Reading http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=850849, I was reminded that we all started somewhere. For each of us, there was a book, or particular storyline, that got us interested in some topic of ES Lore.

For me, it goes all the way back to Daggerfall. Two books intrigued me, and really got me thinking: http://imperial-library.info/dfbooks/b055_lightdark.shtml, and http://imperial-library.info/dfbooks/b005_arkay.shtml. The first book continues to form the foundation of my understanding of TES myths; the second, as well. Though TIL claims it has since been "essentially invalidated by later theological constructs", apparently, http://imperial-library.info/mwbooks/arkay_enemy.shtml.

What were the first books that really got you interested in learning more?

Daggerfall. I find Daggerfall lore pretty unpalatable now, but back then it was the first sort of fantasy fiction I ever really read, I suppose. I read every book because I only had a demo of the game and I wanted to know what the rest of the game was like beyond that trial dungeon. All the books of the complete game were included in the demo, so I read through them as if the books on fairies, the Crystal towers and the wars of Yokuda gave me some sort of insight itno what I could expect. "Spirit swords! Wow, I can't wait to see one! Fairies? Geez, I can't wait to discover them." Of course the reality didn't really match the ideal. Though I knew a lot about the lore, I suppose it was never really more than a youthful dalliance.

I put Elder Scrolls aside for a few years until I saw Redguard in a second hand games store (these have since become extinct). Remembering the fond times I had with Daggerfall, I picked it up and gave it a spin. If there's one particular document that sold me on Elder Scrolls lore, it was the Pocket Guide to the Empire First Edition that came with that game. Colourful, vibrant, varied and illustrated with sketches executed with a quick, lively hand. I saw the Mane hidden under the braids of his entire clan and read about his sugar-addled subjects, and how a third moon appeared in the sky on the day of his birth. I saw a Nord with a nail sticking out of his face and learned how they exercised magic with their tongues, collapsing walls and moving with a shout. I read of the haughty Dunmer and their mysterious living gods. I read all sorts of wondrous things. So I was hooked ever since.

Same with Albides, what got me hooked on Morrowind was the enigmatic Tribunal. I started on Morrowind, and played Tribunal, the expansion, I loved it. Most interesting gods ever written of, IMO.

Most definately was morrowind, I'm the kind of gamer that likes to know what's going on so i read all the dialogue and asked people all sorts of stuff, then when I went to Holomayan and met the dissident priests I read the books they gave me. And from there on I slowly waded deeper and deeper into the lore. Tough it should be noted that I have by no means waded deep inough into the books of the imperial library

Late 2004, early 2005, I bought Morrowind GOTY edition and found a deep lore, more so than in other games I'd played. My Nerevarine started collecting books in-game, leaving them on the floor of the orc mansion in Caldera to read later. I didn't catch up on reading them all, but later heard of the Imperial Library and could read them at any time.

If I remember right, I started reading the Lore forum before I began following Loranna's Lore RP. I was impressed by its longevity -- the RP had been running for at least 18 months before I joined, and would run for around three years in the end (except for a couple of hiatuses). Some of the best Lore thinkers contributed to it, including Allerleirauh and her husband Rhedd, Solin, Arynel, and others. (I don't claim that distinction, being a bit player in the troupe. I had contributed to a couple of RPs on the Bethesda site before it, but they had the best writing and knowledge of TES. The RP got me further interested in the Lore, and (along with chatting with other posters) helped explain such books as Vivec's Sermons.

I just read Morrowind's dialogue and got interested. Then logged on here when I was interested in more.

Morrowind, ever since I began playing it.

Lots of stuff. Morrowind in general. Mostly, I hated the tribunal. I saw them as usurpers and murderers, which they were. I started reading stuff.

Then I read Bone, Part II. Hooked.

I began to become interested in ES lore when people made offhand references to Vivec on the official forums, and I was enthralled with the Tribunal before I even knew who they were, having never played Morrowind.

Thus making me the Padomay to Lycan's boring Anu.

I cut my teeth on Morrowind.

I remember wishing the books were actually LONGER--- I collected all 36 lessons of vivec, just to read them all.

Daggerfall was the first "western" RPG I had ever played, being a fan of the final fantasy games on the old nintendo consoles up until that point. I remember thinking how bad ass http://www.imperial-library.info/dfbooks/b067_ebonarm.shtml sounded, and how much I wished the http://www.imperial-library.info/dfbooks/b002_artaeum.shtml were in the game. But at the time I was still more into the game than the lore.

With Morrowind, and the purchase of Redguard soon after, I was equally a fan of the lore and the game. This is when I really began to pay attention to what was going on and how it all fit together.

EDIT: Haha [censored] is censored but bad ass isn't.

If we're talking game-wise, it's Morrowind (curse my location and youth for not being able to truly play Daggerfall!).

If we're talking specifically moment-wise then it was when I posted in two threads I on the Storyboard. One was about Lorkhan being an Aedra or Daedra and I gave a simplified answer basically consisting of "Lorkhan CREATED the mortal world and has 'died,' and both are Aedra criteria," a post that was contested by either Aricil or the other High Elf avatar guy (sorry can't remember exact spelling, so I won't butcher it by attempting) who brought up words like "Padomaic" and other relevant terms.

The other thread concerned the real life basis of the races in TES; this prompted me to do some reading to truly prove that they're based off of real life cultures and, after some ACTUAL thinking and reading, I discovered that it was a pretty impossible task. The lore knowledge that I gained was a byproduct of an attempt to prove to someone that there was true, consistent real life culture basis for the races, which actually ended up proving ME wrong.

Been hooked ever since then.

ill telkl u abuot the hist sap in cyrodiil a certain merc clan uses it to drug u

I'll tell you about the Hist sap in Cyrodiil, a certain mercenary clan uses it to drug you.

for myself, it was defiantly Morrowind that got me interested. when i got into mods (TR namely) i had to learn a lot of basic lore to follow it, kinda moved up from there.

Ditto

I'm a relative newbie as far as the lore goes. Oblivion was the first TES game I played, and I hoarded as many books as I could in my Leyawiin house. I've got shelves crammed full of them. I can't remember exactly which book it was I read first, but one of my favourites was 'Palla.' I found a copy of 'Morrowind: GOTY' and read just about every book I could find in there too. I still find it all fascinating.

Well, when I first picked up Morrowind GOTY circa 2004, I'll admit that I was unimpressed as far as the introductory sequence. After I got my papers and was waved off from the Breton's office, I decided to stick around for a few minutes and peruse the many interactive objects on the walls. On a shelf behind the Breton, I was most curious to notice that there was an entire shelf dedicated to books, and each one was different. "Oh," I thought, "how immersive; but I doubt that I can actually read these." Wrong again -- as it happened, I opened up Volume I of A Brief History of the Empire and plopped down to read it.

Then I picked up Volume II.

And Volume III.

And Volume IV.

By the time I was done reading, a good hour and a half had passed since my first foray into Vvardenfell, but I wasn't in love with the island itself yet. What I was in love with was the lore.

Morrowind. I found myself looking for the books written by Marobar Sul. My favorite book he wrote was Azura and the Box.

Palla Book I and II will always be my favorite
Nex twould be Bone I, II and III

Ironically, I ended up here and interresting in lore after playing Oblivion. Disappointed, I logged in to the Generals forum and to the Suggestions thread, trying to make sure the next game would be better. Over time, I slipped into this forum, and after some time, I got hooked. I'm not much of a forum guy, so I guess it is the Lore forums that keeps me here nowadays.
Well, that wasn't much irony.
But's a too good way to start a paragraph for me to change it.