Hello!

I'm planning a short story set in Summerset, as both a biographical sketch for my Skyrim character and a vehicle to explore some themes in Altmeri culture. The current plan is a sort of Gogolian political pseudo-horror story, complete with viciously obstructive bureaucrats, and I'm hoping to develop some authentic (or at least authentic-sounding) merrish legal jargon to fill this angle out. I've had some trouble tracking down in-universe sources for inspiration, though, which leads me here!

The http://www.imperial-library.info/content/dominion-prism-textract has proven instructive in stylistic terms, but in terms of specifically civics-oriented content, my searches haven't turned up anything quite so useful. Are there any merrish, or even generally Tamrielic, codes of law floating around in the dark corners of the internet, or perhaps a Declaration of the Rights of Mer? :biggrin: I'm not averse to creating this sort of thing whole-cloth, but I'd like to be sure I've exhausted existing sources before doing so.

Thanks!

I think the law of the land runs on "Guilty before proven Innocent," but that was more of Alessia's legacy, not uniquely the elves
There was that Dwemer/Aldmer book, let me grab the link [doo de doo]

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Antecedents_of_Dwemer_Law
Antecedents of Dwemer Law

Granted, it's pointing out the influence of Altmer law on the Dwemer, but it fleshes out topics on property, possession, and slavery.
Okay, maybe only a little fluff

I imagine it would approach something like Plato's Kallipolis: a caste-based http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noocracy society subtly masterminded by a cenacle of dreadfully ascetic Scholar-Kings who furtively direct every aspect of their lessers lives - less they fall prey to Mannish barbarism.

You can expect extensive childhood career-aptitude-testing (the results of which are set in stone, or rather hyperpistic mnemono-spheres), secret police, public media censorship (for glamorization of the Lorkhanic lifestyle), secret police, social status and prestige being largely an expression of individual intelligence, burning Septim I. in magickal-effigy, secret police, magickal public utilities and telecommunication, regularly scheduled tests of the emergency herpentolysis-system, and secret police.

Also: expect a lot of shame-as-punishment, and a lot of weirdly specific things being controlled by law. Stride length, for one thing, is almost certainly highly-regulated.

These are some great suggestions, and they happen to square pretty nicely with some of my initial ideas. Thanks a lot, folks!