The fact that Elder Scrolls lore is deep enough or detailed enough that we can theorize about the plate tectonics, geology and such is one of the reasons I adore these games.
Its high fantasy setting with magic time bending robots and magic internet live side by side with sword and bows, but the worldbuilding is so deep it kinda feel alive and "real". I kinda like how ES kan be really immersive without resorting too much on tryhard "grounded realism" like GoT does (no offence).
I wonder if skyrim geology kinda making sense sometimes is a result of deliberate planning or just an effect of unconsciouss knowledge about real world terrain.
That's a great question... I want to believe they did their research and a lot of level designers have strong understandings of sensible geography, but I'd imagine there is a lot of creative liberty sprinkled in. At some point something looking cool is going to trump something looking realistic
@@LeftoverPat I definitely feel like they went by "rule of cool" more than anything else. Once you start with a neat fantasy setting, it's hardly too much work to just add in the excellent little details to make it seem that much more plausible. Nothing against the developers though... the result is pretty darn cool after all.
I'd say it's much more likely they they used reference images of terrain that they wanted to emulate, and inadvertently included many real life geological features as a result
@@LeftoverPat plus they can always do like they did with bugs "Bugs (glitches) in the game are just some god screwing with the player" but instead it's, "yeah the landscape was formed by the gods" sort of like Paul Bunyan and his Big Blue Ox
Probably both tbh. Knew a general overview of information around biomes and plate techtonics but they probably didnt have a geologist on staff, probably heavily referenced real world locations they wanted to emulate and tried to understand how it worked without fully understanding why
something to note is that in-lore, time started on the Isle of Balfiera, trinimac ripped out lorkhan's heart, gave it to Auri-El, who knocked it on his bow, and shot it across the sky, and we all know red mountain formed around where it landed, but whats more obscure is that as the heart flew through the sky, its blood fell upon the land, and that blood crystalized into Ebony. Which is why you see ebony deposits going in that straight line
that's an interesting point! since lorkhan's heart is associated with fire, maybe his blood also caused more geologic activity to happen in the regions where it landed, being influenced by the magic contained in said blood.
@@DinkyWaffle probably But both probably also plausible at the same time, since in TES, presence of divine beings is pretty much real. It also worthy of note that gods and divines in ES doesn't actually have antromorphied shape like what you see in statues and such, it is what it is because mortal perceived it so. So its probable that "knocked it on his bow and shooting it across the land" isn't that literal, it probably somekind of force released by divines that soo great, it create rifts and great volcanic activity along the way.
Yeah. As we know. The dovahkiin. From Skyrim. Is Lorkhan, reborn as a nord man. And then Lorkhan changes the body to whatever he wants. Or just starts like the end result, of creating your character. And every time he/she levels up. Not only are they gaining experience. And conditioning their body. But they might also be getting their power back... We should make a mod for Skyrim. For you to get your heart back. From the depths of red mountain. And get a massive stat boost. And regain whatever powers Lorkhan had.
Worse, after a Dragon Break, you could pass a thousand years in an alternate timeline that suddenly gets crammed back in. You can make an empire, have it grow across the continent, have it crumble and become the old ruins that people don't know much about, and then find out only 50 years went by. And that your imperial capital was/is a sleepy hamlet. And the sleepy hamlet suddenly inherits being an imperial capital overnight. Then imagine what this could do to terrain; suddenly there's been a river alongside your hill for a thousand years, yesterday.
@@peabrain6872 In the TES background, things like the end of TES II : Daggerfall involve all of the contradictory endings happening. The universe explodes, the orcs get the giant robot, the empire gets the giant robot, Mannimarco becomes a god by eating the heart of the giant robot, etc. That's called a Dragon Break, because you're breaking Akatosh (god of time, and time being linear). So, all of these things happen. But they can't literally all happen at the same time, so it ends up creating different timelines where they did happen. Eventually those timelines rejoin the original, despite the fact that their history doesn't necessarily make sense in the main timeline. The Elder Scrolls (the in-game mystical scrolls) supposedly provide a map of all the timelines and when they'll join back together - but looking at that kind of nonsense is what blinds the normal NPCs, and why our screen flashbangs us.
To be fair, in the lore it's pretty heavily implied that ebony is the crystalized blood of Lorkhan, which is why so much of it is around Red Mountain, because that's where his heart landed. It being on top of the Throat of the World is probably a subtle indication that it scraped the heart on the way down because its so tall.
I'm a geology student and a TES lore enthusiast, this video felt like it was tailor made for me! It was really good, thank you very much, hope it brings you good results.
@@LeftoverPat I just graduated with my geology degree in the spring, and this video was really well done. I think there's a lot more that could be explored here too, so I'd love to see a follow up video! The one inaccuracy I noticed was that you say the cascades were formed by a hotspot. While nearby Yellowstone is likely a hotspot, the cascades of the PNW are actually the result of the Juan de Fuca plate subducting under the main continental plate of north america. I'm not really an expert (just a bachelor's degree), but if you happen to want my thoughts on anything I'd be happy to help in any way I can. Keep up the awesome work!
Seconding as an environmental science student! Thinking about Nirns geography and biology is my favorite pass-time! Absolutely thrilled to see this in my feed and learned a few things!!
I've seen a a different video that mentioned that Skyrim lacks evidence of glaciation that exists in similar regions on Earth. If we dismiss the idea that Nirn is only 7000-15000 years old, this can easily be explained that unlike Earth, Nirn has not recently exited an ice age. In fact, the lore suggests Nirn is actually entering an ice age given that the climate has been stated to get colder such that the continent of Atmora had been rendered uninhabitable.
Yeah Skyrim doesnt have much evidence of glaciation but I still think it has a bit - honestly I'd say there's definitely an argument in there that half the center of the province was carved by glaciation, even Hjaalmarch
I suspect that they're in one in some capacity already if it isn't starting at that moment. The Red Mountain's eruption is probably accelerating that process. Atmora's wasting isn't a new phenomenon in-series, but happened an extremely long time ago. The Nords fled Atmora, but the city they built (Sarhaal) when they fled to Tamriel is now buried in ice. It is said that the last visitors from Atmora were from before the second era. Dwemer Ruins also share the same fate, and they went extinct around the same time.
@@yamumhasthebiggay2582 Yeah it's easy to forget the first era lasted 2,920 years. The destruction of Saarthal happened even earlier, in the late merethic era. It's literally ancient history by the fourth era, nearly as old as the great pyramids are to us.
No joke I completely forgot about geological rifting and was mad for a long time that the reach wasn't called the rift... cause, yanno, canyons. Thank you for helping me put the pieces together
Remember that mission about Aetherium and ends in subterranean dvarven forge under the Rift? I think you can use their ruins as point of reference not only because they search for ore but becase they use geothermical energy to power their citys and forges
Ebony is Lorian's blood, I'd say the ebony on the thought of the world is from when his heart was shot across the sky and some drops landed there, a sit is right at the surface
In addition to Nirn's structure and makeup: Nirn's age isn't quantifiable, as its creation spanned sometime within the Dawn Era, which is described as several thousands of dragon breaks happening at once, up until the War of the Ehlnofey. Side note: time only began to be traceable the moment Convention happened, aka the beating of the drum/the expelling of the heart of lorkhan/the council of Adamantia. Within the Dawn Era, Nirn went through many different forms and was made up of many different things that either still exist or don't any longer. On top of that, the "Earth Bones" mentioned in different parts of mythohistory are quite literally bones; or rather the internal structure of the world made from the corpses of a number of Et'ada. The Ehlnofey are also one form of these Earth Bones, remnants of the primeval gods. Ebony is the blood of the missing god Himself, which is why you can only find veins of it across where the arc ought to have shot when Trinimac fired Lorkhan's heart into the Eastern Sea. On Towers: Most towers act as symbols-turned-keystones, or rather, as spokes to a wheel. Most towers we know of were crafted by mortal (Merish) hands, and others were venerated as acts of the gods, or rather their predessesors. Snow Throat, the Throat of the World, is one such venerated tower. In mythohistory, it is said to be where the first Nords were formed by Kyne's breath, making it not only connected to the Ancient Falmer, but the Atmorans/Nords as well (hence why it is also seen as a homecoming for them, not a discovery of Tamriel). An example for a mortally-structured Tower is Crystal-like-Law on the Island of Alinor in the Summerset Isles, built by the ancient Elves. Each Tower serves a purpose especially designed in mind by who it was meant for. Crystal-like-Law is used mostly in the attaining of Dracochrysalis, one of the Six Walking Ways (toward Apotheosis). Others hold more symbolic meaning, such as Red Mountain, seen as the culmination of the hardship the Chimer were meant to endure as demanded by the Three Good Daedra/Anticipations (Azura, Boethiah, and Mephala). None of this is meant to deride your video, but I wanted to clarify some open-ended statements made in the video. Overall, it's another fascinating view on what could be seen as how everything could have been formed.
The little details that many miss, like this, weather, the night sky etc. are part of the reason why Skyrim has such a real feel to it. This shows how much thought they put into the environment.
Solthesteim was part of skyrims land and it was torn from it when miraak and vahlok the jailer fought .It was said that their battle was so intense that the explosions from their spells ripped solthesteim from skyrims mainland.
I have been personally working on a somewhat speculative "larger" Tamriel Map, where it is sized-up to somewhat akin to how Daggerfall was. Something I think could be interesting is that instead of a tectonic break-up; Auridon and some nearby islands are instead on a Geologic Hotspot; similar to Japan, Taiwan and the Phillipines. Whilst we have no real image of Pyandonea, it seems people generally agree it is Crescent Shaped. Which could further indicate that it is along a Fault Line with Auridon; dependent on how close or far it is from Tamriel
You said the Ehlnofey arrived on a nirn similar to the current. However, I seem to recall massive landmasses being sunk in the war between Wandering and Old. This is entirely plausible taking into account Yokuda as well as Vahlok and Miraak splitting of Solstheim.
Ive had little interest in geology but you explained it in a both simple yet complex way that it really drew me into the speculations! awesome video 10/10!
Never imagined the geology of Skyrim (let alone the Elder Scrolls) would be so intricate! Thank you for enlightening me! Definitely worth the wait mate 👍
So good Pat. Makes my day everytime you drop a video. I’d watch any of your videos even if it was on an entirely different subject. Your presenting style is really clear, script is well written, and your editing is smooth. Thank you!
IIRC there is a loading screen that says the steam and unstable ground in the Rift is caused by the degrading, massive steam conduit and power systems from the underground Dwemer ruins in the region that have fallen into disrepair from not being properly maintained. Although, that doesn't account for the lack of steam cracks around other Dwemer ruins in similar states of deterioration
That is a great point about Eastmarch being once in the way of a hot spot. The dragon lair in the middle of it is literally a caldera. Now about the hot springs and those circular colorful platforms... I think there are similar formations in Nevada and Utah. Also, can you check out Greenshadow Cave? The cave with lots of flora & fauna and a huge cliff in the middle of it (idk how to geologically explain it, Huge ancient stalagmite?) Anyways Great video!
Another amazing video about something that I literally would never think about yet makes so much sense! I'm intrigued to know what's up with those rocks that glow blue in Blackreach. They're meant to be made of aetherium I believe, but then what even is aetherium? Is it literally from aetherius? Why is it only found underground? Why does it seem to make random geode veins grow around it too? And has it always been there or did the Dwemer somehow cultivise the aetherium using some crazy ancient knowledge hidden in one of their lexicons? Great video anyway!
People say Skyrim is shallow compared to the older Elder Scrolls games, but it's still an Elder Scrolls game, so you know there's lore details in every pixel of grass.
So in this one, we learn about geology. If only my geology class back in high school had this kind of video to introduce geology. This kind of video is what makes people interested in learning new topics!
The fact that if this was shown in science class and ALOT of students would take away real facts away from this than a normal class is both impressive and scary
Some more musings on stuff: For the idea of the eastmarch-rift hotsprings being a caldera of a volcano, I would say it's probably more plausible than it might seem. Although popular culture often has calderas being formed by volcanoes blowing their tops off, it can also happen through a volcano's magma chamber running out of magma and collapsing. Getting into bigger volcanic features it's pretty easy to see - I'd say the most obvious example is Olympus Mons on Mars, where you can easily see the various parts of it that have collapsed as the magma emptied out of the volcano's peak. I do think that it conflicts a bit with the hotspot idea though. Even if the volcano moves on, the ore will still stay around. It might even get better exposed as the topsoil of mountains erodes away. It would also take a bit of a stretch of imagination to consider how the hotspot would make all of Vvardenfell, but hardly show up as anything going back to the Jeralls/Bruma. I'm surprised you didn't mention Solstheim more in depth here - the quote about solstheim having been connected to Skyrim in years bygone is quite an interesting one and actually has some interesting parallels to real life events. First I should mention that it could totally make sense that Solstheim used to have a land bridge of sorts - smaller eroded volcanoes or the like. With active volcanos near the surface, it's common for them to spend a whole lot of time forming new islands and then the sea eroding them away, only to repeat over and over again. Some neat examples include Ferdinandea island in the Mediterranean and Jolnir around Iceland. Maybe some seamouns in the strait formed small ash islands that eroded away after a few decades? lastly, the Throat of the World is definitely volcanic of some sort. All mountains will either form through geological uplift or as volcanoes, but geological uplift won't just make one single mountain, it'll make a whole mountain range along the stress point (like the Jeralls or the Velothi mountains). The fact that the Throat of the World suddenly pokes up, clearly surpassing all of the other mountains in the area, definitely suggests that it probably was a volcano. And based on its very steep profile, I think we could also conclude that it was a very explosive one too - calm lava-flow-creating volcanos tend to be a lot flatter. Also, explosive volcanos tend to be part of tectonic areas near mountains made through geological uplift, which explains why the Throat of the World is so close to the Jeralls. For some closing thoughts: It definitely doesn't seem like geological thoroughness was put as a forefront in the design of Tamriel. They designed an interesting and diverse fantasy world first and foremost, and at best just put some hints alluding to geology inside of it. And I think that even makes sense from a lore view. Tamriel was created by the Et'Ada as a fusion of ideas, of concepts and themes - divine beings certainly, but still finite. It makes sense that they would create a world rife with the suggestion of, the themes of tectonic power and volcanism and geologic plates, but not go to the depth of seriously simulating these to exhaustion. Tamriel is a geologically young world - and there's no reason to think that given enough time it would not eventually begin to become more 'realistic' looking - but for now it remains this fusion of concepts, this allusion to memories of geology by the godhead, and a very interesting place to explore and ponder.
Something worth noting is the abundance of birch trees in the Rift. Birch trees thrive in more acidic soils, which volcanic soil tends to be. A small (and very beautiful) piece of further evidence.
Part of the reason why Ebony appears near volcanoes is because according to Elder scrolls lore, it’s basically Lorkhans blood, or at the very least crystallized gods blood, And since his heart sprouted up red mountain… no idea if you covered this Because I haven’t completely finished it yet, but it’s just some thing I figured I’d put. Because why not
The fact that there is so much detail in the world building of TES it reinforces my idea that this franchise its the equivalent of the lotr of game industry
I took a geography class JUST to map out Tamriel's tectonics and etc for my mega map project. Seeing you do the same stuff I did, but better, is mindblowing, and I love you for it!
Ores are clearly made from high concentrations of magika forming around gems that Sheogorath hid around Nirn for a treasure hunt but he stopped after Mehrun’s Dagon was too impatient and started too early.
I was wondering to my guild in the past couple of months (sense of time is messed up, but I know it was fewer than 3 months ago) about if the area of Eastmarch is the collapsed remnants of a volcanic eruption. More please!
This was super interesting. I’m no geologist but I am trying to create a fictional world that blends realism and scientific literature with myth and superstition so you’re videos look super helpful.
It makes perfect sense, that the White River's water level was much higher in the past, letting Jeek of the river to sail to the spot where Whiterun currently is. Maybe those rapids and waterfalls weren't there at the time, or perhaps the White river did in fact flow more towards the Pale, eventually rerouting towards Eastmarch for whatever reason. The whole Falkreath area may have been underwater at some point in time, too.
I studied Geography at university (based in UK) so a video like this about one of my favourite games of all time is like gold-dust to me! Your video editing, commentary and topics of choice really are top-notch! I'm so shocked you don't have 100k subscribers at least! Seriously, keep at it - one day one of your videos you make (aside from your brilliant race video) will majorly blow up and you'll get the attention and subscribers you deserve! 🙂 Thanks for sharing this with us! 😄
Ok, holy shit I love this. I love skyrim and never even considered geology like this in games. I was entertained, engaged, and learned something new. I love the way you make your content and I don't know how you have so little subs. Thanks for taking my mind of stuff for 10 mins lol you earned yourself a sub.
There is an alternative in-universe explanation for the trailing pattern of Ebony ore deposits. In Morrowind, it is stated to originate from blood of the gods. The deposits we see at 5:44 are roughly along the path the Heart of Lorkhan travelled from Balfiera when it was thrown into the Red Mountain by Auriel; Vvardenfell has the most ebony because this is likely where the blood would splash upon the Heart landing.
The fact that the corundum layer is above the iron layer and thus newer also means that at some point in the bast both were deeper within the world. Either underwater (so that sediments can form) or within the ground (with another layer above them) One interesting thing to note is that northern Germany, England, parts of Newfoundland and Maine used to be on a continent that collided with another that brought in the majority of eastern North America and Scotland. So yes, the Appalachians and the Scottish Highlands are the same mountain chain.
As a recent Geoscience grad and Skyrim being one of my Special Interests. This is beautifully perfect and I didn't know I needed this. As I have only just found this, idk what all you've done. But you should do BOTW/TOTK! I've been running around looking at the geology and I feel like it looks so good. Like, I focused on geography and human geography with cultures and religions mostly, but a lot of my classes were rock mins and landforms and so I don't know a bunch but damn. I love seeing the geology in Zelda TOTK. And I mostly watch lore and religion videos about Skyrim, but I will Def be looking into the geology now!
i can only imagine the amount of time a video like this must take to make and the amount of veiws is criminally low. I just hope you keep making videos on the topics you find interesting no matter the statistics, love your stuff.
One of the more interesting "hotspots" leading due west away from Red Mountain is the Firemoth region. It's very obviously an atoll, with the telltale ring around a central lagoon. In the real world these form because of the subsidence of volcanic islands.
With the topic of nirn only existing for 7000 years i think an important consideration would be if the geographical layout of nirn a constant through changing kalpa cycles, this would allow for natural geographical change over time
My headcanon for the Rift's name comes from the trees. The Birch forests of the Rift are always yellow, as if the whole area is stuck in Autumn, aka stuff in a time rift. Over time the "land of the time rift' got shortened to "the Rift" and most people simply forgot where the name comes from, as is common in alot of place names.
It should be noted that Ebony Ore might be a fantasy version of Obsidian which comes from silica rich Felsic magma. The magmas from Rifts are often Mafic , which would be more akin to the basalt and richer in pyroxenes.
The fact that Elder Scrolls lore is deep enough or detailed enough that we can theorize about the plate tectonics, geology and such is one of the reasons I adore these games.
Agreed!
Yeah that's one thing I hate about playing minecraft when you find indiscriminate placement of granite, diorite, and other rocks and minerals
I recomend you the chanel fudgemupet for more lore
Its high fantasy setting with magic time bending robots and magic internet live side by side with sword and bows, but the worldbuilding is so deep it kinda feel alive and "real".
I kinda like how ES kan be really immersive without resorting too much on tryhard "grounded realism" like GoT does (no offence).
@@jeremyscungio16 Yeah this sure does ruin my enjoyment of Minecraft also
I wonder if skyrim geology kinda making sense sometimes is a result of deliberate planning or just an effect of unconsciouss knowledge about real world terrain.
That's a great question... I want to believe they did their research and a lot of level designers have strong understandings of sensible geography, but I'd imagine there is a lot of creative liberty sprinkled in. At some point something looking cool is going to trump something looking realistic
@@LeftoverPat I definitely feel like they went by "rule of cool" more than anything else. Once you start with a neat fantasy setting, it's hardly too much work to just add in the excellent little details to make it seem that much more plausible. Nothing against the developers though... the result is pretty darn cool after all.
I'd say it's much more likely they they used reference images of terrain that they wanted to emulate, and inadvertently included many real life geological features as a result
@@LeftoverPat plus they can always do like they did with bugs
"Bugs (glitches) in the game are just some god screwing with the player"
but instead it's, "yeah the landscape was formed by the gods"
sort of like Paul Bunyan and his Big Blue Ox
Probably both tbh. Knew a general overview of information around biomes and plate techtonics but they probably didnt have a geologist on staff, probably heavily referenced real world locations they wanted to emulate and tried to understand how it worked without fully understanding why
something to note is that in-lore, time started on the Isle of Balfiera, trinimac ripped out lorkhan's heart, gave it to Auri-El, who knocked it on his bow, and shot it across the sky, and we all know red mountain formed around where it landed, but whats more obscure is that as the heart flew through the sky, its blood fell upon the land, and that blood crystalized into Ebony. Which is why you see ebony deposits going in that straight line
that's an interesting point! since lorkhan's heart is associated with fire, maybe his blood also caused more geologic activity to happen in the regions where it landed, being influenced by the magic contained in said blood.
in lore explanation for the hotspot track?
@@DinkyWaffle probably
But both probably also plausible at the same time, since in TES, presence of divine beings is pretty much real. It also worthy of note that gods and divines in ES doesn't actually have antromorphied shape like what you see in statues and such, it is what it is because mortal perceived it so. So its probable that "knocked it on his bow and shooting it across the land" isn't that literal, it probably somekind of force released by divines that soo great, it create rifts and great volcanic activity along the way.
Yeah. As we know. The dovahkiin. From Skyrim. Is Lorkhan, reborn as a nord man. And then Lorkhan changes the body to whatever he wants. Or just starts like the end result, of creating your character. And every time he/she levels up. Not only are they gaining experience. And conditioning their body. But they might also be getting their power back...
We should make a mod for Skyrim. For you to get your heart back. From the depths of red mountain. And get a massive stat boost. And regain whatever powers Lorkhan had.
@@mrdoormat6809 Except Auri-El's bow is an actual obtainable item you can get ingame and it's the same shape as a normal bow
Tbf, the Dawn era could be eons long, so there's no telling how old Nirn really is.
And the akatosh only knows how much time got missed in dragon breach
Worse, after a Dragon Break, you could pass a thousand years in an alternate timeline that suddenly gets crammed back in.
You can make an empire, have it grow across the continent, have it crumble and become the old ruins that people don't know much about, and then find out only 50 years went by. And that your imperial capital was/is a sleepy hamlet. And the sleepy hamlet suddenly inherits being an imperial capital overnight.
Then imagine what this could do to terrain; suddenly there's been a river alongside your hill for a thousand years, yesterday.
@@danghostman2814whats the dragon break and whats the alternate timelines getting put back in?
@@peabrain6872 In the TES background, things like the end of TES II : Daggerfall involve all of the contradictory endings happening.
The universe explodes, the orcs get the giant robot, the empire gets the giant robot, Mannimarco becomes a god by eating the heart of the giant robot, etc. That's called a Dragon Break, because you're breaking Akatosh (god of time, and time being linear).
So, all of these things happen. But they can't literally all happen at the same time, so it ends up creating different timelines where they did happen. Eventually those timelines rejoin the original, despite the fact that their history doesn't necessarily make sense in the main timeline.
The Elder Scrolls (the in-game mystical scrolls) supposedly provide a map of all the timelines and when they'll join back together - but looking at that kind of nonsense is what blinds the normal NPCs, and why our screen flashbangs us.
To be fair, in the lore it's pretty heavily implied that ebony is the crystalized blood of Lorkhan, which is why so much of it is around Red Mountain, because that's where his heart landed. It being on top of the Throat of the World is probably a subtle indication that it scraped the heart on the way down because its so tall.
Casu-Els as far as the eye can see. This vid is cringe
I'm a geology student and a TES lore enthusiast, this video felt like it was tailor made for me! It was really good, thank you very much, hope it brings you good results.
This feels so good to hear! My geology knowledge is hobbyist at best. I'd love to see more TES Geology content
@@LeftoverPat I just graduated with my geology degree in the spring, and this video was really well done. I think there's a lot more that could be explored here too, so I'd love to see a follow up video! The one inaccuracy I noticed was that you say the cascades were formed by a hotspot. While nearby Yellowstone is likely a hotspot, the cascades of the PNW are actually the result of the Juan de Fuca plate subducting under the main continental plate of north america. I'm not really an expert (just a bachelor's degree), but if you happen to want my thoughts on anything I'd be happy to help in any way I can.
Keep up the awesome work!
I'm not a Geology student, but I do smoke rocks..
That's exactly my case!
Seconding as an environmental science student! Thinking about Nirns geography and biology is my favorite pass-time! Absolutely thrilled to see this in my feed and learned a few things!!
I've seen a a different video that mentioned that Skyrim lacks evidence of glaciation that exists in similar regions on Earth. If we dismiss the idea that Nirn is only 7000-15000 years old, this can easily be explained that unlike Earth, Nirn has not recently exited an ice age. In fact, the lore suggests Nirn is actually entering an ice age given that the climate has been stated to get colder such that the continent of Atmora had been rendered uninhabitable.
Yeah Skyrim doesnt have much evidence of glaciation but I still think it has a bit - honestly I'd say there's definitely an argument in there that half the center of the province was carved by glaciation, even Hjaalmarch
@@LeftoverPat I'd say that lake Illinalta is prove of glaciation. A morenic lake.
I suspect that they're in one in some capacity already if it isn't starting at that moment. The Red Mountain's eruption is probably accelerating that process.
Atmora's wasting isn't a new phenomenon in-series, but happened an extremely long time ago. The Nords fled Atmora, but the city they built (Sarhaal) when they fled to Tamriel is now buried in ice. It is said that the last visitors from Atmora were from before the second era. Dwemer Ruins also share the same fate, and they went extinct around the same time.
@@VertietRyper To be fair the 1st era is longer than the time since the roman empire was founded to 2023
@@yamumhasthebiggay2582 Yeah it's easy to forget the first era lasted 2,920 years. The destruction of Saarthal happened even earlier, in the late merethic era. It's literally ancient history by the fourth era, nearly as old as the great pyramids are to us.
My favourite part about learning video game lore is that, bizarrely, it teaches you a lot about the real world as well.
This
The age of mythology background music is deeply appreciated
I said the same thing! It’s almost distracting because of how much I play the game - I can’t help but think about it while I hear the song lol
"I won't talk about everything." Please do talk about everything.
Another episode of stuff that you would never need to know or apply it to real life but find fascinating for some reason
Being fun on parties.
No joke I completely forgot about geological rifting and was mad for a long time that the reach wasn't called the rift... cause, yanno, canyons. Thank you for helping me put the pieces together
Remember that mission about Aetherium and ends in subterranean dvarven forge under the Rift? I think you can use their ruins as point of reference not only because they search for ore but becase they use geothermical energy to power their citys and forges
This video and the one about weather systems show that there's a lot more thought put into Skyrim than people realize.
Ebony is Lorian's blood, I'd say the ebony on the thought of the world is from when his heart was shot across the sky and some drops landed there, a sit is right at the surface
Yeah thats why it is found near volcanos in large amounts
@@ncrrangerrolandtembo4615 More like the volcanoes are found nearer to wher Lorkhan's blood spilt all over Tamriel
In addition to Nirn's structure and makeup:
Nirn's age isn't quantifiable, as its creation spanned sometime within the Dawn Era, which is described as several thousands of dragon breaks happening at once, up until the War of the Ehlnofey. Side note: time only began to be traceable the moment Convention happened, aka the beating of the drum/the expelling of the heart of lorkhan/the council of Adamantia. Within the Dawn Era, Nirn went through many different forms and was made up of many different things that either still exist or don't any longer. On top of that, the "Earth Bones" mentioned in different parts of mythohistory are quite literally bones; or rather the internal structure of the world made from the corpses of a number of Et'ada. The Ehlnofey are also one form of these Earth Bones, remnants of the primeval gods. Ebony is the blood of the missing god Himself, which is why you can only find veins of it across where the arc ought to have shot when Trinimac fired Lorkhan's heart into the Eastern Sea.
On Towers:
Most towers act as symbols-turned-keystones, or rather, as spokes to a wheel. Most towers we know of were crafted by mortal (Merish) hands, and others were venerated as acts of the gods, or rather their predessesors. Snow Throat, the Throat of the World, is one such venerated tower. In mythohistory, it is said to be where the first Nords were formed by Kyne's breath, making it not only connected to the Ancient Falmer, but the Atmorans/Nords as well (hence why it is also seen as a homecoming for them, not a discovery of Tamriel). An example for a mortally-structured Tower is Crystal-like-Law on the Island of Alinor in the Summerset Isles, built by the ancient Elves. Each Tower serves a purpose especially designed in mind by who it was meant for. Crystal-like-Law is used mostly in the attaining of Dracochrysalis, one of the Six Walking Ways (toward Apotheosis). Others hold more symbolic meaning, such as Red Mountain, seen as the culmination of the hardship the Chimer were meant to endure as demanded by the Three Good Daedra/Anticipations (Azura, Boethiah, and Mephala).
None of this is meant to deride your video, but I wanted to clarify some open-ended statements made in the video. Overall, it's another fascinating view on what could be seen as how everything could have been formed.
There is one Tower not made by Mer: the Adamantine Tower in Highrock. It apperently has doors inside none have figured out how to open.
The little details that many miss, like this, weather, the night sky etc. are part of the reason why Skyrim has such a real feel to it. This shows how much thought they put into the environment.
Solthesteim was part of skyrims land and it was torn from it when miraak and vahlok the jailer fought .It was said that their battle was so intense that the explosions from their spells ripped solthesteim from skyrims mainland.
Thank you; I knew there was an in lore story for Solstheim's split from the mainland but couldn't recall the details
Waiting for one of the Devs to come out for an interview and get bombarded with Geological questions.
I have been personally working on a somewhat speculative "larger" Tamriel Map, where it is sized-up to somewhat akin to how Daggerfall was.
Something I think could be interesting is that instead of a tectonic break-up; Auridon and some nearby islands are instead on a Geologic Hotspot; similar to Japan, Taiwan and the Phillipines.
Whilst we have no real image of Pyandonea, it seems people generally agree it is Crescent Shaped. Which could further indicate that it is along a Fault Line with Auridon; dependent on how close or far it is from Tamriel
Interesting! I would love to see a map detailing things like that
I now really want to see your larger Tamriel map.
You said the Ehlnofey arrived on a nirn similar to the current. However, I seem to recall massive landmasses being sunk in the war between Wandering and Old. This is entirely plausible taking into account Yokuda as well as Vahlok and Miraak splitting of Solstheim.
Ive had little interest in geology but you explained it in a both simple yet complex way that it really drew me into the speculations!
awesome video 10/10!
Never imagined the geology of Skyrim (let alone the Elder Scrolls) would be so intricate! Thank you for enlightening me! Definitely worth the wait mate 👍
Me about to marry the love of my life: checks phone
"shit, gotta go, new leftoverPat lore video"
So good Pat. Makes my day everytime you drop a video. I’d watch any of your videos even if it was on an entirely different subject. Your presenting style is really clear, script is well written, and your editing is smooth. Thank you!
Thank you for the nice comment :)
IIRC there is a loading screen that says the steam and unstable ground in the Rift is caused by the degrading, massive steam conduit and power systems from the underground Dwemer ruins in the region that have fallen into disrepair from not being properly maintained. Although, that doesn't account for the lack of steam cracks around other Dwemer ruins in similar states of deterioration
Many years after the game came out and Bethesda's details still impresses me
I always thought Eastmarch was an impact crater, but this makes more sense. Thanks for the vid
I thought I was having a dream when I heard the Age of Mythology music background music
As someone with geology BS working towards a volcanology master’s degree I approve this message everything he said is spot on
That means a lot to hear, thank you!
Fantastic, I'll be eagerly waiting
Ebony ore was the blood dripping from lorkhans heart as it shot over tamriel
That age of mythology music… nice
That is a great point about Eastmarch being once in the way of a hot spot. The dragon lair in the middle of it is literally a caldera. Now about the hot springs and those circular colorful platforms... I think there are similar formations in Nevada and Utah.
Also, can you check out Greenshadow Cave? The cave with lots of flora & fauna and a huge cliff in the middle of it (idk how to geologically explain it, Huge ancient stalagmite?) Anyways Great video!
I'm a little bit in awe of you and how much information you get into a short video. You are so impressive
Love the use of a track from Age of Mythology.
Another amazing video about something that I literally would never think about yet makes so much sense!
I'm intrigued to know what's up with those rocks that glow blue in Blackreach. They're meant to be made of aetherium I believe, but then what even is aetherium? Is it literally from aetherius? Why is it only found underground? Why does it seem to make random geode veins grow around it too? And has it always been there or did the Dwemer somehow cultivise the aetherium using some crazy ancient knowledge hidden in one of their lexicons?
Great video anyway!
People say Skyrim is shallow compared to the older Elder Scrolls games, but it's still an Elder Scrolls game, so you know there's lore details in every pixel of grass.
So in this one, we learn about geology. If only my geology class back in high school had this kind of video to introduce geology. This kind of video is what makes people interested in learning new topics!
The fact that if this was shown in science class and ALOT of students would take away real facts away from this than a normal class is both impressive and scary
Some more musings on stuff:
For the idea of the eastmarch-rift hotsprings being a caldera of a volcano, I would say it's probably more plausible than it might seem. Although popular culture often has calderas being formed by volcanoes blowing their tops off, it can also happen through a volcano's magma chamber running out of magma and collapsing. Getting into bigger volcanic features it's pretty easy to see - I'd say the most obvious example is Olympus Mons on Mars, where you can easily see the various parts of it that have collapsed as the magma emptied out of the volcano's peak.
I do think that it conflicts a bit with the hotspot idea though. Even if the volcano moves on, the ore will still stay around. It might even get better exposed as the topsoil of mountains erodes away. It would also take a bit of a stretch of imagination to consider how the hotspot would make all of Vvardenfell, but hardly show up as anything going back to the Jeralls/Bruma.
I'm surprised you didn't mention Solstheim more in depth here - the quote about solstheim having been connected to Skyrim in years bygone is quite an interesting one and actually has some interesting parallels to real life events. First I should mention that it could totally make sense that Solstheim used to have a land bridge of sorts - smaller eroded volcanoes or the like. With active volcanos near the surface, it's common for them to spend a whole lot of time forming new islands and then the sea eroding them away, only to repeat over and over again. Some neat examples include Ferdinandea island in the Mediterranean and Jolnir around Iceland. Maybe some seamouns in the strait formed small ash islands that eroded away after a few decades?
lastly, the Throat of the World is definitely volcanic of some sort. All mountains will either form through geological uplift or as volcanoes, but geological uplift won't just make one single mountain, it'll make a whole mountain range along the stress point (like the Jeralls or the Velothi mountains). The fact that the Throat of the World suddenly pokes up, clearly surpassing all of the other mountains in the area, definitely suggests that it probably was a volcano. And based on its very steep profile, I think we could also conclude that it was a very explosive one too - calm lava-flow-creating volcanos tend to be a lot flatter. Also, explosive volcanos tend to be part of tectonic areas near mountains made through geological uplift, which explains why the Throat of the World is so close to the Jeralls.
For some closing thoughts:
It definitely doesn't seem like geological thoroughness was put as a forefront in the design of Tamriel. They designed an interesting and diverse fantasy world first and foremost, and at best just put some hints alluding to geology inside of it. And I think that even makes sense from a lore view. Tamriel was created by the Et'Ada as a fusion of ideas, of concepts and themes - divine beings certainly, but still finite. It makes sense that they would create a world rife with the suggestion of, the themes of tectonic power and volcanism and geologic plates, but not go to the depth of seriously simulating these to exhaustion. Tamriel is a geologically young world - and there's no reason to think that given enough time it would not eventually begin to become more 'realistic' looking - but for now it remains this fusion of concepts, this allusion to memories of geology by the godhead, and a very interesting place to explore and ponder.
Never would have thought that I’d be watching a video on video game geology, and enjoy it! Thanks for the vid :)
Thanks for the comment!
AOM soundtrack is bussin, mad respect bruv
These are the kinds of videos they need to show on school to get people interested in stuff like this.
The epic Nate 315 when he writes another tiny details you may have missed part 1987 video after seeing yours: “write that down, write that down”
The return of the king
Something worth noting is the abundance of birch trees in the Rift. Birch trees thrive in more acidic soils, which volcanic soil tends to be. A small (and very beautiful) piece of further evidence.
Part of the reason why Ebony appears near volcanoes is because according to Elder scrolls lore, it’s basically Lorkhans blood, or at the very least crystallized gods blood, And since his heart sprouted up red mountain… no idea if you covered this Because I haven’t completely finished it yet, but it’s just some thing I figured I’d put. Because why not
The fact that there is so much detail in the world building of TES it reinforces my idea that this franchise its the equivalent of the lotr of game industry
I should be doing my senior project rn but here I am watching Skyrim geology
I've never looked at Skyrim through a scientific lense but this is actually incredibly interesting
I can't believe this only has 23000 views! You deserve so much more!!
I took a geography class JUST to map out Tamriel's tectonics and etc for my mega map project. Seeing you do the same stuff I did, but better, is mindblowing, and I love you for it!
Jeez, no! I'm an amateur. I would love to compare notes
Ores are clearly made from high concentrations of magika forming around gems that Sheogorath hid around Nirn for a treasure hunt but he stopped after Mehrun’s Dagon was too impatient and started too early.
I was wondering to my guild in the past couple of months (sense of time is messed up, but I know it was fewer than 3 months ago) about if the area of Eastmarch is the collapsed remnants of a volcanic eruption. More please!
This is fucking insanity. The lore in The Elder scrolls is so in depth that theres something like this.
Skyrim geology? I'm still caught up on the physics phenomenon brought about by giants pushing players to escape velocity with one swing.
This was super interesting. I’m no geologist but I am trying to create a fictional world that blends realism and scientific literature with myth and superstition so you’re videos look super helpful.
Good luck on your worldbuiding! I agree these things make the world so much more interesting and easier to invest in
It makes perfect sense, that the White River's water level was much higher in the past, letting Jeek of the river to sail to the spot where Whiterun currently is. Maybe those rapids and waterfalls weren't there at the time, or perhaps the White river did in fact flow more towards the Pale, eventually rerouting towards Eastmarch for whatever reason. The whole Falkreath area may have been underwater at some point in time, too.
I love this shit way too much. Keep it up, even if you don't see immediate viewership results.
I just finished a degree in Earth and Environmental science and Skyrim was my favorite game as a kid. This video was epic style
I recognized that Age of Mythology theme music soooo fast. my heart...
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought Eastmarch looked like an enormous volcanic caldera, especially with all the hot springs
As a geography student, I loved this video lol
There is also a small hill west of Whiterun that I’ve always seen as a volcano older than the throat of the world
Dude I just found this dudes channel on my recommendations, underrated stuff!
I studied Geography at university (based in UK) so a video like this about one of my favourite games of all time is like gold-dust to me! Your video editing, commentary and topics of choice really are top-notch! I'm so shocked you don't have 100k subscribers at least! Seriously, keep at it - one day one of your videos you make (aside from your brilliant race video) will majorly blow up and you'll get the attention and subscribers you deserve! 🙂
Thanks for sharing this with us! 😄
What a nice comment, thank you! I'm so happy a geography lover enjoyed.
This is amazing to me that these games have so much to them and people still notice new things.
First time seeing your channel and you had me at "let's rock." LOL Oh I love puns.
I’m in a geology course so I’m going to say this is a study resource
Developer who named The Rift: "Huh. I didn't know that."
Love the "Age of Mythology" soundtrack background :)
I learned something new about geology today.
Ok, holy shit I love this. I love skyrim and never even considered geology like this in games. I was entertained, engaged, and learned something new. I love the way you make your content and I don't know how you have so little subs. Thanks for taking my mind of stuff for 10 mins lol you earned yourself a sub.
I just imagine a fifth-era book recounting the strife in the east after the red mountain undergoes a catastrophic explosive eruption.
...as a geology major and fan of Age of Mythology, I love this
There is an alternative in-universe explanation for the trailing pattern of Ebony ore deposits. In Morrowind, it is stated to originate from blood of the gods. The deposits we see at 5:44 are roughly along the path the Heart of Lorkhan travelled from Balfiera when it was thrown into the Red Mountain by Auriel; Vvardenfell has the most ebony because this is likely where the blood would splash upon the Heart landing.
love the AoM soundtrack
Kept us waiting huh? Glad to see another video if yours! Love it as always lol
The fact that the corundum layer is above the iron layer and thus newer also means that at some point in the bast both were deeper within the world. Either underwater (so that sediments can form) or within the ground (with another layer above them)
One interesting thing to note is that northern Germany, England, parts of Newfoundland and Maine used to be on a continent that collided with another that brought in the majority of eastern North America and Scotland.
So yes, the Appalachians and the Scottish Highlands are the same mountain chain.
I appreciate that you use Age of Mythology music
Again a video topic I wasn't expecting to be interested in, but here we are.
A great video as always!
As a recent Geoscience grad and Skyrim being one of my Special Interests. This is beautifully perfect and I didn't know I needed this.
As I have only just found this, idk what all you've done. But you should do BOTW/TOTK! I've been running around looking at the geology and I feel like it looks so good. Like, I focused on geography and human geography with cultures and religions mostly, but a lot of my classes were rock mins and landforms and so I don't know a bunch but damn. I love seeing the geology in Zelda TOTK. And I mostly watch lore and religion videos about Skyrim, but I will Def be looking into the geology now!
i can only imagine the amount of time a video like this must take to make and the amount of veiws is criminally low. I just hope you keep making videos on the topics you find interesting no matter the statistics, love your stuff.
*Takes out Elven Axe*
"You never should have come here!"
One of the more interesting "hotspots" leading due west away from Red Mountain is the Firemoth region. It's very obviously an atoll, with the telltale ring around a central lagoon. In the real world these form because of the subsidence of volcanic islands.
The formation of basalt on solstheim near raven Rock my beloved
I love the AOM background music!
Glad you're back! Loved your videos!
When the aedra yeeted the heart of lorkhan it skipped across the rift twice, making the trail. You can't change my mind.
Who needs school when you have this guy!
With the topic of nirn only existing for 7000 years i think an important consideration would be if the geographical layout of nirn a constant through changing kalpa cycles, this would allow for natural geographical change over time
My headcanon for the Rift's name comes from the trees. The Birch forests of the Rift are always yellow, as if the whole area is stuck in Autumn, aka stuff in a time rift. Over time the "land of the time rift' got shortened to "the Rift" and most people simply forgot where the name comes from, as is common in alot of place names.
*me learning and remembering more science, geography, and plate movement in a random Skyrim video than in school* : 😪
It's good to see you again and ready to learn
I'm a very big fan of your videos. Keep them coming!
I've learned more here about Geology than an entire year my of university's Geology 101
These are the comments I go for! Awesome to hear
yo im stoned and i love man keep the vids coming pure gold
5 months I've waited, at last another video
It should be noted that Ebony Ore might be a fantasy version of Obsidian which comes from silica rich Felsic magma. The magmas from Rifts are often Mafic , which would be more akin to the basalt and richer in pyroxenes.