I'm currently working on some 3D models related to Yokudan/early Ra Gada architecture. These models contain some references to the Redguard pantheon. I like the fact that their gods are not automatically translatable to the Nine Divines. Yet it seems that there is room for only one pantheon (the Eight/Nine) in the metaphysical framework of the Aedra.

Tall Papa seems to be one of the most important if not the most important of deities in Redguard faith. If I recall correctly, MK stated many times that Tall Papa aka Rupgta is not Magnus. The reason why I myself and many others have considered Tall Papa to be a parallel god to Magnus is that they both seem to have many children deities attributed to them. But since MK's word is the law on everything TES (which I'm willing to accept) this theory goes down the drain. Next candidate as a parallel deity would be Akatosh. But clearly Satakal is the Redguard equivalent for the Time Dragon. One could argue though that Satakal is Alduin whereas Tall Papa equals Akatosh.

Then there are of course some higher deities like Anu, Padomay and Sithis that have been suggested as parallels to Tall Papa. The problem is that these gods do not seem to interfere with the Aurbic sphere apart from its creation. Tall Papa on the other hand seems to be very busy with the post-creation events. One Aedric one that comes to mind is Trinimac who slew Lorkhan just as Rupgta did to Sep.

So my question is, which deity in the Imperial, Nordic or Elven pantheon would be the closest parallel to Tall Papa given all we know from MK and ESO?

EDIT: damn, I spelled Vehk wrong, I guess I'll have hire the Morag Tong to perform a ritual assassination on me.

I'm just going to list some relationships and facts.

1.) Ruptga creates and then kills Sep

2.) Sep is Lorkhan/Shor

3.) Lorkhan/Shor is created from Sithis/Psjjj and is killed by Alduin or Trinimac

4.) Ruptga is probably not Sithis, as he seems to be an Et'Ada, "They began to take names, like Ruptga or Tuwhacca, and they strode about looking for their kin. "

5.) Ruptga is not Trinimac, else the Redguards would have some beef with the Orsimer (among other things)

6.) Ruptga disapproves of the Convention, and DOES NOT GET INVOLVED, " Tall Papa just shook his head."

7.) Ruptga tells the Aedra and Earthbones, "that they must learn new ways to follow the stars to the Far Shores now. If they could not, then they must live on through their children",. which is similar to Shezzar's speech.

Is there a Deadroth who is friendly with the Aedra and partakes in killing (and creating) Lorkhan?

Satakal is the fusion of the concepts of Sithis and Anuiel (the Aurbis), definitely not the Time God.

Tall Papa (Ruptga) is more than likely the Yokudan-Time God.

Well, trying to come up with a 1:1 parallel between pantheons reduces their worth in my opinion, but if you want to match them here's my two cents.

"Satak was First Serpent, the Snake who came Before, and all the worlds to come rested in the glimmer of its scales. But it was so big there was nothing but, and thus it was coiled around and around itself, and the worlds to come slid across each other but none had room to breathe or even be. And so the worlds called to something to save them, to let them out, but of course there was nothing outside the First Serpent"

Satak, the first serpent, parallels Anu-the-All. They both encompass everything and represent the IS, as well as stasis - nothing can actually happen at this state because everything is pure potential with no opposing force.

"This was Akel, the Hungry Stomach. Akel made itself known, and Satak could only think about what it was, and it was the best hunger, so it ate and ate. "

Akel is Anu's other half - Sithis/Padomay - The principle of sundering, IS NOT, change. It creates space within Satak/Anu for other things to separate from the All and become individuals.

"Soon there was enough room to live in the worlds and things began. These things were new and they often made mistakes, for there was hardly time to practice being things before. So most things ended quickly or were not good or gave up on themselves. Some things were about to start, but they were eaten up as Satak got to that part of its body. This was a violent time."

This refers to the beginnings of the et'ada - first spirits - and the concepts and realms they created. However, it is difficult to exist in this pre-temporal period.

"Pretty soon Akel caused Satak to bite its own heart and that was the end. The hunger, though, refused to stop, even in death, and so the First Serpent shed its skin to begin anew. As the old world died, Satakal began, and when things realized this pattern so did they realize what their part in it was."

This part is tricky. Either it refers to the kalpic cycle (which is odd because in our usual conception it does not precede creation), or it indicates some sort of cyclical nature to Anu's amaranthine dream, in terms of his betrayal by Padomay and subsequent withdrawl. I'll leave it to you to figure out which (or both or neither).

" They began to take names, like Ruptga or Tuwhacca, and they strode about looking for their kin. As Satakal ate itself over and over, the strongest spirits learned to bypass the cycle by moving at strange angles. They called this process the Walkabout, a way of striding between the worldskins.

This section parallels this: "When Akatosh forms, Time begins, and it becomes easier for some spirits to realize themselves as beings with a past and a future. The strongest of the recognizable spirits crystallize."

Ruptga is therefore a composite of several characters: Akatosh, the patriarch deity who allows the other et'ada to exist more fully and easily, escaping the destruction of the previous order of the world, and Magnus, lord of the stars who is removed from creation.

"Ruptga was so big that he was able to place the stars in the sky so that weaker spirits might find their way easier. This practice became so easy for the spirits that it became a place, called the Far Shores, a time of waiting until the next skin."

This passage corresponds to this period from a more familiar narrative:

"For ages the etada grew and shaped and destroyed each other and destroyed each other’s creations. Some were like Lorkhan and discovered the void outside of the Aurbis, though if some saw the Tower I do not know, but I know that, if they did, none held it in such high esteem. In any case, some of those that did see the void created its like inside the Aurbis, but each of these smaller voids sought each other out. Void shall follow void; the etada called it Oblivion. What was left of the Aurbis was solid change, otherwise known as magic. The etada called this Aetherius."

Here with Ruptga creating the stars, we have the magnus/anu connection, though of course the concept of a deity representing the path from mundus to aetherius (far shores) is also embodied in Auriel.

"Ruptga was able to sire many children through the cycles and so he became known as the Tall Papa. He continued to place stars to map out the void for others, but after so many cycles there were almost too many spirits to help out. He made himself a helper from the detritus of past skins and this was Sep, or Second Serpent. Sep had much of the Hungry Stomach still left in him, multiple hungers from multiple skins. He was so hungry he could not think straight."

Sep is Lorkhan, a reflection of Padomay's impetus for change. Yokudan myth has him "created" by Ruptga - When applying this to Aka/Lorkhan it's probably easier to grasp this if you think about an object "creating" the shadow it casts. The object exists, and therefore so does it's opposite. Also, the hungry Sep's version of Lorkhan has strong connection to the Greedy Man of the Skaal.

" Sep went and gathered the rest of the old skins and balled them up, tricking spirits to help him, promising them this was how you reached the new world, by making one out of the old. These spirits loved this way of living, as it was easier. No more jumping from place to place. Many spirits joined in, believing this was good thinking. Tall Papa just shook his head."

This is the creation of the mundus, with the et'ada coming together to form creation. Note that Ruptga, like Magnus, is not caught in it.

""Pretty soon the spirits on the skin-ball started to die, because they were very far from the real world of Satakal. And they found that it was too far to jump into the Far Shores now. The spirits that were left pleaded with Tall Papa to take them back. But grim Ruptga would not, and he told the spirits that they must learn new ways to follow the stars to the Far Shores now. If they could not, then they must live on through their children, which was not the same as before. "

Now the spirits of creation find that they are mortal and must reproduce if they are to survive. As in the Altmeri myth, "As their aspects began to die off, many of the et'Ada vanished completely. Some escaped, like Magnus, and that is why there are no limitations to magic. Others, like Y'ffre, transformed themselves into the Ehlnofey, the Earthbones, so that the whole world might not die. Some had to marry and make children just to last."

"Sep, however, needed more punishment, and so Tall Papa squashed the Snake with a big stick. The hunger fell out of Sep's dead mouth and was the only thing left of the Second Serpent. While the rest of the new world was allowed to strive back to godhood, Sep could only slink around in a dead skin, or swim about in the sky, a hungry void that jealously tried to eat the stars."

This is convention, where Aka has Lorkhan killed for his deeds. The hunger is his heart, which falls to the world "to grant it a measure of selfishness". The dead skin he slinks around in are Shezzarines, and the hungry void in the sky is the serpent constellation.