Elder Scrolls Lore: Ch.14 - Redguards of Hammerfell

al dawn's beauty' in the language of the altmer ordaz of God the dragon's tongue is the qanun upon which all the Elder Scrolls games take place home to many diverse races and even more conflicts Tamriel has been host to many adventures you've experienced Tamriel in your own way but want to learn more about its story well to get to the heart of the story you have to go back to the beginning you you could certainly call it a wasteland Rock since and as far as the eye can see it's hard to believe anything could live here its harshness has been readily compared to the swamps of Argonia hammerfell is the barren scab of Tamriel an unforgiving place that seems to want to kill anything living within it why would anything want to live here how could anything live here there are people that not only survive in the land's cruel embrace they thrive on it the Red Guards didn't originate on Tamriel and yet they were the ones who tamed Hammerfell and who else if not the Red Guards their dark complexion agility athletic frame and curved swords are tailored for survival along with the Nords and orcs they are more muscular than the other mortal races which in no small part has lent itself on the battlefield they are considered by most to be the most naturally talented warriors in all of Tamriel their pride and fierce independence is on par with that of even the Dark Elves the rest of Tamriel recognizes this and Red Guards are the most well employed mercenaries in the nine provinces the Red Guards have claimed military superiority on land as well as on sea like every civilization before them the Red Guards have been shaped by their homeland their seafaring heritage has made their Navy into a force to be reckoned with even the Empire's best armadas have proved no match for the you coudn't fleet as a race of sailors and adventurers the Red Guards don't typically limit themselves to one armor style or dress although their desert environment has them sporting their distinctive headdress know as travelers the Red Guards prefer to experience all the world has to offer they have a cultural affinity for many weapon and armor styles since many of them freelance as sell swords it is not uncommon to see a red are dressed head-to-toe in many different armor sets from many different cultures their culture does have its own unique style as well braided hair tattoos war paints and piercings are commonplace amongst the Red Guards they decorate their bodies almost as much as they decorate their lavish palaces you couldn't architecture is some of the most ornate you'll find on nirn if you're going to call a place home you might as well spare no expense that is for the people who can afford it like most societies the Red Guards have a class system however it is distinctively unique in its own foreign way ever since the Second Empire red guard society has been formally divided into two political groups who formed due to their places in society the crowns and the forebears the crowns are the descendants of the High King and nobility who ruled back in the Red Guard homeland of you kuda they hold their old Yakunin tradition in high esteem and greatly dislike foreigners the forebears are descended from the regatta warrior class they are the keen edge of the blade the hardened warriors who cleared the way for red guard civilization battle with the other provinces has exposed the forebears to other warrior cultures such as the Nords this exposure has made the forebears more progressive than the grounds and thus more accepting of other cultures into their society thanks to the forebears Red Guard societies built on martial discipline every Red Guard no matter their station in life is expected to have a grasp of basic weapon tree in combat only the strongest fastest and most cunning of Red Guards are then accepted into one of hammer fells many Knightly orders it's true that the Red Guards have an affinity for the martial arts but generally speaking the Red Guards of hammerfell shun the use of specific schools of magic the practice of Eastern magic for example is found upon by both the crowns and the forebears any foreigner using magic within hammer fells boarders could easily become the subject of persecution many of the Red Guards believe magic is for the weak and wicked and their ancient lore they have cautionary tales of Wizards who play ignorant souls to store into gems and tampering with Minds making brother fight against brother and their eyes such magic has no place in civil society now that's not to say that redguard society is entirely civil itself as we will learn their history has been greatly influenced by their belief that violence is not only a fact of life but a necessary means for growth the story of the Red Guards is one of invasion assimilation and eventually expulsion though they most closely resemble the other races of men the Red Guards have no ancestral ties with the Imperials of the Empire or the Nords of atmora nor does any elven blood run through their veins no the Red Guards are something entirely different there's a story that begins on the lost continent of yo kuda and an age lost in the sands of time you couidn't society was very advanced for its time yo kuda natives were superior to those found among the other Tamriel kingdoms and their astronomical knowledge martial arts agriculture politics and philosophy were the envy of the world for reasons now lost to us yo Cudas fate was sealed as it slipped into the Azorean sea in ancient times most civilizations would have fallen along with their home but the Yakunin were a seafaring people before it sank into the sea yo CUDA had been nothing but a collection of large islands so it was only natural that its people were bred for navigation and so it was the you coudn't fleet set sail to the east in search of a new home and a new challenge the you couidn't were not looking to make friends in Tamriel nor did they men and elves had already begun to settle the land and that did not stop the regatta from carving them out it is important to note that the you coudn't fleets was nothing short of an invasion and Regatta took the Coase of hammer fell by storm later when the rest of the refugees arrived on Tamriel they erected their cities on the very ruins left behind by their warriors within a few short months the foreign invaders had replaced the elven and Nordic forces who had fought over Hammerfell for centuries the you couidn't had raided and adapted to the land so fast that the other mortal races had no choice but the yield hammer fell to its new masters Tamriel was made to recognize their new neighbors as Red Guards a grammatical corruption of the word Regatta due to their aggressive expansion one would think that the other races of Tamriel would hold a grudge towards the Red Guards on the contrary they had become famous as warriors having bested even the orcs on the battlefield no it was actually the Red Guards who scorned their neighbors seeing themselves as invaders they saw the races of Tamriel as weak looking through the lens of a martial culture the Red Guards had little respect for those who couldn't even defend their own lands from their new home in hammerfell the Red Guards held complete independence from the other provinces so fierce was their independence that they wouldn't even partake an economic trade with the other races until the Breton's and orcs proved their worth in the siege of horse inium centuries later this newfound respect for the Breton's and the orcs would lend itself to a new alliance in the dark days to come when Tamriel skies darkened in the later years of the second era hammer fell faced the largest invasion since the yakunin themselves raided its coasts millennia ago in hammer fells darkest hour an alliance was formed the Breton's had her in their respect by spilling blood alongside the Red Guard centuries earlier and it paved the way for the Daggerfall under the covenant the red guards fought side-by-side with the orcs and together they showed Tamriel a means for survival once the Daedric threat had subsided the Covenant was disbanded and the red guards would be thrown into civil war so Dawn's the third era and Tiber Septim along with it many believed even tiber septim's Imperials would fail to take Hammerfell from those raised from birth to defend it yet when the Imperial legions invaded the province they met with little resistance Civil War had left the Red Guards weaker than they had ever been and in the chaos the organization of the Legion reigned supreme although they certainly did not ask for Tiber Septim or his empire the Red Guards ended up benefiting immeasurably under the new regime the four bears in particular welcomed the new opportunities and challenges the Empire had to offer them many Red Guards went on to serve under the Imperial Legion which did much to strengthen their military in general northern Hammerfell continued to be more traditionally Akutan under the empire both in style dress and also personality the southern lands on the other hand where the forebears had landed tended to be more progressive by adapting to Imperial customs following the cataclysmic event called the warp in the West or the miracle of peace the four bear kingdom of centinall grew to encompass the entirety of the northern coast of hammerfell shifting the balance of power making hammer fell even more Imperial in the coming centuries hammer fells people were adapting under the Empire more and more each day but in classic kakouton tradition this growth would not come without blood a land dispute with the Breton's and an invasion from the Nords would sow the seeds of doubt in the minds of every Red Guard hammerfell was losing land under imperial rule and an empire too weak to defend its land is no empire worth keeping with the coming of the fourth era the Great War had erupted the Aldmeri Dominion marched on the white gold tower determined to deliver Tamriel back into the hands of the elves even with the support of the other provinces emperor titus mead ii proved weak and in his cowardice he signed the white gold concordance with the Dominion and with it he betrayed the whole of Hammerfell as a part of this peace treaty the Dominion was given large tracts of land in southern hammer fell leaving the Red Guards to suffer the failure of its empire the Aldmeri Dominion marched on hammer fell to claim the land given to them by Titus Mead a challenge the red guards would surely answer in the end the heroic red guards met the old merry Dominion on the battlefield of southern hammer fell and with ferocity determination and blood they single-handedly brought the Dominion army to a standstill the red guards say that their successful rebellion proves that the white gold concordant was a mistake if the coward Titus Mead had kept his nerve the Aldmeri could have truly been defeated by the combined forces of Hammerfell and the rest of the Empire but he did not keep his nerve and although Hammerfell proved strong to resist the rest of the Empire grows weaker with each passing day as it stands the elves muster their forces in Velen wood reading themselves to take back what is theirs by ancient right but that is a story for another day

Channel: ShoddyCast

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Keywords: Elder Scrolls Lore, shoddycast, elder scrolls, skyrim, daggerfall, valenwood, dwemer, akavir, elder scrolls vi, aldmeri dominion, release date, lore, elder scrolls 6, eso, leak, the elder scrolls 6, dlc, tes vi, todd howard, elder scrolls valenwood, elder scrolls 6 valenwood, teso, weapons, elder scrolls 6 confirmed, elder scrolls 6 release date, tes 6, bethesda, the elder scrolls, redguard, es6, nord, bethesda e3, talos, mages, dark brotherhood, zenimax, skyrim lore, redguards, hammerfell

Id: isabR1KTb-Q

Length: 13min 26sec (806 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 30 2013

Reddit Comments

[u/ragsta]

These are good. I've been making my way through the playlist. Great job to the guys who made them.

[u/chickenwithcheez]

Nice flair, blood of the dragon.