OK, I may be the only one who noticed this or is confused, but I hope I'm not.

I was hiking the land and I came across Bthardamz, that annoying Dwemer ruin where the Afflicted of Peryite are housed. I decided to take a look into it and after progressing a little bit, I find a stone pillar with what I thought was an effigy of the Red Diamond. The first thing that popped into my head was "Huh, so that's where the Septims came up with the idea of the Red Diamond". But I thought about it more and I remembered that there is no lore between Dovah and Dwemer, and if I remember correctly, the Dwemer already died out by the time that the Dovah came to rule Man. There's no real lore, as far as I am aware, of Dovah and Dwemer really meeting. (which also confuses as to why the Dwemer have the Dragon Elder Scroll, but that's for another day.)

Just soemthing that I've been wondering. It's not Talos nor Peryite because Dwemer never worshiped specific gods and as far as I know, Dovah and Dwemer never met. Why is there a pillar with a dragon engraved on it that has a strikingly similarity to the Red Diamond in a Dwemer ruin? I also thought that the Afflicted added it to the ruin, but 1; there's really no practical reason for that, and 2; it's in the same image file folder as the rest of the ruin (thank you, Command Console Dating) and appears whithered just like the rest of the ruin. The only tell-tale sign is that the tint of the pillar is slightly lighter than the rest of the ruin, judging by the base of the pillar.

Also, I'm not sure if it appeared in the photos, but there's a hanging chain with what appears to be a broken shackle on the end. It might have held someone on it, or might have been a lamp.

I'm just curious about this because there seems to be a lore conflict, especially since there's only one pillar as I have seen so far in this ruin, and no where else in any other ruin. All the lore I can find on Bthardamz is that it is near Bthar-zel, Allied City, which really doesn't serve much purpose. Even in the height of the Dwemer, Bthar-zel is more used than Bthardamz. Bthardamz is left out of the Aetherium wars and there appears no direct connection between Peryite and Dwemer, giving this thing more mysterious value, and less value to the Dwemer.

Any ideas as to why it's here? I know it's not a big deal, but I just want to see how well the lore is accurate and if there's anything missing.

Good point indeed, I have no answer to this but with the little I know about the Dwemer I'm pretty sure they never met the Dovah, 

Very interesting, I'll have to check out later. One correction, the Dwemer didn't disappear until the Battle of Red Mountain in 1E700. The Dragon War happened in the Late Merethic Era (the exact date unknown), so at least 700 years have passed between the end of the Dragon War and the Battle of Red Mountain. It's possible that dragons and dwemer did interact at some point before the Dragon War. One key piece of evidence towards their interaction is Vulthuryol, who is found in Blackreach. It's never stated how he ended up down there or the exact nature of the orb that summons him, but one can speculate.

paarthurnax

Very interesting, I'll have to check out later. One correction, the Dwemer didn't disappear until the Battle of Red Mountain in 1E700. The Dragon War happened in the Late Merethic Era (the exact date unknown), so at least 700 years have passed between the end of the Dragon War and the Battle of Red Mountain. It's possible that dragons and dwemer did interact at some point before the Dragon War. One key piece of evidence towards their interaction is Vulthuryol, who is found in Blackreach. It's never stated how he ended up down there or the exact nature of the orb that summons him, but one can speculate.

Thanks. I forgot entirely about Vulthuryol. It still consfuses me because even with him, there's not a lot of lore. His name doesn't help too much either; "dark overlord fire". (Other than he is the "ruler" of Blackreach and his only breath his fire breath.) It makes me wonder if what happened to Numinex is the same thing that happened to Vulthuryol. 

Update;

I found something interesting. I followed the historical timeline and this is what I found.

The Dwemer disappeared in 1E 668, according to most of the theories, but they do range between 1E 650-700, about the time of the Battle of the Red Mountain, just as Paarthurnax stated in the his post.

Now, Paarthurnax and I were basing off of the date of the Dragon War, but the first official sighting of a dragon in Skyrim was in 1E 2,806.

This means that the Dwemer already left this world about 2,000 years before the Dovah ever came to Skyrim, which is really strange. It's what I expected to find, but it's still weird, and still fails to explain this delimma with a dragon in a Dwemer ruin. If anything, if the dates are accurate, then it means that this effigy should not be here.

The only thing that makes true sense is that the Red Diamond of the Septims probably came from this effigy, or a similar one, because this pillar might be dating back to the middle of the First Era, while the Red Diamond was established around the Third Era.

Is there anything that I'm missing that should explain this, other than Vulthuryol? (We don't really know much about him. Maybe the Dwemer feared him? Many think that he's an easter egg of Smaug.) Or am I overthinking this?

Does the 1E 2806 figure come from the Atlas of Dragons? I'm not sure there's any indication that is the first ever dragon sighting. Dragons were most definitely in Skyrim during the Dragon War, which would have been in the Merethic Era at least 2806 years prior.

paarthurnax

Does the 1E 2806 figure come from the Atlas of Dragons? I'm not sure there's any indication that is the first ever dragon sighting. Dragons were most definitely in Skyrim during the Dragon War, which would have been in the Merethic Era at least 2806 years prior.

I actually got it from the Annals of the Dragonguard (and I confused the year. Opps. 2806 is when Reman II ascended to the throne, the reports of a dragon came in 2809)

I love how according to this, the first dragon was spotted 9 years before Alduin's Wall was completed, and the first dragon was slain. Comparing the two books, it looks like whoever was killed first wasn't named, which I guess makes logical sense.

Thanks for the link - I'm still confused where the idea of this dragon being the first dragon in Skyrim comes from. The Annals only mention reports of "a dragon." Note that this particular book only covers the years 1E 2800 - 1E 2819.

paarthurnax

Thanks for the link - I'm still confused where the idea of this dragon being the first dragon in Skyrim comes from. The Annals only mention reports of "a dragon." Note that this particular book only covers the years 1E 2800 - 1E 2819.

That's what I'm trying to figure out. So far, that dragon, along with the first one slain, are not named. If there were names, it would be so much easier.

So far, still no explaination as to this, and it seems that there may be other similar kinds of confusions, like Falion who says that he has seen "Daedra and Dwemer." He's nowhere near the proper age to see a living Dwemer, other than that one Dwemer in Oblivion. I can't remember his name, but he was only alive because he was in Oblivion during the disappearance of the Dwemer. Remember? The big bloated Dwemer man who needed a mechanical walker to get around? I never remember his name.

This is going to continue to puzzle me. I'm not sure for how long, but I hope that it gets explained.

I don't think that's actually a Dovah. It looks exactly like the totem of Peryite seen here:

You can even find a few of the these during Peryite's quest.

That is why I am thinking it would have had to have been built by the afflicted of peryite.

I would not agree that there is not a practical reason for the afflicted to build this because it could have been used for worship or just built in honor of Peryite. And I also don't think that it being put in the same image file folder of the rest of the ruins is good enough evidence to rule the Afflicted out of being the builders.

http://www.imperial-library.info/content/there-be-dragonshttp://www.imperial-library.info/content/dragon-warhttp://m.uesp.net/w/index.php?title=Skyrim:Farengar_Secret-Fire&useformat=mobile&mobileaction=view_normal_sitehttp://www.imperial-library.info/content/book-dragonbornThat looks like a totem to Peryite to me. He appears as a dragon is Daggerfall and Oblivion, supposedly to mock Akatosh. As for dwemer and dragons, just because the first official (recorded) sighting is in 1E 2809 doesn't mean dragons didn't exist before then. By definition reliable records of the Merethic cannot be found among men. The Dragon Cult was (is?) ancient, hailing back to Atmora itself, and wasn't always evil. As a powerful leader, Ysgramor himself was probably a dragon preist or at least allied with the dragon cult. Technically, Atmora and Skyrim were ruled by dragons, but in reality it was the dragon priests that made the laws and so forth. It only got bad when the priests in Skyrim got power hungry. That caused the Nords to rebel, starting the Dragon War and forcing the dragons to do something. Sorry for ranting. Here's what I found on the subject:

The Book of the Dragonborn mentions the Dragonborn Emperors; the first empire was founded in 1E 240. First official sighting 1E 2809. (http://www.imperial-library.info/content/book-dragonborn)

"The terminology is clearly First Era or even earlier. I'm convinced this is a copy of a much older text. Perhaps dating to just after the Dragon War." -Farengar Secret-Fire. The book in question, Holdings of Jarl Gjalund, contains Dovahzul script.(http://m.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Farengar_Secret-Fire) Krosis, the link goes to the mobile version.

The Dragon War describes the war between men and dragons as well as the Dragon Cult.(http://www.imperial-library.info/content/dragon-war) 

There Be Dragons says this about dragons: "

That looks like a totem to Peryite to me. He appears as a dragon is Daggerfall and Oblivion, supposedly to mock Akatosh. As for dwemer and dragons (warning: long rant. Short version is at the bottom), just because the first official (recorded) sighting is in 1E 2809 doesn't mean dragons didn't exist before then. By definition reliable records of the Merethic cannot be found among men. The Dragon Cult was (is?) ancient, hailing back to Atmora itself, and wasn't always evil. As a powerful leader, Ysgramor himself was probably a dragon preist or at least allied with the dragon cult. Technically, Atmora and Skyrim were ruled by dragons, but in reality it was the dragon priests that made the laws and so forth. It only got bad when the priests in Skyrim got power hungry. Thatcaused the Nords to rebel, starting the Dragon War and forcing the dragons to do something. Sorry for ranting. Here's what I found on the subject:

The Book of the Dragonborn mentions the Dragonborn Emperors; the first empire was founded in 1E 240. First official sighting 1E 2809. (http://www.imperial-library.info/content/book-dragonborn)

"The terminology is clearly First Era or even earlier. I'm convinced this is a copy of a much older text. Perhaps dating to just after the Dragon War." -Farengar Secret-Fire. The book in question, Holdings of Jarl Gjalund, contains Dovahzul script.(http://m.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Farengar_Secret-Fire) Krosis, the link goes to the mobile version.

The Dragon War describes the war between men and dragons as well as the Dragon Cult.(http://www.imperial-library.info/content/dragon-war) 

There Be Dragons says this about dragons: "...they just were, and are. Eternal, immortal, unchanging, and unyielding." Suggests that dragons were around in the Mythic Era. (http://www.imperial-library.info/content/there-be-dragons)

Short version: Dragons were around a lot longer than 1E 2809, even though there are no records of them interacting with the dwemer. If there ever were, they must have been lost with the dwarves.

P.S. Sorry for the weird text. Sadly, this site is not very mobile-friendly.

The book just say there was a sighting, not that it was the first. It was probably just a while since the last one. The Spellbreaker is evidence that it is Peryite, because it is a Dwemer shield, as evidenced by what guards reactions are and that it takes dwarven ingots to improve it. I know that Dwemer didn't worship Daedra, but what if some did? Every group has its dissedents. Some humans worshiped Aedra, some Daedra, others dovah.