Altmer
History
Altmer are thought to be the most direct, unaltered descendants of
the original Aldmer elves. The Altmer seemed to have changed by
staying the same. When the Aldmer left their home island of
Aldmeris, most if not all of them settled first in the Summerset
Isle. Much of their history is lost or hidden, but it is known that
many unique ruins and structures, notably the Ceporah Tower,
predate the Aldmeri arrival by at least several hundred years. At
some point they came together and formed the Crystal Tower as a
monument to the spirit of their race, and it was the pinnacle of
magical learning until the construction of the Arcane University.
Social clashes amongst the Aldmer would lead to a series of
emigrations from the Summerset Isle to regions all over Tamriel,
notably under the prophet Veloth, which would lead to the great
diversification of Elven races, such as the Chimer, Bosmer,
Orsimer and Ayleids (exactly when and where the Dwemer and
Falmer emerged is not clear, but they are believed to all have a
common ancestry).
While mainland Tamriel experienced many problems and sagas
during the First and Second Era, the sea insulated the Altmer of
Summerset from their problems, though they had their own
limited internal conflicts as well as repeated, large-scale invasions
from the Sload and Maormer to deal with. Eventually, the Altmer
became tired of living under constant threat and in the Second Era
formed the Aldmeri Dominion with the Bosmer of Valenwood.
However, they could not stand against the forces of Tiber Septim
and the Numidium, which crushed the Dominion and finally
brought the Summerset Isle into the Imperial fold in 2E 896.
Then, in the War of the Isle of 3E 110, the Maormer were on the
brink of finally taking Summerset, and the Altmer had to accept
assistance from the Empire to survive. The Altmer remember
these incidents with shame and horror, and they have likely
contributed to recent social unrest amongst their youth.
Society and Religion
At the time the Crystal Tower was built in the Merethic Era, the
Elves of Summerset had a relatively egalitarian society, though
social stratification slowly developed into a rigid hierarchy of
classes over the millennia. The Wise (teachers and priests) became
the highest echelon, followed by Artists, Princes, Warriors,
Landowners, Merchants, Workers, and enslaved beasts such as
goblins. Early literature by man painted the High Elves in poor
light, though the impartiality of these accounts is questionable. It
was suggested that the Altmer practiced eugenic infanticide,
putting to death nine in ten of their newborns due to impurities,
that Altmeri names are simply combinations of numbers in their
own language, and that Altmer culture revolves around displaying
social status. Later writings contain no mention of any of these
practices; whether they were fabricated, exaggerated, or
discontinued is not known.
The creation myth of the Altmer begins before the start of the
Dawn Era and the beginning of time: the primordial force of Anu,
stasis or order, created Anuiel, the soul of all things, so it could
know itself. Anuiel in turn created Sithis for the same purpose,
who was the force of change and chaos and the sum up of all
limitations, and their interrelation created the Aurbis, where the
Original Spirits, the Aedra and Daedra, emerged before the
creation of the Mundus. The ancient Aldmer believed they are the
relatively feeble descendants of the Aedra ("Aedra" roughly
translates to "ancestor spirit"), aspects of those Aedra who
populated the Mundus so that it might last despite Lorkhan's
deception.
As their hierarchical society developed, the lower classes stopped
worshipping their own "lesser" Aedra in favor of those claimed by
their social "betters". Thus the Altmer pantheon slowly formed
around the most popular and well-known of the Aedra, which
included Auriel, Trinimac, Syrabane, Phynaster, Magnus, and
Y'ffre, many of whom would later be incorporated into the Nine
Divines. The transition and choices have not gone without
detractors.
As mentioned, whenever a substantial minority had some sort of
socio-political or theological disagreement with the majority in
Summerset in the Dawn Era, the dissidents would leave and
usually go on to become other races of Mer. However, sometime
in the Merethic Era, one early group of dissidents who opposed
the evolution to the traditional Altmer pantheon left the mainland
of Summerset but remained quintessentially Altmer. The Psijics
decided to follow the mystical Old Ways of Aldmeris and broke
away to settle Artaeum, the third largest island of the Isle, though
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they apparently managed to stay friendly with their snubbed
mainland brethren and it's assumed they use their advanced magic
to help protect the Altmer in times of strife. A leader of the Psijics,
Rite Master Iachesis, apparently led them throughout the entire
First Era (about three thousand years), giving some indication of
the potential longevity of the Altmer.
In recent times (for an Altmer, the last several hundred years), the
younger Altmer have been pushing for social reform, an unusual
phenomenon for a people who are used to dissidents simply
leaving. But there are few if any places left to go at this point.
Some change has already taken place: for the first time ever, the
Altmer have started letting other races and cultures come to their
shores; some have even been allowed to rise to the ranks of
nobility in Summerset. Many young rebellious Altmer have turned
to the Psijics for guidance (somewhat ironically consulting their
distant past for a path to their future), while some militant radicals
have turned to terrorism.
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