I love this set of quests in Oblivion. Not only it gives you a lot of money for early level characters, but huge chunk of Elder Scrolls lore. I wish that Bethesda would give more quests like this one in the future games like Starfield or Elder Scrolls 6.
They can't all be epic, and that's okay. For every Umbacano epic questline, you find a naked nord on the side of the road claiming to have gotten mugged by a witch. Big stuff, then goofy stuff. What we need is less stuff like Skyrim's mage's quest, which shoe-horns you into a singular archetype, has no choice, and is mostly boring.
Elder Scrolls 6: Skyrim 2 is going to be great, more draugr caves, more bandit caves, and even MORE dwarven ruins! Dungeon simulator with a pay-to-win twist! But not before you build your settlements, because the map will be quite empty without them. Another settlement will need your help fighting off bandits!
@@WokeGhettoSpiritualist Please tell me these new draugr tombs come with half the draugr, with the other half being Creation Club content. I always thought Skyrim's draugr tombs had too many enemies for people who weren't willing to pay for CC items.
Before ancient alien theorists were called what they are today, they were called ancient ARYAN theorists, or the Ahnen Erbe. Nazi propagandists that believed Nazis created the whole world.
@@WokeGhettoSpiritualist true - they are people who thinks that Aryans were a master race in India. We are talking about real Aryans as people who are atributed to being first indo-europeans, not ones from nazi propaganda. I would not be suprised when they will say that they were so perfect could shoot laser from eyes. So many propaganda it is just hard to find real Aryans and this same is whit Ayelids. Maybe they were so similar to High Elves that they just integrated with them. Maybe they are still in Elder Scrolls among elves.
@@mariuszsobolewski9839 Well, we never see any of then around anymore, as they bred out into other Races, or died off after they were driven out from Cyrodiil. If there are any in Summerset, they've stayed hidden so as not to attract attention from humans or anyone who wasn't Altmer
@@mariuszsobolewski9839 Thw ones from Nazi propaganda are the same Aryans, it takes a basic fucking historical analysis to understand this. The Aryans are the Scythians who spread through the entire Indo-European lands and left their accomplishments hence why Indian temples have Hercules statues with the nemean lion. The Scyths overtime became Germans specifically the goth and visigoths and those are who Hitler refers to when he speaks of the ubermensch concept he expanded upon from Nietzhes base term. You have no clue what you're talking about.
"Ha! My true plans were to revive the Ayleid Empires! And you foolishly helped me by collecting the artifacts I needed for this ritual!" "...wow. I'm so surprised. What a completely unexpected twist. Who could've imagined that the elf obsessed with ayleid artifacts and is bitter about their downfall would secretly have plans to restore ayleid rule to Cyrodiil. I'm absolutely shocked."
It's actually slightly disappointing. I genuinely though Umbacano was an honest fellow. Yes, he may have been megalomaniacal, but still, why'd he have to go and try to kill me? 😢
Hero of Kvatch: "fifteen" Umbacano: "I'm sorry... What did you say" Hero of Kvatch: "oh don't mind me. I've just started keeping count of the amount of megalomaniacal world-conquering types I have to kill in any given week" Umbacano: "..... Week?!"
At 5:51 , between you saying we were going to meet the Ayleid collector guy and his on screen reveal, I had time for exactly one thought: “He’s gonna have that one haircut, isn’t he?”
I think it’s interesting how little Umbacano actually seems to know about the Ayleids and their history vs the other historians, like not using the real name for the crown when Hermini does and not seeming to realize the Ayleids were made up of city-states instead of being a United empire
Well, they were an Empire in a relatively loose term. I take it that they were like Ancient Greece, City states with some alliances and such. We know of few instances of Aylieds fighting amongst themselves, but usually by the leading Daedra, and only one that comes to mind is Molag Bal Versus Meridia, I forget the names of the cities but they were rivals (such as their Daedric Princes were). But I imagine that since even other, less bias Historians also call it basically just an Empire, maybe they were closer/less aggressive over one another than Ancient Greece was. Plus, aside from perhaps some Direnni feuds in High Rock, given their lifestyle and population, I'd say that like most Mer, they didn't fight amongst themselves nearly as often as humans would've in the same situation. Of course, that's just speculation on my part, you of course still prove a valid point and good observation
@@thalmoragent9344 Ancient Greece had a city state period and an empire period, but they didn't occur at the same time. Greece was a series of city states that merely shared a common culture prior to Alexander, and were an empire after Alexander. Same deal with other civilizations that get referred to both as city states and as an empire. The Babylonians, during their early period, were a group of warring city states with a shared culture, that became an empire later in their development. An empire has to be united under common rule or it's not an empire. The Greeks were only considered an empire during the period between when they came under common rule under Alexander and when the Tetrarchy fell apart.
@@achristiananarchist2509 Ah, I see, thanks for the clarification, appreciate the comparison. So then, safe to say that the Aylieds started off perhaps as an Empire, then became City States as the Daedra worshippers seeped in, then after the disputes about the Daedra and Aedra, (they agreed to disagree) and then back to Empire right before Pelinal and Alessia popped up? Well actually, how would you classify the Aylieds, whether as a whole or at different time periods?
@@thalmoragent9344 I'm not exactly an expert on Aylied history lol, but I think this assessment sounds quite plausible. If they left Summerset in a single migration, they likely had a leader, and it wouldn't be surprising if they were united initially, and then divided by differing religious beliefs. The Alessian Rebellion would have been a good motivation for them to put aside their differences and unite again, however, and they do seem to be united, at least to some degree, under Umaril during this period. I find it likely that, if the conflict had gone the other way and the Aylieds had won, a united Aylied empire with Umaril at its head would have been the likely result.
@@achristiananarchist2509 Ah, ok, yeah that makes sense, I think that's fair enough. But yeah, Unbacano was more Fanatic than truly a devout scholar of the Aylieds. Not knowing all the fine things, just a lot of general knowledge.
Wonder how it plays into lore that they couldn’t do anything but sit in ruins for thousands of years. Becoming a Lich does seem to be purposefully vague and I’m struggling to think of many who accomplished something worth the effort.
@@FumblsTheSniper I think you are missing the point of becoming a Lich. Lichdom is the objective, mages and necromancers that wanted to live forever no matter the cost, after a person becomes a Lich they will create their undead guards and build or cast their traps, formulate their plans and reinforce their lairs without ever leaving it, their whole point is to live forever, anything that they need will be carried out by their undead thralls.
@@FumblsTheSniper lichdom is pseudo immortality. And of course they would lock themselves in their ruins. Not only is it familiar to them, it is also fortified. They also create their armies of undead, for more than just protection. Likely material gathering, and corpse fetching.
I know this will most likely never happen but I would LOVE to see few actual Snow Elves , Ayleids and Dwemer. Hate the break to this poor Umbacano but Ayleids were THAT cruel. King Dynar confirmed it in ESO after all.
Part of me does wonder if there are Ayleid descendants among the higher echelons of the Thalmor, and they're after revenge for what happened to their ancestors.
In the first age, in the first battle, when the shadows first lengthened, one stood. Burned by the embers of Armageddon, his soul blistered by the fires of Hell and tainted beyond ascension, he chose the path of perpetual torment. In his ravenous hatred he found no peace; and with boiling blood he scoured the Umbral Plains seeking vengeance against the dark lords who had wronged him. He wore the crown of the Night Sentinels, and those that tasted the bite of his sword named him... the Doom Slayer.
Amazing! This Elder scroll player who's never played any Elder Scrolls game thanks you. I am fascinated by Ayleid aesthetics... was devastated to learn the lore of what they did to humans... but anyway I love to recreate Ayleid ruins and dearly wish we had more parts to tinker with!
I’ve been playing oblivion at least once a year since it came out (I’m a whopping 26 years old) and I’ve never played or even knew about this quest. Fascinating how I’m still learning new things about one my favorite games all these years later.
I recomend doing this quest on earlier levels of your playthrough. This way you will get easy 10k of gold to buy some good enchanted gear, and some properties. For the Ayleid Statue locations check out the wiki will make it much easier to find them.
One thing I will say about Oblivion, is that the homes just looked and felt so comfy there. Even some of the cities had these residential areas that almost felt like suburbs, especially Chorrol. I feel like I could just imagine people walking outside and saying hello on their way to work, not a problem in the world.
I love the ancient advanced civilisations that have long since gone extinct or evolved into one the 10 playable races. I am hoping some of them return again
This quest was great, with a veritable treasure hoard as a reward. You get a small fortune of 10k if you turn in all 10 statues, and if you wait till you’re at least level 25 to get max enchantments, you can get the 2 best helms in the game.
@speedierllama yeah, I've always considered the lore that during the great war the zelous aedra whorshipers altmer used daedric artifacts very odd, something even the dunmer wouldn't do, outside the 3 good daedra of course, it would definitely be plausable that few noble families from the aylieds would be hiding among the corrupt altmer elite
It's interesting. The Ayleid statues are called 'The ten ancestors'. I wondered if these were supposed to represent the high elf pantheon, but now that i listened to Umbacano's lines, apparently there were more than just ten statuettes. Interesting.
I made an OC in my Elder Scrolls play through who is an Ayleid Elf but he's part Bosmer since his Ayleid ancestors had to migrate to Valenwood after the Alessian Rebellion in Cyrodiil.
While I find the Ayleid stuff amazing and really enjoy their architecture and magic focus I cant help but feel they were gimped. The dungeons, while expensive and cool lacked a realistic quality that the dwemer ruins had. No housing areas, a lack of overall uniqueness to the dungeons, repetitive tile sets and enemies that are universal to other dungeons. Oblivion was so restricted with tile sets, dungeons, and mobs theh made Aleyid ruins a cool set piece and not much more. I would like to see modern ruins done in an updated dungeon with some unique mobs and an expanded upon ruin look. I want dinning rooms, kitchens, and more magical areas. It is so sad because they are such a cool concept that could rival the Dwemer in tes community interest but their flagship game utterly failed when it came to dungeon creation so they experienced the weakest part of the game.
While I agree they were kinda repetative however the reason there were no living quareters was because the ruins we explore are actually the catacombs of the city's that once sat above them most of the ayleid city's were near completely destroyed and further damaged by the neglect of time
@@steakinbacon8593 well some npcs refer to some of the ruins as cities and others as catacombs so just calling them catacombs doesn't really check out Even the alyeids ruins in eso arnt that much better
@@ciaranmck4469 The calling of these structures as cities is a definite misnomer, even as these structure may have once been part of vast city states, but you only see what little remains of them in either Oblivion or ESO. This is due to the Alyeid genocide and erasure of their culture in Cyrodil. What remains of the "cities" are more their fortifications and underground structures such as catacombs or temples to Deadra. These could not be destroyed or pillaged for materials as easily as above ground structures or structures with smaller stones. So while the houses and businesses are gone some ancient structures remain.
I would love to see any ancient race make a return to future elderscrolls games. They did it with dragons, it'd be so cool to have a "new" playable race. When Dawnguard came out for Skyrim I had a faint hope that snow elves would be playable.
"My Father humiliated by the Empress. Nenalata as a vassal state... to the Empire of Cyrodiil. Wrenching transition to a slaveless economy. Forced adoption of Alessia's Eight Divine. I don the Crown of Nenalata. Rising sense of futility and doom." - The Last King of the Ayleids, Pelinal (Animated Opera)
The Ayleids worshipped daedra. Two of the antagonists (Jaegar Tharn and Macar Cameron) were elves trying to conquer Tamriel (mainly Cyrodiil) which used to belong to the Ayleid Empire. Umbacano also wanted to restore Ayleid power. Maybe all three of these elves were Ayleid, or anceastors to Ayleids. Mancar Cameron has a darker complexion than other high elves, which is how the Ayleids are described. Jaegar Tharn is officially a Bosmer, but his origin is described as unclear/uncertain. Sounds Ayleid enough for me. Manimarco might also have been an Ayleid, making pacts with Molag Baal. Maybe the Ayleids were never gone. Maybe they always wanted to take back their empire all the time. Maybe they even started a political faction on Summerset, like the Thalmor. Maybe they were always the big bad all along. Maybe Bethesda has been playing a bigger game than we have realised.
If the next game takes place with the dragontail mountains i hope we come across a small hidden civilization of aylieds that you find doing a quest involving people that go missing in the mountains from near by towns
I have this crazy (although might actually be sane) theory that the ultimate conclusion to the ESO series will see Meridia trying to bring back the Ayleids after using you, the player character, to clear the path for their return. It would certainly explain her seemingly 'benevolent' disposition towards helping the Vestige throughout the events of ESO.
In every Oblivion playthrough i hijack Sedor, the one ruin that doesn't have respawns after killing the (unique) ogres there. Console command some wood elf/high elves in there for the looks. Some flesh atronachs for the art and athmosphere :)
@@____________838 they are exactly like the Rakatans. A great empire that became slowly more corrupt and evil as they went, before eventually being exterminated.
After Elder scrolls 6 I hope they make an elder scrolls game where they take us back in time to the days of the dwemer and or the ayleids. That'd be pretty dope.
Man, I wish I didn't miss this quest back when playing through Oblivion last year! It sounds interesting, and I really wanted to learn more about the Aeylids.
The entomology of Ayelids is curious to me. Everyone else is by name an elf: AltMER, DunMER, DweMER BosMER, FalMER, ChiMER, even the God damned OrsiMER. But the Ayelids are not brandishing their association with the elves on the sleeve of their race's name. Why?
@@TranscendentLion i would guess a religious context since they focus heavily on religion... Perhaps fate forgave the dunmer & velothi as well as orsimer for their limited Daedra worship. Not to mention the tenets of those they follow are understandably moral to some interpretations and practice. But when the Ayelids try to worship Molag & Auriel under the same roof, that really separates them from the run of the mill 'Our Ancestors' worshippers.
Perhaps they would be the Senexmer or Old Elves. Senex can also mean crazy as in Senile which again could fit. However neither of these would be what the Ayelids would call themselves during their reign. But it would fit for them 5000 years later. I don't think that the Ayelid were the first elves, but they may have thought of themselves before any others. For this they could refer to themselves as the primmer or primer which of course they could pronounced as premiere. Just some ideas but of course none of these are in TES lore.
When you have intricate story arcs like this about ancient ruins, treasures and mysteries you begin to realise why it was very wise for Disney to hire Bethesda to make their upcoming open world Indiana Jones game.
@@dominicmarazita6058 I guess Starfield will decide whether to give Bethesda a second chance or not. 76 I can forgive because its their first multiplayer, but if they mess up SF? No hope after that.
@@connorbarton4308 Probably pressure from Zenimax. Don’t really know what else would drive a single player studio to do so, other than that. Or perhaps they wanted to try something new?
@@madhouse2594 makes sense, but it’s just a shame how games like drakengard 2 and dragon age and incredible story telling is traded for the newest features and cool new graphics and stuff that is surface level, multiplayer seems to be reducing the depths of games, that being said inquisition is an amazing game with a great multiplayer
I was not a fan of Oblivion because I started out playing Morrowind and I just felt that there was so much more stuff that you could do and felt cheated about it in Oblivion when it first came out so I never really cared for it but I always cared for the story lines and the lore it was the only thing that kept me playing it and because of that it does hold a special place in my heart.
How about a video about Yngol's Barrow? The place is fairly small for a Nordic ruin, but it's connection with one of the most prominent figures of the Merethic Era (Ysgramor) makes it worth a deeper look. That, and it just feels... off somehow. It's not overly creepy or anything, but something about the atmosphere within the barrow is disconcerting. Those orbs... They're cute and all, but at the same time something about them makes me uneasy, and not just because they somehow raise Yngol's spirit to do battle with you. Maybe they're the "Sea Ghosts"?
At the very least the Ayleids got off a tad better than the Dwemer. While it's true that their culture and landholdings were wiped out, there were some survivors who assimilated into the Bosmer of Valenwood and the Direnni of Highrock. Perhaps some even made their way to the Summerset Isles, but that's speculation.
Hey lads, I got a question about all things flight in the elder scrolls. I’m aware of the fact that the Dwemer had airships, the dark elves practiced levitation (especially House Telvanni), and we have dragon riding in Skyrim through the bend will shout. All I’m wondering is if I’m missing any other methods in the elder scrolls. Awesome video so far too! Haven’t watched anything on the Ayleids in a while. Keep up the good work. Cheers lads 🍻.
@Old Acc Yeah, imagine if through Meridia, they were able to have solar sails or the like. I believe any of the lost advanced races definitely had a crack at flight.
I imagine research into flight would have been hampered by the fact that magicians/wizards in TES have access to things like transportation spells and portals. Along with silt striders, pneumatic root systems and spectral ghost horses you can pull out your ass.... shame really, i just pictured an aeylid iccarus 😂 missed opportunity.
Very cool, thank you! Until I watched Fudgemuppet lore videos, I used to think Alieds were just an elven race that died out. I never fully comprehended their depravity. I usually do read all the books I find in game, but for whatever reason, the reason for their demise never stuck with me. 💙 I definitely appreciate the clarification!
If memory serves me right that old cut Redguard DLC did include the return of some Dwemer. From what I recall it involved a Dwemer in an ethereal form reaching out to us, pleading to help them return through the means of a dwemer made gate similar to the oblivion gate, by utilizing the power of an elder scroll. Along the way you’d find that researcher’s old notes, alluding to possible misgivings should the Dwemer return. Had they return they were to retake Black Reach after a momentary conflict with whoever the current Markarth Jarl is. Can’t remember much else from there.
Yagrum Bagarn, was in Morrowind. (I think that was his name. It's been over a decade for me) If the Dwemer return.. hopefully they arent too similar lol.
I actually loved this quest arc. Sure, it starts a bit slow with fetching the statuettes, but the more you do it, the better it gets, and it gives you so much lore on the Ayleids, of whom you otherwise keep hearing about from various npcs, but only snippets. One thing I actually didn't like was Umbacano betraying you. I genuinely hoped for something different. 😒
Spent the first half of the video being like "man, why don't I replay Oblivion more?" until "leveled equipment means this major character is invisible for the rest of the quest" reminded me. Oh Elder Scrolls, always so close.
If TES is in High Rock then it would be neat to see the last leg of this culture as many of the Ayleids fled to their cousins in this region for salvation. There is a quest in ESO in Glenumbra Moors where you venture in the past and meet Laloriaran Dynar in one of the battles against the Alessians.
I knew all this, Camelworks told me he was in Morrowind as I hadn't noticed despite walking past him post-Oblivion but good memories of Umbacano, Oblivion quests were generally more interesting than Skyrim's. The ESO quest connection I figured when I replayed Oblivion afterwards. Always good to share the story again, the hours weren't completely wasted lol.
I know I've been commenting this on multiple videos but I still hope you guys would do a podcast on the connections between Lorkhan and Auriel and the other forms of both the Time God (AKA) and Space God (LKHAN)
I enjoyed this mission a lot I did it early finding the statues so when I got around to the main quest helping Martin I already had the great welkynd stone Obilivion is still one of my all time favorite games
The ayelids left summer set because they worshipped daedra, which was illegal there. Humans thought of the daedra worship part as the reason for the extraordinary sadistic cruelty they showed towards their medic slaves(flesh sculptures and gut gardens), hence the dislike for daedra princes worship by humans.
They could use the same plot device they used for Alduin. A group of them sent to the future. TESO had a good one where one went to Coldharbor. Another plane, perhaps?
I had a whole idea back in 2012. That the high elves Aldoridominion we're fighting against the humans and several other power's. This led to the High elves being brought to a last ditch effort that they brought back the Alyids and Dwarves. Leading to a strange time loop that causes the resurrection of many ancient peoples and kingdoms of elves. This all the work of several dedrea most notable Sheogorath the mad God. Clavius Vile and Hermious Mora but many fighting a civil war. With each faction pited against each other and their followers being hunted down. So more like a war on the mortal and spiritual planes. I know that Todd Howard is not up to the task to do this though.
My ideal Elder Scrolls game would be set during the last days of the Ayleid Empire, and you could interact with characters like Alessia and Pelinal during their prime while witnessing the germination of the Alessian Empire.
I called them eyelids back in the day for what ever reason and now I can’t stop
"Heart Land Eye Elves"?
👀
I could SEE how that could be an issue
It happens buddy. I still call her Billie Eyelash.
Did you watch too much Ali g. Ay
I love this set of quests in Oblivion. Not only it gives you a lot of money for early level characters, but huge chunk of Elder Scrolls lore. I wish that Bethesda would give more quests like this one in the future games like Starfield or Elder Scrolls 6.
They can't all be epic, and that's okay. For every Umbacano epic questline, you find a naked nord on the side of the road claiming to have gotten mugged by a witch. Big stuff, then goofy stuff.
What we need is less stuff like Skyrim's mage's quest, which shoe-horns you into a singular archetype, has no choice, and is mostly boring.
Elder Scrolls 6: Skyrim 2 is going to be great, more draugr caves, more bandit caves, and even MORE dwarven ruins! Dungeon simulator with a pay-to-win twist! But not before you build your settlements, because the map will be quite empty without them. Another settlement will need your help fighting off bandits!
@@WokeGhettoSpiritualist No way ! Even more draugr tombs ??? Finally
@@WokeGhettoSpiritualist Please tell me these new draugr tombs come with half the draugr, with the other half being Creation Club content. I always thought Skyrim's draugr tombs had too many enemies for people who weren't willing to pay for CC items.
@@WokeGhettoSpiritualist HEY, ... I liked building settlements in Fallout 4 it was nice to tinker with houses when I got bored
"Im not saying it was the ayleids, but it was the ayleids"
-infamous ancient ayleids conspiracist
Before ancient alien theorists were called what they are today, they were called ancient ARYAN theorists, or the Ahnen Erbe. Nazi propagandists that believed Nazis created the whole world.
@@WokeGhettoSpiritualist true - they are people who thinks that Aryans were a master race in India. We are talking about real Aryans as people who are atributed to being first indo-europeans, not ones from nazi propaganda. I would not be suprised when they will say that they were so perfect could shoot laser from eyes. So many propaganda it is just hard to find real Aryans and this same is whit Ayelids. Maybe they were so similar to High Elves that they just integrated with them. Maybe they are still in Elder Scrolls among elves.
@@mariuszsobolewski9839
Well, we never see any of then around anymore, as they bred out into other Races, or died off after they were driven out from Cyrodiil. If there are any in Summerset, they've stayed hidden so as not to attract attention from humans or anyone who wasn't Altmer
@@WokeGhettoSpiritualist have you seen Atun Shei's video on it? It was great
@@mariuszsobolewski9839 Thw ones from Nazi propaganda are the same Aryans, it takes a basic fucking historical analysis to understand this. The Aryans are the Scythians who spread through the entire Indo-European lands and left their accomplishments hence why Indian temples have Hercules statues with the nemean lion. The Scyths overtime became Germans specifically the goth and visigoths and those are who Hitler refers to when he speaks of the ubermensch concept he expanded upon from Nietzhes base term. You have no clue what you're talking about.
"Ha! My true plans were to revive the Ayleid Empires! And you foolishly helped me by collecting the artifacts I needed for this ritual!"
"...wow. I'm so surprised. What a completely unexpected twist. Who could've imagined that the elf obsessed with ayleid artifacts and is bitter about their downfall would secretly have plans to restore ayleid rule to Cyrodiil. I'm absolutely shocked."
He was stunning and brave xD lololo
It's actually slightly disappointing. I genuinely though Umbacano was an honest fellow. Yes, he may have been megalomaniacal, but still, why'd he have to go and try to kill me? 😢
@@georgeoldsterd8994 I know! He paid so well, and his guards and butler were so courteous too.
Todd admits they don't hire writers, only quest designers. Coding is more important that narrative. And it shows.
Hero of Kvatch: "fifteen"
Umbacano: "I'm sorry... What did you say"
Hero of Kvatch: "oh don't mind me. I've just started keeping count of the amount of megalomaniacal world-conquering types I have to kill in any given week"
Umbacano: "..... Week?!"
At 5:51 , between you saying we were going to meet the Ayleid collector guy and his on screen reveal, I had time for exactly one thought:
“He’s gonna have that one haircut, isn’t he?”
The truth
To be honest I always kind of thought that that wasn't a haircut and instead a hat
@@robrib2682 they’re just really into the Dairy Queen cone but can’t get the curliecue at the end right
That haircut was pretty bad ass around 2009 or so, the knucklecut.
Choco Ice Cream. Hmmmm
Herminia Cinna also wrote the in-game book, The Last King of the Ayleids. So Umbacano knows squat.
I think it’s interesting how little Umbacano actually seems to know about the Ayleids and their history vs the other historians, like not using the real name for the crown when Hermini does and not seeming to realize the Ayleids were made up of city-states instead of being a United empire
Well, they were an Empire in a relatively loose term.
I take it that they were like Ancient Greece, City states with some alliances and such. We know of few instances of Aylieds fighting amongst themselves, but usually by the leading Daedra, and only one that comes to mind is Molag Bal Versus Meridia, I forget the names of the cities but they were rivals (such as their Daedric Princes were).
But I imagine that since even other, less bias Historians also call it basically just an Empire, maybe they were closer/less aggressive over one another than Ancient Greece was. Plus, aside from perhaps some Direnni feuds in High Rock, given their lifestyle and population, I'd say that like most Mer, they didn't fight amongst themselves nearly as often as humans would've in the same situation.
Of course, that's just speculation on my part, you of course still prove a valid point and good observation
@@thalmoragent9344 Ancient Greece had a city state period and an empire period, but they didn't occur at the same time. Greece was a series of city states that merely shared a common culture prior to Alexander, and were an empire after Alexander. Same deal with other civilizations that get referred to both as city states and as an empire. The Babylonians, during their early period, were a group of warring city states with a shared culture, that became an empire later in their development. An empire has to be united under common rule or it's not an empire. The Greeks were only considered an empire during the period between when they came under common rule under Alexander and when the Tetrarchy fell apart.
@@achristiananarchist2509
Ah, I see, thanks for the clarification, appreciate the comparison.
So then, safe to say that the Aylieds started off perhaps as an Empire, then became City States as the Daedra worshippers seeped in, then after the disputes about the Daedra and Aedra, (they agreed to disagree) and then back to Empire right before Pelinal and Alessia popped up?
Well actually, how would you classify the Aylieds, whether as a whole or at different time periods?
@@thalmoragent9344 I'm not exactly an expert on Aylied history lol, but I think this assessment sounds quite plausible. If they left Summerset in a single migration, they likely had a leader, and it wouldn't be surprising if they were united initially, and then divided by differing religious beliefs. The Alessian Rebellion would have been a good motivation for them to put aside their differences and unite again, however, and they do seem to be united, at least to some degree, under Umaril during this period. I find it likely that, if the conflict had gone the other way and the Aylieds had won, a united Aylied empire with Umaril at its head would have been the likely result.
@@achristiananarchist2509
Ah, ok, yeah that makes sense, I think that's fair enough.
But yeah, Unbacano was more Fanatic than truly a devout scholar of the Aylieds. Not knowing all the fine things, just a lot of general knowledge.
Herminnia really went
“I’m stronger than I look”
“Actually you could probably take me”
“Please don’t take the crown”
Judging by the amount of liches in Ayleid ruins in Oblivion, there's lots of Ayleid kings still around. In a way at least.
Wonder how it plays into lore that they couldn’t do anything but sit in ruins for thousands of years. Becoming a Lich does seem to be purposefully vague and I’m struggling to think of many who accomplished something worth the effort.
@@FumblsTheSniper I think you are missing the point of becoming a Lich.
Lichdom is the objective, mages and necromancers that wanted to live forever no matter the cost, after a person becomes a Lich they will create their undead guards and build or cast their traps, formulate their plans and reinforce their lairs without ever leaving it, their whole point is to live forever, anything that they need will be carried out by their undead thralls.
@@FumblsTheSniper lichdom is pseudo immortality. And of course they would lock themselves in their ruins. Not only is it familiar to them, it is also fortified. They also create their armies of undead, for more than just protection. Likely material gathering, and corpse fetching.
Haha, I've been playing heavily mixed Skyrim for so many years I forgot how overdramatic the acting was in Oblivion. I love it 😂❤️
Heavily modded*
Weird autocorrect
I know this will most likely never happen but I would LOVE to see few actual Snow Elves , Ayleids and Dwemer.
Hate the break to this poor Umbacano but Ayleids were THAT cruel. King Dynar confirmed it in ESO after all.
we have seen of each of those, we saw ayleids in ESO, snow elves in skyrim, abd dwemer in morrowind
Part of me does wonder if there are Ayleid descendants among the higher echelons of the Thalmor, and they're after revenge for what happened to their ancestors.
Altmer do selective breeding, ideal to preseve some Ayleid bloodlines.
It wouldn't surprise me. Hell, the idea of a man like Tiber becoming a god would add salt to the wound.
Bro the Aylieds are degenerate Daedra worshipers.
The Altmer probably hate them.
bruh the guy voicing the male elves in this game is so over the top, i love him
Ayleids: Ha! We're coming back!
SONG ENDS...
Ayleids: what the hell was that?
Somewhere, the Whitestrake's eyes slowly open
*One thousand six hundred and ten*
*muffled REMAN scream in the background*
Ancestral insult in progress....
In the first age, in the first battle, when the shadows first lengthened, one stood. Burned by the embers of Armageddon, his soul blistered by the fires of Hell and tainted beyond ascension, he chose the path of perpetual torment. In his ravenous hatred he found no peace; and with boiling blood he scoured the Umbral Plains seeking vengeance against the dark lords who had wronged him. He wore the crown of the Night Sentinels, and those that tasted the bite of his sword named him... the Doom Slayer.
*HUNA IS DEAD*
that scene transition from the auriel shrine to molag bal one was sweet Michael
Amazing! This Elder scroll player who's never played any Elder Scrolls game thanks you. I am fascinated by Ayleid aesthetics... was devastated to learn the lore of what they did to humans... but anyway I love to recreate Ayleid ruins and dearly wish we had more parts to tinker with!
I’ve been playing oblivion at least once a year since it came out (I’m a whopping 26 years old) and I’ve never played or even knew about this quest. Fascinating how I’m still learning new things about one my favorite games all these years later.
I recomend doing this quest on earlier levels of your playthrough. This way you will get easy 10k of gold to buy some good enchanted gear, and some properties. For the Ayleid Statue locations check out the wiki will make it much easier to find them.
Just be careful going for some of these statues. Some of them are a pain in the ass to get to.
One thing I will say about Oblivion, is that the homes just looked and felt so comfy there. Even some of the cities had these residential areas that almost felt like suburbs, especially Chorrol. I feel like I could just imagine people walking outside and saying hello on their way to work, not a problem in the world.
I love the ancient advanced civilisations that have long since gone extinct or evolved into one the 10 playable races. I am hoping some of them return again
Ayleids or Dwemer to come back?
@@beanface7408 both ...both is good
What of the Maomer, great Elvish rulers of the sea? Or the Wolf-People or Argonia?
I’d love to see the area from the disaster of ionaith, but that’s not Tamriel it’s akavir
I think the Ayleids weren't completely gone but a minority elven race within Alinor like the Imperial Nibeneans or Colovians.
I think some were still living in Valenwood by the time of the Interegnum, but that might not be canon.
Pretty sure there was a small group of their descendants hiding out in the Black Marsh
I remember reading a book that said they were absorded into Valenwood tribes.
This quest was great, with a veritable treasure hoard as a reward. You get a small fortune of 10k if you turn in all 10 statues, and if you wait till you’re at least level 25 to get max enchantments, you can get the 2 best helms in the game.
I've always held the belief that ayleids have infiltrated the thalmor
Would make some sense if they ever hope to hold power again.
Brilliant and insidious.
Well that Thalmor guy in the loading screen *is* unusually dark for an Altmer.
@@Aethuviel Because it's a concept 3D model of a dunmer, with none elven eyes... for reasons.
@speedierllama yeah, I've always considered the lore that during the great war the zelous aedra whorshipers altmer used daedric artifacts very odd, something even the dunmer wouldn't do, outside the 3 good daedra of course, it would definitely be plausable that few noble families from the aylieds would be hiding among the corrupt altmer elite
It's interesting. The Ayleid statues are called 'The ten ancestors'. I wondered if these were supposed to represent the high elf pantheon, but now that i listened to Umbacano's lines, apparently there were more than just ten statuettes. Interesting.
I made an OC in my Elder Scrolls play through who is an Ayleid Elf but he's part Bosmer since his Ayleid ancestors had to migrate to Valenwood after the Alessian Rebellion in Cyrodiil.
Interesting, let me hear about your build.
We meet the last king of Nenelata in ESO - Laylorian Dynar. I think he'd find Umbecano a VERY unfit heir.
While I find the Ayleid stuff amazing and really enjoy their architecture and magic focus I cant help but feel they were gimped. The dungeons, while expensive and cool lacked a realistic quality that the dwemer ruins had. No housing areas, a lack of overall uniqueness to the dungeons, repetitive tile sets and enemies that are universal to other dungeons. Oblivion was so restricted with tile sets, dungeons, and mobs theh made Aleyid ruins a cool set piece and not much more. I would like to see modern ruins done in an updated dungeon with some unique mobs and an expanded upon ruin look. I want dinning rooms, kitchens, and more magical areas. It is so sad because they are such a cool concept that could rival the Dwemer in tes community interest but their flagship game utterly failed when it came to dungeon creation so they experienced the weakest part of the game.
While I agree they were kinda repetative however the reason there were no living quareters was because the ruins we explore are actually the catacombs of the city's that once sat above them most of the ayleid city's were near completely destroyed and further damaged by the neglect of time
@@steakinbacon8593 well some npcs refer to some of the ruins as cities and others as catacombs so just calling them catacombs doesn't really check out
Even the alyeids ruins in eso arnt that much better
@@ciaranmck4469 The calling of these structures as cities is a definite misnomer, even as these structure may have once been part of vast city states, but you only see what little remains of them in either Oblivion or ESO. This is due to the Alyeid genocide and erasure of their culture in Cyrodil. What remains of the "cities" are more their fortifications and underground structures such as catacombs or temples to Deadra. These could not be destroyed or pillaged for materials as easily as above ground structures or structures with smaller stones. So while the houses and businesses are gone some ancient structures remain.
In beyond skyrim bruma the ayleids ruins are way better, not saying oblivion is bad but the dungeon design was kinda lacking
I would love to see any ancient race make a return to future elderscrolls games. They did it with dragons, it'd be so cool to have a "new" playable race. When Dawnguard came out for Skyrim I had a faint hope that snow elves would be playable.
Maybe in a spinoff? 🤔
“…the one and only ayleid Simp….pathizer” LMAO
Thanks for the reminder of just how creepy the NPCs were in Oblivion. The rapid super close up of those creepy faces haunted my nightmares for years!
May be a little to late, but if you ever play Oblivion again the Blockheads mod is an essential ;)
it's the elvish races in particular who look particularly goofy, just look at the adoring fan.
"Um, I think Umbacano might be a bit of a racist, guys." - Wilburgur
“the *lesser* races”
Rob113 No way it’s nice to see another wilburgur fan big respect to you my friend
Lol now I gotta re-binge that whole series
@@northp_the_green_pale_pete same lol
L E S S E R R A C E S
Ayleids: **Return**
Pelinal Whitestrake: **Round Two, Let's get ready to RUMBLEEEEEE**
"My Father humiliated by the Empress. Nenalata as a vassal state... to the Empire of Cyrodiil. Wrenching transition to a slaveless economy. Forced adoption of Alessia's Eight Divine. I don the Crown of Nenalata. Rising sense of futility and doom." - The Last King of the Ayleids, Pelinal (Animated Opera)
The Ayleids worshipped daedra. Two of the antagonists (Jaegar Tharn and Macar Cameron) were elves trying to conquer Tamriel (mainly Cyrodiil) which used to belong to the Ayleid Empire. Umbacano also wanted to restore Ayleid power. Maybe all three of these elves were Ayleid, or anceastors to Ayleids. Mancar Cameron has a darker complexion than other high elves, which is how the Ayleids are described. Jaegar Tharn is officially a Bosmer, but his origin is described as unclear/uncertain. Sounds Ayleid enough for me. Manimarco might also have been an Ayleid, making pacts with Molag Baal. Maybe the Ayleids were never gone. Maybe they always wanted to take back their empire all the time. Maybe they even started a political faction on Summerset, like the Thalmor. Maybe they were always the big bad all along. Maybe Bethesda has been playing a bigger game than we have realised.
I'd love to explore an Ayleid empire, it would be beautiful
the ayleid guardians from the ultimate heist are pretty terrifying it would suck if they came back
I almost died 10 times in that quest during the battle with ayleid
@@risinggamer7423 "Stealth" mission in narrow, brightly lit rooms. Why.
If the next game takes place with the dragontail mountains i hope we come across a small hidden civilization of aylieds that you find doing a quest involving people that go missing in the mountains from near by towns
Nothing better than watching these videos and playing the games.
@3ddi3 3ddi3 Yeah so good :D
I have this crazy (although might actually be sane) theory that the ultimate conclusion to the ESO series will see Meridia trying to bring back the Ayleids after using you, the player character, to clear the path for their return. It would certainly explain her seemingly 'benevolent' disposition towards helping the Vestige throughout the events of ESO.
🤯
Well considering ESO won’t be ending anytime in the next two decades at least it’s not even worth pondering
No, but could lead to some further revelations on how truly sinister Meridia is beneath all that "I'm just a pretty angel" face
@@dadshirt6681 they should end it right before TES 6 and just make a TES Online 2 after
In every Oblivion playthrough i hijack Sedor, the one ruin that doesn't have respawns after killing the (unique) ogres there. Console command some wood elf/high elves in there for the looks. Some flesh atronachs for the art and athmosphere :)
My favorite subject covered by the best lore masters! TY guys.
Uhhh yes, the revenge of the not-Siths. Which makes the Akavir, Mandalorians.
Aren’t they more similar to the Rakadans?
is that a jojo reference?
@@____________838 they are exactly like the Rakatans. A great empire that became slowly more corrupt and evil as they went, before eventually being exterminated.
After Elder scrolls 6 I hope they make an elder scrolls game where they take us back in time to the days of the dwemer and or the ayleids. That'd be pretty dope.
I love seeing characters from Morrowind in Oblivion, just so cool
i'll have two number 9s, a number 9 large, a number 6 with extra dip, a number 7, two number 45s, one with cheese, and a large soda.
"You guys want anything?"
Smoke, you wide, man, i mean WIDE!
I've always thought this guy has to be a real Ayleid. But of the wild variety. As in, the elusive, wildlands wild elves.
Honestly, I loved the oblivion mission addition in Skyrim. It's gorgeous, perfectly made, and flawlessly executed
Man, I wish I didn't miss this quest back when playing through Oblivion last year! It sounds interesting, and I really wanted to learn more about the Aeylids.
The entomology of Ayelids is curious to me. Everyone else is by name an elf: AltMER, DunMER, DweMER BosMER, FalMER, ChiMER, even the God damned OrsiMER. But the Ayelids are not brandishing their association with the elves on the sleeve of their race's name. Why?
Good observation - maybe they wanted to distance themselves from the Aldmer, but for what reason may be difficult to say.
@@TranscendentLion i would guess a religious context since they focus heavily on religion... Perhaps fate forgave the dunmer & velothi as well as orsimer for their limited Daedra worship. Not to mention the tenets of those they follow are understandably moral to some interpretations and practice. But when the Ayelids try to worship Molag & Auriel under the same roof, that really separates them from the run of the mill 'Our Ancestors' worshippers.
Maybe they count as a subculture/race to the Altmer or something?
Maybe they believed themselves above mer or perhaps it’s because they are an ancestor of mer idk I’m not a lore master
Perhaps they would be the Senexmer or Old Elves. Senex can also mean crazy as in Senile which again could fit. However neither of these would be what the Ayelids would call themselves during their reign. But it would fit for them 5000 years later.
I don't think that the Ayelid were the first elves, but they may have thought of themselves before any others. For this they could refer to themselves as the primmer or primer which of course they could pronounced as premiere.
Just some ideas but of course none of these are in TES lore.
Another amazing vid! Have you guys thought of doing a vid looking into the various honorary titles each races of tamriel can earn?
When you have intricate story arcs like this about ancient ruins, treasures and mysteries you begin to realise why it was very wise for Disney to hire Bethesda to make their upcoming open world Indiana Jones game.
@@dominicmarazita6058 I guess Starfield will decide whether to give Bethesda a second chance or not. 76 I can forgive because its their first multiplayer, but if they mess up SF? No hope after that.
@@madhouse2594why are they even making multiplayer games? Too much online focus these days
@@connorbarton4308 Probably pressure from Zenimax. Don’t really know what else would drive a single player studio to do so, other than that. Or perhaps they wanted to try something new?
@@madhouse2594 makes sense, but it’s just a shame how games like drakengard 2 and dragon age and incredible story telling is traded for the newest features and cool new graphics and stuff that is surface level, multiplayer seems to be reducing the depths of games, that being said inquisition is an amazing game with a great multiplayer
I was not a fan of Oblivion because I started out playing Morrowind and I just felt that there was so much more stuff that you could do and felt cheated about it in Oblivion when it first came out so I never really cared for it but I always cared for the story lines and the lore it was the only thing that kept me playing it and because of that it does hold a special place in my heart.
Love your channel so much. The years of dedication are not without notice
How about a video about Yngol's Barrow? The place is fairly small for a Nordic ruin, but it's connection with one of the most prominent figures of the Merethic Era (Ysgramor) makes it worth a deeper look.
That, and it just feels... off somehow. It's not overly creepy or anything, but something about the atmosphere within the barrow is disconcerting. Those orbs... They're cute and all, but at the same time something about them makes me uneasy, and not just because they somehow raise Yngol's spirit to do battle with you.
Maybe they're the "Sea Ghosts"?
I love the elder scrolls community, you all rock 😻
dynar falls under the category of yagrum, "my people were wiped out, its likely we deserved this"
At the very least the Ayleids got off a tad better than the Dwemer. While it's true that their culture and landholdings were wiped out, there were some survivors who assimilated into the Bosmer of Valenwood and the Direnni of Highrock. Perhaps some even made their way to the Summerset Isles, but that's speculation.
Gelebor, the last snow elf, is more tragic version of being the last of his kind. His view of the modern farmer is also very solemn.
Hey lads, I got a question about all things flight in the elder scrolls. I’m aware of the fact that the Dwemer had airships, the dark elves practiced levitation (especially House Telvanni), and we have dragon riding in Skyrim through the bend will shout. All I’m wondering is if I’m missing any other methods in the elder scrolls. Awesome video so far too! Haven’t watched anything on the Ayleids in a while. Keep up the good work. Cheers lads 🍻.
@@ungreatfulduck750 Whot? Isn’t that just a Skyrim fan mod?
@Old Acc Yeah, imagine if through Meridia, they were able to have solar sails or the like. I believe any of the lost advanced races definitely had a crack at flight.
I imagine research into flight would have been hampered by the fact that magicians/wizards in TES have access to things like transportation spells and portals. Along with silt striders, pneumatic root systems and spectral ghost horses you can pull out your ass.... shame really, i just pictured an aeylid iccarus 😂 missed opportunity.
There was the alinor sunbird. A literal spaceship the high elves built to fly through the sun to aetherius powered by magic trough prismatic feather.
The imperial also have space program but i forgot the details. It was a giant moth or something.
Two in a day? You guys are blessing us
5:44 "We finally come face to face with the one and only Ayleid SIMP-athizer"
The beauty and brutality of their ruins are reflective of the mer themselves.
Last king of ayelid was one of the nicest person I have seen, he was a good friend of mine.
Very cool, thank you! Until I watched Fudgemuppet lore videos, I used to think Alieds were just an elven race that died out. I never fully comprehended their depravity. I usually do read all the books I find in game, but for whatever reason, the reason for their demise never stuck with me.
💙 I definitely appreciate the clarification!
God, I fucking LOVE Oblivion. I remember when I bought the Oblivion/Bioshock combo pack for my pc
Fantastic video. Always good to see Oblivion content, amd this was always a top quest when playing.
One of my favorite quests of all times
I love that this claude marie guy is basically an indiana jones easter egg lol
I would love for a return of them and the Dwemer
and the Psijiic Order too :D
@@repubblesmcglonky8990 and the True Snow Elves
If memory serves me right that old cut Redguard DLC did include the return of some Dwemer. From what I recall it involved a Dwemer in an ethereal form reaching out to us, pleading to help them return through the means of a dwemer made gate similar to the oblivion gate, by utilizing the power of an elder scroll. Along the way you’d find that researcher’s old notes, alluding to possible misgivings should the Dwemer return. Had they return they were to retake Black Reach after a momentary conflict with whoever the current Markarth Jarl is. Can’t remember much else from there.
Wasn't Umaril enough?😒
Yagrum Bagarn, was in Morrowind. (I think that was his name. It's been over a decade for me) If the Dwemer return.. hopefully they arent too similar lol.
I love the small pause when you said sympathiser
I actually loved this quest arc. Sure, it starts a bit slow with fetching the statuettes, but the more you do it, the better it gets, and it gives you so much lore on the Ayleids, of whom you otherwise keep hearing about from various npcs, but only snippets. One thing I actually didn't like was Umbacano betraying you. I genuinely hoped for something different. 😒
I think it would be awesome! I would like a story that is more detailed after Martin as well.
Is that what you believed happened to the Dwemer? Such grand and intoxicating innocence..
Ayleid Sympathizers? Where they at, I just wanna talk to them.
I’m really curious what hidden powers the Aylied Crown of Nenelatta has besides its superficial enchantments.
I'd love to play as an ancient elf race so I'm totally up for this
It's been like a year since I watched any fudgemuppet. It's good to be home.
I hope they'll be back, Cyrodill to the Ayleids!
Plot twist: Ayleids rise up and ally with the Aldmeri Dominion in 2nd Great War.
Spent the first half of the video being like "man, why don't I replay Oblivion more?" until "leveled equipment means this major character is invisible for the rest of the quest" reminded me.
Oh Elder Scrolls, always so close.
If TES is in High Rock then it would be neat to see the last leg of this culture as many of the Ayleids fled to their cousins in this region for salvation. There is a quest in ESO in Glenumbra Moors where you venture in the past and meet Laloriaran Dynar in one of the battles against the Alessians.
One of the latest story expansions actually starts you in a ruined Direnni dungeon, and a Direnni high elven spy helps you get out.
I knew all this, Camelworks told me he was in Morrowind as I hadn't noticed despite walking past him post-Oblivion but good memories of Umbacano, Oblivion quests were generally more interesting than Skyrim's. The ESO quest connection I figured when I replayed Oblivion afterwards. Always good to share the story again, the hours weren't completely wasted lol.
"I don the Crown of Nenalata. Rising sense of futility and doom."
*Song ends*
I know I've been commenting this on multiple videos but I still hope you guys would do a podcast on the connections between Lorkhan and Auriel and the other forms of both the Time God (AKA) and Space God (LKHAN)
Pelinial: "Time to play the "Doom" music."
I enjoyed this mission a lot I did it early finding the statues so when I got around to the main quest helping Martin I already had the great welkynd stone Obilivion is still one of my all time favorite games
Oblivion deserves a lot more lore videos
I hope they could, they'd make Cyrodill great again
I thought the wights, in TES:Blades were some undead remnants of the lost ayleids.
The best part of my week is the 2 hours when the fudgemuppet videos come out
here i was thinking i knew enough about skyrim oblivion etc, and now here i am just hearing about the word ayleid
There’s a lack of daedric armour wearing mudcrabs in this one but great video nonetheless!
"Inhale a Varla stone, Kirby Style." Ha! Good one.
So the thalmor could secretly be a collective of alyed bloodlines and there actually preaching of that being the best and not the high elves at all 😂😂
The ayelids left summer set because they worshipped daedra, which was illegal there.
Humans thought of the daedra worship part as the reason for the extraordinary sadistic cruelty they showed towards their medic slaves(flesh sculptures and gut gardens), hence the dislike for daedra princes worship by humans.
I don’t know why but when he was chanting I died laughing 🤣 he put so much feeling into it
I came for the wailing wheels, I stayed for the gut gardens.
Noice. Impatiently waiting for the podcast
Will Fudgemuppet be making more builds? I love listening to the backstories, and the legacy series only has two.
“the one and only” is such a funny epithet for White-Gold
Didn't expect a Halo reference gonna be honest. Love it. 15:15
They could use the same plot device they used for Alduin. A group of them sent to the future. TESO had a good one where one went to Coldharbor. Another plane, perhaps?
I had a whole idea back in 2012. That the high elves Aldoridominion we're fighting against the humans and several other power's. This led to the High elves being brought to a last ditch effort that they brought back the Alyids and Dwarves. Leading to a strange time loop that causes the resurrection of many ancient peoples and kingdoms of elves. This all the work of several dedrea most notable Sheogorath the mad God. Clavius Vile and Hermious Mora but many fighting a civil war. With each faction pited against each other and their followers being hunted down. So more like a war on the mortal and spiritual planes. I know that Todd Howard is not up to the task to do this though.
My ideal Elder Scrolls game would be set during the last days of the Ayleid Empire, and you could interact with characters like Alessia and Pelinal during their prime while witnessing the germination of the Alessian Empire.