The Bosmer: On Metal and Masks

On Metal

Ever since the Treaty of Frond and Leaf was struck and up until the Second Empire’s conquest of Valenwood in 1E 2714, the Bosmer have largely relied on bone-based weaponry, ranging from axes, clubs, short swords and spears to arrows and composite horn bows, for hunting game and tribal warfare.

The Bosmer were first introduced, or rather, reintroduced to metallurgy by Ayleid refugees fleeing Alessia’s army after the fall of the White-Gold Tower. These Ayleids were allowed to establish cities in Valenwood and established the first quarries, mines and forges in Valenwood in several centuries.

The Ayleids shared their knowledge of metallurgy with their patrons, and while some Bosmer took an interest to the art of blacksmithing, most did not have the temperament, patience or even an interest in learning blacksmithing, preferring their traditional bone weaponry to the Wild Elves’ meteoric iron.

The Wood Elves would come to regret not taking to blacksmithing later on, as their bone weapons, while masterfully crafted, proven ineffective come the late First Era, when the Anequine Conquests gave Reaper’s March its name and Reman Cyrodiil’s imperial legions defeated the Camoran Dynasty.

The Wood Orcs on the other hand always had a talent for blacksmithing. For this reason they never established their strongholds too far out from the mineral-rich Mord’s Ribs Mountains – a large, and by some accounts the only mountain range in Valenwood, located in the province’s eastern reaches.

Soon after Reman Cyrodiil divided the power of the Camoran Dynasty amongst the newly-founded “Valenwood Nations”, despite the turbulent past between the Wood Orcs and the Bosmer, the Silvenar approached the Wood Orcs of the Mord’s Ribs Mountains with an unrefusable proposition.

With the signing of the Treaty of Jathsogur, the Treethanes recognized the Mord’s Ribs Mountains as the sovereign territory of the Wood Orc clans, and in return, the clans would exclusively sell their ore and forged weapons, tools and armor to the Bosmer tribes. The treaty still holds to this very day.

These days, the Bosmer still largely rely on bone-based weaponry, but have also been known to use crudely-worked iron and poor quality steel, as well as higher-grade weapons and tools, though these are more often than not imported or purchased from the Wood Orcs of the Mord’s Ribs Mountains.

On Masks

It is no secret that the Bosmer have a fascination with everyday wooden objects, mainly due to the Green Pact forbidding the felling of trees for timber. Everyday objects such as wheels and buckets are cherished by Bosmer as exotic. There have even been Bosmer warriors that wore buckets as helmets.

This however doesn’t mean that the Bosmer are strangers to the concept of woodworking, far from it. But, as with blacksmithing, they are generally inept. They apply the same principles they use to carve bone to woodworking, producing arrow and spear shafts, hilts, and oddly - ceremonial masks.

Ranging from simple to intricate and complicated, these masks are prized as a status symbol in Valenwood, similarly to fine Khajiit pelts and antique Ayleid weapons and armor. The possession of one such mask connotes one has either the wealth to purchase one or the skills to be awarded one.

The more simple masks have a plain, smooth surface, devoid of any facial features aside from the eyes, which are carved in such a way as to obscure the wearer’s eyes, but grant perfect vision for the wearer, similar in many ways to the infamous Ordinators and the Dragon Cult priest masks of Skyrim.

These masks are believed to depict the visage of the fabled Wilderking. This mysterious forest spirit is worshiped as a deity in Greenshade in southwestern Valenwood. According to the oral histories of the Spinners, the Bosmer first began carving these masks in gratitude to the forest spirit’s protection.

The more complicated masks often bear intricate designs and a scowling visage, supposedly meant to represent the “faces of gods” often glimpsed in the mass of whirling tentacles, gnawing teeth and clawing talons that is the Wild Hunt, or the black river of Ouze, should one stare into the tar too long.

The denizens of western Tamriel might be more familiar with these more intimidating-looking masks, as the infamous Bosmer conqueror Haymon Camoran reportedly wore such a mask into battle. Ulthorn the Hound, the leader of the accursed Hircine cult known as the Houndsmen, also wore such a mask.

Greenspeakers - powerful Bosmer mages that use rituals of speech and song to influence Graht-Oaks and magically induce the creation of timber, have also been known to imbue these masks with enchantments, ranging from enhanced sight and hearing, to even enchantments pertaining to shapeshifting.