Hi guys!

I am new to the elder scrolls, i bought Skyrim a few weeks ago on a sale. I have been playing quite a bit and would like to know more about the backstory. My friend pointed me to a site called Imperial Libary. However i can't seem to find what i am looking for.

I searched for Skyrim's story and all i got was ww w.imperia l-library. inf o/co ntent/story-sky rim, which tells me nothing.

Then i searched Skyrim and all i got was ww w.imperial-library. info/conte nt/pocket-guid e-empire-first-edition-s kyrim

I tried Alduin but i couldn't find a page on him, all there was were a few lore books i already read.

I also met a really cool guy called Mehrune Dagon in Skyrim, but the page on him seems to be about a previous game only :S

I tried on the left side menu and went to "TES storyline" but Skyrim isn't even mentioned there.

I feel like i am stupid and doing it wrong :S. My friend says this is the best site for lore, but he is at work now. Can somebody point me in the right direction please?

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Main_Page are a little easier on newcomers, I feel, thanks to the wiki structure and summaries of topics, also it has gameplay information. The Imperial Library is more strictly moderated and is mostly a collection of primary sources (in-game books, etc) whereas UESP has actually summaries, though those are a bit more loosely interpreted than the content on TIL.

I prefer UESP its just ez-er

The Imperial Library is probably the best site out there but the truth is it's not the most user-friendly website (although it has greatly improved). For a newcomer I'd recommend the http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/The_Elder_Scrolls_Wiki. It's far from perfect and contains misinformation but is as accurate as it really needs to be for a newcomer such as yourself. Just go to the site and search for pages/topics. I'd probably recommend looking up the earlier games, especially http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/The_Elder_Scrolls_III%3A_Morrowind and http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/The_Elder_Scrolls_IV%3A_Oblivion as they tend to have more backstory than other the previous games. Then just click links on anything you want to know more about.

EDIT: And welcome to the forums and The Elder Scrolls series. And, as is tradition: here! have a http://s142.photobucket.com/user/Enoil/media/DarkFishyStick.jpg.html (man I've wanted to do that for a long time).

If you're looking for summaries about the topics you mentioned, you're best of with UESP like people mentioned. They're a wiki and will have wiki articles of various lengths on just about everything. TIL is a library, and therefore consists almost entirely of primary sources.

As for navigating TIL in general, the search function is a good bet. Searching "Skyrim," for example, yields 9 pages of results, most of them relevant. It seems like you only looked at the first result? Same thing goes for the rest of your search terms. Another option is the http://www.imperial-library.info/tags page, which breaks down some of the common topics. If you click http://www.imperial-library.info/category/tags/skyrim in that list, for example, it will spit out all the books we think are the vital reading about the province.

I think many factors make TIL the best site out there for TES fans who already have above-average knowledge of the lore, and who want to expand their understanding. But the UESP is definitely the place to go to get your bearings on the lore, and I think you'll also find it reliable for game help, news, etc. It's been around for a long time, and it is the most comprehensive compendium of knowledge regarding The Elder Scrolls out there, bar none. Once you have a grasp on the namespace arrangement, you should have no problem finding reliable information on whatever you wish.

Just keep in mind that most http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Main_Page pages have been improved a great deal in recent years, while a handful have been criminally neglected and may be lacking info. Look for references, summary boxes, etc.

The TES Wikia site kind of seems like a train wreck. No offense to the users, many of whom I know to be friendly and knowledgeable folk. But it's had a relatively great amount of misinformation and gaps in coverage on its pages, they've had one or two administrator controversies recently, and plagiarism of UESP content has been a concern since its inception.

And, this is just my personal experience, but whenever I check on the TESWiki now, it's primarily a bunch of people doing roleplays. I don't know if they have a lot of dedicated users out there trying to make updates for ESO. The UESP is not free of problems, but the ESO coverage has been slowly coming together, including lore coverage, even while people continue to improve the Skyrim section. Heck, there are still editors perfecting the Daggerfall section there. The active editors are incredibly loyal to the project and are polite to a fault. Literally, I fault them on their politeness. One of the veteran users recently lost his patroller status and got temporarily blocked for being I would consider slightly impolite as a result of a disagreement with a new user. You can be sure that you will be treated with complete and absolute courtesy by everyone at UESP - or else.