Dwemeri Tactics

[The following text is a early work of the minor Altmeri scholar, Gleb of Artaeum.]

As I left the boat at Vivec, I headed to the tavern I was recommended to by Ralof of Solitude. The name of the establishment was the Naked Ogrim [Editor: Now the No Name Club.], and it was there that I met up with my contemporaries. Prior to this meeting, we had been excavating Kemel-Ze, where we had found a titanic centurion, perhaps as tall as the four of us put together. Although it was dismantled, we could still learn a great deal on Dwemeri tactics. I propose that the centurion was a siege machine, capable of causing the Dunmeri strongholds that now lie unused to fall in days, rather than months.

It was here at Vivec that we departed to find our scholar's gold. As we ventured into the island's interior, we came across the blasted lands this land is famous for[Editor: These blasted lands seem to refer to the Ashlands.]. Here in these Ashlands we came across many Dwemeri ruins, several of which possessed colossal crossbows on legs, which I shall call "Bow-Walkers". On one ruin, called by our local guide, Yeniz[Editor: Likely an improper spelling of the Dunmeri "Ienas."], Mzanchend, there was a still-functiong Bow-Walker! The legs on the device didn't seem to lend themselves to moving the device, which made me ponder as to whether they were inteded to raise the device to fire at perhaps targets further away, or targets in the air. As to what targets would fly, all I can think of is a Winged Twilight. My belief is that the Dunmer were in the habit of summoning Daedra to fight for them in their numerous battles with the Dwemer, and the Bow-Walkers developed to take down larger and more powerful targets, such as Orgims and Winged Twilights with ease.

This gives a glimpse not only into Dwemeri tactics, but Dunmeri as well. Inside the ruin, a longer spear then many other specimens was found, lending more credence to a theory that I shall present later on. The importance of this spear is that it meant the Dwemeri would, rather than fight up close with the daedra I believe the early Dunmer used in battle, preferred to fight at a distance, perhaps using the longer spear to hold the daedra at bay while the mer at the Bow-Walker would take aim and fire. This, coupled with a diagram illustrating a large flying machine, seems to suggest that the Dwemer were not a confrotational people. I propose that the longer spear was used to prod the largest and strongest beasts towards the Walker, which then easily dispatched it. This concludes my report to the Scholars Guild. More will follow.

[The following text is another work by Gleb of Artaeum. I be Rolaf of Solitude, the Editor. Fear me.]

As I returned home from my foray into the near-uninhabited island of Vvardenfell, I found that my humble home had become infested with a Orsimer! It was no matter, though, for I dispatched him with infinite ease![Editor: And I dealt all the blows from first to last, and he suffered 3 broken ribs, a loss of 2 fingers, a collossal gash upon his chest, a broken arm, and a debilitating blow to the groin.] But I digress. As I walked[Editor: He hobbled.] over to my desk, I began to ponder as to why the blade of a Dwemeri axe is shaped like so.

I theorize that the blade of the Dwemeri great axe formed a semi-circle so as to allow a slashing arc, capable of doing damage to more than one foe. In addition, I will seek to explain why the Dwemeri halberd is shaped like the mannish letter "Xayah." I propose that it was shaped as such to allow the halberdier to thrust foward the halberd in such a manner that the blade would be inside the blade, then twist the halberd to trap the blade there, then draw his shortsword to finish off his foe.

On the subject of what the average warrior was equipped with, I say a halberd and a shortsword, as those are the most common arms in the ruins I explore. On a similar subject, I believe that the unsharpened part of a Dwemeri claymore is there to allow an extra grip to allow the bladesman to more deftly maneuver the blade, as opposed to the Nordic style of simply cutting in a wide arc, leaving yourself horribly exposed, then killed[Editor: Untrue!]. A moronic fighting style, most assuredly[Editor: Untrue!].

[The following text appears to be fragments of notes by Gleb of Artaeum made shortly before he became an adventurer. It is unedited.]

The edge on the mace seems to be there to allow slashing damage, which is given just as much potential for damage thanks to the heavy weight of the mace's head, which seems like it would go better than spikes on an ebony mace head, what with the ebony weighing as much as an ogrim's head. The sharpened edge would also allow the blow to deal both bludgeoning and cutting damage. The Dwemeri crossbow does not lend itself to fighting directly in battle, as is evidenced by the addition of a stirrup which means it is likely that the crossbow was used for defensive purposes

On the subject of the war axe, the addition of a bar beyond the head seems to suggest that the Dwemer were truly fond of the ability to use the weight of a weapon to it's maximum advantage. I cannot think of what the holes are for, other than to perhaps keep most of the weight behind the axehead, so that one could turn the blade while still having a good deal of force behind the blow.

The addition of a bloodgroove to the claymore was done so that the average Dwemeri warrior would be able to stab with his weapon with greater ease. Also, on the shortblade, there are not one, but three bloodgrooves, allowing for a greater amount of stabbing motions to be made in a smaller amount of time.

The warhammer is odd in that there is a bludgeon on both sides, which would not only add weight to the blow, but in the hands of a skilled warrior, would be able to deal damage by swinging the hammer in a horizontal arc, then sliding his hand forward on the grip, giving him more control, then swinging it in a reversed horizontal arc while quickly lowering one's hand on the grip, then either smashing a large hole in any opponent, or using the odd device located at the top of the hammer to parry. It is particularly odd that the bludgeon on backside of the hammer looks to be designed to pierce holes in heavy armor, a thing the early Dunmer did not have. However, it could have been used specially for fighting creatures such as Dremora and Golden Saints, and other tough-skinned Daedra.