Redguards

A Sandy Redguard man of western Hammerfell; ©Bethesda Softworks

A Stony Redguard woman of eastern Hammerfell - by ©Inna Vjuzhanina

A Redguard manse - by ©J. G. Delincourt

Redguards are the native Men of Hammerfell in the westernmost part of Tamriel. They have a reputation for hot-bloodedness and sexual licentiousness. They are viewed with some mistrust and rivalry by the Bretons in the neighbouring High Rock.

Ethnicity

In Hammerfell, the descent from the Yokudans is the strongest. The Yokudans were a slender people with smooth dark skin, black hair and dark eyes. Their impact on the Redguard gene pool is strongest along the coast, and grows faint farther inland. Redguards with more Nordic and Nedic blood are larger and fairer than those with more Yokudan blood.

According to Sapiarch X's observations during his expedition to Hammerfell, there are two groups of Redguards:

• Sandy Redguards live along the coasts, where the X Mountains stretch out into the Abecean Sea. These Redguards bear skin burned dark by the hot Hammerfell sun, and tight curly black hair, having been most strongly influenced by the Yokudans.
• Stony Redguards live in the passes and heights of the greener and less hot eastern regions of Hammerfell. They have the most Nedic and Nordic blood. Some stony Redguards might follow Nedic rather than Yokudan laws of inheritance. They are lithe and dark, bearing smooth olive skin and black hair, rather than the dark skin with tight curly hair of the sandy Redguards.

Culture

Redguard culture has some Nedic origins, but is primarily influenced by the mass immigration of the Yokudans who settled in Hammerfell during the Yokudan migration.

Views on bastardy are milder in Hammerfell compared to the rest of Tamriel. Especially when a child is born to a paramour, the Redguards are not greatly concerned if a child is born in wedlock or out of it. Many lords and ladies in Hammerfell have paramours.

Redguards practice agnatic-cognatic primogeniture succession, allowing women to inherit landed titles only if they have no eligable brothers. This is dissimilar to how other kingdoms practice inheritance, such as the Summerset Archipelago which practices absolute cognatic primogeniture, allowing women to inherit on the same grounds as men.

Culinary Arts

Redguards prefer spicy food. Snake sauce preferably has a drop of venom in it, as well as mustard seeds and dragon peppers. The Redguards produce their own wines, often called "Hammerfell reds". These wines are generally sour, though they occasionally can be more rich of taste. Strongwines from Hammerfell are as dark as blood, with a sweet taste.