Elder Scrolls Theory: The Reachfolk Origins and Vampires
Long Post, bottom paragraph is the gist of it. Or just find the pink text. I apologize for any typos as i rush-typed.
Ok. So. I am kinda obsessed with the Reach and the Reachfolk in the Elder Scrolls Universe. This obsession of mine is only eclipsed by my obsession with Vaermina, but i will leave that for another time. I have been re-playing Skyrim and catching up on some things, scarcly playing ESO here and there. And i have started to wonder, if i did try to make a Reachfolk OC, what stats should i give em. Do i make one from scratch, or do i just do a Remastered and give Bretons a third origin option? Which led me to google, and then subsequently reddit ofc. And i have concluded that i must sink headfirst into this rabbithole. So, if you will endulge me. And i will be taking some liberties here.
Im starting way back with the Nedes, cus ofc i am.
Let us assume that the Nedes were the original main race of men on the continent of Tamriel. Yokudans came from Yokuda, Nords from Atmora, you know the gist. So we have the Nedes and their many tribes. Then we have those Nedes surrounded on all sides by elves.
As there are many Nede tribes, clans and such, and as i am analyzing the Reachfolk, i will center my analasys on the Reach. So if i refer to Skyrim as being east somewhere i am refering to it being east from the point of interest, not east of Tamriel.
So lets just say that the Nedes were skrewed. In every corner of the world and every orfice of it. The Nords, conquerors that they are absorbed their population in Skyrim. The Ayleid enslaved them Cyrodil. The Yokudans just started killing them in Hammerfell, and the Altmer skrewed them. Literally. No cap. We have no idea if they had any interaction with the Snow Elves and while it would be fun to explore that realisticaly it is not relevant to this. We know some humans lived in the Reach, and with the established baseline we must assume they were Nedes. The Nedes that lived in High Rock mixed with the Direnni and produced "Half Elves". These half elves were not looked favorably by the Direnni and were only allowed to reproduce with Nedes, apparently (unless i missunderstood it). This genepool was added to only by other Half Elves. And we have sources that at the time of this happening, from ME to 1E, there was already a Reachfolk identity on Tamriel which emerged at the same time, different place. The closest the Direnni came to the Reach was the Western Reach, which the Pocket Guide to the Empire claims is enough for them to have more elf blood than nord, which i will later call into question. Especialy as the Western Reach was also home to Orcs at the time, who were hostile to Nedes and seperated Reach Nedes from Bretons. But with this information we can assume the Reachfolk, or original Reachfolk, were indeed not proto-Breton in origin. The earliest mention of the term Reachfolk we have of the humans living in the reach was in reference to how they were enslaved by vampires. At an unknown point in history between the Merethic Era and 1E 221, in the ancient past, Reachfolk were ruled by the vampires of the Nighthollow Clan, who coveted their blood. The vampiric faction, known to them as "Night Lords", governed them from the depths of Blackreach. Eventually, the influence of the vampires waned, and accounts of their terror were reduced to mere bedtime stories. And we know this clan was using the Dark Heart of Namira to fuel their power, until eventualy they became dependant on it and fed on it's energies instead of blood. Then the Dwemer stole it, ofc, to experiment on it. We can assume more things here:
The Bretons and the Reachfolk have seperate Nedic origins
The Reachfolk were enslaved by Vampires at the same time that the Direnni ruled over proto-Bretons, the Ayleid enslaved proto-Imperials and the Nords ate the proto-nonGiantNords.
I would like to add another assumption here. It is my understanding that vampires at the time originated from Lamae Bal, a Nede. Hence i would think that the vampires in the Reach would be Nedes, not elves. There were probably Nord and Breton vampires in the region but given how long vampires live and how aristocratic they like to be, along with the first vampires being Nedes we can assume majority here. I would also assume they lived in the region because it provided them enough distance from civilizations that would hunt them while having enough to feed, hence enslaving the Reachfolk. Here is where the actual theory starts. With a new race of Men invading Tamriel in the east (Skyrim), the elves invading both south and west (Cyrodil and Highrock) and the Yokudans invading southeast (Hammerfell) where would the Nedes run? The inhospitable Reach ofcourse, with the west being even less inviting with the Snow Elf war happening. Nedes who did not want to become absorbed by theNords, killed or subjugated by the elves could only run to the Reach. And this is where the vampires would rule them. Until the Vampires, the Nighthollow clan became dependant on the Dark Heart and retreated underground, losing the need to feed on blood. Once the heart was stolen, the vampires had even more to worry about.
Without the need to feed on blood, the Vampires would release their cattle, the Reachfolk.
The reason for this or the cause is, at the end, Namira.
Namira is one of the most important Daedra to the Reachfolk, the spirit queen. They have their own stories about her and Lork and the Dark Heart being Lork's real heart. My claim is that they were exposed to Namira worship while they were enslaved by vampires, and exposed to their blood and void magic. So when the vampires became dependant on the dark heart and lost the need to keep blood slaves and then lost the heart, it could only be seen as a miracle in the eyes of the Reachfolk. I believe this is how Namira earned their favor and where their worship of her originated. Vaermina caused decay in the vampires and pulled them into the dark void, saving the reachfolk from night "demons" aka vampires. And it might be the reason why Reachfolk became so aggressive with outsiders, as Nedes openly helped those they saw in need and payed for it dearly (case of Lamae Bal). Being surrounded by wars and losing their identity didnt help either, but they were to weak to fight. So they survived, survival was their main moto and virtue. Nords conquered and mixed with Nedes in Skyrim to hate elves, Nedes mixed with Elves in High Rock and adapted into Bretons, Nedes fought for Human freedom in Cyrodil and became Imperial, eventualy becoming human supremacists. Nedes in the Reach are Nedes that survived, Nedes that literally ran to the hills from all other regions. Ran from wars, from slavery, from elves, from orcs, from yokudans, ran to the Reach. Here only one thing was important, Survival. They lived in the wild in exile of their homes, surviving off of the wilderness. They rejected the will and knowledge of others due to disstrust, relying on nature in the barbaric ways of vampires, a way that introduced them to their other main Daedra, Hircine. Having to fend off of the wilderness and having survival as a main value naturaly led to Hircine worship. If Namira ensured their souls and salvation, Hircine ensured their way of life and survival hence representing the physical world to the eyes of the Reachfolk. I belive this is the origin on why the Reachfolk mainly worship these two Daedra and why they live the way they do, called savage and bestial. They reject other cultures and advancements because this is what saved them, this is what was left to them to live off of and what became to represent them. Namira being the spirit queen and lady of decay is evident in how she took the Nedes decay and turned it into new life, the Spirit of the Reach.
With all of that i now claim that the Reachfolk have little Nord and little Breton blood in them. THey were seperated from the Nords by the Snow Elves and from Bretons by the Orcs, staying in the Reach with their vampire Nede overlords. And just like how the elves and nords did, i would assume they intermingled. And we know vampires can have offspring, looking at the Grey Prince Agronak gro-Malog. My wilder part of the theory is that the vampires had offspring with the Nede tribes that became the Reachfolk, void energy infused half vampire offspring. These offspring came from the same limited vampire genepool, which then mixed with the other Reachfolk. I am essentialy saying that vampires are to Reachfolk what elves are to Bretons. Ancestors which left dominant traits that fizzled out through diluting it in humans. Paler, even greyish toned skin. A characteristic for red eyes, a taste for blood and blood magic. But geneticaly, largely Nedes who simply evolved with exposure to void energy and vampire blood. Any Breton and Nord blood mixed in would come much later in much shorter time intervals to matter in the grand scheme of things, with the Nord and Elf invasions where they could have mixed both taking place in the later half of the first millenium of the first era, barely 500 years. Since then, the Reach remained largely isolated and idependant with its Reachmen warlord kings in the first era, its emperors in the second era, and after that it hardly matters.
The Reachfolk are the most pure Nede race, with some vampiric ancestry and Namira influence. We can see they largely worship Namira and Hircine for reasons i already considered above, and we know some groups worship Molag Bal whic should be evident as how it started, but the other gods and spirits they worship give us another clue on how nede they are. They do worship some Aedra as spirits, but in every context we can see in the games these Aedra are from the elven perspective, not Nord. Nord religion has barely any influence on the Reachfolk, which to me supports they hardly intermingled when it was forming. And this Nedic purity might be the reason why Lorkhan is so important to the Reachfolk, the god of men. This allegory is given to explain Lorkh's influence for the Reachfolk in a loading screen in ESO: "And unto the mountains they fled, for the world grew dark with shadows which sprung from the heart of Lorkh, who though greatly sundered still believed in the light of Man". Again, the Reachfolk see the Dark Heart as the heart of Lorkh, which the Vampires fed on. In their situation and understanding i believe they came to worship Namira as their saviour who controlled both decay, their souls and their vampire enemies. And Lorkh for what he represents for their Nede origins. The Briarheart ritual could mean more than just a symbolism of how Lorkh lost his heart, but how from a decaying corpse of Lorkh's sacrifice, Lorkh representing the Nedes, a stronger life emerged to defend the Reach with Namira's power, the Briarhearts.
