Development of the Species

by AbrasiveNut

There are many civilized races in the world of Nirn, spread out over many continents. They span from the men, elves, and beast folk of Tamriel to the Sload of Thras, and the Tsaesci and Ka Po’Tun of Akavir. Each race with their own distinct characteristics and abilities. But where did they all come from? All races agree that Nirn was born of creation, but all mention nothing or very little about the first creatures that inhabit it.

The Annotated Anuad describes the first beings known as the "Ehlnofey" who walked the earth before men and mer. It also states that all the lands were one, and the "Old" and "New" Elhnofey could travel the lands of Nirn without encountering any seas. Directly quoted, the passage says:

On the world of Nirn, all was chaos. The only survivors of the twelve worlds of Creation were the Ehlnofey and the Hist. The Ehlnofey are the ancestors of Mer and Men. The Hist are the trees of Argonia. Nirn originally was all land, with interspersed seas, but no oceans.
A large fragment of the Ehlnofey world landed on Nirn relatively intact, and the Ehlnofey living there were the ancestors of the Mer. These Ehlnofey fortified their borders from the chaos outside, hid their pocket of calm, and attempted to live on as before. Other Ehlnofey arrived on Nirn scattered amid the confused jumble of the shattered worlds, wandering and finding each other over the years. Eventually, the wandering Ehlnofey found the hidden land of Old Ehlnofey, and were amazed and joyful to find their kin living amid the splendor of ages past. The wandering Ehlnofey expected to be welcomed into the peaceful realm, but the Old Ehlnofey looked on them as degenerates, fallen from their former glory. For whatever reason, war broke out, and raged across the whole of Nirn. The Old Ehlnofey retained their ancient power and knowledge, but the Wanderers were more numerous, and toughened by their long struggle to survive on Nirn. This war reshaped the face of Nirn, sinking much of the land beneath new oceans, and leaving the lands as we know them (Tamriel, Akavir, Atmora, and Yokuda). The Old Ehlnofey realm, although ruined, became Tamriel. The remnants of the Wanderers were left divided on the other 3 continents. (Annotated Anuad )

Even if you don’t believe in the existence of the Ehlnofey, there is ample evidence of races growing distinct from each other. The change in the original Aldmeri elves for example. According to merathic history, the aldmeri elves that sailed to Tamriel were one distinct people. Yet when they landed and settled they became the High Elves, Dwemer, Wood Elves, and Dark Elves of the first area, as well as the Pyandonean elves they had exiled back on Almeris. What caused these elves to change?

The only reference I have been able to find that mentions a life form of Nirn "adapting" was the document known as Nirn Root Missive. In the text it says:

The answer, my fellow alchemists, is nestled within Chivius's own notes. Although he spends a great deal of time with the Nirnroot in his laboratory, the one thing he neglected to test at a high enough level of detail was the soil. As stated previously, Chivius felt that the Sun's Death, the eruption of Red Mountain, contributed to the demise of the Nirnroot. Agreed. My amendment to that proposal is that the ash that fell from the sky that entire year mixed with the soil, and again, due to the magical nature of the root, contributed to the aforementioned changes. The ash became a catalyst of sorts, forcing a change in the very makeup of the Nirnroot. Although very little ash from that dark time remains, I have done tests on newer ash samples sent to me from Vvardenfell. They show little to no magical properties, certainly none of which could affect a plant to that magnitude. However, the rare occurrence of what's known as Ash Salt in the normal ash does contain very potent magical abilities. In fact, some native Dunmer are said to harness that ability to create a cure for the Blight, which pervaded their realm many years ago. I feel this magic, meshed with the Nirnroot's inherent magic caused the radical change... in essence; the root "healed itself." To surmise, my two proposals are certainly linked. The plant needed to survive, and therefore used a byproduct of its destructor to do so. No other plant in nature has ever come close to this metamorphosis. I feel the Nirnroot has accomplished in a relatively short amount of time what it would take other species millions of years to complete. Nirn Root Missive)

If it is possible for plants to change, as this document suggests, then is it also possible for animals to change? The passage also implies that this process would take millions of years. Recorded history only encompasses some five to seven thousand years of existence. When did these "millions" of years occur? Did they ever?

But wait, there is even more evidence to support these “changes” in animal species. The The Argonian Accountdescribes four distinct species of Argonians other than the ones encountered outside the province, one of which has leather wings and the ability to fly. They could have all been there at creation, but doesn't it seem more likely that they came from a single source?

It is very plausible that animals can develop over time into other animals, but is it also possible that all the intelligent species all derived from one animal? Is it so wild to believe that all species can trace their roots back to one animal source? Is it not only possible, but plausible that there might have been the existence of this root of all ancestors, this fabled Ehlnofey?

Well let look at the similarities between the races; these races I am describing being the Argonians, Khajit, Orcs, Men, Mer, and Tsaesci peoples. All of them are intelligent enough to have formed their own nations, all have four limbs, one head, teeth, skin around there bones, and all walk on their hind legs. While separate from each other they are very similar in appearance.

But there is a more important attribute that connects them all. They all can mate. That is to say that each can have sex with and possibly produce fertile offspring with the other. Why is this so important? Well, no race I know of can mate with a polar bear and get any results! If they can mate then there is obviously a connection between the two races, or it could not occur. Do you have your doubts? Lets talk about the men, mer, and beast folk of Tamriel first. It is a common knowledge that men and mer can interbreed, the bretons being a result of that, but what about Orcs, Argonians, and Khajit? Notes on Racial Phylogeny had this to say about interracial breeding:

After much analysis of living specimens, the Council long ago determined that all "races" of elves and humans may mate with each other and bear fertile offspring. Generally the offspring bear the racial traits of the mother, though some traces of the father's race may also be present. It is less clear whether the Argonians and Khajiit are interfertile with both humans and elves. Though there have been many reports throughout the Eras of children from these unions, as well as stories of unions with daedra, there have been no well documented offspring. Khajiit differ from humans and elves not only their skeletal and dermal physiology -- the “fur” that covers their bodies -- but their metabolism and digestion as well. Argonians, like the dreugh, appear to be a semi-aquatic troglophile form of humans, though it is by no means clear whether the Argonians should be classified with dreugh, men, mer, or (in this author's opinion), certain tree-dwelling lizards in Black Marsh.

The reproductive biology of orcs is at present not well understood, and the same is true of goblins, trolls, harpies, dreugh, tsaesci, imga, various daedra and many others. Certainly, there have been cases of intercourse between these "races," generally in the nature of rape or magickal seduction, but there have been no documented cases of pregnancy. Still the interfertility of these creatures and the civilized hominids has yet to be empirically established or refuted, likely due to the deep cultural differences. Surely any normal Bosmer or Breton impregnated by an orc would keep that shame to herself, and there's no reason to suppose that an orc maiden impregnated by a human would not be likewise ostracized by her society. Regrettably, our oaths as healers keep us from forcing a coupling to satisfy our scientific knowledge. We do know, however, that the sload of Thras are hermaphrodites in their youth and later reabsorb their reproductive organs once they are old enough to move about on land. It can be safely assumed that they are not interfertile with men or mer.
One might further wonder whether the proper classification of these same "races", to use the imprecise but useful term, should be made from the assumption of a common heritage and the differences between them have arisen from magickal experimentation, the manipulations of the so-called "Earth Bones," or from gradual changes from one generation to the next. (Notes on Racial Phylogeny)

If you still have you doubts, check in the books The Wolf Queen, The Real Barenziah, and Journal of Lord Lovidicus for references of beast folk mating with either men or mer.

But what about the Tsaesci, the most odd member of these bunch of races. Surely these peoples cannot mate with these other races, right? Actually, they can. After the invasion of the akaviri in the first era, rising king Reman I was forced to recruit Akaviri prisoners of war in order to protect Cyrodil. After the war he incorporated them as advisors, and they became known as the Akavir Potentates. With the assassination of Reman III in the last year of the First Era, these Akaviri potentates would go on to rule the kingdom for over four hundred years. So at what point did they interbreed with other species? The Pocket Guide to the Empire had this to say on the subject:

Akaviri surnames are rare and prized possessions among the Cyrodilic citizenry of today, and there are trace facial features of the Akaviri in many distinguished Cyrodilic families. Some colonies of "true Akaviri" still exist in both the Empire and its border regions, but they are named so only for their practices and customs than for the purity of their blood. (The Pocket Guide to the Empire, 1st Edition)

"There are trace facial features of the Akaviri in many distinguished Cyrodilic families." Sounds like they interbreed to me.

But there is more evidence than mating to support the idea of a origin of these species. There are always the Redguards to consider. Native to a different continent all together, they are virtually identical to the nedic descedents that hailed from Atmora. How could two different races have developed so similarly to each other? Do one of the two swim across the notoriously dangerous seas to populate the other? Sound unlikely.

So what does this all mean? What I am saying is that all the races are connected, and not only in physical or sexual aspects. If plants can develop over millions of years, then so can the creatures that walk Tamriel as well. What I am saying is that all the races might have changed from one species, and developed into the races we know to day. Do not deny the evidence, but instead embrace the brothers you didn’t know you had. After all, we were all created by the same magicka, so why can’t we all share the same ancestors?

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