PROJECT: SK Lore

[Theo]

Ehm, ehm!
TR approaches the stage, when all of Morrowind exteriors are being finished and soon the modders might want to start working on Skyrim.
However there is a significant lack of our own Skyrim Lore.
Therefore I would like to mobilize all willing writers to focus their creative abilities on creating books concerned with Skyrim history, culture, poetry, religion, mythology etc. to make this province 'come alive'.
IMHO This is a crucial stage in creating new province of the same importance as creating new unique meshes and textures.
If you already wrote some book concerned with (or just placed in) Skyrim, please post your link in here, so that we can keep trace of all relevant literature.
Everyone's contribution is welcomed. If you want to give a hand, but have no idea what to write about or need to more about the existing lore, please post your questions here and I will do my best to find the answers for you.

EDIT:
Links on some books I wrote:

Fate of Snow Elves:
[url]http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=11409[/url]
Sins of Youth (???):
[url]http://www.tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=9343[/url]
Book of Nordic proverbs [added]:
[url]http://www.tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=9174[/url]

[Sload]

Except that there is debate on whether we will even do Skyrim next. Furthermore, it looks like we wont start working on another province until we are certain as to whether or not we switch to the TESIV engine, which wont be for quite some time.

[Abramul]

Doesn't make a difference which engine is used, lore is lore. Does any Core know which is next, though?

[Sload]

The province is not decided, Abramul, therefore no one knows. It looks like it'll be Argonia or Skyrim, which makes sense.

The fact that we might be switching engines is very relevant. We aren't moving on to Skyrim until the end of this year or the beginning of next year. This is not a "vital stage"

[Haplo]

At the top of the forum, there's a link to a thing called 'Tamriel Rebuilt FAQ'. Now, since every new member always asks what province we are creating next, we decided to put it in the faq. A bit past halfway down the page, you'll find your answer in big black bold letters. Here's a direct link:

http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=904

We won't be doing any work in the Editor for Skyrim until Morrowind is complete.

[Sload]

Except that there has been a lot of discussion about doing Argonia next. Hell, we already have a lot of lore for it AND a lot of meshes.

[Haplo]

The same can be said for Skyrim.
However, since this will get us no where, this is my last post on this matter.

[Earl]

The way I see it is this:

It is irrelevant that Oblivion is coming out likely before TR reaches Skyrim. That alone is not reason to hold off on getting too involved in non-Morrowind lore. What is relevant is this: The likelihood that Oblivion will add lore.

If we knew absolutely that Oblivion would not, there would be no reason not to continue aggressively expanding lore. And to an extent, it's fine that we do try to come up with something for other provinces. But there's no point creating something finely detailed, when there's an imminent probability Oblivion will give us a better idea, or a more fleshed out starting point.

After Oblivion comes out, and we switch over to that engine, we'll have to re-review all the literature to make sure it still "works". I'd rather hold off on making something that would certainly either have to be scrapped, or need vast revision.

[Vernon]

Theo, we shouldn't just accept that we will be doing Skyrim next. Many people want to do Black Marsh.

[kingfish]

ehm, imo it's futile to debate what province to do next - until we see what's INSIDE the new tescs - most likely we will go to whatever province for which we will have most meshes that can be used.
if we are to switch to tes 4, that is...

and to be on topic: i don't see anything wrong collecting lore for skyrim, just don't get overenthusiastic

[Túrelio]

Personally I'd like if we went a redid Morrowind with TES4CS, considering we will for certain have the most Lore on it. Plus, we will already have a set plan for everything, it will go by alot faster.

That and you know people will really be interested in seeing what Morrowind is like after 6 years, so if TR doesn't do it, someone else will, and well I don't think anyone else will be able to do anything as good as this project could so I'd want TR to do it.

With the new TESC, I think the two major issues will be, new models, voiceacting, and concepts/ideas. Since we will have a head start on concepts/ideas and know atleast abouts what we need to model, it'll go by alot faster.

[Theo]

Oh, these all doubts again...

Don't you think, I have observed many people here would prefere doing Black Marsh before Skyrim and many just wait for Oblivion to switch to it and continue in TES IV.

I can understand both groups, but would not draw such a fatal consequences.

There is a large group of TR members who do not even consider option of trashing all their work they have done for TR to switch to Oblivion. I do not think TES III mods will be fully convertible to TES IV (though noone can tell yet) and personally think rebuilding Morrowind for TES IV is more pain than gain.
Do you want to spend another 3 years rebuilding what has already been achieved? And what then? TES V comes out and you can start anew? This is 'Tamriel Rebuilt', not 'Morrowind Update' project.

OK some people want to start working on Black Marsh. I like both provinces, Black Marsh has a little on top though. But again, do we have enough Argonia lore, meshes... If this project has to run smoothly and not stuck for 3 years in which the few modellers we have will do all the meshes needed (there will be hundreds of them!) it would be better to start preparing right now.
Vernon, as OoT moderator the best you can do to make Argonia next province is to make sure that there will be enough meshes in OoT for it and then there will be chance to persuade core to change TR policy.
If this happens I will accomodate myself and start working on Black Marsh lore. Until then it makes no sense waiting on how things come out. I will try to continue writing Skyrim lore and hope that other people won't be discouaraged and give me a hand.

Without taking any risk and trying to preditct future development this project will stuck on place and will be still waiting on how some other things come out.

[Túrelio]

There is a large group of TR members who do not even consider option of trashing all their work they have done for TR to switch to Oblivion. I do not think TES III mods will be fully convertible to TES IV (though noone can tell yet) and personally think rebuilding Morrowind for TES IV is more pain than gain.
Do you want to spend another 3 years rebuilding what has already been achieved? And what then? TES V comes out and you can start anew? This is 'Tamriel Rebuilt', not 'Morrowind Update' project.

The name arguement isn't very strong, 'Morrowind Updated"? Why not just call the entire thing "Arena Updated"? It isn't about that, it is about giving people all of Tamriel, the way Beth would if they did, in TES3CS or TES4CS, it doesn't matter the goal in the end is the same.

I can understand people not wanting the last few years to be in vain, or to go thro it all again. But it wouldn't have been, because we already have alot of it, redoing it in the new TESCS wouldn't be nearly as hard, and the new TESCS we already know is less time consuming, so not only would Morrowind be done faster, all of Tamriel in the end would be done faster. I think we should however look into keeping the claims as they are and letting those who worked on them have first choice of them again, if that is possible.

I would and will place TR on TESIII, but would enjoy it alot more if it was on TESIV, and I know it would be so much better. Also, I know that if we don't start doing it when it is available, it wont be long before someone else does, and personally I'd rather see it in this team's hands.

[Theo]

Judging only by available information I have, it is obvious, that Oblivion NPC's will have diffetent AI (radiant system), which will also affect the way they interact with player ie. dialogues and quests. It also sets limits to maximum number of NPC's, because this AI will munch a lot of memory constantly (if the lives of NPC's are not going to freeze once player leaves their cell), which is serious restricition to number of NPC's modders will be able to create.
Also all models would have to be, if not redone from scratch, then updated wich would be a lot of work. Sometimes I have the impression lot of members thinks moding = exterior modding.
With all respect to exterior modders I think that making models or scripting quests is the hardest work, moreover requiring skills few people really posses.
I tried to create models in 3dsmax but I ended totally frustrated by my lack of 3D imagination. I could possibly script quests once home again, if it was not so hard and monotonous work and I was not so lazy.
It kinda suprises me when someone says that as we already have concept art and models and exteriors it would be easier to remake them. Much less creative and entertaining then creating something new, I must add.
But this is neverending topic on these forums and I will not waste a single line on this anymore, especially not in this thread.

[Sload]

My only point was that none of your reasons to bring in lore now because we're in some vital inbetween stage actually mean a thing.

[Thane]

The lore for all provinces should be in the process of being developed. The province that we're working on more so and the province we'll do next more than the province we'll do last. Theo, do you know any good sites where I can find information about Skyrim customs, history, myths, etc? As for lore, do you only mean olde books and legends?

[Theo]

@Sload: Well, I bet one day people here will be thankfull for my overenthusiasm

Thane, you are my man.
As a source of lore the best choice is to use Imperial library (they have changed site recently so I do not remember the addres, try Google).
There you can find all possible lore, books included, but also much gameplay lore and some articles by lore masters.
Try typing Skyrim, or Nord to search window and then navigate through results.
If you have some more questions though just ask me, I already have some notes on this on my HDD.
Once you have a particular idea what would you like to write about you can post it in this thread.

EDIT: BTW I noticed you wrote some awesome books on Skyrim already. Could you post links on these threads here so we can keep track if they got outdated?

[Sload]

Is it seriously that hard to find Skyrim lore? That can't hardly be considered a task. I thought you mean finding towns and regions and things we have to make up like that.

Also, I think people will thank you a lot more if you spent your time doing something we need done now.

[Thane]

Theo was the btw directed at me? If so I can link the stuff in a sec.

Edit:

Cry of the Wolf
short story about a werewolf hunt in skyrim
link-
http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=10989

The Journal of Edric Iceheart
unfinished story about events in skyrim
link- http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=12418

Tahm Yermeso's People of Tamriel
includes a very short poem about Nords
link- http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=11006

[Theo]

Thanks.
I was thinking that it would be nice if we managed to assemble the famous Nordic legend "Song of return" which is mentioned in Frontier & Conquest, but does not exist in game AFAI.

I see it as some kind of Nordic Illias describing Ysgamor's exile from civil war in Atmora, his coming to Tamriel, foundation of town of Saarthal, night of Tears, his return to Atmora, assembling of five hundred companions, returning to Tamriel and pushing out Snow Elves. This could be divided in more books on which we could work together.
Another oprion would be describe the First empire and division of land inton nine holds and their specifics.

I am not good at writing poems so I incline to write the second one first, but the first one sounds more important and exciting.

[Theo]

Here comes what I (so far) wrote on nine Holds of Skyrim. I expect fierce lore criticism to come for much of these is my new intention:

Nine holds of Skyrim
Brief introduction into Nordic politics

Province of Skyrim, as is very well known, is approximately divided and into an area of nine holds. What is not so widely known and acknowledged by citizens of Cyrodill is what these holds actually are, and so it is a sad fact that many confusions arise from this ignorance in international policies towards Skyrim.
Imperial observer is usually easily tempted to identify Skyrim holds with some sub provinces or areas governed by distinct leaders however this is very superficial and inexact parallel for many reasons.
First of them, it is almost impossible to draw exact border between holds. Nords are usually quite unconcerned with formal division of their land and so it comes that regions ruled by various authorities of Skyrim may shrink and extend many times during their reign according to how much their influence actually reaches areas at their borders. Thus some remote mountain villages could not be said to belong to any of holds, since the highest authority in them is usually village elder, and tax collectors are as rare in there as spring floods or hoarfrost.
Much more precise way would be identification of Holds with areas of distinct ways of life, religion, customs and organization of society and trade.
Even here the division might later show problematic as all these factors also overlap into neighbouring holds and fluctuate within the time.
Maybe the best and in the end only possible way to introduce the concept of Hold is by giving description of all nine holds of Skyrim, their specifics and history, so the reader could make picture himself. Skyrim politics are usually hard to understand for general Imperial reader, but effort invested in their studies will return many time, if one actually wants to travel to Skyrim.

Winterhold
Most powerfull and influential of all holds is undoubtedly Winterhold with its capital in the city of the same name. Winterhold is one of the so-called old holds, which still in a way of life stick to ancient traditions. Thus for example ‘throne of Winterhold’ is still being hereditary, current ruler of Winterhold being king Hjolfrin of the Sifkning dynasty.
After the assasination of king Borgas of Windhelm in 1E 369 and broking the line of uninterrupted rule of kings of Ysgamor dynasty (king Borgas had no heirs) ambitious king Jarl Hanse of Winterhold claimed the right to fill the emptied throne of the king of Skyrim.
However the Moot failed to recognize his abilities and so began war of succession, which ended years later in 1E 420, when chieftans of all holds agreed that Jarl's son Gustav has full right to title of the king of Skyrim and capital moved to his native town of Winterhold.
The closest advisors of king are traditionally his three ‘Hands’ including one Hand for justice, one for war affairs and one for trade. The fourth advisor to king is archpriest of Kynareth.
Thus government of Winterhold is still strongly concentrated into the hands of king himself and narrow group of aristocrats on the court and most inhabitants of this hold have little to no rights in public domain.
Only young men, who are brave enough to venture into surrounding mountains in coldest winter to haunt fierce ice-wraths and strong enough to survive there and return, can become citizens of this hold.
This gives them right to eventually become aristocrats, landlords or members of kings court, when being appointed to this function by king himself.
Other rights of citizens include right for court trial, when breaking some of traditional laws or some edict of the king. Usually this happens rarely, because laws being quite few and citizens usually can do what they desire.
There are few influential organization in Winterhold one being palace guards, another being temple of Kynareth. Again, only citizens can join these organizations.
New imperial organizations like Mages and Fighters guild are allowed in the region and even non-citizens can join them, but do not enjoy much trust and favour of local authorities.
Other people then citizens are not allowed to own a pub or any land and they are not allowed to use their houses or large property as a source of their profit.
Therefore there are only few stable merchants in this city, usually citizens selling weapons or adventurers equipment; most of ordinary trade like food, clothes and craftwork tools is provided by temporarily trade merchants, who can buy limited licence for their economical activities in the city from the king’s court.
Most people in the city live from craft, being forced by law to sell their products to merchants for stable prizes appointed by court. This outdated, rigid and inefficient economy is one of causes of economical stagnation of this hold compared to some of new and more progressive holds.
People of other races then Nords are usually quite rare in this city, most of them being temporarily visitors, rather then permanent inhabitants.
Basically, one has to be very cautious in this city not to insult citizens, but if he is able to show appropriate respect to them he can enjoy many beauties this city offers. Beside its natural beauty, Winterhold is also favourite destination of many travellers because its proximity to majestic ruins of ancient Saarthal.

Eastmarch
Rural hold of Eastmarch is the smallest but most progressive of all holds, located around its capital Windhelm. Windhelm was once a capital of First Empire and its visitors still can admire monumental palace of Ysgamor’s dynasty dominating Old City.
The rest of the city surrounds the palace on top of the hill in circular layers, being divided by fortifications into Palace district, Old City, New City and Rural areas. Much of the architecture of New City is quite modern and in Imperial style, being rebuilt after ransacking of Windhlem by Akaviri armies of Ada’Soon Dir-Kamal during war of the succession.
After the ending of the war, when there was no king in Windhelm and the capital of Skyrim has been moved to Winterhold, the former seat town of Windhelm and the whole of Eastmarch hold has been annexed under the direct government of king of Skyrim.
Province of Eastmarch separated from Winterhold in 2E 863 after the more and more numerous influential minorities living here, usually Imperials and Dunmer, demanded partial independence on kings reign. Only because of the rising power of the Empire in this time and large presenc of imperial military in Windhelm, king Hermann was willing to give up some rights over this ancient hold to Imperial Legion general Varissa Maleus.
The function of new ruler of the hold was then connected with the office of general of Imperial legion, which is currently Marcus Armanius. Even nowadays large Imperial garrison in the city watches over the Imperial law and guards nearby Dunmeth pass to Morrowind.
However many ancient Nordic rituals and customs are still tolerated by the legion, one of them being famous reciting of names of Five Hundred Companions of Ysgamor on Feast of the Dead (13th Sun’s Dawn) in hall of Fathers in the Palace.
Although then the ways of life in Eastmarch does nowadays differ from Cyrodill only slightly, many Nords still live in Windhelm and its vicinity and consider this hold the most important hold from historical point of view, and consider it as another old hold, despite all Imperial innovations.

Pale
The largest of all holds can be found on southern border of Skyrim with Cyrodill northern from the Pale pass. As one of the old holds remains most of the original customs of Nordic people and visitors can observe here Skyrim in the form in which it was even before forming of the First Empire.
Missing one dominant metropolis or centre of government, population of Pale Hold is still governed by local majors, barons, and village elders. King of Whiterun has some aspirations of uniting all wild nobility in his hold under his command, but he lacks the means to do that.
Most of the economic income comes from hunt and gathering, rather from agriculture, craft or merchandise. It is mostly due to the wild character of landscape, that society here is still so archaic.
Swampy forests on the south and high mountains on the north are not welcoming for other enterprises then hunts of hardy highlanders.
One has to be especially cautious in these hold, because many of aristocrats, residing in their forts and keeps, might still have very barbaric manners and can exercise much power.

Rift
Rift is the last of the Old holds with its capital in city of Riften in south-eastern Skyrim. Currently, king of Rift is the only serious candidate on king of Skyrim, if dynasty of kings of Winterhold would break. With new holds being governed by councils or moots, Pale not being governed only sporadically and Eastmarch being under command of foreign forces, Rift is the second most powerful hold of Skyrim and its king is aware of its power.
City of Rift, being itself build into majestic mountain valley with its castle rising high to the sky, also enjoys strategic position of the closest settlement to the Rift Pass.
Rest of the province consists usually of mountain peaks covered by dense pine forests, with few settlements around river valleys. Though hold of Rift is not the largest of all holds in area it is the most populated due to its relatively mild weather conditions and soil and landscape suitable even for primitive agriculture.
The relatively rich soil around the river valleys enables farmers to raise a limited amount of wheat and in the more mountainous areas one can survive on plenty of Snowberry bushes.
The nowadays settlements are often based on original forts, being built on platforms atop of the strategically important valleys. These forts have been built during the invasion of Morrowind, but nowadays they have lost their defensive function and serve as a residence of local landlords.
Usually these forts are being built of wood by traditional Nordic way, however on southern border of the Rift hold (and in the Pale hold as well) one could find also many of stone forts, the most famous of them being the breathtaking Old Keep.

Dawnstar
In the north parts of Skyrim in the centre of vast icy plains lies the city of Dawnstar, being capital of the Hold of the same name. City of Dawnstar, due to its isolation has always been a little bit exception from the rest of the Skyrim.
Because of the impossibility of any agriculture and need of regular supplies for crafts the feudal system of old holds could not survive here and some of the traditional rules had to be loosened. Everyone in the city was allowed to barter and sell any goods and live from his income. Soon very liberal open market developed here and only the best of all merchants survived in the merciless concurrence. This also affected the politics of the hold and way of its government. The citizen society has been prosperous in this hold and during 1E 350 the king abdicated and passed the government to the delegates of citizens. Nowadays city is governed by elected city council, with major in its head.
Many Imperial visitors will find this frozen city unusually welcoming. Dawnstar is the city of commerce and traveller’s services with real cosmopolitan feel about it. Dawnstar is mostly famous for its universities, banks, spas and mage towers.
Outside this marvellous cultural city there is little to find in icy and hostile Dawnstar hold, beside Horkers lurking on frozen lakes. With most of its population living in its capital, Dawn hold is the least populated of the whole Skyrim.

[Haplo]

w00t for people who do work for you. -
http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=88391&st=15

NORDS & SKYRIM -

Nords consider themselves to be the children of the sky. They call Skyrim the Throat of the World, because it is where the sky exhaled on the land and formed them. They see themselves as eternal outsiders and invaders, and even when they conquer and rule another people; they feel no kinship with them.
The breath and the voice are the vital essence of a Nord. When they defeat great enemies they take their tongues as trophies. These are woven into ropes and can hold speech like an enchantment. The power of a Nord can be articulated into a shout, like the kiai of an Akaviri swordsman. The strongest of their warriors are called "Tongues." When the Nords attack a city, they take no siege engines or cavalry; the Tongues form in a wedge in front of the gatehouse, and draw in breath. When the leader lets it out in a kiai, the doors are blown in, and the axemen rush into the city. Shouts can be used to sharpen blades or to strike enemies. A common effect is the shout that knocks an enemy back, or the power of command. A strong Nord can instill bravery in men with his battle-cry, or stop a charging warrior with a roar. The greatest of the Nords can call to specific people over hundreds of miles, and can move by casting a shout, appearing where it lands.
The most powerful Nords cannot speak without causing destruction. They must go gagged, and communicate through a sign language and through scribing runes.
The further north you go into Skyrim, the more powerful and elemental the people become, and the less they require dwellings and shelters. Wind is fundamental to Skyrim and the Nords; those that live in the far wastes always carry a wind with them.

Skyrim
Skyrim, also known as the Old Kingdom or the Fatherland, was the first region of Tamriel settled by humans: the hardy, brave, warlike Nords, whose descendants still occupy this rugged land, and, although perhaps somewhat reduced from the legendary renown of their forebears of old, the Nords of the pure blood still unquestionably surpass the mixed races in all the manly virtues.
Exactly when the Nords first crossed the ice-choked Sea of Ghosts from Atmora, their original homeland, is uncertain. As recorded in the Song of Return, Ysgramor and his family first landed in Tamriel at Hsaarik Head, at the extreme northern tip of Skyrim's Broken Cape, fleeing civil war in Atmora (then rather warmer than at present, as it seems to have supported a substantial population). These first settlers named the land "Mereth", after the Elves that roamed the untamed wilderness which then covered the whole of Tamriel. For a time, relations between Men and Elves were harmonious, and the Nords throve in the new land, summoning more of their kin from the North to build the city of Saarthal, the site of which has recently been located by Imperial archaeologists in the vicinity of modern Winterhold. But the Elves saw that the vital young race would soon surpass their stagnant culture if left unchecked, and fell upon the unsuspecting Nords in the infamous Night of Tears; Saarthal was burned, and only Ysgramor and two of his sons fought free of the carnage and escaped to Atmora. The Elves, however, had reckoned without the indomitable spirit of the Nords. Gathering his legendary Five Hundred Companions (whose names are still recited every Thirteenth of Sun's Dawn at the Feast of the Dead in Windhelm), Ysgramor returned to Tamriel with a vengeance, driving the Elves out of Skyrim and laying the foundations of the first human Empire.
It may be that the exploits of the near-mythical Ysgramor conflate the reigns of several early Nord Kings, as the Elves were not finally driven from the present boundaries of Skyrim until the reign of King Harald, the thirteenth of Ysgramor's line, at the dawn of recorded history. King Harald is also remembered for being the first King to relinquish all holdings in Atmora; the Nords of Skyrim were now a separate people, whose faces were turned firmly toward their destiny, the conquest of the vast new land of Tamriel. Indeed, the history of the Nords is the history of humans in Tamriel; all the human races, with the exception of the Redguards, are descended from Nordic stock, although in some the ancient blood admittedly runs thin.
Most of the Nords I met seemed amused by this "Fatherland" nonsense -
the war with the "Aldmeri Dominion" was the furthest thing in their minds -
King Vrage the Gifted began the expansion that led to the First Empire of the Nords. Within a span of fifty years, Skyrim ruled all of northern Tamriel, including most of present-day High Rock, a deep stretch of the Nibenay Valley, and the whole of Morrowind. The Conquest of Morrowind was one of the epic clashes of the First Era, when ensued many a desperate contest between Nord and Dark Elf in the hills and glades of that dire kingdom, still recalled by the songs of the minstrels in the alehouses of Skyrim. The system of succession in the First Empire is worthy of note, as it proved in the end to be the Empire's undoing. By the early years of the First Empire, Skyrim was already divided into Holds, then ruled by a patchwork of clan-heads, kings, and councils (or moots), all of which paid fealty to the King of Skyrim. During the exceptionally long reign of King Harald, who died at 108 years of age and outlived all but three of his sons, a Moot was created, made up of representatives from each Hold, to choose the next King from qualified members of the royal family. Over the years, the Moot became permanent and acquired an increasing amount of power; by the reign of King Borgas, the last of the Ysgramor dynasty, the Moot had become partisan and ineffective. Upon the murder of King Borgas by the Wild Hunt, the Moot's failure to appoint the obvious and capable Jarl Hanse of Winterhold sparked the disastrous Skyrim War of Succession, during which Skyrim lost control of its territories in High Rock, Morrowind, and Cyrodiil, never to regain them. The war was finally concluded in 1E420 with the Pact of Chieftans; henceforth, the Moot was convened only when a King died without direct heirs, and it has fulfilled this more limited role admirably. It has only been called upon three times in the intervening millenia, and the Skyrim succession has never again been disputed on the field of battle.
*Snow Elves
Nords attribute almost any misfortune or disaster to the machinations of the Falmer, or Snow Elves, be it crop failure, missing sheep, or a traveler lost crossing a high pass. These mythical beings are popularly believed to be the descendants of the original Elven population, and are said to reside in the remote mountain fastnesses that cover most of Skyrim. However, there is no tangible evidence that this Elven community survives outside the imaginations of superstitious villagers.**

The land of Skyrim is the most rugged on the continent, containing four of the five highest peaks in Tamriel (see Places of Note: Throat of the World). Only in the west do the mountains abate to the canyons and mesas of the Reach, by far the most cosmopolitan of the Holds of Skyrim, Nords of the pure blood holding only the barest majority according to the recent Imperial Census. The rest of Skyrim is a vertical world: the high ridges of the northwest-to-southeast slanting mountain ranges, cleft by deep, narrow valleys where most of the population resides. Along the sides of the river valleys, sturdy Nord farmers raise a wide variety of crops; wheat flourishes in the relatively temperate river bottoms, while only the snowberry bushes can survive in the high orchards near the treeline. The original Nord settlements were generally established on rocky crags overlooking a river valley; many of these villages still survive in the more isolated Holds, especially along the Morrowind frontier. In most of Skyrim, however, this defensive posture was deemed unnecessary by the mid-first era, and most cities and towns today lie on the valley floors, in some cases still overlooked by the picturesque ruins of the earlier settlement.
Nords are masters of wood and timber construction; many structures survive in use today that were built by the first settlers over 3,000 years ago. A fine example of Nord military engineering can be seen at Old Fort, one of the royal bastions constructed by the First Empire to guard its southern frontier. Towering walls of huge, irregular porphyry blocks fit together without seam or mortar, as if constructed by mythical Elhnofey rather than men.
The nine Holds present a varied aspect in people, government, and trade. The Reach could be mistaken for one of the petty kingdoms of High Rock; it is full of Bretons, Redguards, Cyrodiils, Elves of all stripes, and even a few misplaced khajiit. The northern and western Holds -- Winterhold, Eastmarch, Rift, and the Pale, known collectively as the Old Holds -- remain more isolated, by geography and choice, and the Nords there still hold true to the old ways. Outsiders are a rarity, usually a once-yearly visit from an itinerant peddler. The young men go out for weeks into the high peaks in the dead of winter, hunting the ice wraiths that give them claim to full status as citizens (a laudable practice that could serve as a model for the more "civilized" regions of the Empire). Here, too, the people still revere their hereditary leaders, while the other Holds have long been governed (after a fashion) by elected moots. It is fortunate for Skyrim and the Septim Empire that the people of the Old Holds have preserved the traditions of their forefathers. Skyrim has long been dormant, slumbering through the millenia while upstart conquerors bestrode the Arena of Tamriel. But now, a son of Skyrim once again holds the world's destiny in his hands. If Skyrim is to awake, its rebirth will be led by these true Nords who remain its best hope for the future.
---

[Theo]

Thanks for the lore Haplo, but I think I already have most of it. The first paragraph is from "Children of the Sky" and the second from "Pocket guide to the Empire" I guess.
Now I would be really thankful if someone experienced in lore could read through all this and point out some issues I might have overlooked.
For example, what really mystifies me that Pale, Winterhold and Eastmarch and Rift are said to be lying on Norh and West, while map locates them on East and South. (Winterhold on northeast, Eastmarch on the East, Rift (Riften on the Southeast), Pale pass on the south). I used TR's own lore on this from lore forums.
Also note that "Pocket guide to the Empire" was writen in 2E 864. This book is meant as quite recent book and might describe later development.

[Theo]

... Updated ...

[Haplo]

I've read several places where Earl (and maybe Nazz, too) Mentioned that the PGE was outdated, therefore not to be trusted completely for lore...

[Theo]

I could not find any more recent books that would be relevant to what I try to do. However this is meant as lore expansion so it would maybe be more on place to ask about internal logic of the text and whether it fits with some general lore idea about what Skyrim holds should be like.
Or maybe someone comes up saying: "Look, here you say that in 2E 750 Eastmarch was being under reign of Winterhold and here I read in Lore its king did this and that..." and I can trash it all.

[Sload]

The PGE isn't outdated, it's just Imperial propoganda.

[Theo]

It's both

[Starcrunch]

PGE is late 2nd Era Cyrodiil propaganda. It is written just prior to the appearance of the Numidia and the fall of the Aldmeri Dominion.

-Starcrunch