Bosmer Lore Question

k9mouse

I understand about the Bosmer's "Green Pack" deal and what it does and why that race made it to the "Nature God"

I do not understand the horns on their heads and if that part of accepted TES lore or something new that ZOS made up for ESO. I do not remember seeing that reference in any ingame book in the single player games.

Can a Bosmer lore expert can help to understand that aspect of lore better? Thanks

Glurin

"The Green Pact with the Forest God known as Y'ffre, the spirit of the now, is the agreement where the Bosmer promised never to harm or eat the vegetation of Valenwood, in return for Y'ffre's patronage.[13][19] To this day, they have little more than foot paths connecting their tiny settlements in Valenwood's sparsely populated forests.[1][20] In return, Y'ffre grants them the power to maintain their form and not constantly change their form as in the Dawn Era, while also permitting to them to return to that state if a significant number of Bosmer perform a ritual.[19][21] "

uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Bosmer

"Y'ffre (God of the Forest): Most important deity of the Bosmeri pantheon. While Auri-El Time Dragon might be the king of the gods, the Bosmer revere Y'ffre as the spirit of 'the now'. According to the Wood Elves, after the creation of the mortal plane everything was in chaos. The first mortals were turning into plants and animals and back again."

uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Varieties_of_Faith...

So basically, the horns are likely sort-of leftovers from the shape shifting, but was never really represented in the character models in previous titles. ESO had an opportunity to do it now thanks to Valenwood being a location you can visit in the game.

Sarenia

It's just a normal racial trait that some have. Just like their cat-like eyes.

It's in the TES lore, and unless I'm misremembering it was in at least one of the older games too (re: not Skyrim).

Edit - Oh, good post from Glurin up there.

k9mouse

@‌Glurin
Thanks, I was thinking that what was happening -- who do think of them in the game? Lore and graphic model wise?

Lord_Hev

*Green Pact.


Remnants of their bestial origins. They used to literally be monsters and animals. The purest/most nature-attuned/Most devout/etc, etc. Bosmer would have horns/antlers. You need to keep in mind one important thing here, the Bosmer were once -literally- ever-random-changing monsters. Those that follow the Green Pact ensure the Bosmer remain Bosmer.

If all the Bosmer suddenly unanimously broke the Green Pact, they'd go extinct by forever losing their now stable form.


They used to have horns in TES Morrowind.

k9mouse

Isn't the Bosmer an off shoot from the Altmer? (Almost all mer in the game are related to them in some way) -- Am I mistaking on my lore?

Glurin

k9mouse wrote: »

@‌Glurin
Thanks, I was thinking that what was happening -- who do think of them in the game? Lore and graphic model wise?

They're wood elves. What more is there to be said? I think it fits them quite well.

Lord_Hev

k9mouse wrote: »

Isn't the Bosmer an off shoot from the Altmer? (Almost all mer in the game are related to them in some way) -- Am I mistaking on my lore?

In a manner of speaking. But that's an Altmeri view-point[they intermingled with humans and became short]

The Aldmer that mingled with the vast forests[The now Bosmer/No longer Aldmer/ therefore not-Altmer] became animals. Then they became Bosmer through the Green Pact. This is the simplest bare-bones way of explaining it I think.

All mer whom left Aldmeris became an "off-shoot" ... including even the Altmer no matter how much they deny it... It's just that the Altmer remained the least changed out of the others.

k9mouse

@Lord_Hev
I think I understand now Thanks =D

Rosveen

The antlers are wonderful and I hope they make it into the next single player game, especially if it's set in/near their homeland. But it might be that they started disappearing over time, as Morrowind had only tiny horns and the following games didn't have any.

Lord_Hev

Rosveen wrote: »

The antlers are wonderful and I hope they make it into the next single player game, especially if it's set in/near their homeland. But it might be that they started disappearing over time, as Morrowind had only tiny horns and the following games didn't have any.

That's just Bethesda getting lazy. Hopefully ZOS sparks some new inspiration.