General:Elder Scrolls

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Contents 1 Games 2 Gameplay Universe 3 The Elder Scrolls Themselves 3.1 Sources 4 External Links

[edit] Games

The Elder Scrolls (commonly referred to as TES) is an award-winning series of roleplaying games created by Bethesda Softworks. Set in the vast world of Tamriel, The Elder Scrolls series is renowned for the level of unprecedented control given the player over his or her character's destiny, establishing itself as the benchmark in immersive, independently-living worlds for the RPG genre.

The series consists of four primary games:

• The Elder Scrolls: Arena (1994)
• The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall (1996)
• The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (2002)

• The Elder Scrolls III: Tribunal (2002 / Morrowind expansion pack)
• The Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon (2003 / Morrowind expansion pack)

• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2006)

• The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles (2007 / Oblivion expansion pack)

Apart from the central storyline, a wide range of games have been set within the world of The Elder Scrolls, including:

• The Elder Scrolls Legends: Battlespire (1997)
• The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard (1998)
• The Elder Scrolls Travels: Dawnstar (2003)
• The Elder Scrolls Travels: Stormhold (2004)
• The Elder Scrolls Travels: Shadowkey (2004)
• The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion Mobile (2006)

[edit] Gameplay Universe

The world of the Elder Scrolls is well-known for its attention to detail and realism, replete with an interconnected structure of various societies, cultures, and religions, each backed by a thorough historical basis, revealed to Elder Scrolls aficionados (who often assume the title of "loremaster") through in-game literature and deep, multi-tiered conversations. Set within the mortal realm of Mundus, the Elder Scrolls games are invariably placed within one or more of the nine provinces of the continent of Tamriel, these being:

• Black Marsh - homeland of the Argonians
• Cyrodiil - homeland of the Imperials
• Elsweyr - homeland of the Khajiit
• Hammerfell - homeland of the Redguards
• High Rock - homeland of the Bretons and Orcs
• Morrowind - homeland of the Dunmer and Dwemer
• Skyrim - homeland of the Nords
• Summerset Isle - homeland of the Altmer
• Valenwood - homeland of the Bosmer

Furthermore, certain titles - namely The Elder Scrolls:Battlespire and The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion - take place partially within the alternate, Daedra-ruled, Planes of Oblivion.

While it is known that continents other than Tamriel exist, players have not yet visited them in any official game.

[edit] The Elder Scrolls Themselves

Fantastic artifacts of unknown origin and quantity, the Elder Scrolls (whence the series takes its name) are, simultaneously, archives of both historic and future events.

Any person gifted with prescient powers is able to interpret the contents of the Elder Scrolls with practice. The information revealed about the future is never absolute. Once an event foretold within the scrolls is carried out in the world it becomes fixed within them.

Such insight into the inner fabric of reality comes at a price, however, as each new foretelling and interpretation strikes the reader with blindness for a greater period of time, while simultaneously granting them a broader view of the scroll's contents. Ultimately, the reader, having engaged in frequent acts of prophecy, is left bereft of their vision, forever after removed of their right to read the scrolls. By time-honored tradition only those of The Cult of the Ancestor Moth may read from the scrolls, the younger members caring for the elder as they gradually lose their sight for eternity.

The prophecies of the Elder Scrolls and the Heroes are interdependent, one cannot exist without the other.

[edit] Sources

• Lost Histories of Tamriel
• Pension of the Ancestor Moth
• Divining the Elder Scolls

[edit] External Links

• The Elder Scrolls official homepage
• Bethesda Softworks homepage
• TES Travels mobile-games homepage