I'm not new to the Elder Scrolls series (played Oblivion), but I am new to the lore. I started to really get interested after reading the book "The Great War" which led to about 2 hours of me catching up on all the lore and man, its WAY more elaborate than I ever expected. Who'd've thought after playing Oblivion? Anyways, I have a few questions. (Slight spoilers, maybe?)

First of all, I'm wondering if the Dovakhiin, "Dragon Blood" thing is strictly a Nord belief, and if so, how do the prospects of a Bosmer or other non-human character fit into being Dovakhiin? I guess this question is more aligned to people that are role-playing.

Also, reading "The Great War" book made me think more on the choices between the Stormcloacks, The Empire and the threat of the Thalmor.. Frankly, I'm puzzled why the information about the Dominion and Empire wasn't more incorporated into the marketing for Skyrim, rather than just a "Rebels vs The Man" vibe I originally got from it? Who did you guys decide to side with, and more importantly, why? (Avoiding Spoilers, of course)

Being a Dovahkiin isn't a belief, it's an actual thing...

The Dragonblood is a union between Akatosh and Alexia, to hold off the 'Doors of Oblivion'. It was explained, greatly, in TES IV - since there was no living Dragonblood Emperor, the Amulet of Kings could not keep the Daedra at bay.

However, bloodlines always intermix - it's a fact. Imperial begets Son. Son weds Dunmer, Dunmer begets family - so on, so forth.

You missed an awful lot if you didn't pay attention to the lore in Oblivion. One of the mods actually introduced an expansion to the Mage's Guild with an expanded library filled just with hundred-page books that were basically fan dissertations on the game lore of TES. Unbelievable as it may sound, it was actually riveting stuff. My mage spent several straight days in the guild perusing the library... (How appropriate for my character's "scholarly" RP angle. :grad: )

The game has far more meaning when you actually start looking deeper than the superficial elements, and into the overall mechanics of how a world built out of the bones of a dead pantheon of gods actually works, and understand why you can see through portions of the moons.

Anyway, yeah, your character can just be descended from some offspring created when an emperor four or five hundred years ago had an affair with a woman whose child never knew his/her heritage.

If you want a canon ending to Skyrim, I think he should be a Nord that sides with the Stormcloaks to achieve independence for Skyrim.

Is that the confirmed canon ending or are you just suggesting it as a fitting ending in relation to the setting?