Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-179.201.236.220-20130721175723/@comment-13446185-20140127021914

Banneram wrote:

"Orkey, an enemy god, had always tried to ruin the Nords, even in Atmora where he stole their years away. Seeing the strength of King Wulfharth, Orkey summoned the ghost of Alduin Time-Eater again. Nearly every Nord was eaten down to six years old. Boy Wulfharth pleaded to Shor, the dead Chieftain of the Gods, to help his people. Shor's own ghost then fought the Time-Eater on the spirit plane, as he did at the beginning of time, and he won, and Orkey's folk, the Orcs, were ruined."
 * The Orsimer are a race unto themselves, their lifespans are generally shorter then even the races of men. Whether this has to do with their generally violent lifestyles or some remnant of the devastation of their patron deity Trinimac I am not sure.

-The Five Songs of King Wulfharth

"At one time, legends say, Nords only had a lifespan of six years due to Orkey's foul magic. Shor showed up, though, and, through unknown means, removed the curse, throwing most of it onto the nearby Orcs."

-Varieties of Faith in the Empire