The History of Aldmeris
P.S. This is totally made up by me
Where is Aldmeris?
What makes Aldmeris so special?
Vokursaal
Unfortunately, even then, Daedra worship was popular. An extremist cult of followers of Mehrunes Dagon and Molag Bal grew unrest in the south of Aldmeris, and led them into battle. They were quelled eventually, but not before Vokursaal was besieged, and the great bridge destroyed. They also called forces from both Coldharbour and The Dead Lands to lay waste to Vokursaal, including a large daedric army and a dragon named Yolvulnah.
The Vokurian army managed to cross the bridge in time to destroy the army and banish Yolvulnah back to Coldharbour, but left Vokursaal after they realized that there was no way to cross back there anymore. Those who were left in Vokursaal's walls eventually died, one way or another. Those who were left across the bridge left Vokursaal and travelled to Armelos, which then became the capital after the Lady of Ezelnor (coincidentally called Armelos herself) died of natural causes. She had been the sister of the king of Aldmeris, and after the fall of Vokursaal was then legally queen. But without a capital, she couldn't be crowned, and therefore was left as Lady Armelos. After her death, her eldest daughter was crowned Queen of Aldmeris in Armelos, the first monarch to be crowned there.
Armelos
The armour and weapons that were made here were exceptionally strong, nearly unbreakable, and sharper than a razor. They were made from moonsteel (a by-product of refined moonstone) that made them look a very pale silver, almost white. Once made, the weapons could never be unmade, some still existing even today (a good example of this is Icestar's blade, Istarion). They were also very easy to enchant, so that warriors, with a bit of teaching, could enchant their own weapons and armour. Around 2260, five years before the city's fall and his untimely death, the King of Armelos, Arnarven, fashioned a suit of armour made purely from Moonstone, giving the armour itself a pure white colour. This same armour is now owned by an Avian named Kiri, but the chest plate is missing, leaving his upper torso bare (that's actually because of his wings to be honest).
The Armelossian Empire, which stretched as far north as where Summerset Isle and Elsewyr would be, was founded by Niryanin, the second Queen of Aldmeris. From this point forward, until Aldmeris's ultimate fall, any ruler of Aldmeris would also gain the title 'Emperor/Empress of the Armelossian Empire. This gave Aldmeris an international identity, again until its fall.
The last monarch to rule from here was King Arnarven III, who was King of Aldmeris and Emperor of the Armelossian Empire from ME: 2290 to ME: 2255. In 2255, an unknown plague devastated the south of Aldmeris, making everyone flee Armelos. Unfortunately, the king was already infected, and stayed behind to die with his city. Armelos was never repopulated. From that point on, it was now the city of Gaios that was the capital. But from then on, nothing would ever be the same.
Gaios
The wife of King Arnarven and now Queen of Aldmeris, Nenya, and her two youngest sons (Maengar (11) and Mannimar (15) were taken to the Lord of Gaios. What happened afterwards would remain one of the most horrifying scenes in Aldmeri history. The Lord of Gaios's bodyguards took Nenya's sons from her and dragged them to two altars, one for Mehrunes Dagon and one for Molag Bal. Both were laid on the altars and ritualistically beheaded by the two priests of their respective daedric princes, making Nenya scream in horror. The worst was still to come. Only one daedric prince answered their call. Molag Bal; daedric prince of domination and slavery, and king of rape. He then took Nenya and in front of her daughter Ellysia, raped her to death. He then shed a drop of blood on her brow.
The worshippers took her body and sealed it in a small room. The next day, her body was adorned in a blood red dress and a crown of obsidian spikes, and sealed in a tomb... only to hear bloodcurdling screams from the tomb, and before their very eyes, the tomb was breaking apart. Nenya then broke out of her tomb and ripped off the crown. Her eyes were now red as the dress she wore, her skin was white as snow and hard as stone. Her teeth now ended in sharp points. Nenya became the very first vampire. Before they could react, she ripped every single one of them apart, one by one... except for her daughter. Nenya stopped herself and ran off before she could do any harm to her daughter.
Ellysia was spared, and later became Queen of Aldmeris. However, she was forced to adopt daedra worship, lest she suffer the same fate as her mother. She ruled for 80 years, in sadness and despair, save for the time spent away from Aldmeris and in other countries she ruled, such as Pyandonia and Summerset Isle.
She died in ME: 2175, with her eldest son Merugarren succeeding her as King. He ruled until Aldmeris's fall in ME: 2050, when an event called The Great Rapture broke the Island of Aldmeris in two, forming the Isle of Teos that exists today, but sank Aldmeris. All but Altmora was drowned but not necessarily wiped from history. Most of the ruins actually survived the floods, but others, such as Armelos, were almost completely wiped from existence.
For almost 5000 years Aldmeris was extinct. Many people believing it never existed at all. The chief among those were the Moth Priests, who believed that all life, men and mer, started on Tamriel, and that Atmora and Aldmeris were figments of the once conflicting races imagination.
But then, something happened. Every single leader of the different continents, whether it be king or queen or supreme lord all bowed to one person. Icestar, who was then proclaimed High Queen of the World of Nirn. They decided that ultimate unity was a better way of life, so each of them bent the knee and swore fealty to Queen Icestar. Then Akatosh came to her, him and the other eight Divines bowing to her, and in that instant, Aldmeris and the newly formed Isle of Teos was raised from the depths.
In honor of the Divines, Icestar sailed to Aldmeris, where she was lead to Altmora by Akatosh. There it was, completely intact.
Altmora
But before, Altmora was a small city, used for fishing and growing crops, like many other cities and towns in Ezelnor in the distant past. Back in the Merethic Era (when Aldmeris first prospered) Altmora was once called Aldernetine (meaning strange city) because it was unusually small and underpopulated, with a populace maximum of just 120 people at any time. But when Aldmeris sank in ME:2050, the people laid a barrier over it to protect themselves from the waves. They already had up a spell of concealment to protect themselves from the threat of attack, as this was pretty much an age of strife, when Gaios became the capital of Aldmeris in ME: 2255. For 5000 years, Altmora was protected.
And now, as the oldest intact city, she gave Aldernatine a new name. Altmora, named after the homeland of the nords, representing her peace with them. Now all of Nirn, including the newly found super continents of Essos and Westeros are ruled ultimately by her. They may have kings and queens of their own, but they all answer to the new High Queen, Icestar. And thus, peace was found in Nirn, and this is where our journey ends. Thank you for reading this. May the Twelve light your path.