User:Analeah Oaksong
Hello and welcome to my userpage. I am someone that enjoys spending some of my time creating or updating lore articles so that knowledge on the setting will be up to date for The Elder Scrolls community. I have a tendancy to hyperfixate on certain topics. At the moment, that is currently Bretons and anything in proximity to their lore.
My biggest annoyance with the series right now is that ZOS insists on adding Ayleid ruins in High Rock. I have no issue with Ayleids, but it seems the Direnni were forgotten about when they had a massive hegemony in the province for a while. Every time we ask for Direnni ruins in High Rock, 5 more Ayleid ruins are added there.
Userboxes[edit]
This user plays on a Windows PC. |
This user is a member of the Bosmer race. |
This user is culturally a Breton |
This user worships Jephre |
This user worships Druagaa |
This user worships Magnus |
This user worships Phynaster |
This user worships Shandar |
This user is a knight of High Rock |
This user practices Druidism |
This user has made a grand total of 22,042 edits in 2098 days. |
This user has been on UESPWiki for 5 years, 8 months, and 29 days. |
This user is a Userspace Patroller. |
Articles[edit]
I have worked on a significant amount of articles, below are the most notable.
Featured Articles[edit]
- Lore:Breton - Aided in its revamp, and am keeping it up to date.
- Lore:Chrysamere - A legendary claymore that is associated with Bretons.
- Lore:Clockwork City - I really enjoyed the CWC dlc and all things related to Sotha Sil.
- Lore:Druids - A Breton subculture, originating with the Breton's Nedic ancestors.
- Lore:Hircine- My favorite Daedric Prince. I did a major Revamp on the page.
- Lore:Mehrunes Dagon - Aided in its revamp by finishing a fellow editor's work who had gone inactive. Updated it for the Gates of Oblivion storyline.
- Online:Volendrung - In-game testing had to be done, and had to compete with other players to test things out.
Notable Articles[edit]
- Lore:Azra Nightwielder - The Original Shadowmage.
- Lore:Bloodroot Forge - A forge created by Hircine.
- Lore:Dark Heart - A shadowy imitation of the Heart of Lorkhan created by Namira.
- Lore:Dark Moon - The corpse of Lorkhaj.
- Lore:Dawnfang and Duskfang - This sword is easily the coolest in the games.
- Lore:Druids of Galen - The proto-Bretons, Nedic ancestors of the Bretons at least up to a point. Since I like Bretons, naturally I was interested in writing the page.
- Lore:Gabrielle Benele - Pretty cool Breton recurring character in the Elder Scrolls Online. Would like to see more content involving her.
- Lore:Khajiit - Khajiit are my favorite race, and I spent a lot of time documenting all the new lore added by ESO: Elsweyr.
- Lore:Mechanical Heart - More lore for both Sotha Sil and the Clockwork City from TES: Legends. A recreation of the Heart of Lorkhan.
- General:Recurring Characters - I keep the list up to date on characters that appear in multiple Elder Scrolls Games.
- Lore:Spear of Bitter Mercy - Spear artifacts are neat.
- Lore:Talym Rend - A protagonist from TES: Legends who beat Sheogorath at his own game.
- Lore:Vastarie - Very interesting Lich that is devoted to Azura.
Images[edit]
Here are the images I uploaded that are some of the most notable.
Featured Images[edit]
Other Notable Images[edit]
Transcriptions[edit]
Some of the transcriptions I have done. Transcribing is a very time-consuming to do.
- ESO Live Lore of the Clockwork City - Contains information on background lore on the Clockwork City
- ESO 2021 Global Reveal - Global reveal for the Blackwood chapter and its Gates of Oblivion arc.
- ESO 2022 Global Reveal - Global reveal for the High Isle chapter and its Legacy of the Bretons arc.
- High Isle Chapter Preview - Chapter preview for the High Isle chapter and its Legacy of the Bretons arc.
- ESO 2023 Global Reveal - Global reveal for the Necrom chapter and its Shadow Over Morrowind arc.
- ESO 2024 Global Reveal - Global reveal for the Gold Road chapter.
Answered Loremaster Archive Questions[edit]
The following are lore-related questions that I asked and were answered by the Loremasters of the Elder Scrolls Online, who roleplayed as prominent authors of Tamriel.
Lawrence Schick[edit]
Loremaster's Archive: Murkmire Q&A[edit]
Why is Murkmire home to creatures that bear such a close resemblance to Morrowind's native species? –Zebendal
Good question, but tail-forward! To fix: why are so many Morrowind beasts clearly related to creatures from southern Black Marsh? The answer is outside the realm of the records of history, but consider these general facts and draw your own conclusion. One: many regions of Morrowind, I am told, are damp due to climate and warm due to volcanism, creating a wholesomely muggy environment much like that of our subtropical swamps! Two: for several thousand years the Dark Elves have been raiding our borders for slave labor, and in the process picked up and took with them anything else that was portable and might be valuable, including livestock and critters. Does the picture emerge now from the mist?
—Jee-Lar
Leamon Tuttle[edit]
Loremaster's Archive - Mehrunes Dagon & Daedra in the Second Era[edit]
"I've heard rumors about Meridian Daedra describable as Auroran armor inhabited by beings of sentient light. Do you know what race these Daedra are?
I've seen many kinds of armor and weapons made of ebony bound to Daedric souls, such as the set of armor in the Telvanni style worn by the famed Divayth Fyr. What determines the aesthetics of Daedric armaments?
What is the relationship between Mehrunes Dagon and Hircine like?"
—Aliyavana
What manner of Daedra does the Glister Witch employ, you ask? One of little concern to the Kyn.
Yes, I know of the door-mage, Divayth Fyr. I assure you, his armor is only a pale reflection of true Daedric craft. Mortal mages often smuggle our plans and designs out of Oblivion with the intention of replicating them. A fool's errand, given Nirn's inferior materials. Fyr likely cobbled his pretender's panoply out of obsidian and bug-leather. When weighed against the genuine article, it is very poor armor indeed.
As for the relationship between Mehrunes Dagon and Hircine? There is no way to explain the accords of Princes to mortals. Your cheap dualisms of "Friend" and "Foe" cannot capture the sublime complexity of such associations. Hircine and Dagon do, of course, pursue parallel interests. The primacy of terror, the triumph of the will, the pursuit of bloody ends, and so on. Princes do, occasionally, act in concert. But they keep their own counsel on matters of this scale.
Michael Zenke[edit]
Loremaster's Archive - Tamriel's Dungeons[edit]
I hope your exploration of Graven Deep to investigate the Druids of Galen's voyage bears fruit. I've heard they were the Nedic inhabitants of High Rock during the Merethic Era, but how much had their intermingling with Elves transitioned them into Bretons by the time their exodus occurred circa 1E 330? I ask as there's documents describing Bretons existence which are dated as early as 1E 20 and 1E 200, but were these encounters truly of the modern Breton race we know of today?
—Aliyavana
Mate, I think your course is true even if the waters we're in are a bit choppy and hard to navigate. It's like this: what makes a "race"? Nowadays we talk about how "Bretons" tend to be, to distinguish how "Nords" and "Imperials" and even we "Redguard" tend to be, but as many a book from the University of Gwylim will attest, we're kinda splitting hairs, aren't we?
Regions and cultures and people aren't as easy to categorize as "this here's a sail for a cutter" and "this here's a sail for a schooner." Right? At the end of the day we're all just folks. The ways we choose to talk about the groups of people that live near the north side of Iliac Bay vs. the south side has as much to do with the person talking, the place they're talking, and the time they're talking as anything else.
Just one sailor's way to look at it. Let's use that spyglass to look at the origin of the Bretons, though, eh? I sat down with Druid Laurel to chat about her people's past, and it was a damned interesting conversation. If you've never met her, she has an easy way of making complex things a little more approachable. Extremely helpful for an old sea dog like myself.
According to her, we know that the Bretons were "Breton-y" by the time the druids set sail for the Systres around 1E 330. You have to figure, then, that the Direnni and the Nedic folk of the region were probably intermingling for centuries as the Merithic [sic] ended and the First Era began. With a couple of uh, Red Mountain-related exceptions, we don't have a lot of examples in history of a whole new cultural group springing up or disappearing overnight. So documents suggesting there were Bretons around hundreds of years before the time of Druid King Kasorayn make a lot of sense to me. Druid Laurel had the same thought, that localized groups of the culture—maybe even large ones—might have been around and causing trouble for the Direnni long before we think of them as coming to blows.
Just keep in mind that when you read historical texts (even well-researched ones), there's still just a person like you or me on the other side of the quill. Enchanted or otherwise. And try to keep it in context.
—Dhulef
Loremaster's Archive - The Druid Circles of Galen[edit]
What's the origin of the name Galen? Your ancestors referred to themselves as the Druids of Galen long before they even reached the Systres isle of Galen, according to the Logbook of Druid Betrys. What is (or was) the original Galen?
—Analeah Oaksong
By far, this question is the one I saw more often than any other. I know that the time period before the druids left the lands of Direnni is of great interest to students of history. I spoke with both Trilam Heladren and Varona Vedralu during their time in the archipelago, and it was at their suggestion I wrote "Exodus of the Druids."
What our visitors had trouble understanding, good Oaksong, is that my interest in the past is not academic. Not in the way it is for mainlanders. Understanding King Kasorayn is a type of personal worship for me. I probably know more about our early past than any other follower on the island. It's a truism among druids that the now, the present, is the most important place to live. Which is a healthy point of view, I think, but tends to dissuade scholarly research.
Friend, if it seems like I'm stalling, it's because I am. Because you're not going to like the answer I have to give you. I don't know where the name Galen comes from, and I believe that anyone that claims otherwise is telling you a falsehood.
I can tell you a number of stories, though. Galen, it's said, was the name of a spirit that walked from the heart of the forest into the midst of an ancient proto-Breton settlement. They were the one to sing the songs of Y'ffre to our ancient forebearers. They were the one to teach us the ways of the Green.
Or, if you believe another tale, Galen was the name of the first Archdruid, the first Druid Queen. She was one of the very first Nedes to channel the songs of the Singer, and rose to lead the first circle in the deep woods of High Rock.
Or, in yet another telling, Galen was the name of an island in a lake. A place of sacred worship where Y'ffre's heart could be felt beating even here in the realm of mortals. It was there, on that island, where our forebearers heard the songs and learned to tend the groves.
Which one is the truth? Honest-to-garden objective fact? I have no idea. And despite years of study and attempts to answer that question, I'm no closer today than I was the day I began to translate the ancient tablets. All we know for certain, today, is that the name holds a special place in the heart of my people. It is a name conveying solace, home and hearth, reverence and conservation. And so we are, and always will be, the Druids of Galen. Wherever our travels take us in the world.
—Laurel of the Stonelore
Loremaster's Archive - House Telvanni[edit]
The Telvanni are known for their talented mages, and perhaps most powerful among them is Divayth Fyr, who is compared to the likes of Shalidor and Vanus Galerion. Do you know of any figures from my Breton race that I can look up to that measure up to their power and/or accomplishments, perhaps even within Great House Telvanni?
—Lady Allene Ashcroft
First and foremost, you have my compliments for choosing such an appreciative way to request this information, Lady Ashcroft. Your fellow question writers could have taken a page from your tome, contextualizing your true goals within the framework of charming obsequiousness.
The comparison to Arch-Mage Galerion is apt, but short-sighted. The Mages Guild is a halfway house for those with the mystical aptitude to slowly float a quill over a parchment, or light the lanterns in Wayrest with incantations a Dark Elf child masters before their tenth year. In short: lackwits. That a talent like Vanus Galerion has shackled himself to that sprawling edifice to mediocrity proves that wisdom is no requirement for arcane power.
Your touchstone to Shalidor is more complimentary, but still flawed. The master of the Labyrinthian ultimately fell victim to short-sighted sentimentality. I do share agreement with some of his older writings about the role of spellcasters in civilized society, however. He also has the dubious distinction of owing me more outstanding favors than half of House Telvanni combined. I will eventually come to collect, old man. Count on it.
You Bretons have a reputation for mystical aptitude, but I would argue that the cost of that success has been a lack of lasting impact on the greater magical community. I could find numerous instances of Mage So-And-So making a splash with war magics for a few decades, and then dying. Or a great divinator prognosticating portentous events, and then dying. Breton mages burn brightly but briefly, I suppose, a sad commentary on the lifespan your uncaring gods have gifted your people.
A gift, then, for you and the rest of your Covenant kin seeking validation in the wider world. Research Sage Voernet, a scholar of the First Era who has come down to you as little more than a footnote but was a keen and masterful manipulator of the magical arts in his time. The adventures and prominence of the man known to history as "Gyron Vardengroet" (that was not his true name) are vastly overblown by tale-telling, but speak to a powerful and wise Breton mage. And while I find the ethos of the druid cult to be pedestrian in the extreme, the Druid King Kasorayn was as powerful a spellweaver as any to be found in the Direnni culture his people fled from.
Loremaster's Archive - The Arcanists[edit]
As a knight myself, I am intrigued by whispers about these so-called "rune knights." What can you tell me about them? Are they Arcanists that happen to be knights, do they follow any codes or belong to any specific knightly order, how does one become one, and how do they compare to knightly traditions present on Tamriel?
—Sir Greensly of the Knights of Saint Eleidon
I have looked at length into the history of arcanist spellcasting, and I fear even I can offer you only a scant few pointers for your own research. You have the right of it, Sir Greensly. The "Rune Knights of the Purgatory Disquisition" appear to have been a very small and very secretive knightly order sometime very early in the Second Era. Founded by an esoteric and enigmatic patron, this order rode forth from Apocrypha to battle across Nirn—or so my research indicates. Perhaps this patron was a Daedra? Or a powerful and less martial arcanist who took on a noble lord's mantle?
Their time from founding to disbanding was not overly long, as far as I can tell, but no doubt you've heard of them for the same reason I have. They perfected several warding techniques using arcanist magics that survive, in some cases completely unchanged, to the modern day. Tales of these impressive warriors riding into battle untouched by hundreds of arrows are almost certainly spurious. But then again, perhaps not.
Loremaster's Archive - Infinite Archive[edit]
As the Infinite Archive contains documents on significant events that were or could be, I presume its records may also contain information on legendary figures and artifacts. Assuming my theory is correct, and you can and do not mind sharing such details originating from the Infinite Archive, can you tell me where the artifact Chrysamere may currently be, and anything (even if just theories or stories) that may shed light on its ambiguous origins?
—Dame Gratias of the Knights of Saint Eleidon
Certainly. Chrysamere. A two-handed blade, or claymore. Forged late in the Merethic era by a Breton swordsmith of some renown by the name of Asterie Bedel. She was an accomplished blacksmith, and she delighted in using the techniques of both men and mer in crafting her wares. Of this I am certain, for within the very heart of the blade itself lies her maker's mark: a mage's knot that harkens back to the earliest days of Bretonic culture.
Much of the journey from well-crafted but mortal blade to the "the [sic] Sword of Heroes" lies beyond the bounds of the Infinite Archive. Certainly, it was influenced by the magic of Breton society's Elven forebearers, gaining enchantments as it was passed from hand to hand. It fought in the wars to secure Clan Direnni's role as lords of High Rock and was present at the first sacking of Orsinium. Its defensive enchantments were sharpened and retooled to protect its bearer in a protracted siege of the Fellthunder Clan of giants in Rivenspire. And it played a small but important role in the Battle of Glenumbra Moors.
Where the blade lies today, I'm sorry to say, is not something even close examination of archival records could produce. My best approximation, if you're keen to go looking, is based on a series of letters penned between a Dark Elf researcher in Ebonheart and a Khajiit fence in the city of Alabaster. Perhaps one or both of those locales might contain a clue as to its current whereabouts.
Best move quickly, though. The blade does not sit idle in any one mortal's hand for long.
—Master Malkhest