The Elder Scrolls 6 will soon be part of a franchise has always been about the world that it built up through gameplay and story elements. Fans of The Elder Scrolls series relish in being part of the world's narrative and have long-noticed that there's a missing piece to the story. They hope that the next installment, The Elder Scrolls 6, may delve deeper into the mysterious race known as the Dwemer and what became of them after they vanished.
The Dwemer as Seen in Skyrim
Should Dwemer cities be a feature of The Elder Scrolls 6, players should expect similar dangers that befell them in games like The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. Skyrim had a plethora of ancient Dwemer cities that stood the test of time and all had similar features, such as forges, factories, and armories. The cities are made up of sprawling labyrinthine corridors lined with steam pipes that funneled energy to many of the cities technological systems, not least of which was its security system.
Many players of The Elder Scrolls franchise will remember the robotic sentries that still patrol the halls of Dwemer ruins. The main force of the Dwemer security is made up of spider-like automatons which are backed up by humanoid sentries known as sphere guardians. Hopefully, The Elder Scrolls 6 does not avoid including the mighty Dwemer centurion, a colossal robotic soldier that serves as a mini boss at the end of most Dwemer ruins.
As highlighted in The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, the Dwemer race also used their technological prowess to study the celestial bodies. For example, the Oculory in Mzulft is used as a puzzle for the Dragonborn of Skyrim to unlock a capsule containing an Elder Scroll. However, it also uses starlight to create a map of Tamriel and mark locations where great sources of magic can be found. More grand machine puzzles would be a great addition to The Elder Scrolls 6 should Dwemer cities make an appearance.
The Dwemer are actually related to The Elder Scrolls elf races. The Dwemer live long lives like the elvish races and have similar facial features like pointed ears and large eyes. Their most defining feature, however, is their long beards which sets them apart from the other elves. The reason they are referred to as dwarves by the other races comes from the giants' claims that the Dwemer were small. Culturally, the Dwemer are reclusive yet described as open minded. They keep to their strongholds and perfect their vast wealth of technology in an effort to become god-like. It is unfortunate that these bearded elves have never been a playable race and The Elder Scrolls 6 may be no exception.
The Dwemer: The Disappearance
In the first era, the Dwemer built a massive automaton known as The Numidium. The Dwemer tonal architect Kagrenac built The Numidium to be a god for the Dwemer. Numidium was supposed to be powered by an Aedric artifact called the Heart of Lorkhan, the heart of an Aedra, and these alongside the Daedra in The Elder Scrolls are essentially the gods and demons of Tamriel. Another elvish race, called the Chimer, heard of an attempt to create a god by the Dwemer. Believing that the Dwemer were mocking the Chimer's belief system, the Chimer set upon Red Mountain to stop the Dwemer.
During the Battle of Red Mountain, Kagrenac and the Dwemer king attempted to fend off the Chimer. Seeing that defeat was imminent, Kagrenac activated the Heart of Lorkhan in an attempt to make the Dwemer immortal. The result became the biggest mystery in The Elder Scrolls as all of the Dwemer suddenly vanished into thin air. After the battle, The Numidium was captured and given to Tiber Septim, the emperor of Tamriel. Many years after these events, a potential character for The Elder Scrolls 6 finds himself returning to empty halls.
The (Last) Dwemer: Yagrum Bagarn
The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind made the most strides in explaining the Dwemer by introducing Yagrum Bagarn, a Dwemer master crafter. Yagrum Bagarn was experimenting with interdimentional travel at the time when the Dwemer disappeared. He hypothesizes that he was unaffected because he was not on Mundus, the material plane where Tamriel is located, at the time of the disappearance. After returning to find his home abandoned and all the Dwemer missing, he contracted a disease called corprus which he is being treated for in Morrowind. After replacing his lower torso with mechanical spider legs to support his corprus infested body, he set out to study what exactly had happened to his people. Because of his Dwemer blood, it is possible that he may make an appearance in The Elder Scrolls 6 despite so much time passing.
The Dwemer: Future Plans?
News for The Elder Scrolls 6 is far and few between, so anything said about details is purely speculative. However, there has been a lot of time spent by the developers across many games bringing more information on the Dwemer to light, as every installment of The Elder Scrolls has had rumors and other information about the Dwemer sprinkled throughout the main game. It would make sense for the developers to include the Dwemer in some capacity in The Elder Scrolls 6 as well. The part that everyone is wondering about is to what degree will the Dwemer's involvement be in the main story.
One road for the developers to take would be to have the story create more rumors in The Elder Scrolls 6 about the Dwemer. The purpose of which would be to seem like they're including them, but only as a mention. This would at least carry on the tradition that most of The Elder Scrolls games have in at least mentioning the Dwemer. It's a safe bet that this will be the limit of the Dwemer's inclusion in The Elder Scrolls 6, but fans would rather have something more substantive.
The other direction for the developers to head would be to have the Dwemer be partially or entirely involved in the events of The Elder Scrolls 6. Skyrim, Morrowind, and Daggerfall were all games that had included Dwemer as a catalyst for the games events. This means there is precedent in making The Elder Scrolls 6 more focused on the disappearance of the Dwemer, albeit not confirmed by developers. There could be another Dwemer survivor, a Dwemer stranded on another plane, or even the return of the Dwemer altogether. There is no telling for sure until the developers give more information on The Elder Scrolls 6.
The Elder Scrolls 6 is currently in development.