Altmer value their appearance to extreme degrees in the eyes of every other culture in Tamriel. Their people aspire to perfection, and thus have a very strict set of beauty standards: Tall, slender frame, angular, sharp facial features and big, amber eyes. Rarely one can see hairstyles among the High Elves that aren't long, fair manes ranging different blonde tones. Dark hair is much rarer, and usually frowned upon; anything that doesn't share the golden hues so common among the Altmer is seen as undesirable. Those Altmer that are born with glaring imperfections or deformities are known to be casted out and exiled, to be branded as Hulkynds.

 

Their fashion is merely an extension of their quest for perfection: flowing silk robes of vibrant colors, expensive jewelry and gilded armor of white and gold. Other common colours are greens and blues.

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Culture

The Altmeri culture is a very old, very conservative culture with roots stretching back to times when they were not the Altmer, but the Aldmer. They follow a very strict set of social and philosophical rules: Praxis and Alaxon.

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Praxis is the act of living in resemblance of the gods, so one day they may join them in the heavens. Those that break Praxis are called apraxics and are socially ousted: no well-meaning praxic Altmer should even speak with them. They must try to repair their reputation and recover their social standing, though most decide that remaining in exile is the lesser evil.

 

Alaxon, or Path to Alaxon, is the state of perfection that every Altmer strives for. The Path is what it takes to achieve such a state. It governs every aspect of Altmer culture, an example being their architecture: a constant process of refinement.

 

As it is natural, the Altmeri government and its laws are also highly hierarchical and strict. A monarch rules Summerset with the loyal advice of the College of Sapiarchs, the most important scholarly institution in Summerset. The behaviour of the different monarchs, all descendants from a very ancient pre-Merethic era dynasty, is guided by the Scrolls of Praxis. The interpreters of these written precedents are the Sapiarches. Under the monarch, hereditary nobles named kinlords and kinladies hold the different fiefs that compose the Summerset Isles.

 

The Divine Prosecution is an institution with the authority of enforcing secular and religious law, and judge those who infringe upon it. Since the times of the First Aldmeri Dominion, a radical faction of supremacists known as the Thalmor has been growing more and more influential within the institution.

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Subcultures

Among the Altmer, we can distinguish two similar but distinct groups: the Altmer that inhabit the Summerset Isles, whom follow the previously established facts and information about the Altmer people, and The House Direnni.

 

The House Direnni are an aristocratic, merchant clan of Altmer that left the Summerset Isles in the middle Merethic Era to settle in the unexplored continent of Tamriel. They settled in what is now known as Isle of Balfiera and established the Direnni Hegemony. Nowadays, the Direnni are but a pale shadow of their glorious past, almost extinct but still surviving. They enslaved the primitive Nedes, but instead of merely treating them like chattel as did their Ayleid cousins, they taught them magic, their language and customs. Many Direnni took Nedes as concubines, and eventually, a race of half-men, half-mer came to be; today, they are known as the Bretons. The Direnni influence and power waned as the Merethic dominion over Tamriel decreased.

 

The Direnni's customs differ from their Summerset equals. While magic is innate to every Altmer, the Direnni preferred to practice other arts and crafts. They're known as the parents of alchemy and enchanting, as well as masters in the field of conjuration. They're also considered great warriors. Culturally, they share much of their original Summerset origins, but their history with the Nedes and later on, Bretons have made them much more agreeable in the eyes of Men. The Direnni do not follow the strict rules of Praxis, which often puts them at odds with their Alinori cousins.

 

Nowadays, the Direnni are considered open minded, pragmatic and humble for Altmer standards, if reserved. Rarely any Direnni steps out of Balfiera, their numbers dwindling more and more with each decade.

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Cultural Equivalence & Influences

The Altmer are based on the higher spheres of Imperial China: Perfection, rank, hierarchy and etiquette. They also get some inspiration from Victorian British aristocratic society.