Ayleids

The Ayleids or Ayleidoon, also known as the Saliache or the Heartland High Elves, were an elven people who built the ancient Ayleid civilization, which dominated Cyrod from the Merethic Era to the early First Era. They were the original founders of the Imperial City, which they called the "Temple of the Ancestors" (Aedrisel or Aldrisel), and which served as the capital of their civilization. The Ayleid empire collapsed in the early First Era when it was overthrown by their human subjects in the Alessian Slave Rebellion.

Name and origins

The Ayleids were an elven people descended from the Aldmer, who (according to tradition) first arrived in the Niben Valley following the expeditions of Topal the Pilot.

The name Ayleid comes either from the legendary monarch Ayle, or from an Aldmeri word meaning "those who benefit". Saliache, meanwhile, carries the meaning of "high, distinguished, prominent" and is related to Salache and salient.

Legacy

Ayleid society persisted in a diminished capacity long after the revolution. In Cyrod, the city-states that were spared became vassals to the nascent Alessian Empire, until the inquisitions of the later Alessian Order obliterated them. Refugees from these cities fled to Valenwood and High Rock, where they were absorbed into the local elven populations. Those that remained in Cyrod sought refuge in the forests, becoming known as the Wild Elves; sightings of them were still being reported as late as the Third Era. Likewise, the Barsaebic Ayleids continued to live in the dense jungles and swamps of Black Marsh for centuries, but fell victim to an unknown calamity (perhaps the Knahaten Flu) in the mid-Second Era.

Today, the most striking relics of the Ayleids' bygone civilization are their white marble ruins which dot the landscape of central Tamriel.

Appearance

The Ayleids were thin and lean with pointed ears and angular facial features. Their complexion was lighter than that of the Dunmer, but they were darker than Altmer; their skintone being a light tan to a dark bronze in color and their eyes ranging from white to turquoise.

Language

Ayleidoon, the Ayleid language, bears similarities to Aldmeri as well as the poorly-understood Falmer tongue.