Cultural Diversity in Hammerfell: The Tseeleei

by Jaganvir Ibn Rihadh, Court Scribe of Rihad

The Tseeleei(pronounced Sheelii) are a semi-nomadic community of Argonians living in the deserts outside Rihad. Talented alchemists, they trace their history back to the Vagabonds of Thorn, Thorn's arena team hired by Kintyra I Septim to crush a religious revolt in Rihad. They settled the area, mixing with the Redguard culture to create a unique people.

Tseeleei culture is very much a fusion of Redguard and Agaceph Argonian cultures. New parents traditionally bought Hist Sap from merchants, but due to the rise of the An-Xileel, and even after their fall, new mothers go to Black Marsh to collect Hist Sap and ritually mix it with sand from the Alik'r desert before feeding it to the newborn child. This gives the Tseeleei their distinctive yellow scales, as well as strengthening their sacred ties with the Desert.

The Tseeleei are a clan-based society, and are in many ways similar to the Ashlanders of Morrowind. They migrate seasonally from the hilly areas to the lowlands in Winter, and vice versa. Their houses are tents made out of camel bone and hides. They herd goats, specifically a variety adapted to the desert. They speak a dialect of Redguard("new" Yoku), and worship the Hist. They also worship the Aedra, beleiving them to be the tenders of the Eternal Oasis, their afterlife.

Their development of a unique cuisine is one of their greatest accomplishments, as it is popular all across Hammerfell. Their food often consists of date juice, camel meat, and sea salt. In their religion, camels are considered evil spirits, and by killing them and using their corpse to the fullerst, they emulate the triumph of good over evil. Their unique sun-cooking of camel meat and the mixture of camel and dates is widely popular in Hammerfell.