In ESO: High Isle is all about the Breton people and their refuge on the Systren archipelago. But the Bretons in particular have not been considered particularly exciting by many ESO fans. That was about to change with High Isle. Find out here on MeinMMO why the Bretons in particular are becoming really exciting again.
What’s the problem with the Bretons? The Bretons are one of four human races in ESO. They are roughly inspired by the High Middle Ages in England and France and therefore live in defiant castles and pretty half-timbered houses.
Knight tournaments and courtly manners are also essential parts of Breton culture. This makes them “standard medieval people” in the game and rather uninteresting for many players. In our large survey of the most popular races in Tamriel, the Bretons also “only” took the mediocre 5th place with 9.71 percent
Bretons are often considered by the community to be boring and not original enough alongside people like the Nords known from Skyrim, the opaque dark elves or the wonderfully wacky Kahjiit cat creatures.
But in the upcoming new Chapter ESO: High Isle, the Bretons are finally getting a little more attention and a new, unique setting where you can delve into the amazingly compelling story of this race.
ESO shows the first gameplay trailer for the new High Isle expansion
5 reasons why the Bretons are getting really exciting in High Isle
Bretons settled on the two islands of High Island and Amenos and left their mark on the region.
Bretons have a fascinating origin story
What are the Bretons anyway? In the Elder Scrolls world, the Bretons are not just people with French-sounding names. Rather, they are an ancient human race that appears to have evolved from early human settlers—possibly the Nord race—and the ancestors of the elven races.
It is therefore a kind of “half-elf people”, even if the human part predominates. Nevertheless, the Bretons are sometimes also called “Manmer” by elves, i.e. “human elves”.
This heritage translates into a general aptitude for magic among the Bretons. An above-average number of great wizards are of Breton origin and every farmer has at least a small spark of magic power.
This is compounded by an innate resistance to magic, making Bretons difficult to enchant. Seen in this way, they are anything but boring from their origin and a diverse and mysterious people.
Bretons are ideal for a story about politics and intrigue
What is the setting in High Isle? High Isle isn’t about bombastic, world-shaking threats for a change. So no dragons (in your home country!) will spawn. Nor are legions of bloodthirsty vampires lurking beneath the picturesque islands, and the terrible Daedra Lords are keeping the ball flat this time.
Instead, High Isle’s setting and story are down-to-earth and tangible. Because it is primarily about the intrigues, intrigues and power struggles of the Breton noble houses, which have spread mainly on the high island.
So we can expect a classic medieval setting with lots of politics and social conflicts. Anyone who already liked this setting in works like Game of Thrones will quickly get a taste for it here in High Isle.
Because the Bretons and their culture are by far the best for such down-to-earth, medieval political thrillers. No other nation builds such beautiful castles and palaces, and nowhere else do they gossip about their aristocratic neighbors and their scandals so gloriously.
The magnificent jousting tournaments and courtly feasts – essential aspects of Breton culture – are ideal occasions to spin intrigues and perfect the game for power.
The new Breton opponent faction is particularly coherent
These are your enemies in High Isle: As previously mentioned, your enemies in High Isle are not inhuman, supernatural monstrosities. Rather, during your stay on the Systren Archipelago, you will quickly get in the way of the “Order of the Aspiring”.
This is a shady order of knights. Its leader, the “Aspiring Lord”, aims to further pit the three opposing factions from the main game against each other and thus advance his own mysterious goals.
In doing so, the Order uses both subtlety and violence. But in the end they are people with clear, power-political goals and not some nasty creatures who just want to see the world burn.
Again, it fits perfectly that this faction comes from the Breton people, because dark orders of knights and political power struggles are firmly anchored in this culture.
In High Isle, a whole new, mystical background to the Bretons comes to light
What kind of background is meant here? As previously mentioned, the Bretons’ magical talent and longevity is attributed to their elven heritage. However, in the 1996 game Daggerfall, these traits are described as coming from the mysterious “Druids of Galen.” They are said to be the ancestors of today’s Bretons.
This assertion can only be found in Daggerfall. Other Elder Scrolls titles no longer mention these druids as Breton origins. Druids are also not a well-known magical tradition in Tamriel. It remains with cryptic hints in various documents.
However, there are Breton idioms that refer to druids, such as the exclamation “By the Archdruid” that some Bretons utter fervently.
But apart from such vague mentions not much was known about druids in the Elder Scrolls world. But that changes with High Isle, because the Systren Archipelago is considered the place of origin of the legendary druids of Galen.
From here they are said to have moved to the mainland and founded the Breton people – or their ancestors.
Now that the islands are explorable in an Elder Scrolls title for the first time, you will finally unravel the mysteries of the druids and learn the true origins of the Bretons.
The volcanic vents that occur everywhere on the islands, the new world events – have to do with the druids, by the way. So it’s worth getting involved in several ways.
Fascinating new NPCs bring more background to the Bretons
Which characters can you meet? The setting around political power games and intrigues allows for a number of interesting characters that can be staged particularly impressively in such an environment.
Here is a small selection of fascinating Breton characters that you will meet throughout the story:
All of these reasons will hopefully make you see the Bretons in a different, interesting light. For more information on High Isle and the Year of the Bretons, visit our handy game landing page.