What races do you guys think make the best scouts, from a lore standpoint? Bosmer have some obvious advantages, with the Beast Tongue. Argonians can manuever through wetlands better than anyone. Redguards have been described as adventurous and quick. Mostly, I created this thread because I want to make a scout in Skyrim, but lore inconsistancies bug the hell out my neurotic self.

Which race would you think most needs a dispenser here?

Probably the Wood Elves, being that they have that pesky Green Pact

Hmmm... So if the Scout's a bosmer... The Demoman is a redguard, The Heavy is a nord, the Medic is an altmer, Spy is a khajiit, the Sniper is an argonian, the Engineer is a dwemer, the Soldier is an imperial, and the Pyro is a dunmer.

Edit: I seem to have forgotten the bretons! Perhaps engie's the dunmer instead, and the Pyro's a breton, what with ther affinity for magic..

But to seriously discuss your OP, you can probably give reasons for or against any race. A nord would make a good scout in Skyrim because they can better stand the cold, for one. An argonian scout, by the advantage you mention would thus likely keep to Hjaalmarch instead of romping around the whole country.

Which nations in Tamriel have fielded armies? All of them. When is scouting important for an army? Always. So, what ethnic group would have among its members scouts? All of them.

Fixed that for you. The Imperials are just a reskin of Nords, and don't count. In fact, they shouldn't exist in TES lore in the first place.

By The Red Mud of Mother Niben, what impiety is this? Sacred is the name of Righteous Tiber, but the Atmoran volkism his regime fostered is a detriment to us all. The Silk doesn't lie - our blood scretches back to before Perrif ever defied the lash, to the dawn-time when Shezarr himself led our bronzed-knee'd hoplites in triumph over Ayleid perdition.

Also:

Soldier- Raga
Scout - Khajiit
Pyro - Dunmer

Demoman - Nord
Heavy - Orsimer
Engineer - Dwemer

Medic - Breton
Sniper - Bosmer
Spy - Cryodil

None of that ever happened. Prior to the Warp in the West, you never existed.

Our Lordship Uriel VII (may he rest in peace) would beg to differ...

The Cyrodiils do have Nordic blood, yes, but the Atmorans are not Nedes. The latter are native to Tamriel.

Tiber Septim tried to connect them so Cyrodiil would accept a Nordic Emperor and so the Nords would actually care what went on down south.

There were no Cyrodiils prior to the Warp in the West. Before then, the Imperial Province was a mostly-equal blend of the races from all eight other provinces, with their own culture distinct from the provinces.

Yes, I gripe about the change in lore between Daggerfall and Redguard.

Yes. Which is what we got in Oblivion. Little Skyrim, Little Morrowind, ect. Hell, there is no Imperial culture, No Imperial cities, No Imperial villages, no Imperial nothing. And to my knowledge, Imperials popping up has nothing to do with the Warp in the West. Just a retcon.

Which has a vague jusitication about Imperial "scholars" being wrong about their ancestery.

LoL, there is no Imperial culture.

That's like saying there's no American culture.

Not really. It's not a melting pot, because the Imperials don't paritcipate in that melting pot. They add nothing, and they take nothing. They have the Nine Diivnes, but they aren't expanded on until Knights of the Nine. There are no politics, or cultural interpetations of those politics. It's more like a pie. That slice is Skyrim. The other is Hammerfell. Imperials don't get their slice.

Edit: The Nords of Skyrim are more devout to the Imperial religion than Imperials.

The culture presented in Oblivion said otherwise. The race itself doesn't have one because it shouldn't even exist in the first place.

However, the cultures within Cyrodiil are all mixed, except for a few people who like to wear the Flag of their province on their head - and tend to be as Authentic Representations of their racial culture as my family is of Irish culture (As in, we say we are, and go through the stereotypical motions like drinking Guiness and being loud on St. Patrick's Day, but that's nothing like what Ireland's really like.)

Well it's here now. They aren't going away. They are now just as much of a part of TES as everyone else.

Also, race is cultural in TES. There isn't a fine line between them. Bosmer just didn't follow Altmer racial purity culture, and married humans. Imperials are shorter, darker "Nords" in Colovia. Especially in Colovia, where they where Nords (in culture, as well as much of their ancestry) until Bethesda changed that.

Nibenay, IIRC, is the area the spawned from nothing.

You'll have to forgive me,for I started this series with Morrowind; but I loved the whole Imperials-are-damn-good-at-diplomacy-and-speaking thing they had going for them. I liked how that was going for them until Skyrim, where they lost their Speech(craft) bonus.

Did the Imperials lose their ability to speak well during the various warlord successions post-Septim Empire?

...Or because Beth thought we wanted generic Tolkien-ania. The good bones of Cyrodiil's culture is there, they were just weren't utilized properly. Todd has admitted as much.



Agreed. Especially since their in-game description still has them as being shrewd diplomats and traders.

Of course, thinking back, how many Cyrodils have we encountered that really seemed all that silver-tongued? I mean, Crassius Curio was endearing, but in a weird-uncle-that-we-don't-talk-about kind of way.

I thought it wasn't necessarily how they put their words but the quality of their voice. In Morrowind it was that TV-newscaster voice, and in Oblivion it was Wes Johnson. Which makes Skyrim interesting, because Imperials don't have their own, distinct voice (besides Wes Johnson doing a few Imperial characters)

Challenge! Go through Uncle Crassy's dialogue and read it twice. The first time with the Morrowind Imperial's voice, and the second time with Wes Johnson's voice.

Bonus Round! Read it in Wes' Lucien Lachance voice.

If your going to say that cyrodiils should not exist because they did not I'm daggerfall, then what about the former beast folk Orcs? They where just clever goblins in Arena. You can't say the cyrodiils should exist because of your lack of understanding about their culture. Because guess what they do have a very colourful and unique one, just go and play oblivion again and you'll see. The cyrods are a very interesting people who love law and order and are very well educated second only to the Altmer. I love the imperials as much as all the other races. And any true heartlander would beat you to an inch of your life ( or persuade a big Orc to (; ) after hearing you insult his proud heritage! Oblivion just need to be as well made ( lore wise) as morrowind or even Skyrim for that matter.

So yeah, there you go.....

Have you even played either of the first two games?

Unlike the Imperials, the Orcs were around since Day 1. Daggerfall had a major questline dedicated to getting the Orcs recognized as a true race. Heck, even goblins are a "race" as much as the Khajiit or Orcs - They just haven't made a strong enough case to get recognized for acceptance into the Tamrielic Imperial Culture.

The Cyrodiilic "Race" (As in Olive-skinned smooth-talking Men), though, came out of nowhere, and broke the established lore that the Imperial Province consisted of a mostly even blend of all other races into a unique culture. They could have even had all the unique updates to province's culture introduced in Redguard and Morrowind without having to create a new race of Humans. Any Elf, Cat, Lizard, or Man that calls Cyrodiil "Home" is an Imperial by "race" - even if their dermal makeup and lifespans vary.

In fact, their existance forces ALL races to conform to stereotypes and caricatures.

That just doesn't follow.

Where would a unique Cyrodiilic culture, moths and facial tats and all that smooth jazz, have originated from if not from Cyrodils?

Was it invented, wholesale? That's patently ridiculous and unbelievable.

Is is just a mash-up, a garden salad of all the others? Because that's hardly unique.

Honestly, the old, pre-Redguard Cyrodilic Empire didn't make a lot of sense. Where did it originate? Certainly, not Cyrodiil, since there was no native population. Are we to believe that all the races just kind of got together and mutually decided to incorporate, with the capital in this vacant-lot-land in the center? Because that's entirely too silly.

I really think that the lore needed Cyrodils. The whole thing runs better as a result. Mind you, that's qua-olive-skinned-smooth-talking-men, not generic men that generic boring people can identify with, because then they do make the other races look caricaturish in comparison.

My point was that the cyrods are a well established race in TES, just because things have changed since Daggerfall doesn't mean they are anymore less a race than the bosmer or argonian. And yes I have played both Arena and Daggerfall, I was using the orcs as an example because just look how much their lore has improved now they are a type of mer instead of just beast folk. Every race in the elder scrolls has changed since TES 2 and for the better.

It makes more sense for an empire to be ruled by one distinct race, which is what has happen all throughout human history. They have a wonderful history and culture and have played a great role in what TES os now. Just think of the influence they have had on both lore and games. Yes they just kind of popped up from nowhere, but look at this amazing gameworld they have helped make. I love the imperials and their culture, even if its not wholesale original from bethesda. In my opinion the changes made from Daggerfall have greatly improved TES, Cyrodiil is now a province different from all the others and not just a no mans land jungle of nothingness.