Elder Scrolls Lore » Discussions


Redguard Braintstorming Thread

  • August 10, 2015

    Alright, following Phil's suggestion, I decided I would post a 'mega-thread' to put all my random thoughts in one place. Stuff revolving around Redguard culture and religion that I just randomly think of. Of course, you can contribute as well. If I think your idea is either a.) convincing/likely, or b.) extremely interesting, then I'll add it to the discussion (and credit you, of course). So let's start off with a few thoughts, bearing in mind these are extremely theoretical and could turn out to be totally crazy under a more scrutinous eye.

    Leki the Lady of Aberrant Swordsmanship: One of the more unique gods of the Yokudan pantheon. She is notable for teaching the Yokudan sword-masters the Ephemeral Feint. Prior to this, the sword-masters were all evenly matched, so they couldn't decide who would lead the charge against the Left-Handers.

    Before I get onto my theory I should provide a little context: Yokuda was extremely advanced. Some historians said its navy was superior to any navy in Tamriel, including the Altmer. Keep in mind that seafaring wasn't even their most significant subject for research; Imean they didn't have a religion based around seafaring. That should provide a bit of clue into how crazy their advancements into swordsmanship and sword-smithing would be.

    Now onto my actual theory: Julianos is the God of Wisdom, Logic, Mathematics, and Language. He's kind of the scholar of whatever pantheon he is in. How would a culture obsessed with swords imagine a god of scholarly subjects? In crazy, advanced sword techniques. Enter Leki the God of Aberrant Swordsmanship. The one who taught the Ephemeral Feint. The one who holds the knowledge of such techniques that no doubt require a knowledge of mathematics and angles to pull off, let alone actually create.

    I haven't been able to find any major issues with this theory. You could argue I'm assuming a bit too much in that second paragraph, but I feel they are reasonable ones to make.

    Diagna the Lord of the Sideways Blade: Another interesting character. No Imperial lookalike here. Just good old mortal ascension in the form of Diagna, the Yokudan Batman. Alright I don't have an explanation for that nickname but trust me, he's badass. Anyways onto something with substance...

    First off, his journey. We don't know much about it, but it sounded crazy. He really seems like Tiber Septim in that whole "I've done it all" scenario. He was a mortal, he was an avatar of a god (of the always badass HoonDing), and then he actually became a god. So let's talk about his godhood: We know pretty much nothing about it save the origin of his cult and his title, which we'll talk about first.

    The Lord of Sideways Blade. Well what does that mean? Do he use some bizarre unique sword? Or maybe it was crazy sword technique? While he did participate in the Twenty-Seven Snake-Folk Slaughter, which no doubt involved some crazy sword shenanigans, we already have Leki for that kind of stuff. That's when Veloth jumped in: Perhaps the Sideways Blade is a reference to the Walkabout. And that was just the crazy idea I needed to push me in the right direction.

    There are two important things about the Walkabout here: It involved walking in weird angles and it was done to escape the hunger the Satakal, who eats the kalpas (think a cycle of time periods only much more significant changes). Alright so the first part is rather simple: Walking sideways is a bit weird. But what about that kalpa hoopla I just brought up? Well some of you guys might not know about the Redguards' relationship with the kalpas, as in they aren't from the current one. The one with all the Nords, Imperials, beasties, etc. The Redguards are from the previous kalpa altogether. Where am I going with this? Diagna lead the Redguards into this Walkabout that allowed them to pass over into the next kalpa. See the issue with Mundus is that they were trapped; they couldn't perform the Walkabout and escape the cycle of Satakal's hunger. But Diagna did, and he was given a title with a strong connection to the Walkabout.

    But wait, Diagna had a religious following back in Yokuda, before they passed into the current kalpa. Don't forget, before he was a god, he was the HoonDing. And the HoonDing is always a well-respected figure, sometimes to the point of worship, because they always make way for the survival of the Redguard people.

    It's not a complete theory, by any means, and you could probably even find some holes. You could also say that I am reaching quite a bit. It has a lot of work to go through, but it's a start to understanding this enigmatic figure.

    *Credit to Veloth the Pilgrim

    Satakalpa: Really quick one. Satakal. Kalpa. Kind of cool since Satakal is a known world-eater not unlike the Nordic Alduin, the eater of kalpas.

    Twenty-Seven Snake-Folk Slaughter: Weird one, nothing really supporting or refuting it due to lack of any info. Just a personal idea, really.

    The Twenty-Seven Snake-Folk Slaughter was the origin of the cult of Diagna, who was instrumental to the defeat of the Left-Handed Elves. So I'll preface this with some actual facts first: The Redguards love the stars. Not in the hippy way, they studied this stuff. Their astronomical knowledge was incredibly advanced. And several Redguards were said to have tapped into the Warrior constellation itself to attain incredible martial abilities. So here is where things get crazy.

    Like the Four who attained power through the Warrior constellation, I think the Twenty-Seven Snake-Folk Slaughter attained power from some constellation. Maybe the Ritual, maybe even the dreaded Serpent. I think the Slaughter was meant to finish off the Left-Handers for good. They wanted to wipe slash the Left-Handers out of existence, by pulling off this extremely complex sword ritual.

    No evidence for this, but it is eerily possible. The Dwemer experimented themselves out of existence. In fact if you want to draw the Dwemer comparison further, maybe the Yokudans used the Orichalcum Tower and its source (which is said to be a sword) to perform the Slaughter instead of the constellation.

    Orgnum and the Left-Handers: A continuation! From the one above. This theory assumes the above one is totally true, by the way. So if you refute the one above, you might refute this one in the same swoop. Two for one! Erm, onto the theory...

    King Orgnum is the immortal serpent king of the Maormer. Some however believe he is actually Satakal. Now Satakal is on the same gradient (think level) as Anu and Padomay, with a dash of Alduin going on. So this idea is very, very unlikely. But I think it's intentional. I think Orgnum himself is spreading this idea to cause just a modicum of fear in the Redguards. Why would he hate the Redguards though? This is where things get...really weird.

    When the Redguards completed the Slaughter and slashed away the Left-Handers, they didn't wipe them out of existence. They slashed them into the next kalpa (read: the current kalpa), but stuff got crazy and all the Left-Handers fused together into one being: Orgnum the Immortal King. But he's not immortal, not really. He just has the life of every Left-Hander affected by the Slaughter. So if he is ever dealt a fatal blow, it's just one life subtracted from an inconceivably large number. And the Maormer were created by Orgnum, after all he has the power of an entire race inside of him.

    But why has he never tried to invade Hammerfell and seems to reserve his spite solely for the Altmer? Well that...is a pretty good point...

    Alright that's it for now, I will no doubt add more to this. Tell me if you have any bizarre theories for this bizarre bunch. Or if you anything to add to the current theories, or if you have any issues with any of them.

    Peace.

    By the way, if you have any title suggestions, let me hear them.

  • Member
    August 10, 2015

    I do like your Julianos/Leki idea. It sounds like crazy Yokudan lore  So has ESO busted Leki down to a saint?

    Also, found this What does it mean:

    ..among all the formidable Ansei serving the Yokudan effort, the Four had special favor from the Warrior Stars. They had meditated so fully on that constellation that they could reach through those windows, to whatever lay beyond. Thus, they grasped greater skill.

  • August 11, 2015

    I think Saint of the Spirit Sword is just one of her titles.

    That second thing is very interesting though. "Reaching through those windows" to the Warrior constellation reminds me of Rupga and his stars. The stars were meant to guide weaker spirits. It seems these guys did that, to a lesser degree. Following the stars is just kind of transcendence to the Redguards, so they didn't really follow the stars so much as see beyond them (and maybe get some tips from Leki. Wouldn't be surprised if she was connected to the Warrior). But the source says no one could find their burial tombs and we know how important that stuff is to the Redguards. So maybe they didn't even die, maybe they actually did transcend. It just took them awhile to fully realize how to truly follow the stars.

  • Member
    August 11, 2015

    Interesting Matt, you've sparked something in my mind. I don't know how to explain but I'll lay out my thought process as links below to see if you come to the same conclusion:

    How the Yokudans Chased the Stars The Warrior and his three Charges = four.

    Then The Oath of Light and Ysmir the Forefather in which Ysmir ascends to become the Warrior.

    Is that what's going on in Leki's Blade - The Four?

  • August 11, 2015

    "The Forefather divided the flame of his spirit..." ~The Oath of Light

    "...Rok'dun the Flame..." ~Leki's Blade

    Maybe. The 'flame' connection is too good to pass up for me. Rok'dun is the only of the Four with a nickname and it just happens to coincide with another story focused on the Warrior constellation? I don't think that's a coincidence.

    Though I'm confused on one thing: they're called the Four, but then it says "the three were inestimably powerful." I assume the three are the Charges and the one not mentioned represents the Warrior itself, but I don't understand it in the context of the story itself. Why exclude one of them? Not only exclude one, but ignore the exclusion all together.

  • Member
    August 11, 2015

    I assumed it was a typo  

    I wish I actually played the damn game. If both these books were added by Craglorn dlc then it may indicate an answer.

  • August 11, 2015

    Maybe it is.

    I'm just reading this right now. Author's kind of a moron, but hey, it provides a lot of info.

  • Member
    August 11, 2015

    It's a good series with lots of untapped lore for CB projects and such  

  • Member
    August 11, 2015

    Seeing as how this is the Redguard mega thread, my I mention Tava? You know how I like the Tava/Kyne/Meridia connection so I won't do that too much, but I couldn't resist mentioning a bit of it here, specifically Tava being the sun, not Ruptga or Tall Papa or whatever the Yokudan Magnus is called.

     A riddle, by Tava's shining eye! And what said the scout to that? (Ghosts of the Old Tower)

    Tava, as spirit of the air and goddess of weather, has dominion over all elements of sun and storm, save only for the stars, which belong to Ruptga (may praises ever follow his name) (The Unveiled Azadiyeh)

    Sounds like Tava is the entire sky. The Unveiled Azadiyeh is a right-wing fundamentalist!

  • August 11, 2015

    I wonder if some of these Yokudan gods are actually Magna-Ge