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The Elder Scrolls

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Bethesda Softworks' Elder Scrolls 10th anniversary logo from 2004.

The Elder Scrolls (also called simply Elder Scrolls) is a computer role-playing game series developed by Bethesda Softworks. It is often abbreviated TES.

The four main Elder Scrolls games, Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, and Oblivion are known for their open-ended gameplay and their huge environments. The newest part of the Elder Scrolls series is Oblivion. Oblivion was released in North America on March 20, 2006 for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360.

Also, there are some off-shoots that are not PC role-playing games, but employ the same game universe:

TES Travels games Dawnstar and Stormhold run only on Java-enabled cell phones. Shadowkey has been developed for the N-Gage. Morrowind was released for both the Microsoft Windows and Xbox platforms. Oblivion has been released for the PC and the Xbox 360. There are rumours suggesting "Oblivion" could be released for Sony PS3 and PSP but Bethesda have officially stated "At present we have no announced plans to bring Oblivion to any platforms other than PC or Xbox 360."

The World of The Elder Scrolls

The world of TES is known for its attention to detail, realism, and the long, complex lists of names, dates, and places. They constitute its extensive history and the vast, interconnected structure of its various societies, cultures, and religions much more than what most players are familiar with.

Furthermore, there is no one compilation of all information pertaining to TES, and, within the games, historical references are often vague or unsure. Players are encouraged to draw their own conclusions about situations and events for which the records are few and incomplete or when competing viewpoints obscure the truth. This has spawned a subculture amongst TES players of history and philosophy aficionados affectionately called loremasters who frequently engage in long-winded and convoluted online debates as to the specifics of theological insights or economic patterns.

The Elder Scrolls games take place on the continent of Tamriel, and is a large landmass divided into nine provinces. An exception is The Elder Scrolls Legends: Battlespire, which takes place between the realm of Oblivion, an alternate dimension ruled by the Daedra, and the mortal realm of Mundus. It is known that there are continents besides Tamriel in the Elder Scrolls universe, but there is yet to be an official game that takes place in one.

The nine provinces of Tamriel are:

While each of the ten playable races has a "home province" or province of origin, they are not limited to this province and can be found outside its borders, though they are a minority.

Other races included in TES lore are Ayleid, Chimer, Dwemer, Ehlnofey, Falmer, Hist, Imga, Kamal, Ka Po' Tun, Maormer, Sload, Tang Mo, and Tsaesci. The Dwemer were destroyed for unknown reasons before Arena, but this is explained in Morrowind (Elder Scrolls III).

The Elder Scrolls places great emphasis on the idea of the dualism and equality of opposites. This dualism is not the Abrahamic dualism of good and evil, but more closely resembles a fusion of Eastern and pre-Christianity Western beliefs on the subject, being the duality of order and chaos. According to Elder Scrolls Lore, the concepts of order and chaos can be translated collectively into everything. These notions might be more exactly approximated using the words stasis (unchanging continuity) and force (unknowable energy). Almost all Tamrielic religions strongly feature the idea that the world was created through an intermingling of these two things, some saying that time is a synthesis of continuity and alteration, and most religious creation-theories deal with one or more mythological characters representing these absolutes either procreating or engaging in combat (or both, as the case may be).

The Elder Scrolls themselves

The Elder Scrolls themselves are arguably MacGuffins in the series. These scrolls are said to be scrolls of both prophecy (before an event has happened) and history (once the event has happened). It is hinted that most of the events of the series have been inspired by those who have read one (or more) of the Elder Scrolls. In TES lore, it takes a powerful mystic to read the Scrolls, and interpretations are never absolute. They are used much like an over-complex and difficult Tarot set. One "tunes" them to a specific time and place through a mystical ritual, and then interprets the assorted symbology and iconography which appear on the otherwise blank parchment. However, at times, it has been known that cosmically important individuals, or individuals the subject of prophecy have been able to see writing on the Scrolls, without the associated rituals.

Template:Spoiler In Oblivion, the Elder Scrolls themselves are the object of the final Thieves Guild quest, "The Ultimate Heist". The player is tasked to steal an Elder Scroll from the Imperial Palace, located in Imperial City, Cyrodiil. Though the player can pick it up in his inventory, and is told that it contains prophecy, he cannot read it: the scroll appears as gibberish on screen.

The Gray Fox utilizes the scroll to modify a curse on his Gray Cowl, allowing him to live in a way he was previously unable to. The fate of the stolen scroll, once given to the Gray Fox, is left unresolved.

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