Morrowind:Altmer

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Illustration of a typical Altmer male.

In the Imperial tongue, the haughty, tall, golden-skinned peoples of Summerset Isle are called High Elves, but they call themselves Altmer, or the "Cultured People." In the Empire, "High" is often understood to mean "proud" or "snobbish," and as the Altmer generally personify these characteristics, the "lesser races" harbor little warmth for them. Altmer confidently consider themselves, with some justice, as the most civilized culture of Tamriel; the common tongue of the Empire, Tamrielic, is based on Altmer speech and writing, and most of the Empire's arts, crafts, and sciences are derived from Altmer traditions. However, the Altmer's smug self-assurance of superiority can be hard to bear. Deft, intelligent, and strong-willed, Altmer are the most strongly gifted in the arcane arts of all the races, and Altmer boast that their sublime physical natures make them far more resistant to disease than the "lesser races." However, they are also somewhat vulnerable to fire, frost, and shock.

The first edition of 'A Pocket Guide to the Empire and its environs' (aka PGE), published in 2E 864, contains a passage from an earlier date (1E 2820) suggesting that the Altmer practice eugenic infanticide, putting to death nine in ten of their newborns for being of impure bloodline. It also suggests that Altmeri names are simply combinations of numbers in their own language, and that their culture revolves almost entirely around displaying social status. How reliable and unbiased this account is is a matter of some doubt, as the document itself is written from a highly pro-Imperial - and thus anti Altmeri Dominium - point of view, and contains numerous objections written in the margins by an anonymous Elf.

The third edition of the PGE, published much later in 3E 432, contains no mention of any of these practices - whether this is because they don't exist any more, or never existed, or do exist but simply go unmentioned, is not known.

For more information on the Altmer people, see the Tamriel article on Altmer.

[edit] Base Attributes

Attribute	M	F
Strength	30	30
Intelligence	50	50
Willpower	40	40
Agility	40	40
Speed	30	40
Endurance	40	30
Personality	40	40
Luck	40	40

[edit] Skill Bonuses

Skill	Bonus
Destruction	+10
Enchant	+10
Alchemy	+10
Alteration	+5
Conjuration	+5
Illusion	+5

[edit] In-Game Description

The High Elves consider themselves the most civilized culture of Tamriel; the common tongue of the Empire, Tamrielic, is based on Altmer speech and writing, and most of the Empire's arts, crafts, and sciences derive from High Elven traditions. Deft, intelligent, and strong-willed, High Elves are often gifted in the arcane arts, and High Elves boast that their sublime physical natures make them far more resistant to disease than the "lesser races."

[edit] Specials

Ability: Resist Common Disease: 75%
Ability: Weakness to Shock: 25%
Ability: Weakness to Frost: 25%
Ability: Weakness to Fire: 50%
Ability: Weakness to Magicka: 50%
Ability: Fortify Maximum Magicka 15pts: 2.5x Intelligence (150% more magicka)

[edit] Ideal Character

While the Breton is marginally better for protective magic, Altmer are also advantageous for magic. You receive much more magicka than the Breton (the only other race with a magicka bonus). This may be the foremost reason to play the Altmer, because with that much magicka one does not worry as much about the more expensive spells. Particularly greedy players can also choose a birthsign with a Fortify Maximum Magicka Ability so they would almost never encounter a magicka shortage, but they would have to endure the extensive resting needed to re-gain it - though Alchemy provides a means of restoring it more quickly with potions, and Altmer have a bonus to their starting skill value. Altmer are also the only race with an Enchant bonus, which ironically does not use magicka. Consider this if you plan to play an enchanter, as Enchant is a difficult skill to raise and even a small starting bonus is helpful.

The dilemma one faces the Altmer is the many weaknesses they have. Experienced players should be able to navigate around this kind of issue, but early in the game you will be afflicted with a severe handicap against any characters who will use magic. For this reason, you may want to design your character to keep their distance in battle. Females have a certain advantage there, with the increased speed. Using this method, you could attempt playing a magical sniper, having high speed to retreat (or at least significant feather/burden effects) while using Destruction spells to attack your opponent. Of course, Morrowind is open enough to allow you plenty of options, so anything you can implement to keep yourself safe from magic will be ideal: Reflect, Spell Absorption, Paralyze, Calm, Demoralize Speed Fortification/Damage/Drain, Silence, or Sound. These can be particularly viable options for Altmer spellcasters as they have enough magicka to cast both these 'protective' spells for their own safety as well as using ranged spells from the Schools of Destruction and Mysticism against their enemies.

In a sense, the Altmer are the embodiment of the Apprentice birthsign, in that they gain larger magicka reserves but pay for it with increased susceptibility (and of course this is doubled again for an Altmer that is born under the Apprentice).