About the Falmer and Dwemner

[daventry]

My imagination just went wild when i thought up a story of the Falmer and the Alchemist. :P

 

An Alchemist went into a Dwarven Ruin all sneaky and stealthy, he then stole a Baby Falmer and got away, then he raised and treated the Baby without glowing mushrooms or any type of poison that crippled and blinded them, so the Baby grew and learned speech.

 

Later his sight started to come to light, but he could see things very fuzzy.

 

He was also hidden from the world, as the Alchemist was afraid the outsiders would hurt him.

 

Later when the Falmer grew Mature, the Alchemist told the Creature the story of how he became to be this thing and what has happend to his People through the century.

 

The Falmer was sad and angry, but he was happy as he could see there is a chance to save the Falmer through a cure from his clean blood.

[Khorak]

I quite disagree with everyone here.

 

Their physical state (blindness) was brought on by adaptation to being underground. Their feral state however is from being poisoned by the Dwemer race and thusly, I believe they can be "cured" though I'm not exactly sure where one would start in that case. Like others have said, Daedra can intervene but I doubt they would since one of the in game books clearly states a paranoia/theory about the Falmer becoming more aggressive and having more brass as they hunt above ground more often in this era; a falmer invasion seems almost certain at some point (the books in the game however are sometimes not very credible though).

 

I think it would actually be cool if the Falmer turned into a playable race in the next TES installment by means of a "Cure" like you said.

 

Then you disagree with explicitly stated facts in the game. The Dwemer forced the Falmer to eat glowing mushrooms that rendered them blind, and then made it a staple part of their diet so the blindness would remain a permanent mutation. Their feral state is due to this horrific betrayal, brutal servitude under the Dwemer, and then living in the darkest holes underground in neverending (and almost certainly entirely one-sided) war with the Dwemer until the latter disappeared. They were broken by the Nords, then their 'saviours' blinded them to be used as slaves. They hate everyone as a result.

[Matth85]

They hate everyone as a result.

Can't really blame them either. I would surely hate everybody if I go from 1 frying pan to the other.

 

Though to repeat as it is already said: This is evolution, not a curse. It can't be cured, as nothing is "wrong". They have evolved into this by years upon years of harsh enviroment. Heck, if you press down a few humans into a cave and you'll get the kind of creatures you see in the movie "The Descent", and it is a 100% natural.

 

You could cure their blindness, which would make them even more feral. You could try to calm them down, but in the end: They would never be a Snow Elf again. They would likely die from the sun, since they are not used to it. Otherwise they would be Falmers that can see and tries to learn the language of Tamriel.

[Lessabos]

I dont think it is a good thing to cure Falmer, do you remember what picts did in conan world when they learned how to use steel?

[Lachdonin]

Then you disagree with explicitly stated facts in the game. The Dwemer forced the Falmer to eat glowing mushrooms that rendered them blind, and then made it a staple part of their diet so the blindness would remain a permanent mutation. Their feral state is due to this horrific betrayal, brutal servitude under the Dwemer, and then living in the darkest holes underground in neverending (and almost certainly entirely one-sided) war with the Dwemer until the latter disappeared. They were broken by the Nords, then their 'saviours' blinded them to be used as slaves. They hate everyone as a result.

 

The 'facts' being a single study by a scholar centuries, if no milennia after the actual even transpired. Considering the books within the TES universe are often contradictory (And wonderfully so, as it shows the no one really knows whats going on) i think calling said facts 'explicit' is a stretch. The behaviour argued by the Dwemer is also contrary to how they have been represented elsewhere.

 

Of course, we don't know about Dwemer social orginization enough to make any sweeping judgements about their attitudes and treatment of the Falmer. Dwemer holds could have been largely autonomous, like the Aleid cities of Cyrodiil, and it could have been the inhabitants of Blackreach which commited the act, without the total knowlege of the other Dwemer holds.

 

Regardless, nothing in TES games boils down to evolution. The Dunmer were cursed with their appearance by Azura, the Bosmer were gifted theirs by some forest spirit, the Khajit were created by Azura, the Orcs were deformed by Boethia, the Argonians were created by the Hist. Evolution doesn't really play a role in Nirn, or at least is highly subserviant to the wills of powerful entites.

 

Curing the physical afliction of the Falmer, on the other hand, wouldn't cure their hatred. It would just make it easier for them to find people to take it out on.

 

As for them being referanced before, i know there was a questline in Morrowind;Bloodmoon about them. It was concluded that the Ricklings of Solsthiem were decended from the Falmer, and had degenerated into basically frost-goblins. If this is the case, then the Falmer of Skyrim are not the only degenerate lineage of the Snow Elves.

[stars2heaven]

I don't see why the Falmer couldn't be returned to their former state. But as others have said, curing their hate will be another thing entirely. Edited December 20, 2011 by stars2heaven

[Khorak]

The 'facts' being a single study by a scholar centuries, if no milennia after the actual even transpired,

 

They completely and totally trump whatever meaningless musings you have on the subject. It is the method Bethesda use to tell us lore in the game. Even if it were to be subsequently reconned, here and now it is the definitive word on what happened to the Falmer.

[Patchup94]

Interesting to know about the Ricklings in Bloodmoon expansion.

 

I recall the book on the mushrooms and the idea that the eyes were taken by the Dwarves in treachery.

The thieves guild questline adds to some of this.

 

As for the Dwarves role and attitude towards the Snow elves. I think the game has enough torture devises and what looks like torture entertainment areas

in the various Dwemer ruins I have explored to make me lean towards a not so nice culture.

I recall leading a companion through such a ruin and the NPC making a remark about "...nobody deserves this, not even Falmer..."

I have also noted that Falmer have baskets filled with mushrooms. I will have to look and see if they are a certain type. Oh no! I certainly have made many a potion with mushrooms.

 

I would like to think that the Dwemer communities were autonomous and that this treatment was limited to a select few. Certainly, no torture devises were in the Morrowind ruins.

[Lachdonin]

 

They completely and totally trump whatever meaningless musings you have on the subject. It is the method Bethesda use to tell us lore in the game. Even if it were to be subsequently reconned, here and now it is the definitive word on what happened to the Falmer.

 

Meaningless musings? The portrayl of the Falmer in that particular book is already contradicted, both by history and by conversations with ACTUAL Dwemer. Admitedly, one was a ghost, but he was still of mostly sound mind.

 

My point is that we are not given the whole explination. We can't very well ask the Falmer about it, and its proving difficult to track down the Dwemer, so their out.

 

Saying anything in a TES game is the explicit truth is asking for trouble. Saying it when the resource you referance is already contradicted is just bad scholarly research.

[huntsman2310]

The Falmer fled to the safety of the cities of the Dwemer undergrounf, the Dwemer let them in with a warm welcome.

 

And over the course of hundreds of years, enslaved them.

 

They twisted their physical bodies into a shadow of their former selves.

 

They induced permanent blindness by making them ingest a toxic mushroom.

 

They then made it so the races diet consisted of only this mushroom.

 

They are probably too far gone to cure, and would require a gods level of magick power.

 

They are also irrevocably insane.

 

And I'm pretty sure no-one wants to cure since they attack all surface dwellers.