UESP Forums

I was wondering; what would Tamriel be like in modern times? How would they get there?

The way I see it, Cyrodiil would look like a weird combination of America and Italy, Skyrim would kinda be like northern America, Hammerfell would have that an aesthetic similar to the modern Middle East (I smell a wild Dubai,) and High Rock would be like Britain or France. Elsweyr would kinda be like Japan in a sense, same goes for the Summerset Isle, though I think a more Chinese base would work, too. Valenwood would probably end up kinda like one of those developing undeveloped nations in the Caribbean and stuff, mainly used a tourist trap. Argonia would probably end up looking kinda like Australia does now, with a lot of developed land on one side, but still mostly wilderness. Morrowind would definitely bring it's own thing in. I can kinda picture like Vivec's cantons, but built like those weird arcologies with glass and steel and stuff.

As for how they get there... Dwemer. Just throw in a Dwemer electrical generator, have it power a city, reverse engineer it, rinse and repeat.

A lot would say that Tamriel is already fairly modern, maybe even more advanced than us in some ways. More is known about the nature of their existence than the nature of ours. They have void ships, virtually any disease can be cured, there are communication methods that some would compare to the internet, etc. Viewing them as "medieval" is inaccurate in some respects.

The Dwemer were a lesson in mortal humility. Their gods of Logic and Reason can't stand up to the innate self-destructive nature of Mundus.

That said, Morrowind would totally be an ex-Soviet Central Asian country. Long-lived strongmen, infertile land, xenophobic religious populace, a tribal political landscape left scarred by imperial conquest, climate change, and collapse.

Minor Edits wrote:A lot would say that Tamriel is already fairly modern, maybe even more advanced than us in some ways. More is known about the nature of their existence than the nature of ours. They have void ships, virtually any disease can be cured, there are communication methods that some would compare to the internet, etc. Viewing them as "medieval" is inaccurate in some respects.

What communication methods would that be? And void ships? Where were they mentioned?

By "modern," I mean industrialized, electrified and all that stuff.

If you've ever checked out Halo's Aether Suite mod, it alludes that in the future of Nirn, it has become a dystopian world of socioeconomic inequality, corporate oligarchies, and sadistic removal and experimentation of the lower castes. There are some abberant, mutated troll-like creatures, but otherwise everything is left to the conjecture of the player.

What does a mod have to do with this topic? Well, it provokes an imaginative correlation with what Tamriel might be like in the future. But it could be anything. Look at the Shadowrun universe. Essentially a fantasy, D&D-like IP where we have today's real world, and then the "magic returns." Elves and dwarves are born from sudden genetic expression. Later, orcs and trolls show up due to genetic goblinization. Hermetic magic, and shamanistic, exist as magicka has returned. But then there are the direct tie-ins with modern society - the internet, viral pandemics, political maneuvering, and corporate extraterritoriality. Think if D&D and cyberpunk got slapped together into a delicious awesome sandwich. Nirn could very well end up the same; the magic and racial distinctions lost to become a mundane... mundus, with a possibility of it all returning again one day.

I'm still trying to figure out why they stepped away from instant teleportation and personal flight. Tamrielic society is regressing, IMO. Meanwhile, in a world where you are tasked with killing gods, simple wooden doors and chests remain as indestructible obstacles to puzzle and vex a questing adventurer. You're barking up the wrong tree if you expect to see these people come up with advancements such as indoor plumbing or an internal combustion engine. Electricity? Yeah, we got that. We hurl bolts of it at our enemies.

IcarusBen wrote:

Minor Edits wrote:A lot would say that Tamriel is already fairly modern, maybe even more advanced than us in some ways. More is known about the nature of their existence than the nature of ours. They have void ships, virtually any disease can be cured, there are communication methods that some would compare to the internet, etc. Viewing them as "medieval" is inaccurate in some respects.

What communication methods would that be? And void ships? Where were they mentioned?

By "modern," I mean industrialized, electrified and all that stuff.

All right, you're making me say it: space ships. There are space ships in Tamriel. But they don't have "space" in TES, they have the void. They didn't have the proper conception of space in medieval Europe, they had pseudo-science which hypothesized about some form of gas, "aether" or "ether", which filled the void between worlds. And Tamriel is medieval myth made manifest. In other words, you can sail through space. It's not simple, but we've seen and heard of examples of it happening. When you see references to things like the "Waters of Oblivion", that's apparently more than just a figure of speech.

Look at the Battlespire. Go play the game, you will find file cabinets in a giant "space" station. File cabinets. Literally, file cabinets are a thing in TES. Big red buttons, too. But really, it's the file cabinets I'm still trying to wrap my head around.

There are also references in the Pocket Guide to "Imperial Mananauts" and the "Sunbirds of Alinor", which took part in ancient voyages beyond Nirn. And this stuff has been reaffirmed recently by Loremaster Lawrence Schick as established TES lore, just in case you're thinking it's been retconned/abandoned.

... File cabinets ... I love lamp ... File cabinets.

The notion that Tamriel in the Third/Fourth Eras can be seen as both more advanced and more primitive than the contemporary technology of our real world is a symptom of a greater truth: technology in fiction is a tool that is totally manipulated by the storyteller's own whims. Whether or not to include a facet of technology in a story depends on whether you're trying to ease a problem or to create one. By limiting the characters' power or by expanding it.

Tamriel may have the technology/knowledge to communicate over vast distances via magic (two mages forging a telepathic link, for example). But it seems to conveniently ignore the idea that otherwise ordinary people can also transmit messages through timed pulses of energy sent through the air from one station to the next, relayed further down the line until it reaches its final destination.

"Wait— you're talking about radio, right?" you ask. No— I'm referring to the use of heliographs. Light signals have been around since antiquity, but it does tend to get in the way of plot if you need a few days' journey to delay an important message from place to another.

I believe there was a YouTube video documenting "modern Skyrim", which Gregethor as the descendant of Belethor and the heroes of the story trying to kidnap an Alfiq Khajiit, played by a house cat.

I believe the OP has erred. Tamriel in the 4th Era is modern. Modern doesn't mean the same in all universes. They have magicks and insights into the fabric of reality of their Universe we may not have for thousands of more years on this world. Just because folks wear plate armor and ride around on horses doesn't mean they're primitive.

legoless wrote:That said, Morrowind would totally be an ex-Soviet Central Asian country. Long-lived strongmen, infertile land, xenophobic religious populace, a tribal political landscape left scarred by imperial conquest, climate change, and collapse.

"Morrowind is greatest country in the world, all other countries are run by little girls. Morrowind number one exporter of potassium! Other countries have inferior potassium."

I don't mean to necro this thread but this actually a pretty interesting idea. Tamriel has a history of a few thousand years and there is a large amount of "cultural" change within that history. Original Atmoran humans changed into Nords, Imperials, and Bretons. Yokudans became Red-guards, Aldmer split into Altmer, Bosmer, and Orcs Chimer switched into Dunmer. And then the Khajiit and Argonians - who knows anything about their origins?

A few hundred or thousands of years could really change up the cultures further. Perhaps in the aftermath of the Great War, the Imperial collapse will lead to a deeper rift between Colovians and Nibeneans? The Dark Elves, embittered after the tragedies of the 4th era could undergo a militant transformation of society, hinted at in Dragonborn with talk of House Hlaalu's collapse, and establish a "Dominion of the East" under House Redoran. Still, the Dunmer are a "conservative" race so I don't see them radically changing Tamriel. But the Thalmor - they always reminded me of the Bolsheviks. They might very well use Dwemer magic to create industrial machinery to expand their own power. I think, "advanced" technology came to Tamriel, it would be the Thalmor who brought it to, no, imposed it upon Tamriel.

Would that new technology give the Thalmor overwhelming military and political power? It might. Unless some catastrophe (like Dragons, or Daedra, or something else) got in the way. It is probably safe to assume a catastrophe would get in the way. If not, however, I think "modern" Tamriel would be a lot like the 19th Century. A technologically advanced and isolated culture conquering the "barbarians" and imposing "civilization" upon them. "The High Elf's Burden", if you will.