Night of Tears

The Night of Tears was a massacre inflicted by the Snow Elves upon the early Atmoran settlers of Skyrim in the late Merethic Era.

Cause
There are 2 possible causes for this massacre.
 * 1) The Snow Elves saw the rising threat of the Atmorans. They reproduced faster and, apart from that, more and more were coming every day over the Sea of Ghosts from Atmora. The Snow Elves thought that the Atmorans might rise against them and throw them out of Skyrim.
 * 2) During their excavations in Saarthal, the Atmorans found an unknown object of incredible power, later known as Eye of Magnus. It is possible the Snow Elves held it dear to their religion and wanted to have it, or thought the Atmorans would use it against them. They were unable to find it. The true causes of the Night of Tears are unknown, but these two are the most likely to be.

Order of Battle
One night, when the Atmorans were asleep, the Snow Elves sneaked into Saarthal. Somehow, they knew the exact layout of the city. Before the Atmorans could even get up from their beds, most of them were already dead. Those that managed to grab their weapons stood no chance against Snow Elf magic.

Outcome
Every Atmoran man and woman was killed, except for Ysgramor and his two sons, Ylgar and Yngol who managed to flee back to Atmora, but not before Ysgramor cried the rest of the night after his escape from Saarthal. It is said that he cried Ebony tears, and that his son, Yngol, fashioned them into Ysgramor's legendary battleaxe, Wuuthrad. This is how the Night of Tears got its name.

The Atmoran would come back and get their revenge in The Return.