I don’t recognise the examples you provide however I think it unlikely any empire would waste money/resources to fight wars for purely spurious reasons. I would guess that if these wars (or threats thereof) did take place then the reasons you cite were casus belli for ventures that were believed to have an economic or strategic advantage.

This is not to say that powerful nations don’t get embroiled in foolish escapades that spiral out of their control or take actions of questionable morality (especially to later generations). Just that there are few instances of leaders (of any nation) fighting wars for purely ridiculous reasons.

Here's what I don't get about these Chimer. Elves tend to break up into new races pretty much at the drop of the hat. But these guys didn't. Why?

Elves that live in the sea are Maormer. Aldmer that worshipped Trinimac and changed when he became Malacath are/were Orsimer. Aldmer that followed Veloth were Chimer. But these Chimer, who I assume also follow Veloth, also differ fairly greatly from their mainland cousins. The Dwemer in Skyrim/Hammerfell were similar enough that no cultural schism took place, but the Chimeri-quey... well, they don't sound like any Chimer I've ever heard of. So why aren't they "Island Elves" or something?

What's the real difference between the English and the Scottish? England was conquered by the Romans, allowing all that stuff to influence it, the Scottish weren't. Both were influenced by the Saxon invasion, mind you, but the English were already diverging culturally because of the Roman cultural influence. Apart from that one little thing and a few economic figures, they're not very different. Just don't tell that to either of them.

With the Chimeri-quey, they share the history with following Veloth, then at some point they somehow left Morrowind and arrived on Cathnoquey. There they mixed their Velothi culture with the Men-of-Keptu and adapted to the unique challenges of Cathnoquey and became the Chimeri-quey. True, they're not exactly a new *mer, but they are no more Chimer anymore than the Dunmer.

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."

To reiterate, you're getting too hung up on the Chimer part of the Chimeri-quey.

Howsabout we shorthand it to 'Queymer?'

The logical assumption would be that Veloth just kept going. So the Chimeri-Quey are Velothi who are uninfluenced by the war with the Dwemer, which played a huge part in the mainland Chimer development.

It doesn't explain why the Chimeri-quey are so far away from Morrowind.

Does that need explaining? I'm sure that from Morrowind to Cathnoquey is no farther than from Summerset to Morrowind.

Then those Velothi would have had to travel twice the distance to get to Cathnoquey. A moot point though. I'm more interested in their flotilla towns.

But Tamrielic races don't work like real-world nationalities. Men-of-Keptu aren't called Imperials, despite being from Cyrodiil originally, They're a completely seperate human race, that hasn't been heard of since the First Era.

But with the Chimeri-quey, we've got Chimer, who are a) geographically and b ) culturally distinct from other Chimer. That's more than most elves get. Hell, Maormer have essentially the same story as the Chimeri-quey. They're both Aldmer who left over differing beliefs, and now live on/in the ocean.

I was trying to imply that they are different, but their name (either the one they chose themselves or the one outsiders slapped on them) is one of categorization, saying essentially, "This is who we were, this is where we are. In total, this is who we are."

I don't know about real events, but in-game (maybe as opposed to the hulking mass of lore) the Imperials are, on the contrary, presented as Hollywood Romans (British accents) with only a tinge of original flavor provided by magic. And even the 1E stuff has echoes of Livy.

They are called Chimer because that is what they call themselves.