I'm assuming the new novel is lore, so I wanna explore your opinions on a majority of the displaced Dunmer population ending up on the island of Soulstheim (new spelling?), a largely Nord-inhabited land.

We know that the Nords and the Dunmer people have been at war almost since the beginnings of civilization, but how do the Nords from that island play into this? I got the impression from playing Bloodmoon that the Skaal and the Thirsk weren't really related in any way to the official Nord government and may represent a more independent, small scale, ancient lineage of the Nord lifestyle and beliefs. Is it too much to hope for that they're actually peacefully coexisting with the Dunmer people, or do you believe they share the same hatred of them that their Skyrim counterparts do and that the Dunmer are having to fight for any ground they can get on Soulstheim?

Also, what with the possibility of inter breeding between the two people who now share a relatively small land mass, and with rumors that the next game takes place 200 years or more after Oblivion, what's the likelihood that a new race might develop from this situation? We've seen that in the past, humans and elves who were living in close proximity slowly evolved into Bretons.

The Nords are just simply too racist.

Yes, and the Dunmer are beings of pure acceptance.

I think the Skaal probably aren't too keen on these new Dunmer settlers, but I don't see much conflict arising from it. After all, there's like one village on the whole island, and the rest is uninhabited. As long as the Dunmer stay out of their way, I don't see much happening.

Who knows, maybe Helseth (IF he survived, otherwise I suspect Morgiah will take the throne) has taken up residence in Castle Karstaag, and the (I'm guessing small) Dunmer population mostly occupy the formerly uninhabited northwestern part of the island?

The Oblivion rumors were "The nords are attempting to capture the whole of Solstheim, and remove the imperial fort on the island". Whether that means the Nords of Skyrim or the Skaal, who knows? Maybe Fort Frostmoth itself is the seat of the Dunmer leadership. Maybe the daft concept of "king" doesn't matter in a post empire world, and the House survivors are running things again. I'd imagine Morgiah would still be in Summerset Isle, now seat of the Aldmeri Dominion?

The dunmer would in my mind settle in the more hospitable south of Solstheim, in the more teperate plains and forests. It depends how many of them they need to cram in, though I do wonder where they're getting their food from. Maybe they aren't. Maybe they're hunter gatherers again or trying to farm guar on the hills. The one thing I consider to be irrelevant is the Skaal. The Dunmer are more than capable of wiping them out if they needed to, though they may not wish for prolonged conflicts again, but the Skaal probably have enough sense to give the dunmer settlements a wide berth.

I just think we can't know anything until we know what state Dunmer civilisation is in on Solstheim. This makes me want to take up modding again and stick Dunmer towns all over Solstheim.

Ha, now the Dunmer are the n'wah. The Nords of Skyrim might play up the Dunmer settlement as a threat, in order to liberate their oppressed brothers, the Skaal. However, the Skaal are on Solstheim to get away from the heathen nords, they just want to be left alone. If, on the other hand, the Dunmer begin chopping down the forest and tilling the land, the Skaal might ask the Skyrim nords to intervene for them. That's my opinion.

I read in the novel that Morrowind's survivors fled to Solstheim, now spelled Soulstheim for some reason ("soul-home"?) I feel bad for the refugees, though, because now they're deracinated -- cut off from their roots. However many of them that still believe in ALMSIVI will have to build new temples, but it will never be the same no matter how many they build. The climate will be a problem too. It's almost a shame that they couldn't have fled to a more temperate climate like Hammerfell, but that would have been too distant I guess.

Think of all the culture they've lost in this diaspora, and all their ancestors' graves. It's a sobering concept.

Edit: I just realized something. I've said in the past that Vvardenfell reminded me of Roman-occupied Judea -- the Zealots assassinating outlanders, the provincial rulers having a deal with the empire that allows them to have their own temples and temple police, and so on. The anology seems to continue with the new novel, since the Dunmer are now in diaspora the way the Jews were after 70 CE.

I don't think the dunmer went there in an organized fashion or en masse. That is, they migrated every direction. Those that went south got slaughtered by argonians. Those that went west assimilated into the empire, particularly around Cheydinhal. Those that went to Soulstheim represent the only remaining specifically-dunmer polity, but that's not to say they all went there. Also, its probably gotten a bit more temperate considering the inner sea is still boiling 40 years after the disaster.

As a player, think of everywhere you went in Morrowind. The sandstone labyrinth of Vivec, cosmopolitan Balmora, Tel Vos and the grazelands... all of that is gone.

Good riddance! They knew there was an asteroid waiting to kill them all; they should have all evacuated from the island when the thing was. Though a ton of ebony was lost, noes!

I wonder if any of the Dunmer actually took refuge in Ald Sotha like the Loveletter suggests. I mean, the Daedric and Dwemer ruins did make it through the last big eruption (sure they're ruins, but that's more due to a lack of upkeep), they might survive this one.

I hope it isn't lore; some parts of it are unbelieveable. A small rock hitting a city a hundred miles away from a volcano that's not done anything for a few thousand years and making it erupt? The Argonians being organised enough to launch an invasion of Morrowind? The Dunmer in Cyrodiil becoming assimilated? The Dunmer in Morrowind completely destroyed? Maybe in the major cities, but they're fanatical soldiers in defence of their 'promised land.' There'd be at least a few thousand, possibly more, across the province, and that's if the Argonians put their entire armed forces into killing every Dunmer they find.

It's a rock the size of a multi-storied building that magically retained its momentum despite being held still hitting a volcano created by the heart of a god. Who's to say what it can't do?


The Hist organized them.


Have you checked out the count of Cheydinhal lately? And his wife buried un-cremated under a chapel of Arkay?

I know it's relatively trivial, but I wonder too about the animals in Morrowind, especially on Vvardenfell. The wildlife there was already unique, the way Australia has species found nowhere else. Would any netches have survived? Scribs? All the rest? I'd like to think there are at least menageries in the other provinces that have a few Morrowind species, if nothing else. Also, I hope some of the netch herders could have escaped with their livestock in the time between Landfall and the eruption, though I'm probably mistaken.

With all the mark recalling and teleporting, you'dthink most of them could escape an eruption.

The dunmer in Cyrodill seems well on their way to being assimilated by the time of the Oblivion crisis. The majority don't seems to give a fig about the Tribunal or the Great Houses or clans.

More often than not it feels like they moved to Cyrodill precisely to get away from Morrowind's culture and traditions and that they find the Imperial customs and habits far more to their taste. Maybe not the whole package, especially the Nine Divine worhip, but a lot of it nonetheless.

Two hundred years later, odds are they'll be even closer to Imperial mainstream society.

True, but a few hundred thousand emigrants forced to leave will not assimilate so easily. The sheer numbers may outnumber the natives if they're confined to a small region, which is possible, as there's already an expatriate community.



Rocks about the size of buildings that hit the earth don't often cause anything other than a small crater. And this one in Morrowind didn't hit the volcano, it hit Vivec.

If it hit Vvardenfell, it hit the volcano, and even without appeal to magic a meteorite that size will destroy cubic miles of earth.

But it didn't hit vvardenfell. It hit Vivec, which is in the water.

And under the water is...

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr212/Qeros/viv.jpg

Hell, given how it appears ingame, Bar dau would shatter into pieces and leave a small hole in the temple roof.

I guess this is where the scale argument comes in...

Not to mention it was much bigger on the inside.

Guys, like it or not, it's been stated by people from Beth that this novel is considered canon. The landmass we played on in Morrowind is just gone - and thank goodness they had the stones to do it, because fantasy worlds that are stagnant and where there's never any huge changes to populations or governments seem artificial and boring.

I doubt the Dunmer are finished forever, or that they won't eventually retake Morrowind or attempt to.


I also think this timeline has been altered somewhat, in a Terminator-esque fashion, from the ideas presented in the Loveletter. Sul was able to develop a device which minimized the asteroid's impact on Nirn. We have to remember this was a huge rock thrown at the maximum velocity that a daedric prince could muster, and their power is pretty impressive. Sheogorath chucked this thing at Vivec City once upon a time, to teach the Tribunal that they were not greater than the House of Troubles, and you could consider it one last attack on Mundus from the waters of Oblivion, since the usual invasion types aren't possible at the moment. A delayed nuclear strike of sorts.

Not to bring real world politics or events into this, but we can somewhat study the evolution of Japanese society post WWII to imagine how the Dunmer will change. (granted Japan wasn't invaded by their neighbors after the atomic bombs, but close enough). Japan became more westernized due to becoming dependent on other nations such as the U.S. for financial support during rebuilding. Perhaps Morrowind will redevelop in a similar fashion once the Argonians are driven out, retaining their basic culture but becoming more "western".

So the Dunmer will give the world anime?

Haha...well, they already have. Don't you remember Boethia's pillow book?