Skyrim - The COMPLETE Guide to the Dunmer - Elder Scrolls Lore

[Music] Azura watched in disbelief as armed civvy used the heretics tools they relinquished their ODEs to the queen of dusk and dawn and her vengeance would be absolute for the vain prince would not abide being scorned and no sooner that arm civvy had completed their rituals and begun to discover their newfound powers the day drew Lord Asura appeared and cursed them and then in that moment all Kaymer were changed into Donmar and their skins turned ashen and their eyes into fire and Asura said this is not my act but your act you have chosen your fate and the fate of your people and all the dunmer shall share your fate from now to the end of time you think yourselves gods but you are blind and all is darkness thus the Dark Elves were born if you've ever set foot in morrowind you've no doubt been harassed by the horse heckles of the natives Outlander and n waar being the most common and this truth in their harsh words as few places in Tamriel are more alien to outsiders than morrowind Emperor parasol mushrooms litter the landscape and beneath the high canopies of these fungal forests all manner of flora and fungi propagate and its fauna is no different Donna don't ride horses they saddle their guar zand travel long distances high on the backs of the giant ARF reports called silt Striders the harrowing howls of these magnificent beasts can be heard for miles and create a gloomy ambience that is only interrupted by the shrieks of the pesky cliff races moral winds ecosystem is truly unique and the elves inhabiting the land and no exception hey guys it's drew here and welcome back to fudge Muppet with this video we reached the end of the race complete guide series and who else but the dunmer to save for last covering every detail of this complex race is quite the undertaking as I don't think any other culture in the Elder Scrolls universe has been so thoroughly fleshed out so much imagination went into the creation of this race and they genuinely feel alive and organic the older scrolls free morrowind is old enough to buy alcohol in my country yet it is in my opinion the most engrossing immersive experience Bethesda has ever made it's the one Elder Scrolls world that I could play for hours on end just to saunter across its landscapes a distinct aesthetic goes a long way but that alone isn't enough for a world to feel rich and detailed the law needs to be as fun to explore as its terrain and that's why morrowind is so wondrous and that's why the complete guide to the provinces inhabitants is going to be a big one so how about I stop rambling and we get right into it the dunmer were not always red-eyed and drab skinned they were once as incandescent as the Setting Sun their eyes were resplendent and their skin was beat and gold and they were once a part of the old merry flock the old mo were once a United people but over time dissident movements emerged and the followers of Saint Vella were among the most noteworthy trinamic the warrior God Orioles champion had taken it upon himself to defeat the old Moe's enemies both without and within were a group of elves to stray from the teachings of the aedra then trinamic would confront the dissidents and bring them back into the fold but the velov minh twas not going to be easy to halt even for one as powerful as trainer Mac and that's because a Daedra Lord was behind this insurgency one day Bowie fear Prince of plots precocious youth tricked trinamic to go into his mouth but we fiat talk like trinamic for a while then and gathered enough people to listen to him but we fear showed them the lies of the Attar de piedra and told them trinamic was the biggest liar of all saying all this with trina-- Mac's own voice but we fear told the mass before him the triangle truth he showed them with mephala the rules of siddik endeavor he taught them how to build houses and what items they needed to bury in the corners he demonstrated the right way to wear their skin he performed the way to walk to achieve an exodus then boethiah relieved himself of trinamic right there on the ground before them to prove all the things he said were the truth it was easy then for his new people to become the change ones whether this consumption and excretion of trina-- matter was literal or metaphorical doesn't really matter Trina Mac was shamed and corrupted he became Malakoff the pariah prints and the gathered old myrrh of Saint Vela flock had new deities to listen to boethiah with the help of mephala and Asura taught the velov people how to strive for enlightenment he taught them that mortality was a test a series of obstacles to overcome mephala taught them how to outwit their adversaries through lies and secret murder and Asura taught them how to be different from the old Murr it was a time of immense change it was a metamorphosis of body and mind and the migration from Somerset to res Dane was their chrysalis their transformation process when they arrived in this foreign land the free good Daedra showed them how to build their new civilization and the Kaymer were officially born before we even mentioned the major changes between old marry culture and KY marry culture the stark contrast between the two peoples is clear from aesthetics alone but we fear not only taught the Kaymer how to wear their skin but also how to build houses and it shows because their structures look as if they were designed by something foreign and strange while the Ultima build immense spires of glass that soar skyward gleaming in the sun's light the Kaymer opted for sinuous towers of magically grown mushrooms or squat rounded huts made from the carapace 'as of giant insects their architecture is surreal but practical as their buildings are designed to cope with the harsh conditions in Morrowind but of course the major change from Aldmeri culture to falafels culture was the shift away from aedra worship into Daedra worship this is the deviation that set everything in motion the climber will hardly Daedra worshippers in the stereotypical cult sense they had their good Daedra the ones who guide and protect them but they also saw the danger of the oblivion Lords boethiah mephala and Asura warned them against trusting specific Daedra they showed the climber what items they needed to bury in the corners and this process was essential in warding away the four corners of the house of troubles the house of troubles is the name for the bad Daedra and it consists of Malikov Mehrunes day Molag Bal and Shire gorath they bring only harm to mortals and avoiding them became a fundamental part of chimera culture but even though they are viewed as malevolent beings they represent Kaymer values Malakoff is the vengeful god who harbors an eternal grudge against boethiah he tests the climb of her physical weakness and as a result the change ones never neglect their physical fitness and fighting prowess Molag Bal tries to upset the bloodlines of the houses and otherwise ruin the dunmer gene pool with him in the house of troubles the climber are constantly reminded to keep their race pure che Agora is the test of mental weakness with his presence the Kaymer are always determined to keep their wits sharp and finally mehrunes dagon is associated with natural dangers like fire earthquakes and floods to some he represents the inhospitable land of morrowind he tests the dunmer will to survive and persevere tests were evidently a crucial facet of chimera religion and culture which was fitting as they faced a great deal of tests in their newly settled homeland of res Dain they fought ox needs dwarves and Nords the Dwemer proved to be their greatest adversary in the late muriatic early first era not only were they sharing the same lands but they had major religious differences the Dwemer were profane unafraid to insult the gods and they revered no force above their own intellect these two factors led to a great deal of animosity coexisting would have been impossible were it not for the fact that the dwarves preferred to build the bulk of their cities underground but even then both races were starkly aware of the other's constant proximity the Kaymer as the rest of history would show were formidable warriors they harnessed powerful magics and had some of Tamriel's greatest minds but the Dwemer was so ahead of their time so ingenious that no opponent could compete thousands of years later as I tell this story no culture has created the kind of technological marvels that Dwemer had imagined coming up against them back there when you were few in number and still unfamiliar with the terrain but as their gods taught them the climber remained resilient and they weren't going to be sent back to Somerset bloodied and humiliated but some things did change the climber diverged once more and formed many independent tribes some of these tribes became great houses other tribes still wander the provinces Ashe Landers and it was around this time in the late morphic early 1st era that high velocity culture and society of the dunmer of course at this time the dunmer didn't exist so it was still climb a culture but the house system which saw nomadic life give way to tight-knit political clans was here to stay and survives in Morrowind to this day membership in great houses is simple it is determined by birth and marriage it's not unheard of for outsiders to become retainers in great houses usually as a reward for loyal service to the house but for the most part membership is as exclusive and familial as the tribal structure of old there have been many great houses over the centuries some are faded into obscurity others have been meticulously wiped out or hidden while a handful of dominant houses persist in those early days the dominant houses were endure already ran tell Varney lalu dress and dag off in recent times new houses like sad Ross have emerged while others like Dwemer Morra rafen salla fan and sofa disappeared I won't go into detail about all of the great houses in this video as we have a dedicated video to the houses on the channel already I'll link it in the description below if you'd like to watch but what's important to know is that the founding of the Great Houses changed the political landscape of morrowind dramatically over time these houses evolved from glorified tribes to parties involved in the Grand Council each house has their own interests while the Grand Council decides the fate of the province as a whole allowing every major political player to have a say in proceedings it is an effective system which can adapt in times of great need when danger presents itself to a nation having one all-powerful military leader who can you know the people and represent their communal interest is essential and so the Horta tour enters the fold will discuss the appearances of the Horta tour throughout history very soon but even we've the Great Houses some climber chose to retain their tribal customs and nomadic lifestyle these are the Ash Landers the velocity once existed in the wilderness all over res Dane but with the rise of the houses and the council the ash landers were gradually shepherded into the poorest most inhospitable regions of the province they retain a strong culture of ancestor worship and differ from the great houses in more than just societal structure a significant religious rift was going to split morrowind in two and the Ashland has held firm to their faith in the good Daedra while the more cosmopolitan great houses for the most part embrace their new demigod rulers so let's establish some context by getting back to the histories tensions between the climber and Dwemer were ever-present but a new foe was about to enter the fray the Nords of skyrim under the leadership of high king rage the gifted invaded res Dane and brought the region into the first Empire of the Nords at this time the Nords were more than just ferocious warriors they also had numerous tongues in their ranks who were skilled in the use of the voice with their shouts they were unstoppable at least they were to the Kaiama but the Kaymer realized that the enemy of their enemy is their friend and this was the perfect opportunity to work alongside the Dwemer both races wish to protect their homeland from the human hordes and their civil disputes could surely wait at this time in der ilknur 'var was chosen as the Kaymer Haught at all he United the disparate factions and he was on good terms with Zhu Mac dwarf king of the Dwemer so they met and created the first Council of res Dane by first era 416 the unified Kaymer and Dwemer successfully pushed the Nords out of res Dane this piece lasted some two centuries but fell apart in first era 668 with the war of the first Council with the common enemy removed the inherent friction between the two allied races inevitably came to a head once again they were fundamentally opposed on the most important matters everything the Dwemer did all of their achievements were considered to be heretic by the pious Kaymer the dwarves meddled with transcendent powers and one particular project would prove to be the last straw the chief tonal architect of the Dwemer Amer named kagrenac was working on his opus what he calls the ANA medium project the Dwemer had discovered the heart of lorkhan deep in red mountain and kagrenac devised a plan to tap its power using specific tools of his creation these tools were imbued with mythopoeic enchantments which would allow a mere mortal to channel the doom drums immortal power but de Gotha learned of Lord Cochrane acts diabolical scheme and brought it to the attention of nirav our vivec almalexia and sofa SIL and for the love the climb aboard their gods they had to intervene thus to prevent kagrenac heresies from being realized the war of the first council began it all culminated at the Battle of Red Mountain in first era 700 this fateful battle is shrouded in mystery but what happened here would transform the lives of the Khaimah in a multitude of ways hastened by the looming threat of the khaimah kagrenac prematurely used his tools on the heart causing the disappearance of the entire Dwemer race just this week Scott wrote a fascinating piece about an alternate history where the Dwemer didn't vanish at all and had they endured the future would look quite grim for the Kaymer and the dunmer would never have come into being but alas it did happen and the Kaymer were victorious by default treachery followed as the heart fell into the hands of near Avars closest advisors who exactly murdered the horse at all isn't confirmed but it is likely that the tribunal betrayed him and they also reclaimed the tools from de Gotha what came next led to the creation of the Donmar they each swore a solemn oath to Azura that the tools would never be used in the profane manner that the Dwemer had intended sofa silk eped the tools for some time he guarded them but also studied them learning kagrenac secrets and how to correct the chief tonal architects mistakes and when he divined their mysteries he did not wait to share them with vivec and almalexia together the oath sworn trio made the pilgrimage back to Red Mountain back to the beating heart of the dead God for rights at last he came to us with a vision of a new world of peace with justice and honor for nobles and health and prosperity for the commoners with the tribunal as a mortal patrons and guides and dedicating ourselves to this vision of a better world we made a pilgrimage to Red Mountain and transformed ourselves with the power of kagrenac stools and no sooner than we had completed our rituals and begun to discover our newfound powers the day drew Lord Asura appeared and cursed us for our forsworn owes by her powers of prophecy she assured us that her champion nirav are true to his oath would return to punish us for our perfidy and to make sure such profane knowledge might never again be used to mock and defy the will of the gods but so facility her the old gods are cruel and arbitrary and distant from the hopes and fears of Myr your age is past we are the new gods born of the flesh and wise and caring of the needs of our people spare us your frets and chiding in constant spirit we are bold and fresh and will not fear you and then in that moment all Kaymer were changed into dharma and our skins turned ashen and our eyes into fire of course we only knew at that time that this had happened to us but Azeris said this is not my act but your act you have chosen your fate and the fate of your people and all the dunmer shall share your fate from now to the end of time you think yourselves gods but you are blind and all is darkness and Azura left us alone in darkness and we were all afraid but we put on our brave faces and went for from Red Mountain to build the new world of our dreams armed civvy maybe off breakers but there is no denying that they genuinely endeavored to forge a greater realm for their new people the golden kymo when now the ashen dunmer but the new morrowind formed by the tribunal was glorious and generous the dunmer were at first afraid of their new faces but so far sill saying that it was not a curse but a blessing a sign of their changed natures and sign of the special favor they might enjoy as numr no longer barbarians trembling before ghosts and spirits but civilized myrrh speaking directly to their immortal friends and patrons the free faces of the tribunal most Tamriel exes I ities venerate their gods and pray to them every day but few can claim to be able to truly communicate with them the way to mortals can communicate in Morrowind respect for the good Daedra didn't disappear but now they had gods who could actually listen to their complaints and offer grand solutions the Daedra became the anticipations for the tribunal which helped reconcile the religious differences but we fear is the anticipation of armed alexia but mail to her female she is mother morrowind the warrior and protector of boëthius chosen people mephala is the anticipation of vivec but manifold and androgynous mephala had introduced the clan systems that became the great houses and vivec would in turn restore the Grand Council from the ashes of the first Council and finally Azura is the anticipation of Sophus ill but female to his male she's the queen of dawn and dusk he is the light of knowledge with the tribunal temple in charge much changed one of their first major achievements was proving to the people of morrowind that with free gods to lead them no invasion on their soil would ever succeed riemann Sura Dill's Empire unified all of Tamriel except for morrowind the fourscore war which of course lasted for 80 years ended in a treaty and the deaths of both riemann ii and Riemann the third and similarly in the year 570 two of the next era and a kuvira invasion was quashed in morrowind even Tiber Septim would not be able to take the province by conquest tiber septim's prophecy held that he would unite all of Tamriel and as a result he was galvanized against all the odds when initiating the Tiber Wars his powell was seemingly insurmountable yet vivec was able to strike a peace with the new emperor he avoided an immense loss of life through diplomacy checking septums first for conquest in second era 896 the Armistice allowed morrowind to continue to operate with autonomy without submitting to the Imperial yoke the vex peace was divisive at first House lalu strongly supported the move as they are known for being sympathetic to the Imperial call house red Iran reluctantly honored vivexx decision how stress were only interested in how the treaty would impact their slave trade and so long as strong provisions were put in place to protect it they were happy to acquiesce house tell varney did as they always did kept to themselves and remained largely uninterested in the affairs of Greater morrowind while house endure ill of course back the tribunals decision making unconditionally yet many Dark Elves decided that suicide would be preferable to foreign occupation this may seem like an overreaction but sovereignty and homogeneity are vital to Dunmurry culture imperial occupation was a constant source of vexation to the natives who do not abide Outlanders but the Imperial presence was hardly more than pretense they had scarce little influence over morrowind but this discord perfectly sums up Dunmurry culture of course customs and attitudes vary from region to region from house to house and tribe to tribe but the dunmer were the descendants of the changed ones they did things differently and they're wider society would not be able to coalesce with the aedra loving humans just as it hadn't with the barbaric Nords and the enigmatic dwarves not only had their gods taught them to be so different from other mortals but their environment was equally responsible the Dwemer of morrowind lived mostly underground but the Kaymer and subsequently the Donmar have always been exposed to more owens harsh ecosystem on Vardhan fel ash reigns from the sky and lava pools among the craggy terrain of Molag a mule and on the mainland the environment varies from fungal forests to volcanic valleys to fertile fields each of which are filled with all manner of bizarre flora and fauna only in morrowind is it common to find what the ashland is called for yardas this translates to rivers of fire no wonder the natives disdain foreigners cyrodiil may have once been a dense an unending jungle but the Imperials occupying morrowind in the third era came from flat landscapes a verdant forest and lush grass where the sky is blue and butterflies flit dreamily on fresh breezes contrasted with the ash choked air of Arden fell where you're more likely to find a fire spitting shout or a squirming Scribd capable of paralyzed those who stumble into Kwame territory you can see why Dark Elves tend to be bigoted and condescending the Ash lenders venture these lands all their lives nothing but net leva tent separating them from the elements they worship their ancestors and maintain their rights to raid and take slaves great house dunmer are more civilized but they fell from the same tree the Ashland is accrued while members of the Great Houses are subtle they employ the morag tong to kill their rivals rather than dirtying their own hands speaking of which the morag tong is the perfect example of my phallus lasting influence on the dunmer people the morag tong is morrowind guild of assassins but unlike the dark brotherhood they are legally sanctioned and an accepted part of the provinces politics they may seem crazy but secret murder lies and manipulation are all part of my phallus fear and she taught the Kaymer long ago that her sphere was the key to giving them the upper hand over foreign powers and if her teachings are so effective against foreigners why not employ them against domestic rivals - Ash lenders and House elves are cut from the same cloth and while the former holds firm to the good Daedra rather than worshipping the tribunal all dunmer worship their ancestors this is evident in their burial rites they believe the departed spirits of their ancestors remain after death and the knowledge and power of departed ancestors benefit future generations of Dan ma remains are often interred in cities devoted to the dead like neck ROM where the spirits can draw comfort from one another these sacred sites are protected by ghost fences a ghost fence is a sign of great honor and sacrifice as an ancestor may dedicate a portion of their eternal soul to create a fence which protects the clan shrine and family precincts overall much of what made the climber unique persisted with the change of the guard and the rise of the new living gods morrowind was prosperous in peaceful but also savage slave trafficking flourished and a life of a politician was as unsafe and uncertain as any soldier but as Azura promised their reign would come to an end and near of our moon and star would return the prophecy reads seven trials what he puts his hand to that shall be done what is left under that shall be done first trial on a certain day to uncertain parents incarnate moon and star reborn second trial neither black nor age can harm him the curse of flesh before him flies fer trial in caverns dark Asura's eyes sees and makes to shine the moon and star fourth trial a stranger's voice unites the houses free halls call him hot at all fifth trial a stranger's hand unites the vilify for tribes call him nerevarine sick trial he honors blood of the tribe unmourned he eats their sin and is reborn seventh trial his mercy frees the cursed false gods binds the broken redeems the mad one destiny he speaks the law for vellus people he speaks for their land and names them great as the prophecy claimed the nura Vereen arrived in SE Dineen he was cured of the blight he was blessed by Asura in the cavern of the incarnate he United the houses and the ash landed tribes he defeated de Gotha and finally he severed the connection between the tribunal and the heart of lorkhan sophist ill was killed by almalexia almalexia was interned slain by the nerevarine and vivec disappeared and so the good Daedra were restored as the Reclamation's and the ash landers were vindicated for their unwillingness to worship armed civvy but vivex absence proved to have disastrous effects on morrowind firstly he was not there when the Oblivion crisis began six years later in third era 433 this calamity weakened the dunmer and the tenuous situation was exacerbated by the fall of bard owl in the fifth year of the fourth era it had been vivex power that kept the Ministry of Truth suspended in the air over the city for centuries but without the warrior poet the magic faltered and the celestial rock plummeted into the ground causing Red Mountain to suddenly erupt tsunamis ravage mainland morrowind while the eruption laid waste of Arden fell the argonians who had long been oppressed and enslaved by the dunmer used this series of catastrophes as an opportunity to attack the argonians had fared well during the Oblivion crisis thanks to their hist overlords and they were able to ravage great swathes of southern and eastern morrowind their invasion was cut short by house red Iran yet so much damage had been done already done were refugees flooded into Skyrim and solstar him and the dunmer race currently sits in ruins never in the history of the changed folk have their circumstances seemed so grim not even when they were strangers in a new land with the Dwemer beneath them and the Nordic barbarians among them but this is what boethiah trained them for the house of troubles perhaps with the exception of the recently defeated Dagon is running amok in morrowind malakas physical tests are ever-present challenging the dunmer to survive their current existential turmoil Molag Bal is laughing as the displaced Dark Elves fight to keep their bloodlines pure share gorath is coaxing the mentally frail survivors into joining him in the asylums and even mehrunes dagon reeling from his failed revolution is challenging the dunmer to survive and persevere the tribunal may have fallen but the good Daedra remain and belief you train them for this day mortality is their test and the threat of extinction is their foe in the arena of Tamriel the question is will the dunmer race proved themselves to be belief years champions that remains to be seen when the older scroll six comes along and we learn how the rest of the four fairer unfolds but there you have it guys the complete guide to the Donmar I hope you enjoyed the video thanks so much for watching I've been drew this has been fudge Muppet and I'll see you in the next one [Music] you [Music]

Channel: FudgeMuppet

Views: 149,413

Keywords: skyrim, skyrim lore, skyrim dunmer, skyrim dark elves, skyrim complete guide, elder scrolls, elder scrolls lore, dunmer lore, dark elf lore, skyrim dunmer lore, skyrim dark elf guide

Id: Clitx-iwxnc

Length: 28min 51sec (1731 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 25 2020