Summerset DLC Hopes and Speculation Thread!

psychotrip

Oh yeah, I forgot to add this image. This was designed by one of the main people who wrote the lore for The Elder Scrolls, and in particular came up with a lot of the basic lore on elves in The Elder Scrolls universe. This is how he imagines an altmer High Queen (specifically Ayrenn):



Notice the abstract, vaguely sea-shell shoulder-guards. I always thought the altmer aesthetic should have more aquatic themes to them. For a race that lives on an island and has arguably the most powerful navy in the world, I think it would fit them. If dunmer get bugs, and bosmer get leather and bone, the altmer's theme should be birds, and sea-creatures. I want to see coral weapons, seashell jewelry, feathered head-dresses, semi-organic, multicolored, giant bird-creatures used for shipping and transportation.

Edit: just wanna be clear that I know this isn't in any way canon, but I thought it was worth showing because it illustrates the vision of the original creator.

FluffyReachWitch

"500px-Kinmune01.jpg"

I get what you're trying to say and I agree that Altmer clothing could look way better and reflect their surroundings and culture.

But Kinmune is from an ex-dev's fanfiction that describes a sci-fi version of Kynareth and proposes that Ayrenn was never really her own person to begin with, just a manifestation of a malevolent god/computer virus thingy.

psychotrip

FluffyReachWitch wrote: »

"500px-Kinmune01.jpg"

I get what you're trying to say and I agree that Altmer clothing could look way better and reflect their surroundings and culture.

But Kinmune is from an ex-dev's fanfiction that describes a sci-fi version of Kynareth and proposes that Ayrenn was never really her own person to begin with, just a manifestation of a malevolent god/computer virus thingy.

Oh yeah no I know that. The whole Kinmune thing was basically Kirkbride retaliating against what he saw as Zenimax ruining the altmer. He particularly can't stand Ayrenn. I think he compared her to a character from an airport bookstore. I think he made that story as insane as possible just to be as far from ESO's interpretation as humanly possible. I'm not implying it's in any way canon (it was never intended to be), just showing the vision of the guy who more or less invented the altmer (They weren't even called altmer beforehand) in the first place.

Either way, this is closer to how I imagined an altmer high queen looking. Closer to a Galadriel-esque character and less warrior-princess.

wildbear247

Cool info on the altmer, thanks for sharing! Some really gorgeous pieces of art in there.

AlwaysOnFire

FluffyReachWitch wrote: »

"500px-Kinmune01.jpg"

I get what you're trying to say and I agree that Altmer clothing could look way better and reflect their surroundings and culture.

But Kinmune is from an ex-dev's fanfiction that describes a sci-fi version of Kynareth and proposes that Ayrenn was never really her own person to begin with, just a manifestation of a malevolent god/computer virus thingy.

This, really. While it's cool to conceptualize we should be careful because the amount of ex-writers and ex-developers and ex-concept people who have worked with or tangential to TES is long and many of them basically publish their own fanfiction that is out-there enough to make even the most cringey fanwriter blush. It's kind of relevant that TES is not merely a pile of people's headcanons but a consumer product, with a brand and things that can be on-message or off-message, curated by a company. Things made outside of that context, even if somebody that was once involved with the product made them, aren't made with responsibility for that intellectual property in mind.

It's sort of like... when a band member splits from a band, their future work can be inspired from what they made during their time with the band, but we can't claim their entire future discography is part of the band's discography or represents what that body of work could have been.

That said, Altmer clothing style depresses me and it's time to get suitably fancy. I'm ready for crystal tower wizardglam.

psychotrip

AlwaysOnFire wrote: »

FluffyReachWitch wrote: »

"500px-Kinmune01.jpg"

I get what you're trying to say and I agree that Altmer clothing could look way better and reflect their surroundings and culture.

But Kinmune is from an ex-dev's fanfiction that describes a sci-fi version of Kynareth and proposes that Ayrenn was never really her own person to begin with, just a manifestation of a malevolent god/computer virus thingy.

This, really. While it's cool to conceptualize we should be careful because the amount of ex-writers and ex-developers and ex-concept people who have worked with or tangential to TES is long and many of them basically publish their own fanfiction that is out-there enough to make even the most cringey fanwriter blush. It's kind of relevant that TES is not merely a pile of people's headcanons but a consumer product, with a brand and things that can be on-message or off-message, curated by a company. Things made outside of that context, even if somebody that was once involved with the product made them, aren't made with responsibility for that intellectual property in mind.

It's sort of like... when a band member splits from a band, their future work can be inspired from what they made during their time with the band, but we can't claim their entire future discography is part of the band's discography or represents what that body of work could have been.

That said, Altmer clothing style depresses me and it's time to get suitably fancy. I'm ready for crystal tower wizardglam.

I addressed this in the last post, not sure if you saw it:

Oh yeah no I know that. The whole Kinmune thing was basically Kirkbride retaliating against what he saw as Zenimax ruining the altmer. He particularly can't stand Ayrenn. I think he compared her to a character from an airport bookstore. I think he made that story as insane as possible just to be as far from ESO's interpretation as humanly possible. I'm not implying it's in any way canon (it was never intended to be), just showing the vision of the guy who more or less invented the altmer (They weren't even called altmer beforehand) in the first place.

Either way, this is closer to how I imagined an altmer high queen looking. Closer to a Galadriel-esque character and less

But yeah, I think we can all agree Zenimax dropped the ball on altmer clothing. I honestly wonder what their thought process was there with those giant stitches.

Faulgor

Yeah, the most important thing that has to happen if ZOS takes us to Summerset is an aesthetic and cultural re-imagining of the Altmer we currently have in the game. The whole "You can't make buildings out of poetry!" thing from launch has to be acknowledged as uninspired and thrown out.

psychotrip wrote: »

Oh yeah, I forgot to add this image. This was designed by one of the main people who wrote the lore for The Elder Scrolls, and in particular came up with a lot of the basic lore on elves in The Elder Scrolls universe. This is how he imagines an altmer High Queen (specifically Ayrenn):



Notice the abstract, vaguely sea-shell shoulder-guards. I always thought the altmer aesthetic should have more aquatic themes to them. For a race that lives on an island and has arguably the most powerful navy in the world, I think it would fit them. If dunmer get bugs, and bosmer get leather and bone, the altmer's theme should be birds, and sea-creatures. I want to see coral weapons, seashell jewelry, feathered head-dresses, semi-organic, multicolored, giant bird-creatures used for shipping and transportation.

The last chapter, Morrowind, added 6 new armor styles (Morag Tong, Ashlander, Buoyant Armiger, Hlaalu, Redoran, Telvanni - possibly 7 with the Clockwork style from HoF). They better find a way squeeze in some really weird stuff for Summerset, like a Coral Kingdom of Cloudrest style. The only thing we got for Altmer since launch was the Aldmeri Dominion style, and I think that already went in a good direction.

Oh, and weird hairstyles, please.

psychotrip

Faulgor wrote: »

Yeah, the most important thing that has to happen if ZOS takes us to Summerset is an aesthetic and cultural re-imagining of the Altmer we currently have in the game. The whole "You can't make buildings out of poetry!" thing from launch has to be acknowledged as uninspired and thrown out.

psychotrip wrote: »

Oh yeah, I forgot to add this image. This was designed by one of the main people who wrote the lore for The Elder Scrolls, and in particular came up with a lot of the basic lore on elves in The Elder Scrolls universe. This is how he imagines an altmer High Queen (specifically Ayrenn):



Notice the abstract, vaguely sea-shell shoulder-guards. I always thought the altmer aesthetic should have more aquatic themes to them. For a race that lives on an island and has arguably the most powerful navy in the world, I think it would fit them. If dunmer get bugs, and bosmer get leather and bone, the altmer's theme should be birds, and sea-creatures. I want to see coral weapons, seashell jewelry, feathered head-dresses, semi-organic, multicolored, giant bird-creatures used for shipping and transportation.

The last chapter, Morrowind, added 6 new armor styles (Morag Tong, Ashlander, Buoyant Armiger, Hlaalu, Redoran, Telvanni - possibly 7 with the Clockwork style from HoF). They better find a way squeeze in some really weird stuff for Summerset, like a Coral Kingdom of Cloudrest style. The only thing we got for Altmer since launch was the Aldmeri Dominion style, and I think that already went in a good direction.

Oh, and weird hairstyles, please.

The AD style was definitely a step in the right direction, but even that wasn't purely altmer. I'm not sure altmer have gotten anything in any form since launch, save for that pig and I think a pretty boring looking dress?

Edit: couldn't find the dress. So yeah, just a pig. There's something darkly poetic about that, but I'm not smart enough to figure it out

rossk25

I do find the lack of Altmer stuff disappointing. Auridon is great, and I loved playing through that map, but it would be a great welcome to include summerset or even Artaeum.

Summerset should be a huge chapter in the ESO franchise and I would personally have high expectations how the capital city of Alinor looks. From the lore I have read about that city, its meant to be made of glass and its meant to refract light into separate colors.

ArchMikem

psychotrip wrote: »

Many of you know there's some buzz about the next expansion being set in the Summerset Isles.

Going to assume it's all Fan buzz, since I don't recall hearing a word about it from ZOS. While at the same time they've had concept art for the zone of Murkmire ever since the game's launch. Granted it's been years and still no Murkmire, but off the Concept Art and ZOS openly talking about it alone means we're going to get Argonia before Alinor, or at least that's the logical assumption. I dunno anything for sure.

And...well frankly I won't shed a tear if we don't get more Elves.

psychotrip

ArchMikem wrote: »

psychotrip wrote: »

Many of you know there's some buzz about the next expansion being set in the Summerset Isles.

Going to assume it's all Fan buzz, since I don't recall hearing a word about it from ZOS. While at the same time they've had concept art for the zone of Murkmire ever since the game's launch. Granted it's been years and still no Murkmire, but off the Concept Art and ZOS openly talking about it alone means we're going to get Argonia before Alinor, or at least that's the logical assumption. I dunno anything for sure.

And...well frankly I won't shed a tear if we don't get more Elves.

Dont wanna spoil anything but...based on dialogue in the clockwork city they come as close to confirming it as you can get without facing the camera and breaking the fourth wall.

Faulgor

psychotrip wrote: »

ArchMikem wrote: »

psychotrip wrote: »

Many of you know there's some buzz about the next expansion being set in the Summerset Isles.

Going to assume it's all Fan buzz, since I don't recall hearing a word about it from ZOS. While at the same time they've had concept art for the zone of Murkmire ever since the game's launch. Granted it's been years and still no Murkmire, but off the Concept Art and ZOS openly talking about it alone means we're going to get Argonia before Alinor, or at least that's the logical assumption. I dunno anything for sure.

And...well frankly I won't shed a tear if we don't get more Elves.

Dont wanna spoil anything but...based on dialogue in the clockwork city they come as close to confirming it as you can get without facing the camera and breaking the fourth wall.

Plus, there have already been hints in Vvardenfell's questlines, and so far the bread crumbs they leave behind have been pretty accurate.

FluffyReachWitch

psychotrip wrote: »

ArchMikem wrote: »

psychotrip wrote: »

Many of you know there's some buzz about the next expansion being set in the Summerset Isles.

Going to assume it's all Fan buzz, since I don't recall hearing a word about it from ZOS. While at the same time they've had concept art for the zone of Murkmire ever since the game's launch. Granted it's been years and still no Murkmire, but off the Concept Art and ZOS openly talking about it alone means we're going to get Argonia before Alinor, or at least that's the logical assumption. I dunno anything for sure.

And...well frankly I won't shed a tear if we don't get more Elves.

Dont wanna spoil anything but...based on dialogue in the clockwork city they come as close to confirming it as you can get without facing the camera and breaking the fourth wall.

Agreed. Coincidentally, that's also how the Clockwork City DLC was teased. At the end of the Orsinium DLC.

Though, Clockwork City turned out to be a couple of years down the road at that point. For all we know, Summerset/Alinor could be the 2019 chapter instead of next year's. But the fact that they're confident enough to reveal it in the Clockwork City DLC is a good sign that something will come eventually.

ArchMikem

psychotrip wrote: »

ArchMikem wrote: »

psychotrip wrote: »

Many of you know there's some buzz about the next expansion being set in the Summerset Isles.

Going to assume it's all Fan buzz, since I don't recall hearing a word about it from ZOS. While at the same time they've had concept art for the zone of Murkmire ever since the game's launch. Granted it's been years and still no Murkmire, but off the Concept Art and ZOS openly talking about it alone means we're going to get Argonia before Alinor, or at least that's the logical assumption. I dunno anything for sure.

And...well frankly I won't shed a tear if we don't get more Elves.

Dont wanna spoil anything but...based on dialogue in the clockwork city they come as close to confirming it as you can get without facing the camera and breaking the fourth wall.

Considering it's on PTS still and I'm on Console I'll have to wait until launch to see that for myself.

Banana

Get to kill some elves. Excellent

SydneyGrey

psychotrip wrote: »

This is exactly my point! I love that altmer are snobby and elitist but they need to be able to back it up with an interesting culture and an advanced society! Otherise they're just unjustified snobby bores, which honestly is what they 've become. I don't blame people for hating the altmer, but I feel like Zenimax just sort of gave up on making anyone other than Ayrenn remotely likeable. This is the perfect opportunity to change that.

This.
I'd absolutely LOVE a Summerset expansion, but they'd have to work to make it unique and exciting, and different from Auridon. I have a lot of faith they'll do that, though. All the DLC areas have been really amazing in design.

Osteos

Tyrobag wrote: »

Murkmire

^ Its gonna be then next chapter

FluffyReachWitch

You know, mentions of Artaeum give me an idea.

I hope ZoS releases Alinor as a Chapter and Artaeum as a quarterly DLC in the same year, since they gave us both Vvardenfell and the Clockwork City this year.

Tyrion87

rossk25 wrote: »

I do find the lack of Altmer stuff disappointing. Auridon is great, and I loved playing through that map, but it would be a great welcome to include summerset or even Artaeum.

Summerset should be a huge chapter in the ESO franchise and I would personally have high expectations how the capital city of Alinor looks. From the lore I have read about that city, its meant to be made of glass and its meant to refract light into separate colors.

Summerset Isles and Altmers in general are my favourite part of ESO lore. In each TES game I was always choosing Altmer as my race for a mage-type class. However, I am nearly sure that in ESO it won't look like we imagine that. So don't have high expectations...

If it was indeed released someday, devs would come up with their 'brilliant' explanations of any inaccuracies e.g. why there are no glass cities during ESO time frame, why Crystal Tower is not as magnificient as it was described in the lore etc. Pretty much just like they tried to explain why Telvanni mushroom towers have stone foundations in ESO Morrowind.

TheNuminous1

i just love

ArchMikem wrote: »

psychotrip wrote: »

Many of you know there's some buzz about the next expansion being set in the Summerset Isles.

Going to assume it's all Fan buzz, since I don't recall hearing a word about it from ZOS. While at the same time they've had concept art for the zone of Murkmire ever since the game's launch. Granted it's been years and still no Murkmire, but off the Concept Art and ZOS openly talking about it alone means we're going to get Argonia before Alinor, or at least that's the logical assumption. I dunno anything for sure.

And...well frankly I won't shed a tear if we don't get more Elves.

Sunmerset is the sequence of the words.


and on a side note i see alot alot alot of people wanting the altmer to be thing strange alien race. and I agree it should have a big hulking touch of magic abundant in their culture.

but the aldmer were the first. and all other elves diverged from that. all those alien qualities from the dunmer were forged from a tamriellic life.

aldmer stayed and became altmer. they were the first society. the first culture. all human concept of culture bra ched from them language class high society. it all is based off what the elves were at the exodus of old aldmeris.

so in spirit it is alien and unique. it is weird because there was nothing like it on all of tamriel when they came. using silverware. farming building. all these things they brought to the nedic races.

if an aldmer showed a nedic barbarian a fork it would have been the freakiest thing that nede had ever heard of.

so in elder scrolls lore we expect all this crazy magical babble when just the act of walking and talking reading and writing was the craziness that altmer brought to tamriel.

psychotrip

TheNuminous1 wrote: »

i just love

ArchMikem wrote: »

psychotrip wrote: »

Many of you know there's some buzz about the next expansion being set in the Summerset Isles.

Going to assume it's all Fan buzz, since I don't recall hearing a word about it from ZOS. While at the same time they've had concept art for the zone of Murkmire ever since the game's launch. Granted it's been years and still no Murkmire, but off the Concept Art and ZOS openly talking about it alone means we're going to get Argonia before Alinor, or at least that's the logical assumption. I dunno anything for sure.

And...well frankly I won't shed a tear if we don't get more Elves.

Sunmerset is the sequence of the words.


and on a side note i see alot alot alot of people wanting the altmer to be thing strange alien race. and I agree it should have a big hulking touch of magic abundant in their culture.

but the aldmer were the first. and all other elves diverged from that. all those alien qualities from the dunmer were forged from a tamriellic life.

aldmer stayed and became altmer. they were the first society. the first culture. all human concept of culture bra ched from them language class high society. it all is based off what the elves were at the exodus of old aldmeris.

so in spirit it is alien and unique. it is weird because there was nothing like it on all of tamriel when they came. using silverware. farming building. all these things they brought to the nedic races.

if an aldmer showed a nedic barbarian a fork it would have been the freakiest thing that nede had ever heard of.

so in elder scrolls lore we expect all this crazy magical babble when just the act of walking and talking reading and writing was the craziness that altmer brought to tamriel.

I said on the last page but it bears repeating:

If you ever get a chance to talk to, or see conversations with some of the old writers from the time of Morrowind, you may be surprised to find out that elves in general were supposed to be just as weird and alien as the dunmer, albeit in different ways. I'm not implying the altmer should be weird in the same ways (though that early concept art shows they may have been intended to wear bug armor as well) but what we got is just so far removed from what was originally described. They've become exactly the kind of elves I hate in fantasy: pointy eared, fancy humans.

I really hope Zenimax brings their A game when and if they show the summerset mainland. Altmer could really use some love.

TheNuminous1

psychotrip wrote: »

TheNuminous1 wrote: »

i just love

ArchMikem wrote: »

psychotrip wrote: »

Many of you know there's some buzz about the next expansion being set in the Summerset Isles.

Going to assume it's all Fan buzz, since I don't recall hearing a word about it from ZOS. While at the same time they've had concept art for the zone of Murkmire ever since the game's launch. Granted it's been years and still no Murkmire, but off the Concept Art and ZOS openly talking about it alone means we're going to get Argonia before Alinor, or at least that's the logical assumption. I dunno anything for sure.

And...well frankly I won't shed a tear if we don't get more Elves.

Sunmerset is the sequence of the words.


and on a side note i see alot alot alot of people wanting the altmer to be thing strange alien race. and I agree it should have a big hulking touch of magic abundant in their culture.

but the aldmer were the first. and all other elves diverged from that. all those alien qualities from the dunmer were forged from a tamriellic life.

aldmer stayed and became altmer. they were the first society. the first culture. all human concept of culture bra ched from them language class high society. it all is based off what the elves were at the exodus of old aldmeris.

so in spirit it is alien and unique. it is weird because there was nothing like it on all of tamriel when they came. using silverware. farming building. all these things they brought to the nedic races.

if an aldmer showed a nedic barbarian a fork it would have been the freakiest thing that nede had ever heard of.

so in elder scrolls lore we expect all this crazy magical babble when just the act of walking and talking reading and writing was the craziness that altmer brought to tamriel.

I said on the last page but it bears repeating:

If you ever get a chance to talk to, or see conversations with some of the old writers from the time of Morrowind, you may be surprised to find out that elves in general were supposed to be just as weird and alien as the dunmer, albeit in different ways. I'm not implying the altmer should be weird in the same ways (though that early concept art shows they may have been intended to wear bug armor as well) but what we got is just so far removed from what was originally described. They've become exactly the kind of elves I hate in fantasy: pointy eared, fancy humans.

I really hope Zenimax brings their A game when and if they show the summerset mainland. Altmer could really use some love.

i suppose its a matter of opinion on how eso has portrayed the altmer as to if you enjoy it or not.

for me I like how they are. fancy, formal, etiquette following people. the idea that when the mundus was formed man was this child race that knew nothing and mer where already a fully fledged peoples and society.

one thing elder scrolls does a bit i feel is keep it mystical and fantasy without going to far over the top. even just the whisp of slight superiority from the altmer knowing where they came from is enough for me.

another thought is they were so advanced snd evolved when they landed on summerset.

in the merithic era

all the other mer went on to change and evolve while the altmer stayed the same.

so maybe back when time started that was the pinnacle of the aldmer and it never changed over thousands of years.

while the ayleid chimer dwemer maormer bosmer falmer all went on to change so it sppears that they are far more fantasy and unusual then the altmer will ever be. cause they stay the same

Huyen

Elsweyr would be a better choice imo.

zaria

FluffyReachWitch wrote: »

So, I disagree with the idea that ESO bashes Altmer, and the idea that the Altmer are just evil scumbags. I think ESO is the first installment to examine the Altmer fairly and thoughtfully, especially after TESV.

TESV depicted the Thalmor, a totalitarian government that rose to prominence in the aftermath of the Oblivion Crisis. They're objectively evil and bad for the Dominion as a whole, being suspected of causing massive problems and known to purge dissidents, hunting refugees across Tamriel.

But the Thalmor of TESV do not actually represent the Altmer as a whole. They represent what happens when reactionary racists achieve political power, and what they will do to hold onto their power. That is a nasty scenario that can occur anywhere in Tamriel, and historically has.

ESO shows us a different time period. Remember, the Thalmor Council in ESO were part of the government established by Queen Ayrenn and her allies in Valenwood and Elsweyr. This Thalmor Council is allied with the Queen and serves the people of the Dominion. They are not at all the Thalmor that appear in TESV.

The Veiled Heritance that appears in ESO does not represent the will of the Thalmor or people of the Dominion. It's a reactionary expression of racism and xenophobia, much like the Fourth Era Thalmor. The difference is this time, they are stopped before it's too late.

The fact that the Veiled Heritance appears in ESO is important. It shows us that the Summerset Isles and their people are not just jerks by nature, and that like anyone else they're capable of falling prey to reactionary rhetoric. The Dominion plot also shows us that like anyone else, the Isles and Altmer are capable of getting over themselves and considering other people their equals. And it's important that Queen Ayrenn chooses that stance and strives for that kind of future, regardless of the politics of other nobles.

This, the Thalmor in Skyrim is kind of reusing old names for their glory, this is pretty common, historical accuracy is not important, both the caliphate and the 3rd reich are excellent examples.

Veiled Heritance is enemies, you spend lots of time on Ardudin killing them.
Honestly the Bosmer come out far weirder than the Altmer.

Belyar

High elves are usually my favorit race in every game/book/movie, so I hope you're right and we'll get a DLC focused on them.

RABIDxWOLVERINE

psychotrip wrote: »

Voxicity wrote: »

I hate Altmer

RABIDxWOLVERINE wrote: »

If the next DLC or Expansion is set on Summerset Isle I hope I can burn the whole place down with all those filthy elves. If not I guess Ill have to settle for slitting their throats with the Blade of Woe.

This is not the direction I thought this thread would go. Now I'm depressed lol...

I feel like if Zenimax makes the altmer as weird and interesting as they used to be there'd be a little less hate toward them.

Don't blame Zenimax, Blame the Thalmor and those arrogant elves.

FluffyReachWitch

zaria wrote: »

Honestly the Bosmer come out far weirder than the Altmer.

Okay this is pretty awesome for very old lore reasons. Bear with me for a sec.

After spending some time reading the interesting discussion here last night, I went over to UESP to see what old, pre-PGE lore I could find having to do with elves. I stumbled across King Edward, a series of 12 lorebooks that so far have appeared only in TESII.

Now, how accurate these books are depends on your take on them, and to me it seems like in-setting historical fiction, much like The Real Barenziah and 2920 (though King Edward is downright cheery in comparison). It's also worth noting that one of the characters, Moraelyn, is a figure of the First Era, so the High Elven society in this book might not necessarily match what we see in Arena.

Anyway, the High Elves depicted in these lorebooks are said not to have sprawling cities of stone. Here's a bit of conversation on the way to Firsthold:

Edward's gaze roamed the deep green woods and rugged hills. There was no sign of habitation. "It's lovely," he said politely, "but not so beautiful as High Rock," he added out of loyalty and truth. "Are there no towns or villages or farms?"

"The Firstborn live nestled deep in the trees. And they do not tear up the earth and plant anew, but take gladly what Auriel offers ... and make return. Ahhh, the green smell of growing things."

And then there's this.

Moraelyn's hand on his shoulder steered Edward toward the largest tree he'd ever seen. The trunk was hollow; steps inside led up; openings gave out onto more steps and bridges along and among the mighty branches. They proceeded along these until they reached a large canopied platform, furnished with seats and chests as if it were a room

It seems that First Era High Elves, as of the '90s, were the Wood Elves we know now. (Minus the Green Pact of course.)

This has obviously been retconned but I found it interesting and thought some of you might get a kick out of it.

dodgehopper_ESO

Elves need to be alien. I've always had a love-hate feeling toward the elves in part because they are so alien, and I LOVE That about them in the old games. Elves are meant to be uniquely interesting yet totally repulsive to the human mind, at least that's my experience in previous games. Humans are knowable, beast races are less knowable, and elves are straight up aliens.

dodgehopper_ESO

psychotrip wrote: »

Oh yeah, I forgot to add this image. This was designed by one of the main people who wrote the lore for The Elder Scrolls, and in particular came up with a lot of the basic lore on elves in The Elder Scrolls universe. This is how he imagines an altmer High Queen (specifically Ayrenn):



Notice the abstract, vaguely sea-shell shoulder-guards. I always thought the altmer aesthetic should have more aquatic themes to them. For a race that lives on an island and has arguably the most powerful navy in the world, I think it would fit them. If dunmer get bugs, and bosmer get leather and bone, the altmer's theme should be birds, and sea-creatures. I want to see coral weapons, seashell jewelry, feathered head-dresses, semi-organic, multicolored, giant bird-creatures used for shipping and transportation.

Edit: just wanna be clear that I know this isn't in any way canon, but I thought it was worth showing because it illustrates the vision of the original creator.

I have a feeling Redguards represent a more dangerous navy. The Ra Gada 'warrior wave' was nigh unstoppable. If they were in touch with their old shehai magic I have a feeling Altmer would be in big trouble. I like the elves but I always feel their weakness is their alien mind and esoteric nature. What makes Humans a present danger to the elves at all times is their practicality... at least that is my general view of the series. This is in part because elves in general rely so heavily on a magical crutch that they might fail to look at some obvious flaws in their defenses. I think a great example of this in general is how an Altmer 'fort' looks when compared to the Breton one. I'm not saying this to knock them but I get the sense that Altmers are like the Greeks in the Roman empire, intellectual and influential, but not a military might worth speaking of.

boggo

Wow, nice artwork!

Reminds me a lot of belgian artist Moebius:
https://www.google.ch/search?q=moebius&client=firefox-b&dcr=0&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwixp6PCm9zWAhVmDMAKHfPFCgUQ_AUICigB&biw=1219&bih=1119

I'd be totally in for a Moebius like rendition of Summerset Isles. 8)