[blockquote][b][url=/profile/Paws]Paws[/url] said:[/b] Who is lying? The Altmer, absolutely. One source tells us "many still believe" while the other source "it was once believed." So if the Altmer have always had access to the truth, why does the belief persist? It is part of a larger inconsistency in their racial narrative - the Aldmer landed on the shores of Summerset from their exodus from Aldmeris, after which they split which formed the different merish races we recognise today: One tribe became the Ayleids, another the Chimer, yet another became the Bosmer, and some became the fish elves. Except the Chimer went to Resdayn and found Dwemer already there. Topal the Pilot sailed into the Heartlands and found bird mer and Khajiit already there. The Khajiit are said to share a common ancestry with the Bosmer. The Altmeri creation myth they cling to is a paradox.[/blockquote]

Lol, Altmer aren't obliged to inform everyone of their researches. If some folks believe some bullshit, it's because they didn't care to get more information.

The whole paradox about the Altmeri creation myth solves itself easily if you assume that Aldmeris is Tamriel. Also, source?

Lol. I've read these. Vix's article was the very first point I started my lore learning from. I thought you found something else. Well. As far as I know, that's not much of a paradox. The absence or scarcity of information about Dwemer, Falmer and such only means that the records weren't preserved to the current time. Which, in my opinion, has a lot to do with the fact that the Crystal Tower was not built yet. And the fact that the data about the Maormer is present in the Crystal tower implies that their ancestors were exiled when the Tower was already built (i.e. the Altmer already settled on the Isles, i.e. the Maormer speak bull) or close to that time (i.e. they aren't a race as old as Falmer and Dwemer). As for Ayleids, Bosmer and Chimer, the times when they split from the Altmer are recorded in the Altmeri history and preserved in the Crystal Tower fully.

All myths have holes. Obviously, a lot of things have happened during the ancient times we have so little data about. Yet, the Altmeri records are ones of the most informative and consistent, in comparison to the other races. Also, all the events described in the myths didn't happen overnight. It wasn't like one day someone decided that this day will be the end of the Dawn Era and the beginning of the Merethic. That division was created much later by the scholars. So it could as well be that there were indeed Ayleids in the Dawn Era.

As for Topal and Orcs, didn't the Orcs exist from the Dawn Era too?

The thing is, they are only speaking about Ayleids, Chimer and Bosmer. And that, I think, is because the others actually never split. They probably just lived in some faraway places and over time changed and became Dwemer, Falmer, Khajiit and such. Chimer and Ayleids, however, left with a scandal. The ones who later became Maormer probably even didn't count because of they were a bunch of bandits rather thaan a heretic movement. Also, (correct me if I'm mistaken) the very concept of "Merethic Era" was invented by humans, not by Altmer. Human historians decided to count the moment when the time became linear as 2500 ME, while in reality it could be much longer than 2500 years. So if it was, say 3000 years ago, it could as well be long after the convention at the Ada-Mantia, and still before 2500 ME.

You'd rather move the established timeline back than acknowledge that the Altmeri version of events doesn't hold up to scrutiny? Emmental my dear Watson :D

The trouble with moving the timeline is that the Merethic era is bookended by two very significant dates: It starts with the founding of the Adamantine Tower and ends with the establishment of the Camoran Dynasty. While I'll be the first to admit that the events within the mythic era are mythological in nature, it's hard to dscredit the dating of the Ur-Tower. While the PGE are designed to be biased and taken with a pinch of salt, the Adamantine Tower is also called the Direnni Tower after the notable and oft-lauded Altmer dynasty that have inhabited it pretty much throughout history. The dating of that structure would need to be something the Direnni were involved with, and would likely be vocal about misinformation regarding its age.

At the other end we have the start of the Camoran Dynasty. King Eplear's feat in uniting the fractious Bosmer in Valenwood is a strange thing for wrong and biased humans to agree as the beginning of properly recorded history, no?

I think you were closer to the mark when you metioned the idea that Aldmeris is Tamriel. Similar to the Nordic belief that they were breathed into life on the Throat of the World, the idea all life began on Tamriel then migrated outwards to later return explains a hell of a lot of the inconsitencies: The Nords returned from Atmora and found Nedes - humans who never joined the initial migration to Atmora. The Elves return from Aldmeris and find Ayleids, Dwemer and Orsimer - those who never left to join the initial migration from Tamriel to Aldmeris. However, such a theory still flies in the face of the traditional Altmeri account of what happened.

Well, I admit my mistake about the ME - I've read that it was established by human historians (who weren't even around by that time). But the Orcs. I went and reread Father of the Niben, should have done it eaarlier. By the manner the word "orcs" is used there, it seems like it doesn't mean the race. It isn't capitalized. Which makes me think that at that time it wasn't used as the name of the Orsimer race but as a word for wildlings or something like that. After all, the origin of Orcs isn't mentioned just in Altmeri myths, but also Chimeri, and even Malacath admits it to have at least happened. So I think the issue here is the use of the word rather than the existence of Orcs.

I have a hard time believing in the existence of Aldmeris as a separate continent, for several reasons. First, it's never said where it was located. Second, all the Aldmeri myths indicate that the history of the Aldmeri race began in Tamriel (Old Ehlnofey), just like all the other races. Also, the myth about the wandering Ehlnofey suggests that the mer didn't move anywhere from Tamriel, so Aldmeris = Old Ehlnofey = Tamriel.