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Psychotic Weasel posted:This sounds like something the gods are apt to do in this universe, so why not just consider it canon? Relatedly, can someone explain CHIM to me? From what I understand, it's like achieving a state of enlightenment that also happens to include access to the game's modding tools?
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Aug 23, 2019 03:06
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Anticheese posted:Relatedly, can someone explain CHIM to me? From what I understand, it's like achieving a state of enlightenment that also happens to include access to the game's modding tools? It's been mentioned in the thread already but basically it's becoming self-aware enough to turn god mode on for yourself.
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Aug 23, 2019 03:14
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Clayren posted:It takes a LOT of brownie points with your Daedric Prince of choice to start an invasion. The AI will try to save up for an invasion, but often times will not live long enough or actively pursue favor points enough to get there. I did a little snooping and Castricius was a Molag Bal worshipper when he became king and did have some points saved up. I might have given him a little help, but in the original timeline Molag Bal had invaded Tamriel about 100 years before this so I feel like it's justified. Besides, why would the gods create a new Dragonborn just to have him sit around and do nothing? Yeah, I was mainly curious about whether or not I'd need to do some console meddling of my own if I wanted an invasion in my own game, which also just got a Dragonborn (in Akavir, of course). Guessing there's a fair amount of stuff that you can realistically do as a player, but most AI characters lack the total focus for.
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Aug 23, 2019 14:36
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 Reign of King Torvic I 17. The Nibenay Crisis The exact scope of the Nibenay Crisis has been debated among scholars of the event. When, for example, should we say the period began? With the opening of the first Oblivion Gate, the coronation of Castricius Aforanian, the civil war between Leonara Afelian and Romana Cuptor or should we go all the way back to the public declaration by King Rufius that the worship of the Daedric Prince Sanguine was the official religion of the kingdom? And what about the end, when should we consider the Crisis “over” ? With the death of Castricius to war wounds, the death of General Xxthazzarik at the hands of Valdimar the Great or the collapse of the Aldmeri colonies in Valenwood? Any attempt to speak specifically on the topic of the Nibenay Crisis is in danger of becoming a general history of the Late Interregnum. Woe the uncareful scholar who falls to such a snare! So, in the interest of setting boundaries lest I become a victim of a unified historical theory, this work shall only cover the period from the start of the daedric invasion up to the death of General Xxthazzarik and the dissappearance of the Oblivion Gates. We shall also focus mainly on High Rock and Skyrim as well. Let us first speak on the key figure of the Crisis: King Castricius the Brute of Nibenay.  As a young man Casticius had journeyed far to High Hrothgar in Skyrim, where he spent nearly a decade studying the Thu’um, a type of magic some Nord priests cast by speaking in the tongues of dragons. The Thu’um came naturally to Casticius and we are told that he could set fires, turn intangible and freeze his foes solid with the strength of his shouts alone. This, in addition to his physical strength, made Castricius a fearsome opponent in a duel. And Castricius enjoyed a good duel quite often, challenging many young nobles to combat with axes, swords and lances throughout his years as a duke. When Casticius returned to Nibenay to take control of his fiefdom he found his distant relative Rufius King of Nibenay. But rather than bring glory to the Aforanian family the decadent antics of Rufius and his daedra worship ruined the prestige of the once-great house and invited invasion by neighboring realms. Uprisings and civil wars soon followed, which created famine and pestilence throughout the Niben River Valley. Once one of the wealthiest realms in Tamriel, Nibenay teetered on the edge of complete dissolution. So when Rufius seized control of Fort Aurus and declared himself king he faced a seemingly impossible situation. It was then that a cultist, whose name is lost to historians, approached King Rufius and suggested that his lord and master Molag Bal could make him emperor of all Tamriel. The deal was made and Rufius became the Herald of Molag Bal.    The first Oblivion Gate in High Rock was located in Tulune, near the southernmost tip of the High Rock Peninsula. A force of around 2,000 daedra poured forward from this portal, composed mostly of Xivilai, Dremora and Daedroth. In response King Torvic One-Eye gathered his legions and auxiliaries from around Balfiera Island and headed west to defeat the Daedra and close the Oblivion Gate shut.   Before this could be accomplished, additional gates opened in Orotheim and Penmarch. The situation was much the same in the rest of Tamriel, with multiple gates opening and overwhelming the resources of various realms.   The disciplined forces of Torvic One-Eye were able to defeat individual armies with few casualties, but the size of the realm worked against him. Once Gates started opening in both Skyrim and High Rock concurrently Torvic found himself racing against time to relieve besieged settlements.    One of the most harrowing episodes in the Nibenay Crisis was the Drowning of Dawnstar. In the first month of Spring the ice encasing the capital of the Pale had only begun to thaw in places. When the daedric hordes broke through the city gates the townspeople had nowhere to run except across the ice. While some made it to safety thanks to fishing and merchant ships from Solitude and Winterhold, most fell through the ice or were caught by pursuing daedra. The courtiers and nobility were all sacrificed to Molag Bal and many of the townspeople who did not flee were killed in the looting which followed. Torvic would eventually retake the city and banish the daedra back to Oblivion, but the damage was done and the city would struggle to recover after the Crisis.  Meanwhile, Herald Castricius was leading his forces on an invasion of Morrowind. Tens of thousands of daedra poured through the passes of the Velothi Mountains, seizing the holdings of House Hlaalu. The great houses of Morrowind struggled early on in the war to coordinate their forces, with many nobles refusing to allow their levies to leave in case a Gate opened outside their town, city or wizard tower. It took direct intervention from the Tribunal to at last get all the Dunmer cooperating to oppose the invasion of southern Hlaalu lands.    Following the victory at Hraggen in 2E 705 the decision was made to split the First and Second legions. The First Legion, led by King Torvic himself, would defend High Rock. The Second Legion command was given to Duchess Aeta of Winterhold, who was commanded to keep Skyrim safe.   Aeta marched the Second Legion north, where a sizeable daedric force had set up camp in the ruins of Ustengrav. When her scouts reported that a large number of foes were quartered in the buried complex and that there was only a single entrance aeta ordered her forces to wait until nightfall. Under the cover of darkness her mages crawled on their bellies to the rim of the stone edifice and took out the guards. They then got to work, affixing steel shield to the door and heating them until they melted into a layer of solid metal. Frost salts were then stuck to this first layer before additional layers of steel were placed and runes placed all over the grounds around the ruin. When Aeta attacked an hour before dawn her forces were able to destroy most of the daedra camped outside while the daedra inside the ruin wasted precious time trying to burn through the steel. Most of the daedra commanders had slept inside the ruin, leaving their forces outside without proper command. By the time they broke out the battle had turned against them and the Nords under Aeta’s command quickly turned upon the formerly-trapped daedra. With this victory under her belt the old Nord woman turned her attention to the Reach, where Hagraven Cultists had risen in support of Molag Bal. Madanach the Cruel was caught trying to escape into Redguard-controlled Falkreath after his swift defeat, his head was mounted on a spike outside of Markarth.   High King Torvic’s reputation as an excellent battlemage grew as he succeeded in closing gate after gate in High Rock. His writings on the use of offensive magic on the battlefield remains essential reading in the Imperial Mages College.   By 2E 708 the need for an alliance against Castricius and his daedric hordes was becoming clear. There was no end to the number of daedra Molag Bal could send and Castricius personal army was seemingly unstoppable. A pact signed with the Tribunal Temple in Midyear to jointly patrol eastern Skyrim and northwestern Morrowind signaled growing cooperation between the Nords, Dunmer and Bretons.    709 brought nothing but bad news for High Rock. Torvic’s beloved first son died to disease, possibly spread by refugees fleeing less defensible settlements. Most of central Hammerfell fell to daedra, with the capital of Gilane threatened by a nearby gate. Worst of all was the news of the fate of Duke Kodrir the Just, the Dragonborn champion of Tamriel. With a band of Nordic heroes he had set forth in 2E 707, fighting their way through Pale Pass and destroying Oblivion Gates all throughout Colovia and Bruma. After years of combat and the loss of most of his bannermen and his eldest son, Kodrir faced the Herald Castricius in single combat. Their battle in the White Gold Tower could be heard in every part of the Imperial City, as the two traded Thu’ums which shook the ground. Kodrir badly wounded Castricius, but the Herald of Molag Bal struck the Dragonborn hero down and flung his body from atop the tower.   Near the end of 2E 710 an army of 6,000 daedra and 2,000 Reachmen arrived in eastern High Rock. Torvic and the First Legion met them in battle near the village of Raven Spring in late Spring of 711. At first sight of the Legion the Reachman tribes, who had been squabbling over looting rights with the daedra, fled south into the occupied lands of Hammerfell. Thoroughly outnumbered, the daedra were crushed by the superior heavy infantry of Torvic One-Eye.   Victories like this heartened the people of High Rock, but they could not hide the fact that the invasion was becoming a war of attrition, which the undying daedra would of course win. Torvic and Aeta’s legions could not be everywhere at once and the damage a well-placed Oblivion Gate could do was tremendous. In 2E 712 an army of demons captured the wealthy city of Solitude, burning the Blue Palace to the ground and executing scores of wealthy merchants in the city square. The First Legion arrived only a month later and cast the Daedra out, but the destruction to the city and its vital port was done.   In 2E 713 Herald Castricius at last succumbed to a wound made by Kodrir the Just in their battle four years prior. The daedric General Xxthazzarik vowed to continue the war for Tamriel and rallied the hordes all across the continent to his banner. From High Hrothgar the Greybeards spoke the name of Valdimar, second son of Kodrir the Just. After traveling up the 7,000 steps and receiving their blessing, the young Nord swore an oath of vengeance for his father and brother upon the daedra and called for all mortals willing to fight to hearken to him. A force of Nords, Dunmer, Bretons and Colovians rallied to his banner and set forth in the footsteps of Kodrir the Just to at last strike down the heart of the invasion and close shut the jaws of Oblivion.  But the path before Valdimar was more perilous than the one his father and brother had taken. By 2E 715 the hordes of Molag Bal had poured into Bruma and were nearly at Pale Pass. Attempts by the Dunmer to hold the demons off at the Velothi Mountains had failed and the fertile Deshaan Plain was threatened with destruction. Still, through fire and war the Dragonborn and his allies pushed on, deep into Nibenay where General Xxthazzarik had his headquarters. At Bravil Valdimar the Mighty faced off against the mighty daedra lord and slew him with his father’s sword North’s Call. The victorious Valdimar then led his companions into a Gate to Cold Harbor and faced the might of Molag Bal’s forces in their own home plane. With the aid of the Eight Divines Valdimar stormed the palace of Molag Bal and defeated the Daedric Prince in combat. Beaten, but not killed, the demon withdrew from Tamriel and his Gates closed.   Their reinforcements cut off and with no idea who should become their leader with General Xxthazzarik dead, the Daedra shattered. Some were overthrown immediately by local bands, while others remained in control for a short time. Valdimar the Mighty was hailed far and wide as the hero of Tamriel and he returned to Skyrim, to rule over his duchy in peace.  Torvic’s legions at last returned to Balfiera, their mission completed. High King Torvic One-Eye closed 20 Oblivion Gates in the 13 years of the Nibenay Crisis and would be long remembered as a zealous persecutor of the daedra and their worshippers. High Rock and Skyrim survived the Crisis mostly intact thanks to him, while the rest of Tamriel faced revolts, civil wars and all manner of trouble as a result of the destruction wrought by Molag Bal.
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Aug 24, 2019 13:37
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How much of that was narrative and how much gameplay?
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Aug 24, 2019 17:51
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Deadmeat5150 posted:How much of that was narrative and how much gameplay? That was pretty much all gameplay, really. When a character initiates a daedra invasion they receive 3 big doomstacks of event troops and everyone else gets repeated oblivion gate invasions. These invasions vary in size the same way peasant revolts vary in size and as far as I can tell you never have to deal with more than 3 at a time in a single realm. If an oblivion gate army gets their warscore up to 100% they take all of the holdings they've captured. The way the game decides who gets to be the Dragonborn is a bit complicated, but descendants of past Dragonborn have a better chance at it, as do younger people. Whoever is the Dragonborn during the invasion will be sent by the game on a quest, which functions a lot like the journey some pagans can take into the Eastern Protectorate of China in Crusader Kings 2 with Jade Dragon. At the end of the quest the Dragonborn fights the herald of the Daedric Prince and either wins or loses. If they win the doomstacks go away and a daedra takes over the herald's old realm. If that daedra dies the whole thing collapses and every vassal becomes independent. During an oblivion invasion the game is very eager to crank out Dragonborn, so if the herald is really tough you might end up with dozens of dead Dragonborn before the RNG chooses a good fighter to take the herald down.
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Aug 24, 2019 18:11
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Thats pretty awesone.
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Aug 24, 2019 18:20
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Can every Daedric prince start an invasion? It'd be a little odd to see Azura or Hermaeus Mora pulling that poo poo.
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Aug 24, 2019 20:00
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Erwin the German posted:Can every Daedric prince start an invasion? It'd be a little odd to see Azura or Hermaeus Mora pulling that poo poo. None of the Daedra are good guys. Azura seems like one, but look at what happens to everyone who goes against her, and even her own people.
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Aug 24, 2019 21:01
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Full scale invasion still doesn't really match her schtick. All Daedra are assholes in some fashion or another but they're not all dreaming of drowning Nirn in blood and entrails.
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Aug 24, 2019 22:36
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 Reign of King Torvic I 18. Valdimar and Torvic Hero and King: Post-Crisis High Rock and the Relationship between Torvic One-Eye and Valdimar the Great By Titus Maro  When the hero Valdimar the Mighty stepped out of the closing Oblivion Gate in Bravil he was lauded as the Hero of Tamriel by his companions. But the Tamriel Valdimar stepped back in to was not the same as it had been prior to the Crisis. While the daedra were gone the damages they had inflicted on the continent remained. Villages had been raised, fields burned and great cities had been ravaged all across the continent.   High Rock had avoided being scarred as badly as its neighbors and the following years would be defined by the relationship between the triumphant battlemage Torvic One-Eye and his vassal, the hero Valdimar the Mighty. Valdimar’s father Kodrir the Just had been a Nord nationalist. He despised owing allegiance to a Breton king and had hoped to see Skyrim become independent under the rule of the Queen of Bruma. Bruma had been a symbol of independence for nationalist Nords since the conquest of most of Skyrim by Leo the Bear. The Stuhn dynasty of Bruma were proud Nords who could trace their bloodline back to Jeek of the River, one of the 500 Companions who helped the legendary Ysgramor drive the Snow Elves out of Skyrim. Valdimar was a Nord nationalist like his father, but the state of Bruma after the Crisis convinced him that the Stuhn Dynasty would be of little help in a war of independence. Instead Valdimar subscribed to the idea of a dual kingdom, as proposed by the court of the Reach. Under this plan the High Kingdom of Skyrim would have a seperate military, set of laws and court system, while remaining under the rule of Torvic One-Eye. The Renaults of the Reach, who by now were thoroughly Nordic and known as the “Ranald” family, were major proponents of this plan.   This quasi-confederal system was opposed by the bureaucrats in Balfiera, who favored a more centralized state and a larger legion system. They pointed to the success of the First and Second Legions in keeping High Rock safe during the crisis and argued that only a strong central government could respond to such threats. The dualists, as they came to be called, pointed out that the centralized state of Nibenay had entirely collapsed after the Crisis, while the confederation of the Colovian Estates had come out mostly intact.   Internal political issues like this were a focus of the later reign of High King Torvic, in part because external concerns were few. The young Queen Isramal of Hammerfell was widely known to be disinterested in foreign wars, especially once the post-crisis civil wars started. Morrowind was also focused internally, as the great houses jockeyed for position following the invasion of House Hlaalu’s southern holdings by the daedra. House Telvanni’s growing power increasingly forced the other four houses to cooperate.    This inward turning was found throughout most of Tamriel, with the exception of the Colovian Estates, whose dukes busied themselves grabbing territory in Nibenay. In Valenwood rebellions broke out against Alinor-aligned leaders and Altmer colonies faced protracted guerilla wars. Anger over the desecration of sacred forests and the withdrawal of guards from the colonies during the Nibenay Crisis fed extremists who called for renewed war in the name of the Green Pact. Secret societies formed in the cities and Wild Hunts were held in the forests in support of this cause. Bosmer who had cooperated with the Altmer faced reprisals in the coastal cities as well. Alinor was unable to lend much help to its collapsing colonies in Valenwood. High Queen Ciindewal had been struck on the head by a daedra leading her forces during the Crisis and had been unable to leave her sickbed since. Her leadership was desperately needed by the Altmer, who faced two crises in their homeland during this time. The first was an infestation of Black Worm cultists, whose necromancy found fertile ground among the graves of those slain in the Crisis. Worse was the crisis of Abelle the Conqueror, the pirate queen of Kings’ Haven. During the worst days of the Crisis an armada of fishing and merchant vessels fled central and eastern Cyrodiil. These ships fled from port to port asking for asylum, but were denied each time. After leaving Anvil in Colovia the armada was set upon by the pirate captain Abelle Bystav, a minor noble turned privateer. The priest who led the refugees begged her mercy and invoked the name of her ancestor, Reman Cyrodiil. Seeing that the inhabitants of the fleet were nearly without food, let alone wealth, she chose to escort them to a port that might be safe. At Kings’ Haven in the Summerset Isles the floatilla begged the ruler of the city for asylum, but he refused and ordered mages to assault the ships with fire. Abelle rallied her charges, the refugees and pirates stormed the docks and killed the mages before charging into the city proper. The city had a skeleton crew of guards, with most them away closing Oblivion Gates, and was soon in the hands of Abelle. She found the city and the surrounding lands full of enslaved Khajiit, Argonians and Goblins, all of whom she freed. The ranks of the army of Abelle the Conqueror swelled and she seized the northeastern coast of the island, including the most holy Crystal Tower. The shame and horror felt by the Altmer at this desecration is difficult to describe in full. Although the Free Kingdom of King’s Rest was short lived, it would remain a symbol for isolationist Altmer for ages to come.  Torvic One-Eye and Valdimar the Mighty disagreed on the subject of Skyrim greatly, but that is not to say the two of them regarded each other as foes. Both were military men whose shared experiences in the Nibenay Crisis drew them together. Valdimar was offered the position of marshal for the kingdom shortly after returning home and the two men spoke at length about strategy and logistics.   The two were also in agreement when it came to apostasy. The period following the Crisis saw increased persecution of suspected daedra worshippers. The church found both Torvic and Valdimar to be willing partners in this.  Not a small number of those accused as daedra worshippers were Reachmen nobles, who the Nord nationalists viewed as a natural enemy to the project of a Kingdom of Skyrim. The Nords had considered the eastern Reach and its rich silver mines to be rightfully part of Skyrim ever since Emperor Reman Cyrodiil divided the region between Skyrim and High Rock in 1E 2704. But the native Reachmen, who continued to be the majority despite Nordic migration, were keen to have their own kingdom and were likely to demand such should a dual-kingdom system be set up between Skyrim and High Rock. The Ranalds of Markarth were especially worried about this possibility and spent a good deal of silver to minimize the power and influence of the Reachmen nobility. Valdimar, aligned with the Ranalds, was almost certainly aware of this.    The “liberation” of Skymarch was one such project. The small realm along the border with Hammerfell was inhabited by scattered tribes of Reachmen living in the foothills and valleys of the Druadach Mountains. These tribes had owed allegiance to the daedric general Kynreeve, who had been stranded in Tamriel with his invasion force since the end of the Nibenay Crisis. Valdimar and the Ranalds pressed the High King to invade the border realm, but in truth Torvic One-Eye needed little excuse to banish a daedra from Tamriel. The campaign was short, lasting only a year.   Rather than return to Balfiera after the conclusion of the war, Valdimar the Mighty insisted that the legion continue on to Glenmoril, the last independent Reachmen realm in Skyrim. When Torvic expressed reluctance to the idea Valdimar made threats of encouraging the legion, which was largely Nordic, to abandon their king and invade the province anyways. This led to a heated argument which lasted through the night, but by morning the two reluctantly came to an agreement. Valdimar would get his war, just as he wanted.   But Valdimar would have to support Torvic’s choice for its new ruler. When the war finished his son Jolippe was named Duke of Sunderstone, giving him an ally in the Reach. This avoided a potential conflict between the High King and the Champion of Tamriel, but it also broke with tradition. When Hrol the Eagle invaded the northern Reach he had been careful to respect the holy groves and temples of the Reachmen. When his son Leo the Bear conquered the rest of the Reach he had made it law that the rights of the Reachmen nobility were to be equal to those of the Nords and Bretons, regardless of their faith. Torvic was the first to strip nobles of their lands and justify it based on religion.   The two would quarrel again the following year, but this time for the opposite reason. In ancient times the small island of Olenveld had served as a trade port between Skyrim and Atmora and a large city had grown there. But Atmora’s climate worsened in time and the city was all but abandoned. The island in 2E 735 was inhabited by a half dozen small villages scattered along the coast, surviving by fishing, hunting and occasionally trading horker tusks and miniscule amounts of ebony to the rare trade ship. Why the daedra chose to open a portal in such a place may never be known, but the local Skaal surrendered immediately to commander Khefletak, whose daedra set up camp in the ruins of Olenveld City. Torvic’s desire to banish Khefletak from Olenveld was more out of principle than any real desire to control the land. The island lacked natural resources besides a single, thin vein of ebony and the cost of transporting the ore all the way to Skyrim made it almost not worthwhile for merchants. Valdimar opposed the plan out of concern for its impact on the native Skaal, who were viewed by many Nords as cultural cousins.    Valdimar blocked plans of invasion for two years, but was eventually won over by the arguments of Phelain, Governor of the Republic of Daggerfall. The daedra were cleansed from the ruins of Olenveld and Torvic’s nephew Calventius was placed in charge of the Skaal, who accepted their new ruler as easily as they had their last one.  In 2E 738 High King Torvic’s chosen heir Jolippe passed away, leaving only his unpopular son Ferou to inherit. Torvic likely would not have been able to sway enough dukes to support Ferou’s claim if not for Valdimar, who might very well have done so with the understanding that Ferou would support the creation of a Kingdom of Skyrim. If such plans did exist they came to nothing, as Valdimar died only shortly after he took the throne, greatly weakening the cause of Nordic nationalism.  But the cause would live on long after Valdimar. Nationalism was a common response to the aftermath of the Nibenay Crisis, as seen in Elsweyr, Black Marsh and Valenwood. The Bosmer of Valenwood by 741 were ruled by the ultraconservative King Tuundir of Falinesti, who proved his loyalty to the Green Pact by repeatedly eating enemy commanders. A descendant of the Camorans who first unified Valenwood at the start of the First Era, Tuundir’s loyal forces drove the Altmer out of the forests and slaughtered those colonists who had not fled.  In 2E 745 Torvic One-Eye passed away at the age of 77. His sometimes ally, sometimes foe Valdimar the Great would pass away only 2 years later. The complicated relationship between the houses of Renault and Njimal would continue after their deaths, however.
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Aug 26, 2019 17:07
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Mechanics and Lore Interlude 5: Becoming a god and...becoming a god  So we’re less than 100 years away from the birth of Tiber Septim in the original Second Era timeline and people are no doubt starting to wonder “can you do a Tiber Septim in Elder Kings?” and the answer is yes, yes you can mantle Lorkhan and become the Ninth Divine. But you’ll need to do a few things first, the road to godhood is not an easy one and a great many have failed trying. To become the Ninth Divine your character needs to have created the Empire of Tamriel during their reign and be a follower of the Eight Divines religion. To create the Empire of Tamriel a character must control 3 High Kingdoms (including Cyrodiil) and have some connection to the empire, such as owning the Amulet of Kings, being a Dragonborn or having the bloodline of Reman Cyrodiil. Becoming a God: The Six Walking Ways  Warning:What follows is my best guess of the Six Walking Ways given what I know of the lore and understand from the material available. The possibility of me being wrong is quite high. There are, according to Vivec, six ways of becoming a god. Given that Vivec was a mortal Dunmer who became a god, he’s as best an authority on this topic as we are liable to find. He states in his sixth lesson: ”Six are the formulas to heaven by violence, one that you have learned by studying these words. Six are the walking ways, from enigma to enemy to teacher.” - Lesson 6 Vivec says of the first way: ”Vivec looked at his first wheeling students and observed: 'Alike the egg-layered universe is this morbid possession of three-distant coverage, soul-wrecked and alive, like my name is alive. In this cloister you have discovered one walking path, hilled like a sword but more coarsened. So edged it is that it has to be whispered to keep the tongue from bleeding, where its signs evacuate their former meanings, like empires that tarry too long. “ [/i] - Lesson 20 Now my understanding of the lore is admittedly limited, but the idea of signs losing their former meaning and the reference to the universe as being layered sounds a lot like what is called CHIM. The universe is described as a wheel which, when observed from outside, can be viewed as a tower. It is possible that seeing the universe as it truly is and perceiving its true form grants a form of divinity. The second way is revealed by these passages: ”I give you an ancient road tempered by the second walking way. Your hands must be huge to wield any sword the size of an ancient road, and yet he who is of right stature may irritate the sun with only a stick.” - Lesson 23 As well as this one: ”dominated at the center by the sword, which is nothing without a victim to cleave unto. This is the love of God and he would show you more: predatory but at the same time instrumental to the will of critical harvest”Lesson 35 To me this sounds like the method by which Trinimac became Malacath (or, according to some stories, was usurped by Malacath). It might be possible for a particularly mighty mortal to defeat a god and take their place. Vivec says this of the third way: “The third walking path explores hysteria without fear. The efforts of madmen are a society of itself, but only if they are written. The wise may substitute one law for another, even into incoherence, and still say he is working within a method. This is true of speech and extends to all scripture” Lesson 27 The implication here is that the laws of reality can be rewritten (possibly through the use of the creation kit or the console in-game). In this 27th sermon Vivec begins by saying All language is based on meat. Do not let the sophists fool you. It is madness to claim things are one way when they clearly are not, but if your belief becomes the dominant truth among all the people, does it perhaps become the truth? Even if you are claiming to be a god? Perhaps this is how Orgnum obtained his immortality and possible godhood. Of the fourth way Vivec says very little, stating simply that: ”The sage who is not an anvil: a conventional sentence and nothing more. By which I mean dead, the fourth walking way.” Lesson 32 Thankfully we have the assistance of a post by Elder Scrolls writer Michael Kirkbride (who wrote the 36 Lessons of Vivec) on the official Bethesda forums which clears things up: Tiber Septim: "The Stormcrown mantled by way of the fourth: the steps of the dead. Mantling and incarnation are separate roads; do not mistake this. The latter is built from the cobbles of drawn-bone destiny. The former: walk like them until they must walk like you. This is the death children bring as the Sons of Hora." Tiber Septim mantled the absent god Lorkhan by imitating him. Just as Lorkhan saw to create a new reality Tiber Septim created a new empire. Just as Lorkhan’s spirit (Reman, Pelinal, etc…) walked the world performing great deeds with the blood of dragons so too did Tiber. Tiber imitated Lorkhan so well that Lorkhan began to imitate Tiber. If you played the Shivering Isle expansion for Oblivion you did this too, imitating Sheogorath until you became him. The fifth way, we are told, is the way of Love: “Late is the lover that comes to this by any other walking way than the fifth, which is the number of the limit of this world. The lover is the highest country and a series of beliefs. He is the sacred city bereft of a double. The uncultivated land of monsters is the rule. This is clearly attested by ANU and his double, which love knows never really happened.” - Lesson 35 I hope you like esotericism, because we need to talk a little bit about the meaning of Love in the philosophy of Thelema, the philosophy started by Aleister Crowley. Capital L Love in this philosophy is not about emotional or sexual relations or feelings, but about action. One who is moved by Love is one who acts as they would if they were completely unmotivated by the consequences of their actions. If you could truly live acting only because you would choose those actions, regardless of consequence, then perhaps you might find the fifth path. Finally we have the 6th path, of which Vivec says: “Each of the aspects of the ALMSIVI then rose up together, combining as one, and showed the world the sixth path. Ayem took from the star its fire, Seht took from it its mystery, and Vehk took from it its feet, which had been constructed before the gift of Molag Bal and destroyed in the manner of truth: by a great hammering. When the soul of the Dwemer could walk no more, they were removed from this world.” The sixth path is referred to in a lot of sources, which I won’t overload readers with, as that of “The Scarab that Transforms into the New Man”. The Dunmer of Morrowind have a view of reality which is different from that held by most Elves. It is not a gift to be enjoyed, as the Humans think, but it is also not a curse, as the Elves think of it. It is a hard testing ground where struggle can allow a mortal to become something more. Not just for a mortal to become a god, but to eventually escape the cycles of creation and destruction which even the gods have been unable to escape. It is said that Lorkhan tried to rise beyond this cycle and failed, but possibly he did so only so that others would learn from his failure and one day succeed. In summary we might say that the paths to godhood are: Godhood through true knowledge Godhood through conquest Godhood through rewriting Godhood through mantling Godhood through true action True liberty beyond godhood through struggle
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Aug 28, 2019 17:17
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Vivec's writings sound like he took a lot of acid then wrote it all down. Which, if my understanding is correct, is what happened to the guy who wrote the lore of the game.
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Aug 28, 2019 19:19
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Deadmeat5150 posted:Vivec's writings sound like he took a lot of acid then wrote it all down. Which, if my understanding is correct, is what happened to the guy who wrote the lore of the game. Shrooms. According to rumor, Todd Howard found Kirkbride passed out on his kitchen floor after he didn't show up to work for a few days.
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Aug 28, 2019 19:51
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wiegieman posted:Shrooms. According to rumor, Todd Howard found Kirkbride passed out on his kitchen floor after he didn't show up to work for a few days. I don't believe Todd Howard cares enough about storytelling or characters to check on him.
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Aug 28, 2019 20:18
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wiegieman posted:Shrooms. According to rumor, Todd Howard found Kirkbride passed out on his kitchen floor after he didn't show up to work for a few days. 
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Aug 28, 2019 20:31
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TES lore is amazing but it sounds like it's pretty spread out across the actual games?
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Aug 28, 2019 22:33
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PetraCore posted:TES lore is amazing but it sounds like it's pretty spread out across the actual games? Its scattered in bits and pieces absolutely goddamn everywhere, yeah.
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Aug 28, 2019 23:00
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PetraCore posted:TES lore is amazing but it sounds like it's pretty spread out across the actual games? The Elder Scrolls is weird because there's a sort of split or change that happens with Morrowind. Before Morrowind the lore was, to my understanding, not too dissimilar from any other "high fantasy" setting. Starting with Morrowind the setting became more distinct and unique. So you have all of this old stuff which has a set"flavor" and all the newer stuff which is more distinct (and distinctly weird). This is why in older games Orcs were just a race of monsters and in the later ones they are a playable race.
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Aug 28, 2019 23:19
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My favourite bit of random Elderscrolls lore is how one of the current Daedric Princes was created by a different, more poweful Daedric Prince when they defeated and then ate a less powerful one and shat out a different god when they were done. Those must have been some powerful 'shrooms.
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Aug 29, 2019 00:52
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Clayren posted:The Elder Scrolls is weird because there's a sort of split or change that happens with Morrowind. Before Morrowind the lore was, to my understanding, not too dissimilar from any other "high fantasy" setting. Starting with Morrowind the setting became more distinct and unique. So you have all of this old stuff which has a set"flavor" and all the newer stuff which is more distinct (and distinctly weird). This is why in older games Orcs were just a race of monsters and in the later ones they are a playable race. It got much more generic after Morrowind, too. Cyrodiil turned from a dangerous and wild jungle to the most generic fantasy setting you can think of.
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Aug 29, 2019 01:31
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Defiance Industries posted:I don't believe Todd Howard cares enough about storytelling or characters to check on him. Maybe so, but he does care if someone who draws a wage doesn't show up for work. Also, yes, Morrowind was peak exotic lore. Oblivion played it too safe.
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Aug 29, 2019 05:14
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Defiance Industries posted:It got much more generic after Morrowind, too. Cyrodiil turned from a dangerous and wild jungle to the most generic fantasy setting you can think of. There was an exodus of sorts at Bethesda after the original Morrowind had finished. Its two expansions, Tribunal and Bloodmoon, were made by the people who would then go on and finish the then-already-started Oblivion. Hence the discrepancies. Or utter bloody gently caress-ups. Your choice of semantics. 
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Aug 29, 2019 19:29
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Defiance Industries posted:It got much more generic after Morrowind, too. Cyrodiil turned from a dangerous and wild jungle to the most generic fantasy setting you can think of. My friend, have you READ the Commentaries on the Mysterium Xarxes? The world used to be ruled by crab/squid-people and there were 1999 oceans until the stars gave birth to Mehrunes Dagon in the core of Nirn to overthrow Molag Bal and his crab/squid-people worshipers, destroy the tower CHIM-EL GHARJYG and sink their weird continent Lyg to the bottom of the sea. With his old world destroyed, Molag Bal shed his crab/squid-person shell, which was found by a Chimer child. The child put the skin on, hoping to scare the people in his village, but instead became the Ruddy Man, father of all dreughs (spider/crab monsters). Vivec fought the Ruddy Man twice and after the second time had one of his devout worshipers sealed inside of it for eternal study and contemplation. The weird is there, you just got to look a little deeper sometimes.
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Aug 30, 2019 04:44
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Yeah and tribunal/bloodmoon are still plenty goddamn weird, although bloodmoon is a bit threadbare for what it would have cost at the time and tribunal means that you can't start a new game of Morrowind without quickly getting ganked by a loving dark brotherhood guy in short order.
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Aug 30, 2019 06:16
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My theory is that Morrwind started development before the Lord of the Rings movies became huge, and Oblivion wanted to be more Tolkienesque to grab some of those fans.
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Aug 30, 2019 13:31
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 Reigns of King Ferou I, Queen Lissette II and Baryctor I 19. The Dancer, the Poet and the Banker He’d known. The moment the note arrived at his dormitory, he’d known. Even before he opened it in and read the contents, even before he’d nervously knocked on the office door. Titus Maro had known for a whole weekend that he was screwed. Professor Glishca stood up from behind her desk and wordlessly gestured for him to sit. He saw his report sitting neatly on the table, unmarked, next to the very book from the archives he had plagiarized it from. By the Divines was Titus Maro ever screwed. He thought back, briefly, to his overbearing father and what he’d advise “when in doubt, be the aggressor in any discussion!” or something like that. Titus assured himself that he’d do just that, he’d be the first one to speak and take control of the discussion, just like Duke Varo would. The moment he sat down he’d open his mouth and explain that he knew why he was there and that he had realized after receiving her note that he had accidentally copied large sections of a book he had read many years ago, mistaking his memories of the text for his own thoughts. The words died in his mouth once he was looking at his professor face to face. Professor Saaginia Glishca was an elderly Argonian of nearly 8 feet in height, her skin was a moss-green and each finger was tipped with a slightly-curved claw. Her black eyes appeared alert, despite her advanced age and there was no mistaking the anger in her voice as she loomed over Titus. “Plagiarism. In the Imperial Academy. In MY class!” She held his gaze, waiting for an explanation. “Professor, please forgive me. I really screwed up, but I’m under a lot of pressure from my father and-” Saaginia raised a hand impatiently, cutting his explanation short. “Do not remind me of your father, I have taught at this academy for thirty years and have had better connected people than you expelled. Give me your promise that this is the last time I will have you in my office over this issue first, and then we can talk about possible repercussions.” Titus sat up a little straighter “Yes, of course. I swear by Julianos I will never do this again, you have my word. I’ll understand if you want me to drop out of your class or want me to retake it next semester instead, whatever you think is appropriate.” The professors mouth opened slightly, he could not tell if it was a slight grin or merely a display of her razor teeth. “I will give you one chance to show me you have the dedication to be a historian, fail this project and I will call for your expulsion, as is my right.” The Argonian pulled a slim leather-bound volume out from under her desk, the faded lettering read “The Dancer, the Poet and the Banker”. “This” she said with a note of sadism, “is a comedic play by the bard Ferrum Stieve, a little-known playwright who was widely panned by his contemporaries. His attempts at humor are somehow worse than his attempts at drama, and you will write me a report on its value as a source for the reigns of the three rulers of High Rock following the death of Torvic One-Eye. You have a week.”  The Dancer, the Poet and the Banker is a three act play by the bard Ferrum Stieve written in 2E 766 which covers the reigns of King Ferou the First, Queen Lisette the Second and King Baryctor the First. Each act is meant to highlight and poke fun at the events of the short reigns of one of the three monarchs. The first act, titled Dancer, covers the eight year rule of King Ferou.    The first act is divided into two parts, the setup and the punchline. The early scenes feature Ferou acting overly serious and pious to the point of foolishness. In one scene he goes to the temple to pray to the Divines to forgive him for lustful thoughts, but then has to run out because looking at a statue of Dibella gives him a comically large erection, which knocks over all the statues in the temple on his way out and pokes an initiate who is scrubbing the floor in the eye. This effect can be accomplished, we assured by the play notes, with a broomstick sawed in half. It is accurate to say that King Ferou was a seemingly pious man. There are accounts from the period of him secluding himself for days in prayer and he continued his fathers vigorous hunts for daedra-worshippers. There are not, however, any sources which indicate that he was any more amorous than the average man. Ferou sired no bastards and no accounts survive of any affairs.  Another scene establishing the serious and overly-pious nature of the king is a short conversation he has with a visitor from Alinor. The High Elf complains that his homeland had recently faced an invasion from a Sload, which prompts Ferou to inquire what that is. The elf explains that a Sload is a slug-like creature, to which the king responds, “If only you elves worshipped the proper Gods like us, then they would bless your ocean to be salty like our ocean here in High Rock, and the slugs would be unable to cross the ocean and bother you.” The short lived necromancer uprising in Alinor led by the Sload Gr’Ondo is a bit of a strange event to include in a play, perhaps Ferrum Stieve just had a Sload and salt joke he really wanted to shoehorn into the play. Nonetheless it is accurate, if seemingly without purpose in the play.     Having established the king as overly serious and pious, the first act gives way to the second. One day the king is informed that his subjects have become plagued with a disease which makes them dance without stopping. He goes into the city to berate them and demand they cease their silliness and return to work. He gets increasingly angry when they refuse to do so and he eventually slaps one of the peasants across the face. After this the king loses control of his hand and then his arm, waving it around in wacky ways. The rest of the play is him trying to hide the fact that he is suffering from the dancing plague. He delivers a long and boring speech on the virtues of self-control and temperance to his assembled knights, all while making ridiculous movements. In another scene he is hosting a feast in honor of St. Alessia and dances directly into the bosom of a well-endowed maid, at which point his broom handle erection re-appears. He runs offstage and the audience then hears a series of bangs and clattering and the initiate from earlier shout “Ouch! My other eye!”   The final scene is of the king on his deathbed. He is lying sick, still unable to prevent the spasms of his arms and legs. He gives a heartfelt speech on his faith in the Divines and their plans, which is juxtaposed with his increasingly silly movements. At last he gasps and the healer puts a hand to his neck before saying “he’s dead”. At which point the actor does one last quick spasm of silly movements before lying still. “NOW” declares the healer “he’s dead.” King Ferou almost certainly did not die from the Dancing Plague. It is true that an outbreak of Ergot poisoning occurred in 2E 751 in Balfiera and that the king contracted it. But Ergot poisoning is rarely fatal and certainly not long-lasting, so his death in 753 was probably attributable to some other illness, but no records exist which would indicate what it was.   The second act, the Poet, covers the short reign of Queen Lisette II, only living child of King Ferou. The act portrays the queen as a self indulgent poet who takes every opportunity to regale her court with her verse, which amuses nobody save her imbecile husband. There are really three types of jokes in this act: the queens bad poetry, the weight of princess Hela and the queens phobia for any object which is even vaguely phallic. It is true that Lisette was known to be a poet and a few of her poems survive to this day. None are especially bad, or even good for that matter. Princess Hela was a real person but whether or not she was particularly overweight is not a fact any historian bothered to write down. Queen Lisette only had a single child during her lifetime, whether or not this was because of a dislike for the male member is also not a topic chroniclers deigned to comment on.    After several scenes and as many truly awful poems, the courtiers conspire to kill the queen to save themselves from her rhymes. The architect of the plan is Princess Hela, the daughter of old King Hrol II, whose weight is a constant source of comedy throughout the second act. They pay the driver of Lisette’s carriage to send it over the edge of a cliff, past Princess Hela who is laughing by the side of the road at her queen’s fate. As the carriage rolls downhill towards its fate one of the queen’s guards throws a lasso around Hela, who acts as an anchor and prevents the carriage from going over the cliff. The hilarious implication here is that the princess is heavier than an entire carriage.     For this Hela is banished to Skyrim and the queen celebrates her survival with a banquet. After drinking from her cup she delivers what is arguably the worst line of the play: "Oh my yes, I feel especially delighted this evening! Perhaps it's time I recited my latest soliloquy. Ahem. The lady fair, our love is told. With hair as fine as soft-spun gold. Lips as red as a sun-drenched dawn, skin as soft as a newborn fawn. Eyes as blue as a cerulean sea...uhh...what... ...my heart...can't breathe...help me..." She promptly dies of poison and the court erupts in cheers. Her husband, confused, cheers as well and ends the act by saying “oh boy, are we cheering because somebody brought a cake?” It is true that Lisette was killed by a conspiracy of nobles by way of poison, although how she was poisoned is a matter of some debate. Possibly it was her wine or her food or even medicine she was given by her healer for her melancholy. Notably, Queen Lisette II was the last of the line of “Bear Kings”, or those descended from King Leo III. Her only son received no support from the dukes of the realm, who instead chose a descendant of Baroness Marelle of Irmgard, daughter of King Hrol the Eagle.   The third and, thankfully, final act covers the reign of King Baryctor I. Both Baryctor and his wife Darvala studied for a time under the Greybeards of High Hrothgar, so our bard Ferrum has them shout every line. That’s one of the big jokes of the third act, that they shout everything they say. Other jokes include that the king is a slob, the king is fat and most of all, the king is a greedy swindling banker. Personally I wonder if Ferrum just didn’t like monarchs. That both the king and queen could use the Thu’um is an established historical fact, although nobody who knows anything about the Thu’um would depict it as Ferrum did. If the king was fat or a slob there is no record that attests to these facts. On the other hand, Baryctor was famous for his charity and support of the poor during his reign, a fact at odds with the bard’s depiction.    King Baryctor was a member of the Mercantile Guild and did much to expand the taxation and banking infrastructure of High Rock, but we’ve no evidence that he was an especially dishonest or unfair lender.   Baryctor seems to have mostly assisted in establishing trade routes between Skyrim and High Rock and invested in new businesses in Balfiera. He also expanded the bureaucracy of the kingdom, especially the bureau of taxation, much to the protest of the traditional tax farmers of the realm, who saw their contracts begin to dry up under Baryctor.     The short reign of King Baryctor was seen by his contemporaries as a period of peace and prosperity. He may not have been as popular as Torvic One-Eye, Hrol the Eagle or Leo the Bear, but the people of High Rock mourned his death in 2E 764 and remembered him as a good king. Comedic plays about historical figures always exaggerate the characteristics of their subjects. This is necessary because real people are not amusing enough to fill out a full two hours of play. But the degree to which Ferrum Stieve invents character traits out of whole cloth for his subjects in The Dancer, the Poet and the Banker is extraordinary even for a comedy. The bard has a very blatant anti-monarchy bias and the fact that he was not arrested for this play can only be chalked up to the famously forgiving nature of High Queen Amarie I. Given that we have plenty of other sources from this period which are far more dependable I see no value in The Dancer, the Poet and the Banker as a source of historical information.
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Aug 30, 2019 15:23
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Three rulers in 20 years would definitely feel like a punishment to me if I were playing, yeesh.
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Aug 30, 2019 18:48
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That seems brutal. I hope we get another good one to make up for it.
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Aug 30, 2019 23:05
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Oof, I hate when this happens. Here's hoping the new High Queen doesn't crash and burn.
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Aug 31, 2019 02:50
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 Reign of Queen Amarie I 20. The Skyrim Civil War Few figures loom as large over the Late Interregnum as Bryling Njimal, Duchess of Skyborn. The daughter and heir of the Nord hero Valdimar the Great, she enjoyed widespread popularity among the Nords of Skyrim early in her reign. But her actions during the reigns of Queen Amarie I and King Aime I would forever tarnish the reputation of the duchess.   Duchess Bryling Njimal posted:
   Duchess Bryling Njimal posted:
  Duchess Bryling Njimal posted:
   Duchess Bryling Njimal posted:
  Duchess Bryling Njimal posted:
   Duchess Bryling Njimal posted:
 Duchess Bryling Njimal posted:
 Duchess Bryling Njimal posted:
 Duchess Bryling Njimal posted:
  Duchess Bryling Njimal posted:
 Duchess Bryling Njimal posted:
  Duchess Bryling Njimal posted:
   Duchess Bryling Njimal posted:
   Duchess Bryling Njimal posted:
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Sep 1, 2019 14:07
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Ah, Nords. 
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Sep 3, 2019 00:37
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Nords gonna Nord.
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Sep 3, 2019 15:36
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To be fair her dad literally saved the world. It'd be like if JFK went to hell and beat the devil in a one-on-one fight for the fate of the solar system. The Nords have a good reason to support her, even if she DID kill her own cousin and has an alcohol problem.
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Sep 3, 2019 22:35
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Clayren posted:To be fair her dad literally saved the world. It'd be like if JFK went to hell and beat the devil in a one-on-one fight for the fate of the solar system. The Nords have a good reason to support her, even if she DID kill her own cousin and has an alcohol problem. To Nords, an alcohol problem is when you can't find the alcohol.
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Sep 4, 2019 13:50
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Nords causing trouble during a time of weakness leading to other parties capitalizing on it? Why I never. Jokes aside I actually agree with their motivation. They're from a bloodline that has produced messiah grade peoples of greatness. Even if they weren't a nord they'd make a strong argument on being capable of leading just as well as house Renault.
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Sep 4, 2019 14:19
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Lion in Winter posted:Henry II:
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Sep 4, 2019 16:03
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 Reign of King Aime I 21. Emperor Zero Pamphlet posted:
   There is much confusion about the Cult of Emperor Zero among those outside of Colovia and the Imperial Legion, where his reverence is most common. Part of this is due to the many names by which his followers call him; he is known as Emperor Zero, the Stag King and the anticipation of Talos, among other things. While he was alive, however, he was known simply as High King Aime the First. It is important to make the distinction that Aime is NOT a god, nor is he worshipped as one. He is venerated as a saint for his virtues of discipline, preparation, generosity and honesty and viewed as a precursor to the first emperor, but he is NOT worshipped. His cult is maintained by priests of Talos in Colovia and by priests of the Nine in the Legion. High King Aime I took control of the Kingdom of High Rock in 2E 777, after his mother High Queen Amarie I stepped down due to stress and inclimate health. At 28 years of age, the new king was known far and wide as a generous and honest man who detested bootlickers and dishonest merchants. He was married shortly after his coronation to fair Antonia Bystav, a blood descendant of the Dragonborn Emperor Reman Cyrodiil, founder of the Second Empire. The beautiful Antonia was a faithful and pious woman, devoted to the Divines and the justice of Julianos. It was from her loins that the Empire was birthed.    After two years the marriage between the king and the blood of Reman bore fruit and Antonia showed signs of pregnancy. High King Aime had a great celebration thrown in thanks to the goddess Mara. Temperate and pious Antonia wore the robes of the mother goddess and asked the Divine to bless each maid who came before her, all present spoke highly of her conduct and nature.   In those months the astrologists and mystics tracked strange signs in the sky. In his months the sign of the Warrior appeared much brighter than normal, as did the Mage. The Thief, however, appeared dimmed and the planet Arkay was at times entirely invisible. On Nirn strange signs were also present. The sisters, aunts and nieces of the king who tended to Antonia reported at times hearing the sound of thunder, though the sky be clear and the Sun out. All of these things Antonia pondered, but she put her faith in Mara and the Divines.   In the month of Sun’s Dusk, as the last leaves fell, the queen gave birth to twins named Aurine and Tiberius. Both were born with loud voices and strong spirits and Antonia was afraid that they might quarrel in the future. She swore her midwife and physician to secrecy, that neither of them would ever reveal who was born first, lest the elder seek dominance or the younger seek rebellion.   One of the virtues of St. Aime is diligent preparation before action. In his early reign the High King studied the campaigns of Reman Cyrodiil and sought to prepare his legions for conflict. He expanded both the First and Second Legions to 5,000 heavy infantry, 3,000 skirmishers, 600 battlemages and 500 formally trained Legionary Knights.   High King Aime planned for war, for he knew the question of Skyrim remained from the rule of his mother. The Skyrim Civil War had ended in a white peace, with the upstart Bryling Njimal retaining her influence among the Nords. To end her threat to the realms peace he needed to diminish her influence in Skyrim and increase his own. The lands of Falkreath, long under the rule of Hammerfell, would do both of these things for him. The High King Salmaran was widely held to be a coward who would refuse to take the field of battle, which heartened Aime and his supporters. In the 783rd year of the Second Era the Kingdom of High Rock declared war on Hammerfell.   The king had planned this war for many years and knew Falkreath well. The land was rich in lumber, but poor in forage. Rather than see his men die of starvation or disease, Aime led his legions south to the rich cities of coastal Hammerfell. He led the First Legion “The Cyclopes”, while the dragonblooded Bryling led the Second Legion “The Call of the North”. The kinslayer Bryling had been the commander of the Second prior to her rebellion and had resumed command as part of the white peace with Queen Amarie I and Aime did not remove her from command for fear of causing an uproar among the Nords. Rather, he sought to keep the Second far from Skyrim during the war, so that Bryling’s fame among the Nords would not be increased.   Within a year the city of Lainlyn had fallen to High Rock forces, with only minor forces from Hammerfell trying and failing to resist King Aime. The Redguards were seemingly focused on central Skyrim, where they took a handful of holdings. This region was the heart of Duchess Bryling’s support and the king was not greatly concerned with damage done here by the Redguards.    The landing at and subsequent capture of Solitude, however, was cause for alarm. The republic was a key port and ally in Skyrim and Aime could not allow it to be held by Hammerfell for long. The merchant and fishing ships of High Rock were seized by the crown to form a transport fleet large enough to carry the First Legion. The High King departed for Skyrim in midwinter, while the Second Legion continued on along the coast of Hammerfell. Aime did not travel alone, but was joined by his favored son Tiberius, who he sought to teach the ways of war.   But the army was led by the cowardly High King Salmaran, who led his men south and west at the first sight of Aime’s fleet. The year 787 was spent retaking Solitude and the surrounding lands, before marching south and capturing Falkreath.    Among the ranks of the Redguard nobility the decision by their high king to avoid a direct battle with High King Aime had caused great bitterness. They grumbled that their king was weak and cowardly and made threats to return home. In this way Salmaran was forced to challenge Aime’s capture of Falkreath and march over the Druadach mountains in the early months of 2E 788. Legionary scouts camped at Bannermist watchtower spotted the Redguards on the march early in the morning, before the Sun had crested the ridge. The Legion camp was well built, however, and the High Rock army was in position to defend itself well before the Redguards could fall upon them. The Hammerfell army was built for ambushes and raids, with plenty of light infantry and cavalry. The exchange of missiles went well for the Bretons, whose mages hurled sharp huks of ice upon the Redguards. When the frontlines met the infantry were even in number, but the attacking side held the cavalry advantage and charged into the ranks of Breton battlemages, who took many casualties. King Aime rode into his infantrymen and rallied some of them to pull back from the front and take care of the cavalry. When the cavalry were chased off the infantry returned to the frontline fight, which by now was going against the Redguards. A call for retreat was sounded by High King Salmaran and the bloody Battle of Bannermist ended in a victory for High Rock, although the casualties were nearly equal on both sides.    Aime pursued the retreating Redguards into Craglorn, but was forced to besiege holdings as his supply lines could not otherwise extend through the rough region. Salmaran fled north through the mountains and re-emerged in the eastern Reach. When he heard the news of this High King Aime set out to fight Salmaran once more and put an end to the conflict.  The Nord Bryling continued to lead the Second Legion during this time, capturing key cities like Sentinel. These victories helped the war, but did little to bring fame or glory to the ambitious Bryling and she resented this.     At Skyhammer in 788 the forces of King Aime at last caught up with those of the High King of Hammerfell. Outnumbered, the Redguards fell before the disciplined First Legion and fled after their king sustained serious injuries when his horse fell to an arrow. With the Iliac Bay coast occupied by the Second Legion, Falkreath occupied by the First and his army in disarray the High King of Hammerfell at last agreed to terms of surrender.    Hammerfell withdrew from Falkreath, which it had ruled for hundreds of years. Aime installed his brothers Tristard and Corrick in the region, increasing the number of Jarls in Skyrim loyal to him and his dynasty. His victories in the war also increased his fame among the Nords, who appreciated him regaining a region regarded by many as rightfully part of Skyrim.  Young Prince Tiberius, who had followed his father on the campaign, was greatly beloved by the soldiers of the First Legion and learned much from them during this war. The experience would serve him well.     In Balfiera a great celebration was held and many tournaments fought. The king fell sick shortly thereafter, however, and could not return to his war room for some time.      In 2E 792 Prince Tiberius was formally introduced to the lords of High Rock. His tact and cleverness impressed many, who spoke highly of the future king. Princess Aurine was likewise introduced alongside her twin brother and the depth of her knowledge at so young an age was noted by some.  When the two came of age in 796 they were already extraordinary talents who seemed destined for great things.  But none living then could have imagined how great, not even when the sky rumbled and the Greybeards called the name of Tiberius Renault.
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Sep 5, 2019 00:37
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Oh my God, it's happening?
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Sep 5, 2019 08:29
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Oh well gently caress me and my dragonborn husbandry suggestions I guess
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Sep 5, 2019 22:42
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