Just a couple of short little questions that might be helpful in a mod I might possibly make. Thanks for any help guys- you folks here on the lore forums have been quite an aid in the past.

1) The dwarven armor in oblivion is actually a replica, "man-made" model correct?
2) Is the elven armor a replica version too, or is it the real deal ayleid leftover stuff?
3) Why were so many forts abandoned?
4) Are there any other creatures other than goblins who might reasonably be presumed a sort of sentient "treat hoarders"? It seems the minotaurs might have somewhat decent intelligence as they use weaponry and may perhaps do such (whereas ogres may be sentient, but are rather... stupid it seems).

Thanks guys, I appreciate the help.

In Oblivion I believe both the Dwarven and Elven armors are replicas. The fact that they are found everywhere seems to point to that.

The abandoned forts? Well...that's just the fantastic job Bethesda did with filling the lore with holes and inconsistencies. Why are they abandoned? Who knows. It's all rather silly to me.

Well...Liches sometimes hoard...things...but not on the level of Goblins. Goblins have their own tribes and societies...which is much more than you can say for all of the other monsters (Minotaurs and Ogres).

I believe that both the Dwarven and the elven armor was envisioned as to be original. The fact it can be found all around the place is gameplay.

1)No
2)no
3)Past Wars (e.g War of the Red Diamond)
4)I do not believe so

Hmm...I'm getting some rather mixed answers as to the questioning on those armor. I could hardly see the dwarven armor being original with absolute lack of any form of nearby ruins. Even with the empire having their hold on it and importing as they do, that still seems a bit odd for it to be distributed thusly. Am I missing something?

The Elven armor being replicas would make sense...particularily with the fact that we find pretty much none actually in the ruins, but at the same time, even with Oblivion's levelled list as it is, it stays...."moderately rare."

Is there anything that leads to a conclusion in this area, or is this one of those "viewer interpretation" things?

The knowledge of how to build Dwemer armor was probably lost with that race; all the armor you see in TES games was scavenged from their ruins. I doubt the elven armor are replicas either.

Good point. And to that, why fashion look-a-likes out of different materials/process? For the aesthetic, perhaps, but as common combat equipment? That seems a bit overly fancy consider that when one considers making equipment expected to endure long-term fighting (of any kind), I would assert that practicality is the first consideration...aesthetics last.

The "Dwarven" armor is still tripping me though. It's so different from that of the original Dwemer, and unless there lived some largely different cultured dwarves on the nearby mainland of morrowind....errr....

I'm afraid I need to tack on another question really quick as well.

Numero 5) It is to my understanding that the empire allows, but doesn't necessarily "approve" of daedra worship, correct? This makes sense with the wilderness shrines, but is there any reason for the...well, utter lack of clusters of daedra worshippers like in Morrowind? There are no caves/forths/whatever with small shrines scattered about, and whereas I would expect daedra worship in cyrodil to be immensely smaller, the entirity of the worshippers being found at the outside shrines seem strange. Is this just part of gameplay and dungeon design, or is there a reason? Would it be legit to mod in a couple of said small shrines into a cave or two in Cyrodil?

I'd mostly just attribute it to how since Daedra worship isn't really that prominent the devs found it would suffice to just have the few worshipers and shrines throughout Cyrodiil (though I'm highly disappointed that Dagon had no such actual shrine). In reality one could probably find a few shrines and such in caves, it just wasn't a priority in 'Oblivion'... besides, that would have threatened to add more culture to Cyrodiil...

Dagon had the biggest and most-used shrine of all: the one in the Lake Arrius Caverns.

Isn't there also an escort quest from one of the guilds in Leyawiin or Bravil where you guide a scholar to a ruined Dagon shrine? (my memory is sketchy at the moment.)

I believe that the Dwarven armor is actual armor used by the Dwemer. Of course, it wasn't just found in Cryodiil, it was imported, because the Dwemer didn't necessarily live in Cyrodiil. Dwemer armor is also very durable, made to last for a very long time. Dwemer can make fantastic stuff.

No, it was a Sheogorath shrine I believe. And not actually connected with the MG, though you did have to talk to some lady there.

There's a document in Morrowind that might have anticipated this, but it remains contentious in the lore forum for reasons I can't recall:

http://www.imperial-library.info/mwbooks/ruinsofkemelze.shtml

This was obviously where the looters brought their finds from deeper levels, stripping off the valuable outer casings of the Dwarven mechanisms and leaving their innards here - easier than lugging the intact mechanisms back up to the top of the cliff. I laughed to myself, thinking of the many warriors unwittingly walking around Tamriel with pieces of Dwarven mechanisms on their backs. For that, of course, is what most "Dwarven armor" really is - just the armored shells of ancient mechanical men.

Also, what little http://www.imperial-library.info/gallery/mw_TAoM_p44.jpg, particularly on the midriff of the right hand figure, is vaguely similar stylistically to what we see in Oblivion.

Indeed. I had forgotten about that whole tidbit, hah. Hey though, the robot skin of Morrowind was quite shmexy. Wonder where such Cyrodilic importers would find the "actual" armor though. I guess it would have to be the Morrowind mainland. Perhaps they could very well be replicas, but it seems to be up to one's opinion at this point.

EDIT: If only the devs would open up one big lore Q&A session sometime...sigh.

One problem is that there are cuirasses of Dwemer armor beneath Mournhold with ash piles in them, now why would the Dwemer themselves where this false armor?

Because the devs didn't have any real armour to use for effect, and at that period, they didn't want to add a new one?

Even if we accept that they actually wore the Morrowind armour as they would any other armour, (a powered suit, maybe), then it's still likely they had more than one type of armour. The Oblivion version is stylistically Dwemer and fits in with their general Mesopotamian theme, so I have no reason to doubt it's not of Dwemer origin.

Maybe they were building an army of terra-cotta soldier golems. /weasel

Nor do I, I just like the Dwemer having both...

At least it's not an oversight on the scale of the the Tribunal MQ starting before the Vvardenfell Chapter is completed. They deserve to be skull[censored]ed by the Naked Nord for that one.

The Oblivion set is also the coolest and neatest looking armour in the game. It's not the most ornate set, but it's simple, elegant, and it fits well, so I'll admit I'm attached to it.

I agree, I saw a character wearing only the greaves and thought it was some cool ornate samurai modded things for a second.