You realize you are trying to figure out the ecology, evolution, and time line for a company that puts fresh food in ancient dungeons?

Its futile to try to figure out since THEY didn't put the thought in it. Its evolved with each game to fit that game, not the other way around.

Just because they are from a different continent to the ancestral island of the Nedes (Proto Nords, Imperials & Bretons) it doesn't make them a different species. Just evolved different. I'm sure further back they are related in one way or another.

I'd even go further to say that further back the mer races are a branch from the same proto-man that evolved humans. That is why mer are able to produce offspring with humans. They are all of the same planet the same way Africans & Australian Aboriginal people evolve further back from the same ancestor of the Eskimo or the Norseman.

Um...pretty sure that's with most lore of any game or book. Even J.R.R. Tolkien. No one makes all the lore up right off the bat.

Ah, well it depends on your beliefs. It is the conflicting concept's of creation and ancestry that "colours the rest of their[Man and Mer's] diverging mythologies." Here:



Source: http://imperial-library.info/content/monomyth

Personally, I subscribe to the idea that almost all of the races are descended from the Ehlnofey; although, creation is a distinct possibility for the unexplained races (eg. Sload). As for the Argonians, it has been suggested they were born of the Hist, and the Hist have been suggested to be survivor's of the Ehlnofex wars, and remnants of the previous Kalpa(s).

Well, the lore has holes is what he's saying. No use trying to figure 'em out as whatever you come up with won't be the Lore, unlike the scientific knowledge on Earth, because only Bethesda's words can become Lore.

6 years ago, The Blades were FBI, now they were Akaviri Dragonslayers looking for Tamrielic Dragonborn. No lore account of Dragon overlords was ever recorded (only Ayleid overlords), and now it was said that Alduin enslaved the Nords mankind.

No amount of "scientific research" (or perhaps it's Lore Research?) will establish a Lore, because only Bethesda's words can become Lore.

The Breton's were nedic people who left cyrodil during the alessian uprising and ended up in High Rock, where they are embraced by the Direnni elven clan, not enslaved by them. During the Nordic wars of expansion which happened only hundred or so years after the Alessian Empire was founded, their is recorded events in the lore were Nord warriors attacked small settlements on the northern parts of High Rock because they mistook the inhabitents to be Elves at a distant but turned out to be Breton. The current in game representation of a Breton is not entirely correct, it would have you believe all Bretons look identical to Imperials which is false, the average Breton has a slender build, sometimes very slightly pointed ears (not long like a full mer) higher cheek bones and often almond shaped eyes (think generic asian) It is true that Breton appearance varies slightly but as a people they are not suppose to be identical to Imperials.

Breton culture is a rich mixture of Direnni Elven culture and ancient Nedic, the Mer in their blood has not been breed out of them because the Direnni didn't die off or magically disappear, neither did the Nedes. They are still both there right infront of you in High Rock, they just look like eachother now after centuries of intermingling. The very term Breton never existed till this mergant of blood, you had Direnni and you had Nedics. A Breton is simply a Direnni with Nedic blood, AND a Nedic with Direnni Blood.

Its really no diffrent then when you take American soldiers, put them in Japan, they take japanese wives then move back to America and 5 generations later you have Japanese-Americans who are neither Japanese or American but a mix of both racial traits and culture. The Breton people are the living symbol that Mer and Man can life peacefully together, and somehow they have been a long time allies with the Nord's who supposely don't like Elves... Of course the Nord's were the first to run into them, and if the fact the Direnni absorbed the Nedes rather then enslave them like the Ayelids did, its possible that part of the Direnni culture is making friends which was passed onto the Breton culture. Or maybe the Nord's liked them simply because their skin wasn't yellow, blue, grey, gold or some other shade then their own.

Redguard are humans that left Tamriel to Yokuda, whilst the rest of the human races can trace their ancestry to human races that lived on Atmora. They all originated on Tamriel

Also, are Orcs ex-Altmer? That's my understanding at least, not sure if correct.

Almost everyone's ex-Altmer. That's why high elves are so badmannered; they'd ask, "Why the heck would you change from such a perfect form? Why!"

Well...aldmer to be correct, Zoopedia. Every mer came from the Aldmer, but if you wanted to know what they'd be most like, the altmer are going to be the closest, only the altmer seem to be more extreme or are aldmer just trying to make themselves...bigger than everyone