Lore:Bosmer

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The Bosmer are the Elven clan-folk of Valenwood, a forested province in southwestern Tamriel.  In the Empire, they are often referred to as Wood Elves, but Bosmer,  Boiche,  or the Tree-Sap people is what they call themselves.  Bosmer rejected the stiff, formal traditions of Aldmeri high culture, preferring a more romantic, simple existence in harmony with the land and its wild beauty and creatures. They are relatively nimble and quick in body compared to their more "civilized" Altmeri cousins (who often look down upon the Bosmer as unruly and naive). Their agility makes them well-suited as scouts and thieves.  However, they are also a quick-witted folk, and many pursue successful careers in scholarly pursuits or trading.    Bosmer live two to three times as long as humans; with a 200-year-old Bosmer being old and a 300-year-old Bosmer being very, very old.  Though they are considered less influential than some of their Elven brethren, the Bosmer are also relatively prone to producing offspring with 12 being considered average number of children in the family.  As a result, they outnumber all other Mer on Tamriel. 

The best archers in all of Tamriel, the Bosmer snatch and fire arrows in one continuous motion; they are even rumored to have invented the bow.     They have many natural and unique abilities; notably, they can command simple-minded creatures and have a nearly chameleon-like ability to hide in forested areas.   Many in the forests of Valenwood follow the tenets of the Green Pact. These "Green Pact Bosmer" are religiously carnivorous and cannibalistic, and do not harm the vegetation of Valenwood, though they are not averse to using wooden or plant-derived products created by others.     
 

History
Aldmer settlers purportedly arrived in Valenwood long before the First Era. They are remembered as some of the first of the Aldmer to leave Old Ehlnofey.  These settlers found the forests of Valenwood, or the Green, so dense and so inhabited by beasts that they could not hope to tame it, so they had to fight and adapt just to become predators instead of prey.  Their adaption to life in Valenwood is believed to have led to the creation of the Bosmer.    It is said that the city of Arenthia is named after their first King. 

Origin
:The Boiche Elves were of the Earth Bones who most hearkened to Jephre and his greensongs. They did not build a Tower, they grew it, a great graht-oak whose roots sprang from a Perchance Acorn. And this was their Stone. And because the Acorn might perchance have been elsewhere, thus was Green-Sap manifold and several. And each could walk. — Aurbic Enigma 4: The Elden Tree
thumb|right|The Heart of Valenwood
The earliest days of the Bosmer are lost in legend. Some speak of the Ooze, the shape-shifting formlessness from which they came before the Green Pact with Y'ffre.  More obscure legends also suggest that not all Bosmer agreed to the Green Pact, and others wished to keep their shape-shifting abilities. According to legend, Y'ffre turned the Ooze into a kind of purgatory state for these individuals, where they would be stricken from Y'ffre's story upon death and unable to interact with any world or afterlife. Eventually, these dissenters were overcome by the other Bosmer faithful to Y'ffre. These "Oathbreakers" were then buried in Ouze so that they could be imprisoned and protected until the time of renewal.  There's some suggestion that early Bosmer were known for intermarrying with humans. 

The Khajiiti Origin story shares similarities, talking about shapeless beings which were given shape by Y'ffer. (The Khajiiti spelling of Y'ffre) The Khajiiti origin story tells of Azurah taking some of Nirni's shapeless children and turning them into Khajiit, and Y'ffer learning of this and telling Nirni of what Azurah had done. Seeking retribution for her changed and now lost children, Nirni made the land the Khajiit inhospitable. To separate her beloved children from those of Azurah, she allowed Y'ffer to change those who remained so that they would always be of the mer, and never beasts, and named them Bosmer.  

left|thumb|Lore:Valenwood|Valenwood, the land of the Bosmer
Another legend is that the Boiche Elves, made from the   that followed Jephre, grew the first great Graht-oak the out of the Perchance Acorn, which would become Tower of Green-Sap. Due to the nature of the Acorn being, perchance, elsewhere, many different Green-Saps sprung in many different forms, forming the walking Graht-Oak forests of the Valenwood. Each one told its own stories of the Green, the forest home of the "Boiche-become-Bosmer".  Around the time of the Alessian Slave Rebellion circa  , the Ayleid sorcerer Anumaril converted the Perchance Acorn of the Elden Root Graht-Oak into a Definite Acorn, which prevented Elden Root from walking and finally gave a Green-Sap a single, definite form. He would further attempt to convert this Green-Sap into a new, singular White-Gold, but due to the Perchance nature of the Bosmeri Tower, he would never succeed. 

Anumaril was one of many Ayleid refugees who fled to Valenwood during the "Ayleid Diaspora" which coincided with the slave revolt. However, Ayleids had been migrating to Valenwood even before that. These migrants all agreed to adopt aspects of the Green Pact and to refrain from harming the forest (unlike Anumaril, of course).  The establishment of the White-Gold Tower by the Ayleids in the Middle Merethic Era brought increased trade to the Bosmer, and cities like Woodhearth, Haven, and Silvenar flourished.   The ancient Ayleid site of Hectahame is home to the Heart of Valenwood, a magnificent tree of immense power which stands as the physical symbol of the soul of Valenwood. However, around the time when the Ayleids first came to Valenwood, a necromancer twisted the power of the Heart and used it to raise an undead army, forcing the Ayleids to seal off Hectahame, along with the Heart, in order to contain the horde.  Ayleids and Bosmer during these early days had to fend off numerous savage attacks upon Valenwood by the Maormer. 

Though they found sanctuary in Valenwood, the Ayleids who migrated there seemed to fade from history. For reasons which are still debated by scholars, they apparently had little lasting impact on Bosmeri culture beyond imparting some stonework and masonry techniques. 

The First Era
Eventually, the Bosmer would be united under the leadership of King Eplear, whose conquest of the wilderness and founding of the Camoran Dynasty heralded the start of the First Era. They made a formal trade treaty with the Alessian Empire in  , though it would only last for several decades before breaking down into on-and-off border skirmishes with Colovia for most of the First Era. 

The earliest known Wild Hunt occurred in  , which ended with the death of the Nord High King Borgas.   This assassination can be viewed as an act of self-defense, though perhaps proactive, as Borgas had been journeying to Cyrodiil to rally support for a joint war against Valenwood. Another Wild Hunt would not occur again until the Third Era,  though whether one or more occurred then is not clear. After the Bosmer were devastated by the Thrassian Plague in  , they were absorbed by the Second Empire. The Empire, in their usual fashion, divided power in Valenwood among several districts to ensure they would not unite against Imperial rule. 

In  , the last year of the First Era, on the 19th of Sun's Dawn, Molag Bal destroyed the town of Gilverdale in Grahtwood (eastern Valenwood). This prompted Sotha Sil, the living wizard-mystic god of the Dunmer, to negotiate an agreement with several Daedric Princes to forestall further such acts, though the details of this agreement are still unknown. 

The Second Era
In  , a salacious scandal rocked Valenwood: the sleepy trading post of Cormount of Grahtwood was likely home to numerous potential heirs of the Camoran Dynasty, as Camoran rulers had evidently been journeying to the secluded town for untold years to engage in extramarital relations. Cormount's population nearly doubled in a week, and weddings became a daily occurrence for months, as many Bosmer sought to sire children with a noble lineage despite the ignoble circumstances. The news even brought many Bosmer who had never lived in Valenwood back to their spiritual home. These migrants, who largely came from Cyrodiil and thus did not follow the Green Pact, were shocking to the established Bosmer of Grahtwood, and tensions brewed for years as a result. Finally, in  , the migrants' village,  , was burned to the ground for provocations that have been lost to history. The incident eventually inspired the formation of the Blacksap Movement in  , a Cormount-based cultural organization which hoped to formalize the Bosmeri approach to the Green Pact and thereby prevent any further tragic misunderstandings. 

With the fall of the Empire in  , the regional powers went about warring among themselves, and Maormer pirates were able to get a foothold along the coast which they used to harass the Altmer of Summerset Isle. 
thumb|right|The symbol of the Aldmeri Dominion
During the Alliance War circa  , the Bosmer became part of the Aldmeri Dominion, along with their allies the Altmer and the Khajiit. The alliance was rocky, though the Thalmor Committee on Alliance Relations encouraged tolerance of the Bosmer's cultural eccentricities to help keep the Dominion together.   Elden Root was made the capital of the Dominion, and drew many new migrants as a result (this also became the impetus for plans to establish a gladiatorial arena in the city).  Many Bosmer saw the Dominion as their only chance at survival.  However, many others remained resentful of the alliance, believing the Dominion had "polluted" Valenwood.  Resentment may have also festered due to the "Massacre at Cormount", wherein the Grahtwood city was apparently razed by Dominion soldiers utilizing particularly offensive tactics. 

In  , to secure their border from attack, the Altmer, using an old treaty and encroachment from Colovia for justification, invaded Valenwood and reestablished the Aldmeri Dominion.    Details on the circumstances leading up to this are disputed,  but they formed the Thalmor and apparently brought peace to Valenwood until the Dominion was absorbed by the Third Empire of Tiber Septim.  During the   in  , Colovian armies employ the Bosmer as archers, though they proved to be prone to desertion. 

The Third Era
The Camorans, who had managed to survive as a Bosmeri power, were made rulers again and led the Bosmer through 250 years of peace.  In  , a pretender to the Camoran throne, the Camoran Usurper, led an army of undead and mercenaries which brought devastation throughout Valenwood and most of the western coast of Tamriel until being defeated in  .   Since then, the Bosmer have become more isolationist, traditionalist, and distrusting of central authorities, and this political weakness has led to significant losses of territory to their neighbors. 

Culture
Art and Architecture
thumb|left|A Bosmeri hunting camp in Cyrodiil (Blades)thumb|right|Depictions of Bosmeri skull and bone decorations
The Green Pact has had an enormous impact on Bosmeri artwork. Their walls are often decorated with skulls and bones.  It forces their architects to take great care in their work, apparently strengthening their craftsmanship. Inside tree hollows and residences, hides are stretched out over frames of bones to form partitions. Traditional wooden homes can be found close to rivers and the coast, where imported lumber is easy to find and cheap to purchase. More of these types of buildings can be found on the forest floor of cities like Elden Root or Silvenar, typically to house foreigners like the Altmer, but Bosmer cities in the Green are more well-known for the many homes scattered throughout the canopy of the trees. 

Many "citified tree-folk" favor a life among the branches, and have woven them together to form limbed pathways without harming the trees. Trails of thick, living vines anchor dozens of platforms that carry goods and people among the graht-oaks. These platforms are hoisted by strong, often foreign laborers. Bone, resin, and sinew are employed by the Bosmer in a plethora of ways, including bridge design. A secondary market in such scraps allows the tree-dwellers to recycle their animal waste by simply tossing it to the ground below, where it is scavenged and reworked into a variety of items.  What is not scavenged is absorbed by the roots of the trees and used to keep the settlement healthy. These cities are grown by Bosmer Greenspeakers, who use rituals of speech or song to grow entire villages in just a few days.   This magic can also be used to fashion wooden items, presumably without violating the Green Pact.  Below ground, the trees share a common root system which delivers hot sap into each hut to keep them warm. 

Like the Nords, the Bosmer rely heavily on stylized, often interlocking natural motifs in their architecture, crafts, and clothing. However, while the Nords emphasize animals, Bosmeri designs are mainly floral.  Since the Bosmer believe that a species' form is a sacred gift from Y'ffre, each species is depicted by a particular, idealized motif which represents the ur-form it was given by Y'ffre. Thus, while there a great plethora of designs in Bosmeri artwork, there is very little room for variation in these designs. Seemingly inconsequential details are rigidly scrutinized, and those which deviate from the norm are looked down upon as plain "wrong". 

Weaponry
Due to the proscriptions of the Green Pact, forges are rare in Valenwood, and metal weapons have never been widespread among the Bosmer. They typically utilize bone clubs, or else axes and spears with blades of stone or obsidian. Their composite horn bows are arguably the finest in Tamriel. In coastal towns, imported metal weapons are more common, and Altmeri tutelage in these areas has benefited many Bosmeri swordsmen. However, Altmer who are schooled in "Proper Conflict", as they call their system of swordsmanship, typically refuse to adapt their techniques to the needs of their shorter cousins, and Bosmer students are typically less attentive to the finer philosophical points of the lessons, thus the experience has often proven to be mutually exasperating. 

By the age of fourteen, Bosmer youth are typically proficient enough with the bow to accompany hunting parties.  Long-distance archers are known as Jaqspurs.   It is their style of draw, "snatching and releasing in one continuous motion", which has made the Bosmer famous as archers. Their traditional bows are crafted from horn and sinew. Strings are also made of sinew; Khajiiti gut is said to work best, and is thus prized among Valenwood archers. Bosmeri arrows are carved from bone, and fletched with the feathers of various bird species. They believe the source of bone used influences the characteristics of the arrow. Mammoth bone arrows are thought to strike with enough force to knock down a target. Bird bone arrows fly faster and more accurately. Senche-tiger bone arrows deal extra damage. Trials by Imperial observers have been unable to replicate these alleged effects. Upon hearing this, the Bosmer merely cluck their tongues and smile. 

Fashion
The Bosmer have a sense of fashion that may seem strange to some of Tamriel's other inhabitants. For example, Wood Elves in the Second Era thought that shawls made of blue bunting feathers were the height of fashion, while people from most other cultures perceived them as tacky.  The Pod-Singers wear clothes made entirely out of animal leather and quills.  On the whole, Wood Elves prefer clothing that allows their skin to breathe, and think covering oneself from head-to-toe doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Leather is a common component in Bosmer clothing: doeskin, chamois,  crocodile skin&mdash;if it has hide, it's free game for leather.  Their gravitation towards leather doesn't keep them away from fabric; wool is also a component in Bosmeri stitchwork. 

Beading is a common accent in Bosmer fashion.   Turquoise, sea-beads,  and even iridescent deep-forest beetle shells give clothing extra flair.  Bone and antlers are also used to accent clothing and armor.  

Language


Food
:Main Article: Bosmer Cuisine
 

Society
thumb|right|A sketch of an Imga, the Great Apes of Valenwood
The elves of Valenwood have always stood ready to defend themselves against aggression, and have done so on many occasions.  They often rely on their forest-coupling skills to make use of guerrilla tactics. The title of their most famous poem, the Meh Ayleidion, means "The One Thousand Benefits of Hiding".  However, the Bosmer seem to be the most pacifistic of all the modern races on Tamriel, as they have never instigated war with other nations (leading some more militant cultures to criticize them as cowards),  though they have been accused of needlessly escalating some conflicts. They have never found a tried and true ally in any other Tamrielic nation. Mistrust has been engendered by the ritual cannibalism they practice, and it's often difficult for them to adjust their lifestyles to the expectations of other races and cultures. Nevertheless, the Bosmer are heavily dependent on good relations and trade with other races, as the Green Pact forces them to import the timber needed to make their homes, arrows, and other wooden instruments.    Their own resources for trade include hides, river pearls, and finger-bone charms made from the Magically-charged hands of their dead wizards. When they are at odds with Colovia or other trading allies, they are said to rely on piracy or banditry to get what they need.  They have attempted to accommodate other races in Valenwood throughout history, though many remained wary of outlander encroachments into their home.  To this day, they have little more than foot paths connecting their tiny settlements in Valenwood's sparsely populated forests.   Some Bosmer practice cannibalism upon their enemies.  Some Bosmer have been known to file their teeth to sharp points.  It is also common among the Bosmer to wear decorative antlers on their foreheads, although rarely, individuals with real, magically-grown antlers can also be encountered.   

The Bosmer greatly value diversity. Their respect for life's many facets is inherent in many of their old sayings, like "One mans miracle is another mans accident".  Other races are generally welcomed in most of Valenwood, though most foreigners stay in large cities.    Travelers are encouraged to take care when imbibing drinks of fermented milk which are popular among the Bosmer, as non-Bosmer may have adverse reactions to them.  

Greenspeakers are mages who dedicate their lives to working in and alongside the Green itself. They use their spells to guide and enhance the growth of trees and plants, and can create furniture and housing for their people in doing so. 

Life in Valenwood
Though the Bosmer first united under the Camoran Dynasty, this form of governance has been called a "loose hegemony".  There are in fact many leaders throughout Valenwood who wield varying degrees of authority, such as the treethanes.  Their territory has sometimes been referred to as the "Valenwood Nations",  perhaps because of the autonomy practiced by various leaders. 

The Bosmer have adapted to life in the Green in many ingenious ways. For instance, in the heat and humidity of Valenwood, popular Altmeri ink refuses to dry. It is still prized, though, as it is perfect for writing temporary messages on certain types of porous stone found in the Green. But to write words permanently, the Bosmer uses a type of ink that can dry even if a parchment is submerged in water. Ink which glows faintly in the dark, perfect for writing in the shadows of the forest, is also prevalent. Writing on a leaf or a flat stone is common in Valenwood, and often preferable in a place where quality parchment is rare and even paper is uncommon.  They've also found means to both deter and eradicate Hoarvor infestations.  Though they refrain from smoking plants, many enjoy smoking bugs from bone pipes.   Finding light without resorting to the danger of fire is an issue on the perpetually shadowy forest floor, but as the moons rise, additional light is provided by luminous lichen, molds, and fungal growths at the base of the oaks. Higher up, nocturnal flowers feed from the graht-oaks, attracting Torchbugs, whose hives light the branch platforms. 

The Bosmer share Valenwood with the Imga and so-called "Wood Orcs", along with the many beasts of the forest, including Centaurs.   They have a long history of welcoming those who seek refuge within Valenwood.  They accepted slaves fleeing the Ayleids, and then Ayleids fleeing the slaves, without showing favorites. Around the time of the Alliance War, they also freely welcomed Argonian refugees who had left their homeland in protest over the formation of the Ebonheart Pact.  Many foreigners visit Falinesti at some point, the marvelous traveling city of the Bosmer (though at last report, the city had mysteriously rooted itself).  Cultural loyalties have tended to divide the Bosmer, such as the rivalry between the   and the Camorans, and the schism between followers of the Green Pact and "salad-eaters" who have no qualms about breaking the tenets of the Pact. 

Religion
The Bosmer venerate many deities. In fact, few Bosmer outside the Empire accept the limitation of Divines to a mere eight or nine. Most Bosmer claim direct descent from Auri-El, though Y'ffre the Storyteller is their most important deity. While the Time Dragon is the king of the gods, they venerate Y'ffre as the spirit of "the now".  Like the Argonians, the Bosmer seem to prefer to live in the present, or the "Aurbic Now", and show relatively little regard for the ways of the past (besides when it comes to telling old tales or following the Green Pact, that is). 

The Bosmer also venerate Arkay, Xarxes, Mara (who they consider to be the wife of Auri-El), and Stendarr. The God of Toil, Z'en, is the Bosmeri god of payment in kind. His origins are mysterious, as is his place in the cosmic order. The Bosmer are one of the few who worship the trickster Baan Dar, the trickster spirit of thieves and beggars they apparently borrowed from the Khajiit. 

There are many other deities with significant Bosmer cults, such as Hircine.  They also worship the moon gods Jone and Jode.   Ancient stories of the supernatural, enigmatic Wilderking abound in Greenshade.  Like the Nords, the trickster spirit Herma-Mora appears in their legends (and they insist he is not to be confused with the Daedra Hermaeus Mora). And, of course, in a culture replete with trickster spirits, they do not forget the greatest trickster of all: Lorkhan. 

The Green Pact
thumb|right|The symbol of the Green Pact
 

The Ooze
 

The Silvenar and Green Lady
 

The Wild Hunt
 

Laws and Traditions
The Rite of Theft is a cherished Bosmeri custom, though one which outsiders have trouble appreciating.  The Bosmer steal from each other, and upon return of the stolen item, they demand a boon commensurate to the item's worth.  In ancient times, the Bosmer   was renowned for demanding over two hundred payments after invoking the Rite.  In more modern times, the Bosmer of Greenshade are particularly infamous for their thievery.  Occasionally, some Bosmer have been known to observe the Rite of Theft even from beyond the grave, such was the case with the Blackroot Clan when their chief's bow was stolen.   

Outsiders who understand the Rite of Theft may use it to their own advantage as well. Three Altmer, the so-called "Heroes of the Sanctuary", once used the Rite of Theft to secure a safe port of Summerset ships. They successfully stole from various treethanes while keeping their own treasure secure, earning the right to build their own settlement, known as  , on the shores of Valenwood. 

Often when making contracts with the tribes of Valenwood, one will be expected to put up some sort of collateral to ensure equal treatment between unequal partners, such as when a mundane individual is dealing with a powerful mage. In traditional Bosmeri villages, this involves the more powerful party giving the weaker a loved one as a 'pact-hostage'. Should the contracted party complete their task, the pact-hostage will be returned. If they fail to uphold their end of the contract, the pact-hostage will be killed, cooked, and served up to them as Unthrappa, or Atonement. Eating the Unthrappa represents eating one's failure. 

Nearly everywhere outside the cities of Valenwood, Bosmeri tribes in the wilds of Valenwood still practice the tradition of the "Mourning War". When a tribe member is slain, he or she is symbolically replaced via a hostage-taking raid on a neighboring tribe. If the deceased was an especially powerful or prestigious member of the tribe, multiple captives may be taken to replace them. The captive or captives undergo a period of physical torture, supposedly to test their worthiness, and then are joyously welcomed into the clan. Traditionally, the victim was given the deceased tribe member's position, possessions, and family, though this practice may be rarely honored in modern ages.  Mourning wars are an ancient tradition; scholarly references to them date back to the First Era,  though when they actually started is not known.

Gallery
 

Appearances
 

Notes
Early Morrowind'' concept art depicted Bosmer women as beautiful Swanmays with black eyes, and the men as ugly Woodland Imps and Forest Goblins. The concept art showed the men were originally going to have several subtypes, those being Satyrs, Redcaps, Boarfolk, Tree-trolls, and Boggles. 
At the end of the Third Era, rumors surfaced that a prophet called the Precursor had emerged among the Bosmer promising new gifts from Y'ffre to reward their devotion. 

See Also
For Bosmer names, see here.
For a list of notable Bosmer, see here.


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