Rilaso's guide to Tamriel, ch. 21

Original media : TES Online By Rilaso The key to surviving the Rift is to never go there. The Rift is no place for anyone but Nords. If you're not a Nord and you end up in the Rift, you will die in a horrible fashion. If you don't freeze to death or get lost and fall off a cliff, you're going to be killed by wild animals. Bears and sabre cats are only too happy to eat you. Mammoths go out of their way to step or sit on travelers. Giants will kick you into the highest reaches of the nearest tree. But for my money, the Nords are the most dangerous part of the Rift. They have hair-trigger tempers, an enormous capacity for mead, and very sharp weapons that they swing around constantly. If they don't drink you to death or choke you with their noxious bodily odors, they'll chop off your head. You'll be in a tavern, say the wrong thing to a Nord, and next thing you know, your head will be flying through the air, spraying another layer of blood over the already gore-caked walls. So, don't go to the Rift.