Pocket Guide to the Empire , Third Edition : High Rock Pocket Guide to the Empire , Third Edition Author : Imperial Geographic Society Content . High Rock , the westernmost province on the mainland of Tamriel , is a land of temperate climates and soft rolling hills , split in half by the towering Wrothgarian Mountains . The quaint charm of its hamlets and austere grandeur of its cities speak of a gentle life , something that was only a distant dream for most of the long , peculiar history of the Breton s . History . With its fertile soils and generally clement weather , it is little wonder that the region that is now known as High Rock has attracted many cultures throughout history . The Gods were the first of these . The Adamantine Tower , in a little island in the middle of the Iliac Bay , is widely considered to be the oldest structure in Tamriel . If the ancient tales are to be believed , it was crafted in the Dawn Era by the Gods themselves to have a place for meeting and deciding what would be the fate of Nirn . Perhaps this is merely a myth , but it is true that when the earliest Aldmer came to the region , the Tower was already standing . There is evidence that early beast men of one variety or another may have been the original inhabitants of High Rock , but the Aldmer coming from Summerset Isle were the first to settle and form permanent communities . The early Nedic people who arrived next were stumbling upon a highly sophisticated culture , and were quickly overwhelmed and absorbed . One of the earliest tales of Khosey describes a Nord raiding party attacking a group of what they presumed to be Aldmer , but who were , on closer inspection , a mongrel race between elf and human , the remnants of the earlier lost Nedic tribe . They were somewhat awkwardly called " Manmeri , " but we know them today as Bretons . It took many centuries for the Bretons to become the dominant force in High Rock . For most of the First Era , the elves kept their hold on the land , with the Nords founding fortified towns along the coasts to support their pillaging parties , such as Daggerfall , which as a kingdom would have a profound influence on High Rock in years to come . Of all the families of Aldmer who colonized High Rock , none did it so successfully as the Clan Direnni . So dominant were they that by the middle of the First Era , the whole of High Rock was commonly called " The Direnni Hegemony . " As an economic and military power , they were formidable enough to pose a continued threat to the battle - hardened Nord s and the nascent Alessian Empire of Cyrodiil . Taking advantage of the internal strife in Skyrim , the Hegemony began taking land north and south of High Rock , claiming portions of Skyrim and Hammerfell . At the peak of their power , they controlled nearly a quarter of Tamriel . But they had overextended their reach , and slowly , year by year , they lost all that they had gained , falling back to their fortress in Balfiera , the Adamantine Tower , now called the Direnni Tower . The Bretons were operating beneath the eyes of history , and their rise in High Rock was through commerce and the foundation of small villages in well - chosen positions , such as the sleepy fishing hamlet of Wayrest on the coast between the Bjoulsae River and the Iliac Bay . Daggerfall , Camlorn , Reich Gradkeep , and many other Nord ic cities became Breton not by any act of war , but simply by being assimilated by them . By the end of the First Era , High Rock was the land of the Bretons , and would be so ever after . But High Rock was never a single cohesive Breton nation . The power vacuum left by the decline of the Dirennis fractured High Rock into a hundred fiefdoms of small , walled city - states . This has often left the Bretons at the mercy of the larger powers of Tamriel , but has also made High Rock surprisingly resilient during the times of chaos following the fall of the great empires . Scarcely had the rule of the Dirennis passed into history before two new powers arrived in the region . The Redguard s of Yokuda began their conquest of Hammerfell in the 808th year of the First Era , largely displacing beast folk in their attacks , but also supplanting Breton settlements along the southern Iliac Bay . The two cultures warred over dominance in the Bay , until they were faced with a common enemy in the Orc ish kingdom of Orsinium . The rise and fall and rebirth of Orsinium is detailed in a larger section , but suffice it to say for now that the discovery of the " monstrous " kingdom of the creatures , as they were regarded , was a very unpleasant surprise to both the Redguards and Breton s . An alliance between Daggerfall and the new kingdom of Sentinel led to the long war known as the Siege of Orsinium . The humans eventually prevailed : Orsinium was destroyed and the Orcs dispersed far and wide across Tamriel . High Rock fared relatively well during the long interregnum following the fall of the Cyrodilic Empire , but its multitude of fractious kingdoms were easily conquered by Tiber Septim . Indeed , many Bretons welcomed the rebirth of the Empire . Still , some of them managed to unite to stop the encroachment of the Camoran Usurper in his destructive march northward from Valenwood in 3E 267 . With a weak Emperor on the Imperial throne , and no clear leadership from the usual powers of the west , the Usurper may have swept over High Rock had the smallest of regions of the Iliac Bay not banded together under the Baron of Dwynnen to defeat him . Once again , an overwhelming force had underestimated the Bretons , and been defeated . The unity was lost when the threat was removed , and for the next one hundred and fifty years , internal and external conflicts continued . In the east , the Nords reclaimed some of their old kingdoms in the War of the Bend ' r - Mahk . In the west , the War of Betony , though ostensibly between Daggerfall and Sentinel , spilled into Daggerfall ' s neighboring kingdoms . In the center , Orsinium reappeared as the home of the Orcs , threatening once again the fortunes of Wayrest . In the year 417 , however , the province redefined itself in a most mysterious way . They call the event the Miracle of Peace . On the 10th of Frostfall , a strange force exploded over the Iliac Bay , displacing armies and decimating whole territories . , most Bretons believe it was the ancient Gods who had once made High Rock their home scouring the land , making it whole once again . Though it was a painful process for most - the Miracle is sometimes spoken of as the Warp in the West - the result of it is a province that is more unified than it has ever been in modern history . Where once there were a hundred small squabbling kingdoms , today , just two decades after the Miracle , there are five . Current Events . Battle - weary , the kingdoms of High Rock have eschewed violence recently in favor of diplomatic solutions . This is not to say that there have been no tensions over the new borders between Daggerfall and Wayrest , or between Camlorn and Northpoint and Evermore , but they are localized skirmishes , and have yet to explode into war , as they might have done in the past . The royal family of Daggerfall has recently celebrated the marriage of their son Camaron to Lady Kelmena , the daughter of Duke Senhyn of Camlorn , suggesting a possible unified kingdom along the western coast of Tamriel . King Gothryd and Queen Aubk - i ' s own marriage twenty years before had cemented relations and formed the basis of the peace between Daggerfall and Sentinel , which continues to this day . Northpoint and Evermore were not directly affected by the Miracle of Peace , but took advantage of it , swallowing up their small neighbors in the chaos of its aftermath . Far enough west to avoid the predations of Skyrim in the Bend ' r - Mahk , and far enough north not to be targeted by Daggerfall and Wayrest , they have been quiet of late , watching their neighbors distrustfully . The Queen of Wayrest , Elysana , is considered by many to be the most feared ruler in the West . It is hardly surprising , considering that in order to achieve the throne , she had to outmaneuver and defeat her stepbrother , Helseth , a man now renowned in the East for his cunning , as well as his mother , Barenziah . With her consort , Elysana continues to control and dominate politics in High Rock , and her recent alliance with Wayrest ' s old enemies , the Orcs of Orsinium , has many observers wondering what her next move will be .