
This is described in the Pocket Guide to the Empire, First Edition as mostly being "endless jungle," and yet the game Oblivion portrays it as forested. The most prominent example of this is the landscape of Cyrodiil. The forested landscape of Cyrodiil, as portrayed in Oblivion.Ĭhanges made due to gameplay reasons sometimes get an explanation in the lore. However, in a few instances, such as the Kill the Telvanni Councilors Morrowind quest, there is some evidence that the quest was not carried out. A common opinion that resolves this problem is that each game protagonist completes the games' main questline, but other quests are completed by someone, who may or may not be the game protagonist. The exact status of some of these events is unclear for example, if a given quest is not completed by the player character, is it considered done in the history of the universe? Due to the imprecise nature of referencing past games this is rarely if ever confirmed. The events of the games themselves as carried out by the players also constitute lore in the definition given above.


Differences like this mean that how something is represented in the games may not match their precise nature in lore. For example, Oblivion has 1,839 named NPCs, and yet there is reference to "thousands" of rice workers in the east of the province alone in a text. This is most obvious in the case of city populations. However, there are differences between the setting as presented in in-game texts and dialogue and in the games themselves. For example, the mere presence of Jarl Balgruuf the Greater as Jarl of Whiterun in 4E 201 implies that he was Jarl at that time in the lore. However, the presence of some objects or people in the games may in itself constitute lore for the setting. Most of the lore in the games is presented in the form of in-game books and character dialogue, which supply information about the setting from a particular perspective. Most of the lore that exists in The Elder Scrolls universe comes from each of the Elder Scrolls games that have been published, along with their expansions:


Lore can come from a range of sources, which are discussed below.
