Firt of all, I know that you can't find an exactly real counterpart for TES's races. But it's undeniable that they are based on real cultures. I have found the source (or sources) of inspiration for different races (well, they are quite obvious, for some), however, I haven't been able to find any for Altmer (though I suppose they are more or less like High Elves from other fantastic worlds), Bosmer (same as Altmer), Argonians and Redguards. Now, I'm especially interested about Redguards.

Firt, I thought they took inspiration from some Middle Eastern culture. But as I explored their Lore, I found some things that sounded quite Japanese (different terms in the matter of http://content3.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Sword-singer, as "Ansei" or ""Shehai Shen She Ru", the name of the best sword singer in history, Frandar do Hunding Hel Ansei No Shira or the very name of Yokuda). I would like to know about Yokudan culture, as for Skyrim I would like one of my characters to be a very traditionalist Redguard, interested in "The Way the Spirit Sword". So, Loremasters, what can you tell me about Yokudan culture? Were Anseis some kind of samurais, or maybe something completely different?

The Anseis were THEE greatest swordsmen ever. They developed a technique that, pretty much, allowed them to create lightsabres from their own energy (not magicka), and had the ability to cut atoms. Hell, that technique was the reason why Yokuda sunk, and even Vivec, during the prime of his life as a god, [censored] his pants when Cyrus was playing a bluff by taking the stance, not to mention I think he erased it from the collective memory.

Also, you have to remember this, cultures are superficial at best for each and every race. All of them are a mishmash of RL cultures. Hell, the Imperials are actually a biggest mishmash than one can be lead to believe.

Thanks for the information! I had read that Anseis were very powerful, but I didn't imagine that they were SO powerful.

Yes, I know TES's are a mixture of a lot of cultures, but, however, you can see a strong Roman component in Imperials. They are not the Romans of Tamriel, but you can clearly identify some common aspects, although lots of elements of their culture come from other sources. However, with Redguards, I can only see words resembling to a real world language, but I don't know about their culture, not enough to see even a weak conection to some real world civilization.

Maybe a tad bit off-topic, but I've heard things like that before, where can I read about that? Is that the same Cyrus from TESA: Redguard? I always wanted more information on him but couldn't really find it.

http://www.imperial-library.info/content/lord-vivecs-sword-meeting-cyrus-restless

Wasn't Vivec one of the contributers to the Pankratosword stance anyway?

Don't think so.

I also have a few questions about redguards...

Do they have any relation to the other human races of Tamriel? All the other humans descended from the nords, correct? If the redguards did not, what is their creation story?

Do they consider talos a god? Sep is obviously Shor, but who do the other gods of the redguard pantheon represent? Do Aka and Lorkhan have the same relationship as they do in other cultures?

Thanks...

Descending from the Nords is hardly correct. The humans of Cyrodiil and other regions were already on Tamriel when the Atmorans (lNords-to-be) arrived there (again). All life started on Tamriel, so the Redguards are definitely somehow related, though the exact relation is unknown and also kind of unimportant.



They would probably acknowledge Tiber Septim's achievements begrudgingly and out of courtesy rather than conviction. Akatosh and Lorkhan necessarily have the same relationship, since that is part of the way creation works. Among the other gods, there are some anologues to be made with the Imperial divines: Zeht-Zenithar, Tuwhacca-Arkay, Tava-Kynareth and Morwha-Mara. The other (known) gods are more idiosyncratic to the Yoku and are just some of their countless spirits and heroes.

If there's one thing about the Redguards, they have gods of "we have too many gods." Also, I feel the combine Shor and Akatosh in their pantheon, with the snakes Sep and Sakatal later on (or something like that. I hate their creation myth, so confusing!)

Ah, did not know that, thanks. Does that include the races of akavir? Is there any text of their time on Tamriel before moving to yokuda?

The two version of the Anuad implies that Nirn used to have only 1 continent, but the war between Shor and Auriel caused massive damage to the land, creating the 5 continents, or something like that. The Hist were observers and seemed to not have fought in it, but much of the land they occupied was sunk due to the war. As for the races of Akavir, it is said that the beastmen fought on the side of men, but it is possible that there may be hist on Akavir.

If Hist are the trees, then there could be Hist on Akavir with similar symbioses with the native life as theirs with the Argonian lizards.

Don't their roots reach into the Aurbis Prime?

I think it's possible that some Hist might exist in Akavir or elsewhere.

wasnt there a relative of the hist on umbriel? i remember mere-glim seeing something like that.

There were trees that looked kinda like the Hist and gave off similar psychic signals (for lack of a better term). We don't know whether they actually are relatives of the Hist, since Umbriel also has man and mer looking people who are really worms.

well, the specifics are a bit vague, but the souls get recycled through the ingenium and then put into the worms. the question becomes whether or not all the souls of men and mer on umbriel originated on nirn and then get replaced in a convenient vessel, at that point its the soul that really matters and the worm is just a means for umbriels brand of immortality. just because a dunmer knows nothing of her race doesnt mean shes not a dunmer. glims skraw buddy(welk?) insinuates glims mere presence will allow the ingenium to create more argonians, but considering the fact they svcked up a bunch of argonian souls it seems likely the ingenium would just stick those into the worms rather than...well it cant manufacture souls right? that would defeat the purpose..