This is very similar to what Jim Jones did towards the end at Jonestown, convincing his followers that he had visions that they were under attack and that death was the only option.

Notes found throughout Forelhost indicate that Rahgot, the Dragon Priest that presided over them, had visions that led his followers to believe that there was no way out, so they had to die.

This was very similar to a woman ( Catherine Hyacinth) who famously hid under her bed to avoid death in Jonestown.

One of the eerie similarities I noticed was the body of a draugr under a bed in Forelhost.The dragon cultists caused a cave-in (and had oil spread all throughout the stronghold, making it safe to assume that fire was a consideration,) while the Branch Davidians in Waco are believed to have set their stronghold, called Mount Carmel, on fire themselves. Also like the massacre at Waco, the cultists in Forelhost caused destruction of their hide out.In both of these standoffs, the governmentвЂ™s forces were responsible for several deaths of the cultists, and several of the governmentвЂ™s forces were killed in the process. The siege of Forelhost lasted 41 days, while the siege at Waco lasted 51. The suicides at Forelhost happened towards the end of a long siege, much like the suicides that took place on the Branch DavidiansвЂ™ compound in Waco, Texas in 1993.Not everyone that died at Jonestown did so willingly, and while they did not poison the water supply, they did resort to forcible injections. Even if they didnвЂ™t willingly want to die, they would. While this was assumed to primarily be to kill the intruders, it is safe to assume that this was to kill any cultists with doubts as well. The cultists at Forelhost poisoned the water supply.ItвЂ™s also similar to Jonestown, where bodies were found embracing throughout the compound (although it is widely accepted that their bodies were manipulated by some of JonesвЂ™s faithful to create this scene). This is very similar to the deaths of HeavenвЂ™s Gate believers, who all died lying in their beds (photo below). The dragon cultists that did willingly die by poison retired to their beds before dying, evidenced by all the bodies lying in beds as you first breach into Forelhost.

One of these women, Sharon Amos, famously killed her children and herself with a knife after hearing the commands of their leader, Jim Jones. During the events of November 18th, 1978, there was a small number of Jonestown cultists that were in neighboring Georgetown. There were considerably more bodies lying around Forelhost than there were poison bottles, so itвЂ™s safe to assume that some of the suicides were done by blade. However, just like at Jonestown, not EVERYONE chose to die this way. Just like at Jonestown, the cultists in Forelhost primarily committed suicide by poisoning.This is the obvious allusion, but it is in no way the only one depicted in Forelhost. They trusted in their leaders that they would beВ вЂњrebornвЂќ if they had the faith to die at their own hands. The most famous doomsday cults from the 20th century (Peoples Temple (Jonestown), Branch Davidians (Waco), HeavenвЂ™s Gate) are famous because they ended in suicide, just like the dragon cultists in Forelhost. IвЂ™ll get the most obvious connection out of the way first.Therefore, IвЂ™m going to list out what IвЂ™ve noticed.В Some of what IвЂ™m about to outline is pretty graphic (suicide, manipulation, murder, infanticide etc.) so if you donвЂ™t want to read about that, thenвЂ¦ donвЂ™t! Perhaps IвЂ™m more interested in cults than the average person, but I am actually surprised that there isnвЂ™t more discussion on how the quest in Skyrim to learn about what happened to the Dragon Cult at Forelhost has so many elements taken from actual doomsday cults.

Skyrim siege of the dragon cult