UESP Forums

Hello everyone, hopefully your mornings/afternoons/evenings are going well today.*smiles*

I have a few questions about the Imperials/Cyrods - all three groups specifically, the Colovians, the Nibenese, and the Heartlanders. Hopefully I can get some insight regarding the Imperial people of Cyrodiil - I'll be looking forward to reading your responses and learning more about the Cyrods.

First, I figured I'd get this out of the way - I know about the Colovians and their more Nordic ancestry and their customs, as well as about the Nibenese and their more Akaviri and Elven ancestry, the mercantile and magocratic customs, etc. But I don't know too much about Heartlanders - what exactly is a Heartlander, aside from (correct me if I'm wrong in any way) an Imperial who was born and raised in the Heartlands? Is there culture a combination of Nibenese and Colovian cultures? Do they have a blend of Nibenese and Colovian ancestry? What sets the apart from Colovians and Nibenese?

My second question is this - is there any physical difference between a Colovian and a Nibenese Imperial? And if so, would Heartlanders have a blend of Colovian and Nibenese traits at all? I heard someone that the Colovians, due to having more Nordic customs and ancestry, are more likely to be fair of skin and/or hair (having a resemblance to Nords in fact) while Nibenese would have tanned, olive, or swarthy skin tones and darker hair - although I personally believe this to be nonsense. Abnur Tharn said he and all other members of the Tharn Family are pure Nibenese, yet he's of a very fair, close to pale complexion - which makes me question the validity of the latter statement yet I know that individual exceptions are always present.

I ask this because I'm aware of the cultural difference of the Colovians and Nibenese, yet I've never really understood if the Colovians, Nibenese, and even the Heartlanders had any physical differences between them in Cyrodiil.

Third question is sort of related to question two, and, fair warning, might seem pointless to ask, but I wish to be certain - can Imperials have pale to fair skin tones like a Breton or a Nord in Cyrodiil? I know that the Imperials are typically listed as being able to have "fair to swarthy skin, compared to the typically fairer complexions of the Bretons and Nords", yet does this rule out having those fairer/pale skin tones? I know the Imperials are a diverse people, not just in terms of their culture in their province and the ancestry of all three groups of Cyrods as a whole, but also biologically, but are pale Imperials possible in province like Cyrodiil - especially for a Nibenese or Heartlander?

Question four is my final question and is a bit different. The Nords have the Thu'um, the Redguard possess the Shehai and Sword-Singers, the Dunmer have/had Dust Magic as well as ancestral spirit magic, the Thalmor in the Fourth Era allegedly rediscovered "Dawn Magic", and the Psijics practiced the Old Ways. Is there any record of a Cyrodiilic/Imperial/Cyrod exclusive form of magic?

Anyways, thank you for your time everyone - and again, I look forward to learning from you guys.*Smiles*

BlackWormDisciple wrote:Third question is sort of related to question two, and, fair warning, might seem pointless to ask, but I wish to be certain - can Imperials have pale to fair skin tones like a Breton or a Nord in Cyrodiil? I know that the Imperials are typically listed as being able to have "fair to swarthy skin, compared to the typically fairer complexions of the Bretons and Nords", yet does this rule out having those fairer/pale skin tones? I know the Imperials are a diverse people, not just in terms of their culture in their province and the ancestry of all three groups of Cyrods as a whole, but also biologically, but are pale Imperials possible in province like Cyrodiil - especially for a Nibenese or Heartlander?

I would say definitely. Imperials often have very dark skin tones, but there are plenty of examples of pale individuals. Not much chance of a tan in the Jerall foothills.

BlackWormDisciple wrote:Question four is my final question and is a bit different. The Nords have the Thu'um, the Redguard possess the Shehai and Sword-Singers, the Dunmer have/had Dust Magic as well as ancestral spirit magic, the Thalmor in the Fourth Era allegedly rediscovered "Dawn Magic", and the Psijics practiced the Old Ways. Is there any record of a Cyrodiilic/Imperial/Cyrod exclusive form of magic?

Imperials continue the proud tradition of standardised guild magic. Like a lot of Imperial culture, it was originally developed by the Altmer (in this case Vanus Galerion), but the Empire of Man defended and chartered the Mages Guild for hundreds of years. They don't have any wonky racial form of magic, but their dragon blood and their history gives them a special link to the thu'um and Dawn magic. Some Nibeneans no doubt have ancestral knowledge of Tsaesci magic as well. If you want something truly unique, look to the Nedes.

BlackWormDisciple wrote:Hello everyone, hopefully your mornings/afternoons/evenings are going well today.*smiles*

I have a few questions about the Imperials/Cyrods - all three groups specifically, the Colovians, the Nibenese, and the Heartlanders. Hopefully I can get some insight regarding the Imperial people of Cyrodiil - I'll be looking forward to reading your responses and learning more about the Cyrods.

Not to nitpick, but...Right off the bat, I categorically disagree. The Heartlands section of Cyrodiil is located squarely in the middle of Nibenay, so Heartlanders are Nibenese in the way Highlanders are Colovian. It's a subdivision rather than a third main group of Cyrodiils.

First, I figured I'd get this out of the way - I know about the Colovians and their more Nordic ancestry and their customs, as well as about the Nibenese and their more Akaviri and Elven ancestry, the mercantile and magocratic customs, etc.

The Colovians probably have more old Elven ancestry, since the Nibenese enacted strict anti-Mer pogroms for most of the First Era. Read : The Alessian Order section at UESP. More of the Ayleid customs were retained in the Colovia west. Read : Rislav the Righteous.

Of course, this gradually shifted during the Reman and Septim dynasties, where the East became much more tolerant than it was. Not really a refutation of what you said, but a clarification and expansion for your intellectual curiosity.

Also, recent new lore from ESO has all but confirmed an old side-comment by MK about Imperials and bull blood. Apparently, a great deal of Imperials on both sides have trace blood from Morihaus himself, meaning they're part bull, and have some of Kyne's spark of divinity in them.

But I don't know too much about Heartlanders - what exactly is a Heartlander, aside from (correct me if I'm wrong in any way) an Imperial who was born and raised in the Heartlands? Is there culture a combination of Nibenese and Colovian cultures? Do they have a blend of Nibenese and Colovian ancestry? What sets the apart from Colovians and Nibenese?

The proper definition of Heartlander would be a person who lives in the Heartlands section of Cyrodiil, which consists of Lake Rumare's shores, the City Isle and the Imperial City itself. All of this is located squarely in Nibenay. The Imperial City is Nibenese. Its people are Nibenese.

Some foreigners use "Heartlander" to refer to all Cyrodiils, by contrast, because Cyrodiil is the Heartland of Tamriel.

My second question is this - is there any physical difference between a Colovian and a Nibenese Imperial? And if so, would Heartlanders have a blend of Colovian and Nibenese traits at all? I heard someone that the Colovians, due to having more Nordic customs and ancestry, are more likely to be fair of skin and/or hair (having a resemblance to Nords in fact) while Nibenese would have tanned, olive, or swarthy skin tones and darker hair - although I personally believe this to be nonsense. Abnur Tharn said he and all other members of the Tharn Family are pure Nibenese, yet he's of a very fair, close to pale complexion - which makes me question the validity of the latter statement yet I know that individual exceptions are always present.

I'd argue the differences are largely cultural, and are based strongly on not only history and tradition but on the practicality of living in very different terrains. A guy having an Elven grandfather 30 generations ago isn't going to make him look significantly different from a guy who had a Nord or Redguard grandfather 30 generations ago, so we can dismiss this pretty handily.

Third question is sort of related to question two, and, fair warning, might seem pointless to ask, but I wish to be certain - can Imperials have pale to fair skin tones like a Breton or a Nord in Cyrodiil? I know that the Imperials are typically listed as being able to have "fair to swarthy skin, compared to the typically fairer complexions of the Bretons and Nords", yet does this rule out having those fairer/pale skin tones? I know the Imperials are a diverse people, not just in terms of their culture in their province and the ancestry of all three groups of Cyrods as a whole, but also biologically, but are pale Imperials possible in province like Cyrodiil - especially for a Nibenese or Heartlander?

There's plenty of 'em walking around in Oblivion and ESO. That's close enough to an official endorsement of pale Imperials for me.

Question four is my final question and is a bit different. The Nords have the Thu'um, the Redguard possess the Shehai and Sword-Singers, the Dunmer have/had Dust Magic as well as ancestral spirit magic, the Thalmor in the Fourth Era allegedly rediscovered "Dawn Magic", and the Psijics practiced the Old Ways. Is there any record of a Cyrodiilic/Imperial/Cyrod exclusive form of magic?

Cyrodiils have the Voice of the Emperor, which gives them a compelling aura. It's stronger for stronger willed individuals, like Reman Cyrodiil, whose Voice made the Tsaesci marauders surrender to him at Pale Pass. My personal theory about the Voice is that it's the result of Morihaus' divine lineage in Imperial bloodlines. As Pelinal warned him, gods change things through love. He chose to love Alessia, and put his divinity into her children and grandchildren. Those bloodlines spread out, and changed the Imperials forever.

Pilaf The Defiler wrote: Cyrodiils have the Voice of the Emperor, which gives them a compelling aura. It's stronger for stronger willed individuals, like Reman Cyrodiil, whose Voice made the Tsaesci marauders surrender to him at Pale Pass. My personal theory about the Voice is that it's the result of Morihaus' divine lineage in Imperial bloodlines. As Pelinal warned him, gods change things through love. He chose to love Alessia, and put his divinity into her children and grandchildren. Those bloodlines spread out, and changed the Imperials forever.

I always figured that spell was a game limitation, a little bit like how Argonians' resistance to disease is portrayed in game terms as a magical blessing rather than a simple biological immunity. Seems to me like it's just supposed to represent the race's natural ability to charm, not in any inherently magical sense but simply through sharp wit and imperial authority. Reman didn't tame the Tsaesci, they came to Tamriel to find him (or at least came to kill dragons and happened to find their messiah). If Morihaus put anything into the Imperials, it was minotaur babies.

There's a few little references here and there which make me believe the Voice of the Emperor is very much a real thing. The main one is how the Dragonguard knelt before Reman after only hearing his voice. Some people claim this is because it was a Thu'um, but there's no record of him ever having trained with the Greybeards or having slain any Dragons. He was brought up in late 1st era Colovia. Clearly, he had a special magic all his own, which was tied into the land of his birth.

Hmm... I have another question. Regarding Colovians and Nibenese, are there differences in their naming conventions/inspirations? Also, what would the inspiration for each group be? I remember vaguely reading the Colovians are Slavic in a way, while the Nibenese could be Byzantine in addition to the Italian/Roman inspiration - is this right at all? Please, feel free to correct me - I'd genuinely like to know.

I'd say they resemble the ancient polytheistic Romans rather than the Byzantines. Colovians certainly have a bit of a Slavic flair ("Skingrad", "Rislav"), but there's very little info on it.

The way it's presented in Oblivion (though, don't get me wrong, I clearly love Oblivion), they kinda slap the Slavic elements over Colovian things because they vaguely fit the design aesthetic, but it's inconsistent and smattered around. There's definitely room for a lot of expansion on that aesthetic in the future. Most Nibenese and Colovians in TES have stereotypical pseudo-Roman names.

Forgive me for not responding to this topic for a couple days - bad, family related news had my attention, among other things, but I'm back.

So to fully understand the Colovian and Nibenese inspirations - the Nibenese are mainly more polytheistic Roman with, I assume, hints of various other cultures while the Colovians are Roman with Slavic traits as shown in the names of some Colovians and their culture?

And also, pale and fair skinned Nibenese are just as likely to be present in Cyrodiil as a pale to fair skinned Colovian then - though it would also depend on their lifestyle and where they come from in Cyrodiil?

Oh... and I have one more question, if you don't mind me asking. The Nibenese are not as strict in terms of their religious practices when compared to the Colovians, I'm aware of this - but would this have any impact on how they would view trafficking with daedra or the practice of necromancy? Colovians would outright despise such practices and may very well go after a practitioner of either conjuration or necromancy if given a chance, but how would a Nibenese Imperial handle such subjects?

High Imperial culture romanticises vampirism and is generally perfectly ok with Daedra worship. Necromancy is an on-and-off thing, but it's at least historically tolerated in Nibenay.

Yea they had springhell Jack living amongst them and they didn't even care. i think some people even fall in love with them.