Board Thread:Skyrim/@comment-12599067-20130928060857/@comment-13446185-20130930054134

Lord Hadron wrote: YES! The Orsimer.

THAT'S who the Reach belongs to. They have resided in small pockets of Skyrim since before the Atmorans settled in Skyrim. The Orc strongholds Dushnikh Yal and Mor Khazgur both have a legitimate claim to The Reach. Even though the Strongholds don't appear to have aged as much as the Nordic Dragon Priest ruins as much, Orsinium is in High Rock, which is extremely close to the Reach.

Additionally, the emergence of the Orsimer race is from a time loong before the Nords migrated to Skyrim. Seeing as how Orsinium is located in High Rock, it's very likely that a small number of Orcs migrated to the Reach, well before the Nords.

BOOM! The Reach belongs to this guy ---> ) Most of the Orc Strongholds in Skyrim don't date back further than the 4th Era, they were made after the latest sacking of Orsinium, when the Orcs once again were forced to flee their homeland.

If they dated back to the Merethic Era they would undoubtfully be cities by now. Not to mention the fact that the Atmorans would have probably kicked them out of Skyrim when they arrived.

Orcs were frowned upon by even the elven races. According to ancient Nord belief, Malacath is the reason for man's short life span, so I seriously doubt the ancient Nords would tolerate the children of Malacath living in Skyrim.

It seems pretty obvious to be (unless you give me some actual lore behind your claims) that those Orc Strongholds aren't very old.

By the way, Orsinium is not close to the Reach it is located deep within the Wrothgarian mountains not far from Wayrest. Just because it is in High Rock doesn't mean it's close to the Reach.