The Elder Scrolls Treasury III - The Imperial Library

Dunmer CultureDunmer CultureNative → Dunmer culture shares common roots with the other → Aldmeri → races −− the →Altmer, or High Elves, and the → Bosmer, or Wood Elves. All Aldmeri cultures are ancient,complex, and sophisticated. The native Dunmer have dark grey skin, unlike their cousins. NativeDunmer have strong militaristic and authoritarian traditions, founded in their ancient practices of→ ancestor worship, and fostered and elaborated in the theocratic religion of the → TribunalTemple.Dunmer Metropolitan Style→ Vivec City presents a unique panorama of high → Dunmer architectural style. Grandmulti−tiered blocks are arranged along canals. High bridges lead across the canals to block−topplazas and markets, while below → gondoliers guide flat−bottomed skiffs along the canals. Thewhole city is overshadowed by the grand monumental architectures of Vivec's Palace and theArchcanon's → High Fane.Dunmer Strongholds→ Table 5.There's an enchanted transportation system in the old Dunmer strongholds. Created ages ago, but still works. Youneed a thing called an 'index' to use the system. Not many of them around. Collectors will pay a pretty drake forthem.Dunmer Urban Style→ Dunmer towns are typically organized around a dominant central feature, either the → Templeor the grand manor residences of the → Great House → nobles. Urban Temple compounds featurehigh−walled outer courtyards, with smaller shelters and halls clustered around the Temple →Shrine itself. Aristocratic residences of the Great Houses are similar to Temple compounds withwalled outer courts and outbuildings for craftsmen and servants, dominated by a grand manorresidence in place of the Temple Shrine. Simple multi−storied public and commercial buildings −−tradehouses, craftguilds, and such −− are usually rectangular in floor plan, built from localmaterials, featuring organic curves with decorated exteriors. More modest one−story privatedwellings follow the same plan, except with less decoration.Dunmer Village StyleThe → Dunmer village style is the most familiar style in all districts. Huts are built of localmaterials, with organic curves and undecorated exteriors inspired by the landscape and the shellsof giant native insects. Villages are dominated by → Temple compounds and courtyards intraditional villages, but in newer plantations, the manor houses are the central features.69