Atmoran Atmorans were an ancient race of Men who originated from the continent Atmora , located north of Skyrim . They are considered the progenitors of the Nord s and subsequently of the Imperial s , the Breton s , and possibly the Nede s , after a large group of them settled in northern Tamriel and founded the earliest known human city of Saarthal . History . Merethic Era . The first expeditions made by the Atmorans to Tamriel occurred during the Merethic Era . Centuries later , the warrior - hero Ysgramor would organize a great colonizing fleet to Skyrim and Solstheim in the middle of a civil war in Atmora . Ysgramor ' s fleet crossed the Sea of Ghosts and landed at Hsaarik Head at the northern tip of Skyrim ' s Broken Cape , and then moved inland . There the Atmorans built the legendary city of Saarthal , the earliest known settlement founded by Men on Tamriel , and established a connection with the native Snow Elves , and the two groups would live in relative peace . Eventually , the Snow Elves assaulted Saarthal , and killed off the entire Atmoran populace living there , with the exception of Ysgramor and his sons , Yngol and Ylgar , and an Atmoran man who came to be known as Ahzidal . Ysgramor and his sons fled the city , and returned to Atmora soon after . This untimely event would soon be known as the Night of Tears . Several theories had been proposed to attempt to explain the Snow Elves ' fateful attack on Saarthal . One theory was that they noticed the comparatively faster growth of the Atmoran population , and so the Snow Elves attacked them with the intent of bringing the new settlers ' proliferation under control , as Mer had long been accustomed of doing with Nede populations of Men . Another theory was that the Atmorans had discovered a mysterious artifact known as the Eye of Magnus deep below the foundations of Saarthal , and so the Snow Elves attacked the Atmoran settlement to secure the object for themselves . The Return . When Ysgramor and his sons returned to Atmora , they brought stories of Elven treachery and the slaughter of Saarthal ' s citizens to their kin . This moved the bravest men and fiercest women of Atmora to band together into a large companionship , with the aim of avenging their fallen and permanently claim Skyrim from the Mer . Ysgramor took command of the elite group of warriors and hunters , who in time would become known as the legendary Five Hundred Companions , and the war band ' s fleet set sail from the Atmoran city of Jylkurfyk to invade Tamriel on the Day of Final Passage . Soon after the Five Hundred made landfall in Skyrim they overran and retook Saarthal , and in their wrathful onslaught began to pursue the scattering and fleeing Snow Elves relentlessly across the width and breadth of the land . This unprecedented conquest of Mer lands by Men made the ascendancy of humans possible for the first time on the continent of Tamriel , and would eventually lead to the establishment of the First Empire by Men . These momentous events , known to Tamrielic historians as " The Return , " became enshrined in legend in Nordic and later in Imperial culture , and continues to profoundly shape the relationships between Men and Mer , even thousands of years later . The Settling of Skyrim and Beyond . As the crews of the Five Hundred Companions parted ways with Ysgramor after reclaiming Sarthaal and established the Circle of Captains , they would venture out into the new land and gradually interbred with the Nedic populations of Skyrim , whom they inadvertently liberated from the dominion of Mer through their campaigns of conquest against the Snow Elves . Through this , the Companions gave rise to the modern - day bloodline of the Nords . Those settlers of Atmora who came after and ventured west into High Rock intermingled with the Aldmer living there , becoming the progenitors of the Breton people . Others who moved southward were captured and enslaved by the Ayleids , and interbred with the Nedic humans of Cyrodiil during their captivity . Their offspring would eventually overthrow the Ayleids under leadership of the Nede slave queen Alessia , and begin the bloodline that would lead to the modern - day Imperials . As the crews of the Five Hundred roamed Skyrim and Solstheim during these years , many of them continued to raid Elvish settlements and stalk Mer stragglers up until the moment of Ysgramor ' s death , after which they laid down their weapons in a terrible grief and in homage to their legendary harbinger . The last two ships from Atmora pulled into a harbor with more than half their crews dead . Atmora eventually became a frozen wasteland , and the Atmorans who remained there are likely to have perished . Religion . The Atmorans were known to venerate nine animal avatars , believed by scholars to have been the totemic representations of several prominent Et ' Ada . When they migrated to Skyrim and Solstheim , they brought this belief system with them and it became a part of the fledgling Nord ic culture . For reasons lost to history , the Atmoran shamans venerating the Dragon grew far more influential in this new society than the shamans who represented the other animal avatars , and began to wield power equal to the kings . Henceforth , these Dragon Priests ruled over the Atmoran and burgeoning Nord populations at the behest of their Dragon overlords , establishing the Dragon Cult as Skyrim ' s dominant religion in the Merethic Era .