Morrowind's Toxic Environment

[malgremor]

I've been evolving some personal lore in my game to explain certain aspects of Morrowind. For instance: Why are there no native mammals or birds other than rats & Dunmer? Red Mountain's emissions of ash & gases have laced the soil, water & atmosphere with toxins that render Morrowind, especially Vvardenfell, inhospitable to mammals & birds, so reptilian & insect forms have evolved to fill the ecological niches that would otherwise be occupied by "higher" animals. Insects & reptiles are less sensitive to the poisons that will gradually kill a mammal that tries to live on the native foods. For this reason, Imperials & other foreign races must import a major portion of their rations...this is one reason why the Empire's hold on Morrowind is so weak. Also, horses cannot thrive on the native grasses, so hay has to imported to feed them...prohibitively expensive. Even so, one cannot prevent them from grazing & thereby poisoning themselves. So, no Imperial cavalry. No sheep, no cattle, pigs or even chickens for the same reason. Rats can tolerate poisons which would kill any other mammal. Dunmer have evolved to thrive on the native foods. I'm thinking that Baladas Demnevanni should publish a "Natural History of Morrowind" to explain all this...

[Oblivionaddicted]

You've got a good dose of imagination and common sense.

[Arxa]

Morrowind had to have been much more habitable at one point and pretty well forested to judge from all the dead trees i see in the wastes. Veloth wouldn't have led the Chimer to a barely habitable hell hole to live. Of course, that's just the state the island of Vardenfell is in. We don't know what mainland Morrowind is like. All we have ever seen is the island and Mournhold. Because of Red Mountain and Dagoth Ur's control over the volcano's activity the island is an extreme example of life in Morrowind.