No I mean according to the lore, in the time period ESO takes place most of Cyrodill was a forest, in ESO it looks closer to Oblivion. The story/lore people at Zenimax online claim it was a "Transcription error" a fancy way of saying "Retcon" for the sake of Gameplay
ESO takes place during the 2nd Era, about 300 years before Arena.
Just a bit further back than that surely? Iirc, arena was not all that long before morrowind. Not to mention that the 2nd era was just shy of 900 years long.
From what I recall reading, ESO takes place something like 2E 500? Works out to about 600 or so years before arena, twice your estimate. (This is according to my off-the-top-of-my-very-tired-sleep-deprived-head math).
The thing about the scrolls being relegated to buff items is a bit crappy, I agree. I recall reading that they appeared VERY rarely, only in times of dire need and then often vanishing afterwards.
The "transcription error" about cyrodill being more like it's form in Oblivion is pretty believable to me. Who knows how many such errors (or deliberate changes) have been made to real life historical and religious texts.
Not to mention that record keeping in the setting of the elder scrolls may not be the best, or the most accurate!
Imo calling it a transcription error is a bit of an understatement, but I can definitely see where they are coming from.
As for the emperor being elected thing, it's not them being elected, it's them being installed through force of arms. It happened in the more chaotic times of the Roman empire or so I'm told.
Come to think of it, Kori, have we swapped our roles from those we had in the STO thread?
