Mojlnir Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 I am wondering about the giant shells used by the Redorans as housing. Are these shalks? Or Skar? Are we to assume that they have become extinct? The amount of open rangeland required to sustain such large animals would be immense. It is highly unlikely that anything that large would be carnivorous, owing to the enormous number of smaller animals it would have to catch and eat. These smaller animals would undoubtedly be quicker and more nimble, making the energy expense prohibitive to the evolution of carnivorous shelled beasts of such great size.If anyone has ever read "The Legacy of Heorot" and its sequel "Beuwolf's Children" by Larry Niven, James Pournelle and Steven Barnes they will be familiar with enormous shelled herbivores called "Scribes." The description of these creatures bears striking resemblence to the large shelled creatures that the Redorans use for homes. The amount of grassland required to feed a population of such animals would probably more extensive than the entire Midwest of the U.S. Since the island nowhere near equals the area between the Ohio River and the Rocky Mountains, the existence of the creatures confuses me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malchik Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 You answer your own question, Mojlnir. They were too big to survive. The question is where did they come from? To judge by the Island of Solstheim, it is probable that large tracts of this world remain unexplored. The lands of the Skar may be unknown and represented on maps with 'Here be dragons'. (And if cliff-racers have fought dragons, as some here suggest, there has to be a place for them, too.) Another possibility is that the skar originated on another world entirely and fled, using interstellar teleportation. They may have crashed on Morrowind, annihilating themselves. They may also have brough with them whatever they had been trying to flee and succumbed to it. We have learned from the Daedra and the fate of the dwarves that there are outer realms we wot not of. We must not forget that there are phenomenon beyond our comprehension in Morrowind; the speed ricklings respawn, why every npc wants to talk about the same thing, where is the hidden orchestra that accompanies us INCESSANTLY on our travels. There has to be something else out there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howlingoak Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 What about those mole crab helms? They don't look like mudcrabs so where are the molecrabs? Howlingoak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mojlnir Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 Or the Devil Cephlapod (sp) Helms. There are many unknowns about (prepare for stunning logic) which we know very little...making them....well...unknowns I guess. I would argue however that a herbivore on the scale of a Skar would be able to teleport. However, if the dragons of Pern can "go between" (ah...fantasy novels) then I guess its possible. But I don't feel its likely. Another possible explanation would be a massive shift in the geography of the island. Possibly there was much more to island before it was ripped apart by giant earthquakes which caused the formation of the volcano at the islands center. This could have obliterated the grasslands necessary for the survival of the Skar causing their eventual extinction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marxist ßastard Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 No, the volcano was formed around Lorkhan's Heart when it hit the ground. There is no major evidence of a catastrophc earthquake or continental split influencing Vvardenfell's geography. And as for the Redoran homes, the most logical explanation is that they are made out of Siltstrider carcasses. Note the distinctive off-white color and the remains of the beasts scattered about the Ashlands and Molag Amur. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamOfTheRood Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 1. I agree with MB about the Redoran architecture. In the tradition of the Ashlanders, the Redorans use what they find for whatever they can. This explains the lack of silt striders and the Redoran architecture. 2. I believe that the Dagoth Ur-inspired overabundance of Cliff Racers has something to do with the highly truncated ecology of Morrowind. Any enemy worth eating would have been consumed by the army of vicious sky dwellers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frasil Posted October 16, 2003 Author Share Posted October 16, 2003 Wow, great replies from everyone! Concerning reborn87's "shame" :lol: , it's exactly the point of this topic!! Think of it this way: you're not trying to obsessively figure out a trivial game up to the most useless detail. You're speculating (quite acutely, I might add) about certain phenomenons and a possible logic explanation. If you can put your mind to use in "this world", why is it the lesser to explore any problem on "unreal" situations? To your abstract thinking, it hardly makes a difference. Remember the Greeks: thinking for the sake of thinking!!! :lol: I feel inclined towards Mojlnir's theory about a vast invertebrate (i.e. insect) fauna that escapes the in-game graphics. The relative scarcity of vegetable food (for example, in Molag Amur, like Malchik said) discards the possibility of a vast population of out-of-game (or rather out-of-screen) herbivores - their isolation in the forested parts of the island would not sustain a whole island's ecosystem. The Marxist male without a father's :unsure: (no offense) observation was so obvious I'd completely missed it - the notorious silt-striders. Everything about them is pretty mysterious. How much food does such a massive organism require to work? It would promptly strip the forests of Vvardenfell clean (or the animals if it were carnivorous). One has to wonder how long it takes for them to grow to full-size. If I had to make a guess, I'd say they live in the more desolate areas - a fertile environment would not justify the extreme evolutionary traits they have developed (e.g. chitin shell, long legs - presumably for walking through ash-wastes, which, by the way, are dubiously possible for an invertebrate). Either way, they're certainly a big part of the ecosystem. Setting biology apart, there are a lot of etymological issues of interest. Has anybody noticed that no Breton in the game has the 'classic' Breton names from Daggerfall: Yeomhouse, Yeomwing, Yeom-something, etc. In fact, they don't even get close. Also, the Dunmer in Vvardenfell have two names: first and last (e.g. Foryn Gilnith). Yet the other elves seem to go by just one name (e.g. Estirdalin). Is this just a pragmatic (and quite understandable) approach by the programmers? Or is there a real linguistic reason? Hmm.. So many questions, so little space. :) Anyway, I want to thank you all for making such insightful comments in the true spirit of intellectual excercise. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frasil Posted October 17, 2003 Author Share Posted October 17, 2003 umm... that last post wasn't supposed to mean this thread was over... :huh: There's a lot left to discuss, for the willing. But I guess "alea iacta est"! :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daemarian Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 'Here be dragons'. (And if cliff-racers have fought dragons, as some here suggest, there has to be a place for them, too.) They answer to the Dragon question for the most part is answered in the book Mystious Alkavar or something like that...the Vampiric snake people of that nation atleast killed off all the Dragons that lived there but they word it in a way that is seems that the Dragons only lived there and are now extinct, of course if goes on to say that the cat warriors that also live in another region of Alkavar are trying to bring back the Dragons. You may want to check the local bookseller in Morrowind for more information along those lines. But I don't have any of the expantions maybe one of them clearifies it better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TK v3 Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 So... has anyone got an explanation of the excessively rich mudcrab with vocal capabilities? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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