Timeline of Tamriel - pt. 1 Middle Merethic

Timeline of Tamriel - Merethica Media

By Morillius Agoricci, 4E 204 Written for the Imperial Council of Emperor Motierre

This series will cover the entire breadth of Tamriel's history in detail, from the very beginnings of the Mer people, to the demise of the Septim Empire.

Five-Hundred years into the Merethic Era, Aldmeri culture was rather primitive. The best weapons were spears and bows, with small stone knifes used for cutting meat. These designs were not ugly, as the Aldmer saw themselves as Divine, so even their wooden and stone spears were of grace and beauty. Their clothes were made from spun cotton and fur of native animals, and they lived in villages of mud with chimneys to belch out their sacred smokes. Soon enough, however Eton-Nir the Stonemason was born, in a small village ‘mongst the West-Reeds of Alinor, where he taught the people of the Coral-City to build out of stone, instead of the ‘Bones of the Sea,’ which they had carted from the far away coast all the way to the top of Mount Eton Nir (then simply known as ‘the Mountain.’)

Eton-Nir taught these lonely nomads how to craft out of rock hewn from the mountain-side, reinforced by Sun-Stone, known by some as the blood of Auri-El (this was later renamed to Moonstone for unknown reasons.) So Eton-Nir Stonemason became Prophet Eton-Nir, King of the Coral-City, which he renamed ‘Amava el-Ku’ (translating roughly to ‘Sits-on-high-clouds.’) These naming conventions were changed significantly over the next five-hundred years however, and the city became known (rather boringly,) as ‘Cloudrest.’

Eton-Nir led the people of Cloudrest into the lakes and valleys to the east, where he and the twelve High-Wizards of Cloudrest constructed Crystal-Like-Law out of the ‘voice of the ancestors and the blood of their gods.’ These mixed forms of tonal-architecture gave Lawful Crystal its Crystalline structure.

One-Hundred years into the Middle Merethic Era, Prophet Lillandril taught the people of Western Alinor the design of the sword and the dagger, and taught how it was primitive to use the hammer and the axe as weapons, ‘the Ugly Spawn of Lorkhan,’ were to use them in battle, not the fair Aldmeri.

The city of Lillandril was soon founded on the Western Peninsular, and the Prophet’s followers built temples to honour their ancestors, as well as heroes from their past. The nearby town of Tyrigel that lay on the banks of Caomus (then known as the river Diren,) was home to an expert alchemist that poisoned a nearby barbarian tribe. With the threat out of the way, he sent expeditions to the north. They charted the western coasts of High Rock and Hammerfell, which they dubbed ‘Aller Ballerin,’ meaning ‘Land of High Rocks and Sands.’ (Aller = land and high, Bal = rocks, Lerin=sands?)

The Direnni people began constructing cities along the coasts along the Iliac Bay, (named after late Prophet Eton-Nir’s son – Iliac-Nir.) Iliac-Nir helped construct many of the holy cities on the High Rock peninsular.

Not thirty years after Direnni’s departure, Prophet Mathiisen was born on the eastern coasts of Summerset. He led a fleet of colonists to Auridon (which was un-colonized as of yet,) and founded the town of Mathiisen in the centre of the isle.

His followers then proceeded to explore Auridon, founding the far more successful cities of Skywatch (named for its unbroken view of the horizon,) and Firsthold (named for being the first proper city on Auridon, Mathiisen being only a town, and Skywatch still being under construction.)

Soon enough, the next Prophet was born; Prophet Shim’her-Ene of the Summerset East. This Aldmeri mage helped solidify the concepts of literacy and mathematics, as well as the teachings of Aedra and Daedra’s relations to Stasis and Chaos, and in turn, Anu and Padomay. His followers built a city even for this great scholar, and named it after him, but the name has been since corrupted to ‘Shimmerene.’

Around the same time, Topal the Pilot led his expeditions into the Nibenay (originally in search for doomed Aldmeris,) where he met the ‘talon’d bird-men of the heart-land,’ (who may have simply been Ayleids who settled before the original group.) Another theory is that they were Khajiiti who adorned themselves with feathers. Yet another theory is that a group of feathered Argonians lived in the area at the time.

Topal in turn received the Eight Isles (or the isles of Lake Rumare) in exchange for teaching these mysterious Heartland dwellers Shim’her-Ene’s secrets of literacy. Topal returned to Alinor to tell the High-Lords of his findings. The Aldmeri saw the land as empty and soulless, so they anchored it to the Nirni with a tower, wrought from Xarxes’ knowledge (white like Xarxes’ beard,) and Oghma, his wife (Gold, like her heart.) This anchor held Nirni together, but this tower’s Stone was unknown to the Aldmeri people, and thought it a miracle that the White-Gold could be anchored. For the Lawful Crystal’s stone was the draco-chrysalis’d corpse of poor Auri-El, which hence did topple within and when during the Great Anguish.

Little did they know of the Chim el-Adabal, a droplet of Lorkhan’s ebon-blood which had fallen through time, into the future, and down into a well of Ayleid make, so White-Gold had little power until the Ayleid settled in the area twenty years later.

Few years after the construction of the tower, a sect of Daedra worshipping Aldmer settled in the Heartlands, around the beauty of the Tower. They built cities across modern day Cyrodiil and into Valenwood and Hammerfell.

These strange wild Daedra revering Elves became known as ‘Ayleid,’ and when their first well was built in beneath White-Gold, the Wild-Elves found Chim el-Adabal within and fashioned it into a red crystal, holding White-Gold up for the first time.

Five years later, Prophet Meseleth of Sunhold led his sect known as ‘Logicians,’ to the far eastern highlands that were shown on Prophet Topal’s maps. And so they travelled into the forbidden lands of Ice and Dusk, through which they passed and ended in the great mountains bordering the East and the North. They crossed these highlands and found a great coastline perched on highest cliffs, overlooking Lorkhan’s Isle hundreds of miles in the distance.

The Logicians settled very deep within these highlands, where they came across giants with which they traded and treated like specimens to be studied and observed. The giants dubbed these Logicians ‘dwarves,’ as they were the smallest humanoids the giants had ever seen.

Prophet Meseleth spent the next hundred or so years teaching his people the way of Beard-Magic and the ways of Tonal Architecture (which was in some ways learnt from the Dovah.)

Before he died, the Prophet renamed himself to Prophet Mzelth, as he claimed that these words ‘fit better into the streamlined convection of the dreamsleave.’ It was from this that the first Dwemer rose and learnt to talk with their minds.

During these times, Prophet Phynaster was born amongst the people of Cloudrest, and he taught the people of Summerset how to Stride properly, so as to live longer, and trick the Aurbis into thinking each step was different.

Twenty years later, an offshoot of the Direnni clan, known as Fallirra (or ‘Snow Arrows)’ ventured deep into the Reaches where the Dru’Dac Goblins did dwell, and through the pine swathes and into the ice fields, where they built sprawling chantries to worship their beloved Gods.

Meanwhile, the Maormer deep below fought their post Dawn wars ‘mongst themselves, and they discovered the presence of Summerset.

Fifty years later, Prophet Veloth was born into a wealthy Aldmeri family in Auridon, who was quite the radical in his day. He rejected the Aldmeri Gods at an early age, just like Prophet Meseleth, but instead of worshipping no Gods at all, Veloth found fascination in the Daedra and Lorkhan.

He worshipped the ‘Good Daedra,’ (Azura, Mephala, Boethiah,) and taught how to negotiate with the ‘bad,’ Daedra (Mehrunes Dagon, Molag Bal, Sheogorath and of course, Malacath.) He rejected the values of chastity and holiness, and instead adopted views of sexual positives, how to justify murder, manipulation, and how love and hate tied into all of these points.

He gathered his ten-thousand ‘Sinners,’ who followed him over the Abecean, and high over the Direnni lands, braving storming seas, before landing in an icy inlet in the north. His pilgrims ventured into the steam pools and over iced glaciers which were not easy to climb.

They eventually reached a pass of ice, and the Dwemer watched from their mountain factories, not saying a word, simply observing their golden-skinned cousins.

>“They came upon a great pass, a deep scar in the mountain covered in ice and snow. Veloth drove them onward, chasing a vision that had come to him in a dream. He claimed to see a great hawk in the sky. He vowed that the hawk would lead the Chimer to a new home. They drudged through the pass, but after a time the Chimer could go no farther. A great wall of ice blocked their way.

>Then a powerful voice boomed from the mountains. "Who are you and why have you come to this place?"

>"We are a people without a home," replied Veloth to the mountain.

>A young woman stepped out of the wall of ice.

>"And who are you?" asked Veloth.

>"I am Chimer-Friend. I have come to lead you home, if you are willing to accept my challenge. I demand a sacrifice of you, Veloth. Swear an oath that will make you a better Mer."

>Veloth hoisted his mighty hammer and proclaimed, "Never again shall I wield this tool or any other to slay a foe. I have given my heart to my people, but now I shall give them more. I shall dedicate my life and my soul to them."

>The woman turned and waved at the wall of ice. It melted away in moments. Beyond lay an alien land of fungus and ash. She began to walk forward and the Chimer followed. Veloth spoke to his people. "We are home," he declared. "This is the anvil upon which we shall forge a new people. One journey ends here, but another journey begins."

This extract from the short 2nd Era text ‘End of the Journey,’ covers the legends of the end of the migration of Prophet Veloth. It is certainly simplified and steeped in legend, but much of it is true. The Sinners had travelled all the way from modern day Dawnstar, through the Pale, into the Eastmarch and up into Dunmeth Pass (also known as Velothi Pass.)

Here they came across ‘a hawk,’ and ‘Chimer-Friend,’ who led Veloth and his people through the pass and into the blessed land of Resdayn.

It was here that Veloth gave up his War-Hammer (a symbolism of his radicalism – see paragraph 4.) His people spread deep into the land of Resdayn, after meeting with the Dwemer. They dubbed the great mountain range between the Ice-Lands and Resdayn ‘Dwemereth.’

Veloth’s people built great cities across Resdayn, multiplying rapidly (as their sexual rules were rather lax.) They built great towers along the coasts of Vvardenfell and mainland Resdayn, and lived freely with their Dwemer cousins, even if there were the occasional racial tensions.

In response to Veloth’s movement into Resdayn, Trinimac waged a great battle with Boethiah for leading ‘his people’ astray. Boethiah proceeded to eat Trinimac, and excrete him as Malacath. The devout Direnni cults of Trinimac changed into the Orsimer (or ‘Orcs’) as a result, hiding out in the Wrothgarian Mountains.

The Dwemer expanded into Resdayn as well, building great stone cities next to the Chimeri ones, and the two cultures thrived, and almost pretending the respective other race didn’t exist. This peace didn’t last long, and both races fought hundreds of wars over the next century.

While the Mer in the East fought over Resdayn, and Direnni spread their Empire into modern-day Hammerfell, the Falmer people expanded throughout modern-day Skyrim, and became extremely successful.

These Falmeri people co-existed with the then peaceful Dragon villagers, who lived on high mountain tops, practicing agriculture and peaceful blacksmithing. The Dovah learnt the tongue of Elves from the Falmer, and in turn, Dovahzul was taught to the Falmer. The Dragons told the Falmeri of their peaceful leader Alduin, who ruled over High Atmora to the north.

This concludes Part One of the Merethic Chronicles. Part Three will cover the arrival of the proto-Nedes, and the great Pelin-Al's arrival in time.