Civil War Aftermath OOC #4

[BigBossBalrog]

24 minutes ago, The Good Doctor said:

Great post @BigBossBalrog !

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First off, the descriptions of Sutch were very good. A little confusing at times, but that honestly served it well and I’m pretty sure it was intentional. And you did a great job of describing both the dilapidation and the hardline military culture of the place. Everything about the place feels very solemn and to-the-point. I especially liked how they repurposed ruined areas as defensive funnels, and how the main street was essentially a red herring. Even if an army could get inside the outer walls, I really got the impression that fighting through the additional layers would be a nightmare. That’s not even getting into the fortress itself, which I was also a fan of.

I‘m a fan of Senior Inspector Uzgakh. The reveal of his identity came as a genuine surprise and I thought his exchange with Dales was well-written. Especially the drastic change in his "voice". He seems every bit the competent professional without coming across as over-the-top like I would’ve had expected an Orsimer Penitus Oculatus agent to be.

It was smart of Dales not to allow them to quarter her guards in the main garrison. Cool as this place is, the way they look at her is sketchy as hell. No way should she let them separate her from the bulk of her protectors. "I know the way, Captain," was a sweet line.  

My favorite part was definitely Dales going into the parts of the city where she lived and seeing the flashbacks of her childhood. That was very sad, but well-written. It appears even Amaund had his good moments. And Arkay once being their patron god was new to me. And the reveal of their family heraldry (very Breton, nice touch) was cool. "Reap the wind" suits their family incredibly well, all things considered.

This did make me laugh, though:

"the library wing, which was interwoven with spruce wood from Valenwood,"

Committing what amounts to religious desecration against the sacred forests of Valenwood just so a wealthy family can build their library and some fancy furniture is the most Imperial thing ever.  

The garden part was even more sad, holy shit.  This is probably the most sympathy I have ever felt for Dales. I found her sadness here and the reasons behind it incredibly relatable.

I’m still not sure about this ghost Ayleid lady, though. Patron Pappa Arkay would not approve.  

*Dales while ordering her servants to build her a new home* Those tree's aren't helping anyone just sitting there! 

Glad you enjoyed it 

 

I first looked at references to old fortified town's in antiquity, but i decided to go with something more labyrinthine, and fantastical (while still being very spartan and mundane) but keeping it plausible to an extent. I just went back to Dales words about the city being built to accommodate the fortress and walls, rather then the other way around. 

I thought it would be fun to write an Orc who exploited the normal stereotypes of his race as cover, while in reality he's a stern, civilized hardass (but with the implication he's more chill then his fellows) 

I was worried I went overboard with the garden scene, seen there's been criticism in the past about her being too angsty, but considering the situation, the circumstances, and the fact all those emotions and happy memories of her family she was repressing (quite possibly as a way to feel less guilty about killing her father and brothers) and trying her hardest to bury combined with being so reviled by the city she grew up and loved, would be enough to make anyone cry  And she kept it cool till the Garden. Seeing her mother's grave, someone she can't even think about because it's too painful, was just too much for her to handle. 

38 minutes ago, The Good Doctor said:

The ending reminded me of that mission from Dishonored 2 where you explore the mansion in both the present where it’s abandoned and the past when it was pristine. Except much more personal.

Also, forgot to mention

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Who were those weirdo cultists with the maggots? It feels like there is a lot going on out here.  I’d say Dales shouldn’t have come, but I’m glad she did because that stuff towards the end made for some really good character exploration.

I actually kinda used that as a visual reference (like the crumbling buildings reassembling themselves and then falling apart)  That and the Brigmore Manor, just less Victorian

A very cryptic, but could be quite spoilry if you have a very good memory hint  

You've seen them before in one of your own posts

 

[TheCzarsHussar]

Oh my god I didn't even think about how absolutely Imperial the description of the library was Doc.

Y'ffre cries everytime.

[BigBossBalrog]

It says in giant red letters in the Elder Scrolls themselves every valuable resource is the Empire's GOD GIVEN right to exploit! 

[TheCzarsHussar]

1 minute ago, BigBossBalrog said:

It says in giant red letters in the Elder Scrolls themselves every valuable resource is the Empire's GOD GIVEN right to exploit! 

nords, roscreans, dunmer, altmer, bretons, akaviri, mlemlizards, cats, orcs, redguards, bosmer, and some undead birb elves:

[The Good Doctor]

2 hours ago, BigBossBalrog said:

 

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I was worried I went overboard with the garden scene, seen there's been criticism in the past about her being too angsty, but considering the situation, the circumstances, and the fact all those emotions and happy memories of her family she was repressing (quite possibly as a way to feel less guilty about killing her father and brothers) and trying her hardest to bury combined with being so reviled by the city she grew up and loved, would be enough to make anyone cry  And she kept it cool till the Garden. Seeing her mother's grave, someone she can't even think about because it's too painful, was just too much for her to handle. 

 

I get those kinds of feelings about my own writing sometimes, not about angst per se, but similar stuff. For your part, I think you did a very good job with Dales in this post pretty much beginning to end. She came across as very real and human in her vulnerable moments and as reasonable and level-headed the rest of the time. There was definitely no angst or anything that felt forced. The garden was my favorite part of the whole post, in fact.

I felt like this theme would have fit well over the final portion as she goes through the ruins of her home. 

Quote

A very cryptic, but could be quite spoilry if you have a very good memory hint  

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You've seen them before in one of your own posts

 

 

The the masked warrior cultists Endar and Mila passed near Chorrol and Boldir later discovered had destroyed a homestead, slaughtered everyone, and burned a woman on a stake?

[ColonelKillaBee]

Catching up, but I'm rereading stuff too, and boy was that Lilly dream the grossest thing you've written @BigBossBalrog  And with Lorgar, that's saying something. Someone needs to come in and purge the witch problem, since they still do shit like that.

[BigBossBalrog]

14 minutes ago, ColonelKillaBee said:

Catching up, but I'm rereading stuff too, and boy was that Lilly dream the grossest thing you've written @BigBossBalrog  And with Lorgar, that's saying something. Someone needs to come in and purge the witch problem, since they still do shit like that.

I make the witches too girly ya'll complain, I make them gross, and ya'll complain  

I read material about how the puritans viewed Witches during the Witch Trial days, and I decided to make the Coven like that but in reality. Kinda makes you disturbed Milla's hanging around one of them doesn't it?

Though I find the fate of the towns folk more gross. That and the fact poor Krojun's been slobberering over Lilly's ripped apart face  I made specific mention nobody does anything, despite it being an open secret. And visitors to Chorrol are under a "dream-like" haze (even Endar was slightly effected by it.), and they choose to ignore things if they see at all. 

[ColonelKillaBee]

I dunno if I mentioned it before but I'm liking this Dales/Roscrea duo and Dales' change in general. Bringing back the old Imperial way and being unapologetic, putting emphasis on martial skill, not political standing, etc. 

1 minute ago, BigBossBalrog said:

I make the witches too girly ya'll complain, I make them gross, and ya'll complain  

I read material about how the puritans viewed Witches during the Witch Trial days, and I decided to make the Coven like that but in reality. Kinda makes you disturbed Milla's hanging around one of them doesn't it?

Though I find the fate of the towns folk more gross. That and the fact poor Krojun's been slobberering over Lilly's ripped apart face  I made specific mention nobody does anything, despite it being an open secret. And visitors to Chorrol are under a "dream-like" haze (even Endar was slightly effected by it.), and they choose to ignore things if they see at all. 

I'll take gross over girly  Its not a complaint though, but an observation. The daedra are fucked up beings but even at their worst, they only mimic what they saw in creation. It's the mortals who are the most vile, so yea, it is what it is.

I remember that Endar mentioned there being an obvious curse or something like that over the town, but that it wasn't his problem or job to address it.

Something like that.

Also, was it always mentioned that her face looked like that?

[BigBossBalrog]

2 minutes ago, ColonelKillaBee said:

 

Also, was it always mentioned that her face looked like that?

I had the idea for awhile, but I only put hints of it like how she was always channeling magic through herself, and the fact she was really insecure about how she looked.  And i'd thought it would be cool to bring up flesh magic from Skyrim. 

[BigBossBalrog]

@ColonelKillaBee"I dunno if I mentioned it before but I'm liking this Dales/Roscrea duo and Dales' change in general. Bringing back the old Imperial way and being unapologetic, putting emphasis on martial skill, not political standing, etc."

Though to be honest, that's been more of a Legion thing  Throughout the Empire's history i'm sure a majority have tried to use that excuse, but it really is just shown through the Legion. Kinda reminds me of the French Foreign Legion. But i'm sure there's been times throughout the Empire history that it's been slightly more true, when monarch's like Dale's are in charge.

[ColonelKillaBee]

@TheCzarsHussar Eyyy an Aka-Tusk reference, I like it  These shorter and more story driven bits of Roscrea texts are a far more organic way of giving us world information, and it feels much more like a place in Nirn too, so I like that.

I also like the reference to the wild nords and their amulets that protected them from Baldur's thu'um, and calling the voice Nord-throat-curses.

Pretty cool, and I'ma use that idea.

[ColonelKillaBee]

3 minutes ago, BigBossBalrog said:

@ColonelKillaBee"I dunno if I mentioned it before but I'm liking this Dales/Roscrea duo and Dales' change in general. Bringing back the old Imperial way and being unapologetic, putting emphasis on martial skill, not political standing, etc."

Though to be honest, that's been more of a Legion thing  Throughout the Empire's history i'm sure a majority have tried to use that excuse, but it really is just shown through the Legion. Kinda reminds me of the French Foreign Legion. But i'm sure there's been times throughout the Empire history that it's been slightly more true, when monarch's like Dale's are in charge.

You're right that it's a legion thing mostly, but I bet the legion has inspired this sort of personality in the people in several ways. Like how in Spartacus, the most badass roman characters we saw weren't even fighters and they carried that roman spirit of strength and nobility throughout. Those who weren't of noble birth still had the pride of Romans and would take what they saw as theirs due to their pride.

Its the same with Nords. Even non fighters were proud Nords and carried that spirit about them. Dales could invoke that in her people again, and probably already has with the return of a dragon, The dragon.

[ColonelKillaBee]

Nightmare

 

The Doom Drum takes form.

 

[ColonelKillaBee]

@TheCzarsHussar I won't lie, I loved that post. A lot. Good shit.

[ColonelKillaBee]

The one eighth thing was genius.

[The Good Doctor]

40 minutes ago, BigBossBalrog said:

And visitors to Chorrol are under a "dream-like" haze (even Endar was slightly effected by it.)

He noticed it. Wasn’t affected by it.  Mila, Elara, and the Legionnaire were though. 

[BigBossBalrog]

3 minutes ago, The Good Doctor said:

He noticed it. Wasn’t affected by it.  Mila, Elara, and the Legionnaire were though. 

Ah kk.

[The Good Doctor]

29 minutes ago, ColonelKillaBee said:

The one eighth thing was genius.

I reread that one several times, myself. It was very chilling.

I’ve already said it in other posts, but yeah, I completely agree about Roscrea. For what it’s worth, I think you’d like the recent origins posts as well. 

[ColonelKillaBee]

Overall I like this new character of yours, Casia. She's definitely not a typical Balrog character  She reads well.

Only thing I'd disagree with her on is this line here:

The people of the Imperial Province are blessed by natural borders, we have the mountains to the North and East, open waters to the West, and wet bogs and rainforests to our south to keep them safe.

This would be true, were they not surrounded by people specifically adapted to the natural environments she's describing, lol  And most of them work both ways.

 

[ColonelKillaBee]

What i meant by "not a typical balrog character, she reads well" was that she's an older woman and not sexualized at all, lol, not that your other characters don't read well. 

[ColonelKillaBee]

“He refused to commit real resources to the Civil War in Skyrim, and so I believe he had no intention of holding onto the rest of it. Perhap he viewed it as dead weight, that would impede our chances of success in the next Great War. I agree with his assessment, but…”

Skyrim is what won the Empire the first Great War!  

[The Good Doctor]

5 minutes ago, ColonelKillaBee said:

 

Only thing I'd disagree with her on is this line here:

The people of the Imperial Province are blessed by natural borders, we have the mountains to the North and East, open waters to the West, and wet bogs and rainforests to our south to keep them safe.

This would be true, were they not surrounded by people specifically adapted to the natural environments she's describing, lol  And most of them work both ways.

 

I said this exact same thing.  

[BigBossBalrog]

9 minutes ago, ColonelKillaBee said:

Overall I like this new character of yours, Casia. She's definitely not a typical Balrog character  She reads well.

Only thing I'd disagree with her on is this line here:

The people of the Imperial Province are blessed by natural borders, we have the mountains to the North and East, open waters to the West, and wet bogs and rainforests to our south to keep them safe.

This would be true, were they not surrounded by people specifically adapted to the natural environments she's describing, lol  And most of them work both ways.

 

I originally actually had her as the Dawnstar Imperial claimant in the Civil War Questline, but you guys convince me she was was unlikely to leave Dawnstar behind when Dales made Ballin the Lord of Bruma, so I just rewrote her to be a Colovian retired officer  

That line is a reference to one of my favorite guards in Oblivion, he said something very similar 

5 minutes ago, ColonelKillaBee said:

“He refused to commit real resources to the Civil War in Skyrim, and so I believe he had no intention of holding onto the rest of it. Perhap he viewed it as dead weight, that would impede our chances of success in the next Great War. I agree with his assessment, but…”

Skyrim is what won the Empire the first Great War!  

The Imperials bled horribly for it too 

But it's more about  Dales viewpoint that they can't hold on to anything with the Empire as weak as it is, and they have to literally centralize all their available resources into the Heartland to beat the Dominion. They can't spread the line at all.

[ColonelKillaBee]

This is true, but you know I had to say something about that, lol. Historically speaking, the Nords are to the Imperials what black people are to American college football  Vital, yet underappreciated.

Anyway, Cassia is exactly the kind of person Dales needs, and she should keep her around.

[BigBossBalrog]

But Dales was also critical in the fact that Mede focused entirely on keeping the border secure, without giving a enough attention to how Cyrodiil was being eaten alive on the inside by bandits and starvation (as depicted in Blades). To be fair to him, it's a situation I wouldn't want to find myself in.