Atmoran

Atmorans were a race of men from Atmora, a continent located north of Skyrim. They are considered to be the progenitors of the Nordic race after a small group of them migrated and settled in northern Tamriel.

Merethic Era
The first expeditions made by the Atmorans to Tamriel occurred around the Merethic Era. Centuries later, the warrior-hero Ysgramor, leader of a great colonizing fleet to Skyrim and Solstheim, had organized a colonization fleet to Tamriel in the middle of a civil war in Atmora.

Ysgramor's fleet crossed the Sea of Ghosts and landed at Hsaarik Head at the extreme northern tip of Skyrim's Broken Cape, and then they moved inland. They built the legendary city of Saarthal and established a connection with the native Snow Elves, and the two groups lived in relative peace.

Eventually, the Elves attacked Saarthal and killed the populace, with the exception of Ysgramor and his two sons, Yngol and Ylgar. They fled the city and returned to Atmora soon after.

This untimely event would soon be known as the Night of Tears. Several theories had been proposed that regarded the Snow Elves' assault on Saarthal. One theory was that they had begun to notice the comparatively fast growth of the Atmoran people's population, so they attacked the Atmorans in order to preserve their existence. Another theory was that the Atmorans had discovered a mysterious, magical artifact known as the Eye of Magnus deep below Saarthal, so the Snow Elves attacked the Atmoran's settlement, in order to secure it for themselves.

The Return
When Ysgramor and his sons returned to Atmora, they brought stories of Elven treachery and the slaughter of Saarthal's settlers to their kin. This moved the bravest men and fiercest women of Atmora to band together into a large companionship, with the aim of avenging their fallen and permanently claiming Skyrim from the Elves.

Ysgramor took command of the elite group of warriors and hunters, who in time would become known as the legendary Five Hundred Companions, and the war band set sail from the southernmost Atmoran city of Jylkurfyk to invade Tamriel on the Day of Final Passage. Soon after the Five Hundred had made their landfall in Skyrim, they overran Saarthal and, in their wrathful onslaught, began to pursue the scattering and fleeing Snow-Elves relentlessly across the width and breadth of the land. This unprecedented conquest of Mer lands by Men made the ascendancy of the human race possible for the first time on the continent of Tamriel, and would eventually lead to the establishment of the First Empire by Men. The legacy of these momentous events, known to Tamrielic historians as "The Return", became enshrined in legend in Nordic and later on in Imperial cultures, and continues to profoundly shape the relationships between Men and Mer, even many thousands of years later.

The Settling of Skyrim and Beyond
Some of Ysgramor's Companions would gradually interbreed with the Nedic humans of Skyrim, whom they inadvertently had liberated from the rule of Mer through their campaigns of conquest against the Snow-Elves, and through this they gave rise to modern-day Nord bloodlines. Those of Atmora who came after them and ventured west into High Rock would interbreed with the Aldmer already living there, becoming the progenitors of the Breton people. Others who moved south were captured and enslaved by the Ayleids, and interbred with the Nedic humans of Cyrodiil in their captivity. Their offspring would eventually overthrow the Ayleids under the leadership of the Nede slave queen St. Alessia, and begin the bloodline that would lead to the modern-day Imperials.

The remainder of the Five Hundred Companions continued to raid Elvish settlements and stalk Mer stragglers across Skyrim and Solstheim up until the moment of Ysgramor's death, after which they laid down their weapons in terrible grief and in homage to their legendary harbinger, as is described in the Songs of the Return. The last two ships from Atmora pulled into a harbor with more than half their crews dead. Atmora eventually became a frozen wasteland, and the Atmorans who remained there are likely to have perished.

Religion
The Atmorans were known to venerate the animal avatars of the Aedra. When they migrated to Skyrim and Solstheim, they brought this religion with them and it became part of Nordic culture. As it was in Atmora, the Dragon Priests ruled over the Atmoran populace at the behest of their Dragon overlords.

Notable Atmorans

 * Ysgramor
 * Yngol
 * Ylgar
 * Jeek of the River
 * Rhorlak