If you were in charge of the lore of TES what would you make happen after the events of Skyrim? it can be anything you want.

- An independent Skyrim conqueres Cyrodiil and high rock.

- Orcs establish their new home at vvardenfel

- thalmor government is overthrown in summerset isles; thalmor leadership flees to valenwood and elseweyr and remain to rule these lands. They're undertaking genetic experiments to breed khajiits with bosmer.

- Summerset isle tries to rebuild the crystal tower; however much of the previously known knowledge is lost and the new tower "weakens the barrier" instead of strenghtening it. A number of Daedric lords open portals inside the tower and send their hords there. Battles between various daedra take place inside the tower, which is sealed from the outside by the altmer.

- A redguard prophet claiming to descend from Cyrus prophesizes the end of life in tamriel and calls for redguard exodus back to Yokuda. He has many followers, who start building huge fleets and set sail at sun's dusk 2nd, 4E222. None of them are ever seen again.

- Almalexia is seen shopping at the market district of the imperial city.

- Thalmor government in elseveyr and valenwood plot, with the help of the sload (who apparently still live in the seas of their sunken homeland) to unstabilize the world in order to sink the entire summerset isles into the ocean.


:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:

• Ulfric becomes the High King of Skyrim
  
• Aka is still anti-Mundus, and the religion of the Nine is wrong
  
• Shor is given more prominence in Skyrim
  
• The "traditional nords" are actually following the traditional religion, not a watered down version of it

More to come

- Stormcloak victory
- Second War begins, a game taking place in Hammerfell has the war as the basis for the plot. A free Skyrim gives assistence to Hammerfell.
- Hammerfell and Skyrim become allies, with High Rock eventually seceding from the Empire and joining the alliance.
- Cyrodiil is crushed in the Second War by the Aldmeri Dominion, but continues to fight in a guerrilla war.
- After a long, hard war with the mentioned alliance, the Dominion loses Elswyer as an ally and is pushed back to Alinor after more conflict in Valenwood. Allied group controls Cyrodiil and Valenwood, mostly leaching resources.
- This causes unrest in Alinor, which some use to gain power over cities, becoming free, anti-Thalmor kings. These range from corrupt fat cats, Lorkhan cultists, and Auriel worshipers who believe the Thalmor is doing it wrong.
- These kings use their fleets to help with an invasion from the mainland. This backfires, and Hammerfell and Skyrim rule brutally over the "allied" cities. The Thalmor now only controls Alinor. Thalmor doesn't surrender, but no one makes a move.
- Game taking place in Summerset occurs. Whilst the Thalmor seve as antagonists, the plot isn't based on a war like Hammerfell. The Thalmor are defeated much more subtly. Auriel, Akatosh, and Shor/Shezarr are involved somewhere.
- Hammerfell, High Rock, and Skyrim eventually collapse.The Fourth Era becomes a dark age just like the Second.

Also, despite the rather dark content, give the games a bigger sense of humor.

This is how things would proceed.

Set the scene-

The Dragonborn stands triumphant upon world-throat, face raised to a freezing wind with no power to chill him, eyes that burn with a grim satisfaction sweeping all of Skyrim below, secure only by the strength of his own mighty hand...-

"YE'RE THE DRAGONBORN, ROIGHT!?" The speaker hails him above the skirling of snow and wind and the muffled clamour of hoofbeats.

"WHAT THE HELL," and here Dovahkiin's Voice almost gets away from him, but he reins in his tongue before he can blow horse and rider from Hrothgar, "do you want?"

It's a young Dunmer lad, looking just about as worried behind his large spectacles as if Skyrim hadn't recently been saved from destruction. "Well yer see there's a feller callin' himself 'He's Grandma' down in Whiterun, lookin' fer yer."

"He's Grandma... what does he want?" The Dragonborn's brow furrows. This doesn't sound good.

"Well he come roidin' inter Whiterun and stuck the Companions' heads on spikes, sayin' somethin' about 'damn wannabes can't even count to five hundred or thereabouts'... and... well, with you bein' Harbinger and all..." The bookish Dunmer lad hesitates. From somewhere above the peak, vast leathery wings catch the wind, and a dragon-silhouette cranes its saurian head closer to eavesdrop.

"[censored]. Anything else?" This doesn't sound good at all.

The Dunmer's expression is pained. "He also wanted ter know what we was goin' ter do about Alduin returnin' ter eat the world."

"What the [censored] boy, I killed Alduin last weekend!" This sounds really bad.

"Yer well... this 'Sijick' feller started talkin' about a [breakfast cereal] called 'Dragon Brek' and about some old man called Kall Pa, seemed to think there might of been a mix up with the dragons... got people in quite a stir..."

"A [censored] mix up!?" Really really bad...

"Somethin' along the lines of, 'not the real Alduin,' sort of thing." The creak of ancient dragon-wings above misses a beat, and through the snow comes dragon-thu'um as a curse: ["Krosis, (NUMINIT), they are onto us..!"]

"This is terrible!" It is terrible. So vexed is the Dragonborn now that even his deepest exclamation produces no power-sound to write of, and the Dunmer lad's hair is merely ruffled against the wind for an instant.

"There were one other feller lookin' fer yer," the boy adds, oblivious. "Seemed ter have a girl's name. Viv Heck, oi think it were. Said somethin' about wantin' ter meet yer, and compare spears..."

Atop High Hrothgar, the Dragonborn screams, but no Voice comes out.

I wish this forum had a like button, solely so that I could "like" your post.

I was for a while and it was a lot of fun.

- Since I'd like the next TES to take place in the Summerset Isles, I'd write more lore on the Psijics and Sotha Sil. He could have been the one true badass of Morrowind.

- The Morag Tong strikes again. I don't know how, but the MT needs to assassinate someone. It's been too long since they didn't.

- Create some kind of cult to Ebonarm.

- Let the Dark Brotherhood be.

- ....and because this or that...." A great Dunmer sorcerer summoned 1000 and 1 faithful of the magic hermaphrodite so that the ghost-knights of Vivec would banish the Akaviri forces away from the starry heart, Tamriel." That's right. A legion of Buoyant Armiger ghosts, preferably naked.

- The Dominion becomes an even greater power. The Summerset Isles are now wealthier than ever. However, the regions of the Isles that oppose the rule of the Thalmor lose economical support and go bankrupt.

Ancient Telvanni wizards slowly take over Skyrim, planting the seeds for their towers on the east coast, casting down Ulfric and his poo flinging ape friends. I'd through in a dragon break too, just for fun.

Morag Tong assasinates multiple powerful Thalmor to announce their return; they stamp out the Dark Brotherhood. The Telvanni wizards allow the Reachmen to keep their lands, so long as they do not work against them. The Witchmen of Highrock proceed to conquer the land of the Bretons.

Make Alduin a proper world eater.

Bleh, how dumb of me. What proweler said.

- Skyrim becomes independent from the Empire.

- The Dragonborn disappears.

- The Thalmor invade Hammerfell, Skyrim assists the Redguards.

- The Empire does nothing, it's new emperor is seen as weak and cowardly. A few pretenders arise to claim the throne.

- A new cult becomes prominent across the human provinces. They claim that the Dragonborn is Tiber Septim reincarnate and want to put him/her on the Imperial throne. The Thalmor
justiciars make crackdowns in High Rock and Cyrodiil.

- The Bretons rise up and declare independence. The Empire is powerless to stop them as they have no way to send their Legions.

- The High Rock legions defect and join the Nordic-Redguard war against the Thalmor. The Bretons follow suit.

- Morrowind declares independence from the Empire. The Dunmer are led by a charismatic noble who promises to restore Morrowind to it's former glory. Dunmer across Tamriel begin returning home.

- Cyrodiil descends into civil war. The Mede's are fighting against several factions.

- The Thalmor invade Cyrodiil, claiming to be trying to restore order. They face stiff resistance.

- The Emperor locks himself in White Gold Tower. The many factions which split Cyrodiil squable amoungst themselves for control as the Thalmor advance northwards through the West
Weald.

- The Thalmor are pushed out of Hammerfell, as the ground troops flee back to Alinor, the combined Redguard-Nord-Breton fleet destroys the elven transports at Stros M'Kai. Several thousand Thalmor soldiers are killed.

- The Dragonborn returns into the public eye. The leaders of Skyrim, Hammerfell and High Rock proclaim him/her emperor/emperess. He/she is supported by the reformed Blades.

- The Dragonborn leads the combined Breton-Redguard-Nord-Imperial Defector armies into Cyrodiil. He smashes the Thalmor armies and captures the Imperial City with the aid of Odaviing the dragon. The nobles of Cyrodiil support his claim as emperor.

- The Dragonborn/Emperor appoints Ulfric Stormcloak as a general gives him command of an army with which to invade Valenwood. Meanwhile, The Dragonborn/Emperor invades Elsewyr with his own army.

- The Blades discover a new Mane. The New Empire proclaims the New Elswyr Confederacy.

- Elswyr is fully liberated.

- High King Ulfric is killed while fighting in Valenwood. His army reatreats back to Skingrad. The Thalmor counter attack and Skingrad is placed under siege.

- The Dragonborn breaks the siege of Skingrad and destroys the Thalmor army. He/she links both of his/her armies and invades Valenwood once more.

- Valenwood is liberated.

- The Empire attempts to invade Alinor, the invasion force is destroyed while still at sea by Thalmor mages.

- The Dragonborn leaves his/her army in Valenwood, while he/she him/herself travels northwards to Morrowind. He/she manages to negotiate Morrowind's return to the Empire, with the Emperor promising to force the Argonians back into Black Marsh when the Thalmor are dealt with. The Dark Elves agree and give him many troops.

- The Dragonborn travels west, from Morrowind into Skyrim. He/she negotiates with the Orc strongholds of the province and promises them a homeland if they aid him. The Emperor/Empress brings his new Orcish army south, gathering Orcs from other strongholds in other provines with him.

- The Dragonborn/Emperor/Empress brings his/her new army to Valenwood and tries to invade Alinor once more. The Empire is victorious.

- After a few years, the Thalmor is vanquished and all Tamriel is once more united. Except Blackmarsh.

- The Dragonborn takes his army to Blackmarsh for one last campaign. He marches his army, made up of all races, into the deep swamps while riding his faithful companion, Odahviing. And is never seen again. His army did not kill a single Argonian, in fact, the Argonians were unaware of his invasion. The army simply disappeared.

- The Empire collapses once more and Tamriel fractures and enters into a dark age. The Dark Brotherhood begins to regain it's former glory as nobles across Tamriel vie for power. Assassination is the favoured way of achieving power. The Thieves Guild becomes important once more too, as the more honourable nobles prefer blackmail and extortion to assassination.


I think I got a little carried away.

You're all resolving time lines but you're not setting up anything new. I don't mean the specifics of the new situation, but rather, plot a general course of Tamriels history.

What would I want? While not being an advancement in the lore by any means, I'd like to go back in time to the Mythic or First Era. To progress the story? A great tower sprouts out of the sea north of Tamriel. Nobody knows where it has come from or why, but its there. It is many times the hight of High Hrothgar, and faint whispers can be heard coming from its walls. At this time, their is no apparent entrance. Each governing power of Tamriel is racing to find a way in, wondering what it hides. Many sages however warn agaisnt such actions, fearing this great tower. It causes nightmares for the people of Tamriel, all wake in the night and gaze at it, as it can be seen from even Black Marsh. Some seek to worship it, offering sacrifices to the ocean around it. The people of Tamriel are extending their settlements into the very seas; building great city islands. Boethiah and Mephala have a child (whether literally or figuritively is up to you to interpret); this child is you.
^I would build off of this template. I may post more if I can think up anything.^

The Dragonborn, with the assistance of a freshly put-into-their-proper-place Blades, Odahviing, and a herd of Snow Whales, seizes control of Skyrim. The local Legion and Stormcloaks are subdued and forced to swear fealty on bended knee along with all the Jarls. The Graybeards crown the Dovahkiin High-King of the Dragonrealm of Skyrim, Defender of the Faith of the Old Eight and One, and Hortator of the Dunmer people in exile in a lovely ceremony at High Hrothgar. He/She, under the new regnal name Thorrtunge, makes Ivarstead as his/her capital, growing into a vibrant, bustling city. The Thalmor are thrown out and all of Eastmarch hold is made available for Dunmer refugees to settle in.

Inspired by the Dragonborn's success in Skyrim, the Cult of the Ancestor Moth leads a revolt in Cyrodiil that sees the Thalmor likewise expelled and the Medes ousted from power. Cyrodiil reestablishes itself as the Most Serene Dream-moth Republic, led directly by the Elder Council. Shezarr worship becomes popular again and they ally with the Dragonrealm and Hammerfell (though only after sending a formal apology).

Then in TES VI: Dominion, a joint Blades and Penitus Oculatus operation sees a sleeper agent planted in a Thalmor prison in Torval, under orders to buy into the Thalmor's confidence and sabotage their attempt to perfect the Dracochrysalis.

The Maormer launch a campaign against Summerset, after several centuries of rebuilding. Completely focused on other matters, still reeling from their defeats in Cyrodiil and Hammerfell, and without any Psijic assistance, the Thalmor are unexpectedly crushed.

Reinforcements from Valenwood arrive and the Thalmor manage to drive the invaders out, but they've taken so many losses that the powers in Cyrodiil begin to dispute whether or not to end the Concordat.

As if they had been planning to invade, Falmer begin to emerge en masse in Skyrim, and the Stormcloaks and Imperials must put aside their differences to defeat them and save the province. After heavy fighting, the Imperials and Stormcloaks, with the help of the Dragonborn, are victorious. Many begin to dispute whether they should, or even can, resume the civil war at this point.

A new generation of Akaviri Dragonguard land on Skyrim's east coast, having learned of the Dragons' return. Exhausted from fighting, the Stormcloaks and Imperials leave it to the Dragonborn to deal with the Akaviri, who subsequently pledge their alliegance to him and absorb the remaining Blades into their organization.

Edit: Continued below.

The Moot is held while both are at peace, but unable to make any progress. Eventually, Ulfric agrees to give up his bid so long as the Legion withdraws and he is not pursued further for his actions. Elisef becomes High Queen. The Thalmor attempt to reignite the civil war but are wiped out in Skyrim by the Dragonguard, the Akaviri having learned of the Thalmor's destruction of the old Dragonguard.

Once Skyrim is freed of the Dragon threat, the Dragonborn and the Dragonguard sail to Akavir, leaving behind a force behind in Sky Haven Temple to keep a watchful eye out for any further threat of Thalmor and Dragons. The Dragonborn is remembered as a hero who saved not only the mortal world, but the mortal afterlife.

Cyrodiil and Skyrim are united but in an uneasy peace. The Empire decides to break the Concordat and reinstate Talos worship, and attempt to mend things with the Redguards. Many are worried the Thalmor will return, and the Empire takes no chances this time, preparing for another war.

The Thalmor work to rebuild Summerset, and face much unrest from those seeking revenge for the various purges and assassinations carried out. They brutally crush the rebellions, although the harder they try the more discontent the people become. As they plot for what will come next, a new adventure starts in a prison cell in Summerset.

Following the collapse of the Mede dynasty, the Empire disintegrates amid wars between pretenders from Colovia and Skyrim while Nibenese plutocrats attempt to play kingmaker. Hammerfell declares independence while Daggerfall is formally incorporated into an increasingly powerful Dominion.

The Colovian Pretender is then killed in the Battle of Anvil, opening the way for the total annexation of Cyrodiil by the Dominion. A reconstituted (and Thalmor controlled) Elder Council rules from White-Gold while the Empress Elisif rules from Solitude. Nordic, Orcish and Dunmeri troops under General Fasendil fight heroically but are unable to defeat the Dominion forces in the Illiac bay, which now wield unheard-of sympathetic magicks drawing on the power of White-Gold Tower. Elisif signs the Direnni Pact in the Adamiantine Tower: she renounces the title 'empress', and the remaining provinces of Tamriel, excepting Black Marsh, formally accept Thalmor suzerainty. Thalmor rule is so far relatively benign, and is grudgingly accepted in most places, except Morrowind, where Helseth is happy to entertain the Thalmor but does nothing the prevent their continued embarassment in backwaters such as Vvardenfell, where the natives use Thalmor skulls to construct a particularly prized, magic-resistant variety of bonemould armour. However, horrific Thaumomedicinal experiments performed on human test subjects and a renewed interest in Dawn magicks hint at something darker.

The Thalmor begin construction of a new tower on the site of Crystal-like-law, and yet another in Elsweyr. Also, Breton researchers funded by the Dominion are able to re-contact lost Dracochrysalids dating from the original Thalmor regime defeated by Tiber Septim, and feed them TalOS dreamsleeve codes obtained from White-Gold in order to gain control of Numidium. They immediately use this new weapon to locate the island of Artaeum and stomp it out of possiblilty. This disruption of the Dragon has a number of strange side-effects, for instance causing the dead god Sotha Sil to return to life, and the town of Winterhold to explode, again, and disappear without trace.

All is not lost, however. The exiled General Fasendi, hunted by Thalmor and Penitus Oculatus agents, contacts a bloodthirsty cult in the Reach known as the Blades, believing they may know how to defeat the Thalmor. The Blades and Fasendil's underground are eventaully able, with the aid of a very cranky Sotha Sil, to locate a human slave damned to the glass mines of Alinor. With the aid of sympathetic Altmer, the underground helps her to escape and teaches her why she was born with a diamond-shaped scar over her heart.

After many adventures, including the discovery of the awful truth about goblins, contact with a lost tribe of primaeval Ehlnofey, riding a Moarmer water-serpent, and the launch of a successful slave revolt, out heroine faces the High King of Alinor in personal combat atop the scaffolding of the new Crystal Tower while seventeen distinct Numidia, each returning from a different epoch and obeying a different master, do battle with each other in the skies above. Our heroine is unable to stop the Thalmor from activating their gigantic Drachochrysalid device in time, but the moment they do so, erasing Talos from the pattern of possibility, the Numidia vanish and the PSIJII are re-possibilised and curb-stomp the Thalmor cabal responsible. The heroine is then able to form a giant gestalt Shezzarine flesh atronach made up of escaped slaves, defeat the High King by shouting him sideways through time, and convert the towers into sub-deamsleeve transcievers for the new People's Republic of Tamriel.

[edited for typos and clarity]

Noone wins the civil war, but thousands die because of it, some were not even allied to a faction. Both Ulfric and Tulius die, and the Thalmor spread rumours that he worked for both sides of the rebellion because of sheer greed. Rather than seen as a gift of the Nine Divines, he is seen as a monster sent by the most evil of Daedric princes. The Thalmor put their own spin on the civil war : It was just a foolish holy war fought by crazy Nords. The war wasn't fought because Skyrim was becoming imperialized at all. The only reason for the war was so the Nords could peacefully worship Talos again, but what is the point of worshipping someone who sends fellow Nords to fight each other? Talos is demonized by all and the few who still do worship him flee to Solsthiem - some even go back to Atmora, never to be heard of again.

After he is no longer worshipped across the empire the Thalmor reveals Tiber Septim didn't exist as one person at all. Think of it as the Arcturian heresy being revealed, except instead of shezzarines and noble warriors you have a bunch of murderous power-mad warlords who assumed the role of Tiber Septim. They compile the stories into a book : The Lies of the Septim Empire. If you can read, but you cannot recite every word of the book, you have commited treason. Tiber Septim did not become a hero-god of mankind, he became a manifestation of greed and lust for power.

Because Talos was greedy, he would never turn the rain-forest of Cyrodiil into what it was in Oblivion. So it reverted back. All the people of Cyrodiil ever knew was that they lived in a jungle, with elves as their rulers. The Thalmor start resemble the Aylieds, with the non-Thalmor resembling their slaves. The Thalmor attack the Psiijic Order and rumours say they have transported all their treasure to the Summerset Isles. Strange things start happening in [any province other than Skyrim/Morrowind/Black Marsh], with the talk of pieces of Daedric realms appearing in the province, along with rumours of a gigantic Dwemer golem appearing...

And so begins TES VI.

I don't know how to respond to this without sounding ... harsh ?

Meh, i'm not saying me in charge of TES lore would be a good decision.

If I were in charge of TES lore, we'd know the average daily diet of a Colovian sorghum farmer circa the Ayleid conquest of the heartland; the chain of Ahemmusa Ashkhans following the return of the Nerevarine; and the relationship between six and the divine during Reman's imperium.

And If I was in charge of hiring the lore director I'd hire you. Continuity in elderscrolls? I'm in.

Yes please. Two helpings of that.

Everyone else: Greats posts too, I'm sure, but I haven't read all of them because ugh so much text and I'm so lazy.

If I was in charge of TES lore, I'd junk all plans for new DLC and games and focus all efforts on revamping Morrowind with Skyrim's engine, grab about 500 more voice actors, redo all the combat and magic to perform like Skyrim (but keep all the old spells and spell making system of course). Then I'd happily entomb myself with the finished product until I was convinced that there was no outside world.

*edit*

I'd then redo Oblivion in the same way, but change the intro cinematic to Talos reciting a full version of "Many-Headed Talos", while showing jungles transforming to deciduous forests.

...and then Nibenese cultists having their face tattoos painfully removed with lazer-thu'um.