History

Aldmer settlers purportedly arrived in Valenwood long before the First Era. They are remembered as some of the first of the Aldmer to leave Old Ehlnofey. These settlers found the forests of Valenwood, or the Green, so dense and so inhabited by beasts that they could not hope to tame it, so they had to fight and adapt just to become predators instead of prey. Their adaption to life in Valenwood is believed to have led to the creation of the Bosmer

​

Origin

​

The earliest days of the Bosmer are lost in legend. Some speak of the Ooze, the shape-shifting formlessness from which they came before the Green Pact with Y'ffre.

 

 More obscure legends also suggest that not all Bosmer agreed to the Green Pact. Some wished to stay as the Ooze, to keep their shape-shifting abilities. However, these dissenters were apparently overcome by the other Bosmer, and as punishment, these "Oathbreakers" were buried in Ouze. There's some suggestion that early Bosmer were known for intermarrying with humans.

​

Another legend is that the Bosmer grew the Tower of Green-Sap, a great graht-oak which, in those ancient times, appeared in many different forms. Each one told its own stories of the Green, the forest home of the "Boiche-become-Bosmer". However, due to the machinations of the Ayleid sorcerer Anumaril around the time of the Alessian Slave Rebellion circa 1E 243, the "Doors Equivocal" which were created by the nature of Green-Sap were closed, and Green-Sap was reduced to a single, definite form: the Elden Tree of Elden Root.

​

Anumaril was one of many Ayleid refugees who fled to Valenwood during the "Ayleid Diaspora" which coincided with the slave revolt. However, Ayleids had been migrating to Valenwood even before that. These migrants all agreed to adopt aspects of the Green Pact and to refrain from harming the forest (unlike Anumaril, of course).

 

 The establishment of the White-Gold Tower by the Ayleids in the Middle Merethic Era brought increased trade to the Bosmer, and cities like Woodhearth, Haven, and Silvenar flourished.

 

 The ancient Ayleid site of Hectahame is home to the Heart of Valenwood, a magnificent tree of immense power which stands as the physical symbol of the soul of Valenwood. However, around the time when the Ayleids first came to Valenwood, a necromancer twisted the power of the Heart and used it to raise an undead army, forcing the Ayleids to seal off Hectahame, along with the Heart, in order to contain the horde. Ayleids and Bosmer during these early days had to fend off numerous savage attacks upon Valenwood by the Maormer.

​

Though they found sanctuary in Valenwood, the Ayleids who migrated there seemed to fade from history. For reasons which are still debated by scholars, they apparently had little lasting impact on Bosmeri culture beyond imparting some stonework and masonry techniques

​

Society

 

A sketch of an Imga, the Great Apes of Valenwood

The elves of Valenwood have always stood ready to defend themselves against aggression, and have done so on many occasions. They often rely on their forest-coupling skills to make use of guerrilla tactics. The title of their most famous poem, the Meh Ayleidion, means "The One Thousand Benefits of Hiding".

 

 However, the Bosmer seem to be the most pacifistic of all the modern races on Tamriel, as they have never instigated war with other nations (leading some more militant cultures to criticize them as cowards), though they have been accused of needlessly escalating some conflicts. They have never found a tried and true ally in any other Tamrielic nation. Mistrust has been engendered by the ritual cannibalism they practice, and it's often difficult for them to adjust their lifestyles to the expectations of other races and cultures. Nevertheless, the Bosmer are heavily dependent on good relations and trade with other races, as the Green Pact forces them to import the timber needed to make their homes, arrows, and other wooden instruments.

 

 Their own resources for trade include hides, river pearls, and finger-bone charms made from the magically-charged hands of their dead wizards. When they are at odds with Colovia or other trading allies, they are said to rely on piracy or banditry to get what they need. They have attempted to accommodate other races in Valenwood throughout history, though many remained wary of outlander encroachments into their home. To this day, they have little more than foot paths connecting their tiny settlements in Valenwood's sparsely populated forests. Some primitive Bosmer practice cannibalism upon their enemies.

 

 Some Bosmer have been known to file their teeth to sharp points. It is also common among the Bosmer to wear decorative antlers on their foreheads, although rarely, individuals with real, magically-grown antlers can also be encountered.

​

The Bosmer greatly value diversity. Their respect for life's many facets is inherent in many of their old sayings, like "One mans miracle is another mans accident". Other races are generally welcomed in most of Valenwood, though most foreigners stay in large cities. Travelers are encouraged to take care when imbibing drinks of fermented milk which are popular among the Bosmer, as non-Bosmer may have adverse reactions to them.

​

Life in Valenwood

Though the Bosmer first united under the Camoran Dynasty, this form of governance has been called a "loose hegemony". There are in fact many leaders throughout Valenwood who wield varying degrees of authority, such as the treethanes. Their territory has sometimes been referred to as the "Valenwood Nations", perhaps because of the autonomy practiced by various leaders.

​

The Bosmer have adapted to life in the Green in many ingenious ways. For instance, in the heat and humidity of Valenwood, popular Altmeri ink refuses to dry. It is still prized, though, as it is perfect for writing temporary messages on certain types of porous stone found in the Green.

 

But to write words permanently, the Bosmer use an ink which can dry even if a parchment is submerged in water. Ink which glows faintly in the dark, perfect for writing in the shadows of the forest, is also prevalent. Writing on a leaf or a flat stone is common in Valenwood, and often preferable in a place where quality parchment is rare and even paper is uncommon. They've also found means to both deter and eradicate hoarvor infestations. Though they refrain from smoking plants, many enjoy smoking bugs from bone pipes. Finding light without resorting to the danger of fire is an issue on the perpetually shadowy forest floor, but as the moons rise, additional light is provided by luminous lichen, molds, and fungal growths at the base of the oaks. Higher up, nocturnal flowers feed from the graht-oaks, attracting torchbugs, whose hives light the branch platforms.

​

The Bosmer share Valenwood with the Imga and so-called "Wood Orcs", along with the many beasts of the forest, including Centaurs. They have a long history of welcoming those who seek refuge within Valenwood. They accepted slaves fleeing the Ayleids, and then Ayleids fleeing the slaves, without showing favorites. Around the time of the Alliance War, they also freely welcomed Argonian refugees who had left their homeland in protest over the formation of the Ebonheart Pact.

 

 Many foreigners visit Falinesti at some point, the marvelous traveling city of the Bosmer (though at last report, the city had mysteriously rooted itself). Cultural loyalties have tended to divide the Bosmer, such as the rivalry between the Blacksap and the Camorans, and the schism between followers of the Green Pact and "salad-eaters" who have no qualms about breaking the tenets of the Pact.

​

​

Religion

The Bosmer venerate many deities. In fact, few Bosmer outside the Empire accept the limitation of Divines to a mere eight or nine. Most Bosmer claim direct descent from Auri-El, though Y'ffre the Storyteller is their most important deity. While the Time Dragon is the king of the gods, they venerate Y'ffre as the spirit of "the now". Like the Argonians, the Bosmer seem to prefer to live in the present, or the "Aurbic Now", and show relatively little regard for the ways of the past (besides when it comes to telling old tales or following the Green Pact, that is).

​

The Bosmer also venerate Arkay, Xarxes, Mara (who they consider to be the wife of Auri-El), and Stendarr. The God of Toil, Z'en, is the Bosmeri god of payment in kind. His origins are mysterious, as is his place in the cosmic order. The Bosmer are one of the few who worship the trickster Baan Dar, the trickster spirit of thieves and beggars they apparently borrowed from the Khajiit.

​

There are many other deities with significant Bosmer cults, such as Hircine. They also worship the moon gods Jone and Jode. Ancient stories of the supernatural, enigmatic Wilderking abound in Greenshade. Like the Nords, the trickster spirit Herma-Mora appears in their legends (and they insist he is not to be confused with the Daedra Hermaeus Mora). And, of course, in a culture replete with trickster spirits, they do not forget the greatest trickster of all: Lorkhan

​

​

The Green Pact

​

The Green Pact, also known as the Treaty of Frond and Leaf, is a strict code upheld by many of the Bosmer of Valenwood. It is said to have guided their existence since the beginning of the "great story". Its rules are clear. Do not harm the forests of Valenwood. Do not eat anything made from plant life. Eat only meat. When enemies are conquered, their meat must be eaten, not left to rot. Do not kill wastefully. Do not take on the shape of beasts.

​

Green Pact Bosmer are said to attack any who would harm the forest in which they live, which they call the Green. However, they usually don't mind other races cutting trees down (most notably in the case of Vinedusk Rangers and Wood Orcs in their respective territories), and are known to buy wood from them. The cannibalistic "Meat Mandate" of the Pact sets them apart religiously from other cultures. The requirement to eat fallen enemies before three days pass is perhaps the most shocking part of the Pact to outsiders. Though many Bosmer still try to respect the Green Pact, the practice of eating dead enemies diminished by the Second Era, and is typically only practiced in the most remote villages. The family members of the warrior who slaughtered the enemy may help him with his meal. Bosmer who honor this facet of the Green Pact typically attempt to prepare themselves before large battles by fasting.

​

The Bosmer allegedly made the Green Pact with Y'ffre in return for Y'ffre's patronage and protection. As a result, they use bone, animal, and insect products widely; imported wood is used when necessary. Rather than drinking conventional liquor made from grain or fruit, the Bosmer consume jagga (fermented pig's milk) and rotmeth. Rotmeth is made from fermented meat seasoned with thunderbug organs, takes years to brew, and is considered a precious ritual beverage that symbolizes "the muscle of the boar, the power of the forest, the strength of the Bosmer people".

 

No wedding can take place without it. Y'ffre is believed to have first blessed them with their form, thus their appearance is sacred, so although Bosmer may take the shape of beasts, the Pact normally bans this practice. However, the Wild Hunt is considered a result of the Green Pact: in return for their patronage to Y'ffre, the Bosmer may perform a ritual in dire times that transforms the participants into a horde of wild, shape-shifting beasts, which go on to lay waste to the enemies of the Bosmer.

​

The Green Pact made the felling of Valenwood trees by anyone, foreign or native, a crime against the Bosmeri religion. There are almost no cities or towns built by the Bosmer themselves. Rather, the Bosmer's relationship with the Pact grants them magical forest-shaping abilities to grow their settlements. The exact process is unclear, but reports claim that it's often a highly ritualized affair which consists of slow, rhythmic chanting for several days.

 

Much like the Meat Mandate, fasting is possibly involved prior to and during the process. Bosmer also believe Y'ffre has blessed them with the limited ability to ask the Green to shape itself to their needs to help them live within the restrictions of the Pact.

​

The tenets of the Pact have led to many tensions with allies and others who have disrespected their beliefs. More than once, the Bosmer have gone to war to protect the Green. While many "civilized" Bosmer don't adhere as closely to the Green Pact as their tribal brethren, they nevertheless often seem to be staunch advocates for respecting its tenets. Green Pact Bosmer are fanatical in their devotion to the Pact.

 

They have been known to let loved ones die of illness even as the alchemical ingredients which could save them grow nearby. Nevertheless, these forest-dwellers are not savages: they have been described as a highly intelligent, curious, and rational people with rich cultural traditions vested in the forest and in their spiritual leaders, the Spinners of Y'ffre. The Spinners are charged with enforcing the Green Pact, and are said to hold the real power in Valenwood.

 

Accounts suggest they have great influence on the people, and that their sermons touch upon more than just spiritual matters. Every springtime, Green Pact Bosmer gather at the Den of the Eldest for a festival in which they drink, tell stories, and pay homage to the Eldest, an ancient strangler.

​

The Green Pact Bosmer are known as fierce warriors, but are also known for the hospitality they exhibit to outsiders who respect their ways. Their stories speak of the Ooze, a purgatorial state reserved for Bosmer who violate the Pact (who are called Apostates), as well as the harsh punishments the Green unleashes on those who would harm it.

​

​

The Silvenar

The Silvenar is the Voice of the People for the Bosmer. While often viewed by outsiders as a title for the Bosmer's political representative for foreign affairs, the Silvenar is more than a mere politician. Each person who bears the title is thought of as merely the Silvenar's aspect.

 

The Silvenar represents the Bosmer people legally, physically, and emotionally. He reflects the state of the Bosmer people in his way of thinking, his health, and even his gender. He is inseparably tied to the Bosmeri people, and they to him, making him supernaturally empathic and aware of their concerns. They also believe that he looks after their spirits, as well as their bodies.

 

As the Voice of the People, the Silvenar has many rights which grant him great authority in Valenwood. For one, only the Silvenar can grant foreign building and trade contracts, meaning any foreign power which wishes to build in Valenwood or do business with the Bosmer must deal with the Silvenar first.

​

No Silvenar can be without a Green Lady. The first Silvenar and Green Lady were said to have a been pilgrims, a childless couple who tended to the Eldest like their own offspring. The Silvenar has a mystical connection with the Green Lady, like with all Bosmer, only much deeper. While the Silvenar represents the civilized nature of the current Bosmer, the Green Lady has the raw physicality and passion of their primal past. If the Silvenar dies, his Green Lady's bestial nature is irrevocably unleashed, and her fury turned on all those involved until she joins him in death.

 

Upon the death of the Silvenar, the new Silvenar officially takes on the title at a wedding. This wedding, which is known as the Handfasting, is an important occasion for the Bosmer which only occurs once in a generation. It is responsible for both anointing and marrying the Silvenar and the Green Lady. Even before the Handfasting, the Silvenar may feel the new identity taking over. For the Silvenar doesn't just represent the will of the Bosmer to outsiders. The Silvenar actually feels the will of the people and acts upon it, and the people likewise can feel the Silvenar's influence and be swayed by it.

​

The Wild Hunt

The Wild Hunt is a magical trait innate to all Bosmer. It is brought on by a collective ritual performed by many Bosmer, causing them to shapeshift into a horde of feral, supernatural beasts. These monsters stampede, changing their form constantly, slaying and devouring all in their path and eventually, when left with no surviving targets, turn upon themselves in a "cannibalistic orgy".

 

This transformation is seen by the Bosmer as a return to the chaos of the Dawn Era, when they were unable to hold onto one shape for more than a moment. After they made the Green Pact with Y'ffre, he taught the Bosmer how to escape that chaos and retain their form, but also how to return to it by instigating the Wild Hunt. These shapeshifters are said to be able to take on a gaseous form which makes them impossible to contain without the aid of magic. There's even some suggestion they can take on the form of water.

​

The purpose of the Wild Hunt varies with each separate Hunt, from an act of vengeance to a tool of war. In either case, the Bosmer are not proud of their ability and are unwilling to discuss the Hunt at great length. One of the rare accounts on the nature of the Wild Hunt states that "every monster in the world that has ever been comes from a previous Hunt". As such, the Bosmer are reluctant to use the Hunt, except as an act of desperation. The monsters that do get created by a Wild Hunt, all former Bosmer, are said to be ferocious and long-lived. Notable examples included Willy the Bitten and King Dead Wolf-Deer, who were created by the end of the fourth century of the First Era and lived at least until the beginning of the Third Era. They went on to plague Silvenar Grove and the Lympan March respectively. The change is said to be irreversible.

​

Weaponry

Due to the proscriptions of the Green Pact, forges are rare in Valenwood, and metal weapons have never been widespread among the Bosmer. They typically utilize bone clubs, or else axes and spears with blades of stone or obsidian. Their composite horn bows are arguably the finest in Tamriel.

 

In coastal towns, imported metal weapons are more common, and Altmeri tutelage in these areas has benefited many Bosmeri swordsmen. However, Altmer who are schooled in "Proper Conflict", as they call their system of swordsmanship, typically refuse to adapt their techniques to the needs of their shorter cousins, and Bosmer students are typically less attentive to the finer philosophical points of the lessons, thus the experience has often proven to be mutually exasperating.

​

By the age of fourteen, Bosmer youth are typically proficient enough with the bow to accompany hunting parties. Long-distance archers are known as Jaqspurs. It is their style of draw, "snatching and releasing in one continuous motion", which has made the Bosmer famous as archers. Their traditional bows are crafted from horn and sinew. Strings are also made of sinew; Khajiiti gut is said to work best, and is thus prized among Valenwood archers. Bosmeri arrows are carved from bone, and fletched with the feathers of various bird species. They believe the source of bone used influences the characteristics of the arrow. Mammoth bone arrows are thought to strike with enough force to knock down a target. Bird bone arrows fly faster and more accurately. Senche-tiger bone arrows deal extra damage. Trials by Imperial observers have been unable to replicate these alleged effects. Upon hearing this, the Bosmer merely cluck their tongues and smile.

​

Art and Architecture

 

​

The Green Pact has had an enormous impact on Bosmeri artwork. Their walls are often decorated with skulls and bones. It forces their architects to take great care in their work, apparently strengthening their craftsmanship.

 

Inside tree hollows and residences, hides are stretched out over frames of bones to form partitions. Traditional wooden homes can be found close to rivers and the coast, where imported lumber is easy to find and cheap to purchase. More of these types of buildings can be found on the forest floor of cities like Elden Root or Silvenar, typically to house foreigners like the Altmer, but Bosmer cities in the Green are more well-known for the many homes scattered throughout the canopy of the trees.

​

Many "citified tree-folk" favor a life among the branches, and have woven them together to form limbed pathways without harming the trees. Trails of thick, living vines anchor dozens of platforms that carry goods and people among the graht-oaks. These platforms are hoisted by strong, often foreign laborers. Bone, resin, and sinew are employed by the Bosmer in a plethora of ways, including bridge design. A secondary market in such scraps allows the tree-dwellers to recycle their animal waste by simply tossing it to the ground below, where it is scavenged and reworked into a variety of items. 

 

What is not scavenged is absorbed by the roots of the trees and used to keep the settlement healthy. These cities are grown by Bosmer Greenspeakers, who use rituals of speech or song to grow entire villages in just a few days. This magic can also be used to fashion wooden items, presumably without violating the Green Pact. Below ground, the trees share a common root system which delivers hot sap into each hut to keep them warm.

​

Like the Nords, the Bosmer rely heavily on stylized, often interlocking natural motifs in their architecture, crafts, and clothing. However, while the Nords emphasize animals, Bosmeri designs are mainly floral. Since the Bosmer believe that a species' form is a sacred gift from Y'ffre, each species is depicted by a particular, idealized motif which represents the ur-form it was given by Y'ffre. Thus, while there a great plethora of designs in Bosmeri artwork, there is very little room for variation in these designs. Seemingly inconsequential details are rigidly scrutinized, and those which deviate from the norm are looked down upon as plain "wrong".

​

​

The Mourning Wars

Nearly everywhere outside the cities of Valenwood, Bosmeri tribes in the wilds of Valenwood still practice the tradition of the "Mourning War". When a tribe member is slain, he or she is symbolically replaced via a hostage-taking raid on a neighboring tribe. If the deceased was an especially powerful or prestigious member of the tribe, multiple captives may be taken to replace them.

 

The captive or captives undergo a period of physical torture, supposedly to test their worthiness, and then are joyously welcomed into the clan. Traditionally, the victim was given the deceased tribe member's position, possessions, and family, though this practice may be rarely honored in modern ages. Mourning wars are an ancient tradition; scholarly references to them date back to the First Era, though when they actually started is not known.

The Rite of Theft

The Rite of Theft is a cherished Bosmeri custom, though one which outsiders have trouble appreciating. The Bosmer steal from each other, and upon return of the stolen item, they demand a boon commensurate to the item's worth.

 

 In ancient times, the Bosmer Vanirion the Thief was renowned for demanding over two hundred payments after invoking the Rite. In more modern times, the Bosmer of Greenshade are particularly infamous for their thievery.

​

Outsiders who understand the Rite of Theft may use it to their own advantage. Three Altmer, the so-called "Heroes of the Sanctuary", once used the Rite of Theft to secure a safe port of Summerset ships. They successfully stole from various treethanes while keeping their own treasure secure, earning the right to build their own settlement, known as Seaside Sanctuary, on the shores of Valenwood.

​

​