This may or may not be applicable to the lore forums and I'll let the moderators decide.

The new ESV Skyrim preview page shows a large stone carving of what I believe to be a source of lore.

From what I understand it is foretelling of a civil war and a evil that is apparently at their doorstep in Skyrim.

At closer inspection I do believe that the figure shown immediately left of the Oblivion gate is to be Lorkhan as depicted in ESIII. Whether or not this is simply a reference to the ESIII game, I'm unsure.
Interestingly enough, figures in battle are shown directly beneath. Do notice that the opposing figures have differences in their armor. IMO, the left shows a Nordic appearance of armor (in particular the helmets) and the right side shows similarities to Imperial armor.

Anyways, just my observations. I'm curious what y'all have noticed when browsing the wall.

You mean like http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1149312-skyrim-trailer-breakdown/?

lol - reminds me of Martin's fate ... see how the dragon's fire appears to bring the stone carvings to life - wonder if it might do that to Martin? rofl - anything is possible now

even if not stone and bone carving was a very Norse thing - as were runes. runes were so straight because they were carved with knife, sword or axe slashes. this is different as you would expect ... this is Tamriel and from the feel we are entering into a new phase that has a more primitive feel ... reminds me of the Daggerfall dungeons which were scary! ^^

I'd say the thing next the OB symbol was Dagoth's second Numidium, and the figures beneath are the people who started the empire (which was three). The most left looks to be a female, which could be Alessia, next a male, who is probably Reman I, another male following, most likely Tiber Septim, and the most right is probably the 4th dragonborn in line.

Was just listening to the video - great voice that guy has - at first I thought he was saying Dragonborn/e because that made sense in terms of Battlespire as in carried by a dragon - {edit: or the Septim 'blessing'} - but what if he was saying Dragonbone? Now that has a certain resonance to it. And echoes Martin's fate - but this time the vid seems to be suggesting that stones may come to life ... and so then we would have to ask if this is about ~ Earthbones/Dragons/Stone. When you become an Earthbone do you become stone? Well that would fit into the Precursor rumour in Cyrodiil - and might indicate that more than one earthbone was awakening ... or could the Earthbones have been Dragons? Now tell me I am totally off the point ^^ But I am drawing stuff from in-game as well as the vid and trying to see where it is going too

No, it's confirmed it's dragon born

good - so does that refer to the Septim line?

and are the dragons the same as the Jills / Imperial dragons or are these new dragons?

I doubt either could be confirmed at this time, but I would venture to say that the dragons might be from Akavir, in the form of the Ka Po' Tun.

""First," Tosh Raka says, "is that we kill all the vampire snakes." Then the Tiger-Dragon Emperor wants to invade Tamriel." - Mysterious Akavir

This intrigues me.


edit: Actually I'm convinced the dragons are from Akavir after learning the logo for Skyrim is virtually identical to the banner for Akavir. As seen in this http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1150379-the-skyrim-logo-is-the-akavir-banner/

I think it's the line of Alessia, except this time, there is no red gem to say "congratz! You the new emprah!"

As for the dragons, they have always existed, though thought to be in hiding. During the emigration from MW, the emperor of the time (I think Tiber) allowed them safe keeping in Cyrodiil, but are to faithfully serve the emprah whenever he calls for their aid (as seen in Redguard). But whether they are the imperial ones or not is left up in the air

As for the Jills, they are Akatosh's sisters, concubines, and repairwomen for when he breaks. I don't think they leave his side.

@ bittergreen smoker, that symbol has been used for the empire since Reman I, don't jump to conclusions yet.

Indeed, perhaps I got ahead of myself. I also have this question, what is the advantage of mounting an invasion of Skyrim? Which seems to me to have one of the most hostile enviornments in Tamriel. And if Akavir is to the east of Tamriel would an invasion from there be best suited to land in Skyrim?

Skyrim holds many legends, artifacts, and powers. It may not hold the significance of Cyrodiil, but it is a place of legend and really powerful warriors.

Skyrimt has been building up to something - ref the rumour of Nords invading Morrowind in Oblivion ... so if it is the currently most agressive northern state then subduing it is a strong first step for an Akaviri invasion ... however I bet there has to be something more introverted going on.

The Nerevarine went to Akavir, right? And an Akaviri once held the Imperial Throne though that did not last. But that was not legend - it was fact and accepted as such. So that does not really fit with the idea of thinking 'they' were legends ... though Versuda Shae was a snake man/potentate.

THose dragons in the video actually came to life out of the stone ... that might be a bit of media flash but I am still wondering if there is more to it than that. Could they be drakes rather than dragons for example? (idle spec that) Also could they be something entirely Nord? A new genus?

The voiceover in the video ties 'them' in with the events of the Oblivion Crisis - perhaps suggesting that Oblivion was just a ruse to cover what was to come. So equally it could be that these are new creatures of the Daedra that duplicate the real Dragons. Or perhaps the Gates were just a cover to hide the fact that all the Septims with their links to Akatosh were being assassinated for an entirely differeent reason than was supposed at the time.

If that is so then the "they" in the 'one they really fear, the dragon born' might refer to the Daedra ... and that word for him might either be a Daedric Word rather than a Nord Word or a Nord word and there are Nord Daedra Cultists

Got that thought out at last!

Another thought that comes is that stone relief/carvings has to be mighty important. And such a thing denotes great age. It reminds me of what I think was MK's Drawing or Tapestry in Vivec that is on a stairwell landing somewhere there.

It is almost as if the Elderscrolls have become the Eldercarvings

edit:
ps - I personally have always liked the idea that the map of Vvardenfell actually holds a dragon in it's folds. I always see one in the paper map that came with the game anyways. AQnd that ties in with the lore that has dragons migrating to MW to sleep ... so

I...have my doubts this is daedric in origin.

Agreed. It just doesn't have the same look or feel of past examples of daedric work.

Glad to see Skyrim lore's being talked about in the lore forum, again.


What's the significance of the legend Nords were born from Hrothgar and Kyne? Juxtapose with Remanada, where Hrol gives his life to Cyrodiil and dies upon the hillock. From him is Reman, carried down from Sancre Tor's slopes by Sed-Yenna. Parallel anything? Maybe. Who was the savior of the lineage of Shor and Kyne?

For as far as any man's eyes, only High Hrothgaar remained above the churning coils of dragon stop.

Kyne's shout brought our tribe back to the mountaintop of Hrothgar, and even our recent dead rode in on the wind of her breathing...

The Nords believe men were formed on this mountain when the sky breathed onto the land. Hence the Song of Return refers not only to Ysgramor's return to Tamriel after the destruction of Saarthal, but to the Nords' return to what they believe was their original homeland.


All Towers are Merish in origin, so why would the Nords be born from it? Why should it be salvation over the Kalpa and the birthplace of the Nords?

THat may well be so but there is a connection drawn - it appeared that the Gates/Oblivion incident was part of this somehow masking it.

As for dragons there is more than one meaning to that - in ancient times a dragon could be a column of soldiers (usu with a dragon standard at the head)

There is also the possibility that the mural refers to something that happened a long time before TES V and the dragons coming to life in it are purely illustrative of that past mural and events

History may be repeating itself or it may be that there is something from that time that has 'awoken' - but not necessarily a dragon


where is your quote from iconoclast? and what does "dragon stop" mean?

The Aldudaggavelashadingas. Time stop. Maintenance of Time. Alduin is beginning a new world.

You all know you can close the video and browse a very detailed version of the carving? The ambient music playing is very eerie.

You can even zoom with the press of any key.

did that by accident but didny note the options as I was busy with stuff - ty

edit: ahhh - slowmo ^^ that has something of the feel of exploring those caverns under Mournhold

edit: there are the drums too - they were part of 'Nerevar Rising.' As the Morrowind theme they were somehow jolier and more enlivening ... there we freed The Heart and now we hear Doom Drum perhaps? when you think of what happened to Morrowind since the Heart was freed - it makes you wonder if Doom Drum was just warming up and setting things in motion ... could get very hairy if so

Wouldn't it be great if the Dragon Born character allowed the PC to mantle Shor and become a full-fledged Shezzarine? [censored] I want the power of Thu'um! Regardless, it wouldn't be the first time, since it was the end result of KotN, but the Divine Crusader was a watered down Shor; more of a protector of Cyrodiil (in the same way HoonDing is a protector of Yokuda/Hammerfell). DB will more likely be a straight incarnate, without a middle incarnate.

e.g. Shor -> Pelinal -> Champion of Cyrodiil

whereas the Dragon Born is probably:

Shor -> Dragon Born

For some reason though, a dragon invasion of Skyrim seems to imply a Cyrodiilic invasion of Skyrim. It's odd though, that the savior of Skyrim would be referred to as "Dragon Born" given the Cyrodiilic subtext that title has towards Emperors.

Maybe the Dragon Born is the heir to the throne of Cyrodiil, having been http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Remanada.

Hmmm. There seems to be a Shor/Doom Drum connection if you look at this from the perspective of that tasty bit of writing in Morrowind - was that the King Wulfhearth book? Plus there was the grave of King Harold with the boat trapped inside on the SE coast near Azura's Shrine.

Here it feels as though the dragons or other invaders as symbolised by the dragons are in opposition. It appears that the Nords are fighting each other (big surprise that) and whoever is speaking is upset by that rather than seeing it as the normal sort of Nord thing just warming up for the big fight. But then all that drama is why the Dragon Born is needed.

It would not worry me if the PC is to be an heir of Shor? for then I would take the view that I would not want to mantle my own forbear - for I would want to make my mark in my own right. Somehow I feel that mantling is something done by outsiders ...