General:Games and Pastimes of Tamriel v. 4

Book Information
Source:	Substack
Writer(s):	Douglas Goodall
Publication Date:	18 March 2024
Prev.	Vol. 3	Next	Vol. 5

Volume 4: Valenwood

by Taenarus Valius

A list of recreational games among Wood Elves

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I must confess I planned on skipping Valenwood on this initial tour. Alas, Katiarah's [sic] Crown suffered damage after a dreugh attack and had to anchor off the coast while working on repairs. The captain suggested that I accompany him to the nearest village, some nameless hovel north of Woodhearth. There was little entertainment of any kind here.

Archery

Archery is a major pastime, even among children. Bosmer are given bows as young as three or four years old. Children's bows are mostly horn and sinew and their arrows are of carved bone, sometimes with stone tips. They do not shoot at wooden targets. Indeed, shooting a tree seems to be a serious foul. Instead they shoot mostly at mounds of dirt, whether natural or constructed for this purpose. Apparently moss and grass do not count under the Green Pact, at least not for the purpose of archery.

Bones

Another common pastime is bones. Unlike in the Empire proper, where 'bones' usually refers to some sort of dice game, here it is a played by throwing bones up in the air and catching as many as you can.

Bug Charming

I spotted two hunters having a contest of sorts over how many grubs or beetle or worms they could entice to come up to the surface by tapping the ground, whistling, and moaning. After one of them 'won' the game, they gathered up all the worms and grubs and beetles. A few were eaten immediately and others were put in a sack, presumably to be eaten later.

This entire province disgusts me, and fortunately the ship was repaired before we had to attempt any of Valenwood's hospitality.

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