Civil War Aftermath OOC #4

[BigBossBalrog]

2 hours ago, The Good Doctor said:

@BigBossBalrog Just finished your post. Enjoyed it.  

 

  Hide contents

 

To get my obligatory nitpicks out of the way, I found it a little odd that Arkay’s life and death cycle was presented using a dragon -immortal and eternal beings whose souls don’t pass on when they die, and who are heavily associated with Akatosh and Talos in Imperial culture, not Arkay. 

Runil caught me by surprise, but it feels a little strange to give them history now considering he was a prominent character in chapter 2 and didn’t seem to know her. They were even in Falkreath at the same time, iirc. 

Like I said, nitpicks. On to the good stuff.
 

Dales: "My husband is worse than a Tharn."

Hundreds of Tharns who didn’t betray the Emperor:   

I can’t say I agree with Dales on that front (yet at least). Yornar hasn’t plunged the Empire into any civil wars and actually did some good in Nibenay. Jagar Tharn was way worse.
 

I also think I might have improved your namedrop paragraph:

"Be a person my people could look to as a pillar of strength. The charm and wit of Baldur. The strength and nobleness of Lorgar. The wisdom and kindness of Gracchus. The beauty and grace of Magdela. The sharp tongue of Rebec. The world class physique of Boldir. The comedic timing of Endar. The unflinching gayness of Maric. The capacity for casual genocide of Krojun. The ability to reach top shelves of Corvus..."
 

And I think I spotted the New Vegas reference. Maybe. The soldier in the flashback’s line about not having to deal with another winter reminded me of the "Patrolling the Mojave" memes.  
 

As for the rest of the flashback, I quite liked it. These have definitely helped flesh out Dales’s past and how it shaped her. And I suspect that Nord who defended her might’ve been the cause of her liking towards them later in her life, especially since she thought he was scary before. It also showed Amaund’s early connections with the Thalmor and makes their increased presence after Mede died feel less random. All good stuff.

Gotta say, Amaund may be a prick but his wife laying into him like that while surrounded by potential attackers and in front of the Thalmor was a really, really bad move. His very presence with the Thalmor removes any doubt that he is a traitor and a villain, but even then, when the one person who is supposed to be seen as your closest ally berates and challenges you in the streets in front of everyone like that, there is no winning. She put him in a really bad position and probably got off easy for it considering how far we know he’s willing to go.

Not sure what to make of murder priest yet. Don’t know his motives or enough about the Duke’s family to say if he’s at all justified in what he did. The fact that they’re flayed makes me think he was interrogating them. Still kind of excessive though.

Overall there was less intrigue in this one, which suits me fine as the flashbacks and introspection have been my favorite parts of these posts. Though between murder priest, the cultists, the Duke’s family, Oreyn’s mystery contract, and the Duke himself, I am eager to see how the pieces come together.

 

That's mean 

I've kinda constructed the  Sutch arc after the heroe's journey, so I wanted to do something with Dales seeking penance, and since she barely knows anyone in Sutch after so long, I thought a monk could provide a good outlet in that (especially with her avoidance of faith-centered things).  There's always a part that's split off from the main plot that deals with the hero dealing with their feelings, so I thought i'd do something more introspective. The Runil thing I struggled with; I always had the idea Dales had a positive experience with a Dominion soldier in her early life, so I wanted to depict that. She never saw him in Chapter 2 or ran into him, so I think it fits in just about. If it's too much of disconnect I can always change it to be a new character. 

It's an undeserved reputation (especially when there were Tharn's like Abnur) but if I remeber the Tharn's have been depicted as one of the most infamous families in the Empire and the rest of Tamriel, they just have so many infamous memebers. It's kinda like Dales invoking Godwin's Law, and she's on a message board typing "HE'S AS BAD AS HITLER".  It's kinda ironic cause Dales probaly has some distant relation to them, because of how they've intermingled with the rest of Imperial Noble families.  

Dales Mother (Lucia) didn't act well, especially in the current situation. (Especially dropping Dales to get at Amaund). But she's the niece of one of the most staunchley anti-Dominion aristocrats in the Empire, is from a Colovian family known for their hotheadness and temper,  and she lost alot of relatives in the war, and suffered immensley in the Siege of Sutch. And she's seeing her hubsand consort with the people that smashed her beloved city into debris. I'd be pretty livid too. 

[The Good Doctor]

16 hours ago, BigBossBalrog said:

 

  Hide contents

 

Dales Mother (Lucia) didn't act well, especially in the current situation. (Especially dropping Dales to get at Amaund). But she's the niece of one of the most staunchley anti-Dominion aristocrats in the Empire, is from a Colovian family known for their hotheadness and temper,  and she lost alot of relatives in the war, and suffered immensley in the Siege of Sutch. And she's seeing her hubsand consort with the people that smashed her beloved city into debris. I'd be pretty livid too. 

Oh, I get her anger and agree with it. Screw anyone who sells out to the Thalmor. But considering the situation they were in, it’s hard to imagine Amaund responding with anything less than violence. Both the Thalmor and the townsfolk were right beside them and she wouldn’t stop. His options were basically to shut her up or let her drag him through the mud and potentially get them killed.

[BigBossBalrog]

20 minutes ago, The Good Doctor said:

 

  Hide contents

 

Oh, I get her anger and agree with it. Screw anyone who sells out to the Thalmor. But considering the situation they were in, it’s hard to imagine Amaund responding with anything less than violence. Both the Thalmor and the townsfolk were right beside them and she wouldn’t stop. His options were basically to shut her up or let her drag him through the mud and potentially get them killed.

Pretty much. If an intimidation check dosen't work, you got to backhand them 

[The Good Doctor]

@TheCzarsHussar 

 

" Taking the reigns from Holangaard and leading the mammoth to a small stables...meant for horses. "

This got a laugh out of me. 

Aeliagnum was funny. Irritating as all the hells, but funny. I enjoyed it when Holangaard basically growled at her, and their conversation that followed. This conflict is an interesting one, and I’m liking the way you’re telling it through POVs from all over Roscrea. Looks like things about as bad for the Nords as I was expecting. Though I didn’t expect the Cyrods to be spared, so that’s one bit of good news. Their connection with the dragon worshippers because Septim missionaries broke out the Alduin/Akatosh dichotomy was a nice touch and makes their survival believable.

[The Good Doctor]

3 minutes ago, The Good Doctor said:

@TheCzarsHussar 

  Reveal hidden contents

" Taking the reigns from Holangaard and leading the mammoth to a small stables...meant for horses. "

This got a laugh out of me. 

Aeliagnum was funny. Irritating as all the hells, but funny. I enjoyed it when Holangaard basically growled at her, and their conversation that followed. This conflict is an interesting one, and I’m liking the way you’re telling it through POVs from all over Roscrea. Looks like things about as bad for the Nords as I was expecting. Though I didn’t expect the Cyrods to be spared, so that’s one bit of good news. Their connection with the dragon worshippers because Septim missionaries broke out the Alduin/Akatosh dichotomy was a nice touch and makes their survival believable.

I also liked the scene with the mammoth herding clan. Not because it moved the story along or even that much happened in it. It was just a cool encounter and some nice worldbuilding.

[TheCzarsHussar]

16 minutes ago, The Good Doctor said:

@TheCzarsHussar 

  Hide contents

Looks like things about as bad for the Nords as I was expecting. Though I didn’t expect the Cyrods to be spared, so that’s one bit of good news. Their connection with the dragon worshippers because Septim missionaries broke out the Alduin/Akatosh dichotomy was a nice touch and makes their survival believable.

Things are being built up, I'm showing some differing POVs to give glimpses into the situations before switching back to big A(lduacer)'s perspective. As much as this conflict is religious vengeance, it's primarily about reconquest. In a way it's all too similar to the Crusades; The reasoning for the conflict is religious, but also to reclaim the holy land. The war procession isn't putting every single Nord to the axe, although many have died from all walks of life. They're subjugating and warring against what they have only ever known as the Haafingar-Folk.

Unfortunately for every Nord from noble to humble farmer, the war procession doesn't differentiate a Nord who left Solitude ten years ago to settle from some Brynjolf who might hate Solitude with all their heart who's ancestors hailed from The Pale (which because of King Thain's marriage with the Queen of Dawnstar in lore, there were also settlers from there XD).

Instead of saying all that in the post, I think it's effective enough at portraying it?

This ties into the Imperial (descendants) of the isle. Annexing the whole of the Imperial Fiefdom of Roscrea didn't transport every Imperial settler to the more Imperialized portion of the island. They live in their own colony-villages and other urban/rural centers across the island. The lore stated that before Solitude annexed Roscrea, it was 'ruled directly by the Emperor since Uriel V conquered it in the 271st year.' which comes from the Pocket Guide. I interpreted that as it was in direct ownership of the Septim Dynasty, who collected taxes and governed under their (far away) jurisdiction. Like how a Jarl would own land beyond their respective city, the Emperor directly owned the Fief under his own tittle. 

As much as I love ripping on the Empire, in my post-retcon writings, they've effectively and efficiently ran things across the island as a healthy if not extreme backwater of the Empire. Like how the Jarls existed under the Empire, the native near-giants of Old Dowry Hold and the Middland Plateau maintained their chieftaincies and allegiance to the kingship in Ecoriobriga, as the kingship and chieftaincies were loyal to the Septim Dynasty. It has been a long long time since Uriel V conquered the island, only a handfull of very old natives are still around from back then. What hasn't been a long time ago is the dominance of Solitude over the former fiefdom. What Solitude has done is used Roscrea as a colony to drain it's resources to fuel it's own renaissance, much like historical colonies and much like how the Empire drained Skyrim's resources to keep itself afloat (not that Roscrea compares at all to that XD).

 

What protects the Imperials is that it isn't a grand pogrom against all of mankind in those two holds, it's a bloody reconquest of land against a petty jarldom by religious fanatics all too happy to have been gobbled up by Alduin. The old giants can grumble against the Imperials but many generations know all too much only the Haafingar-Folk Nords. To the communal-priesthood, the death of Alduin/Aka-Tusk is the death of Akatosh. They're avenging the southern counterpart of their god too, and with the perception that Alduin and Akatosh are one and the same to the native priesthood, the Imperials share in their vengeance. While more traditional Nordic faith hates and fears Alduin, lore has shown Imperial faith to have no such correlation or fear of Alduin (prior to the events in Skyrim).

All of this makes the Thalmor agent's inclusion in that older post all the more insidious. 

 

TL;DR: Roscrea was governed well and favorably to both natives and the Imperial crown, religiously Akatosh and Alduin/Aka-Tusk are considered the same god thanks to a synod centuries ago, Solitude alienated and exploited natives, religious animosity between Nords and dragon worshiping giants that doesn't exist with dragon worshiping giants and Imperials.

[TheCzarsHussar]

1 hour ago, The Good Doctor said:

I also liked the scene with the mammoth herding clan. Not because it moved the story along or even that much happened in it. It was just a cool encounter and some nice worldbuilding.

One small part of the post was at the very end, in a very "Show don't tell" symbolic moment of kinship ending between Nord and native. A Nord, not even part of Holangaard's clan (by the way, Hol means Owl and Angaar means Tower in Dovahzul :P) who is closer than actual ties of familial kinship, shares a final moment of compassion between one an other. I didn't expressly say it but I feel the visual clues show Old Longwrinkles is dying. Outside the castle and alone, the old kinship dies peacefully in one part while the old kinship dies violently in another.

[TheCzarsHussar]

It was actually kinda hard to write that last part of the post. While not related to my, there's a longtime friend of me and my mother who I see as a grandfather figure who is closer to me then my entire extended family. And he's getting very old, I don't know how much longer he'll be around and I haven't seen him in too long.

[The Good Doctor]

7 minutes ago, TheCzarsHussar said:

 

  Hide contents

 

One small part of the post was at the very end, in a very "Show don't tell" symbolic moment of kinship ending between Nord and native. A Nord, not even part of Holangaard's clan (by the way, Hol means Owl and Angaar means Tower in Dovahzul :P) who is closer than actual ties of familial kinship, shares a final moment of compassion between one an other. I didn't expressly say it but I feel the visual clues show Old Longwrinkles is dying. Outside the castle and alone, the old kinship dies peacefully in one part while the old kinship dies violently in another.

 

 

I actually missed that Old Longwrinkles was a Nord. That definitely adds a lot of weight and symbolism to the scene.

[TheCzarsHussar]

When handing over a pipe makes you cry

[TheCzarsHussar]

Yo @The Good Doctor, twas a fun little post! I always enjoy seeing Dremora politics even if it's on the extreme backburner. Like how after doing business with the one, Endar summons another bound to his word-will to do some menial labor task.

[The Good Doctor]

21 minutes ago, TheCzarsHussar said:

Yo @The Good Doctor, twas a fun little post! I always enjoy seeing Dremora politics even if it's on the extreme backburner. Like how after doing business with the one, Endar summons another bound to his word-will to do some menial labor task.

Thanks. I have a little Telvanni conspiracy thing going on for Endar’s backstory, which will probably be fleshed out in more little posts like this along with author-style ones like my Tel Mora one. It’ll explain why the Telvanni Council looks so different by the time of the main RP than it did during Morrowind (if that ever comes up ).

That first dremora was actually from ESO. @Centurion might recognize him as I think he played the Telvanni parts of the Morrowind expansion. Long story short, Dratha owed the dremora a debt and Endar helped him collect, eliminating a rival and becoming Lord of Tel Mora in the process.

[The Good Doctor]

On 1/16/2020 at 8:50 PM, Centurion said:

Yo @ColonelKillaBee so time frame for this post. Like 6-8 months or next year some time 

It’s been a year and two days. The elf population is getting out of control. We need an Ubbe post.

[TheCzarsHussar]

8 minutes ago, The Good Doctor said:

It’s been a year and two days. The elf population is getting out of control. We need an Ubbe post.

I was frantically searching for that comment until I finally looked at the date. 

[BigBossBalrog]

10 minutes ago, The Good Doctor said:

It’s been a year and two days. The elf population is getting out of control. We need an Ubbe post.

GW": The population of Elves is as the plot demands." 

[The Good Doctor]

Just now, BigBossBalrog said:

GW": The population of Elves is as the plot demands." 

That’s an actual quote, isn’t it? Not sure what GW stands for but I know I’ve read it before. 

[BigBossBalrog]

4 minutes ago, The Good Doctor said:

That’s an actual quote, isn’t it? Not sure what GW stands for but I know I’ve read it before. 

Games Workshop, they people who own Warhammer. There Elves are like Tolkien's, and are described as having super lower birthrates, yet since the game is a wargame, they've been described as being able to muster countless armies and fight continent spanning world wars (most noticeably the War of Vengeance, against the Dwarf's in which they lost badly).

GW got so sick of people pointing it out, there CEO said that quote at a fan convention 

[BigBossBalrog]

In contrast, despite the fact being in a vast majority of Elves in the fantasy genre, I think Tolkien is the ONLY author who realistically showed the Elves were dying off, and couldn't muster a fraction of the numbers they had during the War of Wrath.  

[Centurion]

7 hours ago, The Good Doctor said:

It’s been a year and two days. The elf population is getting out of control. We need an Ubbe post.

I couldn’t pull an Ubbe post outta my ass if I tried. Haven’t fucked with elder scrolls in over a year and simply have too much going on to do so. I’m sorry lol

[The Good Doctor]

Did y’all know that the concept art for Markarth had the city’s defenses capable of setting the river on fire during invasions?

Imagine the battle for Markarth actually being in the game, and imagine this making it in. 

They also had the Nords trading with centaurs for giant leather, and the Reachman laborers wearing these cool ponchos with screen masks to protect their faces from sparks.

[TheCzarsHussar]

9 minutes ago, The Good Doctor said:

Did y’all know that the concept art for Markarth had the city’s defenses capable of setting the river on fire during invasions?

Imagine the battle for Markarth actually being in the game, and imagine this making it in. 

They also had the Nords trading with centaurs for giant leather, and the Reachman laborers wearing these cool ponchos with screen masks to protect their faces from sparks.

So Markarth basically had Greek Fire? That's pretty cool. As it burnt atop water so no matter what, you were fucked if you got doused by it.

[BigBossBalrog]

36 minutes ago, The Good Doctor said:

Did y’all know that the concept art for Markarth had the city’s defenses capable of setting the river on fire during invasions?

Imagine the battle for Markarth actually being in the game, and imagine this making it in. 

They also had the Nords trading with centaurs for giant leather, and the Reachman laborers wearing these cool ponchos with screen masks to protect their faces from sparks.

Legends has an updated portrayal from Daggerfall

Would have fit perfectly with the setting, too bad we didn't see them. At least we got the Giants back. 

[The Good Doctor]

Some more cool stuff. The concept art makes it seem like magic was originally going to be more common in Skyrim, but it would’ve been more of a "fringe of society" thing with more witchcraft vibes.

I love the idea, personally. Creepy beggars and homeless peddlers knowing curses and reading fortunes with bones and shit. Would’ve given the world a lot of character while also maintaining the idea of modern Nords looking down on magic.

 

[BigBossBalrog]

1 hour ago, The Good Doctor said:

Some more cool stuff. The concept art makes it seem like magic was originally going to be more common in Skyrim, but it would’ve been more of a "fringe of society" thing with more witchcraft vibes.

I love the idea, personally. Creepy beggars and homeless peddlers knowing curses and reading fortunes with bones and shit. Would’ve given the world a lot of character while also maintaining the idea of modern Nords looking down on magic.

 

  Hide contents

 

 

We kinda got that vibe in the Reach (all the cool shit is there) 

[The Good Doctor]

10 minutes ago, BigBossBalrog said:

We kinda got that vibe in the Reach (all the cool shit is there) 

Eh. There is some daedra worship and the Forsworn use witchcraft and such, but it’s not really present in society, just the countryside where a bunch of hostiles live. And it’s Reachmen instead of Nords.

The closest thing we got to this in Skyrim is probably Olava the Seer. There were also those Fryse Hags in Soltheim, but that’s more of a Bloodmoon thing.