There's more to the Falmer than just "goblins"

Originally published on r/teslore in January 2026.

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After my last post about the Lefthanded elves, it was suggested that I give the Maormer the same treatment. However, my fancy fell on the Falmer. In this post I will attempt to straighten out their mystery and follow the trail for how they ended up where they are.

Culture

What we do know is that they had a prosperous civilisation in the Merethic Era, according to both Gelebor and Enthir.

There’s no account of when they broke off from the Aldmer, but taking the similarities of their pantheon with the Altmer's we can surmise that possibly the Falmer were the last to leave Summerset. 

This is, or was, the epicenter of our religion. Most of the snow elf people worshipped Auri-El. [...] Our empire had temples to some of the other deities: Trinimac, Syrabane, Jephre and Phynaster rounded out the rest.
- Knight-Paladin Gelebor

Likewise, there’s no account for why they broke off, but there are a couple of potential reasons. One is Snow-Throat - Aurbic Engima and Nu-Mantia Intercept both make mention of the elves spreading across the continent to find “their” Tower. 

And so the Mer self-refracted, each to their own creation, the Chimer following Red-Heart, the Bosmer burgeoning Green-Sap, the Altmer erecting Crystal-Like-Law, et alia.
- Aurbic Enigma 4: The Elden Tree

As they were the most powerful of lesser spirits in the ages after the Convention and eager to emulate what they saw, the Aldmer began construction of their own towers. That they built more than one shows you that they were not of one mind. The Aldmer began to split along cultural lines, on how best to spread creation and their parts in it. Each Tower that was built exemplified a separate accordance.
- Nu-Mantia Intercept

Another potential reason is their faith - while the Aldmer's ancestor worship veered towards a specific pantheon of hero-gods and the promise of individual ascension à la Auriel, the Falmer seemed to seek to return to Auriel, believing themselves not only to be descended from the Ada, but actual splinters of Auriel.

Many of the most dedicated snow elves once committed themselves to a tireless journey through the Chantry to the Inner Sanctum. They carried with them the paramount desire to become one with their god, Auri-El. Though all set out with the determination to prove their worth, few were prepared for the trials that lay ahead. [...] In their failed attempt, they were forced to live in the shadow of those who did continue on to achieve the great glory and honor of ascension into the light. [...] Regardless of each individual's tale, the final words remain eerily similar. It is said that every pilgrim ascended, bathed in light, a look of relief and contentment on their face.
- Touching the Sky

This belief would likely create a religious schism between the Aldmer and the burgeoning Falmer, much as was the case with the Chimer. 

Much else isn’t known about their culture or customs. Their language tells its own tale, though. Their alphabet is a heavily stylised version of the same alphabet used by both Dwemer and Altmer, while their language carries a multitude of similarities with Ayleidoon. This can be a further nod to how late (comparatively) the Falmer broke off, or it could be a sign of continuous contact with their fellow Mer. Gelebor tells us that they had an alliance with the Dwemer even before the collapse, and some Ayleids attempted to flee the Alessians by going north, which could either just be an attempt to get away or suggestive of a relationship with the Falmer and any potential remaining holdouts. 

Those who fled north into the lands once held by the Falmer were slaughtered by Nords led by the infamous Vrage the Butcher.
- Ayleid Survivals in Valenwood

History

Towards the late Merethic Era the Atmorans who would become Nords arrived in Skyrim and for a while the Falmer lived in harmony with their new neighbours. 

For a time, relations between Men and Elves were harmonious, and the Nords throve in the new land, summoning more of their kin from the North to build the city of Saarthal, the site of which has recently been located by Imperial archaeologists in the vicinity of modern Winterhold.
- Pocket Guide to the Empire, 1st Edition/Skyrim

History tells us that the Falmer attacked Saarthal without warning, having heard of something the Nords had found buried underneath. 

The Nords found something when they built their city, buried deep in the ground. They attempted to keep it buried, but the elves learned of it and coveted it for themselves. Thus they assaulted Saarthal, their goal not to drive the Nords out but to secure this power for themselves.
- Night of Tears

This following comment from ¥R in PGE1, however, creates a subtle implication that maybe Ysgramor was directly involved in the Falmer hearing about it. The Improved Emperor’s Guide takes this comment and runs with it. 

Ysgramor's provocations and blasphemies have, of course, been long forgotten
- Pocket Guide to the Empire, 1st Edition/Skyrim

Some Elven lorekeepers accuse Ysgramor of instigating the so-called Night of Tears through unknown blasphemies, while human scholars believe the Elf attack was unjustified.
- The Improved Emperor’s Guide to Tamriel

After the Night of Tears, Ysgramor escaped back to Atmora and returned with the 500 Companions and started what, by all accounts, was a genocide lasting several centuries. Ysgramor led the Nords at the Battle of the Moesring when the Snow Prince fell, probably around ME500, yet the Nords are still fighting holdouts of Falmer in the second century of the First Era.

The Battle of the Moesring was to be the final stand between Nord and Elf on our fair island. Led by Ysgramor, we had driven the Elven scourge from Skyrim, and were intent on cleansing Solstheim of their kind as well.
- Fall of the Snow Prince

13th of Sun’s Dusk 1E139: At the command of Lord Harald we have swept our company to the south edge of our territories in an attempt to drive the Snow Elves up north to the main host of his forces. The first few days met with heavy resistance, but as we approached the eastern edge of Lake Honrich we have seen little and less of them. 21st of Sun’s Dusk 1E139: We've begun to receive reports of attacks back around Lake Honrich and word has come from the front that we should pull back to be sure we are not leaving our rear exposed. If there is a stronghold of Elves here, we will surely root them out.
- Skorm Snow-Strider’s Journal

Diaspora

The fact that there are holdouts of Falmer over 600 years after the fall of the Snow Prince gives some credibility to Gelebor’s belief that there might still be other places that have survived - after all the Chantry still exists, even if it’s just by Auriel’s grace. 

Now that my brother's dead, it's quite possible I'm the last of our kind. It's also quite possible that there are some other isolated conclaves of snow elves nestled elsewhere on Nirn.
- Knight-Paladin Gelebor

However, it does also create the probability that the Falmer had their own diaspora, similar to the Ayleids. 

Thus began the Ayleid Diaspora, in which the Heartland Elves sought to find new homes elsewhere in Tamriel—to decidedly mixed success. [...] Several clans set out on the long march through Hammerfell to the Iliac Bay, and some actually made it, where they joined with (and were absorbed by) the long-established Direnni of Balfiera. Most successful—and they were more than a few—were the clans that fled southwest beneath the canopy of Valenwood. 
- Ayleid Survivals in Valenwood

Which, in turn, makes it possible for Athellor’s claims to be true. 

They bred with the other Elven races, and ceased to exist as an identifiable culture. It's very likely that the Falmer are an important part of Elven ancestry. I have long believed that I, Athellor, have the blood of the Falmer flowing through my veins!
- Athellor

Gelebor points out that everybody didn’t agree to the Dwemer’s terms, but also claims that those who didn’t either vanished or were killed. There’s more than one parallel to be drawn to the Ayleids here. They were either killed or absorbed by other elven cultures, but they continued to exist as a tribal society in the wilds of the Heartland long after the diaspora, as proven by the existence of Tjurhane Fyrre who lived long after the diaspora and into the Second Era.

Indeed, one of the finest sages of the University of Gwilym was a civilized Ayleid Elf, Tjurhane Fyrre (1E2790-2E227), whose published work on Wild Elves suggests a lively, vibrant culture.
- The Wild Elves

The elves were more prevalent on Tamriel when the Falmer fled from their Atmoran killers, than when the Ayleids fled from their slaves. It isn’t absurd to think that some Falmer may have found safety among the Chimer, Direnni, or even the Ayleids, and then, just like the Ayleids who fled to other elves, got absorbed into their culture and gradually let go of their own cultural identity. 

Fortunately their new hosts, the Bosmer, were remarkably generous in welcoming the Ayleids into their realm, so long as the Heartland Elves agreed to adopt aspects of the Green Pact and refrain from harming the forest. Having little choice, the Ayleids agreed, and this probably contributed to the dilution of their culture. For diluted it was, absorbed over time, and eventually forgotten.
- Ayleid Survivals in Valenwood

The Dwemer

The timeline gets a bit iffy once the Snow Prince falls. The Falmer went to the Dwemer for aid shortly after the Battle of the Moesring, 

8th of Evening Star: News has reached us that the great Snow Prince has fallen in battle. [...] 13th of Evening Star: In the night I overheard the Old Ones whispering secrets of the underground and the Dwemer who dwell there. [...] I feel hopeful that the Dwemer will help us to avenge our fallen and reclaim our land.
- Journal of Mirtil Angoth

yet most sources agree that the Dwemer had no presence in Skyrim until 1E420. 

This scholar would like to suggest, however, that many structures west of Morrowind were built after 1E 420. When the Clan Rourken left Vvardenfell, it seems evident that several clans broke off to create their own settlements, choosing to live in greater isolation than their Eastern brethren.
- Dwemer Inquiries

The only alternatives I’m able to see is that either they’re all wrong and the Dwemer were there much, much earlier, or that the Falmer went to Dwemereth for help and then the Dwemer brought all the Falmer with them when they expanded into Skyrim. Because there are no Falmer in Morrowind.

Regardless, the Dwemer agreed to help with the caveat that the Falmer would eat toxic mushrooms which blinded them. 

After their defeat by the Nords, the dwarves of old agreed to protect the Falmer, but at a terrible price. For these Dwemer did not trust their snow elf guests, and forced them to consume the toxic fungi that once grew deep underground. As a result, the snow elves were rendered blind. Soon, the majestic snow elves were rendered powerless. They became the dwarves' servants... and then their slaves.
- The Falmer: A Study

The Falmer, being desperate, agreed to the terms. But why would the Dwemer blind them? It seems an inconvenience to purposefully make their new vassals/thralls/slaves blind. It could conceivably be about control/domination/humiliation, but the answer to this may be written on Calcelmo's Stone. The unofficial official translation (OoG by Kuhlmann) of the stone is as follows: 

And so it was that your people were given passage to our steam gardens, and the protections of our power.
Many of your people had perished under the roaring, snow-throated kings of Mora,
and your wills were broken, and we heard you, and sent our machines against your enemies, to thereby take you under.
Only by the grace of the Dwemer did your culture survive,
and only by the fifteen-and-one tones did your new lives begin.
We do not desire thanks, for we do not believe in it. We do not ask for gratitude, for we do not believe in it.
We only request you partake of the symbol of our bond, the fruit of the stones around us.
And as your vision clouds, as the darkness sets in, fear not.
Know only our mercy and the radiance of our affection, which unbinds your bones
to the earth before, and sets your final path to the music of your new eternity.

Blindness in TES carries a very specific metaphysical meaning. There’s the Blind Witness (sometimes called the Deaf Witness) who is maimed by witnessing the enantiomorphic event, but by witnessing it decides the victor, echoing Magnus. There’s also the Captive Sage as described in the Sermons of a person who attains enlightenment by being placed in sensory deprivation, once again echoing Magnus. Parallels can also be drawn to Dagoth Ur’s ash zombies as per their concept art. It can also be noted that all of Dagoth Ur’s ash creatures are blind (barring the ash vampires), and interestingly the ascended sleepers can use their tentacle growths as wind instruments according to their concept art, which could hint at something tonal. “Unbinds your bones to the earth before” seemingly implies the Dwemer unbound the Falmer from the Earthbones by giving them forced enlightenment. “Final path to the music of your new eternity” combined with the earlier statement “by the fifteen-and-one tones did your new lives begin” suggests a correlation to sound. The Dwemer were well-known for tonal architecture: 

At the height of their power, the Dwemer exhibited near total mastery of tonal forces. Even now, countless centuries later, they remain peerless in this respect. Sound, not magic, facilitated their rise to power. I am continually astounded by tonal forces' wide range of uses. The Dwemer used sound in mining, medicine, architecture—even psychology.
- A Guide to Dwemer Mega-Structures

We can also ask why the Dwemer agreed to help the Falmer - why did the Dwemer care? Perhaps it’s related to how the Falmer viewed ascension. Kagrenac seems to have considered their views on ascension when he experimented with the Heart and Numidium.

I think Kagrenac might have succeeded in granting our race eternal life, with unforeseen consequences -- such as wholesale displacement to an Outer Realm. Or he may have erred, and utterly destroyed our race.
- Yagrum Bagarn

From the point of their blinding, the Falmer are irrevocably tied to the Dwemer. Kagrenac and his followers wanted to improve the Dwemer people and bring them beyond mortality. 

The Dwemer were not unified in their thinking. Kagrenac and his tonal architects, among them Bthuand Mzahnch, believed they could improve the Dwemer race. Others argued that the attempt would be too great a risk.
- Yagrum Bagarn

There are signs hinting towards the Falmer having inadvertently helped them. If we assume that the Falmer were blinded as some sort of forced enlightenment, then we have to ask why. The Dwemer rarely, if ever, did anything by chance or on a whim. The music is the clue, they blinded them to the physical world while opening their minds (enlightenment) to the building blocks of the world - the tones. 

Tamriel. Starry Heart. That whole f*cking thing is a song. It was made either out of 12 planets, or from two brothers that split in the womb. Either way, it’s the primal wail and those that grew up on it – they can’t help but hear it, and add to it, or try to control it, or run from it. The reason there IS music on Tamriel at ALL is because it exists. It was and is and it will not stop. There are repeats in it; plays on a tune. Variations. 
- Michael Kirkbride IRC quotes

There are only theories to what the blinding specifically achieved, but personally I prefer to think that blinding them gave them a sort of synesthesia and the ability to see the tones. Like an invisible third eye that can perceive the tones. By closing their eyes, they opened the third one. The third eye repeatedly shows up as a symbol of enlightenment, and incidentally all of Dagoth Ur’s ash creatures have the third eye, either on their palms or on their foreheads. The Dwemer themselves could most likely already hear the tones, which is how they could utilise them, but blinding themselves was something they weren’t willing to do. They wanted to improve their race, not maim it. 

This is where Aetherium enters the picture. If we assume that the sources were correct and the Dwemer had no settlements in Skyrim before the advent of Aetherium, then that would mean that the Falmer went to Dwemereth (anon Morrowind) to ask the Dwemer for aid, but there are no Falmer in Morrowind. However, the Falmer knew Skyrim and it seems probable that they had encountered Aetherium on their own and thought it inert and useless like everyone else. 

Modern scholars know Aetherium as a rare, luminescent blue crystal found in some Dwemer ruins. Most consider it little more than a curiosity, as it has proven all but impossible to work with: while it has a strong magical aura, it is alchemically inert, and no known process can enchant, smelt, mold, bind, or break it. To the dwarves, of course, such problems were merely a challenge.
- The Aetherium Wars

But something about this crystal intrigued the Dwemer and so they brought their Falmer with them to Skyrim to start their work on Aetherium. Considering that only the Dwemer knew how to utilise Aetherium it’s likely that there’s some tonal magic involved in the process, and with the Falmer's new enlightenment for the Dwemer's personal use they could find and utilise these crystals. 

This is aetherium, one of the rarer forms of aetherial fragment. It is only found in the caverns beneath Skyrim. How glass that falls from the sky winds up underground, I could not say. The Dwemer powered many devices with crystals such as these.
- Rourken Steamguards antiquity codex

The advent of Aetherium could also provide a reason for why a mainly underground-dwelling race had orrerys: tracking Aetherium, or other aetherial fragments, as they fell from the sky - and being Dwemer, probably trying to find a pattern. 

It’s said that the Aetherium trades eventually gave way to the Aetherium wars and infighting between the city-states, which ended up creating an opportunity for the Nords to sack their cities under the leadership of King Gellir. The Dwemer subsequently took back their cities a century later, but allegedly never used Aetherium again. 

We can only speculate that none were successful. Decades of conflict merely weakened them all, allowing for King Gellir's subsequent conquests. And though the Dwemer reclaimed most of their lands a century later, there is no evidence that they ever resumed their research on Aetherium. 
- The Aetherium Wars

But is that true? What is Keening made of? It’s described as being made of the sound of the shadow of the moons. 

Nerevar carried Keening, a dagger made of the sound of the shadow of the moons.
- Five Songs of King Wulfharth

Let's see... it might be neat if instead of having to suffer yourself to become a god, you could borrow some other god's suffering... by, say, putting on their skin... or ringing the past event like a bell and channeling the power with a big old TUNING FORK! If you made the tuning fork into a nifty short-blade, it would be even keener.
- Made Up Word Round Up

Sound again. Tones. But the crystal blade of Keening looks suspiciously similar to the crystal on the Aetherial Staff. If Keening is made from Aetherium, then its existence is proof that the Dwemer never stopped mining Aetherium.

Lord Kagrenac, the foremost arcane philosopher and magecrafter of my era, devised tools to shape mythopoeic forces, intending to transcend the limits of Dwemer mortality.
- Yagrum Bagarn

If the inscriptions I discovered are to be believed, the results were nothing short of spectacular: the items produced by the Forge were artifacts of immense power, imbued from the moment of their creation with powerful enchantments.
- The Aetherium Wars

The Falmer enslavement eventually crumbled with the War of the Crag, when the Falmer put up their own slave rebellion in the depths of Blackreach. What caused it? The War of the Crag is estimated to have started around 1E640, at which point the Falmer would have been enslaved and blinded for around a millennium. 

They overthrew the dwarves, and fled even further down, into Blackreach's deepest, most hidden reaches. For decade upon decade, the two sides waged a bitter conflict. A full-fledged and bloody "War of the Crag" that raged deep below Skyrim's surface, completely unbeknownst to the Nords above, a war whose battles and heroes must forever remain lost to our knowledge. Until one day, the war ended. For on that day, the Falmer went to meet their Dwemer foes in battle, only to find that the entire race had... vanished. 
- The Falmer: A Study

It’s possible that their minds gradually broke from the forced enlightenment and the tones, and the war happened when the dam figuratively broke. Or they were just fed up.

Torn from their home of ice and frost,
Thrown into the pitch black dread of night.
Living in fear as their minds become lost,
As their eyes begin dimming the light.
Chained and enslaved,
What once was light turned to blackness.
Alone and betrayed,
Sinking deeper into madness. 
- The Betrayed

The quest A Melodic Mistake in ESO paints a vivid picture for what continuous exposure to the tones does to a person who isn’t Dwemer. In this quest a mage inadvertently activates a Dwemer resonator and the tones it plays on repeat slowly drives all the workers mad in the nearby kwama mine. 

A Dwarven resonator. A tonal amplification device meant to alter thought patterns. That's my hypothesis anyway. The tones clearly have a powerful effect on the brain. To the Dwarves though? It might have sounded like a lovely song and nothing more. 
- Revus Demnevanni in A Melodic Mistake

When enabled, the resonators released a series of powerful tones that could alter the brainwaves of lesser mer and men—inducing deep calm and profound pleasure, or even paranoia and terror. The uses for such a device are virtually limitless.
- A Guide to Dwemer Mega-Structures

We know very little of the Calling except that it’s a form of telepathy that can be used to communicate over vast distances. 

Another aspect of this legend that scholars like myself find interesting is the mention of "the Calling." In this legend and in others, there is a suggestion that the Dwemer race as a whole had some sort of silent and magickal communication.
- Chimarvamidium

The Psijics and Dwemer can (in the Dwemer's case, perhaps I should say, could) connect with the minds of others, and converse miles apart - a skill that is sometimes called telepathy.
- The Doors of Oblivion

Once again we can draw parallels to Dagoth Ur who could influence the dreams of the people of Vvardenfell and enter the minds of his followers. Potentially, proximity to the Heart allows this.

Create passive servants in ever-widening circles around Red Mountain by broadcasting compulsions couched in dream imagery to susceptible subjects in their sleep.
- Dagoth Ur’s Plans

The Dwemer have always been on the lands of present-day Morrowind, and always had a stronghold at Red Mountain. It isn’t inconceivable to think that they’ve known about the Heart for just as long. 

This time the Chimer King was arrayed in arms and armor and had his hosts around him, and he spoke harshly to Dumac Dwarf-Orc, King of Red Mountain. "You must give up your worship of the Heart of Lorkhan or I shall forget our friendship and the deeds that were accomplished in its name!" And Dumac, who still knew nothing of Kagrenac's New God, but proud and protective as ever of his people, said, "We shall not relinquish that which has been our way for years beyond reckoning, just as the Chimer will not relinquish their ties to the Lords and Ladies of Oblivion. [...] And Nerevar summoned Azura again, and she showed them how to use the tools to separate the power of the Heart from the Dwemer people.
- Nerevar at Red Mountain

It was only Kagrenac’s experiments with the Heart that brought its existence out into the open. It’s possible the Dwemer had a relationship with the Heart similar to what the Direnni have with the Zero Stone, and even what the Argonians have with the Hist. 

At maturity, every Direnni of high blood is brought into the Tower, conducted to the Foundation Vault, and shown the Zero Stone. We are allowed to touch it—once—so as to feel the transcendent mystical power that courses through it, a power we have never been able to tap.
- Once

This relationship gives them the Calling (like the Argonian Hist “hivemind”) and the ability to manipulate the tones (tonal architecture, like the Bosmer were given Spinning from Y’ffre the Earthbone - the ability to manipulate nymics).

To sing a law, and then Speak into the heart of that law, convincing it of a subtle error and how it must change its own Self. That is how Nature's course—its own Sea—is shaped and reshaped over time. Such changes can affect the whole of Mundus.
- Girnalin

Yagrum tells us that the Dwemer weren’t of one mind, but the painted picture gives us a people who didn’t accept that they were several gradients below the divine and wanted to improve their race. 

It was unfashionable among the Dwemer to view their spirits as synthetic constructs three, four, or forty creational gradients below the divine.
- Baladas Demnevanni

The disagreements within the race came from whether Kagrenac’s approach was the best way - many Dwemer seemed worried about potential side effects. 

The Dwemer were not unified in their thinking. Kagrenac and his tonal architects, among them Bthuand Mzahnch, believed they could improve the Dwemer race. Others argued that the attempt would be too great a risk.
- Yagrum Bagarn

If the Dwemer were connected via the Heart like the Argonians are via the Hist, then using that to collectively ascend his race seems like a logical conclusion on Kagrenac’s part. Enter Kagrenac’s Tools, enter Aetherium, enter the Falmer slaves. 

There are many theories for what happened to the Dwemer. The most prevalent one is that they became part of the Numidium and as such ascended to godhood, albeit likely not in the way they had envisioned. 

The Prophecy

The Falmer timeline is further muddled by Gelebor claiming that the Chantry was constructed in the early First Era. 

This is, or was, the epicenter of our religion. Most of the snow elf people worshipped Auri-El. The Chantry was constructed near the beginning of the First Era to provide a retreat for those that wished to become enlightened. 

If this statement is true then the Chantry was constructed well after the Battle of the Moesring and well after the deal with the Dwemer. Several centuries later, in fact. Kodlak provides an approximate time stamp for when Ysgramor arrived with the 500 companions, which is what I’ve been using to establish the timeline for this post. 

One of them must be mistaken because the math doesn’t hold up. Either Gelebor is muddled on when the First Era started (the current way of counting is a human construct, established under Harald, so that may very well be the case) or Kodlak is heavily rounding up when he claims 5000 years. Or, it wasn’t Ysgramor who led the Battle of the Moesring, but another early king as PGE1 suggests:

It may be that the exploits of the near-mythical Ysgramor conflate the reigns of several early Nord Kings, as the Elves were not finally driven from the present boundaries of Skyrim until the reign of King Harald, the thirteenth of Ysgramor's line, at the dawn of recorded history. 

In any case, the Falmer who invaded the Chantry look like the Falmer we’re used to: goblin-esque. Gelebor assumes that one of them corrupted Vyrthur, but Vyrthur himself tells us that he was infected by one of his own initiates. 

It was the Betrayed... they did something to him, I just don't know why Auri-El would allow this to happen. [...] They slaughtered everyone and stormed the Inner Sanctum where I believe they corrupted Vyrthur.
- Knight-Paladin Gelebor

The moment I was infected by one of my own Initiates, Auri-El turned his back on me.
- Arch-Curate Vyrthur

This tells us that the Chantry was an active place when the Betrayed invaded. The invasion must have happened well after 1E668, though, or the Betrayed wouldn’t have had the autonomy from the Dwemer to go anywhere. 

The Prophecy of the Tyranny of the Sun was created by Vyrthur in the First Era. Admittedly, this doesn’t tell us much considering it’s almost 3000 years long. It wouldn’t be far-fetched to think that the Falmer somehow heard of the prophecy, similarly to how Harkon did, and if any vestige of their previous identity as Auriel worshippers remained with the Betrayed, they would have taken it as a serious affront to know that not only is the Arch-Curate a vampire, but he also wants to blot out the sun. While the sun is typically associated with Magnus, it was Auriel/Akatosh imposing linear time that allowed its rising and setting each day. Supposing that the Falmer invaded the Chantry to kill Vyrthur and stop the prophecy as worshippers of Auriel, then that would mean that their physical nature changed before they lost their cultural identity.

Legends

According to legend, the ancient Falmer wielded powerful frost magic. 

The long-lost Snow Elves that once inhabited Skyrim were reputedly immune to cold and could live comfortably in ice caverns.
- The Chill Hollow loading screen

This quote creates a curious parallel to how Children of the Sky describes Nords, which could make resistance to cold an attribute provided by Snow-Throat:

The further north you go into Skyrim, the more powerful and elemental the people become, and the less they require dwellings and shelters.

The Ship of Ice, while being fictional, blames the Atmoran Frostfall on a vengeful Snow Elf: 

"The day we made ready to sail, a Snow Elf came to us. A child dressed in a thin gown, though we shivered in our heaviest furs. She said to us, 'I bring you a message. With your swords and axes you slew our homeland. With the Frostfall we have now slain yours. Look upon these frozen shores for the last time, and know that this is the harvest that your fathers sowed, and their fathers before them.' Then she vanished."

This quote also showcases that the Atmorans were not immune to cold like Children of the Sky says of the Nords. Perhaps they had yet to gain the influence of Snow-Throat. The Ship of Ice itself dismisses the frost magic by saying:

If the Snow Elves commanded such dire magic, they said, then why had they not used it to defeat Ysgramor and save their realms in Skyrim?

Perhaps they did. But just like all Bosmer aren’t Spinners, and all Nords aren’t Tongues, it isn’t unlikely to think that all Falmer weren’t powerful wielders of the frost. Something that speaks to this frost magic being real is the frozen Falmer in the Vale. Vyrthur wields frost spells and summons powerful frost atronachs, and it’s likely the Falmer were frozen by him. Another possible account of the legend being true comes from Fall of the Snow Prince:

The glorious Snow Prince, an Elf unlike any other, did come that day to bring death to our kind. And death he so brought. Like a sudden, violent snow squall that rends travelers blind and threatens to tear loose the very foundations of the sturdiest hall, the Snow Prince did sweep into our numbers. Indeed the ice and snow did begin to swirl and churn about the Elf, as if called upon to serve his bidding.

To further this line of frost magic, in-universe legends also attribute Wispmothers to Snow elves:

Some say they are ghosts, waiting to be laid to rest. Others, that they are all that remains of the Snow Elves who once ruled Skyrim. [...] Based on his extensive research into necromancy and Cyrodiil's Ayleid culture, Master Sadren Sarethi posits that Wispmothers are a necrologic state, a type of lich-dom developed by a now-forgotten First Era culture.
- The Wispmother

For generations, the people of Morthal have told whispered tales of the Pale Lady, a ghostly woman who wanders the northern marshes, forever seeking her lost daughter. Some say she steals children who wander astray, others that her sobbing wail strikes dead all those who hear it. But behind these tales may lie a kernel of truth, for ancient records speak of 'Aumriel', a mysterious figure Ysgramor's heirs battled for decades, and finally sealed away.
- Lost Legends

If wispmothers indeed are snow elves liches, then perhaps these are one of the groups who resisted the Dwemer’s bargain and sought an alternate solution, as mentioned by Gelebor.

Present-day Falmer

Today’s Falmer seem far removed from their ancient ancestors. But that is all a point of perspective. Every time we encounter the Falmer in the game(s) we are the invader. They steal children from the surface and use slaves, but that doesn’t make them separate from other races. They keep chaurus as cattle and, alongside shellbugs and spiders, get everything they need from them - food, shelter, armour, weapons, poison. Not unlike other races with more conventional kinds of cattle. They have shamans who wield frost magic and enchanted staves, proving that they’re still learned enough to know magic and enchanting, and the presence of shamans suggests religion. Further hints of religion can be found in the Temple of Xrib and the Altar of Xrib, found in and close-by the Sightless Pit. Both of these are Dwemer-built, but as we know the Dwemer worshiped nothing at all. Either these structures were built by the Dwemer for their slaves, or they were once something else and have been repurposed by the Falmer. Discussions surrounding the nature of Xrib usually come down to it being a version of Xarxes and Xrib being a distorted version of the word “scribe”. It fits, it’s neat, and it connects nicely to the statue in Irkngthand, which depicts a Snow Elf as Xarxes. It’s likely the statue in Irkngthand was constructed when the Falmer began to physically change and they made it as a way to record and remember what they once looked like. Who better to imitate in a statue recording the past than Xarxes? It’s unlikely that the Dwemer would allow their slaves to erect a statue in remembrance of their former glory, which suggests that the statue was built after the Dwemer vanished. They still remembered who they used to be. If Xrib is Xarxes, then they’re worshipping the remembrance of their past.

Gelebor notes an increase in their intellect in recent years, which begs the question whether what the Dwemer did is slowly coming undone.

Perhaps they'll never return to their former appearance, but over the centuries, I've noticed a rise in their intellect. If a line of communication could be established with them, maybe they can find peace.

Perhaps us finding the Unknown Books strewn throughout the Falmer settlement in the Vale hints to them not being quite as illiterate as we’re led to think, and with the addition of Betrayal of the Second Era board game, we can definitively say that it’s possible to communicate with them and ally with them. Which tells us that they still have the concept of language and the mental faculties to understand and perhaps negotiate the terms of an alliance.

Yet the present-day Falmer showcase parts of culture despite their twisted bodies and minds: hierarchy, religion, learning, animal husbandry, crafting… The probable fact that they remember who they were hints towards a rich storytelling culture, where handing down the truth of their origins to the next generation is paramount, and this results in Xarxes as Xrib becoming their most important deity. 

Ultimately, the Betrayed is an appropriate name for them. Genocided by the men, enslaved by the mer, denied their chance at ascension while providing a stepping-stone for their slavers, minds lost, sight gone, bodies twisted… The list is long and the tale of the Falmer is one of the more tragic stories told in TES. 

We know that we can never again be the Snow Elves and live freely in this world. We will forever be in hiding in one form or another. But there is no reason we cannot live life with the sun and the wind against our skin. There are those here who are friends to us and plan to help us once the threat has ended. We know now to survive we must be born anew. Outside, we will appear as though we belong here. Inside, we will carry our truth and our scars.
- Diary of Faire Agarwen

I suck at jumping puzzles and zombies aren't my thing, so I played Dying Light

The title is entirely tongue-in-cheek, because despite the frequent frustrations this game caused me I did enjoy my time with it. 

Up until the DLCs, the story was pretty straight-forward. Guy arrives at the exclusion zone to go after a criminal boss, ends up getting bit, and eventually goes native once he realises what absolute fuckers the organisation he works for are. 

The most memorable mission was the one in the museum and I was so pissed at Rais after that, that actually going after him with the goal to murder his ass seemed like a measured response for what he put Crane through. 

I hated every section that involved fighting through large groups of Rais's men, not even Demolishers and Volatiles could compare to the bullshit of a dozen guys with assault rifles. 

I struggled a lot with the parkour due to not being very good at jumping puzzles and platforming, to the point where I ended up just running from point A to point B more often than not. Throughout my whole 100 hours in this game I really, really wished for fast-travelling between safe houses. The Old Town map was absolute hell for me and I fell to my death so many times because CRANE JUST WOULDN'T GRAB THAT HANDHOLD despite me making absolutely sure it was within reach and Crane was looking at it. And the trash heaps you're supposed to jump into? Half the time Crane would just miss them entirely, despite the fact that it would look like he'd land on them the entire way down. The game never missed out on an opportunity to tell me to jump into trash heaps whenever I died from Crane missing one T_T Which just came across as incredibly rude xD

Half the time I felt like I was trying to climb in the original Assassin's Creed game when Altaïr would just randomly decide to throw himself off the wall rather than climb it.

A lot of the side missions and interactions with NPCs gave me Far Cry vibes, which isn't a bad thing as far as I'm concerned. 

The Hellraid DLC straight up shouldn't have been part of Dying Light. I read it was originally pitched as its own game, but the publishers weren't convinced and instead it was added as a DLC to an already successful game, but it's way off from the vibe of the rest of the game. 

The Following DLC though... Man, that was brilliant. I did originally ragequit at like the second main mission when I was going to use the buggy to race along the pipeline to find out where the issue was. I can't drive in video games. If I can crash into something or get stuck on something I WILL. And this mission was timed, BECAUSE OFC IT WAS. I think I had to do it five or six times before I actually managed to reach the goal in time. The most infuriating of my attempts was when I reached the pump house at the end, ran all the way inside, AND THEN CRANE TAKES HIS MERRY TIME TO TURN THE WHEEL SO I FAIL THE OBJECTIVE ANYWAY :@

I ragequitted for a little while after that. Started a NG+ in Expedition 33. Then I came back. Managed to complete that stupid main mission, and then everything was pretty smooth sailing after that. As smooth as Dying Light was for me at all, because I still can't parkour. And there were so so so many transistor towers to climb T_T

The countryside zone was oversaturated with Demolishers and Volatiles. Every time I had cleared a group of zombies so I could be allowed to loot in peace, a Demolisher would just saunter up and... well... demolish me. I did end up having a pretty good time with the hives though. UV flashlight, Kurt's Bombs, and semi-automatic shotgun to the face was the formula I used for going into hives during daytime :3 This formula included a lot of kiting and camping as well. It's not wrong if it works! 

And then that final mission... Another race with the buggy across the map to reach the dam before the bandits. AND JUST WHEN I REACH THE DOOR FATIN CALLS ME ON THE RADIO. Dude, I don't have time for you. I still don't know what he wanted to say, but I was happy to learn that he was alive. Anyway, after that final boss fight and cutscene I was just sat gaping at the monitor. Did that just happen? What the actual fuck. This has been the plot twist of the century. Amazing

I'll probably play the other two at some point, but like I said: zombies aren't my thing. So it might be a while.

Stranger Things S05

The end of an era. 

We waited until the entire season was out until we watched it. We wanted to watch it all without weeks or months between episodes. 

The entire season was epic in every way possible. I loved seeing Hop's relationship with El evolve. I loved the references to earlier seasons. I loved that Will finally got to shine. 

I figured out Max's role before she even showed up this season.

For once I didn't feel like the scientific explanation of everything ruined the magic of the thing, as is so often the case when fantastical stories try to legitimise what's happening. Why can't people just let magic be magic? But that wasn't an issue this time. 

There are only two things I didn't like with this season. The first is that they left the entire Doctor Kay thread dangling with no resolution. The second is how open-ended they left El's fate. Even if it ends in a bad way I'd rather know, than have this feeble "it's up to you". It's just a cop-out.

Expedition 33 has no business being this beautiful

It's been impossible to avoid this game for all last year. And now I get it. Wow. I need to process this. 

I'm avoiding spoilers.

I was specifically recommended this game when I said that I enjoy turn-based combat. Something got lost in translation there because when I say turn-based combat I mean Baldur's Gate 3, XCOM, Wasteland, Shadowrun, Total War, Civilization, etc. Not JRPG. Generally the combat of JRPGs gets a bit stale for me after a while, but I decided to give it a go. 

I'm glad I did. I don't think any other game has made me feel so many things so much all at once before. 

Everything about this game is beautiful: the aesthetic, the characters, the environments, the story, the music, holy shit. I love how unapologetically French it is, yet willing to poke fun at the Frenchness (the mimes and the baguettes omfg). The ever-present mélancolie in French media/culture served this game well. So beautifully utilised. I've had the soundtrack stuck in my head for weeks. 

(This is my fave but I also love Alicia, Maelle, In Lumière's Name, and Une vie à t'aimer)

Each act swung plot twists at me like damn sledgehammers. I saw none of them coming (which is an achievement, congratulations). 

The game starts by telling you that it plays better with controller. I laughed at that, because I won't play better with controller. I would've missed every single parry and dodge because I'd have to look at the buttons to remember which one does what, instead of only missing half of them because I still suck at timing things.

I'm one of those gamers who like to do everything in the world before heading for the main objective. I was very confused by how little of the map was available to me, yet it seemed like I was getting close to the supposed end of the story. At least the point you think is the end in the first half of the game. So I had to look it up, afraid I'd miss something. Turns out the map doesn't truly open up until after act 2. So I kept playing.

Act 1 ended with a gut-punch that took me way too long to recover from. I'm not sure I've recovered yet tbh. The end of act 2 was both satisfying as hell because the puzzle pieces started to come together, but also HOLY SHIT WHAT. I struggled so hard with the choice in act 3 and I think I'll need to replay the game at some point just to see the other ending. 

The gestral beaches had me tearing my hair out. Especially the ascension tower. I think I tried to climb that thing 20+ fucking times and I could not get it done. I kept mistiming jumps, going too far or not far enough. In the end I asked my bf to try it for me. He did it in two tries T_T All the other ones I managed on my own, after way too many attempts. 

Endless Tower was a gauntlet, but I got it done. I got so much XP from that, and I had hoped that I could redo stages of it to grind the last few levels until max, but turns out you get 0 XP from the stages once you've cleared them once. The Flying Manor was interesting. The Painting Workshop was cool. Renoir's Drafts was cool too, until The Abyss. Fuck Simon. Hate that guy. I'll get your optional ass in NG+.

Unable to beat Simon and unable to find enough XP to get the last few levels to max, which kept me from earning the last three achievements, I went and finished the game. The boss fight now turned ridiculously easy because I was way over-leveled for it, having completed everything the map had to offer besides Simon. 

The Thank You Update added a few new bosses in the Endless Tower, as well as a new zone with new mechanics, new enemies, new bosses, new weapons and gear, and a bunch of new stuff to do. Verso's Drafts ended up being one of my favourite zones, except for that last boss T_T And I thought Simon and The Flying Manor were bad. At least I managed to defeat this one. I went in to fight one of the new bosses in the Endless Tower, immediately mistimed the parry and it almost wiped my whole team. Then I noped out of doing any of the new bosses. 

So much frustration went into this game as I mistimed parries and dodges. So many boss mechanics which seemed unfair until I had found the proper equipment combinations. But then I'd do some story or exploration or hang out in the camp and all that frustration would just melt away. 

This has been fantastic. I want to go again, but I think I need a cleanse. To process. 

For those who come after.

Third time playing Hogwarts Legacy

Just before Christmas last year I booted up Hogwarts Legacy again for my third 100% playthrough. Since my previous playthrough they added a few things with free updates, like the previously PlayStation exclusive quest Minding Your Own Business, and a photo mode, among other things. 

I decided to go with my default Ravenclaw House. This time I made a slight roleplaying choice of having my character's hair get longer with each season. She started out with chin-length hair, which then got shoulder length in autumn, and then even longer in winter, and in spring it turned into a huge bun. 

What I was most excited about for this playthrough was the new quest. And it isn't available until winter... I started the quest pretty late in the evening and I think it was past 2am before I finished. It's probably the longest quest in the game. But it was one wild ride. 

I did not sign up for a horror game. When those mannequins started moving I got immediate Ghostwire Tokyo DLC flashbacks and I half expected to be sat here wincing "I don't wanna" while trying to get through it. But fortunately these mannequins could be fought and obliterated and that made them a lot less scary than the damn stalker in Ghostwire. 

The one thing I didn't like about the quest was how forceful my character suddenly became. Like throughout the whole game I had been playing this diplomatic, cautious and intellectual person, and now she's suddenly yelling at adults that she's old enough to own a store... Girl, you're not acting it. And where did that come from T_T

My favourite things in this game are flying around on my broom, breeding beasts, and playing The Sims in the Room of Requirement (decoration and management).

I've played through all the House specific quests, but now I have two full Ravenclaw playthroughs and one full Slytherin playthrough.

I'll definitely play this game again. 

The Witcher S04

Season 4, here we go. 

Hemsworth was great, but I still miss Cavill. Hemsworth looks too nice. As if he'd be just as inclined to hug you to death as slice you up. He did do a good job as Geralt, though. 

The entire season was amazing. Yen's fight against Vilgefortz, Geralt's desperation to find Ciri, Ciri trying her damndest to escape her destiny... It was absolutely great to follow all three storylines.

I had Regis figured out way before the reveal. 

Season 5 is allegedly going to be the last season. I really, really hope the end is as good as this season. I need this to end on a good note. 

Atomfall's The Red Strain DLC was like something out of Fallout New Vegas

A new DLC of Atomfall meant a new playthrough of Atomfall and two new endings to explore. 

Ngl, Atomfall feels a lot like a comfort game to me. I enjoy every aspect of it and I still love to explore the world even though I already know it.

Going into this third playthrough I still had one base game ending and one Wicked Isle DLC ending left to explore so I did my best to play through the game in a way that would let me explore all the endings I had left. And I succeeded. 

Gaining access to the new DLC was interesting in and of itself. There was very little hinting towards where you should go. I found a note or two referencing the elevator in Slatten Dale mine, but that was once I had already explored most of the base game lol. 

When you go to the new Test Site Moriah, make sure to bring atomic batteries - you're gonna need them. So the story from Tes Site Moriah is that a strain of fungus, seemingly unrelated to Oberon but still affected by Oberon/Windscale was being researched. They found a lot of useful properties in it, but also discovered that it was full of unpredictable side effects and the site was closed down. However, the Windscale explosion made the Red Strain break free. As the only functional human around it's up to you to decide what to do about it. 

And if you go to Test Site Moriah and start poking around, but then end up doing an ending not related to the DLC... The ending slides got things to tell you about it lmao.

Spoilers after video.

The brain in jars really makes me think of the Robobrains in Fallout and how they behave and interact brings me squarely into New Vegas territory. The ending where you help the brains escape Test Site Moriah to allow them to develop a cure to the Red Strain in peace is very New Vegas coded. Especially with how the brains misinterpreted extraction. I laughed at the monitor when I got that ending. 

Generally, knowing that the Red Strain most likely has escaped I feel like the ending of the world ending is less extreme than it actually is. Having the entire world potentially infected by the Red Strain already means an end to the world. 

All in all I had a good time with The Red Strain, although it felt like a side-step from base game and Wicked Isle. Like a side story that becomes tangentially related due to being affected by the Windscale explosion. 

Movies I watched in 2025

1. Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare (2025). We watched this one at the cinema. I love these dark adult spins on fairytales (that are technically dark to begin with, unless Disney-fied, but let's crank it up to a thousand). There were a few gory moments where I was sat hiding my face in my hands, but overall this was a good horror flick. 

2. Nosferatu (2024). I adore the original 1922 movie and I had high hopes for this remake. Let's be real - a 100 year old movie can stand to have a remake. It was amazing. Absolutely brilliant. I loved how it stuck to the theatricality of the original (acting has come a long way in 100 years) yet managed to modernise it at the same time. Lily Rose Depp was brilliant. The story was kept intact and surprisingly faithful. The only thing I didn't like about this movie was the moustache. They claim they gave Orlok a moustache because a person from his time period would absolutely have a moustache, and yeah I don't disagree with that, that's true. But as a vampire he had lost all other hair on his body, yet the moustache frickin sticks?!?! Come on. 

3. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017). We decided it was time to give the reboot a proper watch. It was fun. I like that they referenced the original and even brought some inspo from the cartoon. I do enjoy the video game spin on things though.

4. Night at the Museum 2 (2009). Stumbled upon this while visiting my parents. Just something to watch on TV. It was alright. Pretty fun.

5. San Andreas (2015). Disaster movie about California experiencing The Eartquake that everyone's fearing and expecting. Pretty standard as far as disaster movies go. 

6. Day After Tomorrow (2004). We continued the disaster movie trend with this one. I watched this one way back in the day as a teenager when it was new. Already back then my mom and I commented on how ridiculous fake the wolves looked. The CGI had not improved with age.

7. Jumanji: The Next Level (2019). The second movie of the reboot. Not as good as the first one, but still decent. I can't decide whether I liked having Nick Jonas in it. I'm still surprised when I see him in any other context than music. 

8. Terrifier (2016). Bf really wanted to watch this one. I hate clowns. So we watched it. It was really good. There was too much going on for me to really focus on the clown aspect. A bunch of gore, but I can't remember having to hide my face, so it wasn't too bad. 

9. Midsommar (2019). Everyone talked about this movie for a while, so we decided to watch it. Neither of us understand why people talked about this movie. It was extremely slow to start, to the point where it felt like it never really kicked off, before it ended in a drug-infused orgy. I'm so confused. Ironically, this was shown on TV when I visited my parents for midsummer. I made them switch the channel. I didn't want to watch this one more time. 

10. Saw (2004). I remember when Saw was new. Can't believe it's a classic now. We decided it was time to rewatch this classic franchise. And oh damn, Jigsaw is so great. Both of us had seen this one before, but it had been at least a decade.

11. Saw II (2005). Same as above. 

12. What Happened to Monday (2017). Stumbled upon this when visiting my parents. A dystopian movie where only one child is allowed. A set of septuplets live their lives as one single person, each getting one day of the week each. Then Monday disappears, and the whole thing unravels as the sisters try to figure out what happened. Surprisingly good. 

13. Saw III (2006). Neither of us had seen this one before, but we wanted to continue with our Saw rewatching. This is probably the weakest of the three. Yet that twist at the end... *chef's kiss*

14. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023). This was better than either of us expected. We had a lot of fun with it. It's exactly what you expect, but it's really well made.

15. Nimona (2023). Aside from Nosferatu, this was probably my favourite movie of the year. An animated adventure, clearly for kids, but with enough humour that adults can appreciate it. Classic story of embracing differences and good vs evil, but it was humoristic and light-hearted in all the right places, and handled the dark parts really well.

16. The Haunting of Margam Castle (2020). Probably the worst movie of the year. Don't watch this. I'm not even gonna say what it's about. It's shit. Fucking deadpan acting looking like they were all reading off a teleprompter.

17. Five Nights at Freddy's (2023). Neither of us have played the games, but hanging out with other gamers ofc we had the rough idea of what the games are about and what this movie would be about. Funny, gory, dark and scary in all the right places. Better than I expected.

18. Cunk on Life (2024). This got a bit too silly and dumb. It had its moments, but imo it leaned a bit too far into dumb territory, straying from fun and silly. Mockumentary about life on earth.

19. The Thursday Murder Club (2025). I really enjoyed this one. There's something cosy and wholesome about a bunch of pensioneers spending their time solving old crime, because they have nothing better to do. And then a real crime shows up. 

20. Soundproof (2006). Another movie I stumbled upon when visiting my parents. It was really unusual to see a movie where deaf people took centre stage. Generally it was a pretty standard criminal drama, but it played on prejudices and difficulties communicating across language barriers.

21. In Your Dreams (2025). Super wholesome animated adventure movie for kids that just hit all the right notes. This was great. A family on the verge of breaking apart and the children wishes for them to stick together. Then they find out the Sandman can grant wishes.