As mentionedhttp://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1234079-spoilers-mccools-lore-research-at-eurogamer-expo/, I spent the Eurogamer Expo trying to find out as much lore as possible, and came up with some interesting information on the Thalmor, and something potentially huge regarding the Divines. I repeat the lore part of the post here:


Lore/Politics

• There are Eight Divines again. Worship of Talos, the God of Man is now banned throughout the empire (!) I could hardly believe my eyes when I read this, is this confirmed elsewhere? The Divines are definitely Eight again now, regardless of the status of Talos.
  
• Akatosh is confirmed as being worshipped and usually depicted as a dragon The loading screen points out his dragon avatar is one he choose to use to at the end of the Oblivion Crisis
  
• The Empire only managed to end "The Great War" against the Aldmeri Dominion with the Concordat of White Gold
  
• Thalmor, agents of the Dominion are found throughout Skyrim. Some have been found with prisoners, one claims that they are merely there in peace, to help Skyrim through this period of transition (Possible foreshadowing of the main quest?)
  
• Windhelm now has a Dunmer population, who are looked down upon by some of its citizens
  
• All of the Daedric Princes seem to have returned, including Sheogorath. Some, such as Azura and Meridia are described as being not inherently evil.
  
• Bosmer are described as heralding from the eastern forests of Valenwood, suggesting they may have been pushed out of the Aldmeri Dominion, or at the very least there is some political divide in Valenwood.
  
• Each city in Skyrim has a cult of Arkay devoted to the respect of the dead
  
• Draugr are suggested to possibly have been Nords who betrayed mankind for the Dragons in a past war

The most interesting tidbits here are undoubtedly the removal of one divine (and an implied new conflation of Talos with Shor, as he is described as the god hero of man), and the many references to the Aldmeri Dominion in Skyrim. It appears there was a war, which it is implied the Empire lost, with the Aldmeri Dominion. The phrasing of the loading screen, that the Empire could only end the Great War with the concordat of White Gold, invokes the real-life http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concordat_of_Worms, implying this agreement put an end to the long-lasting warfare between these two sides. The Thalmor appear as mysterious agents of the Dominion in Skyrim, claiming that they do not wish to meddle, but quite clearly up to no good.

Is there any more 4th Era info on the Dominion, and it's relation to the Empire? I'm very sketchy on all this, I wasn't even aware there was such a state until I met one of its agents in the game itself.

Juicy, juicy juicy.

I predicted the Thalmor's significance, but I didn't actually expect anything to come of it in-game. Bethesda have surpassed my expectations!

All of that sounds enticing, but especially the Dunmer and everything about the Aldmeri Dominion.
The loss of Talos from the pantheon is interesting too, but that's old news by now, and not too surprising.

Thanks for all this!

Well, just think about it. Talos is removed, one of their goals, now there in Skyrim screwing with things and likely trying to usher in Alduins return to gobble up the world.

Every city has a cult to Arkay. That sounds kind of interesting. I wonder why Arkay is so popular.

So when we say Talos worship is gone, that also means Ysmir?

I guess their militaristic defeat was only Cyrodiil's pyrrhic victory. I also wonder if Thalamor agents infiltrated the Empire, and is sowing the seeds for Talos's removal.

Also, i am equally curious as to why Valenwood is being torn in half.

And PeteAtoms, I wonder too. Arkay shouldn't be revered by the nords, as he is known as Orkey. I guess it's [censored] Imperial meddling.

What's most interesting to me, is that the Thalamor seem to have found a way to co-exist with mankind. I wonder how on earth that works out.

He might have been referred to as Orkey. I can't quite remember, if he was I read it as Arkay. Regarding Valenwood being torn in half, that is only conjecture on my part, regarding the fact that bosmer are described as hailing from one half of Valenwood. Further conjecture is that this was a result of the Concordat of White Gold.

My deduction is this:

The Concordat of White Gold included a provision that the Empire would cease worshiping Talos as one of the Nine Divines.

Reasons:

1. A concordat is an agreement between church and state.
2.http://www.imperial-library.info/content/forum-archives-michael-kirkbride

And I quote




The Thalmor are getting along with the Empire, MinotaurWarrior, because they're getting their way.

To the nords, there is no Arkay in the pantheon, and Orkey is the closest deity associated with Arkay.

And I changed my idea as to why the empire is anti-Talos, Thalamor infiltrators!

Brilliant. You've got to be right. This is why I posted this information on the lore forums.

Reminds me of the days when it took the lore forum forever to figure out what happened to the Dwemer, or even start to piece together (aka the Whirling School) what on earth was ment in the Sermons. Kirkbride practically had to beat us over the head with the Dwemer disappearence/Big Stompy Robot connection.

We figure things out much faster these days. :celebration: It most definitely makes sense.