The Story so far

• Posted by Paul October 21, 2011 - 816 views

  A couple of people have asked for one of our trademark The Skyrim Blog lore summary posts to help those who have not necessarily played previous Elder Scrolls games - or if they did - they paid little attention to the lore. Since it seems to be my lore posts that have piqued people's interest in this stuff, I did feel a little bit of an obligation to do so  So here it is then...the story so far.

  ARENA

  The first Elder Scrolls game was Arena, released for the PC in 1994. It was originally intended to be a game based on gladiatorial combat around Tamriel, but shifted in development to be a role playing game. Paradoxically, the game eventually shipped with no Arena at all...

  The events of the game surround the imprisonment of Emperor Uriel Septim VII (yes...the same guy portrayed by Patrick Stewart in Oblivion) in the year 3E389. The Imperial Battlemage, Jagar Thorn, imprisoned Uriel in the Oblivion realm, and took his place by the use of Illusion magic. During this period, known as the Imperial Simulacrum, the Empire fell into war and chaos.

  The role of the player in Arena is to find the eight scattered pieces of The Staff of Chaos, defeat Jagar in a climactic battle in the Imperial City and restore the rightful Emperor to this throne.

  DAGGERFALL

  The story continues in the second instalment of The Elder Scrolls released in 1996. In this game, the player is able to explore the provinces of High Rock and Hammerfell, which was populated with thousands of NPCs, dungeons, cities and towns - although most were randomly generated.

  The main quest in Daggerfall starts in 3E405 with freeing the ghost of the late King Lysandus. But thats only the start - it transpires Lysandus's mother, Nulfaga, knows the location of the Mantella, the key to resurrecting the first Numidium, a powerful iron golem. The Emperor gives the player the task of locating this object, enabling the Blades to finish the construction of the Numidium. At the conclusion of the twisting quest - involving Mannimarco and the Underking - the player is given multiple choices - there are six possible endings to the game.

  BATTLESPIRE

  Released in 1997, Battlespire was the first and only game in a series called The Elder Scrolls Legends which was then abandoned. It is unique in the Elder Scrolls universe as it contained a multi-player element, played on what later became the Gamespy Network.

  The story in Battlespire, such as it was, concerned an Imperial Battlemage who was charged with battling through successive realms of Oblivion, battling Daedra and confronting Mehrunes Dagon. Funny that the main quest of Oblivion was pre-figured by this largely forgotten game.

  REDGUARD

  This game was the only game released in The Elder Scrolls Adventures series and came out in 1998. It was an action-adventure game rather than an RPG, and delved back into the past - it was set in 2E864 and concerned the adventures of a Redguard called Cyrus who arrives on the Island of Stros M'kai to rescue his sister.

  MORROWIND

  After the experiments of Battlespire and Redguard, it seemed that Bethesda realised that their talents lay in RPGs and they started development of the third instalment of their main franchise, eventually releasing Morrowind in 2002.

  This game is firmly rooted in the lore of the Dunmer people, and is set on the island of Vvardenfell, in the province of Morrowind, the home province of the Dark Elves. While Morrowind contains many storylines, the central plot revolves around the reincarnation of the Chimer hero, Indoril Nerevar. The incarnate of Nerevar, referred to as "The Nerevarine", has been prophesied to oppose and defeat the rise of the malevolent deity Dagoth Ur and the remnants of his followers. These followers are encompassed in a forbidden faction named "The Sixth House", and are mainly located within the volcanic region of Red Mountain in the center of Vvardenfell.

  The story takes place in the year 3E427. The player works with the Blades and the nomadic Ashlander peoples of the Northern part of the island, eventually being revealed as the Nerevarine. With the help of the god Vivec, he is able to enter Dagoth Ur's domain and destroy using ancient artefacts Wraithguard, Sunder and Keening. Having defeated Dagoth, the 'blight' which affects much of the island is ended, and the player becomes the hero of the land.

  TRIBUNAL

  Released later in 2002, this expansion to Morrowind takes place on the mainland of Morrowind, in the capital city of Mournhold. This is reached by teleportation, although the story is triggered by the Dark Brotherhood sending agents to Vvardenfell to kill the player character.

  Once Mournhold is reached, the storey revolves around the two other members of the Tribunal of Dunmer deities - Sotha Sil and Almalexia (Vivec having been encountered already). By destroying the Heart of Lorkhan and killing Almalexia, the player continues fulfilling the Nerevarine prophecies, in particular—the death of the Almsivi Tribunal.

  BLOODMOON

  The second expansion for Morrowind took place on the northern island of Solstheim. The story revolves around 'the Bloodmoon Prophecy', a ritualistic hunt led by the Daedric PrinceHircine. Hircine takes the four greatest champions on Solstheim - including the player - to his glacier home, where they must fight until only one is still living.

  OBLIVION

  The fourth game in The Elder Scrolls franchise was Oblivion released in 2006 and takes place in the province of Cyrodiil in 3E433, just six years after the events portrayed in Morrowind

  In this game, the Daedric Prince, Mehrunes Dagon working through agents of the Mythic Dawn murder Emperor Uriel Septim VII and his sons, and steal the legendary artefact the Amulet of Kings, thus preventing the lighting of the Dragonfires in the Temple of the One.

  All seems lost until the player character is charged with the locating of the last heir, Martin Septim, and then working with him to thwart Mehrunes Dagon, recover the Amulet and eventually close the portal to the Oblivion realm. Martin Septim is eventually able to sacrifice himself by shattering the Amulet, merging himself with the spirit of Akatosh, the Dragon-God of Time, becoming his avatar. High Chancellor Ocato of the Elder Council proclaims the player Champion of Cyrodiil

  KNIGHTS OF THE NINE

  This DLC pack for Oblivion is integrated into the game world of the main game, focussed on a faction of the same name, devoted to locating and preserving a set of "Crusaders' Relics". Once found, these relics must be used to defeat the sorcerer-king Umaril, who seeks revenge on the Nine Divines.

  Whilst not really adding to the world of Oblivion this add-on was generally well received as worthy - albeit brief - filling out of the main game.

  THE SHIVERING ISLES

  This expansion for Oblivion took the player to the Daedric realm of Sheogorath, the God of Madness. The player becomes Sheogorath's protégé, and together they try to defeat the Daedric Lord of Order, Jyggalag, thus preventing the isles from being destroyed.

  With a large range of side quests, an innovative and engaging artistic design - with two contrasting parts of the Isles with distinctive design - this add-on was highly regarded by most Elder Scrolls fans.

  Whilst the main quest didn't really develop the lore, it enabled us to enter fully into the realm of one of the most interesting of the Daedric Princes for a fully developed and deep series of quests.

  OK, so thats a brief-ish summary of 'the story so far'. If you want to know more then please ask in the comments and myself or someone else will try and help you out.
  In the meantime, here is a video which puts together the trailers from most of the games mentioned here and shows the HUGE progression in graphics that has taken place from 1993 through to the present day.