What is the Population Lore History of Skyrim?

[KanesGhost]

From what I understand the Snow Elves were the original population of Skyrim, but when the Nords arrived there was of a war of genocidal intentions between them and the Nords wiped the Snow Elves out? If so, then where were the Reach Men and Orcs in all this, when did they arrive?

 

I am curious about the timeline in regards to original inhabitants and who arrived in sequence after them and when (the when being, how long had they been there before another Race/Species came along)? And if the Orcs and Reach Men did arrive before the Nords, what was their relationships with each other and the Snow Elves? Are all these questions answered in Tamriel Law?

[Lachdonin]

Skipping over the Dawn shenanigans with the Old Ehlnofey an the Wanderers...

 

The Falmer were the first population of Skyrim. They were Aldmer who settled the area, gradually becoming culturally and politically independent from their kin sometime during the Merethic Era in the same way the Ayleid's did. At some point, the Dwemer expanded from their holdings in Morrowind and seem to have coexisted with the Falmer in Skyrim.

 

Then Man returned to Tamriel, sailing south from Atmora, and for a time were tolerated by the Falmer. Something happened (the cause is debatable) and the Falmer destroyed the city of Sarthal, with Ysgramor and his sons being the only survivors. They fled back to Atmora, mustered an army, and returned to Tamriel. They proceeded to decimate the Falmer, splitting their population. Some sought refuge with their Dwemer cousins, others fled to Solsthiem where they were finally eradicated by the Atmorans (or, potentially, managed to flee east, to Akavir, where they would become the Kamal).

 

Sometime after this, the Dragon War happened. Whether the Dragons came south with the Atmorans, or were always in Skyrim, is unclear, but the Atmoran totemic religion had revered Dragons long before they came to Skyrim.

 

In the mid second century of the 1st Era, King Harald united the clans of Skyrim, basically founding the nation of Skyrim, and finished driving the Mer from the province. They encountered the Reachmen in the west.

 

The Reachmen themselves were what would become known as Bretons. They were the product of a mingling of Elven and Human blood from the slaves taken during the fall of Saarthal, and had moved into the area of the Reach from the lands of the Drenni Altmer, who controlled most of Highrock. So, technically, they occupied the area before the Nords did, though they are partly of Nordic stock.

 

The Orcs are tougher to nail down... They WERE Aldmer, until the god Trinimac was corrupted by Boethia and became Malacath. All his warrior-followers were then transformed into the Orsimer, or Orcs. It's not known if this was a particular sub-group of Aldmer, of if all Trinimac's followers across the globe became Orcs. I personally think the latter, as it explains why the Orcs can be found practically everywhere, from Summerset to Skyrim, and possibly even Yokuda. In either case, it seems likely that they were present in some capacity while the Falmer ruled Skyrim.

 

The newest population would be, of course, the Dunmer, who fled by the thousands from both the Red Year and the Argonian Invasion early in the 4th Era. The Dunmer are a Velothi people, descended from a group of Aldmeri dissidents who followed the prophet Veloth to the 'promised land' of modern Morrowind and became the Chimer. The transformation of the Orcs was around this time, as Trinimac was sent to recover the youthful rebellion, and was turned into Malacath by the Daedric Prince (and orchestrator of the Velothi Exodus) Boethia. They've been engaged in near constant border warfare with the Nords since the late Merethic Era (the Nords had actually conquered Morrowind in the early 1st Era befor being driven out by the First Council) but have never laid claim to and of Eastern Skyrim until the Red Year.

 

 

 

Relationship wise, the Orcs have always been reclusive, the Reachmen have always been hostile with basically everyone (other tribes of Reachmen included). Under Imperial law, since the Alessian's, the Reachmen had no legal claim to the territory and were considered savages, and several attempts were made by both the Nords and the various Empires to wipe them out. The Orcs were similarly reviled and devoid of rights until the Warp in the West, towards the end of the 3rd Era.

 

The only 3 populations which have held titular claims to Skyrim as a whole have been the Falmer first, the Nords second, and the Empire third.

Edited September 15, 2015 by Lachdonin

[KanesGhost]

Lachdonin...Thank you for taking the time out to explain, must have taken you some time to type all that info, thank you...I never realized how in depth Tamrielic Lore is, is quite a world. I do have one question though, I am not too sure about 'titular claim', may I ask if you would expand on that a little please?

[Lachdonin]

must have taken you some time to type all that info,

 

Not as long as you'd think. You should see some of my 'essays' on the Bethesda forums...

 

Anyway, what i mean as titular claims...

 

Basically, only 3 races have claimed sovereignty over the entire region. The Falmer, then the Nords, then the Empire (when the Nords joined). The Dunmer, Orcs, Reachmen, Dwemer, Ayleids and Drenni have only ever staked a claim over small regions. And, under the legal practices of most of Tamriel, they're basically squatters, even though in many cases they were there before the current 'owners'.

[CaptainPatch]

@Lachdonin

 

Was there some explanation of the origins of the Argonians and how they came to more or less own Black Marsh?

[Lachdonin]

The Hist made them. The Hist are a species of sapient, time-warping trees that dominate Blackmarsh. Sometime in the Merethic era, they created the Argonians as a facsimile of the Ehlnofex. Best as we can tell, the Hist somehow got swamp lizards to lick their sap, and it allowed the Hist to shape them into a form that suited the Hist.

[CaptainPatch]

Is there any differentiation between fact and fanciful mythology? Like, if I accept the concept of sentient trees, would it be possible to send an envoy to open up a diplomatic conversation with them? Now, in TES, the deities and Daedra DO exist, and you can deduce their existence by the direct actions they take whenever someone goes and gets a blessing, or the Daedra have a conversation with a character. But I really have to wonder about sentient trees. Especially ones that can do bioengineering by tweaking their own tree sap.

[Lachdonin]

Oh, they're real. There's a tortured one in Oblivion, and you communicate with them in ESO on several occasions.

 

They also created several different versions of Argonians... Argonian as a term is actually referring to a servant of the Hist, and they are able to influence anyone who ingests their sap. The Argonian-forms we see in-game most often are a race known as the Sax-hleel, and are the most populous of the Hist's creations. Other varieties include the Behemoths (more crocodile like) the Naga (unknown, only mentioned) and the Agacepth's (more skink or gecko like)

[LeddBate]

Well now that explains a lot about Argonians that I had questions about as well. Thanks, Lach.

 

Also, I was unfortunately drinking a bottle of root beer when I got to "...the Hist somehow got swamp lizards to lick their sap..." -And now I am cleaning a good deal of that root beer off my monitor due to the induced LOL.

[TheSpaceShuttleChallenger]

Looks like the gentlemen above me have pretty much fixed your lore fix. Just one little thing about something that was mentioned. The Orcs do seem to be descended from a specific, cohesive group of Trinimac's followers. This is insinuated, rather than explicitly stated in the lore, but if any old follower of Trinimac had just up and turned into an Orc one day I imagine there would have been a lot more noteable complications. For example, early First Era history only describes Orcs as locals to the eastern Iliac Bay region, whereas Trinimac worship was much more widespread, and there are several instances of ancient societies who worshiped Trinimac who are not Orcs today.

The reason for Orcs currently being found throughout Tamriel is described by the Orcish Diaspora. The Orcs have never really had a province to call their own, and have been the targets of violent expulsion and eradication by other groups throughout all three eras. The closest thing they've had to a homeland, the city state of Orsimer, has been sacked and rebuilt numerous times in various locations, each time sending new waves of Orcish refugees across Tamriel to either set up their own strongholds or become outlaws. At least, that's the canon explanation for the far-flung nature of Orcish strongholds.
Furthermore, the games give us many specific instances of Orcs who have abandoned the strongholds to escape their own oppressive Orcish societies, including Orcish women who didn't appreciate being treated like cattle, and a whole lot of Orcish men whose candidacy for chieftain was not looking too great (including those who, when left to their own devices, found their calling as chefs and bards and librarians, as well as those who choose military service elsewhere.) These orcs are exiled from the strongholds permanently, and they're not particularly welcome in human cities either, so it follows that they and their descendants float around indefinitely.

Edited September 17, 2015 by TheSpaceShuttleChallenger