Pocket Guide to the Empire , Third Edition : Elsweyr Pocket Guide to the Empire , Third Edition Author : Imperial Geographic Society Content . It is said that a hundred civilizations are buried beneath the sands of Elsweyr , and it may be unwise to assume our current Empire will forever stand above the shifting sands of the desert province . The Khajiit who occupy the southern land between Black Marsh and Valenwood have always been a restless people , and prove regularly that nothing in Tamriel is immortal . History . Khajiit are commonly considered one of the beast folks , one of the few survivors of the original inhabitants of Tamriel before the coming of mer and man , and Elsweyr is their home . This tradition is not , of course , accepted by one and all . Alternate theories abound that their origin , based mainly around the fact that one of the breeds of Khajiit , the Ohmes - Raht , so closely resembles the elven folk that they could be cousins . Some believe that the Khajiit are simply descendant of the original Aldmer settlers in Tamriel , who evolved , like the Altmer , Bosmer , Dunmer , and Orsimer , because of circumstance , ito the cat - like race that walks the dunes of Elsweyr . If so , they are just one more of the alien , sentient species who have made themselves so much a part of Tamriel to be confused for natives . The more commonly held belief , however , is that they were not foreign intelligent creatures who became cats to survive the hostile , arid land of Elsweyr , but they were indigenous cats whose knack for change allowed them to survive while other native creatures declined and disappeared . It is strange to think that so inhospitable a land , of blistering heat and crop destroying wind , would have been the fecund womb for one of the original predators of Tamriel , but that seems to be the unlikely likelihood . Topal the Pilot in his peregrinations around Tamriel encountered the Khajiit not in Elsweyr , but far up the Niben River , close to the Imperial City , where they preyed on the native creatures , and caused his crew much distress as they stalked the river banks . We have records too from the Merethic Bosmer that certain parts of Valenwood were to be avoided for fear of the great jungle cat men . It may be comfortably surmised that the Khajiit , though most at home in the deserts , reigned as the dominant culture across southern Tamriel in ancient days . The Khajiit kingdoms were simply a fact when historian began to put quill to paper and record life for posterity . When the early human settlers in Tamriel were only just beginning to understand what plants grew where under what circumstance , there were already mercantile caravans in Rimmen ; when the transplanted natives of Atmora and Aldmer is were vying for dominance in the north , the Khajiit had already developed a sophisticated culture in the south . In the early First Era , there were sixteen independent realms in Elsweyr . Unlike typical human and elvish kingdoms , these regions did not compete with one another for land and power . Earlier versions of this Guide spoke of tribal conflict , but the truth was quite the opposite in the earliest Khajiit society . Recognizing their own idiosyncratic characters and strengths , each territory specialized in one specific duty , supplying its neighbors with its bounty in exchange for equal measure . Ne Quin - al , where great warriors were born and trained - its Temple of Two - Moons Dance is famous even in our day - might trade its warriors to Torval in exchange for fish and other bounties of the sea . The dominance of each region was checked by the moons . It was said that when both moons were full , Ne Quin - al was in dominance ; when both moons were half , Torval ; when both moons were new , Senchal . The other regions too had their days of power and influence . For thousand years this delicate astronomic and political dance was equal to facing every threat posed against the Khajiit . The Alessian Empire chose not to extend its borders too far south , and Bosmer of Valenwood likewise knew how far eastward they dared to extend their kingdom . But the terrible Thrassian Plague of 1E 2260 finally upset this balance forever . Traveling down the trade routes into the heart of Elsweyr , the plague decimated the Khajiit , forcing the survivors into roles they did not choose . Thus was the province turned from sixteen states to only two : Pa ' alatiin and Ne Quin - al , more commonly known by their Cyrodilic names of Pellitine and Anequina . The two kingdoms , of course , represented the moons at their extremes , but also radically different interpretarions of Khajiit culture , which they adopted from the tribes each had absorbed . The people of Pellitine considered their neighbors in Anequina to be uncouth barbarians , while the Anequinians looked to the south , and saw only decadence and depravity . For many more centuries , the two lands fought , neither gaining appreciable ground . The South had the wealth and could hire mercenaries and withstand sieges , but the North had a warrior culture , and could never be dominated . When the two united in 309th year of the 2nd Era with the marriage of Kiergo of Anequina and Eshita of Pellitine , the two rulers fully recognized how historic their pact was , and renamed their land accordingly , to Elsweyr . The derivation of this unusual name has perplexed scholars . One commonly held rationale hinges on a particular Khajiit proverb that " a perfect society is always found elsewhere , " suggesting that the new King and Queen had that aim , and that sense of humor . Another is that it is reference to Llesw ' er , a paradise promised to the Khajiit by the Riddle ' Thar . Either possibility points to an optimism which was not to be matched by reality . The following centuries into and including the Third Era have been times of intermittent strife among the Khajiit of Elsweyr . Successive spiritual leaders , known as Mane s , occasionally brought tenuous peace to the land , but never for long . The Khajiit have found security in being absorbed into the Cyrodilic and then the Septim Empires , only to rebel against both . They have sought solace in their rich literary tradition , finding the tales of Rajhin the Thief to speak to their people , but they have stopped the flow of books into their land , for fear of Imperial propaganda . They have tried to enrich their pockets with drug - trafficking , only to enslave their minds to moonsugar . They have engaged in wars with Valenwood on grounds that have constantly shifted , like the sands of Elsweyr itself . It may be fair to say that Elsweyr is in crisis . And it may further be accurate to say that such chaos is home . Current Events . The Five Year War with Valenwood shifted the borders of Elsweyr slightly west , taking both banks of the Xylo River . At the end of the Imperial Simulacrum , a diplomatic attempt was made to return the land to Valenwood , but the Khajiit settlers who had already claimed the land refused to move . The Empire eventually found that it was best to leave the situation as it was , possibly persuaded by legal proof that the land rightly belonged to the Khajiit by ancient treaty , and to keep a dangerous situation from getting worse . Elsweyr ' s overall territory , however , has not increased , due to a border arrangement which was not it that nation ' s favor . In the east , the long disputed border with the Cyrodilic County Leyawiin was recently resolved in Cyrodiil ' s favor , after an agreement between the current Mane and the Count of Leyawiin . But a group of Khajiit bandits known as the Renrijra Krin has taken up the cause of returning the land to Elsweyr , and the West Niben remains a trouble spot . The harbor city of Senchal , long considered one of the most dangerous slums in Tamriel , has had a remarkable renaissance , from principle port of the drug trade , to coastal resort for wealthy , powerful Khajiit . That glimmer of good news belies the fact that the moonsugar trade in Elsweyr has increased multifold in the last twenty years . Ya ' Tirrje , the Gold Cat , is rumored to even have a luxurious villa in Senchal , and helps pay for the abundant security that keeps the city safe and crime - free , all the while continuing his drug - smuggling business in Torval , Corinthe , and Rimmen .