The Cosmos (Nir) is formed from the Aurbis (chaos, or totality) by Anu and Padomay.
Akatosh (Auriel) forms and Time starts. Gods (et’Ada) and Daedra materialize from the blood of Anu and Padomay after their great battle over creation.
Lorkhan convinces/tricks the Gods to create the mortal plane, Nirn. The mortal plane is highly magical and dangerous. As the Gods walk, its physical make-up and even time itself becomes unstable.
“This Creator-Trickster-Tester deity is in every Tamrielic mythic tradition. His most popular name is the Aldmeri “Lorkhan,” or Doom Drum. He convinced or contrived the Original Spirits to bring about the creation of the Mortal Plane, upsetting the status quo much like his father Padomay had introduced instability into the universe in the Beginning Place. After the world is materialized, Lorkhan is separated from his divine center, sometimes involuntarily, and wanders the creation of the et’Ada. Interpretations of these events differ widely by culture.”
– from The Monomyth
When Magic (Magnus), architect of the plans for the mortal world, decides to terminate this project, the Gods convene at the Adamantine Tower (Direnni Tower, the oldest known structure in Tamriel) and decide what to do. Most leave when Magic does. Others sacrifice themselves into other forms to stay (the Ehlnofey). In most accounts, Lorkhan is condemned to exile in the mortal realms, and his heart is torn out and cast from the Tower. Where it lands a Volcano forms. With Magic (in the Mythic Sense) gone, the Cosmos stabilizes. Elven history, finally linear, begins (ME2500).
There are a variety of different viewpoints of what exactly happened during the Dawn Era, and how. You can read more about it in various creation myths, including:
This page was initially given to us before the release of TESIII: Morrowind. It started as a post by Michael Kirkbride on Andel Crodo’s The Essential Site.