Online:Before the Ages of Man: Dawn Era

Book Information Before the Ages of Man: Dawn Era
ID	243
See Also	Lore version
Up	Before the Ages of Man
Prev.	None	Next	The Merethic Era
Collection	Myths of the Mundus
Locations
Found in the following locations: Cyrodiil: Cave under Ayleid ruins (map) west of Vlastarus Towers Deshaan: Outside Knife Ear Grotto, here and here Stormhaven: Near Pariah Abbey Wayshrine, here, here, and here Summerset: Dusk Keep (map) Shrine (map) south of Sil-Var-Woad geyser Alaxon'ald (map) Below the cliffs of Archon's Grove (map)

Before the Ages of Man: The Dawn Era

by Aicantar of Shimmerene

Chronicle of the major events of the Dawn Era

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Before man came to rule Tamriel, and before the chronicles of the historians recorded the affairs of the rulers of Tamriel, the events of our world are known only through myths and legends, and through the divinely inspired teachings of the Eight Divines.

For convenience, historians divide the distant ages of prehistory into two broad periods of time: the Dawn Era and the Merethic Era.

The Dawn Era

The Dawn Era is that period before the beginning of mortal time, when the feats of the gods take place. The Dawn Era ends with the exodus of the gods and magic from the World at the founding of the Adamantine Tower.

The term "Merethic" comes from the Nords, literally, "Era of the Elves." The Merethic Era is the prehistoric time after the exodus of the gods and magic from the World at the founding of the Adamantine Tower and before the arrival of Ysgramor the Nord in Tamriel.

The following are the most notable events of the Dawn Era, presented roughly in sequence as it must be understood by creatures of time such as ourselves.

The Cosmos formed from the Aurbis (chaos, or totality) by Anu and Padomay. Akatosh (Auriel) formed and Time began. The gods (et'Ada) formed. Lorkhan convinced (or tricked) the gods into creating the mortal plane, Nirn. The mortal plane was at this point highly magical and dangerous. As the gods walked, the physical make-up of the mortal plane and even the timeless continuity of existence itself became unstable.

When Magic (Magnus), architect of the plans for the mortal world, decided to terminate the project, the gods convened at the Adamantine Tower (Direnni Tower, the oldest known structure in Tamriel) and decided what to do. Most left when Magic did. Others sacrificed themselves into other forms so that they might stay (such as the Ehlnofey). Lorkhan was condemned by the gods to exile in the mortal realms, and his heart was torn out and cast from the tower. Where it landed, a volcano formed. With magic (in the Mythic Sense) gone, the cosmos stabilized. Elven history, finally linear, began (ME 2500).