Transcribe the past and map the future

The best techniques are passed on by the survivors - Gaiden Shinji: 1E no one can agree

2021 is already off a lightning start, eh? After a year of absolutely nothing useful spilling out of Bethesda studios in regards to it's many high profile, and as of yet, unreleased projects, we are greeted in the new year by an entire graphic on Twitter with a cryptic message. And why- it's an Elder Scrolls themed graphic to boot, which is amazing considering that Pete Hines and the team have been very clear that Starfield is due out years before The Elder Scrolls 6, so what's all this about then? I mean, I'm still happy; but maybe that's because the more I hear about it, the less interested I become in the promise of 'Starfield' and it's somewhat unenthusiastically conventional take on science fiction. (Give me aliens or give me death!) So let me return to quite possibly my favou- you know what? No. My actual favourite fantasy world of all time, The world of Nirn. And interacting with the audience through hints? Why- that's also been my marketing dream! I love this sort of meta "What could they mean?" sort of posts and I just can't wait to dive into this graphic and see everything that I- Wait, why is it a map of Skyrim? Oh god no... not again...

Nah, I'm just fooling. This isn't another re-release of Skyrim. If it were trust me, they wouldn't bother hit up the graphics team to make a teaser for it, they'd just slap that on whatever new system they wanted and be done with it. No, this is something brand new that's using the asset of Skyrim's map (Which I am intimately familiar with at this point; having a burlap version of it hanging above my desk for the past decade) to hint at something deeper. Whatsmore we have a tagline to interpret with this image that was tweeted alongside it; "Transcribe the past and map the future", which is pretty implicit in saying that wherever the series is to go next, the past is certain to be of import. Now I believe this to be rather obvious, given that Skyrim left the state of the world as under a rather new anti-religious dictatorship with hints of rebellion sparking in some of the more hardy provinces. Could we be looking at a game which finally takes the fight to free Tamriel? We can but wait and see. 

Wait, tell a lie. We can also speculate incessantly. Because as you can see from the picture above, what we have here is a map with 3 candles on it, a couple of Septims to the north and what looks like a mini Christmas tree lying in one corner. I assume that the tree is irrelevant, unless Christianity is looking to make a big crossover into the Nirn universe. Now of the three candles (which I think are easily the biggest standouts from the image) we have three highlighted locations, and decoding their significance is the key here. To the north we have one above the Morthal Swamp and another situated directly in the Sea of Ghosts, theories and speculations have already run wild with these two but I'll touch on those later. To the south, however, we have a candle right on where Hammerfell would be, seemingly confirming that which we had assumed for a good long while now, that the Redguards would be the heroes of the next game.

Now for context, Hammerfell is the only region that we are told has maintained significant and long lasting resistance to the occupation of the Thalmor, so if this next game is going to be tied into that arc there's no way that we can't visit the land of sands and swords. That couples with the rumors which were abuzz during the winddown of Skyrim's DLC, that a trademark had been filed for "Redfall" (an amalgamation of 'Redgaurd' and 'Daggerfall') although what ever became of that is anyone's guess. Perhaps we are looking at a the first dual region Elder Scrolls Game (at least since the original) but I get the feeling that if that does end up being the case, then it would be much smarter for Bethesda to take the Rockstar route and have Skyrim be the other playable region. Afterall, it's a home that a lot of us are endeared to, Bethesda have touched up three separate times now, maybe it's time for Skyrim to become a constant in the Elder Scrolls universe? (But I'm just spitballing right now.)

What makes matters more confusing are those aforementioned coins sitting in the Ghost Sea, because as people have mentioned; that marks the separation between the lands of Skyrim and Atmora. Now Atmora is known as 'the birthplace of man', and so it would make sense that if we need to 'transcribe the past' we would touch upon the progenitors of society, but the Redgaurds actually have their own progenitor mythos. That's right, the Redgaurd people actually find themselves descended from the western continent of Yokuda, which is why so many of their gods and traditions differ from the rest of the Tamrielan pantheons; they didn't inherit their gods from the places that everyone else did. So why would the Atmorans be important in a story about Hammerfell? It just doesn't make any sense. And then there is the fact that if any far away continent is finally going to be bought into the story; it has to be Akavir. I mean, we've been talking about 'Akaviri this' and 'Akavir descended techniques that' for seemingly ever now; isn't it high time that became something?

Now backing up to that image which sparked everything, some have noted how the map in question is actually dated; 4E 182. Now seeing as how Skyrim is set in 4E 201, this has led people to speculate that this must be evidence at how this is a prequel to Skyrim, I mean; why else would the map say that? Well, I hate to be the barer of bad news but it's high time that I pour water on those there embers. Do you want to know why the map said that? Because this isn't a composite image like I implied, that's an actual map with real mock Septims which has been photographed. And that map? It's the exact same burlap map that I have had hanging on my wall since 11/11/11. Yeah, my map too is dated 4E 182, and is signed by Nataly Dravarol. (Clearly a Dark Elf name) No, I'm pretty sure this was just a map they had to hand, the game is going to be set further down the line.

Now that we've analysed all there is, what do I want to see from Elder Scrolls 6? Well it's pretty much what I've said in this blog; I'd like the next game to go multi regional. Now the reason that I say this isn't because I think Skyrim was stifling at all, I just think we've reached a point where setting an entire game in one environment is antiquated. Yes, Hammerfell is known to have some green alongside it's deserts, but that's the exception over the rule; Hammerfell is mostly a desert-filled land built atop the ruins of the Yokundans; so why not have us change things up by visiting Daggerfall as well, and Skyrim on top of that? Ideally, I'd like ESO 6 to be the start of a tradition; more regions each game until all of Tamriel is playable, (Which will likely happen after we're all long dead) not for the sheer size of the thing, but because the scope of the story is destined to swell to such a size.

I love talking about this sort of stuff, speculating is my life. One might tut in the sage old voice of Master Yoda and warn how expectation leads to hype which lead to disappointment which lead to suffering; but I can't help playing with fire and I'm sure a lot of you can't either. Unfortunately, we're not going to get a chance to compare the results of our wild guess until several years down the line, Starfield is due first, but that just leaves more time for clues to be dropped and sights to narrow. In the meantime I'll keep whittling down my vision for the perfect Elder Scrolls game (I literally know exactly what the story would be from beginning to end) and setting myself for a fall when the final game is just alright. Oh Bethesda, never change.