I always found it interesting how they have completely Imperial settlements in Valenwood, Elsweyr, and Black Marsh. Southpoint, Hakoshae, and Gideon are great at showing Imperial culture within other provinces.
What y'all are missing is all the times the Empire had there capital taken and had armies stranded in other countries. This is probably where alot of these Imperial towns come from
Keep in mind, Oblivion was a HUGE deal at time of its release. Nothing on that scale had even been attempted prior to that, and it changed the open world gaming concept going forward. That was my huge complaint about Skyrim. The cities in Skyrim, with the exception of maybe Solitude and Windhelm, actually feel small. Sure, the Imperial city probably isn't that big overall, but for the technology of the time it was huge. It also sells the illusion of seeming bigger than it is pretty well.
Oblivion is a very watered down rpg game compared to Morrowinds 27 skills, and you dont have darts, spears and unarmored etc. And if you compare Oblivion to Daggerfall it becomes laughable. The only positive thing about Oblivion is the quests, all other aspects like enemy scaling, voice acting and the generic lotr world makes Oblivion an objectively low quality video game.
Lol, I'm not getting into some sort of gatekeeper argument. I've played III, IV, and V respectively. They all have their strengths and faults. Honestly, for me in my opinion, if they bring back the spell creation from IV and the number of wearable items from III (which has been gradually declining in every subsequent game since), then ES VI would be a damn near perfect interpretation for me.
@@SwankyKitteh82 Yes that would be perfect Elder Scrolls 6, which race and class is your favorite? I only play either an Argonian Nightblade or spellsword or Dunmer battlemage or Pure mage.
For my first run, I usually start out with a pure Bosmeri glass cannon stealth archer. Which, while hardly unique, is always a fun run. Second run is usually a human spellblade of some sort. The stories vary and change. With Skyrim, she was an Imperial Dawnguard crusader and that worked out really well. Dual-wielding Dunmer assassin is usually next for a Morag Tong run. Altmer mage is next with my primarily "evil" Thalmor Justicar run. And here I wonder why I end up with some 3000+ hours in each of these games overall, lol.
@@thomasrosendahl2783 wow, you are so completely objectively wrong about almost all of that. You are very clearly subjective, and Oblivion is far better than you pretend it is. Lol, seriously
@@badluck5647 Yeah, for example picking the Reachmen sub race for a Breton should drastically change how your character is treated. Your character interactions should be much different to Bretons since Reachmen seem to be even more hated then Orcs are. Npcs calling your character a "daedra worshiping savage" and just general being looked down upon but your characters would have a easier time interreacting with fellow Reachmen, like gaining access to Reachmen clans easier. .
@@badluck5647 I'd be happy for it to effect stats too. I'd personally rather play as a tanky, two-handed melee warrior Cathey-Raht Khajiit that towers over others, instead of an agile and sneaky little Cathey or Suthay. But I know a lot of people prefer the latter. Plus, it's mostly a starting boost any way - unless they changed things up by allowing each races/sub-races bonuses to gain experience slightly faster too (like the Warrior/Mage/Thief stones but baked in to the race/sub-race).
@@EndoScorpion I personally don't like having to being locked into a play style before the game even starts, so I prefer the stat difference between races to be minimal.
@@badluck5647 You wouldn't have too. I don't think it would make a massive difference. As you can still have any character of any race learn anything and everything. It wouldn't be as extreme as being locked out of certain play-styles because of it. But for those who do want to min-max and have their choices matter at least to some degree, it's there.
I love how the Imperials were set up as this stock-standard "everyman" race and culture in Oblivion, and then were given one of the most interesting cultural histories in the lore. These people's *history* is batshit, talking-winged bulls, templar-themed knights from the stars, Reman being born from a hillock, these things seem like funny haha stories until you realize that most of the Cyrodillic population probably believes these things really happened, *and then* realize that these things might have ACTUALLY happened
I really liked this whole little project Lady Nerevar (MK's wife) did where she went about trying to distinguish Cyrodillic culture as if it were actually the size of a country. The northwestern Colovians being kinda Cyrillic (that's certainly what the hats suggest), Nibenay being a bit like south Asia, the the southwest being very Mediterranean and the northeast being closest to what we think of as "Imperial culture" where there's less obvious Colovia / Nibenay distinction. It made the world feel far more *real* and it makes a lot of sense for a province that's essentially a giant human melting pot.
Titus Mede was a Colovian warlord so there kinda was a re-retcon in books at least. But it also does make sense to homogenize the imperial culture since they've been unified as a single empire for much of their recent history. A more interesting re-retcon imo would be to bring back the jungle (tho it would break the current lore just as much as oblivion did)
@@aggressivenipples8391 i always thought of Cyrodiil being Brazil. It may used to be a jungle but imperial pressence have terraformed most of jungle areas to be livable for human civilizations
The Nedes don’t exactly have a distinct appearance. As a race, Nedes can be sub-divided into various “ethnicities”. The Nedes of Hammerfell, called the Duraki, had olive skin, and were based on Middle Eastern people like Arabs before the Redguards wiped them out and took their culture and aesthetics. The Nedes of Black Marsh, called the Kothri, had silver skin before dying out to the Argonians. The pattern continues for Nedes in every other Tamrielic region, like the Skyrim Nedes who became the Reachmen, or the other “ethnicities” of Nedes throughout the rest of Tamriel that were either bred out or eradicated. How the rest of them looked? Only Shor knows. But there is one group of Nedes that are the most significant - the Cyrodiilic Nedes - who had somewhat of a “Indo-European” aesthetic to them, both in appearance and culture. Eventually, the Nords of the 500 Companions (who were the *last* wave of Nordic migrants out of Atmora) saved the Nedes from the Ayleids and took Nedic women as concubines and warbrides. They bred them before leaving them behind and returning to Skyrim. This gave birth to a hybrid race called the Cyro-Nords who lived as tribal hunter-gatherers in Cyrodiil. Eventually, this hybrid race would adapt to Cyrodiil’s climate and split into two races or “ethnicities”. The Cyro-Nords of western Cyrodiil turned into the Colovians, who have rosy skin based on Romans and Greeks. On the other hand, the Cyro-Nords of eastern Cyrodiil turned into the Nibenese, who have brown skin and based Indians. The Niben Valley itself is a direct reference to the Indus Valley. Essentially, the Colovians constitute more of the classical European peoples and the Nibenese are based more on the Aryan societies of India. These two races would eventually be united under one identity - an identity based on their colonial culture - the Imperials. You can even tell what Imperial is what just by looking at them. The Mede Dynasty are clearly Nibenese due to their brown skin. Tullius is Nibenese too. Though Commander Maro is clearly Colovian and has a very clear Italian appearance. Essentially, are Colovians and Nibenese united as one. There has even been a tradition of trying to bring other human races under the Imperial/coloniser identity. Nords and Redguards, alongside the Cyrodiilians, were even referred to collectively as Imperials by Cyrodiilic intellectuals during the battle against the Aldmeri Dominion, likely for propaganda purposes to true keep all human races united under one cause. In any case, Imperials are kind of similar to the Reachmen race - they are indeed distinct to other races, but they’re a hybrid race formed by the genetic union of various different races.
This is all good and well written. But I don't buy into the nord making the needs into imperials. The nords we're fighting the snow elves and dunmer and dwemer at the same time as the needs fighting the aylieds. They didn't take concubines or such. They weren't even considered nords at the time. The imperials we see today are actually interbred with the needs that we're in Skyrim. They became nords after the second wave of atmorans, like you said. First needs, then atmorans, then some mixing and bam nords. The nedes and atmorans mixed to become imps and the atmorans who mixed with Skyrim nedes became nords
I reject the theory that Rakada wiped out the Nedes. I believe that the Redguards being brown instead of charcoal black suggests Nede-Yakudan mixture therefore Redguard.
I’m pretty sure the Redguards have always had that culture and Aesthetic of middle eastern or moors lmao There aren’t olive skin Arabs in elder scrolls
The reason that Imperials were not playable in Daggerfall, wasn't because they didn't exist. There are quests in Daggerfall in which you interact with NPCs who state that they are Imperials, albeit trying to keep that quiet. And the Cyrodiil region is on the character race selection window, but 'greyed-out'. Though, I don't specifically recall what they call that area, if anything, when you mouse over it. It's there, you just can't play an Imperial. In the timeline, you get the impression that they, as a race or nation, are sort of on the outs with the regions surrounding the bay which separates Daggerfall, Wayrest & Sentinel. I vaguely recall there being some side-quests which comment on why that is, but it was over 20 years ago that I lived and breathed that game. Also, more-so in Tamriel's past (pre-ESO eras), the Eight certainly seem to favor the Imperial peoples. So, if you needed some rational behind their bonuses, that could play some part too. Also,...fuck Elves! Long live the Empire.
The Imperials may not be magical, but they are naturally talented soldiers and fighters and warriors! They literally have skill bonuses to Heavy armor, blade + blunt / one-handed in every game! Imperials are historically and politically super interesting and relevant, and they also have an awesome aesthetic. The Imperials are one of my favorite races! Long live the Empire!❤
@@juicypineapple6995 They are my favs as well (right in front of Bosmer, Khajiit and Bretons, in that order). I think that they are actually good at magic, at Skyrim for example, they are very good at restoration and enchanting. Also, in Oblivion, they had their own battlemages who were quite competent actually. I think that, although they are not impressive mages as Bretons or skilled warriors as Nords and Redguards, Imperials are the most adaptable race of them all. They are fast learners, who have quickly learned the value of order and organization (after all, their legions marched victoriously all over the world, and their battlemages and even agents and spies are able to keep up with any other faction), and constantly think out of the box, favoring progress over superstition. Also, they rarely act on impulse, carefully thinking and strategizing before any action. They are the most organized, adaptable and pragmatic race in Tamriel, defined by unity, diplomatic sensibility, refined culture and well-organized warfare when needed.
Colovians would be Latins, while Nibenese would be a mix of Samnites, Sabines, Campanians and other Italic tribes (or even Hellenic colonies, given their "more refined" nature). Aleyids might be Etruscans, after all, they ruled Rome (and most of the northern/central Italy) for a time, plus other Italic tribes (along with Latins and local Hellenes) didn't like them. Alessia's slave rebellion would literally be "the rise of the republic" that marked the decline of Etruscan civilization. And just like Aleyids, Etruscans were wiped out after Rome conquered them (several centuries later). Just a thought on a 18:00 comment.
I definitely always got that feeling as well. The Colovians definitely remind me of the early Roman's, with their strong martial culture, practicality, strict adherence to their social customs, and wars of expansion. The Nibenese definitely have a hellenistic eastern feel to them, almost like Ptolemaic Egypt, them being the breadbasket of Cyrodiil and being a predominantly river based people. The Ayleids always felt like a cross between Meso-American cultures, mostly climate wise and being a disunited nation of independent kingdoms, and the Eutruscans, the progenitors of a small people who borrowed a great deal of their culture and architecture and forged a large Empire. Glad to see that I wasn't the only one who got a Eutruscan feel from them.
Personally I prefer thinking of colovians as a synthesis of 400s to 800s post Roman Latin cultures and Germanic cultures, or the 600s-800s Slavic-Byzantine culture synthesis in the balkans. Or both/all. A medieval mixture of northern and southern Europeans. While Nibenese being solely, classical southern European.
What bothers me about empire in skyrim is that it felt like the more interesting aspects of their culture that were lost are pushed down and even more gentrified into the faux Roman influence. hopefully in six the events of skyrim helped shaped what's left of the empire to return to the more akaviri roots in an attempt to restructure, maybe even be on the search for another dragon born emperor again.
The Imperials are physiologically distinct from the other humans and are the most adaptable of the races which explains how they've created these empires
Me: "Ahh yes, the merchant race, perfect." Kharjo: "But Khajiit is the most ambitious mercha-" Me: *Confuses the Khajiit for Mer and slaughters them for their heretic words*
Well, I'd say that Project: Tamriel is as close as you can get. They focus a lot on respecting the older lore and trying to come close to Morrowind's sense of real cultural diversity. Outside of mainland Morrowind they've actively got Skyrim: Home of the Nords which released the Reach and more importantly Stirk Isle from Province: Cyrodiil. Granted Stirk is off of the west coast so it's just aggressively mediterranean.
I loved this episode because of all the parallels (in my eyes) you can draw to modern politics. Inspired me to play Skyrim as an imperial which I never did before
How about a Reachmen/Forsworn podcast? While their known pantheon is made up of exclusively daedra, do you think the Reachmen have incorporated any aedra and/or earthbones into their pantheon that simply haven't been officially confirmed? I ask because there does seem to be bits of evidence to suggest as much: The Forsworn from the Dibella quest obviously have vested interest in the Goddess of Beauty and Art. There's a shrine to Arkay in Druadach Redoubt. And there's the shrine in Fort Sungard, which changes depending on who holds it: A shrine to Akatosh for the Imperials, a Shrine to Talos for the Stormcloaks... and a shrine to Kynareth if it's inhabited by the Forsworn. If this is the case, how do you think the Reachmen perceive these gods in comparison to their more well known Nordic/Imperial counterparts? Also, still waiting for a podcast about mah boi Pelinel Whitestrake, and the Knights of the Nine.
Check out Nestor Makhno and his Makhnovists, the reachmen in ESO remind me of southern Ukraine during Nestor’s days. Just using a real life reference :3 the reachmen are technically (what Nestor calls) Libertarian-Communists
@@springfieldleaf8649 no they’re not lol, you just like to think of them as such and want to plug your ideology on youtube. The Reachman aren’t organized along libertarian communist lines, they’re a tribal society/hierarchy. They’re pretty clearly based on the “barbarian” tribes of Northern Europe in antiquity and Middle Ages
@@springfieldleaf8649 The Reachmen are not like Batko Makhno and his men. Neither culturally nor ideologically, apart from seemingly having no private property and being outclassed weapon wise by their opponents. As an anarchist I still prefer them to the empire and the stormcloaks though because they are fighting for independence, are egalitarian, are less hierarchical and the hierarchies they have are more fluid and I like the pagan Celtic influence.
"Romans going to Britain. There's no hope they would ever truly make it a part of their empire, so instead they became British" Erm.... that's not at all what happened. At the time the Celts ruled all of the British Isles, and the Roman's took over and pushed the Celts further and further north. The Romans could only get so far before being unable to gain more ground (unable to conquer what is now Scotland). They ruled over the region for 400 years and it was very much a Roman province. They built plenty of Roman structures in England, and had a massive influence on the culture. While the Roman empire was falling, England was just too far away and not a priority for the Romans to defend it. England has been invaded and conquered by numerous other factions since then, but the Roman influence is still very much there, and a major part of western culture as a whole.
I'd argue that the Germanic influences seen from the Saxons, Danes and Normans are far more prevalent, but the Romans did leave a strong footprint and they're the primary reason that Brythonic culture was pushed to the outskirts in regions like Wales, Brittany and Cornwall. Meanwhile in Scotland Brythonic culture was bred out primarily by the Gaels from Ireland, but Norwegian influences also helped that process along.
Not to mention the idea of what a Roman was was quite different. The Angles, Saxons, and Norse were already in England, just fighting for the Roman empire. In fact the Roman influence in that region had very little people that actually came from Rome, which makes sense as that's what an Empire is - a rule over a diverse group of people and cultures. The roman influence fell pretty quick though. The word Villain exists for a reason, as in someone who lives in a villa. The Brythonic-Roman culture wasn't something that stood the test of that much time, though it's not like the cultures that took control after stopped oppressing the natives and pushing them farther away. Even the word "Welsh" derives from the same root as the word "Val" (like in Valhalla) meaning a dead person or in this case an "other" or "foreigner" so it's hard to say. Even their religion disappeared for hundreds of years but was brought back in by the Irish and other groups. Though I suppose it could just as easily be argued that the shape, so to speak, of the Roman empire at that time was very different from what it was before, or at least how we think of it on main land Europe.
The thing as well is that initially the Empire had to deal with the fallout from the Oblivion Crisis, focused on rebuilding and there were rumblings from the various "kingdoms" within the empire that would have needed to be quashed, and everyone really wasn't focused on the summerset isles, and even then the Aldmeri weren't seen as that big a threat, until it was far too late.
When you mentioned "season unending", this thought came to my mind. It'd be kinda cool if you're in Hammerfell and you hear the dragonborn is working on a truce in Skyrim. Thing will happen at the same time with skyrim but unattached to them. Could be cool if some of Dragons start attackiing Hammerfell villages to make things complicated.
I hope we get a chance to revisit Cyrodiil in another game. Oblivion was great, but I'd love to immerse myself with the locations given the depth of in-game history, with more people and places. I don't know if we'll get that chance other than in mods.
If you like Morrowind (I know some people aren't fond of the gameplay) you should check out Tamriel rebuilt. They have the reach in Skyrim and it's full of native reachmen as well as Direni ruins. They also have an island off the coast of Cyrodil that's designed using the original ideas of Tamriel. Even the imperials in morrowind are created from the pocket guide. I love it.
Thank you for this. Still fairly new to Elder Scrolls world (though Ive been playing Skyrim since 2011) and I recently joined the Beyond Skyrim project so this has been a fun way of refreshing my research material!
When are you going to make a complete guide to the Imperials? I learn a lot about the races when you guys talk about them. This is going to be interesting.
I was JUST thinking about doing a lore dive on Imperials! My watch later Playlist is 400 videos plus and 75% of it is all your videos! Great work fellas!
I think what would’ve been better if Bethesda concentrated on smaller parts of their world Instead of trying to cram the entire province into the game. Oblivion could’ve been just the imperial city and it’s surrounding lands roughly the size of a county on a map, but with entire playable world dedicated to it. Imperial city could’ve been truly massive and there would be plenty of wilderness across the lake.
Love my imperials, shame BGS did them dirty in Oblivion due to their Lord of the Rings phase, even ESO where you going to hear Nibenese and Colovian has like half of Cyrodiil as a genetic PvP zone and their two PvE zones had a Dark Brotherhood and a Argonians/Daedric focus instead.
I actually like ESO, but they made Cyrodil into a lore-less empty field. I hope they do a World of Warcraft Cataclysm where they completely redo the region and hopefully turn it into something PvE.
@@badluck5647 Yep, i do like ESO too, they just didn't do right by Cyrodiil. at least the next chapter that's "concentrating on one of ESO’s playable races that has not yet had a full cultural and historical deep dive" will most likely be about the imperials, especially if you look at the event morph pet and skin they're doing for next year (Akatosh themed and all). personally my money is on skingrad.
@@nonamegiven202 Hard disagree. My money is on a Breton expansion of some kind. As per Daggerfall lore and the Breton lore most people dont know, Bretons are the most politically involved race. And the quote from their post is "Our content plans will be to back off major plots with "end of the world invasion" themes for a bit to tell a traditional "Elder Scrolls" story of political intrigue and factional infighting, concentrating on one of ESO’s playable races that has not yet had a full cultural and historical deep dive." That sounds more like Bretons as well considering TES writers have done them dirty and let them become generic medieval. EDIT: And the upcoming armor set, Silver Rose, is a Breton set from the datamined crownstore image showing Breton buildings. Crimson Oath set could possibly be related.
@@jaycrownshaw3902 Silver rose is from the waking flame dlc, it's not the first time they put a dungeon style in a Crown crate. But yeah i highly doubt it will be Breton, key word is "has not yet" and while they may have been done dirty but they HAVE been done, like to the point where the only part of highrock lift is the border zone of skyrim and Wrothgar.
at around 38min talkin bout cities and how large and potentially country overlapping a elder scrolls game can be I think it would be interesting for them to go all out in one province like Skyrim to truly flesh it out and then because of having those assets they can easily and iteratively create a map encompassing all of Tamriel but idk
Fudge muppet is by far one of the best Elder Scrolls channels around. My head canon characters are always Cyrodiilic. I’m Italian and because the Cyrodiilic culture seems to be based on Greco-Roman-Italian culture, I’ve always felt partially to the.I hope that in future games(or at least future mods) that the difference between the Colovians and the Nibanese were made a bit more unique.
What I would really like from ES6 is like, add however much extra amount of stuff they will probably do (like have 3x as many dungeons/stuff/etc) but make the map x10 as big just so that you have a lot more space between all of that extra stuff (so that you aren't just walking out the door of one place and walking like 10 metres and ending up in another place)
One thought I had with respect to how speechcraft could become a trait of imperials is that with so many different cultures of men (nedes, akaviri, nords, collovians, nibenese, and im sure bretons) coalescing and mixing to form "modern" imperials, you could argue being good communicators was necessary for these groups to come together rather than be warring tribes like you see in other provinces (or in real history). There are other similar examples of this in real life. Sociological studies have shown that Americans tend to smile more often than other nations and this is often attributed to there being such a large admixture of cultures and languages where non-verbal communication became important. Something similar in cyrodil could have happened where over time the imperial people became much better at schmoozing because that was how they held their civilization together, even before it became a continental empire. Even just in day to day interactions this "silver tongue" was necessary for these groups to coexist in the same province.
I think in the german version of Oblivion the loose hairstyle is called colovian loose and the wind braids are called nibenese wind braids. It took me 18 years to notice that's not the case in the english version. You could think "ok, maybe that's something the translators made up" but Oblivion is infamous for it's hilarious bad german translation because Bethesda did it themselves instead of hiring a translation company to save money. So I guess the german version got some last-minute content from the lore-team which is not included in the english version. Also I noticed all colovian town guards have round shields while all nibenese town guards have oval or tower shields. Could be a coincident but could also be a cultural thing :)
On why the Imperials have their speechcraft abilities, Scotts point makes more sense, in a completely different direction: The British had a massive world-spanning Empire just like the Cyrodills, and are still considered to this day as a "higher class" than their former colonial holdings. The Imperials are likely considered the peak of the social pyramid of the Empire, so even the most ill-spoken Imperial is considered more sophisticated than their "provincial" cousins
@Tristan Yes, it is. I didn't say this view was correct, or reasonable. There are *still* people in the US who think British people are sophisticated, just because of their accent.
I hope if they do Hammerfel there would be a loyalist faction. Which while Hammerfel is independent with a nationalist Redguard faction. I can imagine a loyalist city or two with a pro imperial population of Redguards nostalgic for the empire because it made them rich or advance or fair laws or similar honor join the military tradition.
Corn is by far the highest calorie per area grain, but rice is way more nutritionally balanced. It was well known by native Americans, that a diet too heavy in corn wasn't nutritious enough, even if they didn't exactly know what nutrients were. Wheat would be similarly bad, if we didn't bake it with yeast to make bread.
Speaking in terms of Britain - while the overall culture is quite uniform, the various regions have the subtle differences and are still at odd with each others. Accents and dialects still vary wildly, and I'm not just talking differences between England and Scotland - In Yorkshire (North East England) we still have a strong influence by the Vikings and our dialect has similarities to Iceland. I lived in Australia for 5 years and not one person there thought I was English, and a lot of them stuggled to understand me. It's why I always say there is no such thing as a British accent. The accents and dialects here are as plentiful as there are languages in Europe. Old conflict are still brooding resentment: The Scots dislike the English; Northern English hate the South; Yorkshire and Lancastershire still mock and belittle each other despite the War of the Roses ending over 500 years ago. There are discussions even to this day about Scotland becoming independant, or even North England doing the same. There are different mentalities too. Northerner tend be more physical labourers, while the southerners more office-based, and delegating work to others (northerners). The South has that French snobbery too, and prefer fine wines, while up north there is still more Viking and Celtic influences, indulging in ales. Northerners are considered "tight" with money too because they generally don't have as much. While there is a lot of industry up north, the profits tend to end up in London. So yeah, while Britain is a Westernised/Christianised place, the various regions still show their ancient and modern influences.
@@colbyboucher6391 a year later I sorta revised my viewpoint. I imagine nibenese as Greco-Roman and Colovians as a synthesis of Byzantine-Bulgarian/Serbian greco-slavic culture. Or (or and) 6-700s hybrid Romano-Germanic cultures like Germanic tribes in conquered post Roman lands or early west frankish empire of Charlemagne and or Otto of Saxony in the 800s both with a Germanic and Roman synthesis of culture. This is my more modified interpretation.
Regarding the different subrace idea, for the next game; Argonians could have different tribes appropriate for the setting ES6 is in. Maybe a resurgence of the Shadowscales, and finally being able to be one? Dunmer could have Ashlander, or mainlander subraces. Imperial would obviously have Nibenean, Heartlander, and Colovian. Khajiit have several different forms they could include, even the weird human ones they had in Arena. You could pass for a human, if you were that subrace, unless there were other Khajiits, or people familiar with the other forms around. Might be interesting. Nord could have traditional Nord, Reachman, and even the Nords on Solstheim, if you wanted to be a Nord with less Imperial influence. Redguard, like they said, could be Crown or Forebear. The only ones I can't think of any subraces for, are the Bosmer, the Bretons, and the Altmer. Maybe the Bretons could have certain dynasties to choose from, which might affect certain bonuses/effects? Altmer could have different "purity" subraces, which would impact how other high elves might view you, and how powerful your inherent magical abilities might be. Bosmer, I have no clue. Either way, I've thought far too long on this, and I'm going back to the video. Thanks for the content, FM.
But they have fur hats, garlic outside the houses because vampires, and vampires are from slavic mythology, names like Rislav Larich, Skingrad. They are also farmers like ancient Slavs. Well they maybe don't drink vodka, but colovian brandy. Traditional food like Skingrad cabbage soup are also traditional food in slavic countries. We love cabbage. EDIT: It's sad for me that Slavs have so little representation in TES. Ther are literary no race in games that would be simillar in terms of culture to Slavs.
Granted I’m not in a good place right now, but when the guys started talking about all the cool stuff they could do with the imperials in Hammerfell I was like “they could. Probably won’t because it’s Bethesda. Oh well.”
I feel like the Empire is going to collapse in/prior to ES VI. If you look at some of the quirks of Roman history, a lot of what led to the collapse of the western EMpire is happening during Skyrim. Some of these are big details, like the breakaway of multiple highly Imperialized provinces. Others are small, like the fame of the Gourmand (making celebrities out of chefs is a longstanding pre-collapse thing throughout human history, for some reason).
they will likely go with an imperial collapse, but you have to keep in mind that in the Elder Scrolls there were three different "roman" empires which rose and collapsed, with a "dark age" inbetween them. And unlike how our history had the Roman Empire first (being the strongest) then the Byzantine (weaker) and finally the HRE (barely even an empire), in the Elderscrolls that trend kind of went in reverse. Alyssia's empire was extremely weak compared to the Reman or Septim ones, it bascially only controlled Cyrodiil and minor border areas, but only at its height, as its actual area of control ebbed and flowed heavily (so it could be seen as pretty similar to the HRE, especially with regards to how it was a war of religion that tore it apart). Then you had Reman's Empire being alot more of what we would consider the Empire, even though it never reached the same extent as the Septim empire later on.
You could interpret the 200 years between Oblivion and Skyrim as the Third Empires' own Third century crisis, dead emperors, constant civil wars, invasions, losing territory, plagues, famine, economic collapse, everything hitting like a train of misfortune, yet the fact that it endured as much as it did says it has some good 200 years of life left to go.
Hence my referencing it as a small detail. Rebellion, political instability, and invasion were far more compelling factors, along with disease, withdrawal from their previous level of provincial involvement, and poor resource management. The bit about the chefs is simply a notable observation, reflective of what is, IMO, Bethesda's level of solid basis for the Imperials -- comparable to the cultural basis for the Bretons and the Nords.
That's a perspective I'd not even begun to consider. A clever way for the Devs to have based things solidly on our history, but also turned important series of events on their heads, and worked it all into Tamriel's history so that it makes sense. I really like this!
If they had no empire they would be called cyrodillians. Or cyrodillic. But, unfortunately for any elves, there will always be someone on the ruby throne.
Hey guys. Couldn’t it be that Imperials have a better education system that teaches logic, abstract thought, and rhetoric? So the kids all are very persuasive and so they have higher speech than other races.
It has been mentioned a few times that Redguard peoples don't have the same disgust for Destruction magic that they do for other schools and Redguard wizards often specialize in Destruction. It is really conjuration that they dislike mostly not all magic so I could see the Alteration and Destruction bonuses.
Roman Hoplite/Early Nibenese Culture-Roman Republic/Nibenese,Colovian and some Nordic Culture-Roman Empire/All territory culture. Lol well thats how I would describe it even if I'm wrong its the best comparison I could think of.
I'm glad you guys talked about what an Empire actually does to the ethnicities they conquer. It's obviously not all sunshine and rainbows. I always found it funny how many people said they sided with the Empire in Skyrim, citing racism towards dark elves by the stormcloaks as the reason. I don't really disagree, but to argue that a damn EMPIRE is somehow more tolerant to different races and cultures, having invaded them and taken away their sovereignty, is hilarious to me.
what can the other races of men offer you? bretons, foul performers singing the echo of mers. Redguard or nords? chose between a warriors life or that of learned singers, and just like that they will be forever divided, chained by dogma. Beasts then? khajiits are like dunes of sands, ever shifting in the wind by the whims of moons. Argonian? rooted like their trees. Elves then? mighty mers of magic scholars except the Bosmer which sometimes seems to be chained to the roots more than the lizards. Dunmer and Altmer, both very clever but they lack the wisdom of downtrodden mud. They will never be wise kings, their minds have a perverse obsession with symmetry. Only the Cyrod have the means to make order out of the rolling mudslides of the savages and create art of the orderly gardens of scholars. Born and hardened by the bloody mud and make great by a vision of higher purpose and peace. We know how to answer the forceful by force, and the humble the haughty with wit. If they so desire our retreat then let them have at it, and watch them cry for our return when the winds howl with distress.
The Jungle would've been more interesting. Since we don't have anymore, aside from parts of Blackmarsh and bits and pieces in Elswyr/Valenwood Just saying... the Jungle Cyrodiil would've been pretty cool to see.
@@thalmoragent9344 Valenwood is already the jungle province. It would have been more of the same. Plus, an Empire built on trade would do better in a region where it is easy to maintain roads.
After the Imperial army was virtually crushed or weaken in the Oblivion crisis, and many Imperials if any were left in Morrorwind dying in the Red year, the army was so weak that I can see the Mer and Beast folk of southern Tamriel and Morrorwind rebelling multiple times kicking the empire out. Or internal unrest and revolts in that 150 year span. We do know coups and attempted coups were common. And that shit is expensive. So was Oblivion crisis, so was the rebellions and lack of trade routes. One can justify the collapse. I actually imagine the empire's economy not doing so well. Remember. The Imperials are a race of economy. With crisis of Oblivion, red year and rebellions, supply chains and trade routes are fucked. The empire can't afford its legions training or resources, or food or bedding, so may have less legionaries. This race of gold lost its economic prestige. So their empire is taking a hit.
So random thought but what if Talos became a god to battle against Trinimac/Malacath for when Lorkhan leads his armies to war against Auri-El and his armies
In my opinion Imperials are the weakest race individually but are the strongest collectively. Meaning if you had all 10 playable races in an arena and they were all at the exact same level of combat effectiveness then I think that the Imperial is the most likely to die in that scenario. But Imperials as a people are the most capable of conquering Tamriel and are the only empire of Tamriel that has tried to conquer Akavir with the founding of the aptly named Ionith. Imperials time and time again have shown their ability to invade, conquer and annex. After all their very name comes from the term imperialism literally meaning that the Imperials are the people that commits imperialism.
@@cpl.gordita-crunch5608 *cough* *cough* I would body a fucking wood elf bro, and one inch punch a fucking high elves legs in half bro. Humans are in general are the strongest race in tes. The elves like to cling to their past, but man reach for the future.
My boys!!! I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've worked, cleaned, cooked and just chilled listening to fudgemuppet
You and me both dude 👍
Facts, they've been my go to while working for the past week
It's been great listening while I'm churning out the COVID tests.
Yeah. Listening to them really spices things up in the bedroom for me and the mrs.
Yep
I always found it interesting how they have completely Imperial settlements in Valenwood, Elsweyr, and Black Marsh.
Southpoint, Hakoshae, and Gideon are great at showing Imperial culture within other provinces.
Simple, the Empire is there. They have the resources to do that.
I mean...that's how empires tend to work. The English and Spanish had settlements with their cultures spanning multiple continents.
What y'all are missing is all the times the Empire had there capital taken and had armies stranded in other countries. This is probably where alot of these Imperial towns come from
@@jeambeam3173 They are trading and administration posts
Imperials will always be my favorite
Same
The Imperials and the Nedes in general are one of my favorite races, glad you guys did this.
Keep in mind, Oblivion was a HUGE deal at time of its release. Nothing on that scale had even been attempted prior to that, and it changed the open world gaming concept going forward. That was my huge complaint about Skyrim. The cities in Skyrim, with the exception of maybe Solitude and Windhelm, actually feel small. Sure, the Imperial city probably isn't that big overall, but for the technology of the time it was huge. It also sells the illusion of seeming bigger than it is pretty well.
Oblivion is a very watered down rpg game compared to Morrowinds 27 skills, and you dont have darts, spears and unarmored etc. And if you compare Oblivion to Daggerfall it becomes laughable. The only positive thing about Oblivion is the quests, all other aspects like enemy scaling, voice acting and the generic lotr world makes Oblivion an objectively low quality video game.
Lol, I'm not getting into some sort of gatekeeper argument.
I've played III, IV, and V respectively. They all have their strengths and faults.
Honestly, for me in my opinion, if they bring back the spell creation from IV and the number of wearable items from III (which has been gradually declining in every subsequent game since), then ES VI would be a damn near perfect interpretation for me.
@@SwankyKitteh82 Yes that would be perfect Elder Scrolls 6, which race and class is your favorite? I only play either an Argonian Nightblade or spellsword or Dunmer battlemage or Pure mage.
For my first run, I usually start out with a pure Bosmeri glass cannon stealth archer. Which, while hardly unique, is always a fun run.
Second run is usually a human spellblade of some sort. The stories vary and change. With Skyrim, she was an Imperial Dawnguard crusader and that worked out really well.
Dual-wielding Dunmer assassin is usually next for a Morag Tong run.
Altmer mage is next with my primarily "evil" Thalmor Justicar run.
And here I wonder why I end up with some 3000+ hours in each of these games overall, lol.
@@thomasrosendahl2783 wow, you are so completely objectively wrong about almost all of that.
You are very clearly subjective, and Oblivion is far better than you pretend it is. Lol, seriously
The sub race thing would add decent amount of customization to the game even if most/all races would only have 2
If this a stat thing, then no.
If this affects NPC interactions, then yes.
@@badluck5647 Yeah, for example picking the Reachmen sub race for a Breton should drastically change how your character is treated. Your character interactions should be much different to Bretons since Reachmen seem to be even more hated then Orcs are. Npcs calling your character a "daedra worshiping savage" and just general being looked down upon but your characters would have a easier time interreacting with fellow Reachmen, like gaining access to Reachmen clans easier. .
@@badluck5647 I'd be happy for it to effect stats too. I'd personally rather play as a tanky, two-handed melee warrior Cathey-Raht Khajiit that towers over others, instead of an agile and sneaky little Cathey or Suthay. But I know a lot of people prefer the latter. Plus, it's mostly a starting boost any way - unless they changed things up by allowing each races/sub-races bonuses to gain experience slightly faster too (like the Warrior/Mage/Thief stones but baked in to the race/sub-race).
@@EndoScorpion I personally don't like having to being locked into a play style before the game even starts, so I prefer the stat difference between races to be minimal.
@@badluck5647 You wouldn't have too. I don't think it would make a massive difference. As you can still have any character of any race learn anything and everything. It wouldn't be as extreme as being locked out of certain play-styles because of it. But for those who do want to min-max and have their choices matter at least to some degree, it's there.
I love how the Imperials were set up as this stock-standard "everyman" race and culture in Oblivion, and then were given one of the most interesting cultural histories in the lore.
These people's *history* is batshit, talking-winged bulls, templar-themed knights from the stars, Reman being born from a hillock, these things seem like funny haha stories until you realize that most of the Cyrodillic population probably believes these things really happened, *and then* realize that these things might have ACTUALLY happened
like at least 2 out of those 3 definitely *did* happen so yeah, fucking whack
I stan this comment
Don't forget the intermixing with the ancient Akaviri.
Basically Roman Samurai!
I really liked this whole little project Lady Nerevar (MK's wife) did where she went about trying to distinguish Cyrodillic culture as if it were actually the size of a country. The northwestern Colovians being kinda Cyrillic (that's certainly what the hats suggest), Nibenay being a bit like south Asia, the the southwest being very Mediterranean and the northeast being closest to what we think of as "Imperial culture" where there's less obvious Colovia / Nibenay distinction. It made the world feel far more *real* and it makes a lot of sense for a province that's essentially a giant human melting pot.
@@colbyboucher6391 Where can I find this information?
The Imperials really need a RE-retcon. Bring back our colovians and Nibenese!
Titus Mede was a Colovian warlord so there kinda was a re-retcon in books at least. But it also does make sense to homogenize the imperial culture since they've been unified as a single empire for much of their recent history.
A more interesting re-retcon imo would be to bring back the jungle (tho it would break the current lore just as much as oblivion did)
@@aggressivenipples8391 it should have been part jungle but it really wouldn't make sense for it to be full jungle
we already got an elder scroll reboot. And that is CK3 The Elder Kings 2
@@aggressivenipples8391 i always thought of Cyrodiil being Brazil. It may used to be a jungle but imperial pressence have terraformed most of jungle areas to be livable for human civilizations
Is there any Romanian (Eastern Europe) based county in colovian?
The Nedes don’t exactly have a distinct appearance. As a race, Nedes can be sub-divided into various “ethnicities”. The Nedes of Hammerfell, called the Duraki, had olive skin, and were based on Middle Eastern people like Arabs before the Redguards wiped them out and took their culture and aesthetics. The Nedes of Black Marsh, called the Kothri, had silver skin before dying out to the Argonians. The pattern continues for Nedes in every other Tamrielic region, like the Skyrim Nedes who became the Reachmen, or the other “ethnicities” of Nedes throughout the rest of Tamriel that were either bred out or eradicated. How the rest of them looked? Only Shor knows.
But there is one group of Nedes that are the most significant - the Cyrodiilic Nedes - who had somewhat of a “Indo-European” aesthetic to them, both in appearance and culture. Eventually, the Nords of the 500 Companions (who were the *last* wave of Nordic migrants out of Atmora) saved the Nedes from the Ayleids and took Nedic women as concubines and warbrides. They bred them before leaving them behind and returning to Skyrim. This gave birth to a hybrid race called the Cyro-Nords who lived as tribal hunter-gatherers in Cyrodiil. Eventually, this hybrid race would adapt to Cyrodiil’s climate and split into two races or “ethnicities”. The Cyro-Nords of western Cyrodiil turned into the Colovians, who have rosy skin based on Romans and Greeks. On the other hand, the Cyro-Nords of eastern Cyrodiil turned into the Nibenese, who have brown skin and based Indians. The Niben Valley itself is a direct reference to the Indus Valley. Essentially, the Colovians constitute more of the classical European peoples and the Nibenese are based more on the Aryan societies of India. These two races would eventually be united under one identity - an identity based on their colonial culture - the Imperials. You can even tell what Imperial is what just by looking at them. The Mede Dynasty are clearly Nibenese due to their brown skin. Tullius is Nibenese too. Though Commander Maro is clearly Colovian and has a very clear Italian appearance.
Essentially, are Colovians and Nibenese united as one. There has even been a tradition of trying to bring other human races under the Imperial/coloniser identity. Nords and Redguards, alongside the Cyrodiilians, were even referred to collectively as Imperials by Cyrodiilic intellectuals during the battle against the Aldmeri Dominion, likely for propaganda purposes to true keep all human races united under one cause. In any case, Imperials are kind of similar to the Reachmen race - they are indeed distinct to other races, but they’re a hybrid race formed by the genetic union of various different races.
This is all good and well written. But I don't buy into the nord making the needs into imperials. The nords we're fighting the snow elves and dunmer and dwemer at the same time as the needs fighting the aylieds. They didn't take concubines or such. They weren't even considered nords at the time. The imperials we see today are actually interbred with the needs that we're in Skyrim. They became nords after the second wave of atmorans, like you said. First needs, then atmorans, then some mixing and bam nords. The nedes and atmorans mixed to become imps and the atmorans who mixed with Skyrim nedes became nords
I reject the theory that Rakada wiped out the Nedes.
I believe that the Redguards being brown instead of charcoal black suggests Nede-Yakudan mixture therefore Redguard.
I’m pretty sure the Redguards have always had that culture and Aesthetic of middle eastern or moors lmao
There aren’t olive skin Arabs in elder scrolls
The reason that Imperials were not playable in Daggerfall, wasn't because they didn't exist. There are quests in Daggerfall in which you interact with NPCs who state that they are Imperials, albeit trying to keep that quiet. And the Cyrodiil region is on the character race selection window, but 'greyed-out'. Though, I don't specifically recall what they call that area, if anything, when you mouse over it. It's there, you just can't play an Imperial. In the timeline, you get the impression that they, as a race or nation, are sort of on the outs with the regions surrounding the bay which separates Daggerfall, Wayrest & Sentinel. I vaguely recall there being some side-quests which comment on why that is, but it was over 20 years ago that I lived and breathed that game.
Also, more-so in Tamriel's past (pre-ESO eras), the Eight certainly seem to favor the Imperial peoples. So, if you needed some rational behind their bonuses, that could play some part too.
Also,...fuck Elves! Long live the Empire.
The Imperials may not be magical, but they are naturally talented soldiers and fighters and warriors! They literally have skill bonuses to Heavy armor, blade + blunt / one-handed in every game!
Imperials are historically and politically super interesting and relevant, and they also have an awesome aesthetic. The Imperials are one of my favorite races!
Long live the Empire!❤
@@juicypineapple6995 They are my favs as well (right in front of Bosmer, Khajiit and Bretons, in that order). I think that they are actually good at magic, at Skyrim for example, they are very good at restoration and enchanting. Also, in Oblivion, they had their own battlemages who were quite competent actually. I think that, although they are not impressive mages as Bretons or skilled warriors as Nords and Redguards, Imperials are the most adaptable race of them all. They are fast learners, who have quickly learned the value of order and organization (after all, their legions marched victoriously all over the world, and their battlemages and even agents and spies are able to keep up with any other faction), and constantly think out of the box, favoring progress over superstition. Also, they rarely act on impulse, carefully thinking and strategizing before any action. They are the most organized, adaptable and pragmatic race in Tamriel, defined by unity, diplomatic sensibility, refined culture and well-organized warfare when needed.
@@aleksandarkrstic5341 milkdrinking imperials
@@Angelo-nd4lg For strong bones...got milk?
@@reesetorwad8346 for weak legs drink imperial wine for a tough gut drink nordic mead
My life has been a mess these past 6 months. thanks for giving me some respite in these dark times. Letting my mind slip to another world :)
Safe journeys sword brother
Colovians would be Latins, while Nibenese would be a mix of Samnites, Sabines, Campanians and other Italic tribes (or even Hellenic colonies, given their "more refined" nature). Aleyids might be Etruscans, after all, they ruled Rome (and most of the northern/central Italy) for a time, plus other Italic tribes (along with Latins and local Hellenes) didn't like them. Alessia's slave rebellion would literally be "the rise of the republic" that marked the decline of Etruscan civilization. And just like Aleyids, Etruscans were wiped out after Rome conquered them (several centuries later). Just a thought on a 18:00 comment.
I definitely always got that feeling as well. The Colovians definitely remind me of the early Roman's, with their strong martial culture, practicality, strict adherence to their social customs, and wars of expansion. The Nibenese definitely have a hellenistic eastern feel to them, almost like Ptolemaic Egypt, them being the breadbasket of Cyrodiil and being a predominantly river based people.
The Ayleids always felt like a cross between Meso-American cultures, mostly climate wise and being a disunited nation of independent kingdoms, and the Eutruscans, the progenitors of a small people who borrowed a great deal of their culture and architecture and forged a large Empire. Glad to see that I wasn't the only one who got a Eutruscan feel from them.
Personally I prefer thinking of colovians as a synthesis of 400s to 800s post Roman Latin cultures and Germanic cultures, or the 600s-800s Slavic-Byzantine culture synthesis in the balkans.
Or both/all.
A medieval mixture of northern and southern Europeans.
While Nibenese being solely, classical southern European.
What bothers me about empire in skyrim is that it felt like the more interesting aspects of their culture that were lost are pushed down and even more gentrified into the faux Roman influence. hopefully in six the events of skyrim helped shaped what's left of the empire to return to the more akaviri roots in an attempt to restructure, maybe even be on the search for another dragon born emperor again.
The Imperials are physiologically distinct from the other humans and are the most adaptable of the races which explains how they've created these empires
They seem "adaptable" because they're the most diverse by far, as FudgeMuppet discusses here.
The one disaster that the Mede Empire suffered that comes to mind is the floating city of Umbriel. That could be their excuse to be weaker.
It's Sunday morning, I have coffee, and the elder scrolls podcast.
This is gonna be a good day.
I feel you bruh
I've been waiting for an Imperial podcast like the ebony warrior waits for me. Patiently.
At his Last Vigil.🙏🏾
I love falling asleep and waking up to some FudgeMuppet.
Me: "Ahh yes, the merchant race, perfect."
Kharjo: "But Khajiit is the most ambitious mercha-"
Me: *Confuses the Khajiit for Mer and slaughters them for their heretic words*
Truly a Pelinal moment
24:55 THAT! That's what I want to play! I want to explore that setting!
Well, I'd say that Project: Tamriel is as close as you can get. They focus a lot on respecting the older lore and trying to come close to Morrowind's sense of real cultural diversity. Outside of mainland Morrowind they've actively got Skyrim: Home of the Nords which released the Reach and more importantly Stirk Isle from Province: Cyrodiil. Granted Stirk is off of the west coast so it's just aggressively mediterranean.
Ive been rewatching the two episodes back to back...about Alessia and the reman dynasty...I was wondering when you would do an imperial video!
I loved this episode because of all the parallels (in my eyes) you can draw to modern politics. Inspired me to play Skyrim as an imperial which I never did before
How about a Reachmen/Forsworn podcast?
While their known pantheon is made up of exclusively daedra, do you think the Reachmen have incorporated any aedra and/or earthbones into their pantheon that simply haven't been officially confirmed?
I ask because there does seem to be bits of evidence to suggest as much:
The Forsworn from the Dibella quest obviously have vested interest in the Goddess of Beauty and Art.
There's a shrine to Arkay in Druadach Redoubt.
And there's the shrine in Fort Sungard, which changes depending on who holds it: A shrine to Akatosh for the Imperials, a Shrine to Talos for the Stormcloaks... and a shrine to Kynareth if it's inhabited by the Forsworn.
If this is the case, how do you think the Reachmen perceive these gods in comparison to their more well known Nordic/Imperial counterparts?
Also, still waiting for a podcast about mah boi Pelinel Whitestrake, and the Knights of the Nine.
Dibella is the goddes of seckz. Just that. Seckz. Nothing more. It's the goddes of slots, hoes, and herpes. Seckz.
@@youstolemyhandleyoutwat also beauty and the arts, mate Think of her as your regular Aphrodite or Venus
Check out Nestor Makhno and his Makhnovists, the reachmen in ESO remind me of southern Ukraine during Nestor’s days.
Just using a real life reference :3 the reachmen are technically (what Nestor calls) Libertarian-Communists
@@springfieldleaf8649 no they’re not lol, you just like to think of them as such and want to plug your ideology on youtube. The Reachman aren’t organized along libertarian communist lines, they’re a tribal society/hierarchy. They’re pretty clearly based on the “barbarian” tribes of Northern Europe in antiquity and Middle Ages
@@springfieldleaf8649 The Reachmen are not like Batko Makhno and his men. Neither culturally nor ideologically, apart from seemingly having no private property and being outclassed weapon wise by their opponents. As an anarchist I still prefer them to the empire and the stormcloaks though because they are fighting for independence, are egalitarian, are less hierarchical and the hierarchies they have are more fluid and I like the pagan Celtic influence.
"Romans going to Britain. There's no hope they would ever truly make it a part of their empire, so instead they became British"
Erm.... that's not at all what happened. At the time the Celts ruled all of the British Isles, and the Roman's took over and pushed the Celts further and further north. The Romans could only get so far before being unable to gain more ground (unable to conquer what is now Scotland). They ruled over the region for 400 years and it was very much a Roman province. They built plenty of Roman structures in England, and had a massive influence on the culture. While the Roman empire was falling, England was just too far away and not a priority for the Romans to defend it. England has been invaded and conquered by numerous other factions since then, but the Roman influence is still very much there, and a major part of western culture as a whole.
I'd argue that the Germanic influences seen from the Saxons, Danes and Normans are far more prevalent, but the Romans did leave a strong footprint and they're the primary reason that Brythonic culture was pushed to the outskirts in regions like Wales, Brittany and Cornwall. Meanwhile in Scotland Brythonic culture was bred out primarily by the Gaels from Ireland, but Norwegian influences also helped that process along.
Not to mention the idea of what a Roman was was quite different. The Angles, Saxons, and Norse were already in England, just fighting for the Roman empire. In fact the Roman influence in that region had very little people that actually came from Rome, which makes sense as that's what an Empire is - a rule over a diverse group of people and cultures. The roman influence fell pretty quick though. The word Villain exists for a reason, as in someone who lives in a villa. The Brythonic-Roman culture wasn't something that stood the test of that much time, though it's not like the cultures that took control after stopped oppressing the natives and pushing them farther away. Even the word "Welsh" derives from the same root as the word "Val" (like in Valhalla) meaning a dead person or in this case an "other" or "foreigner" so it's hard to say. Even their religion disappeared for hundreds of years but was brought back in by the Irish and other groups. Though I suppose it could just as easily be argued that the shape, so to speak, of the Roman empire at that time was very different from what it was before, or at least how we think of it on main land Europe.
This stuff is what gets me through my last leg of work, you guys. Thank you for everything :D
The thing as well is that initially the Empire had to deal with the fallout from the Oblivion Crisis, focused on rebuilding and there were rumblings from the various "kingdoms" within the empire that would have needed to be quashed, and everyone really wasn't focused on the summerset isles, and even then the Aldmeri weren't seen as that big a threat, until it was far too late.
When you mentioned "season unending", this thought came to my mind. It'd be kinda cool if you're in Hammerfell and you hear the dragonborn is working on a truce in Skyrim. Thing will happen at the same time with skyrim but unattached to them. Could be cool if some of Dragons start attackiing Hammerfell villages to make things complicated.
I hope we get a chance to revisit Cyrodiil in another game. Oblivion was great, but I'd love to immerse myself with the locations given the depth of in-game history, with more people and places. I don't know if we'll get that chance other than in mods.
If you like Morrowind (I know some people aren't fond of the gameplay) you should check out Tamriel rebuilt. They have the reach in Skyrim and it's full of native reachmen as well as Direni ruins. They also have an island off the coast of Cyrodil that's designed using the original ideas of Tamriel. Even the imperials in morrowind are created from the pocket guide. I love it.
Thank you for this. Still fairly new to Elder Scrolls world (though Ive been playing Skyrim since 2011) and I recently joined the Beyond Skyrim project so this has been a fun way of refreshing my research material!
When are you going to make a complete guide to the Imperials? I learn a lot about the races when you guys talk about them. This is going to be interesting.
I was JUST thinking about doing a lore dive on Imperials! My watch later Playlist is 400 videos plus and 75% of it is all your videos! Great work fellas!
I love playing as the imperial. I'm an Imperial, light armor, bow and dagger(s).
The comments on how dumbed down Oblivion was reminds me of the time MK (I think) called Cyrodiil in Oblivion a "poor man's High Rock"
I think what would’ve been better if Bethesda concentrated on smaller parts of their world Instead of trying to cram the entire province into the game. Oblivion could’ve been just the imperial city and it’s surrounding lands roughly the size of a county on a map, but with entire playable world dedicated to it. Imperial city could’ve been truly massive and there would be plenty of wilderness across the lake.
Its like that, Colovia: northern Italy with the exception of Veneto. Nibenay: Central and Southern Italy with the addition of Veneto.
Ever gonna do a complete guide for Imperials?
I’ve been very patient.
Love my imperials, shame BGS did them dirty in Oblivion due to their Lord of the Rings phase, even ESO where you going to hear Nibenese and Colovian has like half of Cyrodiil as a genetic PvP zone and their two PvE zones had a Dark Brotherhood and a Argonians/Daedric focus instead.
I actually like ESO, but they made Cyrodil into a lore-less empty field. I hope they do a World of Warcraft Cataclysm where they completely redo the region and hopefully turn it into something PvE.
@@badluck5647 Yep, i do like ESO too, they just didn't do right by Cyrodiil.
at least the next chapter that's "concentrating on one of ESO’s playable races that has not yet had a full cultural and historical deep dive" will most likely be about the imperials, especially if you look at the event morph pet and skin they're doing for next year (Akatosh themed and all).
personally my money is on skingrad.
@@nonamegiven202 Hard disagree. My money is on a Breton expansion of some kind. As per Daggerfall lore and the Breton lore most people dont know, Bretons are the most politically involved race. And the quote from their post is "Our content plans will be to back off major plots with "end of the world invasion" themes for a bit to tell a traditional "Elder Scrolls" story of political intrigue and factional infighting, concentrating on one of ESO’s playable races that has not yet had a full cultural and historical deep dive." That sounds more like Bretons as well considering TES writers have done them dirty and let them become generic medieval.
EDIT: And the upcoming armor set, Silver Rose, is a Breton set from the datamined crownstore image showing Breton buildings. Crimson Oath set could possibly be related.
@@jaycrownshaw3902 Silver rose is from the waking flame dlc, it's not the first time they put a dungeon style in a Crown crate.
But yeah i highly doubt it will be Breton, key word is "has not yet" and while they may have been done dirty but they HAVE been done, like to the point where the only part of highrock lift is the border zone of skyrim and Wrothgar.
@@nonamegiven202 So how about that new eso trailer?
at around 38min talkin bout cities and how large and potentially country overlapping a elder scrolls game can be I think it would be interesting for them to go all out in one province like Skyrim to truly flesh it out and then because of having those assets they can easily and iteratively create a map encompassing all of Tamriel but idk
Nice podcast as always! The mention of high rock made me interested in a podcast on ideas on how to make high rock interesting and unique 🧐
Fudge muppet is by far one of the best Elder Scrolls channels around. My head canon characters are always Cyrodiilic. I’m Italian and because the Cyrodiilic culture seems to be based on Greco-Roman-Italian culture, I’ve always felt partially to the.I hope that in future games(or at least future mods) that the difference between the Colovians and the Nibanese were made a bit more unique.
Finally imperials, my power has been out for 3 bloody days now I get to enjoy this
15:00 check your imperial privilege yo
What I would really like from ES6 is like, add however much extra amount of stuff they will probably do (like have 3x as many dungeons/stuff/etc) but make the map x10 as big just so that you have a lot more space between all of that extra stuff (so that you aren't just walking out the door of one place and walking like 10 metres and ending up in another place)
One thought I had with respect to how speechcraft could become a trait of imperials is that with so many different cultures of men (nedes, akaviri, nords, collovians, nibenese, and im sure bretons) coalescing and mixing to form "modern" imperials, you could argue being good communicators was necessary for these groups to come together rather than be warring tribes like you see in other provinces (or in real history). There are other similar examples of this in real life. Sociological studies have shown that Americans tend to smile more often than other nations and this is often attributed to there being such a large admixture of cultures and languages where non-verbal communication became important. Something similar in cyrodil could have happened where over time the imperial people became much better at schmoozing because that was how they held their civilization together, even before it became a continental empire. Even just in day to day interactions this "silver tongue" was necessary for these groups to coexist in the same province.
" Skyrim 2 set in Hammer Fell" sad but probably true lmao
I think in the german version of Oblivion the loose hairstyle is called colovian loose and the wind braids are called nibenese wind braids.
It took me 18 years to notice that's not the case in the english version.
You could think "ok, maybe that's something the translators made up" but Oblivion is infamous for it's hilarious bad german translation because Bethesda did it themselves instead of hiring a translation company to save money.
So I guess the german version got some last-minute content from the lore-team which is not included in the english version.
Also I noticed all colovian town guards have round shields while all nibenese town guards have oval or tower shields.
Could be a coincident but could also be a cultural thing :)
On why the Imperials have their speechcraft abilities, Scotts point makes more sense, in a completely different direction: The British had a massive world-spanning Empire just like the Cyrodills, and are still considered to this day as a "higher class" than their former colonial holdings. The Imperials are likely considered the peak of the social pyramid of the Empire, so even the most ill-spoken Imperial is considered more sophisticated than their "provincial" cousins
@Tristan cope
@Tristan seethe
@Tristan Yes, it is. I didn't say this view was correct, or reasonable. There are *still* people in the US who think British people are sophisticated, just because of their accent.
I hope if they do Hammerfel there would be a loyalist faction. Which while Hammerfel is independent with a nationalist Redguard faction. I can imagine a loyalist city or two with a pro imperial population of Redguards nostalgic for the empire because it made them rich or advance or fair laws or similar honor join the military tradition.
Michael does Scott and Drew does Michael.......... Don't deny it
..... I've spoken!
Next we need a full podcast on the Septim Dynasty
Corn is by far the highest calorie per area grain, but rice is way more nutritionally balanced. It was well known by native Americans, that a diet too heavy in corn wasn't nutritious enough, even if they didn't exactly know what nutrients were. Wheat would be similarly bad, if we didn't bake it with yeast to make bread.
Listening to your videos/podcasts is the best way to clean the house and take down Christmas decorations!
“Bethesda can set the game wherever and people will buy it”
Me: wants game set in Akavir with lead writer being Kirkbride
Drew whenever he speaks makes me think hes narrating something and I love it lol
Speaking in terms of Britain - while the overall culture is quite uniform, the various regions have the subtle differences and are still at odd with each others. Accents and dialects still vary wildly, and I'm not just talking differences between England and Scotland - In Yorkshire (North East England) we still have a strong influence by the Vikings and our dialect has similarities to Iceland. I lived in Australia for 5 years and not one person there thought I was English, and a lot of them stuggled to understand me. It's why I always say there is no such thing as a British accent. The accents and dialects here are as plentiful as there are languages in Europe.
Old conflict are still brooding resentment: The Scots dislike the English; Northern English hate the South; Yorkshire and Lancastershire still mock and belittle each other despite the War of the Roses ending over 500 years ago. There are discussions even to this day about Scotland becoming independant, or even North England doing the same.
There are different mentalities too. Northerner tend be more physical labourers, while the southerners more office-based, and delegating work to others (northerners). The South has that French snobbery too, and prefer fine wines, while up north there is still more Viking and Celtic influences, indulging in ales.
Northerners are considered "tight" with money too because they generally don't have as much. While there is a lot of industry up north, the profits tend to end up in London.
So yeah, while Britain is a Westernised/Christianised place, the various regions still show their ancient and modern influences.
When is the Morag Tong podcast?
It's been marked for death by the tong. The video is hiding in the ratway in Riften, until the threat is dealt with.
I hope you lads had a good Christmas. Keep up the good work! 🤩
Acting like an assistant manager is the true way of an Imperial.
My hope is imperial bounces back in hammerfell
They won’t,
They will leave hammerfell alone
7:36 I thought that was my tumbledryer in the background
Eastern Rome would be better depiction for the Imperials than just Rome. Not full Byzantium. But not full Rome. I like Eastern Rome vibe. 500 AD
Someone else described Colovians as Romans and Nibenay as more Hellenistic which seemed pretty accurate to me. Byzantine would work too, though.
@@colbyboucher6391 a year later I sorta revised my viewpoint. I imagine nibenese as Greco-Roman and Colovians as a synthesis of Byzantine-Bulgarian/Serbian greco-slavic culture. Or (or and) 6-700s hybrid Romano-Germanic cultures like Germanic tribes in conquered post Roman lands or early west frankish empire of Charlemagne and or Otto of Saxony in the 800s both with a Germanic and Roman synthesis of culture.
This is my more modified interpretation.
Regarding the different subrace idea, for the next game;
Argonians could have different tribes appropriate for the setting ES6 is in. Maybe a resurgence of the Shadowscales, and finally being able to be one?
Dunmer could have Ashlander, or mainlander subraces.
Imperial would obviously have Nibenean, Heartlander, and Colovian.
Khajiit have several different forms they could include, even the weird human ones they had in Arena. You could pass for a human, if you were that subrace, unless there were other Khajiits, or people familiar with the other forms around. Might be interesting.
Nord could have traditional Nord, Reachman, and even the Nords on Solstheim, if you wanted to be a Nord with less Imperial influence.
Redguard, like they said, could be Crown or Forebear.
The only ones I can't think of any subraces for, are
the Bosmer, the Bretons, and the Altmer.
Maybe the Bretons could have certain dynasties to choose from, which might affect certain bonuses/effects? Altmer could have different "purity" subraces, which would impact how other high elves might view you, and how powerful your inherent magical abilities might be. Bosmer, I have no clue.
Either way, I've thought far too long on this, and I'm going back to the video. Thanks for the content, FM.
Bruh, colovians are just Slavs irl, names-wise
Then why do none of them wear adidas and drink vodka?
@@jacobsharp1317 hard argument
But they have fur hats, garlic outside the houses because vampires, and vampires are from slavic mythology, names like Rislav Larich, Skingrad. They are also farmers like ancient Slavs. Well they maybe don't drink vodka, but colovian brandy. Traditional food like Skingrad cabbage soup are also traditional food in slavic countries. We love cabbage.
EDIT: It's sad for me that Slavs have so little representation in TES. Ther are literary no race in games that would be simillar in terms of culture to Slavs.
Merry Christmas Fudgemuppet! Thank you 😊
Granted I’m not in a good place right now, but when the guys started talking about all the cool stuff they could do with the imperials in Hammerfell I was like “they could. Probably won’t because it’s Bethesda. Oh well.”
thanks for the content
I feel like the Empire is going to collapse in/prior to ES VI. If you look at some of the quirks of Roman history, a lot of what led to the collapse of the western EMpire is happening during Skyrim. Some of these are big details, like the breakaway of multiple highly Imperialized provinces. Others are small, like the fame of the Gourmand (making celebrities out of chefs is a longstanding pre-collapse thing throughout human history, for some reason).
they will likely go with an imperial collapse, but you have to keep in mind that in the Elder Scrolls there were three different "roman" empires which rose and collapsed, with a "dark age" inbetween them. And unlike how our history had the Roman Empire first (being the strongest) then the Byzantine (weaker) and finally the HRE (barely even an empire), in the Elderscrolls that trend kind of went in reverse.
Alyssia's empire was extremely weak compared to the Reman or Septim ones, it bascially only controlled Cyrodiil and minor border areas, but only at its height, as its actual area of control ebbed and flowed heavily (so it could be seen as pretty similar to the HRE, especially with regards to how it was a war of religion that tore it apart).
Then you had Reman's Empire being alot more of what we would consider the Empire, even though it never reached the same extent as the Septim empire later on.
You could interpret the 200 years between Oblivion and Skyrim as the Third Empires' own Third century crisis, dead emperors, constant civil wars, invasions, losing territory, plagues, famine, economic collapse, everything hitting like a train of misfortune, yet the fact that it endured as much as it did says it has some good 200 years of life left to go.
FYI the whole "Decadence destroyed the roman empire" argument is pretty bunk.
Hence my referencing it as a small detail. Rebellion, political instability, and invasion were far more compelling factors, along with disease, withdrawal from their previous level of provincial involvement, and poor resource management. The bit about the chefs is simply a notable observation, reflective of what is, IMO, Bethesda's level of solid basis for the Imperials -- comparable to the cultural basis for the Bretons and the Nords.
That's a perspective I'd not even begun to consider. A clever way for the Devs to have based things solidly on our history, but also turned important series of events on their heads, and worked it all into Tamriel's history so that it makes sense. I really like this!
love you guys, drew your hair looks great
Best podcast ever
Although a Hammerfell with a Roman occupied Israel feel would be awesome
Who else listens to podcast while playing Skyrim and oblivion
Podcast time!!!
I actually love your English analogy.
Will you make the ultimate guide to imperials sometime
I kind of wish they'd rename their race from "Imperial" to "Cyrodillic" if we ever get a game where they control more territory again.
Eh. I'd say the opposite. It makes sense for a conquered province to just call them Imperials, not so much when that's hardly an accurate descriptor.
@@colbyboucher6391 i mean we still call the Nords and Redguard by their provincial names back when they were still part of the Emmmpah
@@sethleoric2598 Yeah, because they aren't part of the culture the Empire is built around.
If they had no empire they would be called cyrodillians. Or cyrodillic. But, unfortunately for any elves, there will always be someone on the ruby throne.
I'm jelly of Drew's sweater.
Hey guys. Couldn’t it be that Imperials have a better education system that teaches logic, abstract thought, and rhetoric? So the kids all are very persuasive and so they have higher speech than other races.
Your elder Scrolls lore videos are what I have playing in the background as I'm cooking or driving 👏🏻
Please do wood elf lore please 😎🇺🇸💯
I see you everywhere
they already have
16:55 The Bretons are the Welsh. Not metaphorically, but literally
It has been mentioned a few times that Redguard peoples don't have the same disgust for Destruction magic that they do for other schools and Redguard wizards often specialize in Destruction. It is really conjuration that they dislike mostly not all magic so I could see the Alteration and Destruction bonuses.
always loved this intro music
Roman Hoplite/Early Nibenese Culture-Roman Republic/Nibenese,Colovian and some Nordic Culture-Roman Empire/All territory culture. Lol well thats how I would describe it even if I'm wrong its the best comparison I could think of.
I'm glad you guys talked about what an Empire actually does to the ethnicities they conquer. It's obviously not all sunshine and rainbows. I always found it funny how many people said they sided with the Empire in Skyrim, citing racism towards dark elves by the stormcloaks as the reason. I don't really disagree, but to argue that a damn EMPIRE is somehow more tolerant to different races and cultures, having invaded them and taken away their sovereignty, is hilarious to me.
Scotts love for the material is so beautiful!!!
"none of you spawned from his balls" - scott
what can the other races of men offer you? bretons, foul performers singing the echo of mers. Redguard or nords? chose between a warriors life or that of learned singers, and just like that they will be forever divided, chained by dogma. Beasts then? khajiits are like dunes of sands, ever shifting in the wind by the whims of moons. Argonian? rooted like their trees. Elves then? mighty mers of magic scholars except the Bosmer which sometimes seems to be chained to the roots more than the lizards. Dunmer and Altmer, both very clever but they lack the wisdom of downtrodden mud. They will never be wise kings, their minds have a perverse obsession with symmetry. Only the Cyrod have the means to make order out of the rolling mudslides of the savages and create art of the orderly gardens of scholars. Born and hardened by the bloody mud and make great by a vision of higher purpose and peace. We know how to answer the forceful by force, and the humble the haughty with wit. If they so desire our retreat then let them have at it, and watch them cry for our return when the winds howl with distress.
Yo is this from the lore? If so what sources please?
@@jacobsharp1317 just some scribbles. Love imperials :)
@@smokingowly3607 Well it’s well written and I enjoyed reading it. It’s almost making me stan Imperials. :)
@@jacobsharp1317 thanks :) the imperials do what they do best, endure and learn.
Dude this fucking rocks, we need more elder scrolls themed poetry.
Imperials work best as a kind of Bron type business minded mercenary character.
I'm glad Scott is finally getting over the "whole jungle thing".
Embrace the retcon.
Have you ever been to a jungle? They are shit.
@@zarrg5611 I agree. Cyrodil is better as the Italian plains than another jungle.
The Jungle would've been more interesting. Since we don't have anymore, aside from parts of Blackmarsh and bits and pieces in Elswyr/Valenwood
Just saying... the Jungle Cyrodiil would've been pretty cool to see.
@@zarrg5611
Seems the Men and Mer didn't mind it much. Face it, they retconned it do it would be easier to make a forest. 😒
@@thalmoragent9344 Valenwood is already the jungle province. It would have been more of the same.
Plus, an Empire built on trade would do better in a region where it is easy to maintain roads.
After the Imperial army was virtually crushed or weaken in the Oblivion crisis, and many Imperials if any were left in Morrorwind dying in the Red year, the army was so weak that I can see the Mer and Beast folk of southern Tamriel and Morrorwind rebelling multiple times kicking the empire out. Or internal unrest and revolts in that 150 year span. We do know coups and attempted coups were common. And that shit is expensive. So was Oblivion crisis, so was the rebellions and lack of trade routes. One can justify the collapse. I actually imagine the empire's economy not doing so well.
Remember. The Imperials are a race of economy. With crisis of Oblivion, red year and rebellions, supply chains and trade routes are fucked. The empire can't afford its legions training or resources, or food or bedding, so may have less legionaries. This race of gold lost its economic prestige. So their empire is taking a hit.
Happy holidays everyone
So random thought but what if Talos became a god to battle against Trinimac/Malacath for when Lorkhan leads his armies to war against Auri-El and his armies
It is still my headcannon that the nedes just rebranded themselves imperials
In my opinion Imperials are the weakest race individually but are the strongest collectively. Meaning if you had all 10 playable races in an arena and they were all at the exact same level of combat effectiveness then I think that the Imperial is the most likely to die in that scenario. But Imperials as a people are the most capable of conquering Tamriel and are the only empire of Tamriel that has tried to conquer Akavir with the founding of the aptly named Ionith. Imperials time and time again have shown their ability to invade, conquer and annex. After all their very name comes from the term imperialism literally meaning that the Imperials are the people that commits imperialism.
I don’t think they are the weakest individually. you have to remember that Colovians are pretty renowned for their hardiness and combat skill.
@@cpl.gordita-crunch5608 *cough* *cough* I would body a fucking wood elf bro, and one inch punch a fucking high elves legs in half bro. Humans are in general are the strongest race in tes. The elves like to cling to their past, but man reach for the future.
Great content :D
YESSSS!!!
Yeeeeessss...! My favorite race!!🤩🤩🤩🥰🥰🥰🥰
Merry Christmas boys
Last time I was this early, Vvardenfell was populated by piss elves.
They need to do half races