User blog comment:Kidtragic/Elder Scrolls Races and Cultures Compared to Real Life./@comment-2605:E000:1129:133:89D:FA72:BAFC:89C6-20180418122414

As someone from a Mongolic tribe, I think I may be able to shed some light on the often considered Mongolian-influenced races. People seem to have a very unclear view of Mongolic culture. We're not just giant oafs that hit things with swords, and never have been.

I think the Ashlander Dark elves have a clear Mongol influence. The architecture and society of the Ashland tribes are so similar. Same building styles, live in yurts, reliance on female wise-women/shamans, the title Ash-Khan and the mongol title 'Khan'. I think the Dunmer can be seperated into Ashlanders and Great-House Dunmer for the sake of the cultural influence argument. Having two distinct cultures of Dunmer and trying to pin them both down with the same influence is just a mess.

As for the House Dunmer, they're completely different. I have no clue.

The Orcs are interesting. They resemble Mongols on a very skin-deep level, but that's about it. Mongols are nomadic, orcs are not. They live in walled off strongholds dependant on mines. Mongol warfare has always been highly dependant on mobility and ranged weaponry, for example the reliance on lightly armoured horse archers. Orc warriors depend on massively armoured front line tanky warriors, which are for the most part rediculously out of character for mongols.

In conclusion, I think Ashlanders have the real mongol influence on this. If orcs are based on Mongols, then the designer had no clue of mongols to begin with.

I do think, however, that Orcs have many similarities with the para-mongolic Kalchin in Manchuria. They have a strong focus on strength and honour, as well as a social system of friendly-violence and sparring. They may be based on them, but the tribe is so small that I'd be amazed if a team of American developers would even be aware of them to begin with.