let me attempt to shed some light. there is a whole bunch of unofficial goodness on the redguards over on TR, but ill keep this post official.
1. not all of Hammerfell is a desert
theres some grasslands in the south and forests on the borders, and of course plenty of mountains too.
2. the HoonDing is the god of Redguard superiority. he is the god that makes people make way. he comes to the aid of the redguards when they have to pwn some foreign ass (like Tiber Septim's). http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=846688
3. Arkay is important because Redguards dont want no one messing with their soul. they believe in the far shores and the circle of life (sans Disney) and stuff, some someone stealing their soul would be disaster. the fear of trickery and soul-lossage is also the reason they distrust nudri-hi, eastern magic.
4. Sload necromancers: they are in your caves stealing your souls! Redguards don't like them (see above). the reason they are found in hammerfell is that it is quite close to Thras and in many places quite isolated.
Hm, summary of Redguard culture. The Redguards are hard core fighters. one of the worst insults a Redguard could call another Redguard would be a weak [censored] or something. They are a very proud peoples, with a rich and diverse history they are very proud of. no matter what their political allegiance is they are convinced of the fact that they are uber. The Redguards, besides being great warriors, also have a good navy which they use for both war and commerce.
there are two main political parties in Hammerfell, the Crown and Forbear. the Crown arose out of the Yoku nobility and are committed to preserving the culture of Old Yokuda. the Forbears are the descendants of the warrior wave and are more accommodating to the empire and its ways. There are no clear distinctions with this however, there are plenty of people in between. notably, Lhotun. Lhotun is the king of Sentinel and of Hammerfell, and the leader of the so-called Lhotunic party. the Lhotunics are basically a cop-out lets-all-be-friends-guys party created by Lhotun to cement his power in his vast holdings. hardcoe crowns and forbears alike hate the Lhotunic party because it doesn't take a stand and is basically weak.
Other notable things include... the Sword Singers. not only can they fashion swords by thinking about it they can also split atoms to create uber nuclear explosions. or at least they could, until they were made to forget. The Dunedwellers. they live in the Alik'r and are a much more raw and some would say primitive Redguard society. great regard for the circle of life (as symbolized by the Ouroboros Satakal) and of nature. Stark cultural contrasts are very evident in Hammerfell. some people worship the Redguard gods in their imperial counterparts, while others slither in the desert skinless biting at people's ankles. generally, fanatics are hated.
thats my standard rundown. ask for more specifics.
If i had to pick one quote to symbolise the Redguards, i'd take my signature.
Mongati HoonDing tiavo; li-mansao einei diang -- The HoonDing Guides us; All others can make way. PS. for some reason i have a hard time talking about the Redguards in proper grammar and without resorting to words like uber and pwn. they are just that awesome.
PPS. Redguards have been getting a lot of love from the community lately, which makes my Ra Gada loving ass very happy.
MK, please do chime in
I'm still kinda hoping for those cultural images of Hammerfell... ah, a girl can dream :wub:
» Sat May 15, 2010 5:58 pm 
