A Treatise on the Elves of Valenwood

See the first half here

The First Page: History of Valenwood

In 1E 0, Valenwood saw the dawn of recorded history when Eplear of the Camoran clan was crowned King of Valenwood and all Bosmer in the highest boughs of Falinesti. Eplear’s conquest and political creation of Valenwood, and unification of the disparate tribes and clans of the Bosmer is known as one of the greatest military feats in Tamriel’s history, and one that has never truly been repeated.

King Eplear is fondly remembered by the Bosmer, and the Camoran Dynasty is highly thought of; under his reign Valenwood was prosperous and peaceful. Eplear not only welcomed those Nedes who fled from Cyrodiil throughout the reign of the Ayleids, but also those Ayleids who fled Cyrodiil following the Alessian Revolt. Eplear’s hospitality could very well be the sole reason that any Ayleids survived the pogroms of the First Empire at all.

It was in 1E 340 that Valenwood first had true political contact with the ascendant Empire of the Cyrodiils, signing a trade treaty with Emperor Ami-El. This apparent harmony was not to last however, as the rise of the Alessian Order made amiable relations between man and mer steadily more difficult. In 1E 369, the dedicated Alessian King Borgas of Skyrim, last of the line of Ysgramor, was keen to demonstrate his piety and follow in the footsteps of the rulers of Cyrodiil and High Rock with his own war against the elves. To this somewhat questionable end, he marched to Cyrodiil to urge war against the Camorans’ Valenwood.

It seems likely that Borgas, with a mighty Nordic army at his back, expected little resistance from the unwarlike elves, but resistance he definitely met. It is unclear whether Borgas ever got as far as Valenwood, or if his chosen foes found him first, but records agree that Borgas and many of his men were slaughtered by the Bosmeri weapon of last resort, the Wild Hunt.

However it happened, this action proved sufficient to safeguard Valenwood for several decades, and plunge Skyrim into fifty years of civil war with the loss of Ysgramor’s last heir. It also had the effect of dispelling the notion that the now-mature kingdom of the Bosmer would fall easily. It was not, however, the end of conflict with Empire, and even after the Alessian Order dissolved, skirmishes played out constantly along Valenwood’s borders. These battles became steadily more intense as Imperial forces, bolstered by Empress Herta’s Colovian acquisitions, pushed deeper and deeper into Bosmeri territory. Herta captured the province in 1E 2714, weakened as it was by the protracted conflict and the Thrassian Plague.

The Empire took quick and effective action to secure its gains and complete the emasculation of the Camoran Dynasty. Each of Valenwood’s greatest cities: Falinesti, Silvenar, Elden Root, Haven, Archen and Woodhearth, were granted independence, successfully breaking up the influential members of the Dynasty (most of whom were Treethanes of these cities) and appealing to the traditional, pre-Camoran tendency towards localised clans and tribes. This strategy ensured that even after the fall of the Second Empire in 2E 430, the Camorans could not repeat Eplear’s achievements and unite the now disparate Bosmer. With no strong leadership, the kingdoms of the Bosmer fell to war with each other, the Khajiit and the Colovians.

This situation continued unchecked until 2E 830, when northern tribes offered land to the Colovians in exchange for peace. Camoran Anxemes, one of the several claimants to Eplear’s then-defunct throne, invoked an obscure treaty (the validity of which has been disputed by contemporary and modern scholars) which lent stewardship of Valenwood to the Altmer in case of a dire threat to the kingdom’s integrity. The invasion of the Altmer in response forced back the Colovians and established the first Aldmeri Dominion, the most stable power in Tamriel until the Third Empire. Under the Dominion, Valenwood was ruled from Elden Root by an unpopular but pragmatically accepted coalition of Altmer and Bosmer known as the Thalmor (not to be confused with the modern Altmeri faction of the same name). It was at this time that the first (and only serious) attempt was made to “tame” Valenwood, with roads and infrastructure being built through the forest, resulting in an unprecedented (but short-lived) logistical efficiency in the Bosmeri homeland.

Valenwood remained quietly prosperous under the Dominion until 2E 896 when, with the help of the Numidium, Tiber Septim completed his conquest of Tamriel and destroyed the Dominion. Once again the Bosmer tacitly adapted to life under a new master, the process aided by Septim’s wise decision to allow the Bosmer their Tribal Council and Camoran king, and Valenwood was at peace, a “trophy province” over the Empire’s hearth.

But of course, this was not to last. The Empire’s neglect bred resentment and disobedience in the Bosmer, and it was perhaps unsurprising when war broke out yet again in 3E 249. The Hart-King Haymon Camoran, better known as the Camoran Usurper, began a campaign to seize control of Valenwood and the Camoran throne, shrugging off his cousin and liege-lord Camoran Kaltos. The Usurper was ruthless and cruel, infamous for torturing captives and civilians, terrifying his enemies with bestial roars and summoned daedra, and allegedly raising the corpses of his enemies to fight for him, but many Bosmer welcomed his promise of independence from an increasingly unpopular Empire, and the same promise carried his armies (more likely comprised of Bosmer and Redguard mercenaries than the daedra and undead of the legends) north, out of Valenwood and as far as High Rock, where he was finally defeated by Camoran Kaltos and the Bretons under Baron Othrok at the Battle of Firewaves in 3E 267.

Following the failure of the Usurper’s revolt, Valenwood entered another period of decline. The Bosmer were demoralised and frightened by the horrors birthed in their homeland, and retreated from the cities in vast numbers, returning to their clanhouses and deepwood villages. This “regression”, and the decades following were dangerous indeed for Valenwood, and its neighbours began to see it as a wounded animal. In the days of the Imperial Simulacrum (3E 389 – 3E 399), Valenwood, once again neglected by the Empire, was an easy target for the armies of Summerset and Elsweyr. It lost significant chunks of land to both nations in a series of regional conflicts, most famously the Five Years War of 3E 394/5– 3E 399 and the War of the Blue Divide in 3E 397.

The exact starting point of the Five Years War is debated: the Bosmer claim it began in 3E 394 when Khajiiti bandits began attacking the timber caravans so essential to the Bosmer, while the Khajiit claim it was started by the Bosmer in the Slaughter of Torval, the Bosmer response to the bandit attacks. In any case, the war was a bloody one which ran until 3E 399 at the cost of many lives. The Bosmer were initially successful, taking full advantage of the sudden adoption by the Khajiit of alien tactics proposed by Nord advisors, but once the armies of Elsweyr returned to their traditional techniques, Bosmeri forces were pushed back into Valenwood and all the way over the Xylo River. A short-lived truce was signed in 3E 397, only to be broken the same year by the Khajiit, pressing their advantage by crossing the river and razing Bosmeri hamlets. As with most wars with the Bosmer, the Five Years War was ultimately ended by a Wild Hunt; this one began in the now-forgotten settlement of Vindisi. The Khajiit withdrew to the west bank of the Xylo, where they remained.

The War of the Blue Divide was perhaps more surprising, pitching the Bosmer against their traditional allies, the Altmer. It began in 3E 397 and was named after the body of water that separated the combatants. The exact causes of the war are uncertain, but it is often traced to the aggressive expansion of the Altmeri-backed Parikh Tribe in south-eastern Valenwood. From the very beginning the war’s result was a foregone conclusion – the Altmer had not only far superior infrastructure and military organisation, but one of the mightiest navies in Tamriel, and in a war fought across an ocean, the Bosmer had little hope. The war was over by the end of the year, and while the Altmer never invaded mainland Valenwood, they were successful in seizing several coastal islands that have remained Altmeri possessions ever since.

By the time of the Oblivion Crisis, Valenwood was in its worst condition for centuries. Still reeling from its losses over the past few decades, its morale shattered, Valenwood had almost ceased to exist as a unified entity. The Tribal Council was all but dissolved, having not met since the War of the Blue Divide, and the individual Bosmeri clans and tribes identified with no greater entity than themselves. In 3E 429, the Falinesti tree rooted itself in the north of the province, sparking a brief panic among its inhabitants. The tree lived on however, despite remaining static, and so life in Falinesti continued, albeit vastly changed to accommodate the lack of a southward migration.

The next year Valenwood’s upheaval continued with scattered reports of a Wild Hunt (although no Bosmer could report seeing or hearing of a Hunt being initiated), and the appearance of the Precursor, a now famous prophet of the Bosmer. His teachings marked the first significant development in the Bosmeri religion since the Aldmer first settled in Valenwood, and he is revered almost as a saint even today.

Valenwood, the purported homeland of the infamous Mankar Camoran, was evidently not considered a major target by the Mythic Dawn Cult and was relatively unharmed by the Oblivion Crisis. Nonetheless, the period of instability from 4E 0 to 4E 28 fuelled the increasing sentiment of dissatisfaction and neglect among the Bosmer, and in 4E 29, a contingent of Thalmor agents and their Bosmer allies launched a coup against Imperial rule. With the Mede Empire in its infancy, and chaos reigning across the continent, the Imperial presence in Valenwood was skeletal, and Bosmer loyalists were quickly defeated. The secession of Valenwood from the Empire marked the creation of the Aldmeri Dominion and the severing of all contact with the Empire. Needless to say, from this point on, events in Valenwood are almost a total mystery, and will perhaps have to wait for future generations to transcribe.

Wagons of Timber: Economy and the Green Pact

To the uneducated eye, the engine of the Bosmeri economy would appear obvious. The one resource that Valenwood has in clear abundance is wood. The timber from the smallest and sickliest graht oak would fetch an attractive price in Cyrodiil or any other human province, and the forest is so dense and fast-growing that the Bosmer could reliably cut and sell enough timber for most of the continent. But thanks to the Green Pact, the Bosmer abhor the very idea of such exploitation, and so no large-scale tree-felling has ever taken place in Valenwood, despite the efforts of Colovians and Khajiiti at various points throughout the ages.

While they refuse absolutely to cut their own, the Bosmer do acknowledge the value of wood, particularly as a building material, and it is this that makes the economy of Valenwood truly bizarre. Instead of the province’s major export, timber, naturally its most abundant natural resource, is its greatest import. From the first trade treaty with the Empire in 1E 340 (and perhaps earlier), the Bosmer have imported wagonloads of timber from the rest of Tamriel, and often (given the rarity of carpenters in Valenwood) the personnel to make use of it. In fact, this market is so reliable that it is customary for merchants, whatever their wares, to bring a wagon of lumber with them to Valenwood, as it is almost guaranteed to fetch a high price. So important are these shipments that they have actually been at the heart of numerous conflicts over the course of history, most notably the Five Years War discussed in the previous section.

This system, of course, makes no economic sense, and as a result Valenwood is a far less wealthy province than it otherwise might be. If it weren’t for the simplistic and self-sufficient nature of their society and culture, the Boiche might be said to live in poverty, possessing few of the luxuries taken for granted in provinces like Cyrodiil.

It is Valenwood’s craftsmer, leatherworkers and bowyers who bring the most gold into the province, selling fine goods to travellers or to sailors leaving the ports of Haven and Southport. Men and mer alike appreciate the quality and artifice of these goods, and so they are a fairly reliable resource, somewhat comparable to traditional Nibenean ancestor silk. However popular these goods might be, they have never, with the possible exception of leather, been produced on a mass scale; they remain the preserve of small family workshops or collectives. This does increase the value of each sale, but of course also ensures that fewer sales are made.

Valenwood’s centres of wealth, then, are those cities where crafts and trade are most prominent, and where strangers are around to buy them. Silvenar has long been home to the province’s finest leatherworkers and master craftsmer, as well as being the seat of the Silvenar, and so there is a continuous stream of revenue into the city of sap. The ports of Haven, Southpoint and Woodhearth are also, naturally, economic powerhouses (relatively speaking) with the steady stream of foreigners and merchants ensuring a circulation of Bosmeri goods.

The idea of an “economy” is something of a strange one for the Bosmer; they appear to have very little interest in the accumulation of wealth or, in many cases, of plying any particular trade. What the Bosmer do acknowledge, however, is the practical importance of certain goods, particularly their foreign timber shipments. When the Bosmer initiate a war or enter negotiations over this wood, it is not because they seek to cultivate their economy, but because they seek to build houses, or docks, or other wooden constructions. True mercantile concerns as they would be defined in Cyrodiil or most other provinces appear to hold little sway over the Bosmer.

The Triarchy of Valenwood: Government and Politics of the Bosmer

Broadly speaking, the government of Valenwood consists of three main organs: the King of Valenwood, the Tribal Council, and the Silvenar. Each of these fulfils a separate function, although the less-than-rigorous design of the Bosmeri “state” means that there is often an overlap.

The King of Valenwood is a scion of the ancient Camoran Dynasty of King Eplear, and is appointed by heredity. The throne of the Camorans is in Falinesti, and it is for this reason more than any other that that city is considered the capital of Valenwood. Since Eplear’s time, the Dynasty has steadily increased in size to the point where it is almost a separate social class. In Valenwood, “nobility” and “Camoran” are all but synonymous, with the highest members of the family occupying the positions of King or Queen, and as Treethanes of the Dynasty (comparable to Nordic Jarls, each is “King” over one of Valenwood’s major cities, although only the Treethanes of Silvenar commonly use that title). The official role of the King of Valenwood is somewhat ill-defined, and depends greatly on the individual incumbent. Some Camoran monarchs, like Eplear himself, and several others (including, arguably, the infamous Usurper) have taken the reins in the fashion of a Cyrodiilic Emperor, or a King of Alinor, uniting their people and striving for a goal (for better or worse). The larger portion, however, have fulfilled a largely ceremonial role. The divided and decentralised nature of the Bosmer means that a king’s commands rarely extend far from his throne, but even when national pride is at its lowest, all but the worst of monarchs are typically regarded in the light of Eplear’s deeds, and considered special favourites of the Forest God.

The Tribal Council is, as the name suggests, a council of Valenwood’s most prominent tribal and clan chieftains. The Council meets irregularly, essentially whenever enough members are in favour of a meeting. They may be days apart, or years apart, and can happen in any city of Valenwood, although Falinesti is the most popular venue. It is perhaps this branch of the triarchy that has the most direct influence over the Bosmer, as decisions made by the Council (which can cover almost any topic) will be brought back to the tribes and clans by their chieftains, to whom most Bosmer owe loyalty. That is not to say, of course, that every chieftain is present in the Council – such a mass gathering would be impracticable – but typically the smaller clans will follow the lead of their closest (by geography or blood) tribe, and in this way the decisions of the Council diffuse across the province.

Third, and most unusual, is the Silvenar. The Silvenar lives in a sumptuous palace in the city of the same name, and his (or “their”, as the Bosmeri terminology more typically goes) role is to represent the will of the Bosmer as a people, specifically in dealing with outsiders. Travellers wishing for special permissions, for instance to pass through wartime borders, or establish a settlement in Valenwood, must petition the Silvenar, typically in person. The decisions of the Silvenar will be happily acted upon by almost any Bosmer, and any deviation from them, or insult to the Silvenar, will be considered an insult to the Bosmeri people.

This perhaps is not extraordinary; many cultures have appointed people’s representatives, some of them as loyally followed as the Silvenar of Valenwood, but in actual fact, the Silvenar is quite unique. The Silvenar is the subject of a magical phenomenon never observed in any other context, whereby he actually embodies his people as a whole. When the Bosmer are powerful, or feel powerful, he will be large, muscular and strong. When many Bosmer have died, or they feel broken or defeated, he will be small and unimposing. When the Bosmer look kindly on a given group, he will friendly and accommodating to its members. In times of war he will display a powerful hatred for the enemy. His appearance and temperament can change overnight in the case of a significantly momentous event.

The phenomenon goes far deeper than physical appearance of course. Those who have met the Silvenar typically report being reminded of every Bosmer they have known, and of all their most powerful memories of Valenwood. Some critics have dismissed the powers of the Silvenar as good information and clever illusions, but few who meet him in person voice such opinions. The exact nature and history of the Silvenar and his powers are totally unknown; records of such a person are as old as the Bosmer, but the story of the first Silvenar is either unknown, or not shared with outsiders. It would appear that the secret of “creating” a Silvenar is still understood, at least to a practical degree, as a Silvenar lives only as long as any other Bosmer, at which point a new one is selected, often from the previous Silvenar’s family, but sometimes seemingly at random.

There is no true hierarchy in this triumvirate of governance; in many ways, they all must obey each other. The Silvenar represents the will of the people, and so the King and Council must (or would be wise to) follow his wishes, but by the same token, he must be loyal to his tribe, clan or king, as most Bosmer are. The King is ruler of all Valenwood, and so can, if he has the will and force of personality, make demands of his subjects, including the tribal chieftains. But he also must accept that these chieftains have their eyes and ears throughout the kingdom, far from Falinesti, and often know what is best. They in turn may be quite forceful in their recommendations to the King and even the Silvenar.

This system, while admirable in the voice it gives to the people, and the lengths it goes to in order to unify them, is far less efficient than more conventional means of government. The lack of ordered hierarchy or absolute head means that the King, Council and Silvenar can contradict each other’s rulings or attempt to lead Valenwood in different directions. In most situations, it is the Silvenar’s word that stands, but this is because his word invariably reflects the feelings of the people on a given issue, not because he has authority over the other branches of government. Elven critics commonly cite this inefficiency of governance as one of the reasons why the Bosmer have never ruled an empire, and of the three branches, it is typically only the Camorans who will dispute such claims. In any case, no concerted effort has ever, as far as records can show, been made to alter the system, and Bosmer on the whole seem to be quite happy with it, as with their inefficient but functional economy.

It is typically only when the power dynamic changes, and the triarchy ceases to be the sole power in Valenwood, that unrest comes about. The Bosmer do not appear to have any ingrained cultural disdain for incorporation into greater powers; they have been obedient subjects in every Empire of which they have been a part and, it would seem, in every Dominion. But they never seem to have shown true loyalty to these bodies. The first and foremost obligations of a Bosmer are to Y’ffre and his clan or tribe, and their loyalties will stretch as far up as the King of Valenwood, but seldom higher. If the Bosmer find a reason to strongly dislike the Empire that presides over them they will reliably become less faithful and obedient, and even go as far as to push for independence.

Most commonly, this grievance has been neglect. In 3E 349, it was Imperial neglect that in large part allowed the Camoran Usurper his reign of terror. At that time, the Imperial presence in Valenwood was little more than a collection of taxmen, and so the Bosmer were willing to support (or at least accept) any leader who promised to give them their independence and a sense of dignity. After the horrors of the Usurper’s reign, and his ultimate failure, this desire for a strong Valenwood appeared to fall through; most Bosmer ceased complaining about the Empire, but also ceased looking up to the Camoran dynasty, retreating to their clans and tribes and making the late Third Era one of the lowest points of Bosmeri nationalism.

However, Bosmeri (or Aldmeri) nationalism appeared to enjoy a resurgence soon after the Oblivion Crisis, and a considerable (although impossible to accurately measure) portion of Bosmer were supportive of the coup in 4E 29. Now the Bosmer find themselves as part of a new empire, the second Aldmeri Dominion, and it is, as ever, with those words that Imperial knowledge peters out. We have no way of gauging the degree of loyalty the Boiche hold for the Dominion, and when (or if) their new masters will outstay their welcome in Valenwood remains to be seen.

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

When I first set out to compile this treatise, my hope was that it would make demonstrate to the reader the intrinsic value of the study of this oft-neglected people, the Boiche. My own passion for the culture, history, and society of the Bosmer has driven me to great lengths, collecting and collating Imperial knowledge on Valenwood and its people, and presenting it in what I dearly hope will prove an insightful and accessible form.

With the current political situation being as it is, the heart of any scholar of my field is heavy with sadness and apprehension. It is my sincere belief that not only my own studies, but all Imperial scholarship and culture, are truly impoverished by the closure of Valenwood’s borders, and the loss of free access to that kingdom’s rich bounties of culture and history.

The Bosmer are a unique and fascinating people, with an ancient and beautiful culture. Above all other peoples of Tamriel, the Bosmer may claim a tradition of peace and simple happiness. They care little for the trappings of temporal might – they are not great conquerors, or soldiers, merchants, or heroes. They are the Tree Sap People, and for them life is to be enjoyed, a unique gift of the natural order to be celebrated and shared, and we, the warlike, close-minded, and self-centred men and mer of Tamriel, have much to learn from them.