[Lore Discussion] Where did Minotaurs come from and do they belong in Tamriel?

UltimaJoe777

As the title says, feel free to discuss this. Personally, it just seems a teeny bit out there to me lol

nimander99

I don't know where they come from but St. Alessia had a minotaur companion during the revolution against the Ayleids or Heartland High Elves, long before this game takes place.

UltimaJoe777

nimander99 wrote: »

I don't know where they come from but St. Alessia had a minotaur companion during the revolution against the Ayleids or Heartland High Elves, long before this game takes place.

Makes you wonder how there are so many still around then doesn't it?

Aliyavana

When a male minotaur loves a female minotaur...

BruhItsOver9000

arcadiadark wrote: »

When a male minotaur loves a female minotaur...

No such thing as a female Minotaur.

Junipus

Minotaurs were/are in Oblivion and could be found in the Gold Coast area of the game they currently reside in. This is during the end of the 3rd Era so after this game. I'm sure more knowledgeable ESO fans would advise if they were in Daggerfall set at the beginning of the second Era I believe and so before the setting for this game.

UltimaJoe777

BruhItsOver9000 wrote: »

arcadiadark wrote: »

When a male minotaur loves a female minotaur...

No such thing as a female Minotaur.

I'd say that's bull but I cannot prove it.

...Oh, wait, yes I can!

All kidding aside I really cannot say if there are genders among Minotaur though.

Nirnrotten

I used to hunt them in Oblivion for their horns. With Imperial having the Greco/Roman motif going on I'm not surprised seeing some man bulls. I think Morihaus is the father of Minotaurs. Hence the set in his name and all his children just grazing the gold coast.

Abeille

nimander99 wrote: »

I don't know where they come from but St. Alessia had a minotaur companion during the revolution against the Ayleids or Heartland High Elves, long before this game takes place.

Pretty much this. The only "origin" we know of Minotaurs isn't certain, but it is said that they came from the love between Morihaus and Alessia.

Here, read about Morihaus: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Morihaus

They do belong in Tamriel, and they had been in the games since Arena.

WolffenBloodseeker

Minotaurs came from the union of Morihaus Breath-of-Kyne the "man-bull" and his lover Saint Alessia the slave-queen, they were upstanding citizens of the empire until the rise of the Alessian Order whose hatred for all things non-men drove the minotaurs from the empire into the hills and mountains of Cyrodiil, with the pass of time they lost their civilized culture and devolved into tribal savages (more or less like the falmer but without having been forced to eat the blinding fungus). But as a book point out in-game, many minotaurs are still found guarding places that were important to the first empire of men (ruins of forts and castles in most cases) so they probably still have some sort of memory from those times.

AhPook_Is_Here

UltimaJoe777 wrote: »

BruhItsOver9000 wrote: »

arcadiadark wrote: »

When a male minotaur loves a female minotaur...

No such thing as a female Minotaur.

I'd say that's bull but I cannot prove it.

...Oh, wait, yes I can!

All kidding aside I really cannot say if there are genders among Minotaur though.

Nothing reproduces sexually in eso, you are either created at the character creation screen or you are an npc and are immortally looped or on a re-spawn timer. There is no need for female Minotaur if they reproduce fully matured by re-spawn timer. It's the same reason we don't need kids or bathrooms in Tamriel.

UltimaJoe777

Abeille wrote: »

nimander99 wrote: »

I don't know where they come from but St. Alessia had a minotaur companion during the revolution against the Ayleids or Heartland High Elves, long before this game takes place.

Pretty much this. The only "origin" we know of Minotaurs isn't certain, but it is said that they came from the love between Morihaus and Alessia.

Here, read about Morihaus: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Morihaus

They do belong in Tamriel, and they had been in the games since Arena.

I guess those that only played Skyrim wouldn't feel they fit in then lol

Abeille

UltimaJoe777 wrote: »

Abeille wrote: »

nimander99 wrote: »

I don't know where they come from but St. Alessia had a minotaur companion during the revolution against the Ayleids or Heartland High Elves, long before this game takes place.

Pretty much this. The only "origin" we know of Minotaurs isn't certain, but it is said that they came from the love between Morihaus and Alessia.

Here, read about Morihaus: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Morihaus

They do belong in Tamriel, and they had been in the games since Arena.

I guess those that only played Skyrim wouldn't feel they fit in then lol

That's the case with a lot of TES things, unfortunately. I love Skyrim as much as the next TES fan, but it does not expose the player to a lot of lore (unless the player is one for reading books) - ESO does a better job on the exposition part, in my opinion.

But the lore on Minotaurs is limited anyway. Someone who played Oblivion probably didn't find anything strange about having them around the Gold Coast, though. I feel like we lost a golden opportunity of learning more about them on the Dark Brotherhood DLC, it could have added more lore on them.

UltimaJoe777

Abeille wrote: »

UltimaJoe777 wrote: »

Abeille wrote: »

nimander99 wrote: »

I don't know where they come from but St. Alessia had a minotaur companion during the revolution against the Ayleids or Heartland High Elves, long before this game takes place.

Pretty much this. The only "origin" we know of Minotaurs isn't certain, but it is said that they came from the love between Morihaus and Alessia.

Here, read about Morihaus: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Morihaus

They do belong in Tamriel, and they had been in the games since Arena.

I guess those that only played Skyrim wouldn't feel they fit in then lol

That's the case with a lot of TES things, unfortunately. I love Skyrim as much as the next TES fan, but it does not expose the player to a lot of lore (unless the player is one for reading books) - ESO does a better job on the exposition part, in my opinion.

But the lore on Minotaurs is limited anyway. Someone who played Oblivion probably didn't find anything strange about having them around the Gold Coast, though. I feel like we lost a golden opportunity of learning more about them on the Dark Brotherhood DLC, it could have added more lore on them.

Indeed, a lot can change in 2 eras lol

driosketch

Junipus wrote: »

Minotaurs were/are in Oblivion and could be found in the Gold Coast area of the game they currently reside in. This is during the end of the 3rd Era so after this game. I'm sure more knowledgeable ESO fans would advise if they were in Daggerfall set at the beginning of the second Era I believe and so before the setting for this game.

Actually, all of the first 4 Elder Scroll games of the main series are set during the final decades of the 3rd Era, under the reign of the same Emperor, Uriel Septim VII, no less. Skyrim is 2 centuries into the 4th Era or so, and ESO in late mid 2nd Era if I remember correctly.

UrQuan

Of course minotaurs belong in Tamriel... They've been in the Elder Scrolls lore (and several games) ever since Arena (the first ever TES game).

You might want to read up on them here:
http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Minotaur

Darkonflare15

Abeille wrote: »

UltimaJoe777 wrote: »

Abeille wrote: »

nimander99 wrote: »

I don't know where they come from but St. Alessia had a minotaur companion during the revolution against the Ayleids or Heartland High Elves, long before this game takes place.

Pretty much this. The only "origin" we know of Minotaurs isn't certain, but it is said that they came from the love between Morihaus and Alessia.

Here, read about Morihaus: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Morihaus

They do belong in Tamriel, and they had been in the games since Arena.

I guess those that only played Skyrim wouldn't feel they fit in then lol

That's the case with a lot of TES things, unfortunately. I love Skyrim as much as the next TES fan, but it does not expose the player to a lot of lore (unless the player is one for reading books) - ESO does a better job on the exposition part, in my opinion.

But the lore on Minotaurs is limited anyway. Someone who played Oblivion probably didn't find anything strange about having them around the Gold Coast, though. I feel like we lost a golden opportunity of learning more about them on the Dark Brotherhood DLC, it could have added more lore on them.

There could be more lore about them in the Colovian Highlands. Since back in a old Lore master archive Minotaurs sightings were in both the Gold Coast and the Colovian Highlands way before they told us that the Dark brotherhood dlc was going to take place in the Gold Coast. I missed the Lore Master archvives that were not part of a dlc but were just random bits of lore that gives of hints of the future. Examples like Minotaurs and the Gold Coast/Colovian Highlands, sep's adders in Hew bane, the echatere in Wrothgar, and Divayth fyr bring mentioned as a reference meaning we may see him in Vvardenfell.

VerboseQuips

Abeille wrote: »

UltimaJoe777 wrote: »

Abeille wrote: »

nimander99 wrote: »

I don't know where they come from but St. Alessia had a minotaur companion during the revolution against the Ayleids or Heartland High Elves, long before this game takes place.

Pretty much this. The only "origin" we know of Minotaurs isn't certain, but it is said that they came from the love between Morihaus and Alessia.

Here, read about Morihaus: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Morihaus

They do belong in Tamriel, and they had been in the games since Arena.

I guess those that only played Skyrim wouldn't feel they fit in then lol

That's the case with a lot of TES things, unfortunately. I love Skyrim as much as the next TES fan, but it does not expose the player to a lot of lore (unless the player is one for reading books) - ESO does a better job on the exposition part, in my opinion.

But the lore on Minotaurs is limited anyway. Someone who played Oblivion probably didn't find anything strange about having them around the Gold Coast, though. I feel like we lost a golden opportunity of learning more about them on the Dark Brotherhood DLC, it could have added more lore on them.

I would have loved to get more lore on them. Nevertheless, we got some tidbits.

First, there are Minotaur Shamans in the Second Era. Just the existence of those magic-users seems to confirm that the Minotaurs were once (much) more intelligent than they were in the Third Era - something that was already hinted in Oblivion.
The shadows in Tribune's folly are horned, and they are smaller than Minotaurs in the wilds. This seems to indicate that at least some Minotaurs were once closer to races of men. More men, less beasts.
In fact, if we admit that Belharza the Man-Bull, who was Morihaus and Alessia's heir, was a Minotaur, then it is not so astonishing that Minotaurs were once civilized. Otherwise a Minotaur wouldn't have been able to become Emperor of Cyrodiil.

The question of how they lost their intellect remains largely untouched, however ESO might have added an element of answer. The style item for the Minotaur motif is the Oxblood fungus. We know nothing about this mushroom, but it is not entirely unconcievable that it would cause an alteration of the Minotaurs, like the Dwemer mushrooms caused the Falmer's degeneracy. And if this is the case, I wouldn't be surprised if Namira, the Daedric Prince of decay who has mushrooms named after her, would be involved in some way. But of course this is mere hypothesis - nothing that just the inclusion of an unknown mushroom could come close to substantiate. The game doesn't explain how the fungus is related to Minotaurs - maybe it does in the motif chapters, but I haven't read them yet.

There are some other tidbits of information. For example, they are guarding ayleid places (to prevent ill-intentioned people to get inside, or to prevent nefarious things to loom outside? Or just because they were forced to live in places that were generally considered infamous or undesirable by the Men of the late Alessian Empire?) and they guard a place of high relevance to the Alessian Empire (Knightsgrave). Another piece of information is the red colour that tints the ground when they use magic. Personnally this makes me think to Nirncrux, though it could be just a cosmetic effect - but it is compatible with the name of the spell, i.e. "Pillars of Nirn". But what do the Minotaurs have to do with Nirncrux? An element of answer might be found here, as it seems that the beastfolk once worshipped the Celestials. If this is really the case, then the Minotaurs might be responsible for the creation of the Doom Stones, and the red runes on those might be made of Nirncrux.

Finally, the abilities of the Minotaur seem similar to those of the Dragonknights. This is reminiscent of the fact that Morihaus was apparently somehow linked to the thu'um, but again, no actual piece of information is provided. So Dark Brotherhood did add a bit to the Minotaur lore, but only on the level of mere fuel to speculation. I would have loved something more substantial.

Edit: I changed the *something* of the Doom Stones for "creation" because it was censored. Guys, there is a non-sexual meaning to this word! Namely, "make something stand vertically".

WhiteCoatSyndrome

VerboseQuips wrote: »

The question of how they lost their intellect remains largely untouched, however ESO might have added an element of answer. The style item for the Minotaur motif is the Oxblood fungus. We know nothing about this mushroom, but it is not entirely unconcievable that it would cause an alteration of the Minotaurs, like the Dwemer mushrooms caused the Falmer's degeneracy. And if this is the case, I wouldn't be surprised if Namira, the Daedric Prince of decay who has mushrooms named after her, would be involved in some way. But of course this is mere hypothesis - nothing that just the inclusion of an unknown mushroom could come close to substantiate.

This is a good theory and I like it, but another explanation is possible: namely, since the Minotaurs were driven into the wilderness by non-human-hating men, getting supplies of things like books and paper would be difficult to impossible. On top of that it's likely that they've been targeted by adventurers and other armed bands due to the aforementioned distrust/hatred, resulting in the slaughter of adults before they could pass on their knowledge through other means. The degeneration of their culture may simply be the result of generations of poor education from those factors, without any change in their actual mental capacity.

@ZOS_GinaBruno is there any chance that @Lawrence_Schick will ever give us more Minotaur lore?

NordSwordnBoard

They came from crete i think. Wereminotaurs turn into cretins.

TX12001rwb17_ESO

BruhItsOver9000 wrote: »

arcadiadark wrote: »

When a male minotaur loves a female minotaur...

No such thing as a female Minotaur.

Yeah there is actually, there are even mesh's for a female minotaur in the Oblivion game files.

Doctordarkspawn

As a roleplayer, it warms the cockles of my heart to see lore discussions in general. Anyway.

The minotaur race is said to be the spawn of Morihaus (Remember that set? Yeah, relevent here.) a Demiprince who was said to be the spawn of Saint Alessia. Or kyne. There are conflicting stories. (Essentially the closest thing there was to the inherent maker of the empire.) Morihaus, or Morihaus-Breath-Of-Kyne is a cultural hero of the imperials and is depicted as either a winged minotaur, or a half mino half human hybrid.

It's even said, that the minotaurs were at one time sacred. But for one reason or another they were cast out, but even so, they are far from savage.

Few more Tidbids. Morthal in Skyrim is named in his honor. The Lords Mail, an actuall item in lore, is named in his honor as well.

But appart from that, the minotaur lore we got here far trumps anything we have had so far in the series. Their apparent guarding of the ruins, a inherently curious act considering the empire and the Heartland High elves, were inherent enemies.

Necrelios

UltimaJoe777 wrote: »

As the title says, feel free to discuss this. Personally, it just seems a teeny bit out there to me lol

Nah bruh, Minotaur were in TES IV: Oblivion. Like just about everything ever though, they originated from Greek Mythology.

VerboseQuips

Doctordarkspawn wrote: »

As a roleplayer, it warms the cockles of my heart to see lore discussions in general. Anyway.

The minotaur race is said to be the spawn of Morihaus (Remember that set? Yeah, relevent here.) a Demiprince who was said to be the spawn of Saint Alessia. Or kyne. There are conflicting stories. (Essentially the closest thing there was to the inherent maker of the empire.) Morihaus, or Morihaus-Breath-Of-Kyne is a cultural hero of the imperials and is depicted as either a winged minotaur, or a half mino half human hybrid.

I don't think Morihaus was a Demiprince, he rather seems to be of Aedric origin. Pelinal refers to him as an 'ada' and Morihaus is called a Demigod instead of a Demiprince. But then, in-game and in-character sources are not always reliable.

WhiteCoatSyndrome wrote: »

VerboseQuips wrote: »

The question of how they lost their intellect remains largely untouched, however ESO might have added an element of answer. The style item for the Minotaur motif is the Oxblood fungus. We know nothing about this mushroom, but it is not entirely unconcievable that it would cause an alteration of the Minotaurs, like the Dwemer mushrooms caused the Falmer's degeneracy. And if this is the case, I wouldn't be surprised if Namira, the Daedric Prince of decay who has mushrooms named after her, would be involved in some way. But of course this is mere hypothesis - nothing that just the inclusion of an unknown mushroom could come close to substantiate.

This is a good theory and I like it, but another explanation is possible: namely, since the Minotaurs were driven into the wilderness by non-human-hating men, getting supplies of things like books and paper would be difficult to impossible. On top of that it's likely that they've been targeted by adventurers and other armed bands due to the aforementioned distrust/hatred, resulting in the slaughter of adults before they could pass on their knowledge through other means. The degeneration of their culture may simply be the result of generations of poor education from those factors, without any change in their actual mental capacity.

@ZOS_GinaBruno is there any chance that @Lawrence_Schick will ever give us more Minotaur lore?

If they ever come to read this thread, I might as well repost here the Minotaur-related questions I once sent in hope of a Dark Brotherhood-themed Loremaster's Archive.


1." I am a student of the Mages Guild, and am currently working on a project led by Vice-Master of Academia Sirinque about the cultural significance and the magical use of jewelry accross Tamriel. I grew interested in the nose-hoops worn by some Minotaurs. Alas, the Guild cannot fund an expedition in Cyrodiil at the moment due to the War, so I rely on books and testimonies. I hope you could shed a welcome light on some of my unanswered questions.

Is the nose-hoop a mark of authority? From what I gathered, the only Minotaurs who wear them are the Lords of their herd. Does it also have a religious significance? As the ring is worn on the very organ through which they breathe, it could be a commemoration of their mythic ancestor, Morihaus-Breath-of-Kyne, who, according to the Adabal-a, did wear a nose-hoop. Could it even be a sign of devotion to Kyne/Kynareth herself?

Do Minotaurs craft their nose-hoop themselves? Do they also adorn their horns? I have heard that they are able to use some kind of magic, which makes their horn glow. Do they thus, or did they at some point in the past, enchant their nasal jewelry? How do they insert the ring without harming themselves? Is there some Minotaur shaman or surgeon who is able to place it without butchering the septum? Does it involve some kind of ceremony? Are the hoops transmitted from a herd Lord to his successor?

Thank you for your time,

Caledwen, from Skywatch."


2. "It is well-known that Minotaurs were once more intelligent and held a more prominent role in Cyrodiilic society than they do now. For example, Belharza, second Emperor of the Alessian dynasty, was a Minotaur. Does the entire race really stem for Alessia and Morihaus, or was it one of the many kinds of beastfolk who populated the Heartland before the Ayleid hegemony? In the latter case, could the Morihaus story be some Alessian pro-minotaurian propaganda intended at spreading acceptance of the presence of beastfolk at politically important positions after the Slave Rebellion? Were the Minotaurs then able to use the thu'um, as it was said of Morihaus?
What caused the falling into disgrace and the apparent intellectual decay of the entire race? Is it somehow linked to the collapse of the Alessian cult? Does there still remain small communities of Minotaurs which retain their former abilities?"


3. "I would like to know more about the religious mores of the Minotaurs. Do they worship Morihaus and Kynareth? Do they worship other deities? According to a Priestess of Kynareth I met in the Colovian highlands, they sometimes protect unicorns. Is it because of a magical binding, similar to the one linking Spriggans and animals they summon for their protection, or do they protect unicorns for cultural or religious reasons? "


4. Does there exist female Minotaurs? How do they mate?

5. "The Lord's Mail is said to be made of mithril. Is mithril thus linked to Kynareth? Where does mithril come from? Did the Minotaurs use it to craft their armors and weapons under the Alessian empire? And what did Alessian-Minotaurian architecture look like? "

VerboseQuips wrote: »

There are some other tidbits of information. For example, they are guarding Ayleid places (to prevent ill-intentioned people to get inside, or to prevent nefarious things to loom outside? Or just because they were forced to live in places that were generally considered infamous or undesirable by the Men of the late Alessian Empire?) and they guard a place of high relevance to the Alessian Empire (Knightsgrave). Another piece of information is the red colour that tints the ground when they use magic. Personnally this makes me think to Nirncrux, though it could be just a cosmetic effect - but it is compatible with the name of the spell, i.e. "Pillars of Nirn". But what do the Minotaurs have to do with Nirncrux? An element of answer might be found here, as it seems that the beastfolk once worshipped the Celestials. If this is really the case, then the Minotaurs might be responsible for the creation of the Doom Stones, and the red runes on those might be made of Nirncrux.

I realized that the Sky-worship of the beastfolk mentioned in this (unreliable) source takes place in the Mythic Era, so this might very well not apply to the Minotaurs if they originated under the Alessian Empire. But on the other hand, there are other in-game documents testifying of the existence of some race before the generally accepted time of their supposed creation.

Recremen

Of course they belong in The Elder Scrolls! Been around since forever. I have to say they did much better with them in ESO, though, both from a graphical perspective (obviously) and from a lore/zone aesthetic perspective. The lore on them is very.... peculiar, though, same as the origin stories of just about everything. Apparently Morihaus and the Slave-Queen Alessia boinked and begat the whole race. Morihaus was the winged man-bull son of Kyne, a demigod and powerful warrior who helped the Cyrods rise to power.

elias.stormneb18_ESO

Here's the in-game books for potential answers
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Online:On_Minotaurs

[Edited for Baiting]

WhiteCoatSyndrome

VerboseQuips wrote: »

Doctordarkspawn wrote: »

As a roleplayer, it warms the cockles of my heart to see lore discussions in general. Anyway.

The minotaur race is said to be the spawn of Morihaus (Remember that set? Yeah, relevent here.) a Demiprince who was said to be the spawn of Saint Alessia. Or kyne. There are conflicting stories. (Essentially the closest thing there was to the inherent maker of the empire.) Morihaus, or Morihaus-Breath-Of-Kyne is a cultural hero of the imperials and is depicted as either a winged minotaur, or a half mino half human hybrid.

I don't think Morihaus was a Demiprince, he rather seems to be of Aedric origin. Pelinal refers to him as an 'ada' and Morihaus is called a Demigod instead of a Demiprince. But then, in-game and in-character sources are not always reliable.

Fa-Nuit-Hen agrees:

Lord Fa-Nuit-Hen says, “Morihaus! It's long indeed since I thought of him. How we would drink and dice together! As far as I'm concerned, to call him a 'demiprince' is clearly a misnomer. He was a demigod—or so he was termed by the mortals of his time. If you go then, you'll see what I mean."

Also IIRC, Morihaus was Kyne's offspring, and Alessia was his wife/lover.

VerboseQuips wrote: »

4. Does there exist female Minotaurs? How do they mate?

There is actually an existing lore bit for this: link.

...though once thought to be intelligent. They are social creatures, often appearing in groups numbering twenty or more. The largest male dominates this clan structure, and seems to have breeding rights with all females of reproductive age. Younger males will often challenge the older, dominant males in a fight to the death. Their horns locked, the two minotaurs will wrestle until one can no longer continue. This often....

What strikes me as interesting is that that bears a strong resemblance to ORC society (one chief with many wives, non-chiefs don't usually marry) which makes me wonder: did the Minotaurs get it from the Orcs, did the Orcs get it from the Minotaurs, or did EVERYBODY just do that way back when, and monogamy is a relatively new thing for Tamriel?

VerboseQuips wrote: »

6. "The Lord's Mail is said to be made of mithril. Is mithril thus linked to Kynareth? Where does mithril come from? Did the Minotaurs use it to craft their armors and weapons under the Alessian empire? And what did Alessian-Minotaurian architecture look like? "

From the blurb we got during Pacrooti's question and answer session, I gather they're just pretending mithril never existed. But for the purposes of my headcanon, I declared that mithril == quicksilver, they're just using a non-copyrighted name for it now. I also declared that it was first discovered in Mistral and that the name 'mithril' is just a corruption of that which came into common use, rather than the metal's proper name (like Tanzanite in the real world). This is pure headcanon as far as I know, though.

VerboseQuips wrote: »

VerboseQuips wrote: »

There are some other tidbits of information. For example, they are guarding Ayleid places (to prevent ill-intentioned people to get inside, or to prevent nefarious things to loom outside? Or just because they were forced to live in places that were generally considered infamous or undesirable by the Men of the late Alessian Empire?) and they guard a place of high relevance to the Alessian Empire (Knightsgrave). Another piece of information is the red colour that tints the ground when they use magic. Personnally this makes me think to Nirncrux, though it could be just a cosmetic effect - but it is compatible with the name of the spell, i.e. "Pillars of Nirn". But what do the Minotaurs have to do with Nirncrux? An element of answer might be found here, as it seems that the beastfolk once worshipped the Celestials. If this is really the case, then the Minotaurs might be responsible for the creation of the Doom Stones, and the red runes on those might be made of Nirncrux.

I realized that the Sky-worship of the beastfolk mentioned in this (unreliable) source takes place in the Mythic Era, so this might very well not apply to the Minotaurs if they originated under the Alessian Empire. But on the other hand, there are other in-game documents testifying of the existence of some race before the generally accepted time of their supposed creation.

Don't forget that it was the Nedes who started the star-worship originally, and Alessia was descended from the Nedic slaves taken by the Aylieds. If we take it as given that the Minotaurs are all descended from her, it's not so strange that her children might keep the star worship. Though (assuming Quill-Weave wasn't just misinformed) the idea that she might have meant a different variant of beastfolk might have been more likely. (And now I want to have a Q & A for the Shadowscales too--because 'every child hatched under the Shadow sign is trained to be an assassin' is IMO a prime candidate for having its roots in star worship, but in spite of TWO DLCs having assassin-related things in them, we still haven't gotten a chance to ask. )

Doctordarkspawn

WhiteCoatSyndrome wrote: »

VerboseQuips wrote: »

Doctordarkspawn wrote: »

As a roleplayer, it warms the cockles of my heart to see lore discussions in general. Anyway.

The minotaur race is said to be the spawn of Morihaus (Remember that set? Yeah, relevent here.) a Demiprince who was said to be the spawn of Saint Alessia. Or kyne. There are conflicting stories. (Essentially the closest thing there was to the inherent maker of the empire.) Morihaus, or Morihaus-Breath-Of-Kyne is a cultural hero of the imperials and is depicted as either a winged minotaur, or a half mino half human hybrid.

I don't think Morihaus was a Demiprince, he rather seems to be of Aedric origin. Pelinal refers to him as an 'ada' and Morihaus is called a Demigod instead of a Demiprince. But then, in-game and in-character sources are not always reliable.

Fa-Nuit-Hen agrees:

Lord Fa-Nuit-Hen says, “Morihaus! It's long indeed since I thought of him. How we would drink and dice together! As far as I'm concerned, to call him a 'demiprince' is clearly a misnomer. He was a demigod—or so he was termed by the mortals of his time. If you go then, you'll see what I mean."

Also IIRC, Morihaus was Kyne's offspring, and Alessia was his wife/lover.

VerboseQuips wrote: »

4. Does there exist female Minotaurs? How do they mate?

There is actually an existing lore bit for this: link.

...though once thought to be intelligent. They are social creatures, often appearing in groups numbering twenty or more. The largest male dominates this clan structure, and seems to have breeding rights with all females of reproductive age. Younger males will often challenge the older, dominant males in a fight to the death. Their horns locked, the two minotaurs will wrestle until one can no longer continue. This often....

What strikes me as interesting is that that bears a strong resemblance to ORC society (one chief with many wives, non-chiefs don't usually marry) which makes me wonder: did the Minotaurs get it from the Orcs, did the Orcs get it from the Minotaurs, or did EVERYBODY just do that way back when, and monogamy is a relatively new thing for Tamriel?

VerboseQuips wrote: »

6. "The Lord's Mail is said to be made of mithril. Is mithril thus linked to Kynareth? Where does mithril come from? Did the Minotaurs use it to craft their armors and weapons under the Alessian empire? And what did Alessian-Minotaurian architecture look like? "

From the blurb we got during Pacrooti's question and answer session, I gather they're just pretending mithril never existed. But for the purposes of my headcanon, I declared that mithril == quicksilver, they're just using a non-copyrighted name for it now. I also declared that it was first discovered in Mistral and that the name 'mithril' is just a corruption of that which came into common use, rather than the metal's proper name (like Tanzanite in the real world). This is pure headcanon as far as I know, though.

VerboseQuips wrote: »

VerboseQuips wrote: »

There are some other tidbits of information. For example, they are guarding Ayleid places (to prevent ill-intentioned people to get inside, or to prevent nefarious things to loom outside? Or just because they were forced to live in places that were generally considered infamous or undesirable by the Men of the late Alessian Empire?) and they guard a place of high relevance to the Alessian Empire (Knightsgrave). Another piece of information is the red colour that tints the ground when they use magic. Personnally this makes me think to Nirncrux, though it could be just a cosmetic effect - but it is compatible with the name of the spell, i.e. "Pillars of Nirn". But what do the Minotaurs have to do with Nirncrux? An element of answer might be found here, as it seems that the beastfolk once worshipped the Celestials. If this is really the case, then the Minotaurs might be responsible for the creation of the Doom Stones, and the red runes on those might be made of Nirncrux.

I realized that the Sky-worship of the beastfolk mentioned in this (unreliable) source takes place in the Mythic Era, so this might very well not apply to the Minotaurs if they originated under the Alessian Empire. But on the other hand, there are other in-game documents testifying of the existence of some race before the generally accepted time of their supposed creation.

Don't forget that it was the Nedes who started the star-worship originally, and Alessia was descended from the Nedic slaves taken by the Aylieds. If we take it as given that the Minotaurs are all descended from her, it's not so strange that her children might keep the star worship. Though (assuming Quill-Weave wasn't just misinformed) the idea that she might have meant a different variant of beastfolk might have been more likely. (And now I want to have a Q & A for the Shadowscales too--because 'every child hatched under the Shadow sign is trained to be an assassin' is IMO a prime candidate for having its roots in star worship, but in spite of TWO DLCs having assassin-related things in them, we still haven't gotten a chance to ask. )

He is actually considered a Demiprince despite his Aedric origins. Curious, no? I'm sort of the mind, that he may be -called- Son-Of-Kyne, but might not be so. Eitherway, that's pure speculation.

Dracane

UltimaJoe777 wrote: »

nimander99 wrote: »

I don't know where they come from but St. Alessia had a minotaur companion during the revolution against the Ayleids or Heartland High Elves, long before this game takes place.

Makes you wonder how there are so many still around then doesn't it?

Because they... reproduce.

magictucktuck

I'm not usually into lore or anything so maybe I'm wrong but can't they put anything they want in the game and then it becomes lore? Like a forgotten race or evolved species? I would think they can make or add any lore they want, or is that not how it works?

Faulgor

I think everything important has been said. I just want to add that I really wish more living gods were still around. Morihaus, the Ash-King ... All my hopes rest on the Tribunal!