#Bothela

[libartz]

[sheirukitriesfandom]

TES GILF Poll Round 1

We've had Sexymen, we may be getting sexywomen soon, so how about crowning the Elder Scrolls' No. 1 GILF?

Many thanks to @elavoria for providing me with a large variety of Morrowind and Oblivion elderly to choose from. All characters are chosen at their oldest age.

[nvoc]

[nothfeatherfinger]

I’m doing these for Noth as a sort of introduction to the character…

Morning Star - What was the first thing you gave your OC? Name, backstory, design, etc The first thing that I gave him was his freakishly tall height. Growing up as a male in a Bosmer society and being a tall is weird and it only makes him feel more conspicuously Altmerish and his height and that self consciousness about it was the first thing I conceptualized about him.

Sun's Dawn - Does your OC have a love interest? What is their relationship like? Not at present. It's a touchy subject for him.

First Seed - Does your OC have any enemies or rivals? How did these rivalries start? The Thalmor, which started when they uh, arrested him in Valenwood and then shipped him off to BFE Haafingaar to get tortured for months. There's also the rival Bosmeri tribe who warred with the one he had settled with and killed members of his found family, but those are behind him now.

Rain's Hand - Can your OC use magic? If so what Schools? He’s got a little bit of innate destruction magic in there courtesy of his Altmer father, but it really only explodes out of him when he really loses his temper. Which isn't often. If he focused and trained it up, it could probably be useful, but since he associates it with his father, he has no interest really in doing that.

Second Seed - Is your OC an alchemist? What do they excel at making? Ironically considering he's a Bosmer, he does like dabbling in alchemy. But he only uses ingredients that would be pact approved, so like... butterfly wings, bear claws, stuff like that. It's actually a fun challenge crafting potions using ingredients that aren't flowers or flora. He's not a master or anything, but he'll nosh and blend when he's got some free time.

Mid Year - Does your OC have a favourite celebration? Do they celebrate holidays? Noth enjoys a good wedding since weddings are always a good time in Bosmeri culture. He's also a fan of the Jester's Festival -- one, because people are taking the piss out of rulers and that's always amusing to him. And two, since it's generally a bit chaotic and it's a good time to make some money the good old fashioned way -- by stealing it off of people.

Sun's Height - What is your OC's favourite shop, in any of the games; what do they buy the most of? Unpopular opinion, but Noth actually likes Belethor, the little sleazebag. He wants to enjoy the Drunken Huntsman because Gore is right, there's no bard! Alas, Elrindir will not shut up about a fellow Bosmer being in the store, so it's probably a good thing he fletches his own bone arrows. Anyway, he also likes Bothela in Markarth -- mostly because, again, she takes the piss out of the jarl's steward by ratting out his ED. And he likes Keerava in the Bee and Barb. He just respects her brusqueness. As for who he buys the most off of, it's honestly the khajiit. It's a familiarity thing for him, having spent so much time in Reaper's March. Plus, they usually have better variety.

Last Seed - What weapon does your OC use? Who taught them how to use it? Like any self-respecting Bosmer, he's a bow man. He keeps a hunting knife at his hip for skinning and butchering kills, but for taking down enemies, it's his bow. Combat ranger 4 lyfe. His mom was his primary teacher, but he also picked up techniques from tribal Bosmer he met during his travels through Valenwood after she died.

Hearthfire - Does your OC have a family (blood or found)? Who are they closest to? No blood family left to speak of. Mom was killed in the line of duty, and his Thalmor father is also dead, to his knowledge. Unusually for a Bosmer, he never had any siblings. He does have some Khajiiti found family in Reaper's March that he spent a lot of time with as a child, and a tribe of Bosmer deep in the Valenwood that he grew close to and spent a significant amount of time with. He can't return to them though, so really those Khajiit in Reaper's March are it for him.

Frost Fall - Where is your OC's primary residence? What city is there favourite? He doesn't have one. He prefers camping around Lake Ilinalta though. Lots of game in the woods, a lake full of fish, fresh water for bathing and drinking. As for favorite cities, Falkreath and Riften for the trees and the warmth, and Dawnstar for the sunrises and sunsets.

Sun's Dusk - Is your OC religious? If so, who do they follow? More so in his adult life than he was in his youth. He adheres more staunchly to the Green Pact now having spent time with the native deepwood Bosmer tribe he more or less joined after his mother was killed and he set out on his own. He's a follower of Y'ffre, but there's also a little bit of Trinimac/Malacath in there for the vengeance aspect.

Evening Star - When is your OC's birthday? 12th of Second Seed, 4E 162.

Elder Scrolls Month Asks

Here are some months themed asks for your OCs :)

Morning Star - What was the first thing you gave your OC? Name, backstory, design, etc

Sun's Dawn - Does your OC have a love interest? What is their relationship like?

First Seed - Does your OC have any enemies or rivals? How did these rivalries start?

Rain's Hand - Can your OC use magic? If so what Schools?

Second Seed - Is your OC an alchemist? What do they excel at making?

Mid Year - Does your OC have a favourite celebration? Do they celebrate holidays?

Sun's Height - What is your OC's favourite shop, in any of the games; what do they buy the most of?

Last Seed - What weapon does your OC use? Who taught them how to use it?

Hearthfire - Does your OC have a family (blood or found)? Who are they closest to?

Frost Fall - Where is your OC's primary residence? What city is there favourite?

Sun's Dusk - Is your OC religious? If so, who do they follow?

Evening Star - When is your OC's birthday?

[elavoria]

tesinktober2021 prompt 20: alchemist

Bothela, owner of the Hag’s Cure in Markarth. Such a cool lady. ^^

[clavicuss-vile]

PT.2 on the more ocs talk because of course i need more;;;

Got a new reachfolk girl! Her full name rn is Marihøne "ladybird" Áine, she hasn't gotten her third name yet because she's still pretty young and hasn't achieved it.

Her parents were killed during Ulfric's attack of Markarth, so she was taken in by Eola

They're not blood-related but Mari calls her auntie

By other people, she's called:

- Eola = Áine (bc they're both reachfolk)

- Bothela = Marihøne (even though Bothela is a reachwoman, she doesn't want to influence Mari to go and join the Forsworn; she's already lost her grandson that way)

- Muiri = Ladybird (Ladybird is the translation of her snowname, Marihøne)

She works part time at the Hag's Cure with Bothela and Muiri, they both dote on her a lot. Bothela teaches her a lot of poisons, her and Muiri experiment with other potions together

She's a little Namira worshipper :))

She has a pet millipede and a toad that she loves very much

Kin'aru is a little bit terrified of her. shes like a little gremlin that appears every now and then when he's visiting the Hag's Cure

Anaelle ADORES her. Bothela doesn't particularly like Anaelle being around too often purely because she's worried about her joining the Forsworn to be like Anaelle --- she understands what the Forsworn are trying to do, but she thinks they're wasting too many lives trying to rebuild the past.

[reachfolk]

Sorry but Borkul the Beast? 👀 i need more information! and Bothela!! I love her so! Does that mean Lexi knows Muiri?

OOOHH BESTIE U CANT JUST ASK ME THAT, i will go on about it for ages!! i have SO much to say about alexi's childhood in markarth and some pretty detailed notes on her relationship with a lot of the residents of the city, ESPECIALLY bothela who's like her #1 role model and one of the most positive influences in her life. this is my (failed) attempt to keep my ramblings short.

so when it comes to borkul the beast, i actually have a long ass fanfic in the works explaining the details of how they met, but the gist is: her uncles (thonar and thongvor silver-blood) have always wanted to get rid of their eldest brother/alexandria's father and his whole side of the family because of his marriage to a reachwoman. alexi pretty much spent her entire life with a target on her back, and a complex set of circumstances basically ended up landing her and her siblings in jail when she was 17 and robin & marceline were only 12 years old. it was there that she met all the cidhna mine prisoners, and it took a while but they eventually got on everyone's good side. borkul was the hardest to convince, but when lex threw up a fire cloak spell and tackled him to the ground because he was scaring her siblings, she earned his respect lol. he ended up insisting to teach her how to throw a proper punch. this is the promo for the fic btw:

as for bothela,, oh my god i love her. she and alexi's aunt from her mother's side, ursula dain, are an old lesbian power couple. they took on alexi as an apprentice, with bothela teaching her alchemy and ursula teaching her magic. & alchemy is such a core part of lexi as a character; it shapes the way she looks at the world and is why she has such a strong connection to namira. the fact that even the most repulsive things, including bugs, flesh, blood, and organs can be used for alchemy makes her inherently drawn to namira's sphere of all things gross as shit lol. but that's a whole post on its own!! the point is that all of this is largely thanks to bothela's teachings. alexi wouldn't be the same person at all if not for her. i have a lot of headcanons about how she is as a teacher and tons of little stories of her interactions with lex!!

as for muiri !! the light of my life <3 i hc that she's a little younger than lexi and only hired as an apprentice after alexi left home. when she does finally visit bothela again (disguised so as to not alert the guards), she's already an expert alchemist, and muiri only recently started. alexi makes a joke about how, "bothela, i can't believe you'd replace me like this!!" but she's super sweet to muiri. they kinda have that dynamic of "alumnus that graduated with straight A's and the struggling freshman they help out." when muiri is having trouble remembering what different ingredients do or how to make a certain potion, lex happily offers to give her the old notebooks she filled when she was just starting and gives her all sorts of tips. bothela is a very harsh teacher, but alexi assures her that she's only that harsh with people she sees potential in. they definitely would exchange letters every now and then!!

[valen-dreth]

oops!!  all markarth!

[blazingsai]

Never Leave Regrets [6]: Pushing Forward

-PART ONE-

HAS CAPTIONS

A story after Flame-Child’s “Happily Ever After” that never was. Join Niyleen and Lucari as they exit their honeymoon phase, and have to tackle all that life places before them.

Occurs two days after the events of NLR:5.

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6

[amendozu]

"He's asleep," Bothela sneaks into the room, careful not to make any noise that might rouse the sleeping child as she sits down across from Madanach. "Only after what felt like a dozen different stories to settle him down."

Madanach had brought the young boy to the Hag's Cure in the hopes that Bothela had some sort of treatment for his injury. She did, of course, and she treated him free of charge. One of her best qualities was her unwavering sense of humanity, though it was not obvious upon first meeting her.

"Eola madan, fridane," Madanach says. His Reachspeak is nothing short of beautiful to listen to. Carrying that boy across the entire city to her had exhausted him after an already exhausting day, and still he chose to converse in their ancestral tongue. Even sitting in her parlour, disheveled and weary, Madanach has an air of greatness about him. Bothela might have even considered marrying him, had the circumstances allowed it.

"I truly do appreciate you opening your doors for me. I hate to think what would have happened to him if I hadn't found him," he continues in their language.

"Don't thank me, Madanach," Bothela says, in Reachspeak rustier than Madanach's, but still quite fluent, as she hands him a cup of mountainflower tea. "You know you can always come to me for things such as this."

Madanach smiles and drinks the tea. "Oh, Bothela. The look in his eyes when he asked if we were going to the Temple..." He gazes into the fire, a hundred emotions flickering across his eyes.

"I know," she extends her hand and meets Madanach's own, "I know, cairin."

"I saw him, sitting in that alley, alone and helpless, and I saw the face of every brother and sister, every child of the Reach who has suffered like us. Every one of us who has lost something to these... these thieves."

Bothela does not respond at first. Madanach, who carries himself with such purpose, whose destiny is fraught with great and terrible responsibility, looks as if he is about to weep for this boy. The boy he carried on his back to a shady apothecary, in the hopes that he would get the help he needed. She tries to come up with words to soothe his troubled mind, but she comes up with nothing. Instead, Bothela moves to sit next to him, and rests her head on his shoulder. Madanach, luckless son of the Reach, closes his eyes to drift off into a dream.

"Bothela," he says. "Mark my words. There will come a time when boys like him will lay claim to our home yet again." Madanach's voice, the voice of a king, grows soft as he succumbs to sleep.

"Madanach," Bothela responds. "There will come a time when you wear a crown on your head and lead our people to peace." Her voice soothes Madanach into a calm sleep. "For now, you and young Weylin must rest."

Madanach, Bothela, and Weylin sleep soundly that night.

[inquisition-dragonborn]

Summary: History has recorded that the Dwemer disappeared under mysterious circumstances many millennia ago. They were a resourceful people possessing wonderous technology, knowledge, and wealth, but at the pinnacle of their mastery over their world, they vanished entirely. Or did they?

This is the tale of the last Dwemer who awakens to find themselves in a far different world than they left.

Chapter Excerpt:

“What have you done?”

I looked up sharply from the book Calcelmo had given me to read, with a little flush of guilt. “Nothing. I was just—” I glanced at the book with all my little gleefully malicious annotations, closing it with the still-wet pen between the pages, “making some notes.”

“No, not that,” Aicanter said with an agitated wave of his hand.

“Then I don’t know what you are referring to.”

“Ondolemar! He’s been pressuring uncle to have him petition the college to allow you to stay longer.”

“What?” The book slid unheeded by both of us to the floor with a thump.

“He doesn’t normally have much patience for uncle but for the last couple of days, he’s been visiting on a daily basis. Asking questions. About you." He frowned suddenly as he considered me anew. “What did you do? Ondolemar said that he caught you conspiring with heretics and he had confiscated stolen property from you.”

“That’s a lie. If anything is stolen, he is the one that stole it! From me!”

“So you were conspiring with the rebels?”

“No! You know I went to see Bothela? When I left her shop, there was some commotion on the stairs above—”

“Ah, yes. Brother Verulus had mentioned that something—or someone—was eating the dead.”

My stomach lurched at his words. “What!” I shook my head to clear the distraction; I didn’t want to examine that revelation too closely. “I didn’t want to get caught in the middle of whatever was going on so I went the other way. I got lost. All the stairs and corridors looked the same in the dark.

“When I quite literally ran into Ondolemar, I had just come through the corridor that apparently shared the same location as the temple entrance. It was coincidence!”

He massaged his temples then ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh, “well it’s all a ruse, anyway.”

“It’s bull— what?” I frowned in confusion.

“It’s a ruse. Today, I overheard him order uncle to inform the college that you’d be staying on for a few more weeks to assist with his research, but it was because he needed more time for an authorization from the First Emissary.”

“For what?”

“He wants to detain you. Officially.”

Continue reading on Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22816252/chapters/78724267 Or start at the beginning: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22816252/chapters/54525910

[nostalgic-breton-girl]

skyrim alchemist appreciation post

as a dabbling alchemist myself, i find myself befriending my fellows pretty quickly. well, most of them. all of these may be relatively minor characters in the general scheme of things, but i feel like we ought to give them all credit where it’s due - for being more important than previously assumed, for being a surprisingly interesting character, or simply for being extremely nice

LAMI - Thaumaturgist’s Hut, Morthal

Lami downplays her abilities, evidently. She’s one of the trainers for alchemy, and is mentioned favourably by Milore Ienth as a fine tutor in the magical science. But the whole business of experimentation by trial and error is alchemy at its best, and a sure-fire way of winning me over. That’s how I tend to go about stuff as well.

ANGELINE MORRARD - Angeline’s Aromatics, Solitude

Gods she’s so sweet. The whole thing with her daughter makes my heart absolutely break for her. Nobody deserves that, but especially not this lovely woman. True grandmother material

ELGRIM - Elgrim’s Elixirs, Riften

Hmm. Elgrim’s not the most likeable person, certainly. But he does embody the eccentric mage-type who cares more about discovery than about morals. Actually, of all the people on this list, he’s the one I like the least, simply because of how he treats his wife. Is he secretly having it off with Ingun? I wouldn’t put it past him. It fits the Riften aesthetic, if nothing else.

INGUN BLACK-BRIAR - Elgrim’s Elixirs, Riften

I’m not going to deny that Ingun is frankly disturbing. Her fascination with death goes... well, somewhat beyond the acceptable. But after the rest of her thrice-damned family, frankly, she’s a surprising breath of fresh air. She’s actually kinda nice, for one thing. No wonder her family don’t want much to do with her.  

ARCADIA - Arcadia’s Cauldron, Whiterun

She was one of my very first friends in Skyrim. She’s so lovely. I’m not sure how to interpret the business with the frost salts, but I definitely ship her and Farengar. They’d be the most lovely quiet nerdy mage couple and I want to see it

BOTHELA - Hag’s Cure, Markarth

A very interesting character, it must be said, with a tragic backstory that is but hinted at, while she keeps an outside appearance of the traditional ‘hag’ that you might expect from the shop name. So much potential, and she has to spend her days mixing up Viagra for the old guys up at court. At least she has a sense of humour.

NURELION - White Phial, Windhelm

Honestly worse than Elgrim, at least Elgrim is nice to his assistant. But despite everything he’s strangely endearing. Or at least, the Nurelion/Quintus dynamic is. It's satisfying to help him fulfil his dream. Even if your first attempt makes him shout at you, and reveal himself to be more stingy than the great miser Neloth himself.

QUINTUS NAVALE - White Phial, Windhelm

Such a nice sweet person who doesn’t deserve to be shouted at by Nurelion. He and Talvas Fathyron should start some kind of support group for nervous mistreated mage apprentices. But in all seriousness, I really like Quintus. His devotion to his master is strangely adorable, he’s very earnest, and he’s quite evidently much better at alchemy than he lets on. He just needs to believe in himself a bit.

ELYNEA MOTHREN - Tel Mithryn

At this point, she’s pretty much holding Tel Mithryn together. I may have done all the legwork, but ultimately it was her who repaired the tower. But does Neloth give her any credit? Does he hell! She may seem a little grumpy at first, but that’s understandable, and ultimately she’s super nice and I love her. Her backstory is also very interesting and a little tragic. She deserves a hug and I think we all owe one to her.

MILORE IENTH - Raven Rock

Quite the adventurer, it must be said. Scattered comments imply that before she sent you in search of netch jelly, she went hunting netches herself, with almost tragic consequences; add to that the fact that she’s travelled Skyrim, and you have quite the character. A fine alchemist and a super nice person to boot. You couldn’t ask for a better friend in Raven Rock.

AVRUSA SARETHI - Sarethi Farm, The Rift

Now there’s a character who’s seen a lot. Presumably one of the oldest characters in the game, she knew none other than our friend Sinderion, and continued his work admirably. The nirnroot quest falls a bit flat but that doesn’t stop her from being an endearing and fascinating character.

FRIDA - The Mortar and Pestle, Dawnstar

What an absolutely adorable woman she is. I would have loved to have seen her back when her husband was alive, they must have been the best little couple. It was the least I could do to complete her quest, I felt absolutely obliged to, and making her happy was quite the best thing. 

ZARIA - Grave Concoctions, Falkreath

Zaria is a bit like what would happen if Ingun had a few more morals. Amiable with a morbid sense of humour, she is right to claim that Falkreath suits her down to the ground. Or six feet under it, one of those.

----------

[morihaus]

⚡️ cuan!!!

1. i’ve said this before but cuan’s family are close followers of peryite, which in my mind sorta makes them physicians, knowing what causes what diseases, what ways are best to treat them, etc. i’ve imagined cuan making deliveries to bothela at the hag’s cure :) which may or may not be an excuse to snoop around and get into trouble

2. at certain points he will assume the role of bretic nobility as a disguise- mostly for the embassy quest but at other times too bc a reachfolk, a falmer, and a giant are a conspicuous group of people. he assumes the persona of Theobold Montclair which was custom made to sound stupid, peyzae pretends to be his blind court wizard elf and hjulde is just his giant bodyguard

3. cuan believes in the legend of red eagle and is pretty sure he’s gonna come back from the dead to lead his people once they liberate the reach- as a result he is Very against people trying to like, follow the legend just to plunder his tomb and probably has to dispatch a few people like that. i think he tracks down the magic sword for himself just so other people can’t get it

4. atm i have it so that he’s already up to eventful shit even before the main questline begins. like, the forsworn conspiracy stuff happens a good month or two before helgen does, and this dragonborn thing drops into his lap in the middle of the guerilla war for the reach. i think dragons might have to become a personal problem before he even pursues it- peyzae or hjulde had to kind of nudge him into following his, ugh, DESTINY as the chosen one or whatever.

5. in case it has been lost to the ether (or my oc page) cuan is a translesbian :) he chose the name cuan bc wolves are cool

[dovahtomes]

He said something about Bothela claiming to sell a love potion. 

Cruel joke, dude.

[thewispmother]

4.16.19
“I have potions for disease, love sickness, irritating children…” -Bothela, Hag’s Cure

[reachfolk]

1, 15, and 17 for both your oc's 😊

tysm for the ask sweetie!! it was so fun to write ♥ oh and fyi, bothela is actually a vanilla npc, she's just not a major one. she runs the hag's cure in markarth. ursula is my reachwoman oc (the auntie of my main girl, alexandria) and bothela's wife.

what’s their love language?

quality time is their shared one! they literally are always together. they work together and spend all their free time together. they look after muiri and train her together, even though it ends with them bickering over the right way to work with a certain ingredient. they also used to train alexandria when she was still in markarth. a lot of the community work they do (usually helping the people in the warrens), they do together. but bothela is also very much an acts of service person and tries to make her partner's life easier however she can. ursula, on the other hand, loves physical touch!! she loves kissing bothela's hands especially, bc they're very scarred from the years of working with alchemical tools and she just thinks it's amazing how much good she's done with those hands. it's very mushy, and bothela will act like she hates it every time, and then ursula whines like, "why can't you be more romantic!! you're breaking my heart!!" these women have been together for over 30 years i can't stand them.

who’s the first one up in a morning?

the old ladies would make their apprentice muiri open the shop lmao, but i think they both wake up around the same time. over the decades they've spent together they kinda ended up sticking to the same schedule and got used to waking up and going to bed around the same time. like if one of them isn't in bed, the other can't sleep because they got so used to falling asleep together. they're just very synced. but if one of them does wake up earlier, it's usually bothela. she'd let ursula rest, make her some breakfast, and take care of the shop until she gets up. then she'd give ursula shit for sleeping in as if she didn't 100% let her lmao.

who is the better singer?

they both insist it's them, and they'd force their nieces and nephews to vote lmao. it's ridiculous. but fr, they're pretty average, but it's mostly ursula that sings around the shop. bothela likes to focus really hard on what she's doing, so her wife's singing is a really pleasant background music to her. it makes the place feel alive, yk? ursula will usually end up singing old cheesy love songs and impromptu serenades her wife, taking her away from her work and spinning her around in circles to dance. bothela tells her to stay on track but she couldn't wipe the smile from her face if she tried.