Board Thread:Future TES Titles/@comment-84.52.237.209-20170227185554/@comment-47.208.139.57-20170502084703

I actually had some thoughts similar to this train of thought. Hear me out, and feel free to correct if you spot something wrong; I'll fully admit that I'm not 100% on my lore knowledge.

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After the Oblivion Crisis, the Aldmeri Dominion strongarmed the Empire into the White-Gold Concordat, which sparked the banning of Talos worship and, consequently, the Skyrim civil war. HOWEVER, it's discovered that, through intermediary agents, the Dominion was fueling both sides of the civil war. They already had a fight with the Redguard over Hammerfell when the Concordat was signed, as part of Hammerfell was supposed to be ceded to the Dominion, but the Redguard continued fighting as they were unwilling to give up part of their home land. The Dominion wanted to continue with their hostile takeover of Tamriel (a "strike-while-the-iron's-hot" opportunity), but they didn't want to be forced into fighting for every inch; even with the Empire heavily weakened after the Oblivion Crisis, there's still enough resistance to kill that option for the Dominion once you also factor in the possibility for local resistance.

So instead, they tried to get the natives to weaken themselves, priming them for Dominion takeover. THAT'S the primary reason for the banning of Talos worship in the Concordat. True, the worship of a man known for killing a slew of Altmer was a nice bonus, but it was an easy setup to seed discontent and rebellion, which the Dominion wanted. They wanted to neutralize the Nords before they attempted a takeover, and the Empire just happened to be a convenient meatshield. However, Alduin's re-emergence ended up stalling that plan out as, in the end, the Empire and the Stormcloaks had to put aside their differences to defend Skyrim. Once the immediate threat of Alduin was taken care of, and the Dominion's hidden plot was revealed to both sides, thoughts of civil war ended, and between the Empire heavily resenting the Dominion attempting to sucker-punch them AGAIN, and the sons and daughters of Skyrim baying for Thalmor blood in payment for the blood of their own spilled for the Dominion's gain, the two factions ally once more, and proceed to take the fight to the Dominion.

The Dominion wasn't expecting such a sudden change of the political landscape, and the sudden counteroffensive by the rejuvenated Imperial forces caught them on their back foot, exacerbated by trying to neutralize the Redguard who insist on keeping the Dominion out, effectively forcing the Thalmor into fighting a war on two fronts. Needless to say, the Dominion takes quite a knock from this, and if not for their gifts with magic, might very well see the Summerset Isles in flames.

Now, how does this relate to the Dwemer or Falmer? Simple: Within a few years of the end of the Skyrim civil war, with the Empire and Redguard factions forcing the Dominion on the ropes, reports start coming in of Dwemer-like contraptions entering and leaving old ruins, and roaming the countryside. In short, the Dwemer, for reasons unknown, have returned to Tamriel.

Their appearance, however, is not a peaceful one; soon after, communities near ruins left empty and dead for centuries start disappearing or are destroyed. The Dwemer, we come to find out, weren't banished to an outside realm as an accident due to spells gone wrong; it was the Aedra (also known as the Divines) interfering, as the Dwemer had figured out a way to not only confer divine power to themselves, but also to steal it from the Aedra themselves. The Aedra, in a last-ditch effort to save themselves and the world from Dwemer domination, cast them into their own version of an Oblivion sphere to hold them for a time. The term of their sentence? "Until the end of days".

An end of days that, unfortunately, was to be brought about with Alduin consuming the world. The Dwemer were to be released onto a dead Nirn after Alduin was done with it, and they would end up dying shortly thereafter with nothing to sustain them, as even the Aedra would be gone. With Alduin's premature death, the prophesized end of days is rendered invalid. The Aedra's prison for the Dwemer begins to destabilize, leading to the Dwemer to find their way free and back on Nirn. While the Dwemer have been trapped since the first era, they have not been idle, and their capacity to make war has only grown more sophisticated, along with the Dwemer desire to put their works to good use, whether it's against the races of Man or the children of they Ayleid.

The Aedra, finding out that their prisoners have escaped, attempt to form resistance to the Dwemer bid for power, especially when one of their first moves is to put into practice their means to steal divinity from the Aedra. Even as the Divines lose their power one-by-one, they attempt to forge champions to stop them. However, without their power to imbue their champions, said champions fall easily to the Dwemer. We start seeing what happens to a Nirn where the Divines have no power, and the Dwemer begin to make themselves into a pseudo-demigod race.

But, whispers of messages from unknown sources reveal that the Dwemer have traditionally had an irrational hatred for the Snow Elves above all, as part of Dwemer "superstition" states that the Dwemer have reason to fear the Snow Elves' gaze, which is why, when the Snow Elves requested Dwemer protection from the Nords in Skyrim, the stated price was their vision. It also explains why the Dwemer forced the Snow Elves into slavery, corrupting them into what would become the Falmer. If the races of Tamriel have any hope, it is to restore the Falmer to become the Snow Elves once more. No race of Mer or Man have the power to do that, but maybe, if one could convince them without falling to their machinations, there may be one source of power strong enough...

The Daedric Princes.

While I'm just spitballing this, for the most part, it does seem to make sense, and the parts of the lore that I've read seem to work with this story line.

Anyway, feel free to tell me what you think.