Although The Elder Scrolls games give their players a wide variety of races to choose from when creating their character, the games also often spotlight the race and culture that's most prominent in the province they're set in. In the case of Skyrim, this was naturally the Nords. Even players who didn't make a Nord character were learning ancient Nordic arts like the Thu'um, participating in the Nord province's civil war, and so on. In Morrowind, the race under the spotlight was the Dark Elves, and to a lesser extent, Vvardenfell's enslaved Argonians from neighboring Black Marsh. With Starfield's trailer seemingly hinting that The Elder Scrolls 6 will take place in Hammerfell and High Rock, many fans are expecting the Redguards and Bretons to take center stage.
The Iliac Bay region, however, is also home to a race that could be a far more interesting focal point than either of western Tamriel's human cultures. The Orcs of Tamriel, also known as Orsimer, meaning Pariah Folk, have some of the most interesting lore of all The Elder Scrolls species. With plenty of reasons to believe that The Elder Scrolls 6 could see shifting borders as the rivalry between the Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion reshapes the continent, the next game should star the Orcs, bringing their culture and history to the forefront of its story.
The Origin Of Orcs
All of the major races of Tamriel have their own province except for the Orsimer. The race's status as pariahs begins with their creation. The Orsimer came into being during the Merethic Era when a group of Aldmer led by a deity named Trinimac tried to stop the migration of the Chimer under Veloth to Morrowind. The Daedric Prince Boethiah, who had instructed Veloth to lead his people east, devoured Trinimac, turning him into the Daedric Prince Malacath and his followers into the first Orsimer.
The Orcs lived a nomadic lifestyle, until an Orcish chief named Thulgeg led a large group of Orcs and Goblins to the Wrothgarian Mountains. Originally, the Orsimer had been driven out of Hammerfell. When they tried to gain entrance to High Rock through the Bangkorai Pass, they were also turned away. The first Orcish city, Orsinium, was founded in the Wrothgarian Mountains in 1E 874 by Orsimer chieftain Torug gro-Igron.
The Four Orsiniums
Despite having driven the Orcs out of Hammerfell and High Rock, the Redguards and Bretons were not content with Orcs living in the mountains along their border either. The Bretons of Daggerfall and the Redguards of Sentinel combined their forces in 1E 948 and went on the march to destroy the city. According to the humans, this was a response to Orsimer raids along the Bjoulsae River. According to the Orcs, their human neighbors were unjustly paranoid that the Orsimer coveted their land.
Whatever the true motives, the siege of the first Orsinium lasted for thirty years and ended in the destruction of the city. Another version of Orsinium was built in the Second Era as seen in The Elder Scrolls Online: Orsinium, but it too was eventually sacked. It wouldn't be reconstructed until the Third Era, during the events of Daggerfall. An Orc named Gortwog gro-Nagorm began rebuilding the city and even appealed to Emperor Uriel Septim for the Orc lands to be declared their own province.
In the early Fourth Era, however, between the events of Oblivion and Skyrim, the Redguard and Breton armies attacked the third Orsinium against the orders of the Empire. Some Imperial legions even intervened, rescuing Orsimer survivors and helping them escape to Skyrim. After that, a new Orsinium was built, this time in the Dragontail Mountains between Skyrim and Hammerfell.
The Orsimer In The Fourth Era
The Orcs have been in a precarious position from day one, and their history makes them one of Tamriel's greatest underdogs. This could be a particularly interesting lens through which to see the changes coming to Tamriel in the Fourth Era. The Orcs have usually relied on the Empire, which has often prevented their annihilation at the hands of their more paranoid neighbors. On the other hand, the decline of the Empire between Oblivion and Skyrim has also likely created opportunities for the Orsimer. After all, the Empire never actually granted the Orcs their own province, and it is possible that a weakened Empire might either be more willing to recognize the Orcs or simply unable to stop them from creating their own borders.
As with Skyrim and Morrowind, a focus on the Orcs wouldn't actually require the player to be an Orc to have an immersive roleplaying experience. All it would need is for the Orcs of the Dragontail Mountains to have a major role in the next game's story. Skyrim began with the dragon attack on Helgen, but that attack is against the backdrop of Skyrim's civil war, the reason the player is held captive to begin with.
The Elder Scrolls 6's intro could similarly involve a prisoner escaping in the chaos of an Orcish raid on a human settlement, or a character who is being held captive by the Orcs escaping thanks to Breton or Redguard forces destroying and Orc stronghold while also witnessing just how brutal the humans can be. Considering the history of the Orcs a conflict between the Orsimer and the humans of Hammerfell and High Rock could be ripe for moral ambiguities, depicting the Orcs as both victims of centuries of violence but also particularly brutal in the enforcement of their new borders thanks to their history.
Times are changing in Tamriel. The Orsimer have both the greatest potential to rise from the ashes and the greatest potential to face total destruction as the balance of power shifts on the continent. This could make leaving their fate in the player's hands a particularly effective and exciting storyline while spotlighting a race that has often been left at the sidelines in The Elder Scrolls games so far.
The Elder Scrolls 6 is in development.