Disclaimer: My name is TK.R and I am creating a TC mod for Oblivion to recreate TES:Arena. I have not yet played Arena (I have Vista on my laptop....:banghead:) but I have read much of what is available on TIL on the game and its locations and characters.
I know that Arena lore is shaky compared to the rest of the series. To quote Albides, it is "proto-lore". However, I wish to recreate it (with my own flair) and would like the help of the Lore forum to help me muddle through it all.
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First Question: What can you tell me of Fang Lair?
Some things I'm not sure about:

• Does it have to do with Akatosh/Septims? It has the symbol of the Empire outside of it (http://www.imperial-library.info/places/fang_lair.jpg)
  
• A gold dragon named Akatosh lived there, but left with Moraelyn. (I think. I haven't read http://www.imperial-library.info/dfbooks/b100_complete_edward.shtml all the way through)
  
• It was most likely 'Akatosh' that killed Dwarves, but does he still live there during Arena? Does King Edward take place before Arena?

Second Question: Who are the Dwarves of Kragen?

• Are they related to the Rourken Clan?
  
• Are they a 'normal' race and are called Dwarves the same as the Dwemer were? The small friends of Giants?

I have a few ideas, but wanted to know the theories of the forum. Thank you in advance.
~TK.R

Arena should work on DOSbox. You should download that, then you'll probably be able to play Arena.

I also have very little time to play it, which is why I've just been reading and writing about it until the summer starts. That's hopefully when the mod will go full gear and I'll play through Arena.

~TK.R

The Aedra, Akatosh included, were introduced with Daggerfall, I believe.


All of that was also introduced with Daggerfall.


The Rourken clan were introduced with Redguard/PGE1st Ed. Edit: Though there is a minor mention of the "Battle of Rourken-Shalidor" for the dwarven tower shield, spellbreaker.


The dwarves were appropriately dwarfish until Redguard/Pge 1st Ed.

The King Edward novesl are historical fiction. They are not authentic historical accounts. They were most likely based on historical figures with those names and probley some of the situations are similer but they are not meant to be taken as historically accurate. They are my favourite books in the ES universe but basing a mod on them might not be lore friendly. Think of them like the King Arthur Tales or the Movie Tombstone.

Course this gives you artistic license to maybee flesh out the lore. I have no doubt there was a location called Fangs Lair. There may even have been a King Edward of High Rock. Maybee there were dwarves there, Maybee even a dragon (probley not named Akatosh though). Thats the take I would use. Use the Mythology to show the reality. Since there is limited authentic information that leaves the bulk of your work to think up lore friendly alternatives to the Fictional History.

Thanks Quamd, for your ideas. I don't intend to base my mod on King Edward, it's just that that is one of the few places it is ever mentioned, in addition to Ria Silmane, Fools' Ebony, and an Interview with Three Writers.

Albides (and perhaps others) seems to have misinterpreted my questions. I know when those items where introduced and where they come from, I merely ask for others' insight on how they fit together, since much of Arena lore is changed with the latter of the series.


~TK.R

I haven't misinterpreted the questions. You didn't make clear you were looking for creative interpretation about how old lore can fit into a new game. I mean, "Are they related to the Rourken Clan?" just isn't a question that can be answer by the lore, since the Kagren clan were introduced in Arena and never mentioned again, and a period of about 8 years separates it from the introduction of the Rourken.

Considering Fang Lair was built, and the dwarves reportedly disappeared, far before the rise of the Septims, it's unlikely they had anything to do with it, unless something complicated happened, like they reappropriated it, scuplted the Dragon statue, then abandoned it again.

Does King Edward take place before Arena? Well, if you read the opening of King Edward: Long, long ago, when the world was in its springtime, before the Redguards came and the glorious Septim Empire was formed, but after the goblins had driven the dwarves out of Hammerfell... Considering the same Emperor reigns in Arena as does in Oblivion, I don't think I have to go any further...

As far as Akatosh still living there, you visit Fang Lair, and there are no dragons in Arena.

Whether the Kragen are related to the Rourken is entirely your creative choice. Seeing as they're both in Hammerfall, and there aren't other sources on another Dwemer clan, it wouldn't be unreasonable.

In regard to the question of what the Arena dwarves looked like, I can only say there are short true dwarves in TES.

Or maybe those are just exiled midgets who has banded together, and like axes, beards, ale and horned helmets?

Dude, it's totally your mod, so I'm not going to tell you how to do it, but since the Arena lore is so lacking, it leaves a lot of artistic wiggle room. If I were you, I'd handle it like this:

1. The dragon imagery is Auriel/Akatosh, which has to do with the Rourken leaving the rest of the dwemer due to their agnostic beliefs.
2. the story of king edward was inspired by true events, such as the jills of Akatosh (female dragons that fix dragon breaks) coming there to make sure everything's cool after the battle of red mountain, which the people of Hammerfell mistakenly assumed was a dragon killing the dwarves.
3. I would have the Rourken and Kragen dwarves be the same dwarves, just known by two different names depending on whom you ask
4. yes, they're dwemer.

All of the above ideas were totally pulled out of my anus and have no lore background, but it fits both old and new lore. That, I believe, is what you're aiming for, right?

Since TR is working on Hammerfell for Oblivion, and we will have Fang Lair, we had to work a bit on the Rourken/Kragen thingy. I think it was finally decided that the Rourken clan and the dwarves from Kragen are one and the same -- Kragen referring to the dwarven city that was once near what is now Kragenmoor; and this Kragenfell being the original home of the Rourken clan.