TheCatsofSanktPetersburg
Learned
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2011
- Messages
- 163
I'm always left bereft of words when trying to explain to someone why I find TES lore so appealing. It's hard to weigh or judge the qualities that make this fantasy world stand out so much so I’m making this thread to compile a list of arguments.
I think the main reason for this is because TES doesn’t use propaganda to punish the player/reader for being gullible (like finding out that the gargoyles weren’t evil in Ultima 6). And it’s never brought about as a great revelation that no one knew, but rather it’s out there in the open and you are simply asked to believe whatever you wish.
It's a very incomplete list, but I ask on any TES fan here to add to it. Just post whatever comes to mind and I'll add it to this list.
- Different interpretations
I think the main reason for this is because TES doesn’t use propaganda to punish the player/reader for being gullible (like finding out that the gargoyles weren’t evil in Ultima 6). And it’s never brought about as a great revelation that no one knew, but rather it’s out there in the open and you are simply asked to believe whatever you wish.
- Religion and syncretism.
- It encourages scrutiny
It's a very incomplete list, but I ask on any TES fan here to add to it. Just post whatever comes to mind and I'll add it to this list.
The sources of inspiration. Some of the people behind the lore really know their stuff. Some knowledge of Eastern cultures and religions will help you spot them. Here's one:
Ring a bell? This is Harihara, a deity that combines Vishnu (the blue part) and Shiva (the white part). You can tell where the inspiration for Vivec came from. But there's more. In Hinduism, Vishnu is a figure linked to maintenance, or preservation, whereas Shiva is linked to destruction (and hence innovation). This is mirrored in TES lore by Anu (Stasis) and Padomay (Change).
I would therefore venture that there is another meaning behind Vivec's two colors, other than simply "half Chimer and half Dunmer". He has achieved CHIM, hence he manipulates both stasis and change, maintenance and destruction. He is the one who has been preserving Dunmer culture for so long, and yet he is the one who will destroy it (Landfall), as he lays it out in his 36 Lessons.
I just wrote this off the top of my head. It just goes to show how deep the lore is if you venture below the surface. I guess that's why I love the TES world, with all its flaws and crappy games.
Yes, I'd say The Elder Scrolls is so "alien" and esoteric precisely because it is so to a Western ideology that dominates today.
Someone without any knowledge about Eastern philosophy or concepts will basically look at TES and say to himself "whoa, in comparison to other fantasy, that one doesn't take inspiration from clear, distinguishable archetypes, like i.e. Orcs do from Mongols etc." As much as balls Kirkbride is, that is not really the case. For example, the concept of universe shaped like the Wheel with eight spokes or Aedra/Daedra/etc. being simply the aspects of the "hidden" Godhead, the Dreamer, seem very alien, but those are basic concepts in the East. When you know a thing or two about i.e. Hinduism and Buddhism in regard to the metaphysical aspect of TES lore that is the foundation to many aspects of it, everything becomes much more distinguishable and familiar.
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