’s where the real foul spirit lies. Perhaps we should also start mentioning to them that they are also degenerates of the primordial Aldmer…or completely denounce their absurd faith in their goal of ascending back into heaven. Have you ever heard of a goal so ridiculous? Even a child can tell you that heaven is where your heart is.
Valenwood is a largely uninhabited forest wilderness. The coasts of Valenwood are dominated by mangrove swamps and tropical rain forests, while heavy rainfalls nurture the temperate inland rain forests. The Bosmer live in timber clanhouses at sites scattered along the coast and through the interior, connected only by undeveloped foot trails. The few Imperial roads traverse vast dense woodlands, studded with tiny, widely separated settlements, and carry little trade or traffic of any kind.
The fact that the Bosmer somehow still possess the ability to be humble and experience humility is incredible when you realize they’ve been surrounded by Altmer, Maormer, Ayleids, and Dunmer for thousands of years. We should give them a medal for such exceptional excellence, in front of all of the other elves. I personally believe that such odd behavior must be tied to their origination from the primal forces of Nirn-As-It-Was.
The only terrible thing about them is their jokes. Oh, and perhaps their cannibalism. But more importantly their jokes. As rough as the bark they sing their houses out of, really. Jagga is a rather delightful drink, though. We should request the EEC to send us more in exchange for additional morpholiths and salt.
The Khajiit of the southern Elsweyr jungles and river basins are settled city dwellers with ancient mercantile traditions and a stable agrarian aristocracy based on sugarcane and saltrice plantations. The nomadic tribal Khajiit of the dry northern wastes and grasslands are, by contrast, aggressive and territorial tribal raiders periodically united under tribal warlords. While the settled south has been quick to adopt Imperial ways, the northern nomadic tribes cling to their warlike barbarian traditions.
Once met a Khajiit adventurer looking to earn a reputation as a sellsword in J’uondo. I called him an elf, and we got into a bar fight. I may or may have not won; that’s not important. But it’s funny when people say that the cat people are beastfolk. No, WE’RE beastfolk. Khajiit are just elves transformed by the Testing Gods of Oblivious to make all of the other elf-looking elves look bad. They should be proud of their heritage I think, instead of exemplifying that they’re so clever and cunning and cute and…wait, no, why did I write that last one.
Anyways, their Lunar Lattice is incredibly interesting. That’s ancient magic. Dawn Magic. That sort of spell isn’t easily reversible, even to the gods. Having your physiology directly tied to memorials of Yra’fenna and Laorghatu would definitely explain why they’re so…peculiar. Ah ha, there we go! Moon Elves. Khajiit are Moon Elves. I shall call the next one I see that whenever I get the chance.
High Elves. Snow Elves. Sea Elves. Bat Elves. Deep Elves. Dark Elves. Left-Handed Elves (those aren’t real though). All kinds of elves. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were Sun Elves in Akavir.
Most of the native Argonian population of Black Marsh is confined to the great inland waterways and impenetrable swamps of the southern interior. There are few roads here, and most travel is by boat. The coasts and the northwestern upland forests are largely uninhabited. For ages the Dunmer have raided Black Marsh for slaves; though the Empire has made this illegal, the practice persists, and Dunmer and Argonians have a long-standing and bitter hatred for one another.
Oh, Argonians are pretty fascinating to talk to! All the other Westerners think they’re some kind of indecipherable race, but that’s not true at all. You just have to talk to one. I remember my grandfather telling me about Uriel’s Invasion of In’eslae, and how the first time the lizard folk stepped into battle our companies thought we were encountering some new type of dragon. But they were surprisingly honorable for a group of invaders; it seemed that they sympathized with our plight due to their own history of subjugation, and after the Diamond Wars were proud to get to know us as allies.
I just wish they would allow Mustikos’acere to purchase a Hist sapling or two for personal research. Perhaps through studying their sap’s strange alchemical effects we can learn more about our own evolutionary journey brought unto us by the Noraken, despite their methods being quite dissimilar to the Hists. Not to mention that the idea of purification salts or grenades made from Hist sap feels me with excitement, but that goes without saying!
Morrowind, homeland of the Dunmer peoples, is the northeastern most province of the Tamrielic Empire. Most of the population is gathered in the high uplands and fertile river valleys of central Morrowind, especially around the Inland Sea. The island Vvardenfell is encircled by the Inner Sea, and is dominated by the titanic volcano Red Mountain and its associated ash wastelands; most of the island's population is confined to the relatively hospitable west and southwest coast.
Have you ever met someone who just wouldn’t find help for their terrible behavior? They just went out of their way to be as impolite as possible, to be as deceiving as possible, because they felt like that sort of personality appealed to the masses? Multiply that person by fifty and a hundred, and you’ll have what I like to call Dunmer culture. At least with Altmer you can find some cordial ones, despite their general arrogance, and their society―while being perfectionist to a laughable degree―still follows good habits and virtues. But Dark Elves? They think concepts like betrayal, assassination, slavery, and racism are the pillars of a just society! One of these days their entire province is going to collapse on itself due to it, mark my words.
Other than that, I suppose Morrowind as a place isn’t quite all that bad. Giant insects seem adjustable. Lava rivers and ash sounds like the Dweech, so it wouldn’t bother me none. If only their ‘Living Gods’ would allow us to investigate the Begetter ruins they have, but they keep responding to our requests with a firm no. Didn’t they like Hrahndeyl when she visited them all those centuries ago? Are they trying to hide something from us in particular?
Cyrodiil is the cradle of Human Imperial high culture on Tamriel. It is the largest region of the continent, and most is endless jungle. The Imperial City is in the heartland, the fertile Nibenay Valley. The densely populated central valley is surrounded by wild rain forests drained by great rivers into the swamps of Argonia and Topal Bay. The land rises gradually to the west and sharply to the north. Between its western coast and its central valley are deciduous forests and mangrove swamps.
Imperials are a strange and curious folk. They act like they’re the utmost ideal of civilization in the Known World, but fail to realize that their entire culture revolves around the idea of stealing practices from every intelligent race they come across. Not even their pantheon is original, and that should speak volumes to their collective mindset and behavior hidden underneath all of that gold and bluster.
Nevertheless, Imperials are good at leading. Truly. The fact that Uriel V―more demigod than man―was able to wage war with In’eslae despite the fact our warriors, spells, and inventions have repelled foreign invaders for centuries and force us into a contractual agreement is testament to that. Sure, they never were and never will be able to conquer us outright but they definitely gave it their best.
If only they weren’t keeping us in the dark concerning certain events going on in Tamriel. First the Simulacrum, then the Wink in the West, and now there are rumors of great changes going on in dark elf lands. What’s exactly going on in the West? If it’s bad, they can at least give us a warning so we can try to keep them out!
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