Snow Elf

"In the time before man, they were known as the snow elves. They lived in the sunlight and had a very prosperous society."

- Enthir

The Snow Elves were a race of Mer who inhabited Skyrim long before the Nords. It is commonly believed that centuries of underground living and Dwemer slavery twisted the race into the blind, merciless Falmer.

Amongst the few remaining Snow Elf survivors, they prefer the name Snow Elf over their original name of Falmer, as that name tends to refer to their now degenerated brethren, which they call "The Betrayed". After their Dwemer betrayed the Snow Elves and enslaved them, which over time transformed them into the Falmer, the Snow Elf race is now mostly referred to as Ancient Falmer.

History
Though most of the race's history has been lost, A surviving Snow Elf by the name of Knight-Paladin Gelebor reveals the origins and fate of his race, prior to their degeneration and devolution.

Beginnings
The Falmer were originally a wealthy and prosperous society that made their home in portions of Skyrim. Prior to the arrival of the Atmorans, the Snow Elves prospered along side the Dwemer.

Peace with the Armorans
When the Atmorans arrived from Atmora, the Snow Elves struck up a somewhat comfortable relationship with the humans. While at first peaceful, the Snow Elves soon discovered that the humans, though they lived shorter lives, grew in population rapidly. Seeing that the humans were rapidly beginning to outnumber the Elves in the land, the Snow Elves began to cull down the population en masse.

Night of Tears
As they only saw the humans as a lesser species, the elves had little qualms about the genocide they would commit. This genocidal spree would be known as the Night of Tears. However, this genocide would cost the Falmer greatly, almost their entire society, as Ysgramor would survive and return to the original Nord homeland of Atmora to raise an army. Ysgramor and his army, known as the Five Hundred Companions, would return to Skyrim to take revenge on the Snow Elves. The series of events that would soon follow would be known as The Return, and with this return, a new war would begin.

Atmoran-Snow Elf War
The Atmorans were prepared to eliminate all Snow Elves for good, in which they were eventually successful in doing so. The Atmorans were able to drive back the Snow Elves all the way to Solstheim, where the Battle of the Moesring took place at the Moesring Mountains. The Snow Elves were prepared to make a last stand in the Moesring Mountains and were sure that they would outlast the Atmorans attack and drive them back towards the beaches. During the battle, Finna, a young girl at only twelve years of age, watched the Snow Prince cut down Jofrior, her only parent, in cold blood. Stricken with grief, Finna picked up her mother's sword and threw it at the Snow Prince, killing him instantly. With the Snow Elves losing their leader at Solstheim and being dealt a great blow at the Battle of the Moesring, the Snow Elves had begun to break and were losing the war against the Atmorans.

With the Elves finally broken once and for all, the Atmorans then mounted a genocidal campaign and killed Snow Elves by the thousands.

Enslavement
The Snow Elves retreated underground where they sought refuge with the Dwemer. The Dwemer agreed to grant them refuge but at costly price. The Snow Elves were forced to eat toxic plants in order to survive underground. Because of these toxins they became more and more blind, this also resulted in the permament blindness of their offspring. The Dwemer then forced the blind Snow Elves into slavery. In order to ensure their race's survival, the Falmer turned to the Dwemer for safe harbor, help that the Dwemer surprisingly offered. In exchange for protection from the Nords, the Snow elves were ordered to ingest a toxin that would blind them.

Not all elves agreed to such a price. Splinter groups had formed up to try and find alternate solutions. These elves sought out other alliances, but, ultimately, most were slaughtered, vanished, or gave in and accepted the Dwemer's offers.

Over time, the Falmer began to devolve into twisted, blinded creatures. They acted as slaves to the Dwemer, and over time their history was lost as the race became more and more primal. Because of this, it is commonly believed that the Snow elves were actually tricked into blindness and slavery, rather than having agreed to the blindness to survive. This is debunked, however, upon speaking to Knight-Paladin Gelebor. He states that most Falmer agreed to the Dwemer's terms to avoid being eradicated by the Atmorans. Some pockets of resistance existed, but were eventually eliminated. Despite this, he believes there may be other isolated Snow Elf survivors scattered about Tamriel.

Modern Falmer
Not all Falmer suffered the fate of slavery under the Dwemer, however. It appears that elves such as Knight-Paladin Gelebor and various other religious followers were able to evade demise under the Nords or enslavement to the Dwarves. Living in seclusion, they appear to have kept mostly to their various shrines.

They show pity on their primal brethren, whom they refuse to call Falmer, instead refering to them as the Betrayed. They also refuse to be called Falmer, themselves, calling themselves Snow Elves.

The largest gathering of these elves were at the Chantry of Auri-El; however, after a massive raid by the Betrayed, Knight-Paladin Gelebor seems to be the only survivor. It is unknown how many other sanctuaries exist where Snow elves can be found—assuming there are any left to begin with.

Religion
During the First Era, the elves erected monuments and shrines around their home dedicated to the elven gods. Some of these gods are common Aldmeri gods, such as Mara. The center of their worship however was dedicated to Auri-El, also known as Akatosh. The Chantry of Auri-El was known as the epicenter of the Falmer's religion, having several rituals for initiates who sought out enlightenment.

Following the de-evolution of their race, many of the holy priests, known as Prelates, of these shrines were killed by Falmer raids. However, according to Gelebor, Auri-El evoked their spirits, allowing them to continue their work in Tamriel as spectral Prelates at way shrines. Initiates must visit each of these wayshrines on their paths to enlightenment.

Unfortunately the Prelates are unaware of the disrepair of the chantry and will not respond to anyone unless that person is on the path of the initiate.

Misconception in history
According to The Falmer: A Study, it was thought that the Dwemer betrayed the Falmer by force-feeding them a toxic fungus that inflicted blindness after they sought safe harbor in their lands. The poisoning effects of the fungi caused the Falmer to devolve into the twisted beings they have become.

However, according to Gelebor, this is not the case. Faced with near extinction, the Falmer and Dwemer struck up a deal: in exchange for safe harbor, the Falmer would have to ingest a toxin (likely from the mushrooms), which would blind them. With little option left, the Falmer accepted and became the Dwemer's slaves. Gelebor states that the toxin was not enough to de-evolve the Falmer as they are now, and as such it must have happened gradually as time passed.

Morphology
Two living Falmer are found in the add-on : Knight-Paladin Gelebor and his evil brother, Arch-Curate Vyrthur. They appear very similar to High Elves, but they are much shorter than them and have white skin and white hair. It is unknown how long Snow Elves live, as Gelebor states the Chantry was in disrepair long before he arrived. (although it can be presumed that it is much longer than a human lifespan, if not analogous to the lifespan of other mer races) As the Chantry did not enter disrepair until after the fall of the Snow Elves, his age cannot be determined.

Return
There is speculation that the Falmer will eventually become a surface-dwelling race once again as there have been reports of more and more organized surface raids of Falmer attacking cattle and crops for food. Ursa Uthrax, the author of The Falmer: A Study, writes, "I fear a horror neither man nor gods could possibly stand against."

During the Dawnguard expansion, you will meet two living snow elves. When you come across Knight-Paladin Gelebor, he gives you Auriel's Bow if you kill his brother, who he believes has been corrupted by the Falmer.

Gelebor mentions that the Falmer are becoming more intelligent, and if a line of communication could be established, relations could improve.

It is also speculated that the toxin was merely a supressant that devolved the once great race, and since the Falmer would no longer need to ingest the toxin, they might, over generations, re-evolve back into snow elves since the evolutionary status of the Falmer is no longer being suppressed by the toxin.

Notable Snow Elves

 * Knight-Paladin Gelebor
 * Arch-Curate Vyrthur
 * Mirtil Angoth
 * Snow Prince
 * Prelates of the Chantry Paladin Order
 * Prelate Athring
 * Prelate Celegriath
 * Prelate Edhelbor
 * Prelate Nirilor
 * Prelate Sidanyis