The Wild Remain - A History of Valenwood |
raggidman
Prince
Registration Date: 06.01.2006
Posts: 3,317
Location: where my heart is
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The Wild Remain - A History of Valenwood |
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Source TIL - til link
quote: |
The
great forest to the south-west of the continent has long been a buffer
between the ambitions of the humans of Cyrodiil and the elves of
Summerset. A sea of endless green, a maze of foliage with half-hidden
cities growing like blooms from a flower, the home of the Bosmer is
Tamriel's garden.
History
The history of Valenwood stretches back to the very beginning of
recorded time: the date traditionally used as the start of the First
Era is the founding of the Camoran Dynasty by King Eplear of Valenwood.
As the Aldmer began to change their ways to match their new
environment, adapting to the forest in body and mind, they became known
as the Bosmer. In return for the patronage of Y'ffre, the Forest God
(either one of the old ancestor spirits or an aspect of the true
pantheon), they swore never to kill, injure, or eat any of the
vegetation of the new home.
Eplear's success in uniting the inherently wild Bosmer must be counted
among the greatest military feats in Tamriel's history. The Camoran
Dynasty was itself a far different beast than the empires of man that
also rose in the First Era. In the forests, after all, diversity was
the law, and the Bosmer welcomed escaped slaves from the Ayleids, and
then Ayleids fleeing the Alessian rebellion, and finally the new Empire
itself, forming a trade treaty in 1E 340 with men who had only recently
thrown off the brutal Ayleid yoke.
The treaty was short-lived, however, and hostility grew between the
Dynasty and the Empire as the prophet Marukh's teaching began to
spread. One of Marukh's chief supporters, the Nord King Borgas, became
a victim of Valenwood's infamous Wild Hunt as he traveled to Cyrodiil
to urge a joint war against the Bosmer. Thus did Valenwood
simultaneously defend itself and strike a devastating blow against its
new enemies. Skyrim would spend the next fifty years in turmoil.
Even with the eventual dissolution of the Alessian Reform of Marukh,
battles continued to be waged along the Cyrodiil and Valenwood border
lands. When the Empress Herda improved relations with the Colovian
West, the attacks only intensified, though it was not until 1E 2714 -
after relenting warfare and a devastating plague from the island of
Thras - that Valenwood fell to the Cyrodilic Empire. The Camoran
Dynasty as an entity still existed, but its power was diminished. The
Empire, eager to make sure that Valenwood would not unite against its
new occupiers, granted independence to each treethane of the Dynasty,
so nevermore would they battle together against a common foe.
Falinesti, Silvenar, Haven, Archen, Eldenroot, Woodhearth rose from
being local trading posts to full-fledged powers in their own right.
For centuries, the Bosmer were obedient if not particularly loyal
subject of the Cyrodilic Empire. At the fall of the Cyrodilic Empire in
2E 430, the Camorans attempted to reinstate their authority over the
other kingdoms, but culturally each had drifted too far away to be
united. Without any other greater power to rein in their ambitions,
they began to war against one another, the Khajiit to the east, and the
Colovians to the north. Valenwood ate away at itself, and offered no
resistance to the coastal encroachments of the Maormer of Pyandonea. It
took another outside force to reunify Valenwood: the home of the
ancient Bosmer, Summerset Isle.
The unified elven kingdom of Valenwood and Summerset, the Aldmeri
Dominion, was the most stable power in Tamriel until the coming of
Tiber Septim. The new government of Valenwood was called the Thalmor, a
congress of Bosmeri chieftains and Altmeri diplomats. While not
particularly popular, the Thalmor proved better than the chaos of the
previous years, and endured until Tiber Septim's armies swept it away.
Wisely, the Emperor allowed Valenwood to keep some of the symbols of
her independence, such as the tribal councils and a figurehead Camoran
king. For two hundred and fifty years, Valenwood was at peace. The War
of the Isle and the War of the Red Diamond, which ravaged other parts
of the Empire, left it unscathed. The Empire used the province as it
saw fit, and neglected it otherwise. Gradually, the Bosmer began to
grow resentful of an authority which seemed increasingly alien -
perfect breeding ground for the horror which was to follow.
In the year 249 of the Third Era, a pretender to the ancient throne of
the Camorans appeared, and with mundane and Daedric allies, stormed
across Valenwood, destroying all who stood against him. The Bosmer were
slow to unite against the threat, many too terrified to stand against
the Camoran Usurper and some delighted that they were being freed,
however violently, from the perceived yoke of the Empire. This minority
grew as the Usurper's power did, and once he had consolidated his power
in Valenwood, he turned his attentions northward. It took nearly two
decades of tyranny before Valenwood found the strength to shrug off
Haymon Camoran's rule. When he lost his seat of power, the Usurper's
conquests in Colovia and Hammerfell rose in revolt, and his army was
destroyed in the Iliac Bay between Hammerfell and High Rock in 3E 267.
The Valenwood the Usurper left behind was a broken land. No longer
trusting the Empire or Summerset for support, or its local leaders for
guidance, the Bosmer have become more and more isolationist in
temperament. The people began leaving the cities, preferring life in
the forests, returning to their earliest traditions. It is not
surprising that when the province showed sign of weakness, its
rapacious neighbors chose to attack.
No other province suffered more during the Imperial Simulacrum than
Valenwood. With the Empire unwilling to lend its assistance and defend
her, the land was attacked from the east by Elsweyr and from the west
by Summerset Isle, both taking sizable chunks of the Bosmeri land.
Current Events
The political weakness of Valenwood has been evident for more than
twenty years now, and the Bosmer seem resigned to this state of
affairs. The land is considered by most to be a mere geographical
designation without any political purpose. If there is honor or pride,
it is with one's family or clan. National feeling, never strong, seems
to have died. The tribal council has not met in decades. Valenwood
appears to be adrift.
And yet there are signs of other forces stirring. The Wild Hunt has
been sighted for the first time in over five hundred years, although to
what purpose is not yet clear. Falinesti, the “walking city” of trees,
has rooted itself for the first time in recorded history. A new Bosmer
prophet has arisen, known only as the Precursor, who preaches that the
old Forest God Y'ffre is returning with new gifts for his favored
people. Whether these are isolated events, or signs of some great
change coming to Valenwood, remains to be seen. |
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21.01.2008 19:03 |
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Mormacil
Herma-Mora the Woodland Man
Registration Date: 15.08.2006
Posts: 2,250
Location: Netherlands
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21.01.2008 19:07 |
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raggidman
Prince
Registration Date: 06.01.2006
Posts: 3,317
Location: where my heart is
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RE: The Wild Remain - A History of Valenwood |
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Well TIL says it's from the PGttE 3rd edition
An dI believe th eguys who preceeded FLESH were basing their MQ and Lore on that.
It might be part of our MQ, but I suspect that there is more that we
will arrive at in time - once we have fully nailed down Falinesti and
the different communities of the forest and jungle.
So long as we embed 'links' as we approach each city, race and guild I
think there will be plenty of scope for a fine MQ - the MQ has to be
broadly incluse to really work.
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25.01.2008 00:00 |
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