Tamriel:Dunmer

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Illustration of a typical Dunmer male.

Dunmer, also known as Dark Elves, are the dark-skinned Elven peoples of the Eastern Empire. "Dark" is variously understood to mean "dark-skinned," "gloomy," and "ill-favored by fate." The Dunmer and their national character embrace these various connotations with enthusiasm. In the Empire, "Dark Elves" is the common usage, but in their Morrowind homeland, and among their Aldmeri brethren, they call themselves the "Dunmer". The dark-skinned, red-eyed Dunmer combine powerful intellect with strong and agile physiques, producing superior warriors and sorcerers. On the battlefield, Dunmer are noted for their skilled and balanced integration of the sword, the bow and destruction magic. In character, they are grim, aloof, and reserved, distrusting and disdainful of other races. Life in the volcanic terrains of Vvardenfell has made them very resistant to fire; they laugh in the face of enemies lobbing fireballs at them.

Dunmer are treated distrustfully by other races. They are often proud, ruthless, cruel, and young female Dark Elves are well known for their promiscuity. While the skills and strengths of the race makes them very powerful, vengefulness, ages-long conflicts, betrayals, and ill reputation prevent them from gaining more significance.

[edit] Society

Native-born Dunmer tend to look down on "outlanders", which are other races or Dunmer born outside of Morrowind, though the intensity of this ethnocentricity varies from place to place. The land from which the Dunmer hail is to the far east of the Empire and is commonly known as Morrowind (which contains the island of Vvardenfell). Slavery used to be extremely common in Morrowind, and slaves were most either of Khajiit or Argonian descent, although many men and mer were also enslaved there. The Empire of Tamriel has a ban on slavery but, as part of the terms of Morrowind's entrance into the Empire, Dunmer were allowed to keep their own sacred and traditional laws. However, in the sequel to Morrowind, Oblivion, it is revealed that slavery has been abolished and the slaves freed by House Dres and House Hlaalu.

Though most Dunmer have become assimilated into Imperial and foreign culture, almost all retain many of their traditions and values, and some Dunmer even prefer living the traditional life of the Ashlanders - in small, primal tribes in the deserts and scorched plains of the Ashlands and on the plains of the Grazelands [1]. In the Ashlands, native tribes rule without laws or care for government and live strictly by codes, rituals and ancient traditions usually dictated by a wise woman or seer, while others created or joined the Great Houses and established such cities as Balmora or Vivec, but the land is so harsh and dangerously infested with creatures such as Alits and Cliff Racers that the Imperials dare not venture out.

[edit] History

The Dunmer themselves, previously known as the Chimer (changed folk) due to their worship of the Daedra, rather than the Aedra worshipped by the other Aldmer in Summerset Isle, gained their dark skin tragically as a result of the Battle of Red Mountain which involved the murder of an ancient and respected hero known as Nerevar (the reincarnation of whom, dubbed the Nerevarine, the player assumes the role of in Morrowind in order to defeat Dagoth Ur). Nerevar was suggested to have been murdered by his own Tribunal, which included Vivec, the warrior-poet, Sotha Sil, the clockwork sorcerer, and Almalexia, his wife. These three supposedly killed Nerevar in an attempt to attain immortal life and become the "living gods" seen in Morrowind [2]. Another version, endorsed by the Tribunal Temple, states that Nerevar died from wounds he received during battle - possibly with the Dwemer King, with Dagoth Ur, the larger Battle at Red Mountain, or a combination of the three.

The Daedra Azura (the Goddess of Dusk and Dawn and an ally of Nerevar), became angry and punished the entire Chimer race for letting such a disgrace happen and turned their skin as black as the Ashlands and their eyes as red as their hearts. Their language appears to be mostly based on the Assyrian language. Three of the favored expletives used by the Dunmer are "fetcher", "n'wah", and "s'wit".

For more insight into the culture and mentality of the race, read the series "The Real Barenziah".