The marble jaws of Oblivion have been opened, who will stem the news tide? In the next few days we are about to be swamped with information about Elder Scrolls Online. I have seen what no waking eye has see, and I foresee the turmoil that awaits us.

This upcoming MMO is to be set in most of Tamriel, including parts of every single province, with more chunks to be unlocked as expansions. Apparently it spreads from Elder Root to Shornhelm, so there you go. It is set in the 2nd Era, during a great big civil war to crown a new Emperor, yadda yadda. Much more info is to come.

The worrying part, is mixed in with the gameplay details, are pieces of lore like the fact that the entire of Tamriel is now divided into three factions: The Aldmeri Dominion, The "Daggerfall Covenant" of the Bretons, Orcs and Hammerfell, and, um, the "Ebonheart Pact" of Morrowind, Skyrim and Argonia. All fighting over Cyrodiil. Yeah.

Now, I draw you here together for one simple reason: if, as early indicators seem to suggest, TESO twists and simplifies the Tamriel we love into something unrecognisable, how do we treat this new lore? The official line will be to call everything canon, no doubt. But we may find it difficult in our hearts to reconcile some of this new information with the picture of TES we hold dear.

Of course, holding different and contradictory pictures of a fantasy world side by side is something we are the undisputed world champions of, but we need a gameplan, now. It took us years to recover from the shock of Nu-Cyrod, we need to be ready for this outrageous débutante. Our lore-beards must be trimmed and arranged in all the latest fashions. This is a rocky relationship we have ahead of us, but by the Three we are going to make it work.

So, thoughts?

And we also have our own, patriotic song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODOj2jBUKW0

We are the Selective, not the Collective.

When were we selected?

We are the Selective, not the Collective.

When we donned the ape-mask.

We select ourselves.

BEHOLD, HANDWAVES;

Altmeri Dominion: Altmer cite long-forgotten treaties signed when the Bosmer and Khajiit were drunk, and establish Thalmor to ensure loyalty.

Daggerfall Covenant: Orsinium acts as a useful buffer state against Tharn's Cyrodiil, so the Raga and Bretons invite them to their little diplomatic shindig in Daggerfall.

Ebonheart Pact: At the urging of the Gray Beards, whom recognize the coming crisis, the High King of Skyrim begrudgingly enters into an alliance with Tribunal Morrowind. The Argonians involved are actually a motley crew of Mercenaries and Slave-Soldiers.

Also, new theory: Michael Kirkbride is the HoonDing.

I was looking over http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1372002-tes-online-what-will-the-money-be-called/ and I believe that I just solved the age-old mystery of why ancient Nordic tombs and Ayleid cities have caches of Septims interred in their unplumbed depths.

During Tiber Septim's moment of CHIM, wherein he reshaped the land and made Cyrodiil fertile, he must have changed the faces of all coinage in Tamriel to reflect his new dynasty. In that moment, coins of all shapes, sizes and values became simply Septims, worth a single unit under the rule of the new Empire.

I'll be honest, TESO looks pretty crummy in just about every respect, but I think I may have no choice but to get it anyways, for my dream of traveling all Tamriel, from Alinor to Argonia. I'll buy it and play it, but I'll complain loudly and bitterly at every step of the way, my head held high and my back erect.

I'd join the Selective, if you would be so gracious as to accept me, poor and humble though I may be.

Swear the oath.

During Tiber Septim's moment of CHIM, wherein he reshaped the land and made Cyrodiil fertile, he must have changed the faces of all coinage in Tamriel to reflect his new dynasty. In that moment, coins of all shapes, sizes and values became simply Septims, worth a single unit under the rule of the new Empire.

http://youtu.be/i-6L_hT3QtQ

I like the name of Collective instead of Selective. It distinguishes us as lorefolk but as distinctive from the Selective. It also sounds all unity-like.