User:Aramithius/Lore

Lore is the term used by most fans to refer to the information about the setting of Nirn, The Elder Scrolls universe. It covers a range of topics, such as the geography, history and metaphysics, which combine to describe the nature of Nirn.

Sources of Lore
Lore can come from a range of sources, which are discussed below.

The Elder Scrolls Games
Most of the lore that we have about Nirn comes from the twelve Elder Scrolls games that have been published: Note that Skyrim: Special Edition is not included in the above list as it does not provide any new content.
 * The Elder Scrolls I: Arena
 * The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
 * An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire
 * The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard
 * The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
 * The Elder Scrolls Travels: Stormhold
 * The Elder Scrolls Travels: Dawnstar
 * The Elder Scrolls Travels: Shadowkey
 * The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
 * The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
 * The Elder Scrolls Online
 * The Elder Scrolls: Legends

Most of the lore in the games is presented in the form of in-game books and character dialogue, which supply information about the setting from a particular perspective. However, the presence of some objects or people in the games may in itself constitute lore for the setting. For example, the mere presence of Jarl Balgruuf the Greater as Jarl of Whiterun in 4E 201 implies that he was Jarl at that time in the lore.

Lore vs Gameplay
However, there are differences between the setting as presented in in-game texts and dialogue and in the games themselves. This is most obvious in the case of city populations. For example, Oblivion has 1,839 named NPCs, and yet there is reference to 'thousands' of rice workers in the east of the province alone in a text. Differences like this mean that how something is represented in the games may not match their precise nature in lore.

The events of the games themselves as carried out by the players also constitute lore in the definition given above. The exact status of some of these events is unclear; for example, if a given quest is not completed by the player character, is it considered done in the history of the universe? Due to the imprecise nature of referencing past games this is rarely if ever confirmed. A common opinion that resolves this problem is that each game protagonist completes the games' main questline, but other quests are completed by someone, who may or may not be the game protagonist.[source needed?] However, in a few instances, such as the Kill Telvanni Councillors Morrowind quest, we do have some evidence that the quest was not carried out. Changes made due to gameplay reasons sometimes get an explanation in the lore. The most prominent example of this is the landscape of Cyrodiil. This is described in the Pocket Guide to the Empire, First Edition as mostly being "endless jungle", and yet the game Oblivion portrays it as forested. This is explained in both Oblivion and Skyrim as having been changed by Tiber Septim after his conquest of Tamriel. Similarly, changes to the game engine between Morrowind and Oblivion meant that cities needed to be built in self-contained cells, and therefore levitation spells were not included as they were incompatible with the new cell structure. This was explained in the lore by the introduction of a Levitation Act in Imperial Law, passed in 3E 421.

Elder Scrolls Books
There are a variety of printed books that have been made available which contain lore information. These fall into various different categories and are discussed below.

Elder Scrolls Novels
There have been two novels published set in the Elder Scrolls universe, The Infernal City and Lord of Souls. These books bring up events that are referenced in the games, and as such are considered part of the overall series lore.

Pocket Guides
The disk-based The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard came with a booklet entitled the Pocket Guide to the Empire, First Edition in the case. The collectors edition of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion came with the Third Edition of the Pocket Guide included in the case. These texts have never been depicted in games, but are written from an in-universe perspective.

Developer Interviews and Texts
At various points during the development of the Elder Scrolls games, particularly in the 1990s and early 2000s, game developers would frequently post in-character information on the official Bethesda forums and their own websites. These often elaborated on ideas and concepts that are only tangentially addressed in the games. One particularly prevalent writer of these texts, and the most commonly associated with them, is Michael Kirkbride, who continued writing such texts long after other developers retreated from this form of audience engagement.

Some of these texts have been included in Elder Scrolls games after their publication, or referenced by the games without necessarily including all or any of the original text itself. A notable example of this sort of inclusion is in Heimskr's sermon, which includes a portion of From the Many-Headed Talos.

Some Elder scrolls fans consider these texts to be valid sources of lore about the series, while others do not (see Canonicity and Elder Scrolls Lore below).

The Unreliable Narrator
Elder scrolls lore uses a narrative device called the Unreliable Narrator, whereby the person or thing conveying information may not be telling the whole truth, either because they do not know the truth, have a particular agenda to promote or wish to willfully deceive their audience. Typically, a source of lore within the Elder Scrolls will have a definite or implied person or group of people presenting the information, giving it a context and possible set of reasons for it to be true or false.

This means that the information presented to players and readers by its nature requires interpretation and a degree of scepticism in order to arrive at an accurate picture of a particular event or thing, or even that a totally accurate retelling is impossible. A particularly prominent example of this is the various accounts surrounding the Battle of Red Mountain.

Canonicity and Elder Scrolls Lore
Due to a combination of both the Unreliable Narrator and the presence of the developer interviews and texts elaborated above, there is some debate among fans about the canonicity of certain lore concepts or particular pieces of developer texts. That is, whether some texts, concepts or events are considered to be true for the Elder Scrolls universe.

Some fans consider that only material officially published by Bethesda Studios and its licencees can be considered to be valid lore. Others have a broader view of the canon, including developer interviews and texts (often referred to as 'out-of-game texts', despite the novels and Pocket Guides technically falling under this category as well) as valid lore, often dispensing with the notion of a canon altogether. This is still a point of contention in the Elder Scrolls lore community. Bethesda has not to date taken an official position on the canonicity or non-canonicity of any of these texts.

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Scope of the Lore
Many stories and adventures that have taken place in Tamriel are considered to be a part of the lore, though much of the lore is comprised of recorded events that are not experienced in any of the games. Most of the lore in comes from the continent of Tamriel, in which currently all the games have taken place. Some lore is from the other continents surrounding Tamriel on Nirn, such as Atmora and Akavir, and from the many realms of Oblivion.

Some of the Et'Ada helped create the mortal plane, Mundus. These Et'Ada became the Aedra, while those who left the creation of Mundus became the Magna-Ge, while another group of Et'Ada known as the Daedra had no part in Creation, but instead, decided to make their own realm known as Oblivion. However, some of the Aedra chose to live in Nirn. They later evolved into Elhnofey, the ancestors of man and mer.

Realms
There are three realms these are:
 * Mundus – The realm in which all mortals reside, It consists of multiple planets.
 * Oblivion – This is the realm where all Daedra reside. Each Daedric prince controls their own piece of oblivion, each differs greatly for every prince.
 * Aetherius – This is where the Magna Ge reside.

Eras
In, there are Eras that divide the timeline into chapters. There are currently six eras that have been recorded. These are:
 * Dawn Era
 * Merethic Era
 * First Era
 * Second Era – This is when the events of, and  occured.
 * Third Era – This is when the events of, , , and occurred. Its end signified the death of Martin Septim, and thus the Septim Dynasty, although the 3rd Empire is still standing.
 * Fourth Era – This is when the events of took place.

Description of Nirn and Tamriel
Nirn is the planet on which Tamriel lies.

The continent of Tamriel is divided into nine provinces: Other continents located in Nirn:
 * Black Marsh – Home of the Argonian race.
 * Summerset Isles – A mysterious island which is home to the Altmer.
 * Cyrodiil – Home to the Imperial race.
 * Elsweyr – Home to the Khajiit.
 * Hammerfell – Home to the Redguard.
 * High Rock – Home to the Bretons and Orsimer.
 * Morrowind – Home to the Dunmer.
 * Valenwood – Home of the Bosmer.
 * Skyrim – Home of the Nords. Was the first province to be settled by man.
 * Atmora – Home of the ancient Nords called Atmorans, before they settled to Skyrim.
 * Yokuda – Where the Redguard race originated before they set foot in Hammerfell.
 * Akavir – Home of five races (such as the Akaviri). This is where Dragons originated from, before migrating to Tamriel.

Sentient races of Tamriel

 * Altmer
 * Argonians
 * Bosmer
 * Bretons
 * Dunmer
 * Imperials
 * Khajiit
 * Nords
 * Orsimer
 * Redguards