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Atmora
Type Continent
Continent Atmora
Demonym(s) Atmoran, Altmoran

Atmora, or Altmora in Aldmeris, (meaning "Elder Wood"),[1][2][3] and referred to as "the land of truth" by Atmorans,[4] is a continent north of Tamriel, where tradition has it that the first humans came from in ancient days.[5][6] It is the ancestral land for all humans,[7]:155 including the Nedic peoples,[2] the ancestors of the Cyrodilians, Bretons, and Nords.[8]

The continent once supported a substantial populace,[9] before being smothered by frost in an event known as "the Frostfall", gradually dying to the ever-worsening climate, becoming a place of permanent winter with little life and no sign of human habitation,[10][11] and perhaps even freezing it in time.[UOL 1] Though the exact cause of the event is unknown, one tale attributes it to the Snow Elves commanding dire magic as vengeance for the genocide of their people at the hands of the Atmorans.[11]

The only known peoples inhabiting anywhere north of Tamriel, and indeed close to Atmora, in modernity are the Sea Giants, sailing the waters of the Sea of Ghosts.[12][13]

HistoryEdit

What little is known of Atmora is derived mainly from myth and legend. The Anuad creation myth from the Mythic Era claims the land now known as Atmora was originally part of a larger landmass encompassing all of Nirn with interspersed seas, but no oceans, and became a separate continent as a result of a war between the Wandering and Old Ehlnofey that reshaped the face of the world, sinking much of the land beneath new oceans, with the Wandering of Atmora becoming the Nords.[14] The more modern Monomyth suggests that after Lorkhan made armies out of the weakest souls of the Ehlnofey and named them Men, they chased the descendants of the Ehlnofey, the Aldmer, out of Altmora, south and east to Old Ehlnofey, and he shattered the land into many.[3] According to Nordic beliefs, men were formed on the Throat of the World when the sky breathed onto the land, before making Atmora their new homeland.[9] The Altmeri faith teaches that Auri-El led the original Aldmer against the armies of Lorkhan in mythic times, vanquishing him and establishing the first elven kingdoms of the Altmer, Altmora and Old Ehlnofey. Atmoran myths hold that the Nords were led by Shor, Stuhn, and Tsun to victory over their Aldmeri oppressors time and again.[15]

 
Ysgramor

Regardless of their origins, it was a not a single invasion that the first humans came to Tamriel from Atmora, but a series of them over hundreds of years, creating many different Nedic cultures, the new-arrived Atmorans always clashing with the generations that had already established themselves.[6] For centuries, Tamriel had served as a "safety valve" for Atmorans who, for whatever reason, could not stay in Atmora, making the difficult crossing from their homeland to the "New World". It was in the Late Merethic Era, fleeing civil war, a fleet of Atmorans lead by Ysgramor migrated and settled in northern Tamriel, landing at Hsaarik Head at the extreme northern tip of Skyrim's Broken Cape, naming the land "Mereth" after the native Elves.[2][8][9]

 
The ruins of Saarthal

There, the settlers throve in the new land, summoning more of their kin from Atmora to build the city Saarthal, in the vicinity of modern Winterhold. For a time, relations between the Atmorans and the Elves were harmonious, until the Elves fell upon the city, burning it and driving out the settlers in what became known as the Night of Tears. The only survivors of the brutalities of Saarthal were Ysgramor and his two sons, Yngol and Ylgar, who fought free of the carnage and escaped to Atmora,[2][9][16], where they assembled the Five Hundred Companions and led the Return to seek vengeance upon the Elves.[2][9]

The massive shipyards of the Atmoran port of Jylkurfyk were commissioned to build a fleet that would carry the Companions across the Sea of Ghosts, including Darumzu, Harakk,[16], and Jorrvaskr.[17] When Ysgramor and his Companions finally landed at Hsaarik Head on Tamriel's northern coast, they drove the elves from northern Tamriel and then went on to defeat them on the island of Solstheim.[18] The territory the Companions conquered formed the precursor of modern-day Skyrim.

Under the reign of Ysgramor's descendant High King Harald in the second and third centuries of the First Era, Skyrim was consolidated as an independent kingdom. Harald relinquished all of his holdings in Atmora, and Atmoran mercenaries left Skyrim and purportedly returned to their homeland.[8][9] Atmorans would continue to travel to Skyrim over the following centuries, notably including Ysmir Wulfharth, but in declining numbers.[19][20] The last Atmoran "invasion" of Tamriel was recorded in 1E 68, when two Atmoran ships laden with corpses begged to make port in Tamriel.[10] The last purported emigrant from Atmora known to history is Tiber Septim in the ninth century of the Second Era; legends relate that he sailed to Skyrim and spent his youth among the Nords.[21][22]

ClimateEdit

It was around the time of Ysgramor's migration that Atmora began to undergo an inexplicable shift in climate, the harbinger of the continent's demise.[17] Once known as a green, albeit colder land, Atmora was gradually overcome by "the frost fall" and rendered largely uninhabitable,[9] becoming a "frozen continent".[23] There is some suggestion that, as of the early Third Era, Atmora was still inhabited,[24] but expeditions there in the mid- to late-Third Era only found a place of permanent winter with little life and no sign of human habitation. It is believed that Atmora no longer supports any civilized life, and those people who did not leave it for Tamriel ultimately succumbed to the ever-worsening climate.[10] The freezing gales coming from Atmora could be felt as far as Skyrim.[25]

SocietyEdit

 
Atmoran dragon priest garb designed to withstand extreme cold

Early Nordic society is reflective of Atmoran society. Many Nordic customs were inherited from Atmora, and the continent's culture has been highly influential on Tamriel.[10] Atmorans were a sea-faring people, though they purportedly had no knowledge of agriculture and survived off of hunting. The Atmorans were purportedly engaged in ceaseless warfare.[8][10][26] Atmorans were also a pre-literate society and lacked a formal writing system of their own; Ysgramor is credited with developing a runic transcription of Nord speech based on Elvish principles, and is consequently considered the first human historian.[2] While Atmorans were considered one race, it is implied that there were regionally-distinct racial groups, such as the "sinewy long folk" whose "ruddy skin matched the dawn" that inhabited the eastern edge of Atmora.[27]

Atmoran settlers of Tamriel brought with them traditions such as naming ceremonies and their religion of animal worship.[16][28][29] They deified the hawk, wolf, snake, moth, owl, whale, bear, and fox, but preeminent among all animals were the dragons.[29] At the height of the Dragon Cult's influence, before the Dragon War, the dragon priests held as much power as kings, ruling in the stead of the aloof dragons they worshipped. In Atmora, the priests demanded tribute and set down laws and codes of living that kept peace between dragons and men. In Tamriel, however, they reigned as tyrants and made virtual slaves of the rest of the population.[29] Atmorans also passed down myths involving demons, especially Herma-Mora, "the Woodland Man", who would become a part of the Nordic pantheon.[15]

  • Alduin, chief deity of the Dragon Cult

  • Ancient Nordic totem depicting the Hawk

  • Ancient Nordic totem depicting the Wolf

  • Ancient Nordic totem depicting the Snake

  • Ancient Nordic totem depicting the Moth

  • Ancient Nordic totem depicting the Owl

  • Ancient Nordic totem depicting the Whale

  • Ancient Nordic totem depicting the Bear

  • Ancient Nordic totem depicting the Fox

  • Herma-Mora, the Woodland Man

  • Hare associated with Herma-Mora

GeographyEdit

Though a cold continent, Atmora had marshes in the east[30] and forests with running streams.[31]

Notable PlacesEdit

 
The Sea of Ghosts, looking from Skyrim towards Atmora
Atmoran Frostwood
A forest where much game was hunted by Ysgramor.[31] Home to the Goat That Walks Upright, a carnivorous monster once worshipped by the Goat Cult.[32]
Atmoran Strait
A body of water in the Sea of Ghosts, where Yngol and the crew of the Harakk drowned in the Storm of Separation.[33][34]
Forelgrim
The native home of the White Stag.[31]
Jylkurfyk
The largest port on the continent.
Shivering Glacier
In myths it was here that Shor carved a record of his victory over Sneggh and was where Ysgramor wrestled down a Chub Loon.[31][35]

FaunaEdit

Giants are suggested to have also originated from Atmora,[36] supported by when Ysgramor met Giant-Wives there[31] as well as tales of ancient giants and Atmoran titans.[13] The animals that provided the basis for Atmoran talismans, such as bears, wolves, owls, moths, hawks, whales, and snakes, are believed to have lived on the continent. Deer, hares and foxes also lived there.[31] The Chub Loon is theorized to be native to Atmora. According to Nord myth, Atmoran Chub Loons were much larger, standing as tall as two warriors and with a squawk that could start avalanches. Modern Atmoran Chub Loons are much more diminutive in size, comparable to their Tamrielic brethren, but with distinct white plumage and a blue beak.[35] Atmoran Bantam Guar are fur-less, cold-blooded reptiles with icy blue eyes suspected to be from there, though this is considered dubious at best.[37] According to Nord legend, bears originated on the continent of Atmora, leading some to suspect that the Psijic monks went there to find the original model of their Psijic Bear Exemplar.[23] The fiercely noble Atmoran Snow Bears have friendly demeanors while they are young,[38] and are said to have been brought from Atmora by Ysgramor himself, who deemed them the "only worthy avatars" of the ancient Nord Bear totem.[39]

  • Ancient giant

  • Atmoran Chub Loon

  • Atmoran Bantam Guar

  • Atmoran Snow Bear

  • Atmoran Snow Bear cub

  • Atmoran Snow Ursauk

GalleryEdit

  • Jorrvaskr, originally built in Jylkurfyk

  • The names of many original Companions etched into bricks

  • Atmoran stone pillars on Solstheim

  • Talos and the King of Atmora

NotesEdit

See AlsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

  1. ^ Mysterious Akavir
  2. ^ a b c d e f Before the Ages of Man — Aicantar of Shimerene
  3. ^ a b The Monomyth
  4. ^ Notes on Yngol Barrow
  5. ^ Pocket Guide to the Empire, 1st Edition: Prologue — Imperial Geographical Society, 2E 864
  6. ^ a b Pocket Guide to the Empire, 3rd Edition: The Throat of the World: Skyrim — Imperial Geographical Society, 3E 432
  7. ^ The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: Prima Official Game Guide — David Hodgson
  8. ^ a b c d Frontier, Conquest — University of Gwylim Press, 3E 344
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Pocket Guide to the Empire, 1st Edition: Skyrim — Imperial Geographical Society, 2E 864
  10. ^ a b c d e Pocket Guide to the Empire, 3rd Edition: Other Lands — Imperial Geographical Society, 3E 432
  11. ^ a b The Ship of Ice — Kjalsdottir
  12. ^ Sea Giant Predation — Varcent Eardrey
  13. ^ a b Letter to Thane Ogvar — Thunvilde
  14. ^ The Annotated Anuad
  15. ^ a b Varieties of Faith... — Brother Mikhael Karkuxor of the Imperial College
  16. ^ a b c Songs of the Return, Vol 2
  17. ^ a b Songs of the Return, Vol 7
  18. ^ Fall of the Snow Prince — Lokheim
  19. ^ Five Songs of King Wulfharth
  20. ^ Rislav The Righteous — Sinjin
  21. ^ Pocket Guide to the Empire, 1st Edition: Cyrodiil — Imperial Geographical Society, 2E 864
  22. ^ The Arcturian Heresy — The Underking, Ysmir Kingmaker
  23. ^ a b Psijic Bear Exemplar mount description in ESO
  24. ^ The Wolf Queen, v4 — Waughin Jarth
  25. ^ Snowy Sabre Cat mount description in ESO
  26. ^ Songs of the Return, Vol 19
  27. ^ Songs of the Return, vol 24
  28. ^ The Hope of the Redoran — Turiul Nirith
  29. ^ a b c The Dragon War — Torhal Bjorik
  30. ^ The Onus of the Oghma — Phrastus of Elinhir
  31. ^ a b c d e f Fragmentae Abyssum Hermaeus Morus
  32. ^ The Atmoran Cult Writings — Archivist Oriane Pamarc
  33. ^ Broken Statue plaque description
  34. ^ Songs of the Return, Volume 5
  35. ^ a b Atmoran Chub Loon pet description in ESO
  36. ^ Giants: A Discourse — Kord the Curious
  37. ^ Atmoran Bantam Guar pet description in ESO
  38. ^ Atmoran Snow Bear Cub pet description in ESO
  39. ^ Atmoran Snow Bear mount description in ESO

Note: The following references are considered to be unofficial sources. They are included to round off this article and may not be authoritative or conclusive.

  1. ^ Michael Kirkbride's Posts
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