I finished Oblivion and am currently playing Morrowind, but I must admit, I don't understand a word of what is said in the books or what the people in the game say. For example, they always say "Muthsera." Muthsera here, Muthsera there, Muthsera everywhere. What the hell is this? And what is a Daedra? Is it some kind of demon or a God? What's an Aedra? In Morrowind, they say there's trouble in Cyrodil. Is it a city in Russia? Or some island in the Pacific ocean? Where's the Summerset island and what is it? What's an Akaviri? Is it some kind of God like Almsivi? Is Almsivi a God like Sheogoroth? Is Sheogoroth a god or a Daedra? Or Aedra? Are the Trubunal gods (Vivec, Dagoth Ur, Almsivia etc.) gods or daedra? What's Blackmarsh? A region in Germany or some desert in South Africa? What's a mer? What's the difference between a man and a mer? Bretons are supposed to be men and Altmer mer (or is it the other way around?) But they all look human to me. What's Oblivion? Is it like the Greek Olymp mountain where the Gods reside? But Sheogoroth sits in the Shivering Isles, not in Oblivion. Or are the Shivering Isles part of Oblivion?

Yes, I know there's a lore section on uesp wiki. But I don't have the time to read it for hours, no do I feel like reading all this stuff. Boooring. Can someone please provide a short introduction to the Elder scrolls universe to clear things up a little?

Also, where does this universe come from? Who invented it? Was it invented by Bethesda, similar to Black Isles inventing the Fallout universe all by themselves or is it some kind of PnP universe similar to the D&D universe owned by Wizards of the Coast and licensed to various developer teams like Bioware and Obsidian for purposes of creating digital games like NWN2 or Icewind Dale?

Firstly, the TES universe is the planet Nirn (fully Bethesda's idea), which was created by the gods, or Aedra.

Cyrodiil, Summerset Isle, Morrowind and Black Marsh are provinces on the continent Tamriel. The game Morrowind takes place on the island Vvardenfell, not all of Morrowind. Here's a map: http://www.tamriel.fr/images/oblivion/cartes/cartes_tamriel.jpg.
Akavir is another continent, little is known of it. The people living there are Akaviri and can be snake-vampires, apes or something else.

Daedra can be seen as "demons", though some don't like the negative term. The Daedric princes reside each on their own plane of Oblivion, worlds on another dimension, only accessed through portals (like in the Oblivion game). Sheogorath is a Daedric prince and I believe the Shivering Isles are on the Nirn dimension, but share close contact with Sheo's realm of Oblivion.

The Tribunals are not Aedra or Daedra, they're something else, but I'll let someone else explain that.

A man is a human, while a mer is an elf, it's just the elven word for elf, basically. Altmer are the High Elfs, while Bretons are a human race, which intermingled with elves somewhere in history and hence carry some elven characteristics.

I don't know of Muthsera.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore%3a%44ictionary_M

http://uesp.net

And first off, it does NOT take place on Earth, but it takes place on a magickal planet called Nirn.

It's not exactly short, but the http://www.imperial-library.info/pge/ should get you up to speed on most of Tamriel. Once you've done that, you'll be good to go. Alternatively, just slow down and take your time to read what people tell you. You'll be doing allot of that in Morrowind anyway.



The whole thing used to be the DnD setting of some of the devs but has been thoroughly worked over to remove most of the resemblances.

ALMSIVI (Almalexia, Sotha Sil and Vivec) are the 'gods incarnate' of Morrowind, the Tribunal Temple. They were mortals once, and used Dwemer (Dwarven) tools to steal their divinity from the Heart of Lorkhan in Red Mountain (as did Dagoth Ur, who's basically the evil equivalent). Lorkhan was the trickster god who tricked the rest of the gods to make Nirn, basically.

There are two 'types' of god; Aedra and Daedra. Aedra are the 'original' spirits who helped create the world. They are also known as the Nine Divines, and are usually passive in mortal affairs, in comparison to Daedra. In the elven language the word means 'ancestors'.
The Daedra did not help create the mortal plane, but are usually more proactive in meddling with it. They are not 'good' or 'bad' but rather embodiments of their spheres; Sheogorath's being madness, Dagon's being destruction and change, etc. Each Daedra is known as a Prince, and has their own realm, or Daedric plane of Oblivion (you visit Dagon's Deadlands in Oblivion, the game). Sheogorath's realm of Oblivion is the Shivering Isles (which is not a part of Nirn; Nirn is the plane(t) the continents of Tamriel, Akavir, Atmora, etc are on. A Daedric Prince is different from 'lesser' Daedra (many of which you fight); these are the 'demons' in service to a Prince who dwell in Oblivion, but can be summoned into Nirn through Conjuration.

'Mer' means elf; Altmer are High Elves, Dunmer are Dark Elves, Bosmer are Wood Elves, Orsimer are Corrupted Elves, Dwemer are Deep Elves, Falmer are Snow Elves, Maomer are Tropical Elves.
Bretons are the result of interbreeding between Nedes (the ancestors of Nords and Imperials) and Aldmer (the ancestors of morst of the Elven races of Tamriel).

Black Marsh is south of Morrowind, it's the Argonian homeland.
Summerset Isle is southwest of Cyrodiil, it's the Altmer homeland.
Cyrodiil is the setting of Oblivion (the game); it's the Imperial homeland.
All are on the continent of Tamriel, where all Elder Scrolls games have taken place.

Basically both Aedra and Daedra are gods as we think of them. The Aedra are the masters of stasis. Able to create, and able to die. Daedra are the masters of change. They are able to alter that which has been created, and they cannot die in any conventional sense of the word. The Tribunal are gods, but they aren't Aedra or Daedra. They are mortals that, along with Dagoth Ur, have made themselves immoral; you learn a great deal about this during Morrowind.

As far as geography, look http://www.tamriel.fr/images/oblivion/cartes/cartes_tamriel.jpg. Cyrodiil is the province located at the center of the continent Tamriel, located on the planet Nirn, taking place in Mundus. To my understanding, Mundus is surrounded Oblivion, and the Shivering Isles are a part of Oblivion.

Frankly, though, you could learn this and a lot more in less time than waiting for people to explain it all to you. Just a thought.

:huh:
If you're new, and you have some basic questions, the FAQ, which is stickied at the top of the Lore page, will help you. Other than that, I can tell this isn't your cup of tea, so just move on.

More like "virtually all and replaced them with versions of mythic archetypes on steroids," really. But that's semantics.

And here I thought this would be about the Sermons or Loveletter.

If it's so boring to you then why bother trying to understand it?

You've been on the Bethesda forums for almost 2 years and you dont know the answer to these questions? Check the given links, it's worth it. TES series has more lore behind it than pretty much any other videogame ever made, but if you have patience you can learn some cool things.

The most readable (and beguiling) introduction to this world is http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Words_of_Clan_Mother_Ahnissi. If you have time to read nothing else, read that.

That's a good text, but its hardly introductory in terms of creation myths.

You've GOT to be kidding me! :facepalm:

Oddly enough that typo is very appropriate. Look at what Vehk and Almalexia do over the centuries.

If you think TES is confusing now, wait till you get to the Sermons and the Commentaries :blink:

And wait until you try to wrap your head around the Dragon Breaks...

A Dragon Break start when multiple gods control the ordering of events in time, it ends when said gods stop doing this. The end result is then a combination of all generated timelines.

That wasn't too hard right?

Allot of writing about the Dragon Break is not about the Dragon Break itself but is significant because Mundus was created as a vehicle for ascension. To understand the context of this you'll need to have read a bit more but it doesn't get too complex.

I know it's a typo, but there's a ring of truth to that. That there is.

Why not just read the third PGE? It will teach you the basics. It's also quite a short read.


http://www.imperial-library.info/pge3/

A short introduction to the Elder Scrolls? Since you seem opposed to researching this on UESP, I'll give it a shot. Here goes...

The Elder Scrolls takes place in an entirely fictional universe; so that means no Russia, no Germany, no Earth. But more specifically, the games take place in the various provinces of Tamriel, a continent on a planet called Nirn (Nirn is within Mundus, the plane/realm that includes Nirn, its moons, and the Aedric planes/planets; perhaps somewhat similar to a solar system). There are nine provinces on Tamriel: Cyrodiil, High Rock, Hammerfell, Morrowind (Vvardenfell is a part of Morrowind), Skyrim, Black Marsh, Valenwood, Elsweyr, and the Summerset Isles (which are located southwest of the mainland). Tamriel, however, is not the only continent on Nirn: there is also Akavir, Yokuda (which had been destroyed), Atmora, and then there is the island of Pyandonea.

Now to understand the Aedra and the Daedra, you must also, to an extent, understand Anu and Padomay. Anu and Padomay are two primal forces, and they can't necessarily be known as "gods". Anu is stasis, Padomay is change. The interplay of Anu and Padomay is what brought about the Aedra and the Daedra, prior to creation.

The Aedra are beings aligned with Anu, thus they are more aligned with stasis. The most known Aedra are the Nine (previously eight) Divine: Akatosh, Arkay, Dibella, Julianos, Kynareth, Mara, Stendarr, and Zenithar. The ninth divine is Talos, AKA Tiber Septim, the first of the Septim bloodline, and a mortal who achieved apotheosis, thus becoming a god. It was the original Eight Divine who sacrificed themselves to make the creation of Mundus possible.

The Daedra are beings aligned with Padomay, so they represent change. They differ also from the Aedra in that they did not participate in the creation of Mundus (so unlike the aedra, they still have their full power). They and their realms are within Oblivion. The most known of the daedra are the sixteen Daedric Princes, each with their own realm: Azura, Boethiah, Clavicus Vile, Hircine, Malacath, Mehrunes Dagon, Mephala, Meridia, Molag Bal, Namira, Nocturnal, Peryite, Sanguine, Sheogorath, and Vermina. With the Shivering Isles, Jyggalag is introduced. The Shivering Isles is Sheogorath's realm. The deadlands, the plane of Oblivion you visit in TES IV, is the realm of Mehrunes Dagon, or at least a part of it. Each Daedric Prince's realm IS the prince in question; it reflects them and everything they encompass. Oblivion is essentially the 'void' surrounding of Mundus; space, if you will.

Then there is Lorkhan, the creator-trickster-tester god that convinced/tricked the Aedra (more specifically the original Eight Divine) to create Mundus. Depending on the creation myth, he was either killed or at least separated from his 'divine center'. His heart was cast down to Nirn, for it "is the heart of the world" and "one was made to satisfy the other."

It should be noted that the Aedra and the Daedra should not be considered good or evil. The daedra are also not technically demons, though NPCs may refer to them as such.

The Tribunal are gods but they are neither Aedra nor Daedra. The Tribunal consist of three individuals (hence the tri-) that achieved apotheosis by manipulating the powers of the Heart of Lorkhan, located within Red Mountain, using the Tools of Kagrenac . These three individuals are Almalexia, Sotha Sil, and Vivec. Another title of the the Tribunal is ALMSIVI -- essentially their names combined. ALMalexia. Sotha SIl. VIvec. Dagoth Ur, while not a part of the Tribunal, achieved apotheosis in the same manner.

The simplest distinction between men and mer is that men are humans and mer are elves. The Bretons are unique in that they have both human and elven ancestry. The human races are Imperials, Nords, Redguards, and Bretons. The elven/mer races are the Dunmer (dark elves), Altmer (high elves), Bosmer (wood elves), and Orsimer (orcs). Then there are the beast races: khajiit and argonians. There are other races within the TES universe as well, including, but not limited to the Dwemer (dwarves), Ayleids (heartland high elves), Chimer (which became the dunmer), and so on. Men and mer also (with some exceptions) differ in how they perceive creation; in other words, creation myths vary between men and mer.

An Akaviri could any one of the races that resides on the continent of Akavir. An Akaviri could be a tsaesci, tang mo, kamal, or ka'po'tun. Or even a man, as there used to be (perhaps still are) men on Akavir.

"Muthsera" is just a term of respect in Vvardenfell. Kind of like "Sir".

---

...I can't believe I just typed all of that up.

I think that answers all of your questions and then some. And yes, this is very short when you consider the sheer amount of lore TES has.
A lot of what I said has already been stated by others, but I went ahead and tried to explain everything and put it all into context as well.

I do believe that was a Lore-Troll.

For example, they always say "Muthsera." Muthsera here, Muthsera there, Muthsera everywhere. What the hell is this?
Muthsera is just a way of adressing someone, like "Sir" in our world.
And what is a Daedra? Is it some kind of demon or a God?
The short answer is that they are demons, while the Daedra Lords/Princes are like demonic gods.
What's an Aedra?
A type of god.
In Morrowind, they say there's trouble in Cyrodil. Is it a city in Russia? Or some island in the Pacific ocean?
Cyrodiil is the capitol of the Empire, and it is where the Imperials come from.
Where's the Summerset island and what is it?
It's an island in the far west, and is where the High Elves come from.
What's an Akaviri? Is it some kind of God like Almsivi?
The Akaviri are the people from the far-off continent of Akavir.
Is Almsivi a God like Sheogoroth? Is Sheogoroth a god or a Daedra? Or Aedra? Are the Trubunal gods (Vivec, Dagoth Ur, Almsivia etc.) gods or daedra?
ALMSIVI is a collective name for Vivec, Almalexia, and Sotha Sil, and yes they are gods. The Aedra and the Daedric Lords are also gods.
What's Blackmarsh? A region in Germany or some desert in South Africa?
Blackmarsh is the region that the Argonians come from.
What's a mer? What's the difference between a man and a mer? Bretons are supposed to be men and Altmer mer (or is it the other way around?) But they all look human to me.
Mer=Elf
What's Oblivion? Is it like the Greek Olymp mountain where the Gods reside? But Sheogoroth sits in the Shivering Isles, not in Oblivion. Or are the Shivering Isles part of Oblivion?
Oblivion is the place where the Daedra live. The Shivering Isles is the part of Oblivion ruled by Sheogorath.

Yes, I know there's a lore section on uesp wiki. But I don't have the time to read it for hours, no do I feel like reading all this stuff. Boooring. Can someone please provide a short introduction to the Elder scrolls universe to clear things up a little?
Well, I'll try:

er-hem

The games take place on the continent of Tamriel, on the planet of Nirn. Tamriel is ruled by one Empire made up of several different provinces. Each playable race has its own province (except the Orcs, who live in the same province as the Bretons.)

There are three groups of races: Bretons, Imperials, Nords, and Reguards are humans. Wood Elves (also known as Bosmer), High Elves (also known as Altmer), and Dark Elves (Also known as Dunmer) are elves (also known as mer).

Outside of Nirn are two different realms: Oblivion and Aetherius. The Daedra (demons) and Daedra Lords (chaos-oriented gods) live in Oblivion. The Aedra (order-oriented gods) live in Aetherius.

The Tribunal (also known as ALMSIVI) are three Dark Elves who used profane rituals to turn themselves into gods, but are neither Daedric nor Aedric.

Dagoth Ur is physically just like the Tribunal, but he is not allied with them.

Does that clear anything up?

Also, where does this universe come from? Who invented it? Was it invented by Bethesda, similar to Black Isles inventing the Fallout universe all by themselves or is it some kind of PnP universe similar to the D&D universe owned by Wizards of the Coast and licensed to various developer teams like Bioware and Obsidian for purposes of creating digital games like NWN2 or Icewind Dale?
Sort of a mix, actually. The original Bethesda team played Dungeons & Dragons, and made up their own setting for it. When they started making fantasy video games, they took that setting, expanded upon it, and used it as the setting of the video games.

You have played through and finished Oblivion, and you still don't know what Oblivion or Cyrodiil is?

I've asked myself the same question...the author can't be serious with his questions, otherwise......... :facepalm: