The Redguard in general have an interesting take on all religion. It's minimalist but insanely confusing at the same time.

Yeah, there's like...what...3 main deities? Tall Papa, old snake, and new snake made out of the old snake. Other than that, things get hazy till the end.

Pygmies.
Not real pygmies, though, but, rather, stereotypical views of them in the beginning of last century.

I always saw Morrowind and the Dunmer as sort of an amalgamate of middle-Eastern cultures from the ancient world... like Egypt, Persia etc. They're not the FAR East. That's Akavir. That's the mystical orient of legend. The Dunmer are a culture that's been interacted with and warred with before, and there's been some culture swapping, but they're still considered a bit alien and different. Persia is a very good comparison, if the Imperials are Greco-Roman.

Occasionally, I'll try to read about Yokudan deities and look for similarities, particularly in naming, but there's not much of that either, and it seems much more esoteric than even the Aldmeri religio-philosophical tradition.

Even Ta'agra myth has more in common with the oldest Aldmeri religious myth cycles.

I think the Yokudan religions have more in common with the pre-Reman Cyrodiilic pantheon then anything. Both like to venerate their greatest heroes as gods instead of worshiping the Aldmeri pantheon. In a lot of ways it makes sense that they'd intentionally shy away from Auri-el, Y'ffre, and Magnus and venerate Tall Papa, Tu'whacca, Leki, and Onsi. Like the Khajiiti though, they have "Fail Safe Button" entity, and a sizable amount of their religious lore deals with teaching and leading through exodus.

Oh, and Somerset is a place in England.

:shrug:


I agree, it's just a general overview of the place.

What do you mean by "Fail Safe Button" entity?

The only deities that are pretty obvious whom they are referencing are Akatosh and Shor, however both are not in that much of a great light. Though I can't help but think if the first snake was supposed to be Akatosh, or the first snake's stomach which is used to make the second snake, Sep. Or both are Akatosh and Shor together, just repeatedly eating each other. I think I'll go with the latter, unless convinced otherwise.

Point being, one came from the other. From Time, limit. blah blah blah

In case you are wondering - which you are - I'm working undercover, as a priest of Akatosh. I'm going to change my history. The synod has made me the dead-shift, lamp waver. Without me, Akatosh might stub his toe in the dark, or not see the traitors around, and so I ensure there will be a tomorrow.

I always liked to imagine that Elsweyr is like a Mexico-Arabia combination, with nomads in the north and Mayan-looking cities in the south.

For me, as a writer of unofficial lore literature, I keep in mind the "Nords are kinda like vikings" or "Imperials are kinda like Romans" mantra, but only as a base from where to build off of or to add something cool from that real life culture to Tamriel (a Romanesque ampitheatre in the Imperial City, a mead hall in Skyrim, a shisha bar in Hammerfell). However, I first make sure it doesn't conflict with the official lore or that I'm not overly strict in not including something unique or cool because its not viking or Roman. Are there apple pies in Skyrim? Maybe.

Redguard- The HoonDing
Khajiiti- Baan Dar

Strange I can see a little celtish / britton feel to the Bosmer, tree pacts a lot of anchient britain was marshy and fertile.
Plus there were tribes of pygmies ( although to be fair, I only heard once about this, and it may have been early 20th century eugenics BS ).

The Argonians I feel have some pacific islander in structure for some reason.

The Khajiit again some Indian and korean influence in area, and social structure.

Dunmer, range from middle east to north africa, spain.

Nords, in Morrowind they had a pictish influence to them.

Orcs, babylonian in religeon and hunish in millitary.

Why couldn't Sep be "The Serpent"?

By the way, is The Serpent constellation Lorkhan? I'm not sure if I read that somewhere, or if I just sort of made it up.

As it has been said, none of the cultures have a direct counterpart. They have real life influences, but Imperials are not Romans. Much of it is unique. And I have seen dozens of "counterparts" for the Dunmer in these kinds of topics.

Now, discussing the possible influences and similarities could be interesting. But saying "Dunmer = [Insert culture here]" is boring.

Nah, he's the moons, Massur and Secunda, with his heart who the hell knows where.

I always thought that the Hlaalu architecture looked very Middle-Eastern. Which would also vaguely fit if you compare the Tamriel/Earth maps. (Just like Cyrodiil in Oblivion looks a bit European, and vaguely fit where Europe is, map-wise). Also, I'm from Norway, and I would say it's almost easier to list differences between the Norse culture and Nords than the similarities. They are very similar. (Well, at least very similar to the somewhat simple stereotype of vikings).

So have I. Plus, Dunmer seem to have been influenced by steppe nomads as well imo. The yurts used by the ashlanders, the bows, nomadic lifestyle, khans, hetmans etc.

I usually think about the Altmer as Japanese-inspired sometimes too, living on an island without leaving it too much and having developed culture and such things. But Im not really into Japanese history/culture so I could be basing this on assumptions.

But as said, a Tamriel race doesnt equal a real world race. They are influenced by real world cultures, but not 100% based on.

Altmer - Germany's "Master Race" Aryans (google it) during WW2. Though they're not real, just thought I'd throw that in there. "Pure blood" superioritists.

Dunmer are hard to put into a realistic group, though, as they where so fleshed out in Morrowind. We have what people often describe as "Native Americans", but then we also have the enslavers, then we aso have the zealots, then we also have the shady businessmen, then we also have the honour bound warriors. Very difficult.

And about the bosmer not being anything like a Native American, due to thier cannibalism: Obviously none of the races are going to be exactly as something is in Earth. Bethesda has more imagination than that. I mean, even Nords, the most Human of all the races, aren't always just typical scotsmen/Norse.