Guys. Ayleids, Chimer, Dwemer - they all looked just the same way - Altmer.

A lot of comments from developers - pre-ESO comments - tell about it. Ayleids are not a separate race. A term "race" is very confusing in TES games - and developers told about it, too.

Race is Aldmer. Tall elves, golden skin. At some moment they just split into several gropus according to their way of life. Some venerated daedra and aedra - they called themselves Ayleids. Those venerating daedra, called themselves Chimer. The ones who denied daedra and aedra called themselves Dwemer. A very simplified explanation, but still. The fact that they have split did not change their appearance at all. Chimer obtained grey skin and red eyes later, because of other reasons than splitting from Aldmer.

Now, feathers. For Aldmer they symbolized their divine background.Artfificial wings, feather gowns are used in Altmer ceremonies. As Ayleids were very conservative - they preserved a lot of original Aldmer traditions - feathers were of great symbolic importance for them. But this does not make them parrot-elves, you know.

Please, do some research on TIL. You'll find all the answers, they are really clear. As Ayleid lore is my favourite one, I did a lot of research on them, so you can trust me, really.

logarifmik wrote: »

They shouldn't. @myskyrim26 gave a good explanation why. Though, I wonder, why Maormers have such a different look. Aren't they Summerset elves relatives? How did they get such appearance then?

We don't have much lore on Maormer background, but some intereting things are available:

Translations of tapestries in the Crystal Tower reveal that the great Maormer race is directly descended from the purest strain of our Aldmeri ancestors. We certainly did not come from Summerset, but originated in our ancestral homeland of Aldmeris. - The Chosen People of Aldmeris

So, they think they are direct "children" of some aedra having that strange appearance - just a guess... Or maybe they were changed like Chimer. Same for Snow Elves - they are pale...

One more hint:

One might further wonder whether the proper classification of these same "races," to use the imprecise but useful term, should be made from the assumption of a common heritage and the differences between them have arisen from magickal experimentation, the manipulations of the so-called "Earth Bones," or from gradual changes from one generation to the next. - Notes on Racial Phylogeny and Biology

I hope some day we'll have more answers on Maormer and Snow Elves