Redguards seem arab-style to me, and Imperials are clearly Roman-influenced. But how about khajiits? Somehow i have always imagined Elsweyr to be somewhat anologous to Ancient Egypt, but i have read very little lore...is there any info on this?

That was always the misconception with khajiits heh. I think it was the Daggerfall cut scenes that showed Arab style buildings in Hammerfell. But anyway, http://imperial-library.info/content/pocket-guide-empire-first-edition-elsweyr-confederacy should be of some help for you. I can't find any pictures of Elsweyr from Arena, but from I gather, Elsweyr is sort of like Egypt in the desert sense. But the southern half is also dense tropical rainforest. The designs of buildings probably differ depending on the region. There also seems to be many nomadic tribes in the province.

Redguards aren't Arabs; they're Persians. Oops, did I say Persians? I meant Swahili Coast Africans. I mean Andalusians! Or Uzbeks. Yeah, Uzbeks is the ticket. Just don't tell the Tajiks.

You see how fast this sort of exercise becomes meaningless?

According to the art book, Redguards in this game were modeled after Moors. Though really none of the cultures in TES correspond exactly to any real life cultures.

One possible reference?

I thought the Khajiit were Fremen
Riding giant sugarpillars
They drop baby sugarpillars into water
And all of it melts into sweet, sweet skooma
The Mane sees the stars and the moons and the non-moons and the unstars

but yeah, then we could argue from where Dune got its references.

Dune and TES go together quite well.
It's probably why I like the Khajiit so much; nostalgia for the Fremen and Muad'Dib.

Yeah, that's blatant disregard for the way she's actually described in the books. But uh, maybe she uses her... features like a camel uses their humps?


TES basically is magic dune. Talos / Vivec / the Godhead is Leto II, CHIM / 'Love' is the power of the Kwizatz Haderach to unite the male and female aspects of his soul and in so doing become all of time and space, except for other prescients. Remember, at the climix of Dune, Paul knows the now, and from that point on, he's basically one with everything, but continues to fight the urge to zero-sum all through Messiah, until he gives up and Leto II takes over. The climix of God Emperor is just like the creation of the mundus, or (possibly Amaranth), because he imposes limits on humanity (via the no-spheres, dissolution of the empire, and re-release of Spice), so that the beings he love can truly grow (/ win Krazilek). Hell, his mind literally shatters into a thousand 'pearls' at the end, just like the godhead shattered.

This may have made no sense to anyone but me.

I like to imagine the Khajiiti with Indian (as in the subcontinent) styling.

Vedic, Egyptian, Eastern African, maybe some Arabian thrown in.

*raises hand* I get it!

Yay!

Paul Atreides is the union of male and female, the magic hermaphrodite, the martial axiom, the six-death of language and unique in all the middle world.

I was under that was his kids?*

*has not read anything beyond Dune.

Leto II as well, and he did it more fully, but Paul did it first. Actually now that I think about it, if one considers Paul as attaining CHIM then Leto must have attained Amaranth, as he took the next step which Paul couldn't bring himself to.

Right about now, I wish Douglas Goodall could've submitted his Ta'Agra piece.

Man, I should really catch up on the books again. I stopped after God Emperor (book 4?) because it got a bit too trippy for me. Especially with what Leto pulled.
(and the fact that it touches on one of my top three horrors. Getting eaten from inside.

_{actual spoiler. Ending to the book. Stop looking at it.}
:) ... )

But yeah, the more I think about Paul and Leto http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te_Nv3lMUnA it up, I like how you pointed it out. Leto and Ghani bring up the subject of lost identity pretty damn clearly. It was almost heartbreaking at the end of Children (book 3, i think?), because I had grown attached to the characters; also, because I'm a pansy. Jeeze. Reach CHIM and become the Godhead, while stopping the Godhead from becoming you, and all that confusion.

-----
* sorry
Though, remembering the books with this sad tune
I now pout :<

I also stopped at that point. I really felt like God Emperor was a great finishing point, especially because of how terrifying it was. I mean,

Nah, it made perfect sense. There are a lot of... "philosophical" similarities between the two.
The recent Chimere letters even mention a golden path, don't they?


Likewise.

Perhaps we should make a new thread for TES/Dune comparisons instead of continuing to go off topic here... :tongue:

All race of Tamriel take a mix of influences and none are restricted to any given influence. Redguards I'd say are more African / North African which contributed to much Arab culture.

For Khajjit I'd say more Indian / Persian

1. Elsweyr is a mix of jungle and desert
2. natives resembling big cats such as leopards, tigers & lions.
3. They make good warriors in light armor, bladesmen & marksmen
4. according to the lady in whiterun, many are traders that get who get bad hostility from other races.
5. many trade in caravans (as in a semi-nomadic people carrying their good on horses / camels, living in tents and not as in a house on wheels)
6. many struggle and turn to thievery
7. Khajiit have a fondness to skooma and have large Skooma pipes
8. the names of the Khajiit often end in Jiit or we find names like Ra'ja


I would say India / Persia is the nearest comparison.

1. India / Persia is desert & Jungle
2. India is the only country that has most types of large cat. It has the Asian lion, the tiger, the leopard etc. Tigers & Lions have been a symbol used by most Indian cultures throughout the centuries. A tiger is still the national mascot for India. A lion is on the flag of Sri Lanka. Bangladesh has the Bengal tiger. Pakistan has the lion... etc etc.
3. Indians / Persians specialize in light armed swordsmen / marksmen / spearmen type warriors armed with curves swords. Indian warriors such as the Rajputs or the Bhil are examples of this.
4. many Indians throughout the world make good traders even though they have at times faced hostility from natives - this include Romani Gypsies who also originate from India.
5. Many Indians trade via caravans. There are ethnic groups in India who are semi-nomadic traders. Romani Gypsies are one group who left India 1000yrs ago and came to Europe.
6. In India there is a large poorer community who often join underworld criminal gangs specializing in thievery and begging (something still happening to this day as seen in the film "Slumdog Million")
7. In India there is a large drug problem due to the warm climate and the availability to grow the stuff. Laws out there are a lot more laps to that in Europe etc. There are many hemp and hash dens amongst the Indian underworld. There is also an Indian home brewed spirit made out of sugar cane which is a problem with men in some local villages.
8. Many names in India end in jiit, such as Harjiit, Ranjiit. Another Indian name is Raj / Raja.

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/798350.jpg
http://www.kamit.jp/27_mali/mopti_2.jpg
http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/1035821.jpg
http://oursurprisingworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/sudan_photo_trip_09.jpg
http://sacredsites.com/africa/ethiopia/images/looking-down-bet-giorgis-500.jpg
http://www.ourplaceworldheritage.com/photolibrary/photos/ET02NAVL_111.jpg
http://www.planetware.com/i/photo/potala-palace-lhasa-chn1199.jpg
http://www.worldfpa.org/wp-content/gallery/underground-houses-in-western-henan/hpa6-underground-houses-in-western-henan01.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/USA_09669_Taos_Pueblo_Luca_Galuzzi_2007.jpg
http://www.lrfdecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Ashanti-Traditional-Buildings-2.jpg
http://img1.photographersdirect.com/img/62/wm/pd540247.jpg
http://www.alkaye.com/images/dogon%20tellem.jpg
http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/11/00/c6/dogon.jpg
http://africafreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/serengeti-landscape2.jpg
http://thebesttraveldestinations.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/bamboo-forest-01.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3311/3292127372_dca76327a4.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_-zOrAL1V5Jg/TUVJh-9RQkI/AAAAAAAAJU8/kPymiUCg8WI/s640/jodhpur+blue+city+2.jpg
http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/210/cache/manarola-italy-coast_21080_990x742.jpg
http://blog.bt-store.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/masai-women480.jpg
http://www.amateursinafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/dogon-mask-ecu.jpg
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3320/3568092441_6cd29c1d0f_o.jpg
http://www.klikmenu.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Cave-Homes-Yaodong-500x589.gif
http://www.mummytombs.com/egypt/animal.cats.jpg
http://inanna.virtualave.net/bastet1.jpg

Uh that's mostly architecture, but that's a start on how I imagine Elsweyr

I always saw Khajiit/Elsweyr as a mix of everything from the Maghreb and Levant to Persia/Pakistan, including the Arabian peninsula in between - pretty much Elsweyr = greater Middle East. The countries and cultures there are similar to the outsider's view yet rather diverse among themselves, as is the Khajiit race itself, of which there are many variations. The Elsweyr landscape, Khajiiti tribal social structure, many of them being traders and traveling in caravans, widespread drug use (akin to khat in parts of the middle east), and prejudice towards Khajiit from other inhabitants of Tamriel as well as poor understanding of their philosophy are all similar to the real life Middle East.

"The Golden Road" in TES refes to the path of madness via Sheogorath. To be "down the golden road" is to be going mad.

This tells me you live a sheltered life and you gossip a lot.

???