Snow Elves (Falmer)

TheArchMagister · May 27

I know the Falmer is a lost race and very rare, but I hope we can delve deeper into the lore of these elves and get to meet a few living ones in a new chapter in ESO in the future. Maybe when Winterhold or Whiterun come out? There is minimal information, unlike the Deep Elves. If we can see a new Deadric Prince appear suddenly, anything is possible. Wouldn't that be a plot twist if the Dwemer also became extinct because of the Snow Elves, as if it were a stalemate? It would also be nice to see an outfit style and furniture from the ancient Falmer civilisation rather than just the "betrayed" Falmer. I know I'm not the only fan of the Snow Elves, and while I like the mystery, I think it's time we got some more answers!

Syldras · May 28

TheArchMagister wrote: »

Wouldn't that be a plot twist if the Dwemer also became extinct because of the Snow Elves, as if it were a stalemate?

I think that's rather unlikely.

Generally speaking, I'd love to see more Falmer lore. Same goes for Dwemer. I feel that the upcoming chapter would have been a wonderful chance to do this without interfering with the lore of older single player TES games that are settled later on the timeline. Imagine Ithelia would have warped reality so much that we could look at a version of Tamriel where Falmer never went extinct, where the Dwemer never disappeared, maybe even a Morrowind full of Daedra worshipping Chimer, where the Tribunal never came to power and Azura never cursed them. Basically Resdayn before the War of the First Council. Even if it would have been only during the main quest, and everything turned back to normal again at the end of the story, it would have been really interesting. I'm afraid ZOS went for an easier way, or am I wrong? I haven't played the main quest on PTS, so I don't know.

ClowdyAllDay · May 29

Snow elves are no mystery they are vampires and the dwarves stole their eyes offering to protect them from the nords and then the dwarves were all soul trapped into their god numidium and they left the planet and woe to whoever that beast comes across because every soul trapped contraption always goes nuts. may that thing never return to nirn but fly into the nearest star and burn uo. no mystery about it.

Syldras · May 29

ClowdyAllDay wrote: »

Snow elves are no mystery they are vampires

In Skyrim we meet two who were not changed to cave-dwelling eyeless monsters: Vyrtur is indeed a vampire, but his brother Gelebor is not.

ClowdyAllDay wrote: »

the dwarves were all soul trapped into their god numidium

That's one theory, but there's no proof for it.

ClowdyAllDay · May 29

Syldras wrote: »

ClowdyAllDay wrote: »

Snow elves are no mystery they are vampires

In Skyrim we meet two who were not changed to cave-dwelling eyeless monsters: Vyrtur is indeed a vampire, but his brother Gelebor is not.

ClowdyAllDay wrote: »

the dwarves were all soul trapped into their god numidium

That's one theory, but there's no proof for it.

In the conversations with the two last snow elves it's revealed that all the falmer were changed into mindless vampires... though they seem to have plenty of mind to attack.

You want proof for numidium? Yah i don't want that proof. keep that thing away from me.

OtarTheMad · May 29

I would love more Snow Elf stuff. ESO has already expanded on the lore with the ruins beneath Fort Greenwall, the Snow-Cedar trees they bred, the snow elf story about one of them changing souls with an Frost Atronach and freezing inside a glacier and so much more.

There was a point in TES lore where we didn’t know much about Dwemer, then after TES 3 lore just exploded and stuff kept getting added. So here’s hoping the same happens with Snow Elves.

Hope is that the remaining Skyrim zones like Winterhold, Dawnstar and Whiterun have something. Winterhold zone would make the most sense because most of it was destroyed in the 4th era so you could extend the coast of Winterhold as far as you wanted and it would make complete sense.

Also, Falmer did rebel against the Dwemer in the War of the Crag, underground war no one saw. It was happening at the same time that Dunmer and Nords were fighting against them too. No wonder Kagrenac took a chance.

Syldras · May 29

ClowdyAllDay wrote: »

In the conversations with the two last snow elves it's revealed that all the falmer were changed into mindless vampires... though they seem to have plenty of mind to attack.

I can't remember the wording of those dialogues (it's years ago since I last played that DLC). My first association when I hear "vampires" in the context of TES is the type that descends from Molag Bal or Lamae Bal, which is certainly not the case when it comes to Falmer. Anyway, it seems that OP wants to learn more about the culture of the Snow Elves before they were changed. And that's indeed something I would find interesting.

ClowdyAllDay wrote: »

You want proof for numidium? Yah i don't want that proof. keep that thing away from me.

Isn't it currently defective, anyway? I think there's some dialogue from Sheogorath about it in ESO? Also, even if we'd see it in ESO, it would still be no proof for the Dwemer having vanished inside of it (or however it should be called; I know the theory that the Dwemer became its "skin" somehow).

OtarTheMad · May 29

Syldras wrote: »

ClowdyAllDay wrote: »

In the conversations with the two last snow elves it's revealed that all the falmer were changed into mindless vampires... though they seem to have plenty of mind to attack.

I can't remember the wording of those dialogues (it's years ago since I last played that DLC). My first association when I hear "vampires" in the context of TES is the type that descends from Molag Bal or Lamae Bal, which is certainly not the case when it comes to Falmer. Anyway, it seems that OP wants to learn more about the culture of the Snow Elves before they were changed. And that's indeed something I would find interesting.

ClowdyAllDay wrote: »

You want proof for numidium? Yah i don't want that proof. keep that thing away from me.

Isn't it currently defective, anyway? I think there's some dialogue from Sheogorath about it in ESO? Also, even if we'd see it in ESO, it would still be no proof for the Dwemer having vanished inside of it (or however it should be called; I know the theory that the Dwemer became its "skin" somehow).

Arch Curate said that an infected Initiate infected him. So most likely not all infected. Vyrthur was the one who changed some of the “Betrayed” into vamps .

wenchmore420b14_ESO · May 29

The history and lore of the Snow Elves are fairly well documented and not that much of a mystery. Below are some excellent
lore videos on them. Imperial Library.net will also have every book from every game on the subject.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcnPMNRamTo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmvU9XcX1MU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp6koYs0UJk
https://en.uesp.net/w/index.php?title=Special:Search&search=snow+elves&button=&searchToken=4mb9xzfqepl858xbycwc2pjyy

As far as the Dwemer and theories, they will remain a mystery with no "for sure" answer to what happened to them.
Hope these will help.
Huzzah!

Soarora · May 29

Something people may forget is that in Skyrim, we do get the idea that perhaps there are other living Snow Elves scattered around. Those 2 are just the 2 that they themselves know of that’s still alive. As much as I want to say it’d be best for a main TES game to deal with, ESO might actually be the play since it’s so far in the past and covers far more area. We’ve also had multiple quests about time travel. That said, I don’t think I’m pleased with the current lore direction of ESO so maybe snow elves shouldn’t be touched for now.

OtarTheMad · May 29

Soarora wrote: »

Something people may forget is that in Skyrim, we do get the idea that perhaps there are other living Snow Elves scattered around. Those 2 are just the 2 that they themselves know of that’s still alive. As much as I want to say it’d be best for a main TES game to deal with, ESO might actually be the play since it’s so far in the past and covers far more area. We’ve also had multiple quests about time travel. That said, I don’t think I’m pleased with the current lore direction of ESO so maybe snow elves shouldn’t be touched for now.

Agreed. Gelebor said that they had Temples for each of the Gods they worshipped, just that The Chantry was the biggest. The Chantry wasn’t even built until the 1st Era which shows that they knew how to hide new settlements. So they had at least 4 other Temples hidden around Skyrim that the Nords, or anyone, ever found. Maybe we can find them in this game? That’d be cool.

TheMasterMeme · May 30

I would love if maybe at some point in a future chapter/dlc would involve Winterhold to see what Winterhold looks like in the 2nd Era before the great collapse of the city in the 4th Era. It could also be interesting to see Solstheim again as well maybe.

Perhaps in some way zos could find a way to give some more snow elf lore insights as well, and some ancient falmer structural furnishings/styles/motifs would be nice for housing/fashion.

TheMasterMeme · May 30

There is also this interesting book which was added with the gold road chapter

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:The_Ship_of_Ice

TheNuminous1 · May 30

TheMasterMeme wrote: »

There is also this interesting book which was added with the gold road chapter
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:The_Ship_of_Ice

I'm calling it now. Winterhold chapter 2025

Syldras · May 30

TheNuminous1 wrote: »

I'm calling it now. Winterhold chapter 2025

Not neccessarily. It seems to be from a big collection of books related to scribing that mention all kinds of places all across Tamriel?
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Scholarium_Scribblings
Although there seems to be a focus on Nord and Dunmer. But since I haven't done these quests on PTS, I can't say whether that might just be related to the questgivers or scribing background lore.

prof-dracko · May 31

ClowdyAllDay wrote: »

Syldras wrote: »

ClowdyAllDay wrote: »

Snow elves are no mystery they are vampires

In Skyrim we meet two who were not changed to cave-dwelling eyeless monsters: Vyrtur is indeed a vampire, but his brother Gelebor is not.

ClowdyAllDay wrote: »

the dwarves were all soul trapped into their god numidium

That's one theory, but there's no proof for it.

In the conversations with the two last snow elves it's revealed that all the falmer were changed into mindless vampires... though they seem to have plenty of mind to attack.

You want proof for numidium? Yah i don't want that proof. keep that thing away from me.

Only some of the Falmer in the Forgotten Vale are vampires. Not every single one.

Valpro · June 1

It definitely falls under the category of anythings possible. At the same time, I'm not going to be upset if it doesn't happen.

TheArchMagister · June 1

I would very much like to see what their culture was like or more of their architecture and skills. We see that with every elf (Morrowind, Summerset, Valenwood - even the Ayleids and Sea Elves.) The numerous Dwarven ruins provide insights into the Dwarves, and although we see a little bit in Skyrim, we don't get a good impression of the Ancient Falmer.

So, were the Falmer gifted with magic? What magic did they use? How did they rival the Altmer? Maybe out of jealousy of the Falmer, the Altmer influenced the Nords to take over Skyrim... What was the continent called before Skyrim? No old maps anywhere? What crafting material would they use?

WhiteCoatSyndrome · June 2

TheArchMagister wrote: »

So, were the Falmer gifted with magic?

At least one was.

OtarTheMad · June 2

TheArchMagister wrote: »

I would very much like to see what their culture was like or more of their architecture and skills. We see that with every elf (Morrowind, Summerset, Valenwood - even the Ayleids and Sea Elves.) The numerous Dwarven ruins provide insights into the Dwarves, and although we see a little bit in Skyrim, we don't get a good impression of the Ancient Falmer.

So, were the Falmer gifted with magic? What magic did they use? How did they rival the Altmer? Maybe out of jealousy of the Falmer, the Altmer influenced the Nords to take over Skyrim... What was the continent called before Skyrim? No old maps anywhere? What crafting material would they use?

I would have loved to see some of the ruins that we run into in Snowy areas that were Dwemer or Ayleid be Snow Elf instead. Especially in Wrothgar seeing as it’s so close to the Chantry.

As for magic and other stuff I’ve seen this new article on UESP, at least I don’t remember it before.

https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Snow_Elf_Empire

As for what material they used, at least for armor Skyrim files give us a bit of a hint that they might have used Ivory and moonstone but that isn’t confirmed. In Creation Kit the Ancient Falmer armor has an EditorID of “Ivory Armor” if I remember correctly anyway.

Nissowolf · June 2

to see snow elves ? pls send help.

TheArchMagister · June 5

I also wonder if their magic was responsible for creating wayshrines. Perhaps they wielded a form of astral magic?

Syldras · June 5

TheArchMagister wrote: »

I also wonder if their magic was responsible for creating wayshrines. Perhaps they wielded a form of astral magic?

You may find this interesting - not about Falmer, but about wayshrines and how they function in general:
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Wayshrines

vytis96 · June 10

In the epilogue mission when all people come to celebrate, Pim (goblin researcher) says that she wants to research Rieklings. So she will travel north to Solsthein or Winterhold.

Syldras · June 11

vytis96 wrote: »

In the epilogue mission when all people come to celebrate, Pim (goblin researcher) says that she wants to research Rieklings. So she will travel north to Solsthein or Winterhold.

Which can, but doesn't neccessarily mean that next year's chapter will take place there. Lyris already mentioned going to Skingrad in the Markarth DLC, which was released in November 2020.

prof-dracko · June 11

Syldras wrote: »

vytis96 wrote: »

In the epilogue mission when all people come to celebrate, Pim (goblin researcher) says that she wants to research Rieklings. So she will travel north to Solsthein or Winterhold.

Which can, but doesn't neccessarily mean that next year's chapter will take place there. Lyris already mentioned going to Skingrad in the Markarth DLC, which was released in November 2020.

An area she's notably absent from, as well.

Syldras · June 11

prof-dracko wrote: »

An area she's notably absent from, as well.

Well, she visited 3 and a half years ago, so what do you expect

I can imagine they maybe thought about including her into some quest about participants of Varen's Rebellion (which gets mentioned quite often), but then forgot about her...