Lore:Alinor (city)

Alinor is one of the eight major cities in the province of the Summerset Isles,  found on the river highlands of the Oleander Coast. Alinor is the ancient capital of the Summerset Isles and the seat of High Elven civilization. It is widely recognized by its sky-piercing towers and intricately woven ramparts that are designed to catch the light of the sun to break it into a variety of colors.  For thousands of years, it has been the home of the High Kingship of Summerset, who sits at the highest point of the city and surveys across their grand domain.  The city is the namesake of the province's modern-day name, chosen by the Thalmor as they assumed power over the country.  
 

Layout & Geography
thumb|left|Alinor Docks
thumb|right|The Banner of Alinor
Alinor is a city of great prestige, known commonly as the "forest city of Summerset".  It is located in the southwest coast of Summerset Isle, between the southern mountains and the idyllic beaches. Much of the land that surrounds it is lightly-forested but steep and ridged. There are rows of vineyards found outside of the city walls and a great river runs through Alinor's southern portion and empties into the  . Alinor is built on the slopes of the mountains. The lowest level of the city is the main street, which goes along the wall and toward the river. Stairways ascend higher toward the second level where the marketplace and even the Temple of the Divines are located. Reaching higher and higher will eventually lead to the Alinor Royal Palace, where the whole city can be surveyed from a wide vantage point.

Despite the fact that the city is land-locked, the Alinor Docks are a bustling trading hub, located down the road north from the actual city, closer to the central bay of the island. Alinor is widely recognized by the impossibly high towers and ramparts. While information regarding the entire island is sparse for the mainland, most of it regarding High Elven culture and civilization comes from the human traders who were only given access to the Alinor Docks than anywhere else. Some accounts of Alinor city described it eloquently as "made from glass and insect wings".  The southern city,   is considered Alinor's sister city and it is believed that if these two metropolises did not have the mountains separating them, then they would inevitably merge together to form a great city, the likes of which have not been seen since Lost  .  Alinor is neighbored by several settlements, including   to the southeast and   to the northeast. 
 

Notable Locales


History
The Kingdom of Alinor & The Summerset Isles
thumb|left|The Alinor Royal Palace
thumb|right|The High Elves
For many known years, there has been a city called Alinor and from there, the High King of Summerset had always ruled the province. It is said that the High Kingship of Alinor has been nearly held by a single dynasty that has dated back as far back as the  .  By the mid-Mythic Era, the   of what is now modern-day   was apparently tribute-land to the High King of Alinor. It had later become the new home of the proto- , and later the epicenter of their  .  But for the longest time, history regarding Alinor, or even the Summerset Isles was unclear to the rest of Tamriel since contact from anything on the mainland was heavily restricting. The world-changing events that transpired in Tamriel had barely, if not at all affect the Isles. Any little bit of information came from human traders only relegated to the Alinor Docks, or the ambassadors of the   that were given access to Alinor at large. 

Excluding large-scale events that involved the mainland, much of Summerset's history has been generalized as internal conflicts between rival cities (i.e., Alinor and  ) that later evolved into full-scale warfare. However, some of the province's more serious and deadly battles involved either the   or the  .  One such example occurred in  , when High King   confronted a small Maormeri fleet off the coast of Alinor. As the fleet retreated, the High King followed suit and came upon uncharted waters not far from the island-kingdom,  . There his army was caught in an ambush and only one ship, carrying Hidellith was able to escape the onslaught.  The High King's survival had miraculously kept the royal family alive for much longer.

The Unforeseen Queen & The Aldmeri Dominion
It eventually came time for Hidellith to conceive a child that would become the heir-apparent of Summerset. On auspicious and inexplicable circumstances, the quick-witted and unorthodox   was born on the 5th of   in  . In her youth, she was seen as a prodigy and eager to learn, often taking to her own independent studies. As it is custom for every monarch, in  , Ayrenn was to be inducted into the  , to study Altmeri Regal Praxis and Ceremoniarchy for three-thousand five-hundred and fifty-five days. However, she had disappeared and not even the Thalmor were able to find her in all of Summerset. Time kept on moving and in her steed, Prince   studied in the Sapiarchs' Labyrinth as Ayrenn explored the world and witnessed what it had to offer firsthand. When Hidellith passed away in  , Ayrenn returned home and claimed her birthright as the High Queen of Summerset. 

In that same year, she provided support against the  n incursion that harassed  's northern region  and sent waves of assistance to   after their run-in with the  .  Once these issues were dealt with the leaders of these three respective nations, Queen Ayrenn, High King  , and the Speaker of the  ,   signed the   and formed the first-iteration of the  .  The Dominion had soon joined the   that had raged continuously throughout central Cyrodiil and later established their grand capital in  . Ayrenn was forced to leave Alinor for the mainland, where she can properly maintain focus on the war effort and in her stead, her cousin,   sat on the Throne of Alinor and was named Proxy-Queen of Summerset. 

The End of Isolation & the Court of Bedlam
thumb|right|The Proxy-Queen of Alinor, Alwinarwe
thumb|left|The Crystal Tower
In  , Queen Ayrenn had officially proclaimed that Summerset Isle will no longer seal itself off and now open itself to the rest of the world.  It brought a great deal of controversy amongst the people of the province, but regardless, mainlanders came in droves and established themselves across the island. One of its greatest critics was the Kinlady of  ,  , who saw Ayrenn's decision as a comprise to Summerset's civilized climate, much like her other choices throughout her two-year reign.  Various people from all corners of Tamriel traveled to the capital city and explored the grand streets. Even delegations from far away, such as the Eastern Kingdom of   came to Alinor to seek an audience with the Proxy-Queen.  But despite all of this, devious machinations had begun to spur across Summerset and put the entire continent at a great risk. 

The   had undergone operations across the Summerset Isles and became entangled with the group of  , the  . The   came into Summerset to investigate the island and warn the   about the court's target, the  . They sent a   to the Alinor Royal Palace to seek out the Proxy-Queen's permission to enter the college.  Eventually, the   of Darkness,   had seized control of the  , taking the Daedra Lord one more step closer to claiming the Crystal Tower. To prepare for what may happen, the  ,   traveled to Alinor, in the hopes to warn the Proxy-Queen and prepare the city for whatever comes their way.  In the end, Nocturnal and her   were quashed and Tamriel was saved from their plan. But in order to prevent such an event from happening again, the Psijic Order, the College of Sapiarchs, and the Court of Alinor gathered at the Royal Palace, to proclaim an alliance that would defend the Crystal Tower at all costs. 

Alinor and the Third Empire
thumb|left|Map of the Second Aldmeri Dominion
thumb|right|Banner of the Third Empire (ca. 2E 864)
As time kept going, the First Aldmeri Dominion had dissolved and the relations between the Summerset Isles and the mainland had changed back to what it has been. Alinor had continued to remain open for many years, that was until roughly   when its ports had been closed from any foreigners. By  , the heirs of the   in Valenwood began fighting over the throne. When a certain faction made peace with their Colovian neighbors their numbers increased greatly and gained them more favor to take the position. That was until the Summerset Isles, under the command of their High King of Alinor, invaded the forest province. Using ancient stewardship written thousands of years prior, they placed the Thalmor into Valenwood, on behalf of their own claimant,  . With their new King, the Wood Elves joined forces with the High Elves to create the Second Aldmeri Dominion. Their power became immeasurable and soon interfered with the growing  , under the command of  . The   began to take a southern front as they expanded. 

By  , the warfront had reached the   and the  . The Empire had sent the Grand Vizier and Septim's advisor,   to conduct negotiations with the High King of Alinor.  By then, the Aldmeri Dominion was far from Tiber Septim's mind for conquest. It was at this time, he had conquered   and later had the land recognized as an Imperial Province, only to soon shift focus toward the northeast,  . By the end of it, Tiber Septim had received  , the Brass-God of the Dwemer, and used its righteous power to end the Aldmeri Dominion. The imposing automaton had stomped its way through the Dominion and eventually the Summerset Isles,  arrived not far from Alinor. The city was demolished and it surrendered within an hour.  Tiber Septim's conquest over all of Tamriel had come to an end by  , paving the way for the Third Era. 

During the   in the late- , the city-state of Alinor was an active settlement. It was ruled by King Coreriil and had a rivalry with  .  The Summerset Isles were left in ruins in the aftermath of the  , in  . Amidst the confusion, the   rose to prominence across the province, as the rest of the Empire was standing on thin ice. The situation exploded further in   when the Potentate,   was assassinated and the   had spanned across the central province. In light of this, the Thalmor had overthrown the monarchy of Summerset in  . The High Kingship had fallen and the Thalmor's law was accepted widely across the isles.  They renamed the country to "Alinor", to callback to a time before   took over. 

Gallery
 

See Also
For game-specific information, see the Arena and ESO articles.

Notes
The   were an organization that attempted to explore the magical realm of  , much like the   of Cyrodiil. However, their ventures ended when it became clear that it was impossible to maintain the funding to reach it with  . 
According to the God of Worms,  , the   of the Middle Dawn was caused by the High King of Alinor. 
Arena was originally conceived as a fighting game featuring a tournament that took the player to each of Tamriel's cities to challenge different gladiatorial teams. According to a file from that stage of development left behind in the final game, Alinor's gladiatorial team would have been called "the Protectors". 

References