Lore:Tamriel

, also known as Taazokaan in the    and the Arena  , is one of the continents on  . In   Tamriel translates as '''Dawn's Beauty'''. Tamriel is a great melting pot of   and  ; it is home to at least a dozen races, with dozens more having died out or changed.   
 
 
History
Much of Tamriel's   is known and documented, but large swathes are still unknown, particularly the periods known as the Dawn Era and the Merethic Era. Tamriel's very beginning can be traced to the  , when the wandering   fought the Ehlnofey who remained settled in their former home. During this war the original singular landmass of Nirn was broken apart into at least four major landmasses&mdash;Tamriel,  ,  , and  .  The wandering Ehlnofey were ancestors to all  , while the settled Ehlnofey were co-ancestors with the   to all  . It was at the end of the Dawn Era that the   of Aldmeris began to diverge along cultural and biological lines, starting the process that would lead to the modern mer races.

In the middle of the Merethic Era an unknown threat caused the Aldmeri to leave   and head towards Tamriel. They colonized many islands along its coast before settling on  . Later they started moving inland, settling many areas in southwest and central Tamriel. Wherever the Aldmer settled they displaced the primitive   (the ancestors of today's  s, etc.).  During this time the Ayleids built   and eight lesser towers around it.  Through powerful machinations and the position as the 'spoke' of the wheel within the lesser towers, White-Gold Tower became a very powerful tool&mdash;it is said that the tower is what stops Mundus falling back into Oblivion. 

Traditionally, the late Merethic Era is the time that men begin to appear on Tamriel.  This is not strictly true, as many races of men&mdash;such as the feathered men that   encountered, or a human race in  &mdash;already resided on Tamriel.   Instead this time is taken as the period when the men of Atmora came in force to occupy and settle whole-scale on Tamriel.  These  s were the ancestors of the  s. While many of the original races of men died out, many of them interbred enough to become one race known as the  s.  The conquering of northern Tamriel was sparked by the decline of Atmora and its eventual loss to a catastrophic change of climate from one that supported life to one of 'permanent winter' where no life could survive for long. 

The   at the end of the Merethic Era ended the reign of the  s.  In the third century of the   the   saw the humans of   overthrow their slavers, the  , marking the point at which humans began to dominate Tamrielic history.  St.   made a covenant with   to create the  . The covenant stated that so long as one of Alessia's heirs wore the amulet, the realms of   would be cut off from Nirn. 

Near the end of the seventh century, in  ,   erupted for the first time in recorded history. 32 years later the   occurred, in which the   fought the   on  . The end of the war came when all Dwemer simply vanished from Tamriel, leaving behind their many artifacts and strongholds. After the war the   took over Morrowind, and shortly after that the Chimer were changed into the  . 

The continent of   sank in  , so its peoples, the  s emigrated to the area now known as  .  The nature of the disaster is unknown but many natives think it was self-inflicted.  The Yokudans, after conquering Hammerfell, took on many of the customs of the Ayleids, and after many centuries in the harsh desert conditions evolved into modern day  s.

In   the   claimed the lives of more than half of Tamriel's population. The losses were concentrated to the west and south. The plague was particularly hard on the   of  . From sixteen harmonious kingdoms and twenty different types of Khajiit, the plague left them with catpower to form only two kingdoms. The often vastly different outlooks from the various kingdoms all shoved together led to conflict.  In response to the Plague the   was formed to exact revenge on the  . This was the first time all nations on Tamriel had worked together and it would have profound implications that would last for eras. In   the   from Akavir invaded Tamriel.   and   united to defeat them. The leader of the armies,  , went on to found the Second Empire, which brought all the nations of Tamriel, except Morrowind, under the Empire's control as provinces until 2E 430. 

In   the   spread from   through the lower provinces and then into the other provinces killing many people.  s were immune to the disease, leading to speculation they were responsible, but this proved to be incorrect. While the disease killed almost all non-Argonians in Black Marsh it was not as devastating elsewhere, though it did wipe out entire cities, religions, and cultures.  The Knahaten Flu had a big impact on events of the next three decades. The Altmer gave aid to the suffering Khajiit, who out of gratitude joined the  . The ruling family of Wayrest was wiped out, leading to   becoming king. Emeric spent the next fifteen years expanding the newly signed   to include  's neighbors in Hammerfell and  . The Argonians then banded together, as an equal partner, with the Nords and Dunmer in the  , to protect their interests against the other two alliances. 

In   the   broke out. Tensions had been simmering between the three alliances and the  , but the   and the   threw them into open conflict to try and gain control of the Ruby Throne and save Nirn from  . Molag Bal's plan was foiled but the outcome of the war for the throne is unknown.  From   to 854 a series of wars led by   and   led to the formation of the   under Tiber's rule. In 2E 896 Tiber conquered the Summerset Isles and for the first time all the provinces of Tamriel were united under one banner. The significance of the event led Tiber to declare a new era. 

In   the   occurred. Due to a lack of Alessian heirs to wear the Amulet of Kings, the Dragonfires died out.   attempted to invade Tamriel, destroying   and the  . The Crisis ended when an illegitimate heir sacrificed himself to call Akatosh and defeat Dagon.  It was claimed that Nirn could not ever be invaded again by daedra from Oblivion. When the Crisis was over a new era was announced, making the Third Era the shortest complete era to date.

At the start of the Fourth Era Red Mountain erupted again. This time it destroyed the entire island and devastated the rest of Morrowind. The Argonians then invaded and unleashed their anger at centuries of oppression and slavery on the survivors, only being stopped on the banks of the  .  During the early Fourth Era the Empire started to crumble and then in 4E 48  , a floating island from Oblivion appeared. The island made its way over Black Marsh to Morrowind, before turning and heading straight for the White-Gold Tower, causing massive devastation along the way. The island was summoned by a rogue   tree to kill all non-native Argonians, but quickly went its own way after appearing. The island was eventually stopped by the efforts of Prince   and  . It disappeared leaving behind hordes of corpses by the walls of the  . 

From   to 175 the   between the   and the remainder of the Empire raged across Tamriel. The Thalmor leaders of the third  , believed that mer should rule the continent, while the men who currently occupy the throne think different. The terms of the current peace treaty drove Hammerfell to abandon the Empire, and a civil war broke out in Skyrim&mdash;the result of which will determine if Skyrim will also secede. 

Provinces
There are nine distinct provinces, each home to one of the more populous races of Tamriel. A proposed tenth province, Orsinium, has never been taken very seriously except by those who want it, namely the Orcs, who wish to have a home province of their own. 

Cyrodiil
 
Black Marsh
 
Elsweyr
 
Hammerfell
 
High Rock
 
Morrowind
 
Skyrim
 
Summerset Isles
 
Valenwood
 

Gallery
 

Notes
According to ''Arena Player's Guide, the continent of Tamriel is sized roughly: 3000 to 4000 kilometers from east to west, and 2000 to 3000 kilometers from north to south. If you compare this to measurements presented in the later lore and or marketing materials advertising worldscales, the Arena'' measurements aren't consistent. However, Todd Howard has indicated that the Arena manual can be a rather authoritative source when it establishes something specific -- towering above other later references in some cases... 
The first Pocket Guide to the Empire states "the peak [of Dagoth Ur] can be seen from Almalexia, 250 miles to the south". While calculations derived from this figure can differ wildly due to various factors, including what map of Tamriel is used, they will always result in Tamriel's size being significantly smaller than what is given by the ''Arena Player's Guide.
In the opening text of the Elder Scrolls: Arena, it is stated that Tamriel had become a place where "life and death were different sides of the same coin tossed every day," and for this reason they referred to Tamriel as the "Arena," suggesting that Tamriel was a place you struggled in to survive. 

References