#Parts for Summerset

[mannimarcoiscool]

☁️ Elenwe of Cloudrest ☁️

[whispers-of-masser]

Dragon's Tongue

✧ Nebarra x human!LDB, ft. Xelzaz & Khash ✧ Fluff, minor angst; 1300+ words ♫ "You And I (Stripped)" - PVRIS ✒ Something short n sweet today, I'm feeling soft

Nebarra was loath to admit it to himself, and he'd die before ever saying it aloud, but the Rift really was beautiful. Nothing compared to Alinor, to be sure, but... all the gold reminded him of home. And when he passed by a small, isolated farm, he could almost see himself on its porch, see his brother leaning against the door.

The illusions were younger, happier versions of themselves. So much more innocent, faces bright with naivety, eyes shining with plans for the future.

And then he'd gone to war.

He'd lost... so much of himself, in the deserts of Hammerfell. They had scorched and burned him inside and out, slowly bleeding him dry with every comrade he saw fall. And all that, for what? For all the Altmer's supposed superiority, the campaign had failed on all fronts – Hammerfell's walls and people defied them, and Cyrodiil remained in power, weakened but still unbroken.

How could the Thalmor still strut about, arrogant to Aetherius and back, when they had failed so miserably? How could they look at the faces of the families whose children and lovers they'd sent to die and only tell them they'd "served their purpose"?

Nebarra couldn't.

He couldn't face them at all. Not even through pen and paper, leagues away from ever having to look them in the eyes, ever having to see the pain and loss in their gaze.

Where the Thalmor were heartless, he was a coward.

And he didn't know which was worse.

~~~

Night fell, and you called the group to halt, to make camp until dawn. Nebarra set up the tent as you argued with Xelzaz, trying to convince him that no, he shouldn't summon a flame atronach and then kill it for its fire salts, no matter how good it would make dinner taste. Khash merely looked on, muching on some clover she'd picked up somewhere.

At last though, you got Xelzaz to relent, though he asked you to gather some herbs in exchange, listing off the plants he wanted you to find.

"Ah... and take Nebarra with you."

The elf froze. Turned slowly towards the lizard. Demanded, "What? Why?"

"Two eyes are better than one," he shrugged, "and that much safer, as well. We don't know what's out there, and I'm pretty sure we passed a necromantic altar on our way here."

At that, you groaned, head rolling back like a teenager who'd just been told to do their chores. "Gods, not another one. Why do we always seem to run into those?"

"Luck of the Dragonborn? Anyway, off with you now – I have to get set up. Let's see, in whose pack did I leave my cooking pot...? Khash! Come help me with this!"

And just like that he walked off, leaving you and Nebarra alone by the campfire. A chuckle escaped you, and he glanced over to see you shaking your head. "I'm surprised he didn't tell us to hold hands, too, so we don't lose each other in the dark."

"Yeah, I'm not holding your hand," Nebarra snarked. And it was true. Absolutely true. Totally, one-hundred percent true.

"Oh wow, Nebs, that one almost hurt." Your soft laugh seemed to echo in his ears, his mind. "Come on, let's go – I don't suppose you heard any of the plants he wants?"

Blue and yellow mountain flowers, to restore and fortify. Purple for rejuvenation, and to give to Khash. Scaly pholiota for fiber and strengthening. Wild gourds and dragon's togue for flavour.

He snorted from behind his helm. "That would require paying attention to him."

"Should have known," you sighed. "Alright, listen up before I forget: blue, yellow, and purple mountain flowers, scaly pholiota, and dragon's tongue. And be careful with the purple mountain flowers, they're gifts for Khash. Oh, he also wants some wild gourds. Got it?"

"...Yeah, yeah. Let's just get going."

He definitely hadn't feigned ignorance just to hear your voice some more. Definitely not.

~~~

"Ah, back at last! Perfect," Xelzaz said, stirring something in a pot over the fire. "Now I can get the real meal started."

"Then what's this?" Nebarra demanded as Xelzaz handed him a bowl, in exchange for the plants the Altmer carried. Even through his gauntlets he could feel its warmth, and a rich, savory scent drifted up through the slits of his helmet.

"Something amazing, from the smell," you sighed, and Nebarra didn't have to look to know you were drooling.

"Just a little sometime to hold you over," the Argonian demurred, handing you a bowl as well. "Thought I'd experiment with some of the flora I've gathered thus far."

That gave Nebarra pause. "Wait – experiment? That's settled, I'm not eating this."

"If you don't want it–"

Your words were drowned out by Khash's eager shout of, "I'll eat it! I'll take your bowl!" She rushed over to him, red eyes trained on the food.

"Khash, you had your share," Xelzaz chided. "Any more and you won't have room for the rest of dinner."

"Yes, I will! I have room for anything you make."

"She's got a point," you laughed, and Nebarra slowly, wordlessly handed her the bowl.

"I'll go keep watch," he grumbled, turning away.

"Oh, don't be like that! Nebarra!" When he didn't respond, you sighed, calling after him, "Alright, go sulk! I'll make sure Xelzaz doesn't poison your share, though you kind of deserve it!"

His back still towards you, Nebarra raised his hand in a rude gesture, and your laughter rang through the night.

Some thirty minutes later, he heard footsteps approaching; he didn't need to turn to know it was you. Your tread was distinct from the others, weighted with determination and confidence, whereas Xelzaz's was soft and steady, and Khash's light and hesitant.

"Here. Eat." Despite the short words, your tone was gentle, and Nebarra looked over to see you holding a plate out towards him, laden with a slab of meat and wild berries to the side. "It's delicious, and unpoisoned."

"How would you know?" he sniffed, catching a whiff of the food in the process. It... did smell amazing. "Did you try it?"

"I did, actually. Stole some of your steak when Xelzaz wasn't looking. And since I'm still standing here pestering you, I guess that means it's clean."

Nebarra paused, eyes training on your face. Half of it was wreathed in shadow, only the gleam of your eyes visible; the other half was illuminated by the campfire, revealing the soft smile you wore.

You... had a nice smile.

And before he could stop himself, he mumbled, "You're not... pestering me."

Surprise flickered in your gaze – surprise, and something else. Something he told himself he didn't recognise, refused to recognise.

After a moment, you said softly, "That's... good to hear, then. Because I have something else for you, too." Reaching down with your free hand, you pulled something from your belt and held it out before him. "I saved one, 'cause it reminded me of you."

Nebarra stared. There, held gently between your fingers, was a dragon's tongue flower, petals open wide and colours vibrant in full bloom. "This... reminded you of me?"

"It's gold. Just like you."

"...You really do have trouble with your eyesight, don't you? These are orange."

"Eh, close enough." You shrugged, the smile never leaving your face.

Slowly, Nebarra reached out and, ignoring the plate of food, took the flower carefully, delicately from your grasp, cradling it in his palm. "...Am I supposed to say thank you?"

"You just did." As he raised a brow from the shadows of his helm, you set the plate on a nearby rock and tapped the gauntlet that held the flower. "You accepted it."

He couldn't deny it. "Think you got me all figured out then, huh?"

Something in your smile shifted, your gaze flickering. "No. Not yet, anyways. But... I think I'd like to." And with that, you turned on your heel and walked away, leaving him alone in the dark, stunned.

And that night, as he sat in the shadows of the campfire, he stared at the flower for a long, long time.

[selenesweb]

i know im late in the discourse but i have a feeling that whoever was in charge of the summerset plot decided that nocturnal should be the main villain instead of mephala bcuz they wanted a plot twist or smth

[bam-monsterhospital]

god dammit rigurt.

you show up on altmer island and here i am playing as my altmer, all ready to do some diplomacy with you, but all you can talk about is the hoity toity shitty high elves and how they're the worst and you're sick of dealing with high elves... TO THE HIGH ELF YOU ASSUME WILL HELP YOU.

summerset dlc, you're better than this. your writing acknowledges player species all over the place (not just altmer vs non-altmer, but stuff like extra dialogue for reguard players talking to the redguard man at the alinor docks, and josajeh in artaeum), but somehow you slip up here?

"I've been sent to extend a branch of peace to snooty, rude, and very tall high elf peoples".

rigurt, I'm one of those snooty rude very tall high elf peoples.

"you really need to reconsider the company you keep"

I wholeheartedly agree. Let's throw rigurt into the ocean.

so far this quest has been a slew of grossness (lookin at you, 'i think of people from other lands/cultures as creeeaaatuuuurrreessss' sapiarch shitlord), but then i recieved a sign to not bother with this quest from zos themselves!

the game crashed and kicked me out.

[dawns-beauty]

WIP Masterpost: Skyrim Elf NPC Overhauls

Making this a pinned post, as this project will be consuming my foreseeable future. For my other modding projects, check out this masterpost.

I am currently working on 3 mods that will cover each race of elf NPC in Skyrim: Children of the Ash (Dunmer), Children of the First (Altmer), and Children of the Green (Bosmer.) Additionally, I plan on updating Children of the Pariah, my Orc NPC overhaul, to take advantage of the assets I'm using for the other mods. This overall project has the working title "Children of Dawn's Beauty" (a reference to the translation of "Tamriel" from elvish.)

My goals for my mods is to keep to the spirit of the original NPCs, and bring in new elements to freshen them up. I research each NPC's page on UESP to glean traits I want their designs to reflect. Style-wise, I am shooting for a little bit more than Vanilla+, but not super realistic or super fantasy. They use High Poly Heads and Expressive Facegen Morphs. Some of the specific attributes I want to emphasize are:

Cultural References and Enhanced Racial Features

I wanted to work in aesthetics/cosmetics from the other games for elves. To make elves more distinct from humans, I am trying to make some of their non-human characteristics more prominent. All three races have brow ridges; large, almond-shaped eyes with colored scalara and large irises; more saturated and varied skintones; and more prominent ears (still pointed, of course.)

Dunmer NPCs will tend to wear a lot of earrings/other piercings, tattoos, and may have ornamental scarification. I've also invoked images of the Good Daedra and the Temple Saints where I can fit them in.

Bosmer NPCs might have horns or sharpened teeth. They also have eyes with star-shaped pupils.

The Altmer NPCs, for the most part, are a little more separated from their culture (as most NPCs are Thalmor, or likely have a reason they left Summerset.) Individuals of higher standing will wear pearls or moonstone, and be well-coifed and wear makeup. Thalmor tend to be more subdued, with sleeker, darker looks.

Age and Lifestyle Influences

I wanted to reflect aging in a way that default Skyrim only kind of touches on with humans (having an Elder race) and have 4 stages of aging via custom textures: Young, Mature, Middle-Aged, and Elderly. These are based on Tempered Skins for Males and Reverie Skins for females. Textures will be available for Vanilla and CBBE bodies.

Young is the smallest category, with the distinct feature being smoother, fuller face textures:

Mature uses the same body textures as Young, but with less baby fat on their faces:

Middle-Aged textures are somewhat wrinkled with stretch marks on the body:

Elderly textures are the most wrinkled, with stretch marks and liver spots on the body:

There will also be two sets of muscle tone. Laborers and warriors will have more prominent muscles (but not unrealistic six packs.)

Mixed-Race Individuals

There will be a few NPCs with mixed heritage, which will show up in their features.

Outfit Addons

I am also working on adding the outfits seen in my screenshots to NPCs via Skypatcher.

[wispstalk]

Which culture in Tamriel might give good massages?

Probably anywhere you go you'll encounter good massage, though the modalities differ from place to place.

Khajiit, being generally more flexible than other folks, pay particular attention to the connective tissues and use rolling motions to work out tension. If you make jokes about kneading, though, you might get a light smack upside the head.

In Skyrim and High Rock, where the climate is more cold, masseuses will start by drumming on the body to increase blood circulation and warm stiff muscles.

In Valenwood, massage is done with rendered tallow which makes the skin incomparably soft. It's important that the tallow is rendered very slowly, so it turns pure white and odorless; otherwise you are gonna smell like dinner. Various musks might be used to scent the tallow, and pots of this salve are often found outside Valenwood in the kits of more high-end masseuses.

In Cyrodiil, massage forms a part of the public bathing culture and many types of scented oils are used after one has thoroughly sweated out impurities. This is also the case in the Summerset Isles, though typically these experiences are more private.

Warrior training in Orcish culture incorporates a type of massage that uses assisted stretching -- even the biggest muscle-bound fighter is not considered very strong unless they are also flexible. Massage as a form of physical training is also utilized in Hammerfell, though practitioners use tools -- such as stones or smooth dowels -- to work the muscles. More healing-oriented masseuses have a particular focus on circulation, and match the pressures of their hand to the heart's rhythms.

Argonian massage is done with a soft brush and scented soaps and is done very carefully and slowly. Though this style was designed with scales in mind, many outsiders find the experience luxurious and pleasant, and their skin will glow for days afterward. And in Morrowind, styles of massage vary highly from region to region, but they're almost always preceded by a long soak in the geothermal baths, which loosens the muscles considerably. Work smarter not harder etc etc.

[jag-rat]

Merethic Era Falmer (snow elves)

I was thinking of doing a mini project about Merethic Tamriel and a documentation of the people that were living there in a sort of semi-historic way.

Of course most of it would probably not be entirely lore accurate and there will be a lot of headcanoning but it's fun regardless. So enjoy the first addition to this series.

Falmer: The falmer during the Merethic era were the tallest mer race on Nirn growing on average between 6 - 7 feet. They were also the hairiest and bulkiest on average due to the cold climate. Their culture and practices during this time were very similar to modern day nordic ones due to the cultural overlap and assimilation on the atmorans end when they first arrived to Skyrim.

They valued strength and honour. Their original gods are long lost now however historians speculate the modern nordic gods could share traits with the Falmer's old gods.

In the early Merethic era the snow elves invaded and seized what is currently the Summerset isles. This is how it is assumed Auri-El (An Altmeri/Aldmeri God) was introduced to Skyrim and later would become the primary god in the snow elven pantheon.

Furs, beards, and long hair was the norm in terms of falmer fashion for a long time due to the extreme weather however the shorter hair and beardless look though impractical in such weather was popularised in later years. Again influenced by the fashion trends on the much warmer summerset isles.

Generally speaking when the Falmer weren't invading distant lands or declaring wars with other clans they were a prospering civilisation and in the early days were much like the nords not particularly interested in magic. This was partly due to the fact Skyrim has large iron deposits meaning smithing and weaponry were the most practical but that didn't mean there was no magic at all.

Healers generally could manipulate the weave and tell or even change the future. But when Auri-el was popularised magic become a much larger part of the Falmers lives being combined and assimilated into what they already had. For example enchanting among smiths and manipulation of elements specific to Skyrim (Ice magic mostly).

These changes didn't come fast of course, the falmer were quite stubborn. But over time a cultural shift did happen going from axe-wielding barbarians (As the Aldmer called them) to a slightly more tame society that we know a little bit today.

This didn't come without its challenges however as while the falmer were changing the Atmorans living there were not and in fact had taken on a lot of the cultural aspects or even gods of the traditional falmer. This inevitably was the beginning of the end as tensions got higher with these cultural and religious differences it ended the only way it could, in a war. And well, you know the rest.

Currently the ancestors of the Merethic snow elves thrive in cave systems below ground. While the nords toil above ground, the nords frost resistance of course being a product of falmer and atmoran ancestors. Regardless both societies still hold the values the early Snow elves held. Strength and Honour.

[fanartbyherd]

Gotham Map

whoo! I'm not 100% done but if I don't stop now I will never stop.

over a month of work and I can now say I have completed my own map on Gotham!

as well as Bludhaven and summer set,

Bludhaven famously being the sister city of Gotham and primary haunt of Nightwing.

Summerset is a community between the two cursed cities that is just extrodinairaly normal. (I don't know what comic it is but I got the name from one I was looking at.) but here's the panel.

(No idea what issue this is from, I was browsing quickly through a large collection of older Batman comics and didn’t have time to sit and read it yet.)

So! Some Good Golly Gosh Context for the existence of this map. Before someone comes at me for non cannon accurate information and BS I'm about to pull.

This map was created for my use for a Transformative work I started toying with the idea of, that now has a hundred something chapters drafted (note: Drafted dose not mean written only one of those chapters is written and available to read. Dandelion puffs)

found here:

this map is a combination of the (mostly taken as) Cannon Map and the map that briefly appeared in "the Doom That Came to Gotham" film. the main inspiration for the Fanfic Idea. as well as things scavenged from Fannon and my own head cannon. some parts of it are also cobbled together from other bits of cannon, things such as the long halloween, Batman Year one, the one Nightwing comic I have read all the way through, a Batwoman and Catwoman comic, The Arkham Knight games, Actual maps of New Jersey (I mentioned that in my previous post about this map), The Harley Quinn Show, Joker (that movie) especially the subway map that apparently appeared in that film. Multiple Batman films... I'm not actually sure what batman movies I have watched just that one of them had Ra's Al Ghul and the scarecrow in them and featured the Narrows, and the 2022 batman film, and birds of prey. I really should have been keeping track of all the inspirations I used. I do that for Original works... but not for fan works as I'm not that used to making them or something.

this map operates with the assumption that the year is somewhere around 2020. and that in 1920 the city of Gotham suffered from a destructive fire. (see events of the doom of Gotham)

and in the late 1950s suffered from a catastrophic earthquake. (haven't read it but heard through the grapevine about Batman: no mans land. lots of the online maps reference it)

Also opperates under lovecraftian horror rules, because that's what this elderich horror AU...

the colors are a bit hard to see unfortunately, but they are mostly for my own use.

Gangs of Gotham:

Lime Green-Jokerz: they have close ties to the cult of the clown posse. operate mainly around the Amusement mile.

Scarlet red-Redhood: Headed by the mysterious Warlock Redhood. the gang is relatively young but rose to power quickly in 2005. most of Park Row (aka crime ally) and some of the surrounding areas are under the red hoods control.

they took their name from an earlier gang that was wiped out by the jokerz. The higher members of the gang jokingly refer to themselves as Red hood's merry men.

Red hood has a deep hatred for the Joker and Black mask considers him his primary rival.

Cyan Blue-Siloni: A Gotham grown mob, that consists of many different families that merged to become a singular mob.

Indigo-Moronei: Major rivals to the Falconies, they also got mostly destroyed in the same incident that destroyed their rival gang, but there where people to pick up the pieces

Gold-Cosa Nosta: a collection of families mobs originating from Sicily

Grey-Falconies: in the early 1940s the family was nearly destroyed following a series of incidents.

Dark green-Thorn: American Gangsters.

Colbalt blue-Penguin: Took their name after the moniker used by a professor at Gotham university. Rose to prominence in the 1920s during probation as the main go too if you wanted to set up a speak easy. under the leadership of Ms. Ollie "the penguin" Cobb. the gang was nearly taken over by the falcons in the 30s but after the destruction of the original falcon famaly managed to establish themselves. even operate as a half legitimate business a good portion of the time.

Orange-Lucky hare: collective term for the Irish mobs such as the Rileys, Sullivans, and so on.

Maroon-Black Mask: Run by the ambitious warlock Roman Sions Aka Black Mask. dominating he aria of the Bowery, He and the Red hood have a very violent Rivalry. He covet's Red hood's "red burial shroud." and territory. The black mask gang has ties to both the older sionis mob and the false face society.

yellow-Maxia: the gang Run by Maxie Zeus and the twelve olympians. the gang was founded by Greek immigrant Maxine Seuss. former Archeologist who went a bit mad after the death of her husband and daughter. she immigrated to the United States in 1922, after her American husband's death. her son Maximilian took over after his mother.

pale pink-Yakuza: are what they say on the Tin, operate both in Gotham and in Bludhaven.

purple-Scareface: one of the old Gaurd of street gangs. Is headed by “scareface” and his Vantriliquist. Scareface is a man who was opporating in Gotham back in the 1890s and 1910s but was hung by the place that later became Blackgate Penitentiary. He was also the man who ordered the death of Cyrus Gold and the subsiquent dumping of his body in Slaughter swamp.

brown-whispers: the collective name used for the Russian and Ukrainian mobs in the area. They operate partly out of the old subway tunnels. Mainly consists of the Ibansscas and Odessa gangs but there are others referred to by the collective term.

jade green-Evening Dragons: collective term for a good deal of gangs and organizations that have East Asian origins or influences.

this includes the East side dragons, Ghost Dragons, Golden dragons (might see where the name came from) the Lucky Hand Triad, Hanoi tan.

sky blue-Whites: A merger of the Black gaters gang and the Gangs run by Warren White "the shark".

pink-Other: a bunch of smaller gangs, gangs that are not organized or seen as being one of the largest players. gangs that are less well established or gangs that are extremely local to a certain neighborhood.

Intergang (metropolis baisses), street Demonz (local biker gang), the Mutants, sprang bridge soldiers, Burntly Town Massive, Decons, Escabedo Cartel, The stonewall Drug lords, Pealuan cartel, Skevers, Moon, and para military groups like Bane's and TYGER. and on rare occasions when Two-Face's Gang on the periodical basis that they become an issue.

Cults of Gotham:

I'll probably make some other post on a more in-depth chat about the cults of Gotham, the Occult comunity, and how they interact with the gangs, elite and citizens of Gotham. but that's not this post. here's a quick overview.

-Cult of Ghul: its leaders were destroyed in 1920. prior to this they had a lot of influence in Gotham as the guardians of the Lazarus pits that exist below the city. after the 1920s they lost most of thir influence, they still ave plenty of influence in other parts of the world with the surviving al ghul daughter.

-Court of Owls: been around forever want "what's best for Gotham" at least what they think is best, after the dismantling of the Cult of Ghul took over as the head honchos in the city.

-Baset's cats: Catwoman runs this cult, its a sect that broke off from a cult in New Orleans.

-Court of the yellow sign: They're a problem, and looking to make themselves everyones problem. very popular among the elite as it is a lot about pleasure and indulgence, and theatrics. work often and closely with the cult courts and the wounderlanders.

-She who Breaths: has a few other names, but is primairly a fertility and prosperity cult dedicated to Shub Niggurath and simular entities. they have a close and cordial relationship to the Green lady and is well respected among the Gotham and surrounding areas cults.

-Court of winter: the local fairy court.

-False face society: have a lot of pull and sway in the criminal underworld. also deal with the fay and vampire population of Gotham.

-Rail hoppers: A strange and loosely organized secret society whose worship revolves around the public transit system... people aren't really certain what thier deal is. but they're normally harmless.

-Pain: pain anyone? sort of your typical demon worshipers.

-Dead's Dawn Society: they have some weird beliefs around necromancy. the bats and birds is a decisive topic.

-Clown posse: people who believe that they can somehow appease the Entity known as the Joker. its a bit more complicated than that.

-Green Lady: Worshipers of the green.

-Bat and Bird watchers: one of the most yet least organized cults on the list. they aren't always considered a cult by the other cults in Gotham and has many facets to them. the

-Torch bearers: worshipers of Yeb and Nug. more so Nug than Yeb.

-Mad Society: AKA the brotherhood, a section of Gotham vampires worship here and seek to bring about the end of humanity and have vampires rule the world. or something along those lines.

also might want to create an army of werewolf women. this causes issues with the wounderlanders.

-wonder landers: in reality encompasses a great number of smaller cults who are all associated with the dreamland and dreamland deities in some way or another. but the main part style themselves after the book Alice in wonderland, the Avatar of the Elder God Hypnos. the current Batwoman's sister is a member.

-Triad: worshipers of the Earth Gods Lobon, Zo-Kalar and Tamash.

-Court of Dagon: Mostly dock workers and Deep ones who worship Dagon and Mother hydra.

-Court of truth: primarily worshipers of Aletheia, have some loose connections to the order of Saint Dumas.

-Court of stone: a group who seeks the caves of Solomon. spend a lot of time spelunking in the tunnels and cave systems of Gotham.

Stops on the Railway system.

H. Red Line: Redwall, Avalon hill, bludhaven port, the spine, old station, Melville station, Drawbridge station, Mealtide park, span bridge station, Gotham university, Cemetery hill, city council, Gold Gotham station.

8. Sea Line: Arkham, Arkham bridge park, Eastside, dockside, old city hall, memorial park, old Gotham, city council, Cemetery hill, Southside, span bridge station, lainly point station, Mealtide park, train yard.

0. Silver line: Steel st, Wayne Central, clock tower, city hall, central library, Roman st. Ottisburg, Park row, old Gotham

J. Tree line: Ash st. Oak st. clock tower. chinatown, Alder st. park row, Lemur park, spring st. cherry lane. Robinson park, Ottisburg, Roman st. Old Town

K. Central line: Wane central, clocktower, Penguin station, Millers Harbor, china town, old town.

9. the Loop: Wayne Central, Owl station, Burnley, Penguins station, Elliot Center, Precinct station, justice station,

A. Amusement line:Airport terminal, Kane street, Riverside, stadium, blackgate, Sheldon park, city hall, clock tower, Wayne central.

(some stations are not yet named, especially on the silver line, central line and tree line.)

the city also has an extensive Bus and Tram system, but if I drew that I may actually go crazy and try to bite someone's head off.

(stuffs mislabeled slightly on this map below but its accurate enough)

Parks

Robinson park- a park just outside of park row. its said to be the domain of some strange being known as poison ivy.

Memorial park-houses the 1920s fire memorial.

Wayne park- between North City park and Southside park. its located in the Financial district.

Sheldon park- the park next to the amusement mile. it could use some clean up, but is popular with teens and explores as it allows for an easy access to the cave systems of Gotham.

Southside park- houses the Gotham City zoo. and just outside of the flood area of the Cauldron.

North city Park- near the Gotham central hospital.

Lemmars park- in the cherry hills district. it was converted from the old Lemmars and other farm lands when the city expanded.

Arkham bridge Park- a rather large and wild park that takes up much of the eastern coast of Old Gotham Island.

Anders park- a small park south of Robinson park. its well known for cult activity.

I'll figure out the bridge situation some other time, just know that for this Span Bridge is the one that connects Bludhaven to Gotham.

Districts.

1.Bristol- Island home to Gotham's Elite and Wealthy. the entire island essentially acts like a gated community. there is no metro trains to Bristol but there are a handful of bus stops. home to Gotham Academy a prestigious K-12 private school. Wayne manor and Drake manor are both located in Bristol.

2. Old Gotham- Mostly destroyed in the 1920s fire. the revitalization and rebuilding of the district left it with a very Art deco look.

home to the city council, the old city hall, and the Old Library.

3. Downtown-Built in a gothic revival style as an honor to the cities name and legacy. its history has been shifting with its demographic for years. still a rather populated and well lived in neighborhood, even if some businesses have moved to the financial district.

on the other side of the water to the area known as the Cauldron

4. Arkham City- Relatively unpopulated compared to other other parts of the city. is notable for its unique Victorian Gothic revival architecture. a lot of the structures are original to the area as Arkam Island survived relatively unscaved from the 1920s fire and the earthquake in the 1950s. the more populated parts of the island are heavily crowded and home to the failed "ark project" and the failed "wounder city." the most famous feature of this district is located on a small island just off the coast of the larger Arkham Island, and that is the infamous Arkham Asylum.

north of Arkham island are three islands of Founders, Bleake, Miagani Islands.

5. Docks- the main Port and Docking Area of Gotham. there are a lot of warehouses and industrial buildings in this area. also home to plenty of famous food stands and hole in the wall places like Mama Mathew's shrimp, as well as a good assortment of Bars and Dives, such as Sandyhood, Noonan's and Siren's whale (favorite bar of the Gotham City sirens).

the docks also hosts the Empty water tower that has Become one of Omen's Roosts. (note: Omen is Red Robin)

6. Parkrow- More well known as Crime Ally. once a prosperous neighberhood, it survived both the 20s fire and the 50's earthquake and fallout of both incidents. in the 80s, some of the area was redeveloped into "projects", though crime had already been on an upward spike since the 30s. some classic revival buildings survive from the cities heyday.

the old courthouse that hadn't been in use since 1903 was in this district as well as the famous monarch theater. and Leslie's Clinic.

the district has the cheapest renting all of Gotham but also a huge homeless population.

home to the Oldman building, the abandoned fire station, and is well known to be the haunt of the Red hood and the strange spirit known as the red wraith.

park row has its own community culture. you are likely to get stabbed.

7. Narrows- A narrow strip of land between the South (old Gotham) and North (new Gotham) islands. it is densely packed with buildings that frankly are not up to code. its just as densely packed with people. people make the best of the situation they find themselves in.second cheapest rent in the city, largely lawless.

jacks junkyard is a bit of lifeline in the area.

8. China Town- this districts architecture and open-air markets are what the it is famous for. Alongside its colorful nightlife (and we aren't talking bats!) Traditionaly played host to the cities east Asian immigrant communities. some parts of the districts are known as Korea-town or little Japan, there is also the statue street, that traditionally housed a lot of immigrants from India. the district is well known for having its own spin on the cities beloved gargoyles.

9. Little Italy- little Italy and the surrounding areas play host to many immigrant communities from the 1830s to 1950s. it rebuilt stronger and better both after the 1920s fire and the 1950s earthquake.

home to Maroni's pizzeria, leaty tile bar and the falcon statue.

10. Bay Ridge- another mainland district on the east side of the river.

11. Dimond District- the crystal, and glass facade that covers up much of the corruption of the city.

a popular district with locals and tourists both.

houses the main precinct of the GCPD, the County court house

12. Fashion district- An extension of the Dimond district but houses many more shop and places of entertainment. it's known for its 1950s futuristic appearance as it had to be rebuilt after the 1950s earthquake. has few fewer gargoyles compared to the rest of Gotham. relies on a series of flood dykes to keep from flooding. less prone to flooding compared to the poorer district of Coventry.

part of the area known as the cauldron.

13. Burnly-a large district that is a mix of residential, financial and industrial. it's a safeish neighborhood. though there's plenty of issues, but if you follow common sense rules for Gothem you should be fine... probably. its not as safe as some of the rich neighborhoods, or the mainland neighborhoods.

Gotham cathedral is in burnley, the watchtower is at the edge of the district.

14. Coventry- home to the Central library, the Elliot center, Iceberg lounge and millers harbor.

Millers harbor was created by the use of floodwalls and dykes in order to drain portions of the once marshy land and create a new part of gottam city. as a result most of millers harbor and coventry sits below sea level and is prone to flooding.

part of the area known as the cauldron.

15. City hall district- has a lot of crossover with the financial district and Dimond district. City hall, Gold hotel, National history museum are all located in this district.

16. Financial district- home to office buildings of most of Gothams companies. including the influencial Wayne industry. there are also several upscale apartment buildings in the area. Wayne tower is located here and the cities Subway system has its central station

the historic clock tower is towards the edge of the district.

17. Tricorner- a handful of small neighborhoods but the island is less populated, there is several industrial areas here, such as Kane industry having their plant in the area. Fort Damas is located on this island. its an inactive fort, and is now a historical site.

18. Newtown- a residential neighborhood with classic brick houses, different areas of knew town have different and rather recognizable styles.

19. Cherry hills- once upon the time used to be orchards. though there was space city earlier, the area was built up a lot on the 1970s. it is a pleasant area famous for the flooring trees that are in the area some still around from when the area was farmland. its also a testament to the fact that Gargoyles never go out of style in Gotham, even when the city dose brutalism. its a popular place especially during in spring. Bech tower is located in cherry hills.

20. the Bowery- the third cheapest place to live in in Gotham. the Bowery suffers a lot from the same issues that its neighboring district the Narrows and Park Row. Most buildings in the Bowery are Brick or stone. Gargoyles are quite popular here.

Black mask dominates the streets. Sal's Dinner and Hogan's ally Bar.

21. Upper Gotham-part of West Gotham

22. Lower gotham-part of West Gotham

23. Robbinsville-East side of Gotham river.

24. Lesser Gotham- the largest district on the new Jersey main land. it's practically its own city and was built up during the 1950s. its got its own police precinct (I feel like that's the wrong word) hospital, fire station and schools. probably one of the safer places to live in Gotham, but its still Gotham. people who move into Gotham from outside and can afford it tend to move here. largest issue is that

25. Gotham town- facing The Atlantic Ocean, its a relatively industrial area housing Star labs, Orion chem, Cobolpot steal and one branch of Wayne enterprise.

26. Ottisburg- A quite popular neighborhood, fox tech is located here.

27. Gotham Achors-located on the east bank of the River. A good deal of bridges that go into Gotham proper are here.

28. Midtown- part of West Gotham. location of Gotham general hospital.

29. Gotham village- part of the suburbs of Gotham, located in the west bank of Gotham River (seriously that's what it's called?) the Gotham Aquarium is found here.

30. East side- connected to the down town area, east side is a nebulous region that includes districts like the docks, millers harbor and down town.

31. South side- relatively industrial area. in recent years has seen revitalization in the form of parks and green spaces. relatively considered a tourist attraction as people from bludhaven will actually visit the area. its water front is relatively clean, and its proximity to Gotham university means that entertainment venues get a good deal of traffic.

the ferries to Gold Island and metropolis leave from that area.

gold island hosts the "statue of lady justice" that stands at the entrance to Gotham Bay.

within south side is the rust district. its still largely industrial and

32. Amusment Mile- Createdwith the intention of it being a boardwalk, it has several venues and pairs that fulfill the purpose. it is mostly safe during daylight hours, but should be avoided by anyone who's not looking to risk thier life at dawn or dusk, and especially it is ill advised to go there at night unless accompanied by a member of the clown posse, even then... the chance is high of encountering a certain clown prince of crime and his carnival of fools.

33. Harthrow Docks- part of East Gotham. A private docking area. was rebuilt in the 1920s. unlike millers harbor in coventry its a natural harbor.

((Also I welcome suggestions and idea on the "personality" of the different districts and locations that exist there and what the places look like.))

A huge thank you to @downtherabbittrail and @theredhoodedcryptid.

the red hooded cryptid gave suggestions on maps to use as resources.

I recommend checking out her cryptid batfam fic its quite nice.

meanwhile I stole (got permission from) Downtherabbittrail to use a lot of the street names they invented for one of their fics.

other street names are scavenged from other sources (cannons or cannons) as well as me just making stuff up.

Here are several closeups of the parts of the maps. Still illegible but it is what it is.

Here is a close up of bludhaven. It’s a lot more accurate to the maps I found online. especially compared to the maps I used for Gotham.

Things to know about bludhaven.

It’s the sister city to Gotham and is on the other side of Gotham Bay.

Bludhaven was founded as a port for whalers. It never saw as large success as its sister city. As the city of Gotham is practically a city state in some regards. The city of bludhaven survived in part thanks to its close relation with Gotham and its businesses.

As well as seeing a steady stream of crime in its waters since the very early days of the settlements existence. The Span bridge crossing over into bludhaven ascos the Gotham straight was built in 1878.

the overall architecture of the city is more modern, but a lot of Americana style brick houses and apartments are around.

Bludhaven districts- I can tell you less about these, as I'm having harder time finding info, might have something with bludhaven blowing up in cannon at some point?

Centeral business district- is what it says on the tin. houses both bludhaven's main hospital and the BHPD (bludhaven police department.)

2. Melville-the older parts of Bludhaven and Bailey's church. (had a goat named Bailey once, my uncle named her because she stared at him the same way his at the time GF did.)

Melville is also the place where Nightwing's apartment and Roost is.

3. Caernarvon- a more inland portion and houses a great deal of industrial areas as well as many places of worship.

4. LAnely- the peninsula its mainly a residential area

The Spine: is what Bludhaven has instead of a Main Street. It is the largest street in Bludhaven and Acts much like a Strip. with clubs, restaurants, hotels and other establishments. it has a reputation but most of the businesses are legitimate during daylight hours. some business or another is open on the Spine 24 hours of the day. the spine goes right along an industrial area of the Bludhaven port and officially ends just before Avalon Hill

The largest crime boss In Bludhaven was BlockBuster between the years 1989-2007

the largest cults in Bludhaven

-Blood hounds: a local vampire cult. they actually have quite a bit of bad blood with the Mad Society.

-Cormorants: An odd Cult who are the self-proclaimed guardians of Bludhaven. thier opinion on Nightwings presence is a bit split and has caused a schism in the cult.

-night doctors: bad news.

-bird watchers: made a jump over from Gotham when Nightwing moved cities. they also watch the activity of the cormorants

-Rail hoppers: because the Bludhaven Metro and the Gotham Metro connect to each other the Cult of the Rail Hoppers extended their reach with the reach of the public transit.

(There’s a good bit of lacking information online about Bludhaven when I went digging, which is surprising as the city has been in publication since 19, certainly it’s not Gotham that’s been a thing since 19, but still. )

Final note about this map is that it likely will have updates, especially as I get around to writing and growing more confident in my research on the whole thing.

[tastesoftamriel]

Are there any accommodations for people with disabilities? For example, accessible entrances for those who require mobility aids? I would assume there would be a lot of injuries from the war or at the very least from wandering monsters.

In terms of physical disabilities, there are a wide range of accommodations for helping the disabled! Accessible entrances to most shops, temples, and homes are just the beginning.

Hearing aids for the partially deaf are in the form of ear trumpets, a rather crude device into which one shouts to be heard. Enchanted pocket ear trumpets magnify the sound further, using soul gem magic to power a Dwemer-inspired... actually, I'm not even going to pretend I know how magic works.

For the fully deaf and mute, sign language is fairly commonplace around Tamriel, albeit with certain regional variations. Thieves and assassins in particular are great with sign language as it allows them to communicate silently and effectively, and the trend of learning sign language across Tamriel started with those who seek to mimic the cool demeanour of a criminal. As such, it's very practical for those hard of hearing when at least one or two people in their community know sign language!

Prosthetic limbs, generally fashioned from wood, have been in popular use for hundreds of years in Tamriel and beyond. Ranging from crude stumps to finely carved realistic or ornate limbs, it is not an uncommon sight on war veterans and victims of violence, or sick amputees. Prothestic limb wearers who are skilled in magic are also able to meld their minds with their wooden parts, making them function just as well, if not better than the real thing.

While glass eyes have always been common for the blind, but aside from realistic replicas, some Tamrielic citizens have begun wearing polished gemstones instead, a trend said to have started in the Summerset Isles. For those with poor eyesight, spectacles are the most common way to correct vision without magic. ~Talviel

PS: Here's an ESO NPC (Amalien in Solitude) who uses a wheelchair!! Which I think is very cool.

[dynamite124]

Would Taliesin's sisters like Skyrim? Are they interested in visiting other places (like for a vacation) or are they content in the Summerset Isles?

Runefaire would love exploring the more dangerous parts of Skyrim, Naarein would stick to Solitude and do some shopping along with trying to paint Elisif the fair.

They would love to see what lays just past the horizon of their home, but haven't had any reason to leave Summerset just yet.

I do have in-game models of his sisters available, but I'm debating on if I want to put them in for Taliesin to see his sisters again, or to have them in a completely separate mod of their own.

[greyborn2]

A SUMMARY OF MAORMER*

*with occasional headcanon

Gosh, so this one took a while. What follows is a complete summary of maormeri lore as it currently stands. Mostly taken from ESO since, well, that's been are biggest source so far really. Everything written in blue is as near to fact as we can get. It is either directly stated or pretty clearly inferred from the pieces of lore we have. HOWEVER... well, I couldn't help myself. I'm a theorist. Everything not written in blue is more theorizing and worldbuilding on my part. As a general rule I've kept to a 'connect and fill in the dots' approach rather than wholesale making stuff up. So while a lot of this isn't canon, I'm doing my best to keep to its spirit. Also; this is a long ass post so feel free to just skip around to titled areas that interest you!!

HISTORY AND RELIGION

Altmeri and Maormeri history (and faith, on the sea elves’ part) understandably differ somewhat on the topic of king Orgnum. The Altmer hold that he was once a nobleman, and priest of Auriel, and a phenomenally powerful sorcerer who turned from his god. He, they go on to claim, would start a cult in reverence of himself, bankrolled by arcane relics he forged. The Aldmer eventually being forced to break a part of their homeland away, cast it into the sea, and weave powerful mist magicks around it to contain their enemies.

The Maormer claim and fervently believe, for their part, that what the other Mer worship as Auriel is simply a small fragment of the whole truth. Their faith sticks surprisingly close to that of the Redguards; that the time god is both beginning and ending. The serpent god Satakal who bites on and eats his own tail. A god not unlike a synthesis of the traditional Auriel and the Nordic Alduin. They say Satakal, coiling serpent of time, upon who's scales all reality rests, would fall in love with the Mother Sea; from their union all the beasts of the shores and seas came. And so in love with the Mother Sea and his children was Satakal that he would shed his godly scales, for this rotation of time, walk as an elf. King Orgnum. From there the Maormeri and Altmeri tellings converge. They speak of Orgnum attempting to speak the truth to the Aldmer, of how most rejected him, and how he and the Maormer were banished.

While Orgnum-as-Satakal is the primary god of the Maormer, much reverence is also paid to the Mother Sea as well.

Some tellings draw more parallels between the story of Satakal and Mother Sea to that of Anu and Padomay, with each related to the other respectively. By this account Orgnum, as the second incarnation of their telling of Anu, can be seen as a synthesis of Anuiel and Auriel into one.

Maormer see Orgnum as not just their king, but king by right of all the seas, of his love. By this reasoning all islands, from the tiniest rock to the summerset isles themselves, are his by right.

Legend claims that Orgnum made the Maormer his children, and the children of Mother Sea, by ''spilling the spirit of the sea'' into their blood, and it was this that transformed the Aldmer into the Maormer.

When Satakal assumed the skin of Orgnum, his visage as serpent god of time still shone through his mortal form. He began looking as an ancient Mer, and as this rotation of time slowly shortens so to does his mortal life, growing younger and younger by the centuries instead of older. In the current era, it is rumoured, that king Orgnum looks as an adolescent.

Though king Orgnum's full face is almost never seen, everything below the eyes being hidden by a long veil, those who have seen it say he possesses an otherworldly beauty. Some priests and priestesses to Satakal adopt this item of fashion.

Another mark of Orgnum’s divinity is his third arm. Legend says that one can reach toward the past, one the present, and one the future. Though little has been seen of his ability to manipulate time beyond minor miracles.

King Orgnum is able to adjust his form, taking on the shape of the largest sea serpent ever seen. This silver scaled beast is the terror of the Altmeri navy and has been seen swallowing entire ships whole. It is Orgnum’s duel nature of man and serpent that the common Maormer echoes by bonding with a sea serpent at birth.

PYANDONEA

Pyandonea is a floating island chain, kept above the sea by a vast 'bed' of roots beneath her, massive deposits of the naturally floating frog metal, and a small amount of lingering Aldmeri magicks.

Pyandonea, and her surrounding sea, is eternally shrouded in unrelenting mist. Without magical aid the mist is quite literally impossible to traverse. An unaided Maormer could no more leave the isles than a mainlander could enter it. Only with the aid of Sea Witches can passage to and from the isles be formed, as well as between island settlement and island settlement.

The landmass of Pyandonea is that of dizzyingly vast mountain archipelagos overflowing with verdant jungle rainforest, from which mist and waterfalls pour down constantly. The seas around her a maze of kelp which grabs, entangles, and drowns unwary sailors and ships alike, or smashes them against the rocks... though it is only with the aid of these grasping kelps holding onto the underlying root bed of Pyandonea that it stays in one place at all. Sea beasts and water spirits prowl water and land, only adding to the danger. She is a land designed to keep people in, and out, with no passage between; and it took the Maormer much skill to escape her and turn her defences to their advantage.

Maormer settlements are often built in or around the remains of huge emperor crabs, whale carcasses, or otherwise slain titans of the deep. Maormeri ships hunt them, drive them against the shores, and harvest what meat they can; but there is often enough leftover food to support a population for the years necessary to build up a new port or town, and so some of the crew stay behind. Further inland are overgrown Aldmeri ruins, some still inhabited as strange cities that look indistinguishable from the abandoned ones from outside, only within the vines cut away and replaced with signs of civilization. Orgnum himself holds court and rules (when he is not at sea, which he is for most the of year) in one such overgrown city of ruins.

Shades of blue and white are the most popular architectural colours, just as they are most popular in fashion. White marble walls with blue shingles, deep blue sunshades spread between the whitened ribs of old krakens, sky blue tents in bustling markets. It is seen as representative and in honour of the sea; of both her waves and her crashing foam.

Despite the jungles and humidity, Pyandonea is still quite unlike the forests of Topal or the Niben. Unlike both of those it is much further from the equator, almost down to the southern ice sheets, and thus even without snowfall it can be devastatingly cold. Unprepared travellers can find themselves soaked in the mist and losing an entire limb to frostbite... if they are lucky.

BIOLOGY

Maormer are split into, very broadly, two categories. The majority of Maormer are milky white in skin and eye colour, with predominantly white, black, or grey hair. Their ears end with fin-like ridges, and they are able of safely consume salt water - their tongues have an adaptation to safely filter out salt from water, an ability that even remains for a while even after death and removal. Contrary to popular belief, they do not have gills or any special ability to breathe underwater. Finally, almost all possess a mouth of sharp teeth, specialized in tearing meat and breaking shells. So called 'leviathan' Maormer are a minority, making up perhaps a tenth of the overall population. Theirs is a bloodline that has been altered by powerful magicks - sorcery combining their ancestors with beasts of the sea. While most leviathan Maormer are descended of sea snake-hybrids, having faintly white scaled skin, fangs, gills, and springy bones that flow through water at terrifying speed this is not the case of all leviathans. Some have chitinous shells, others semi-translucent jellyfish skin, some even bearing tentacles and bioluminescent patterns. There are as many shapes of leviathan as there are fish in the sea. All are larger than their kin, though, all more at home at sea than land, and all both feared and respected by their fellows. Any captain worth their salt has a coterie of leviathans in their crew.

Maormer are naturally resistant to lightning, though fire and heat can be potentially debilitating - drying their skin out far faster and leaving longer lasting damage than it does to mainlanders.

Maormer possess the uncanny ability to 'blend' into the background and go unseen until they move, or make a noise, oftentimes to the shock of those who forgot they were even there to begin with. While the ability seems chameleonic it doesn’t actually alter the colour or texture of their skin, indeed, even a Maormer in full armor has this power. This ability is most obvious in mist and fog, where they can achieve something even surpassing invisibility.

Maormer are naturally attuned to find their balance on moving ground, be that on the deck of a ship or on the shores of their floating island-homeland of Pyandonea. When forced onto stationary land almost all seem to fall into a strange, staggering, swagger, and many suffer from so-called 'land sickness'.

CULTURE

Maormer society is organized more as a fleet than a traditional nation. Orgnum presides over the entire kingdom as both god and king. Beneath him are the many Sealords, occasionally referred to as ‘Coastal Princes’, each commanding over a fleet and clan, with many holding seaports and territory on Pyandonea itself. These Sealords are the admirals of their people. Beneath them are countless captains of near endless degrees of power. Some are near-rivals to Sealords, commanding small fleets, and ports, all across Maormer territory. Most command a single ship and crew, however. All Maormer, from the lowest sailor to the highest Sealord give a tribute of their take to those above them. All wealth trickles toward their king.

Maormeri society is traditionally a strict meritocracy. When a Sealord dies, their most powerful captain takes the role. When a captain dies, their first mate assumes command and is expected to assign the most capable Maormer under their command to their former position. Nepotism is a grave offence, a betrayal of those that serve under them.

Maormer often take slaves, as well as plunder, in their raids. Those who require too much work to keep are often killed or abandoned, with the fit potentially remaining with their new crew and captors for the rest of their lives. In dire straits, slaves are sacrificed to power Maormeri sorceries. It is not entirely unheard of for a slave to eventually earn their freedom, either remaining with the crew as a true member, or being left on the mainland once more.

A Maormer ship is nearly entirely self-sufficient, and can remain at sea indefinitely barring repair work. The sea provides adequate food and water for a Maormeri crew, and captured supplies can support whatever slaves the ship has.

Every ship keeps one or more Sea Witch, incredibly powerful mages able to command weather to devastating effect. Most Sea Witches are then further accompanied by a throng of apprentices, called Stormcallers.

Maormer trade with both Khajiit and Redguards as often as they prey on them, though some travel further afield. Even far-off Skyrim is at least partially known to them.

Almost every Maormer owns a sea serpent. When a new Maormer is born, the serpent who hatched nearest to the event is assigned to them. The two care and protect each other, forming a deep symbiotic bond. Though few sea serpents are afforded the food needed to grow to ship-crushing sizes, those who do make terrifying mounts for their bonded Maormer. Rider and beast attack as one, the intelligence of their Maormer given to their mount's terrifying strength in pure harmony.

Those Maormer who, by some means, lose their serpent are often paired again with likewise orphaned serpents - if such an opportunity is possible.

After a raid, the take is surprisingly often most distributed fairly and evenly amongst the crew. A captain or Sealord who denies his people their fair share is seen as betraying their service, and rarely long for this world.

Those Maormer unable or unwilling to live a life at sea will most often instead find themselves working as shipwrights or any number of other occupations in Pyandonea's ports. They are a small, but vital, minority.

While all Maormeri ships and crews are combat-able, not all are pirates and raiders. Some work as merchants, trading goods between Pyandonea and the broader fleet. Others make way as diplomats between the Sealords. Many more are simply 'civilian' ships; little different from a mainlander village save for the fact that they are always at sea and farm kelp and fish in place of grain and livestock.

For those Maormer unable to breathe underwater, drowning is a terrible fear. Many legends are of drowning Maormer being saved at the last moment from this fate, and their armor and clothing is designed to adapt as best it can to water and save them from drowning. Fabrics and leathers (mostly from porpoises and ornaugs) are kept resilient to water retention and wet-weight, boots are either designed with mostly uncovered feet or such that they can easily be shed, and the only metal broadly used is frog metal, or orgnium, a metal strong as steel but bearing incredibly buoyancy.

Mainlanders are often seen as clumsy, stumbling, and ill-suited to life at sea. The phrase 'groundwalker' is thus used as both a clear statement of fact but, also, often an insult to the clumsy or foolish. The irony that Maormer are just as clumsy on land is utterly lost on them - or, more likely, they simply believe it more important that one be at home at sea.

Treason and mutiny are one and the same, and both are rare indeed. The offence and mistreatment a captain must provide their crew with is incredible before the bonds of loyalty (and often blood ties too) are broken.

Song and music are major parts of Maormeri culture. From the rhythm keeping slave chants, to the sailors’ shanties, and and even the popular tunes of a pungi in a seaside town, it is hard to go long in Maormeri company without someone striking up a song or tune.

Maormer are far, far, less obsessed with breeding, pedigree, and lineage than the Altmer, or indeed most elven culture. In their eyes, their blood is only a very small part of what makes them better than mainlanders. Theirs is a sense of cultural superiority more so than racial, and those who integrate are often treated little differently than born Maormer - save perhaps for the occasional joke at their expense as they fail to find their sea legs. The endless forms a leviathan Maormer can take have almost enforced this view of accepted diversity amongst them.

[allthingstamriel]

Auridon

ESO region aesthetic board More >

The second largest of the Summerset Isles, Auridon has always served the High Elves as a buffer between their serene archipelago and the turmoil of Tamriel. The Altmer of Auridon have been hardened by generations of repelling invaders, pirates, and plagues.

"It's as I said. The ceremonies are for the people. They've always been a part of crowning a new Altmeri monarch. The people are already nervous about my extended absence. They need to know they can trust me." – Queen Ayrenn

[x] [x] [x] [x] [Cosplay by Ari Ruben] [x]

[wardenv5]

Re-imagining Western Tamriel

A while back, I made a map of biome map of Tamriel, based on A) Tamriel being as tall and twice wide as India B) a normal earth size C) wind coming from east heading west. @elbiotipo has also made a post, covering Cyrodiil, Skyrim and parts of the rest of the continent. I'm working on a little something, so I wanted to discuss western Tamriel, High Rock, Hammerfell, and the Summerset Isles. It won't be as in depth (because my environmental knowledge is more broad/shallow) but it will also include some possible cultural influence changes.

Summset Isles.

Let's start this one with a fun fact: High Elves were black. Or at least had a much darker skin coloration than we know them today.

Now that that's out of the way, my biggest inspiration for what the Summerset Isles would look like is: the Philippines. Much like the country, Summerset's mountainous eastern regions and the fact that monsoons would be westerly means a much wetter environment, while the west would remain (relatively) dryer. However, being a much more uniform landmass, Summerset would likely see harsher arid environs in its interior than the Philippines. I'd see monsoon tropical forests, savannas, montagne forest and scrubland to be the dominant environments. Auridon, being the "barrier" island would face much harsher storms but would also be much more lush,

Boat in blue Lagoon in Coron island, Palawan, Philippines. Close to Kayangan Lake. Maks Ershov

Another feature surrounding Summerset would be its corals, which are constantly mentioned in the canon and would make sense given it is an island in the tropics. Barrier and fringing reefs would surround the isles, and many Altmer sailors have learned how to avoid the atolls that surround their home. The coral would also create a unique architectural style similar to Coral Rag in our world, which is limestone made of coral found commonly in the Caribbean, United States and east Africa.

The west wing of the Parliament of Barbados (1872) is constructed of local coral rag.

Alinor would definitely have a pink hue to its buildings. As for the description of glass and insect wings, while not have any premodern historical basis that I know of, it wouldn't be insane to consider the high elves figured out the use of glass bottles/glass bricks in their architecture, and found a way

Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew, built by monks

Of course while major cities and areas of the upper class would have the stone and glass look, the lower caste areas would likely rely on wooden architecture, similar to the found in islands nations, reliable, cheaper and useful when your home is constantly battered by storms.

Being separated from Tamriel, it would be interesting to see what offshoots and unique species exist on the island. Lemurs, mouse deer, koakas, kiwis, I could see the Altmer having an extremely strict invasive species program, preferring their wildlife to be human friendly and without natural predators. Birds already are highly important in Summerset, and the Philippine eagle and other tropical birds are mighty majestic. Plus, I could see feather cloaks being a huge status symbol.

Rice is the food dejour of Summerset, with a mixture of pisciculture and wild caught fish (which one is seen as for the lower castes changes per the century). However fruit forests and farms are widespread, and in the interior the conditions are just right for grape wine production, and indeed most large scale fertilization products from fish sauce to fruit wine occurs far away from the upper castes, due to it being seen as beneath them to oversee food. However the highly stratified society is also highly organized, farmers live and die by their terraces assigned to them across the mountainous eastern landscapes, which are then brought to the western shores of Alinor and other cities. As for nonfish animal farming, I think its relatively rare, mainly chickens and waterfowl, not due to a lack of ability but due to viewing cows/pigs as dirty or foreign animals, on the same level as dogs, cats, and rats. Again this is less out of preserving a "unchanged" state of nature as wood elves would want, and more about preserving a "pure" aka ALTMER state of nature. Though I'm sure a few pigs and cows exist on the isles due to the Empire's presence.

Hammerfell

Now this might seem simple - it's very much inspired and would make sense for essentially a North African-esque environ and cultural influence to be ascribed to the entirety of the province, but I think there are three specific regions and I'll dissect them, the NW coast, the Southern Coast, and Eastern Interior. Overall I'd say the big difference is the coasts being controlled by the more secular/liberal forebears while the interior/eastern regions being more controlled by the conservative crowns faction, similar to how Oman was once split into two, a sultanate and an imamate.

The southern coast is most likely facing a similar monsoon season as the rest of southern tamriel, but these "cold" monsoons are less frequent, leaving longer and more intense periods of drought, until the cooler summer months brings fog and rain. A giant transformation of the coast happens as greenery springs across it. How far this effect occurs would be up for debate and how mountainous the regions area, but one can assume it wouldn't go too far.

Salalah during Khareef Season (June to September)

The south's population would primarily be on the coast, relying on the monsoon, fishing and trade to survive. Expect there to be Redguards but also Imperials, High Elves, and other immigrant populations tied heavily into the shipping industry. Overall, the south of Hammerfell would be similar to the Arabian Peninsula, famed for being a trade hub between cultures and having a proud sailing tradition.

The northwest region of Hammerfell has similar geography to North Africa. Sentinel itself is most likely in an oasis, where water from the rare rains or whatever condenses in the Dragontail Mountains collects in an aquifer underneath. To meet growing needs, engineering feats of irrigation either dig deeper or collect rainfall itself, or even an extremely early version desalinization. On the coast, the presence of the ocean helps moderate extreme temperatures, while the high altitude of the mountains provides an escape from extreme heat. Fishing, pastoralism (primarily horses, goats, donkeys and camels) and falaj irrigation systems in the mountains are the primary source of agriculture, especially for villages to self sustain, while larger cities like Sentinel rely on trade to meet its needs. Near Dragonstar, the vegetation/geography becomes similar with tangier, as the mountains and proximity to Skyrim/High Rock create a secluded mixed culture that I wouldn't be surprised if had more ties with itself than any overarching government. I'd look at Afghanistan's mountains for inspiration.

The eastern regions, especially those without a coast, would be drier but due to high elevations causing cooler temperatures, so you get some greener pastures, with a bit of terracing for agriculture. I've already covered this, but very much afghanistan/iran in geography. Again, not much different than whats already in game, just much more fertile than expected.

High Rock

High Rock is going to be little different, similar to Hammerfell I'll seperate into three regions, the Lilac Bay (and related islands), the northern coast and the eastern interior). To be honest, I'm running out of steam and High Rock might be the least interesting overall.

The Lilac Bay would most likely be similar to the northern Mediterranean states, I'd say likely Greece, Spain and Italy, with hot summers and mild winters, instead of the heavy inspirations it takes from France and the UK, in fact the temperate climate would only be found on the slopes of the mountains facing towards the bay. This is where a key feature of High Rock's lore, its fractious nature, comes into play. A rocky landscape makes it difficult to traverse, and easy for individual cities to rise into prominence without a unifying power, with some exception (with enough will and socioeconomic conditions, there's a way). As High Rock progresses, you'd see more like Italy with kingdoms/republics surrounding cities, like Venice or the Papal States.

Meanwhile, its northern side I think would be similar to the Pacific edge of the Americas, such as Chile and the US. Cool oceans lead to a lack of rain, and the mountains means less storms coming from the south (barring the gaps between mountain ranges, such as north of Wayrest). Here, fishing and ranching are the most common food sources, and I'd suspect there would be a strong independent streak compared to the more metropolitan south. For water, it would be interesting if they relied heavily on groundwater and more specifically - springs. Just to make things more interesting and provide a bit more flavor (beyond the non-existant or just: its spooky theme northern High Rock has now).

Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. Did I include this because I think it matches High Rock's climate or because its pretty? Both.

High Rock's eastern region is more forested in the south, closer to the Lilac Bay, but soon becomes much more mountainous, this is where we'd get three unique cultures - the Reachman, the Orcs and a hybrid of Redguard, Breton and Nordic culture. Defined by relative autonomy and constantly shifting borders, one would consider them sort of unique/demi-province.

Now I do think there are ways to spice up Bretons in general, making them more than just bland europe 2, especially when the Imperials have the same thing.

1 - Taking inspiration from Baltic nations. A group of nations famously close to islamic cultures (in our case the Redguards), also with a famous water body, feels like an appropriate source of inspiration, and would allow a European flair that isn't sanded down or done a thousand times.

2 - Mexico - I alluded to this before, but I feel like its not a far reach (ha) to take inspiration from Mexico/SW UZ, in geography but also in cultures both indigenous and colonial, which makes some sense since a key part of High Rock is their mixed ancestry and being subject to colonial rule. Its just a personal tasts tho in the end.

3 - Make them dress slutty again. Healer of akatosh needs his tiddies out for the magic to work.

[starfreak]

I'm gonna talk Elder Scrolls 6 and fantasy politics here for a second. Maybe a long post, who knows.

I think that the Elder Scrolls 6, which is all but confirmed to be set in Hammerfell, is going to be about politics. Like, full stop, it has to be. The overwhelming presence of the Empire as of TES 5 is undeniable, with the territories of Cyrodiil, High Rock, and half of Skyrim being under Imperial control.

If the civil war in Skyrim canonically goes to the Empire, then their coverage will cover the entirety of 3 provinces out of the 9 on Tamriel. They will control a THIRD of the continent.

But that's not all, because the Empire is backed (some might even say controlled) by the Aldmeri Dominion. The Dominion's geopolitical grasp is comprised of the Summerset Isles, Valenwood, and Elsweyr. That's another third of Tamriel. With the Dominion and the Empire's forces combined, they will be in control of 2/3 of all of Tamriel. Let's see who remains:

Morrowind: After the eruption of Red Mountain in the early 4th Era, this region is almost completely uninhabitable, with even its ashen-skinned residents (the Dunmer) choosing to leave their home in search of refuge in Skyrim, Cyrodiil, and even Black Marsh, two out of the three of which absolutely despise the dark elves. They are a shattered people, and have virtually no presence in the continental war besides what they lend to their respective places of refuge.

Black Marsh: Inhabitable by pretty much only Argonians, who could have even spread their control to Morrowind due to their hardy biology. Though, I wouldn't count on it due to the Hist's control over their every action. I've never heard of a Hist tree growing in ash, so the likelihood of the Argonians taking Morrowind is slim. However, Black Marsh will probably be the last territory that the Dominion/Empire take, due to the inhospitable nature of it. Previous attempts to invade Black Marsh have proved ineffectual, and notably the only battles the Argonians seem to win are those involving the defense of their home. They are not an offensive people. I suspect that the Dominion would sooner burn the marshes to the ground than attempt to colonize them.

And last but not least Hammerfell: Supposedly the setting for TES 6, and surrounded on all sides by Dominion and Empire alike, with the Imperial territories of High Rock, Western Skyrim, AND Cyrodiil surrounding them, and the Aldmeri territories of the Isles and Valenwood to the south. Hammerfell is basically fucked. It's gonna take a whole lot of divine intervention to—...what's that you say? There's an Elder Scrolls protagonist on the way...and Hammerfell's history recounts tales of people who can summon magic swords? Well I think the Dominion may find some resistance in Hammerfell after all.

The Dominion is basically guaranteed a victory over Hammerfell, especially if what the Alik'r from Skyrim's "In My Time of Need" quest are to be believed, and that Saadia's betrayal meant that the Dominion (whom most if not all people in Hammerfell hate) was able to take the city of Taneth in the war. Now if we look at a map like this:

If the Dominion's forces are coming from the south, it means they have a strong enough navy to oppose Hammerfell's, which is notably a province known for their pirate activity (see the Elder Scrolls: Redguard). And if they took a city as far north as Taneth, not only did they have to probably take Rihad to get there unopposed, but they also had to make it through that bay unscathed, meaning they either have strong enough outposts on that peninsula to oppose forces from Gilane OR they took Gilane too.

And if they took that whole south central and eastern part of the coast, and are coming from the sea, who's to say they haven't taken Stros M'kai and Helgathe as well?

The north stands basically no chance against the Empire, and the south has probably already been taken by the Dominion. All that leaves is...the huge fucking Alik'r Desert in the middle.

The game will probably start in Dragonstar or Elinhir, my bet goes to Elinhir because it's more on the Skyrim side, but Dragonstar is also almost equidistant from Elinhir and Skaven, with a straight shot to the Alik'r Desert. Plus, starting in Dragonstar after playing a game about literal dragons would be a nice little poke. Like, "hey, remember the dragons?" I wouldn't be surprised if there were a few dragons in the mountains that the Dragonborn missed. They could also have them be infinitely respawning, since they don't truly die unless their souls are absorbed by the Dragonborn. So there's your dragon tie-in, Bethesda, you freaks.

The story is likely going to be about the political struggle between the cultural identity of Hammerfell and the forces that seek to swallow it whole and reshape it in their image. There'll be some references to the Swordsingers of Yokudan legend, but whether or not we will be able to actually learn the technique is uncertain. And there will be a HEAVY Dwemer presence. In previous games we were given access to none other than the hammer of Malacath, Volendrung, which was once a Dwemer weapon corrupted into the image of the Orsimer god-daedra Malacath. The hammer, according to legend, was thrown from Morrowind all the way to the desert that we now call Hammerfell (guess why they call it that) and the dwarves made their new home there, founding the city of Volenfell. Not only am I certain that we will see Volendrung in TES 6, but there will likely be heavy Dwemer presence (metaphorically speaking, they are extinct after all) and Orsimer presence. We could potentially even see some dead Dwemer, in the form of ghosts, time travel visions, sentient automatons, or even some sort of lich. If so, we might get to see a struggle between the Dwemer and Orsimer over the control of Volendrung. The dwarves and orcs do seem to have a bit of shared history.

Overall, this game is gonna be huge, and i can't wait to play it when im 80.

Lemme know if I made any mistakes in the replies, and feel free to argue about fictional politics with me in reblogs :> may your road lead you to warm sands.

[bizarrebazaar13]

FL-inspired book recs, part 2!

part 1 here

Locations

The Shuttered Palace: Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? by Crystal Smith Paul. when Kitty Karr, a white film star, dies and leaves her estate to the Black St. John sisters, everyone wants to know why. Elise, the oldest of the three sisters, takes on the responsibility of getting Kitty’s affairs in order, and stumbles on a secret that could change everything. told in both Elise’s words and Kitty’s own, the book examines wealth, fame, race, gender, family, and the inner workings of Hollywood. I’m not usually very into the palace, but I think the themes here of family ties, facades, and who exactly gets to be rich and famous could be a nice parallel.

The Stacks: Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine. an alternate history where the library of Alexandria was never destroyed, and now controls all the world’s knowledge. Jess Brightwell, a book smuggler, passes the entrance exam to join the Library’s ranks. but nothing about the Library is quite what it seems, and Jess and his fellow postulants are about to learn just how powerful- and dangerous- knowledge can be. this is the first book in what is honestly one of my favorite series that I’ve ever read.

The Brass Embassy: The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo. a retelling of The Great Gatsby from Jordan Baker’s point of view, set in a version of the Jazz Age with demons, magic, and the possibility of losing your soul. Vo’s version of Jordan is a queer Vietnamese woman adopted by the wealthy Baker family as a child, and I loved her narration. I don’t really care for the original great gatsby, but this version hooked me immediately.

Exceptional Stories

Caveat Emptor: Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu. isolated but wealthy households, mysterious characters that you know are vampires but the protagonist doesn’t, be careful what you wish for, something oddly romantic about what the narrator and the antagonist have going on… sound familiar? I think Carmilla is technically a novella, so it’s a shorter read than some of these other books.

Factions

The Masters: The Bartimaeus Sequence by Johnathan Stroud. a series of four books (a main trilogy and a prequel) that takes place in an alternate London where the government is controlled by magicians who get their powers from summoning spirits. the first book, The Amulet of Samarkand, is narrated alternatively by Bartimaeus, a djinni summoned to help a young apprentice get revenge on a powerful rival, and Nathaniel, an ambitious magician’s apprentice whose revenge plot soon spirals out of control. Stroud’s magicians parallel FBG’s masters in many ways, and one that jumps out immediately is Nathaniel’s later role as the information minister, and how closely it resembles Pages’s ministry of public decency.

The University: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. it’s about an experiment gone awry, and the truths that might be better left unfaced. another novella, this classic horror story may have been inspired by a friend of Stevenson’s, a french teacher who appeared to be a perfectly normal academic, but turned out to have murdered his wife and possibly several other people by poisoning them. this, along with the focus on Jekyll’s previous high status in the academic community, puts me in mind of the investigations in the university storyline, and the Summerset vs Benthic rivalry.

The Tomb-Colonies: Whichwood by Taherah Mafi. when Laylee’s mother dies, and her father abandons her, she is left as the only mordeshoor in the village of Whichwood. she spends her days washing the bodies of the dead and preparing their souls for the afterlife. rejected by the townspeople and slowly dying as her magic is drained away, her only company is the dozens of ghosts in her shed, awaiting burial. one day, she meets Alice and Oliver, two strangers on a mission to save her. this is technically a companion to one of Mafi’s earlier books, Furthermore, but I read Whichwood before I knew there was another book, and I understood it perfectly fine.

[dawns-beauty]

Elves of the Rift: Part 2

[the Rift part one, project post]

Mostly the common mer you'll see hard at work (and then there's Aringoth.)

Aringoth

In the base game, Aringoth is an Altmer. However, he is referred to as a Bosmer by multiple NPCs. Thanks to several folks suggesting it, I have made him a half-Bosmer, half-Altmer. He is technically now a Bosmer, with bronze-y skin, golden eyes, and some High Elf features. He is slightly taller than other Bosmer and wears an earring, a gift from Summerset.

The Mer with the Pearl Earring

Tythis Ulen

A fishery worker bogged down with work and missing his homeland.

Niluva Hlaalu

A down-on-her-luck Meadery employee, struggling with skooma addiction.

Valindor

Another fishery worker, a Bosmer who misses the towering trees of Valenwood.

Romlyn Dreth

I like glancing at what other NPC overhauls do to certain characters, just to make sure I can offer something a little different. A lot of them just make Romlyn model-hot, so I tried to keep his Vanilla looks, for the rat-bastard lovers out there.