Bethesda fans waiting forThe Elder Scrolls 6haven’t received an official update from Bethesda since the game’s announcement at E3 2018. The game’s setting, the basic outline of its story, and even the full title have yet to be revealed. For years, fans have had nothing to go on but the landscape seen in the reveal trailer — until Bethesda seemed to hint at a setting at E3 2021.
Starfieldwas Bethesda’s big play at E3 2021, but a small engraving on part of the ship in theStarfieldtrailer was quickly noted to strongly resemble the coastline of High Rock and Hammerfell, two provinces long speculated to be the setting ofThe Elder Scrolls 6, based on the 2018 reveal trailer. Not only does this make the case for High Rock and Hammerfell stronger, but there are some great reasons the two provinces could be the perfect setting forThe Elder Scrolls 6.
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The Settings Of The Elder Scrolls
BetweenMorrowindandSkyrim, theElder Scrollsseries has explored a great variety of settings. AlthoughOblivionwas criticized for its far more standard fantasy fare,Morrowindexplored an alien landscape of giant insects, strange pantheons, and towering mushrooms.Skyrimfound a decent middle ground, exploring a relatively generic Viking-esque setting, but still playing with some of the series' stranger lore from Dwemer ruins to Apocrypha, the realm of Daedric Prince Hermaeus Mora.
Morrowindshows, however, that a greatElder Scrollssetting can be alien instead of the more easily understandable settings ofOblivionandSkyrim. IfThe Elder Scrolls 6spans both High Rock and Hammerfell, it will be able to explore all the weird, wonderful, and sometimesLovecraftian lore ofThe Elder Scrolls, while still giving players a steady footing in clear real-life counterpart cultures.
Both High Rock and Hammerfell are primarily human-populated provinces, with the Iliac Bay providing a rough stand-in for the Mediterranean inTamriel. This will make the setting accessible in a way that Bethesda has clearly been angling for sinceMorrowind, but the two provinces also provide an opportunity for an accessible setting that isn’t generic.
Alienation Versus Accessibility In The Elder Scrolls
For a start, Hammerfell offers an opportunity to explore a fantasy culture based on North Africa, which is far less commonly explored in fantasy than the Roman and Viking counterpart cultures in the last two games.Hammerfell’s pantheon of godsis also unique, with the Redguards having brought many of their own gods from the continent of Yokuda before it sank in the First Era. Not only is Hammerfell an opportunity to focus on a cultural center generally left behind in fantasy, but in-universe the province provides a great opportunity to explore cultures within Tamriel that break free of the hegemony of the Empire and the Divines.
There’s good reason the mainElder Scrollsgames have yet to take players to Black Marsh or Elsweyr. BothBeast Folkprovinces have lore which could prove just too alien for most players to dive into.Morrowind’s Vvardenfell may have been strange, but Dark Elves are still a fantasy mainstay. Dealing with the different Khajiiti subraces or the strange relationship the Argonians have with the Hist, a sentient race of trees, could make setting the game in either place too alienating for most players to fully immerse themselves.
The Hammerfell-High Rock region has its own fair share of strange cultures that players can explore, which are still grounded in the accessibility of the largely human populations of the provinces. Between the two provinces lies the fourth incarnation of Orsinium, the city of the Orcs, rebuilt in the Dragontail Mountains inthe Fourth Eraafter an unsanctioned sacking by the forces of High Rock and Hammerfell. Exploring the city - or at least the tension its presence causes in the human provinces - could helpThe Elder Scrolls 6strike a great balance between the familiar and the alien while raising interesting moral questions.
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Opportunities In High Rock And Hammerfell
High Rock may risk being more in-line with other more generic Europe-based fantasy settings, but it could provide some interesting opportunities. The province has a history of petty kingdoms. Despite the Miracle of Peace at the end of Daggerfall, also known as the Warp in the West,lore betweenOblivionandSkyrimhints that the Breton homeland may slowly be fracturing again. This could offer some great opportunities for new mechanics, with the Breton saying “find a new hill, become a king” being realized in full with the settlement-building mechanics built over Bethesda’s recent RPGs.
In terms of lore, High Rock and Hammerfell offer some great opportunities to continue storylines fromSkyrim. High Rock is still in the Empire and remains a prosperous member. Hammerfell was renounced as a province for refusing to accept the terms of the White-Gold Concordat, and the province’s two major factions united to drive theAldmeri Dominionout of southern Hammerfell. As a setting, the provinces combined would allow for an exploration of the waning Empire seen inSkyrimand some of the post-Empire nations beginning to forge their own fates. The return of the Thalmor and Altmer ambitions would also be likely.
The range of environments in the region from deserts to grasslands and snowy mountains wouldn’t just provide great visual diversity, but could makeThe Elder Scrolls 6’s rumored survival mechanics more interesting.Skyrimmods like Frostfallfactored in cold, butThe Elder Scrolls 6could face players with a far greater range of weather and environments. Hammerfell was also once heavily populated with Dwarves, opening the door for Dwemer ruins and even an exploration of the disappearance of the Dwemer.
High Rock and Hammerfell have the range, the accessibility, and the healthy dose of weirdness that could make the pair of provinces a great bet forThe Elder Scrolls 6. Fans would have a chance to explore some of the less generic human cultures of Tamriel, while also diving into some of the weirder forces surrounding the area from the Orcs to the Dominion. WhetherBethesdatakes full advantage of the setting has yet to be seen, but if the two provinces do end up being confirmed they would have a lot of potential.
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