#Replacement Parts for Summerset

[ansu-gurleht]

hm. i need to come up with a sort of dramatis personae for 3e634, particularly regarding side characters/political characters. like, who's the current septim emperor? who's the redoran archmaster? is torygg actually the high king or is some other guy? who's the jarls of windhelm/riften/winterhold, and what redoran nobles replace them when those cities get conquered? are ashiri or hla-eix still alive in this timeline at this time, and what roles do they play? who are the major players in the an-xileel in 3e634? who are the high king’s generals who counterinvade across the velothis? who are the archmaster’s generals who invade skyrim in the first place? who are the imperial generals who intervene on skyrim’s behalf? will orsinium play a role at all in this story as it was originally planned to, and if so who is its king? will the rather limited aldmeri dominion (likely just summerset and valenwood and MAYBE elsweyr or at least parts of it) play a role, and if so who is its leader?

like. those last couple questions assume that this is going to be a continent wide affair rather than a relatively local one. so maybe i shouldn’t worry about them too much

[risaho]

Conversation between nerds. Inspired by Patho 2 when Artemy talked with his father.

"I am as surprised as you are. The involvement of the Transparent Law… is that the reason you went to Summerset primarily?"

"Yes, and also, no. I am merely following the path I have chosen. Isn't it your nature to make the impossible possible?"

“All I ever wanted was for you to understand what happens, in the past, at present, and eventually in the future. How it all went and will go, and why it is necessary."

"AIOS told me the Erasure will be the final threat of the Clockwork City."

"It needs to survive through it. Or not. So as the Nirn."

"So as Anuvanna'si."

"You still think it is an unachievable goal."

"Too strong a word.”

"Such view point roots in your nature. Will that breaks your heart?"

“…No. It isn't just for me, I am well-aware. What you have is a big picture, an individual, whoever that might be, is merely a part of it. I serve my role, you serve yours. The gears must be replaceable."

"I apologize for what you will have to face. It will be cruel. But nothing can be changed from the very beginning."

"Now you talk like me and I talk like you, is that how the mirror works?"

"Clever trick, as usual.

We couldn't support it forever. It is connected wrong, held it all together by force. Its parts were tied by brass bones, too strong for a fragile dream, too strange for an unwounded heart. So one day someone will tore it apart, so someone can sew it all back, better than before."

"And then there will be the ture Erasure - or, it is a farewell…You will not be there to witness it."

"You and I."

"You really tear it down."

"Such is my duty."

"So you leave the incompatible part to me."

"You are an engineer, you will know what to do. I respect your choice, any choice."

[nxthero]

𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐌 𝐃𝐀𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐒

Daeris’s pupils appear to reflect no light.

Daeris is immune to poison and disease. She is also immune to the effects of alcohol, a fact she considers unfortunate.

Daeris blames Meridia as much as Nocturnal for what happened to Darien. Justified or not, she has no intent on forgiving or even trying to understand Meridia’s reasoning.

Daeris kept the Augur of the Obscure after helping the Psijics. She takes it on adventures often, but sometimes it stays behind at her house to watch over the other relics and treasures she possesses.

Daeris and Kaeri are close friends and visit each other often. They have similar ideas about the ideal political future of Tamriel and use their influence to work together to improve relations between Cyrodiil, the Dominion, and the Covenant. Though not on as friendly terms, Eofstre Reachblood works with them on behalf of the Pact.

Honora Bloodthorn tracked her down to get revenge for the death of her husband, Angof the Gravesinger, but gave up her initiative quickly. Honora truthfully didn’t have ill will toward Daeris for Angof’s death and didn’t care much for revenge besides the consequences it would have on the succession of Clan Bloodthorn. The two became friends, and Honora stayed with Daeris for a while so she could explore Tamriel before returning to her clan.

Daeris’s shadow magic does not manifest like true shadow magic as it is a different type of magic unique to her and Nocturnal alone. Though she is capable of using “normal” shadow magic, most often she uses Nocturnal’s magic; a physical manifestation of the Void. It manifest as matte, formless substance as black as night that spreads across her body depending on how she manipulates it and what she uses it for. Covering her full body can allow her to meld into shadows while covering parts can allow her to fade sections of herself from reality or protect the covered sections like armor. The shadows she wields can be as corporeal or ethereal as she wishes due to the inter-dimensional properties of the magic, so their purposes can range from stealth and camouflage to defense and unorthodox weaponry. (For visual reference: think of the black symbiote from Spider-Man but completely matte with permanent smoke-like wisps swirling from the surface.)

Daeris thinks the alliance war is little more than a continental pissing contest. She couldn’t care less which of the three alliances wins over the others. She thinks all the fighting is pointless and that Tamriel should be able to exist without its separate nations constantly being annexed and emancipated in a fruitless cycle of war. Though she helps the Covenant with some of their gripes, her aid doesn’t extend past their domestic threats.

Daeris is fairly neutral about the Brotherhood’s purpose as a religious sect vs a business; a divisive topic in the Brotherhood. She believes that organization was founded for the purpose of honoring Sithis and that ignoring the reverent aspects of it and making concessions for the sake of business would make them no different from the Morag Tong. However, she also believes that while the organization should not stray from the will of Sithis, it was his intent for the Dark Brotherhood to be a business in the first place, and thus the business aspects should not be disparaged.

In line with the above views, she holds the Night Mother above any matron or member of the Black Hand. However, her acknowledgement of the Night Mother’s authority does not extend to reverence. Sithis is the only being entwined with the organization that she recognizes to hold any true power (save for the Listener due to that connection), and she believes that even the Night Mother herself could be replaced if Sithis deemed it so.

Daeris is indifferent about most religions. Before Summerset, she practiced some semblance of reverence towards Nocturnal and kept a respectful stance towards most other deities. After Summerset, she completely turns on all of the Daedra and begins to despise them, and she also picks up practices and public reverence of the Imperial Divines if only for the sake of appearances since she is acting as a diplomat on the Empire’s behalf. She believes they’re definitely present, but that they don’t have as much power over Tamriel as a lot of people believe whether through their own indifference or inability. They’re not going to smite her for her immorality or her lack of reverence. Her most revered deity is Sithis even after leaving the Dark Brotherhood, as death has been the only certainty for her.

Daeris stopped aging in her mid twenties. Despite being ageless and inhumanly resilient, she is not truly immortal and can die like anyone else.

Daeris has regenerative capabilities, owing to her lack of scars. She has to put effort into healing herself, however, and cannot do it subconsciously. Critical wounds are more dangerous to her because of the distraction they pose rather than the immediate threat of death. The best way to defeat her is to incapacitate her.

Through all of the Urzara family’s public service and charitability, there is also a very dark and secret section of their history. Though unknown to the public and many of the family members themselves, the Urzara family has several links to the Dark Brotherhood; mainly through military alliances and marriages. Among such are the Caerellius family from which Hestrana was born and the Terenus family whom Viatrix’s husband Letreius was from, though there have been more since the organization’s original formation. Only members of the Urzara family married to connected family members seem to know, as most still publicly denounce the organization despite the unseen protection they’ve garnered through their connections.

[foulserpent]

i am curious about one thing regarding your like talos posts. how do you think the existence of long-lived races like elves plays into the propaganda aspect, considering a lot of elves alive in skyrim were also alive in oblivion? i always found it odd that tes timelines seemed based on like, human lifetimes and shit considering the fact that it’s established elves can live to be like a thousand. would like to hear your thoughts on that ^^

yeah i think i elaborated on that in a couple of posts but i cant find it

so yeah i think a massive facet of the development of the thalmor is living/recent memory of tiber septim’s siege on summerset, and in general most of the stuff you see thats anti-talos is actually a result of people who lived thru his reign refusing to accept this man as a god BECAUSE of what he did and who he was rather than solely “humans stinky”. 

the thalmor are a nationalist group that coopted that anger and trauma, but to most commoners the hatred for tiber septim + talos is due to just . living memory. 

(headcanon:) so because like half of tamriel’s population at least have a parent or grandparent who lived thru tiber septim (if not they themselves), talos worship is extremely unpopular outside of cyrodiil and imperial cult dominated areas, and almost unheard of to the west (especially summerset isles). 

uriel septim vi in particular is canon characterized as heavily religious and aggressive in his use of missionaries with a vested interest in destabilizing local religions and replacing them with the imperial cult, which hes doing in morrowind and presumably attempting in other predominantly elvish regions,part of which might be desperately trying to get them to accept talos.

so bc of all this when news comes out from the imperial city like “hey you see how the oblivion crisis just ended? thats actually because there was secretly another member of the septim bloodline who was a devoted and enthusiastic priest of the Holy Imperial Faith and he became an avatar of akatosh and saved you all”. and a lot of people buy it but a lot of people are very reasonably like “yeah right”, seeing this as the empire trying to save face and regain control of its populace (which it is). 

the thalmor then are able to capitalize on this by being like “remember that monster tiber septim? some of you were there when he sieged our capital. most of you at least have older relatives that were there, or who died. remember how they tried to tell us he was a god? theyre doing it again.” so then people are very responsive to the thalmor’s claim that THEY ended the crisis, because genuinely its more believable than the empires septim savior story (which is definitely being exaggerated and used as propaganda). etc

[nuwanders]

Hello! I hope you get well soon. I came across your posts about Tamrielic law the other day; how do you think the Thalmor lording it over the Empire in the 4th Era might change the legal system? Could they force the Emperor to appoint their cronies to the Elder Council or impose a legal system similar to that of the Summerset Isles, considering what we see in Skyrim about Thalmor extrajudicial attempts on the Dragonborn's life?

Also, as I'm studying for a paralegal studies certificate in another country and thus have been reading law cases, would you have any tips on succinctly discussing legal reasoning in case briefs without plagiarism (if you do them in your country, of course)? I spent too much time going over that in the "holding" section and so had to rush the reasoning part before turning in a case brief assignment, which I'm sure docked points off my score.

Thanks in advance.

@thelonghanddaydream

hi! Sorry for the slow response, i was away all weekend and this ask required a hefty answer

With regards to the first part of your ask, it’s worth establishing a few key points about the Aldmeri Dominion’s own legal system before we consider the ways in which it might affect the laws of the Empire. I went away and did a bit more research and it turns out there’s a lot more info available regarding AD law than i originally believed there to be. For our purposes, the relevant information can be summarised in the following points (apologies if this isn’t new to you, altmer society isn’t an area of lore i’m particularly familiar with so this is mostly for me to get my thoughts in order):

the original Thalmor under the First Dominion was officially an ‘advisory council’ to the monarch, but they effectively acted as the executive branch of government. So to draw a rough comparison to the modern UK system (just bc i’m most familiar with it), the altmeri monarch would be roughly analogous to our Prime Minister, and the Thalmor -- as part of the executive -- would be roughly analogous to the Cabinet + ministries

we don’t know for sure whether the Thalmor of the Second Dominion coexisted alongside a monarch, but the Thalmor of the Third Dominion at least overthrew and replaced the monarchy as the head of state

afaik, the Divine Prosecution -- or the Thalmor’s judicial branch and law enforcement -- isn’t mentioned anywhere outside of ESO, but for the sake of simplicity i’m going to assume that it survives into the fourth era as a remnant of the First Dominion. The prevalence of Justiciars in Skyrim supports this thesis.

The Divine Prosecution is made up of:

JURISREEVES. Jurisreeves oversee investigations. They travel in groups of three: (1) a revelator-naganwe (“death seer”) to conduct magical inquiries, (2) an admanen (“listening eye”) to serve as an inspector, and (3) a thalmilan, or judge, to weigh the evidence and reach a verdict.

JUSTICIARS. It’s hard to find an exact definition of what the games mean by ‘justiciar’, but in Skyrim at least their role seems to overlap with that of the Jurisreeves in ESO. However, where they aren’t in positions of leadership (like e.g. Ondolemar) the game treats them as footsoldiers, so for the sake of clarity I am going to assume that ESO did a bit of retconning and that if Skyrim had been made later, Ondolemar would have been considered a type of jurisreeve. Justiciars, on the other hand, are the rank-and-file of the Divine Prosecution who carry out the orders of the jurisreeves

BAILIFFS. I haven’t played ESO: Summerset so I can’t say for sure how the role of bailiffs differs from that of justiciars, but maybe someone else can chip in? In any case, the north american definition of ‘bailiff’ is “an official in a court of law who keeps order, looks after prisoners, etc.” so perhaps bailiffs are more like prison guards

The jurisreeves are of particular interest to me. The concept of a travelling legal investigator + judge sounds to me a lot like the ‘justices in eyre’ of medieval England, or itinerant magistrates acting on behalf of the monarch who would regularly tour their local ‘eyre’ or circuit to investigate and punish criminal offences. The centralised control over ‘justices in eyre’ established England’s first standardised legal system, and essentially laid the foundations for the development of the common law.

Which has pretty cool implications for the Dominion! The Cyrodilic Empire is quite obviously inspired by the Roman Empire and its legal cases are decided by Imperial magistrates on an ad hoc basis, which suggests that judgements don’t set binding precedents. From this it’s pretty easy to conclude the Empire is a civil law system. To conclude that the Dominion is a common law system sets up a nice juxtaposition between the two major political powers in Tamriel, and also allows us to use another real-world empire as a point of comparison for the Dominion -- the British Empire.

Of course, one of the reasons for the longevity of British common law is that Britain never had a (successful) revolution which resulted in a permanent overhaul of government, and revolutions or wars often serve as catalysts for the codification of law. This is not true of the Thalmor; the Third Dominion literally took power by coup d’etat. However, Britain was -- very briefly -- a republic following the English Civil War, and this did not result in the establishment of a civil code. So codification is not a necessary consequence of revolution, and I like the idea of common law-Thalmor enough that i’m going to stick with it :)

Anyway, by using the British Empire as a model, we can answer your question of how Thalmor law might impact Imperial law in the 4th Era. First we must draw a distinction between territories within the Third Dominion (Alinor, Valenwood, Anequina and Pelletine), and territories that are merely within the scope of the Dominion’s influence (Cyrodiil, Skyrim, and High Rock).

This distinction is comparable to the distinction between Britain’s ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ empires. The formal British Empire encompassed territories which you would typically associate with belonging to the ‘Empire’ (e.g., India, Commonwealth countries, countries in southern Africa and SE Asia, etc), and these colonies were directly administered by the British government in varying degrees. The informal Empire encompassed places like Egypt, China, parts of Latin America, etc, and in these territories British influence was maintained through a mixture of economic control, military force, diplomacy, and treaties. Sound familiar?

It’s likely that the Thalmor in the 4th Era view the Cyrodilic Empire as being part of the ‘informal’ Dominion. The Empire technically won the Great War, and the White Gold Concordat formalises their ‘independence’ in exchange for their acceptance of terms like the banning of Talos worship, the disbanding of the Blades, etc. It’s therefore unlikely that the Thalmor is able to impose their own legal system onto the Empire; the Empire is technically still independent from the Dominion.

However, we see that Thalmor justiciars are present in the Empire, which suggests that the Divine Prosecution does have some role to play in Imperial law. My best guess is that their role is limited to enforcing the terms of the White Gold Concordat; this is supported by the fact that justiciars in Skyrim (e.g. Ondolemar) seem to be primarily concerned with suppressing Talos worship. And the extrajudicial killing attempts we see in-game are just that -- extrajudicial. The British Empire did a lot of evil stuff both ‘legitimately’ and ‘illegitimately’, and similarly it’s likely that the Thalmor will pursue their own interests in Imperial territories even where they don’t have the legal mandate to do so.

So in answer to the second part of your question, the answer is no. I don’t think the Thalmor has the power to legitimately impose their own legal system onto the territories of the Empire, and the official role of the Divine Prosecution in these territories will likely be limited to enforcing the terms of the treaty.

With regards to whether or not the Thalmor could appoint their own members to the Elder Council, I think the answer is ‘most likely.’ The Elder Council is unicameral, but made up of two circles; the ‘Inner Circle’, which is comprised of the 30 members who meet regularly in the Council Chamber of the White Gold Tower and possess the special amulet as a token of office, and the Council as a whole, which is made up of both the Inner Circle and representatives from the provinces, various Imperial institutions, military organisations, etc. Representatives from this ‘outer circle’ will only attend meetings when the points of discussion are relevant to their interests.

We don’t know the exact terms of the White Gold Concordat, but I imagine it’s likely that it stipulates for at least one Thalmor representative to be given a position in the Outer Circle, either as a diplomat or for the purpose of enforcing the Concordat’s terms (or maybe both!) It’s also possible that the Thalmor are given a seat or two in the Inner Circle; e.g. in Egypt in the second half of the 19th Century, when the country was considered a ‘veiled protectorate’ by the British, British diplomats were given powerful ‘advisory’ roles in the Egyptian government which rendered the actual Egyptian khedive little more than a puppet ruler. I think it’s likely that the Thalmor has a similar position in the Elder Council. They may not be able to overhaul the Imperial legal system or impose new laws directly, but I imagine they wield a significant degree of influence over Imperial economic and military policy. Just look at how important Elenwen is in the Civil War questline! But the degree of power you think they have -- and whether or not they have seats in the Inner Circle or just the Outer Circle -- is a matter of headcanon :)

Sorry that was so long-winded! i have chronic ‘can’t shut up’ syndrome. But hopefully it was comprehensive haha

Sources

UESP, Altmer, ‘Law and Government’

UESP, Thalmor

UESP, Aldmeri Dominion

UESP, Divine Prosecution

Pocket Guide to the Empire (3rd Edition), Summerset

Rising Threat, Vol. IV

stuff that i know lol (if u want actual sources for the historical stuff feel free to ask and i’ll try to dig them up)

***************

Now, with regards to the second part of your ask:

i’m afraid i’m not really sure how much help i can offer, because my university doesn’t require us to produce case briefs as assignments. Of course we still have to read cases and take notes on them so that we can talk about them in essays and problem questions, but how we take our case notes is up to us, and they tend to be written with exam preparation in mind -- i.e. we write our case note with the intention of making them as succinct and as easy to remember as possible. idk what criteria your assessed case briefs are marked against, but my advice might not be that applicable to you, in which case take this all w a pinch of salt!

that being said, the basic structure we are advised to follow for our case notes is as follows. Sorry if some of this is patronising! Idk how new you are to legal study but if you already know all this stuff i apologize:

Facts of the case -- this should be a few sentences max. some cases are more complex (esp in private law) and may require more explanation, but it’s worth trying to simplify them as much as you possibly can. Like 3-5 bullet points ideally. Focus on the facts that are relevant to the main issue(s) in the case

The question at issue -- i.e. the question on which the outcome of the case hinges. In common law systems the answer to this question becomes the ‘ratio’ of the case, the legally binding verdict which marks the case as important precedent. And in subsequent cases where the same question is at issue, the same decision must be reached. NB there might be more than one question at issue -- most modern case judgements will be structured in a way that separates the issues for you, but sometimes you will have to do this yourself! But also bear in mind that when you use the case to support your argument in an essay or problem question, usually only one of the issues will actually be relevant

Holding -- i.e. the answer to the above question(s), or the court’s decision. This should be a sentence or two max. Any more than that and you start to overlap with reasoning

Reasoning -- i.e. WHY the court held what they did. This section should make up the bulk of your notes! My advice for discussing legal reasoning succinctly is as follows:

Try and break down the judgement into several different steps which follow a logical order. I.e. ‘premise 1 + premise 2 + premise 3 = conclusion.’ you might have to do this for each judge if they reached the same conclusion in different ways (but also make sure you cover dissent!)

Identify whether the reasoning is policy-based or based in law. Policy-based reasoning tends to be a little simpler and relies less on arguments of logic

The more cases you read, the more you will start to notice that each piece of reasoning tends to fall into broad categories of logical argumentation. E.g. extrapolation, (“in scenario A we say X, and scenario B is similar to scenario A on these grounds so we should also say X”), distinction (“in scenario A we say X, but scenario B is different to A on these grounds so we should say Y”), reversal, (“in scenario A we say X, scenario B is the inverse of A so we should say the opposite of X”), etc. Identifying the broader method of reasoning will help you categorise + remember cases and explain the reasoning more succinctly

Bear in mind the question at issue! If you constantly think to yourself, ‘why did they answer that question in the way that they did’ you will avoid going off-track. Honestly, parts 2-4 of a case brief are so inextricably linked that it’s hard to talk about one without talking about the others.

Try and identify the key concepts at play and keep these at the forefront of your mind. Are they concerned with the content of a right? A duty? Causation? Legal interpretation (e.g. of a statute or contract)? Intention? Equity? If such concepts are under discussion, make sure you’re constantly referring back to them

That’s all i can think of off the top of my head, but hopefully that’s helpful? The main thing is to try and make sure that you explain the reasoning in a logical order. Better judges will do this themselves, and in such cases, you can follow the structure they used in the judgement (but simplifying it, obviously). Other times judgements are a mess and it’s up to you to identify the line of argument and present it in a logical way that makes the conclusion seem like a necessary consequence of the given premises. (ofc in some cases you will disagree with the reasoning and in these cases it's worth trying to work out WHY)

Sorry this was all so long! Hope that helped. And good luck with your studies :))

[daggerfall]

WIP: the day after Cloudrest

While the Welkynar Gryphon Knights survived their ordeal with Z'Maja and won the day, the order and city suffered great losses. Finding a replacement apprentice has become their first and greatest priority, but given the urgency of the situation against Siroria's rapidly approaching retirement, the Welkynar may have to look in unconventional places for their next member.

Amilya was just a citizen of Cloudrest for years, until the Sea Sload Sorceress Z'Maja was brought to the city for interrogation and attacked. When she accidentally got roped into helping save the city due to a miscommunication with a group of Undaunted, she hoped to slide back into the shadows of anonymity and continue running her little flower shop. Fate isn't so kind, but sometimes it knows better.

The night after Z'Maja's defeat, no one wished to celebrate despite having much reason to. By the time that large rag-tag looking group of adventurers of a variety of races finished slaying the Sea Sload, night had fallen and all anyone could think of was wanting to fall over and rest. Hours of preparing for the end came crashing down upon the civilians of Cloudrest, and slowly they trickled back into their homes until the streets were empty once more. Even the Welkynar Knights, who had much to discuss and plan, would wait until the morn. But for that first night, rest and mourning the fallen was all anyone was capable of doing.

The next day however. 

There seemed to have been a collective agreement that while the evening before was reserved for paying respects to the fallen, today was to celebrate the living. The streets filled once more, but this time with the energy of a city that had confronted death and came out of it with a new appreciation for life. They sang with musicians eager to provide an accompaniment to those unable to contain their joy and who broke out into dance. Children ran about playing games of tag or racing each other to the end of the road, once again able and encouraged to engage in carefree childish acts. Everyone able to brought out their best sweets and treats and wines, the street vendors eager to give out their goods in show of appreciation for their neighbors. The number of flower crowns Amilya had made would certainly put a dent into her savings, but for the joy it brought to the recipient's faces, and her own at confirming another neighbor still lived, she was more than willing to participate. 

As evening rolled around, most packed up their stalls and handed over the leftover goods to the inns, where the celebration was to continue. Amilya could feel the social exhaustion coming in, but knew this to be a celebration she would regret missing out on by going home early. And so she sat alone at a table in the inn away from the spotlight and watched others participate in the festivities, the performances, the dances, the challenges. There was so much... life to them. It truly was a celebration of being alive.

Some part of her was reminded of her hours spent watching the Welkynar train from up on their towers, gazing down at Summerset's bravest defenders in awe. She wondered where they had been today. Everyone had assumed they would be part of, if not central, to the festivities, being so connected to the event itself as well as major celebrities of Cloudrest. Perhaps they needed time to recover from their ordeal and were more injured than they appeared during her brief moment speaking with them all post-Sload slaying before she collapsed from magical exhaustion. Or perhaps they were too busy, planning out a statement to the proxy-Queen as to what happened, and the future of their order. She vaguely remembered having heard that one of the apprentices to the Welkynar had fallen during their initial capture of Z'Maja, and that would certainly need to be addressed before going forward.

...

High above the festivities, where only the faintest of sounds of merriment could whistle their way through the open windows, stood four - one sat loosely back in a padded armchair with a glass of red wine held in hand, two around a war table map of the Isle, and one away from the group, leaning against the wall with his eyes averted. 

"So," said one at the table. "Where do we begin?" she asked.

Silence filled the room for several moments, no one eager to speak. But eventually a sigh from the other at the table. "I suppose with what is most urgent." 

Olorime sighed herself. "We all know what needs to be discussed, as unpleasant as it is." Her gaze landed on the seated Knight. "Siroria, we need to replace your apprentice as soon as possible."

"You think I'm not aware, Olo?" Siroria snapped rather suddenly, turning her head to Galenwe and Olorime in the middle of the room. Olorime had thought her fellow Knight was not bothered that her apprentice had died, given her nearly becoming one with the chair in how relaxed she looked. "Replacing him is not going to be easy, but pardon me for not jumping at the discussion to do so before his body can even be delivered to his kin."

Olorime took a moment to be taken aback. Siroria had not shown too much rapport with her original apprentice in their years of knowing one another, but Olorime knew now that she should have known better. Siroria was not always open with who she cared about, and tended to show affection in less conventional ways. It was likely she did care greatly for him, she realized, but Siroria being herself, she couldn't show it. Even amongst friends and fellow Knights, she had a front to put up for business, bravo. "My apologies, Welkynar Siroria."

"Pssh, let's get on with it then. We can mourn the lost once we've got our future in place." Siroria slowly stood up from the chair, pushing off her thighs and taking her time. Olorime was once again reminded of why there was such an urgency.

"How many years do you think we'll have, Siroria?" Galenwe asked, his voice calm and soft and infectious as always.

"I think I've got another decade of so's worth of fire in me."

"We'd have to start training a new apprentice immediately to make sure they're truly capable of becoming a Gryphon Knight, and raise their gryphon to adulthood. But where do we even begin looking?"

Olorime thought about that herself. Only rarely would they get a real applicant with any potential merit, and only during their short application period every other year. The process was long and difficult, requiring many sponsors and recommendations, and it was a lifelong commitment. Olorime realized their pool of names was much smaller than she thought when even the slightest matter of urgency was made.

"I've got some connections in the Dominion army I could ask. See if there's anyone that sticks out to them and have them get someone to apply," Siroria said, her gravely voice a source of calm for Olorime, but not enough to placate her concerns.

"I simply worry what will happen if it becomes known that we are urgently looking for an apprentice," Olorime said. "Will the people think our standards have lowered? That we did not have a plan in place for events such as this? And what if that applicant does not come in in time? Or if they fail partway through training? 

"My friends, we only have one chance at this. Whoever this applicant is. they'll have to be perfect in order for Siroria to retire when she needs to, and right now, we don't have any potential leads… in our normal avenues, that is."

"And our... abnormal ones?" Galenwe asked, brow quirking up in suspicion.

Olorime pursed her lips, knowing her idea was outlandish but needing to state it. "I had… an idea. I'm more than aware there's a reason we go through the application process, but what if there was someone who you just knew had the potential, even if right now they did not have the skill?"

Galenwe continued to look at Olorime with a suspicious look. "Go on," he said after a moment's pause.

She took in a breath, not looking over at their fourth. "That group that saved us all, the Undaunted. I know most of them are outsiders, but not all of them were. Certainly I'm not the only one who noticed one of our own among them, right?"

"The girl from the flower shop? Surely you're not suggesting-"

"I am," she interrupted Galenwe. "Just think: someone with no training, not only performing as well as she did, but having the bravery and courage to do so without being asked. Imagine what she could be capable of, given just a few years of training under the Welkynar Gryphon Knights. How often does that sort of potential show up at your doorstep?"

Galenwe shook his head and sighed. "Not often, no. But that doesn't mean it wouldn't be a tremendous chance to take given the circumstances."

"I know, I know." Olorime tried to think of something else to say to defend her case, but she truly didn't have anything else. Asking her fellow Knights to pluck up a random civilian she believed had potential to become their new fourth and speed through their training before Siroria had to retire was a lot to ask of them. But something told her that she had to try - that this was how it was meant to happen. She turned to Siroria after several moments of silence. "Siroria, thoughts? She would be your apprentice after all."

Siroria straightened up and placed her hand under her chin in thought. Olorime watched as her thumb moved across the corners of her jaw down to her chin. "I bet I could whip that whelp into shape in time. Been a while since I had to teach basics, but the sooner the better. But Olo," Olorime felt her rising heart jump and pause, "If I get even a hint of laziness, or lack of fire in her to do this… I'm not wasting my effort training some wet-ear who doesn't even want this." With that, Olorime knew she had won the hardest fight. "Convincing her to accept is on you, though." Or perhaps not. 

Olorime didn't even know if Amilya would be interested in joining them. The botanist had been a resident of Cloudrest since her childhood, Olorime remembering when her family had moved from Skyrim to Summerset when Olorime was only a few years into Knighthood. She knew Amilya was part of the group of youth who admired the Welkynar and came to their open training sessions, but to join them was another story. 

Olorime was getting ahead of herself, she realized, as she still has to convince their last. She thanked Siroria she hearing her out and then turned to the wall where their captain stood. 

"Relequen? You've been awfully quiet. What do you think?" she asked, holding her breath. Relequen's lack of involvement in their conversation didn't bode well for her.

He held the silence like he owned it, and Olorime was reminded that he was in fact their superior. She felt a flash of the urge to retract her suggestion, to say it was nonsense, before she realized that's what he was trying to do - see if she would back down, or if she too believed in her own idea. She held her ground. 

Finally, he ended that impasse and spoke. "I think it's foolish and irresponsible to put a civilian in that kind of position where they are expected to step into this level of responsibility. Not just once and on accident, but twice, on purpose, and as a lifelong commitment." Shame flashed through her in that moment. She acknowledged that it was irresponsible to have had to put Amilya in the position to save them all in the first place. To ask her to do so again, but for her entire life, was a great burden to place on someone. Of course their captain would think of that while the other three were lost in the idea of it actually working. "However," he continued, "I also acknowledge I am outnumbered in this debate, and it is our only lead at this time. 

"If you three wish to go forward with this, I will not stop you. I'm not some tyrant. I shall reserve my judgment for if she is fit to join the Welkynar until she reaches the point in her training where she would capture her own gryphon."

Olorime's smile had been growing as he spoke, breaking into a relieved and excited laugh. Suddenly she jumped forward into him, hugging him tight. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you Rele! You wont regret this, I promise." She realized she hadn't actually held him since before this whole ordeal and didn't want to let go, but did regardless.

"Don't get too excited, Olo," he chastised, but still stood close to her and smiled more than she had seen since his freedom. "I do have my own rules about this arrangement." Olorime could see his captain persona come out once again, and entered her own Welkynar one as well to listen. "Siroria and I shall still seek out potential recruits for our individual teams that could replace this new apprentice should she fail. And I will not be involving myself in her training until I deem her worthy for joining the Welkynar. I will not interfere, but I cannot actively support this endeavour for reasons I have already stated. Are these terms agreeable?" he asked to her and the others.

"Yes captain," said Olorime

"Absolutely," said Galenwe.

"Yeah yeah, whatever you say Sparkles," said Siroria, waving her hand carelessly.

[lavellane]

a house in valenwood

( f!dragonborn x serana. 1000 words. fluff, hurt/comfort, semi nsfw. )

“Tell me about your garden.”

Only when they're spent, clinging naked to one another under the warmth of thick fur blankets, does Saskia try her hand at real comfort. In her arms, Serana sighs; her breath remains even, as only a vampire's could be, but Saskia doesn't fail to notice the way her lover's eyes avoid her own, nor the way she presses herself tighter into their embrace to fight off a fearful shudder.

It's a familiar, ever-present pain, Saskia knows; but knowing is of little help when she can never find the words to make the pain hurt any less. She's never been very good at this part - helping people, preventing hurt. Whatever problems she can't solve with her body, or with sweetened, hollow words she thought of on a whim, can usually be solved by running away and never looking back. So much of her life has been shaped around that method. Mostly, she has only known vulnerability when it’s snapping at her heels.

Serana's vacant eyes, staring off at some ancient, far reaching fear that Saskia could never hope to shield her from, makes her think that perhaps her old method just isn't good enough anymore.

In the darkness of their inn quarters, Serana shifts slightly, looking up at the red-headed woman before her. Her face isn't flushed the way Saskia would expect from other lovers after the type of night they've had, but then, Serana is far from any standard love.

“The – the one at Castle Volkihar?”

The catch in her voice is subtle, and skilfully hidden, but it's enough that Saskia needs to swallow down her guilt before she nods. Perhaps the garden wasn't the best topic to bring about comfort.

“I wanted to hear you talk about it,” Saskia murmurs, smoothing down the other woman’s hair before pressing a kiss to her forehead. She hides her own uncertainty well – an old habit, but one which comes in handy more often than not. “You're so beautiful when you talk about it.”

“As opposed to talking about . . . what? Mudcrabs?”

Saskia laughs. “You're beautiful when you talk about them, too. Somehow.”

“How sweet.”

“Not as sweet as you, sweetness.”

Serana scoffs, but breaks into a smile regardless, and cranes her neck up to kiss just under Saskia's jaw. How such a simple thing can raise goosebumps along her arms even now, she'll never understand. If Serana notices, she doesn't comment; instead, she takes a deep breath, exhaled out as a tired sigh.

“Well, let's see,” she starts. “It was my mothers, so: alchemical in nature, mostly. Mushrooms and herbs and strange and wondrous plants that were decidedly less wondrous once you smelled them.”

“I've met men who sound a lot like that.”

“I'll bet.” Serana snorts. “At night, the whole courtyard would be lit up by fireflies alone. We used to watch them together, during . . . better times.”

There's an unspoken heaviness in the air as she finishes, and Saskia opens her mouth, closing it a moment later when her words fail most uncharacteristically fail her. Serana, catching the worry in her expression, shoots her a sad smile.

“Oh, don't worry about me, Nightingale,” she whispers. “I just . . . miss them. Even . . . him, in the end. Or, maybe I miss something I never had to begin with. Something I should have had.”

Should have is an understatement. Saskia reaches to cradle her face, thumb brushing across the sharp angle of her cheekbone, and she can't imagine how anybody could look at a woman like Serana, and offer her anything less than the world.

“When our business in Skyrim is done,” Saskia says slowly. “You'll have everything you should have had from the beginning. I’ll see to it."

Serana smiles, her soft laughter a melody in the dark. “I have everything I need right here.” Saskia feels cool fingers migrating towards her inner thigh, and she scoffs, despite her stomach tightening in response. “And here.”

Saskia groans. “Again? You’re insatiable.”

“It’s been a while.”

“You've been using that excuse for the last four months, sweetness.” She shakes her head, but Serana's expression softens, and she smiles in return. “I mean it, love. Wherever you want. I could take you to Cyrodil, if you wanted. High Rock. The Summerset Isles. You would enjoy Valenwood, I think, or –“

“Would staying in Skyrim be such a bad thing?” Serana asks wryly.

Saskia moans in not-so-faux horror. “By the Gods. If it made you happy . . . well. If it made you happy, I'm sure, given time - and strong alcohol - I could come to accept this . . . miserable, barren, frostbitten wasteland of a country as home.”

“You really hate Skyrim so much?”

Saskia moves to tuck a stray strand of hair behind Serana's ear. “Maybe not so much.” She shrugs. “It definitely has something in it worthwhile.”

“Suck up.” Serana rolls her eyes, but humours her with a grin. “Well. Valenwood does sound nice.”

“Oh, it is.” Saskia replies, relieved. "We can find a house there. With an alchemy tower, if you'd like. And a garden, of course - even better to replace the one you had. We can fill it with flowers and herbs and wondrous plants that don't smell when you get close to them.”

“And fireflies?”

“Of course. Butterflies, too. During the day. “

“It sounds lovely.” Serana shifts in the blankets, wrapping her arms around Saskia's waist and curling into the warmth of her neck. She presses a soft kiss to her neck, her jaw, her cheek, and then finally her lips, lingering just light enough to elicit a sigh before pulling away. “I'm holding you to this, Nightingale. A house in Valenwood -”

“- with fireflies in the garden.” Saskia smiles. “It's yours, heart.”

Serana’s lips find hers again, moving soft and sweet and with a love near strong enough to taste against her teeth, and when she pulls back, Saskia meets warm eyes bright with hope, not fear.

“Not mine,” Serana smiles. “Ours.”

[thereluctantinquisitor]

(1) “for once in your goddamn life, let me take care of you before you make it worse. ” for Hanin, (2) “you’re clearly not okay so stop bullshitting me.” for Cyrus, (3)“it’s fine— nothing i haven’t dealt with before.” for Katana, or (4) “if i die, i’m gonna haunt your ass.” for Maraas.

Elder Scrolls AU, in which Avi ( @lavellanlove ) had a bit of a run-in with the Brotherhood and Cyrus was the only one sulking around the hall at the time...

“You’re clearly not okay so stop bullshitting me.” Cyrus considered tempering his words, except that was ridiculous and he didn’t want to. For all her bravado, Avira looked about two steps from the gutter, rain-soaked and covered in filth, swaying where she stood. If he had to take a guess, she’d either been jumped by assassins or decided to take up a spontaneous career in mud wrestling. They might not be the closest friends, but he still had a pretty good idea of which was more likely. “Sit the fuck down and tell me what happened.”

“Maybe I tripped?” Avira seemed keen on playing coy, but at least she started moving towards the fire at the back corner of the hall. It was a minor victory, but one Cyrus would be mad not to accept. With unsteady hands, she unclasped her cloak, peeling it from her back and letting it fall by the firepit. “You know how uneven the cobblestones are around here. With the rain lately, it’s easy to lose your footing.”

Arms folded, Cyrus fixed her with a flat look as she lowered herself gingerly onto a chair. “Uh huh. Listen, if I didn’t know for a fact that you’re a member of the thieves guild, I might believe you. No one that clumsy survives in our line of work. So how about you tell me what really happened?”

The fire crackled gently, sending stray embers into the air. Avira’s eyes were closed, now. She was leaning forward, forearms on her knees, face turned towards the warmth as she breathed in and out, the movement slow. Exhausted.

She really did look like utter shit, which was admittedly a hard for her to achieve. Something must have really gone wrong, but Cyrus had a feeling pushing wouldn’t get him anywhere right then. So, with a grunt that he hoped signaled his frustration, he grabbed a bucket from the bench, filled it with water, and tossed a cloth in to soak. A better man might have heated it over the fire, but Cyrus had never counted himself among the better men, so he just set the bucket down by her feet. If she felt inspired to wash some of the mud off her hands, then so be it.

“Thanks.”

Cyrus, who had been in the process of stalking off to hunt for something to feed her, hesitated when her thanks lacked the sarcasm he was used to from most people. Then again, maybe most people expected luxury, while others expected nothing at all. “Yeah. Fine.” He chewed on his cheek as Avira dipped her hands in the water, a grimace flashing across her face. “Must have been one hell of a fall, to tear your hand up like that.”

This time, Avira didn’t respond. She was busy with the washcloth, dabbing at her left palm, brow furrowed. Craning his neck, Cyrus managed to get a glimpse of the problem between presses of the cloth. “That...”

“Needs stitches. Yeah, I know.” Huffing, Avira muttered darkly at the gash and shook her head. “I don’t suppose you have medical supplies around here? If it’s not too much to ask, of course. I could always head back to the market and---”

“--- Oh shut up.“ Cyrus was already at the designated crate, tossing off the lid and pulling out an overstuffed pack. “You seriously think I’m going to let you walk out of here to go hunting for gut and a needle looking the way you do? You’ve met the giant High Elf who owns this place. He’s got a hard-on for medical supplies about a mile long.” Hefting the pack up with a grunt, Cyrus turned back towards Avira. “Fuck, you could probably bring a corpse back to life, with the amount of shit he’s got in here.”

Avira’s chuckle was faint, but it was still comforting to hear. Deciding he was probably better suited to the task, Cyrus dragged over a stool and started rifling through the pack, pulling out rolls of bandages, tubs of salves, herbs, gauze, wax, ether, wood for splints. Hanin’s excessive nature was laughable, but Cyrus had to admit, the man was prepared for just about anything short of the apocalypse. It made sense, he supposed, given how many injuries they all managed to wrack up on a frequent basis.

“You right handed?”

“Left.”

“Great.” Grunting, Cyrus motioned for her injured hand. “Come on. Give it here then.”

It had been a while since Cyrus had last stitched a wound, but there was something about it - probably the pain - that cemented it firmly in his muscle memory. Normally he hadn’t had the supplies to do it properly, or someone had done it for him while he was out cold. Avira inspected the herbs, selecting a pinch of one to chew on, a pinch of another to rub on the skin over the wound to help numb the area. It was just as well she knew, because they all looked the same to Cyrus.

Cleaning the cut with the ether was always the worst part. Even Cyrus couldn’t help but wrinkle his nose in empathy as he poured it over the cut, holding Avira’s wrist as she flinched involuntarily at the burn. Upon closer inspection, Cyrus could see it was definitely a cut, clean and straight. “Pretty bad luck,” he remarked, reaching for the threaded needle, “to fall right on an upturned knife like that.”

He expected Avira to tense at the comment, but instead she let out a tight breath, the sting from the alcohol subsiding. “Brotherhood. As usual.”

Cyrus’ gaze flicked up. “Again? I thought you and Hanin got rid of the fuckers last time they paid a visit here.”

“There’s no getting rid of them. You know that.”

Some part of Cyrus wanted to argue, but it was an irrational, childish part that wanted desperately to ignore the truth because it was bullshit and unfair. So, instead, he busied himself with sewing her broken skin, trying to be gentle despite the futility of it as needle pierced flesh. “How’d you lose them?”

A faint smirk flitted across Avira’s lips. “Sewers.”

“Ugh.” Cyrus shook his head, but something of her amused satisfaction was contagious. “Well, good to know even the Brotherhood have limits. Wouldn’t want them to get a stain on their precious black robes.”

“No, no. That would ruin their entire image. They’ve got a reputation to maintain, remember?”

It was good, to hear her quipping again, even if it was from between hisses and clenched teeth. It seemed the herb only did so much to lessen the pain, but Cyrus sure as shit wasn’t going to apologise for it the way he’d heard the others do. What was the point? It was going to hurt no matter how well he did it. Better to just get it over with. “I’ll get a bath going for you, after,” he said instead, nearing the end of the cut. “See if Lyrene’s got any spare clothes in her trunk. She won’t mind, if it’s you.”

It must have been something he said, because Avira suddenly went very quiet, something subtle changing in the way she sat; something shifting in the tilt of her shoulders beneath her ruined shirt. Tying off the gut, Cyrus used the tip of his dagger to cut it free from the bundle and stowed it back away in its pouch. The needle would need to be disinfected, so he left it by the ether - a problem for future him.

“Alright. Anything else fucked up?”

Avira just shook her head, strangely meek, her good arm tucked close to her stomach, the other resting, palm up, on her thigh. The stitches weren’t perfect, but they would do the job. Not quite believing her, Cyrus just stood for a moment, gaze lingering on the weary curve of her back. “You sure?” he pressed. “Because if you don’t tell me now and I find out later, I am going to be all sorts of pissed off.”

“Just some bumps and bruises, Cyrus. From times when I actually did fall.” She stretched out a leg, still scuffed and scraped, but only lightly. “Honestly? I’m more tired than anything else. A bath would be amazing. If you wouldn’t mind.”

Cyrus rolled his eyes. “I already said I’d do it.” He started moving, grabbing buckets to fill at the well. “Bath’ll be warm, too. Some mage Hanin met in Summerset inscribed shit on the side of it. Runes or something. I didn’t trust it at first, but...” Realising he was rambling, Cyrus flushed and cleared his throat. “It’s good. Convenient. So don’t go freaking out about me having to heat the water myself or anything.”

Finally, another smile managed to affix itself to Avira’s lips. “I see. That’s good, then.” It faded as quickly as it arrived, a pensive look once again rising to replace it. Cyrus was just about to ask her what the problem was when she spoke up again. “Lyrene... really wouldn’t mind if I borrowed her clothes?”

That... hadn’t been what Cyrus had been expecting. He cocked his head, confused. “No? Why would she? I mean, if I’d gone rifling around and stole a shirt to play dress-up, yeah, she’d be pissed, but not if it’s for you to wear.”

Silence. Cyrus didn’t understand what the big deal was, but Avira seemed fixated on it, turning it over and over in her head. Maybe she really did just need some rest. The sooner he got her into a bath and into a bed, the better.

As he returned to his task, heading for the well outside, her voice drifted through the hall once more. It was clearer than before. More assured, for some reason.

“So... you play dress-up with Lyrene’s clothes?”

“What? I--- no,” Cyrus sputtered. “It... that was just an example!”

“Uh huh.”

“It was!”

“I believe you.”

“THEN SOUND LIKE IT.”

[ongoingaccident-deleted]

The Hooded Figure Theory

Just kind of wanted to talk about this cause it ends up being a fairly important part of Ae’s story. So I ran across this theory recently that purports that the Hooded Figure who gives you the first main quest is the Groundskeeper. And having played through the main quest again pretty recently, I’m pretty convinced. (At the very least, I like the theory enough that I’m going to integrate it into my canon.)

Longpost under the cut. (Really longpost, I got a little carried away. Yikes.)

First:

The Hooded Figure. And:

The Groundskeeper. (I pulled these off of Google Images for comparison purposes only and would like to replace them with my own screenshots at some point so that I know graphics settings are consistent, but here they are for now.)

Not only are they both Breton women, but a lot about their faces is the same. They have the same chin, the same eyebrows, extremely close facial structures, etc. But the most convincing thing for me was the way that they both speak. They both use the same distinctive cadence when they talk, and I found it fairly noticeable. (Hooded Figure, Groundskeeper.) Of course, you speak to them so far apart that this was something I overlooked during my first playthrough, but after someone pointed it out... let’s just say I’m convinced they’re the same person.

So what does this mean? Meridia sent the Vestige to their death. Now, as much as I want a chance to punch her in game, I don’t think this was done maliciously. I think she sought out someone to be her champion, and she knew that the Vestige had pretty good odds of being able to handle being Soul Shriven without going feral, and was a good enough fighter to take on Molag Bal (albeing with the help of the Amulet of Kings) and win. So she decided to stack the deck in her favor and use you as a tool to knock the Lord of Schemes down a peg. And it worked! Still a little fucked up, but I guess you can’t necessarily fight fair when it comes to dealing with a guy who calls himself the “Lord of Brutality”.

That’s honestly one of the most interesting things about Meridia’s character to me. She doesn’t necessarily seem to be good or evil, at least not in a way that makes sense to the denizens of Nirn. But she will do whatever it takes to win. Whether that’s manipulating people into doing what she wants (see Darien at the end of Summerset and the journal where he says she promised him freedom) or even (accidentally?) killing her one of her most devoted followers due to collateral damage (iirc, Dynar dies as a side effect of the Light of Meridia and not being in the ‘safe zone’, correct me if I’m mistaken).

But how does this figure into Ae’s story? I’ve taken some liberties with the Hooded Figure quest to make it fit more neatly into who she is as a character, but the basic gist of it is this: she is, at this point, a lieutenant in the Lion Guard with her own squad of ten people. They, being run by someone who Emeric happens to be fond of (he spoils Ae a little bit), have several unique functions, and one of them is to help the people of High Rock where they need it. So when they’re stopped in Daggerfall for a bit and this woman tells Ae that she’s been hearing about strange disappearances of people in the forests near Camlorn, she takes the squad and goes, even if she’s a little suspicious of this woman, particularly after she gives this info and then just portals away.

They all die. They run right into a Worm Cult ambush, and all ten of them end up sacrificed. So Aellai watches nine of the people closest to her die, and then turn into husks in Coldharbour, and she figures out that she was set up, so she swears that she will bring that woman to justice for doing this. The Hooded Figure, and bringing her to justice, almost becomes an obsession for her while she’s trapped in Coldharbour before Lyris helps her break out. So imagine her horror when she gets back to Daggerfall and starts asking around about this woman and no one else has ever seen her. Letting go of that drive for vengeance is hard, but she makes graves for the rest of her squadron and begins to come to peace with it. After all, there’s a lot of people out there who need her help right now, and a lot of different murder cults running around. However, while the DC MQ stuff takes the forefront, she never forgets about that woman.

Eventually, Aellai makes it back to Coldharbour and finds the Hollow City, and then she meets the Groundskeeper. It takes her a while to figure it out, but eventually she realizes why this woman seems so familiar to her when she’s certain she’s never met her before. This is the woman who sent her entire squad to die, who she’s sworn vengeance upon. She kind of keeps this information to herself because she’s not sure what to do with it; the Groundskeeper is helping them now, and even if Ae knows she isn’t what she seems, she’s not sure if she could convince anyone else of that - not to mention that now that she’s figured out this woman is more than a simple cultist, she isn’t sure exactly what she is yet.

And then she puts the pieces together after talking to the people she meets in Coldharbour and realizes that the Groundskeeper is Meridia a little bit before the reveal. And she definitely can’t say anything after that. They need Meridia’s help to fight Molag Bal, not to mention that so many people in the Hollow City still worship her and she probably couldn’t fight her successfully as it is. So vengeance waits another day.

All of this gets forgotten about for a while, during which she’s busy searching for Darien/general hero business in a few different places. And then Summerset happens. She’s almost willing to forgive Meridia if she lets Darien go free, but then she doesn’t. He has to sacrifice himself, and then she finds the journal, and she lowkey flips. Aellai marches right back into the shrine by Shimmerene and just kind of starts half-arguing, half-begging her. One of the things that she swears, among others, in exchange for Darien’s freedom, is that she will never mention the fact that she knows that Meridia got her friends killed or try to take revenge for it.

That deal definitely doesn’t end up the way that she wanted it, but I’ll talk more about that later, this is super super long as it is.

[grillpartszone-blog]

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[nxtherold]

Random Facts & Trivia

A lot of NPCs are mentioned here, some of my own creation. For info on them, see my NPC page here.

Topics briefly mentioned: Daeris’s powers and inhuman traits, views on religion & the Daedra, political views, opinions on the Dark Brotherhood and it’s purpose, and some friends & family headcanons.

Daeris's pupils appear to reflect no light.

Daeris is immune to poison and disease. She is also immune to the effects of alcohol, a fact she considers unfortunate.

Daeris blames Meridia as much as Nocturnal for what happened to Darien. Justified or not, she has no intent on forgiving or even trying to understand Meridia's reasoning.

Daeris kept the Augur of the Obscure after helping the Psijics. She takes it on adventures often, but sometimes it stays behind at her house to watch over the other relics and treasures she possesses.

Daeris and Kaeri and close friends and visit each other often. They have similar ideas about the ideal political future of Tamriel and use their influence to work together to improve relations between Cyrodiil, the Dominion, and the Covenant. Though not on as friendly terms, Eofstre Reachblood works with them on behalf of the Pact.

Honora Bloodthorn tracked her down to get revenge for the death of her husband, Angof the Gravesinger, but gave up her initiative after being bested. Honora truthfully didn't have ill will toward Daeris for Angof's death and didn't care much for revenge besides the consequences it would have on the succession of Clan Bloodthorn. The two became friends, and Honora stayed with Daeris for a while so she could explore Tamriel before returning to her clan.

Daeris's shadow magic does not manifest like true shadow magic as it is a different type of magic unique to her and Nocturnal alone. Though she is capable of using "normal" shadow magic, most often she uses Nocturnal's magic. It manifest as matte, formless substance as black as night that spreads across her body depending on how she manipulates it and what she uses it for. Covering her full body can allow her to meld into shadows while covering parts can allow her to fade sections of herself from reality or protect the covered sections like armor. The shadows she wields can be as corporeal or ethereal as she wishes due to the inter-dimensional properties of the magic, so their purposes can range from stealth and camouflage to defense and unorthodox weaponry. (For visual reference: think of the black symbiote from Spiderman but completely matte with permanent smoke-like wisps swirling from the surface.)

Daeris thinks the alliance war is little more than a continental pissing contest. She couldn't care less which of the three alliances wins over the others. She thinks all the fighting is pointless and that Tamriel should be able to exist without its separate nations constantly being annexed and emancipated in a fruitless cycle of war. Though she helps the Covenant with some of their gripes, her aid doesn't extend past their domestic threats.

In the same vein as the previous statement, Daeris is entirely against the expansion of the Empire. She thinks that the current state of Tamriel broken into different nations with unique rulers and governments is what's best for the continent in the future. With the entire continent unified under one banner, it'd become extremely susceptible to a tyrant ruler that would kill trade, control the market, and police the people of the empire in a way that robbed them of true freedoms. She knows it's idealistic to think that all these separate nations could forever coexist without conflict, but she favors having different nations and systems over one that controls everything. After becoming a diplomat, she strongly encourages trade and alliances over conquest and isolation. (And of course, as we all know, the empire eventually reforms and her political ideals go to waste.)

Daeris is fairly neutral about the Brotherhood's purpose as a religious sect vs a business; a divisive topic in the Brotherhood. She believes that organization was founded for the purpose of honoring Sithis and that ignoring the reverent aspects of it and making concessions for the sake of business would make them no different from the Morag Tong. However, she also believes that while the organization should not stray from the will of Sithis, it was his intent for the Dark Brotherhood to be a business in the first place, and thus the business aspects should not be disparaged.

In line with the above views, she holds the Night Mother above any matron or member of the Black Hand. However, her acknowledgement of the Night Mother's authority does not extend to reverence. Sithis is the only being entwined with the organization that she recognizes to hold any true power, and she believes that even the Night Mother herself could be replaced if Sithis deemed it so.

Daeris is indifferent about most religions. Before Summerset, she practiced some semblance of reverance towards Nocturnal and kept a respectful stance towards most other Daedric Princes. After Summerset, she completely turns on all of the Daedra and begins to despise them, and she also picks up practices and public reverence of the Imperial Divines if only for the sake of appearances. She believes they're definitely present, but that they don't have as much power over Tamriel as a lot of people believe whether through their own indifference or inability. They're not going to smite her for her immorality or her lack of reverence. Her most revered deity is Sithis even after leaving the Dark Brotherhood, as death has been the only certainty for her.

Daeris stopped aging early in her twenties. Despite being ageless and inhumanly resilient, she is not truly immortal and can die like anyone else.

Daeris has regenerative capabilities, owing to her lack of scars. She has to put effort into healing herself, however, and cannot do it subconsciously. Critical wounds are more dangerous to her because of the distraction they pose rather than the immediate threat of death. The best way to defeat her is to incapacitate her.

Through all of the Urzara family's public service and charitability, there is also a very dark and secret section of their history. Though unknown to the public and many of the family members themselves, the Urzara family has several links to the Dark Brotherhood; mainly through military alliances and marriages. Among such are the Caerellius family from which Hestrana was born and the Terenus family whom Viatrix's husband Letreius was from, though there have been more since the organization's original formation. Only members of the Urzara family married to connected family members seem to know, as most still publicly denounce the organization despite the unseen protection they've garnered through their connections.

[tonal-modulator]

some thoughts about the tribunal's role in the daedric plot

(spoilers for ESO Morrowind, CWC, and Summerset)

so I'm playing through summerset on my Nice Dunmer Girl™ Talvini who follows the Tribunal, primarily Seht, and is just generally a rule-follower. and I'd been half-laughing thinking like idk if she'll be able to handle the part where you have to make deals with daedric princes and then go report your progress to sotha sil; she'll probably have a heart attack.

and tbh that interaction has always been weird to me, because Sotha "Destruction of the Daedra" Sil just says like "a bold move" and then continues with the conversation. but it's especially weird when you're playing a Dunmer who is basically expressly forbidden by Sotha Sil and his partners from doing exactly what you did, and he's just chill with it.

so i tried to imagine what the conversation would have been like if the game took your character's race into account or if there were a way to pick your character's religion or something, and how Sotha Sil would actually respond to the savior of Clockwork City coming in a panicking sobbing mess apologizing profusely and expecting him to kill them for heresy

and it made me realize that at least in that particular situation (where the Vestige is a House Dunmer who's loyal to the Three), the Tribunal kind of dropped the ball.

like, why did the Tribunal place themselves as gods? as far as I understand, it's because they thought the daedra were at best unworthy of the people's worship, and at worst dangerous, and the tribunal wanted their people to have better gods and so they decided to be those better gods.

so then Talvini is faced with a situation where she has no choice but to make an open-ended deal with the Prince of Bargains, and then go negotiate with Mephala of all Princes, one of the three who were specifically supposed to have been replaced in Dunmer life by the Tribunal, and Mephala threatens to kill her multiple times just for daring to address hir. but Tal knows if she doesn't make these deals, Nocturnal will destroy the multiverse. so she's basically like "well this is illegal and dangerous and I'm going to anger the Three but it's better than everyone being dead," and does it anyway.

and Seht's on artaeum working on his own part of the project, and the other two are apparently aware of the situation, and none of them thought to check in on the Prisoner—who has earned the titles Hand of Almalexia, Savior of Clockwork City, and Champion of Vivec through her service to them—to protect her from getting manipulated into daedric deals, which is their job. like I know they had things to do but like, they also had to protect their subject and they didn't and she has to suffer unduly for it. and she goes to tell Seht what happened and all he has to say is "a bold move."

like I'm not even complaining about the writing or anything bc I know they're not going to rewrite everything for the possibility that your character is a Dunmer, but like from an in-universe perspective, the Tribunal really h*cked up.

[fanesavin]

The High Inquisitor has a meeting with the Prelate concerning the findings of his investigation.

[ (x) Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 (x) | Part 4 | Part 5  (x) | Part 6 (x) | Part 7 | Part 8 (x) | Part 9 (x) |Part 10 (x) | Part 11 (x) (x) ]

@teddyaynesworth

Fane let Bellamy and Faye go, turning about and heading in the direction of the Prelate’s office. The nearer he got to the room the heavier the conversation with Lady Florent earlier in the day weighed on his shoulders. You cannot serve justice and peace. And yet, did he not swear to give the former, never the latter. Moving up the winding staircase until he reached the door in question and raised a clenched fist to knock before he entered. “I’m sorry to bother you Prelate, but I have urgent business to discuss with you.” Was this a mistake? Could he trust the man he was going to speak with? Fane didn’t rightly know, but the Prelate would play a role in determining the Raj the people called for and Fane was worried about the outcome.

Prelate Theodore "Inquisitor! I’d expected your work on behalf of the Council would have you occupied day and night.“ Theodore moved closer to Fane, thinning his eyes as he inspected the man’s face, the exhaustion inscribed on features that were doing their best to maintain order and fulfill duty. "Then again – it looks as though you’ve been racing through the candles already. Come, man, get off your feet for a moment. Have some wine.” The Prelate gestured towards one of the heavy chairs at his table, pouring them both his green wine. “Tell me what your concerns are. Does it have to do with your findings about the crown?”

Fane had been burning the candle at both ends and while he attempted to maintain a presentable appearance as befit his rank there were signs of the toll. Equally growing more restless the more he learned. Too many moving wheels and gears. The offer to sit took a moment to be considered but ultimately he shook his head, "I doubt I'd be able to sit still long enough." But the wine he did accept, taking a small sip, strong and a touch sour but it gave him a point to focus on. "As you well know, the late High Raj wished to have his coronation crown refurbished, that refurbishment happened here in the capitol with the Guild's best blacksmith who after several visits has confirmed the rig containing the venom was not present prior to its departure on the journey... The journey was clearly the most obvious point of weakness, and I've worked to confirm that the crown used in the ceremony was not the same one that left the Capitol at the beginning of its tour of the kingdoms. It was counterfeited and replaced."

As he’d said, Fane wasn’t able to stand still for the duration, starting to pace back and forth. “We know the crown went to and stayed longest in Blackspire, Summerset, the Kesleylands and Hathurana. It also had brief stays in Honeywild, the High Peninsula and the Eades… But in two of these locations I’ve come to learn the Captains left the crown unguarded...” He drew in a long breath turning back to the Prelate, “that was in Summerset and the Kesleylands.”

Prelate Theodore steepled his fingers as he listened to Fane's tense report, the words spooling out like coins on a money string -- clanking against each other, each heavy with value. "You've acquitted yourself most honourably," Theodore said, wanting to preface any further discussion with that accolade. It was a thankless task the Inquisitor had been given, and he'd clearly thrown himself body and soul into performing it to the absolute limits of his well-proven ability. "If we can count anything in this situation as fortunate, it's that we had you on hand to conduct this investigation." Picking up his wine, Theodore sipped it as he collected his thoughts. "Summerset and Kesleyland; one allied with the Forty Isles whose Grand Lady was subject to an attack, the other peopled with anti-witch zealots who do nothing but tarnish the name of their House." He raised an eyebrow at Fane. "If one was inclined towards the bolder set of evidence, it would look fair damning for the Kesleys, wouldn't it?"

Fane allowed himself a minute humourless smile but took the moment to catch himself. “I was charged with finding justice and I hope it is found.” The Inquisitor grew quiet as he let the Prelate think equally knowing the worth of silence. “Unfortunately, that’s just the issue," Fane stopped by one of the map tables his eyes drifting over the different Kingdoms "whoever carried this out was calculated and cunning. Why would someone go to all this effort and intricacy only to draw so much attention to themselves by trying to kidnap the grand-lady and then staging a coup in the keep barely days after the murder of the Raj?" Fane shook his head, "it doesn't make sense. Which is what leads me to believe Summerset is the more likely location that the crown was swapped.”

Prelate Theodore nodded, his voice wry when he replied to Fane's pinning the Summerset as the most likely culprit. "I'd have preferred if it were the Kesleys," he admitted. "Their House is chaotic and not well-liked or respected, especially after their antics these past few days. Summerset ... it's a kingdom with storied history, an admired Grand Lady, and strong ties to our most sprawling and economically virile nation of the Isles." Theodore frowned at the table, a knot of wood that hadn't been sanded down to lie flush with the rest. "Should we make accusations of the Summerset, we will have but once chance to make it stick." 

Fane sighed through his nose, "aye as I wish it was too." Fane continued to ponder the map, "Summerset and the Kesleys have always had long-standing rivalry have they not?" He grimaced at the mention of accusations, "that's the issue Prelate, I'm not sure I have enough to make an accusation and know it's the correct individual taking the blame." Fane straightened leaving the table, his features grim "there's more, we know that the princes of the Isles were in attendance at Summerset. The Forty Isles Captain admitted as much under interrogation from his Commander - he was bribed with forty isles coin to leave the crown while they were in Summerset while the other guard was diverted with a distraction… He took it as the briber implied the work was for the Queen’s Consort. The man unfortunately managed to find a way take his life in captivity before we had a chance to question him further… Equally, the counterfeit crown bore the mark of the forty isles.” 

Prelate Theodore sat up straighter, his frown deepening. "You mean to tell me that this counterfeit crown, the one fitted with the means for murdering the High Raj, had a visible mark of the Forty Isles?" Theodore rose from his seat, now, moving to the map table as well as though if they both scrutinized it enough, the secrets of its cartography would enlighten them. "Then either the Princes are becoming uncharacteristically slovenly in their dabblings in intrigue, or someone is attempting to shift blame to them."

Fane gave a slight nod of his head, "aye, equally the journeyman of the blacksmith in the Capitol that completed the refurbishment of the crown hailed from Summerset. She had to return there apparently to fetch her sister, only, she never to returned. It's quite a coincidence that the only other person to see the schematics for the crown and how it would be refashioned never returned... The amount of evidence continues to overwhelmingly stack up against Summerset." But he had to agree with the Prelate, it hearkened back to his earlier statement about the Kesleys drawing attention to themselves. "I can't say I'm so familiar with the younger Cardero but I've known Prince Iann for a fair few decades now. His son's been one of my wards and the man is as cunning as anyone in his subterfuge. I know the Raj defeated him in battle during the wars but I honestly can't admit to seeing him leaving such blatant evidence that would bring him and his House to ruin. The man's many things but an idiot he is not." He grew quiet, there was one piece of evidence he had yet to share. Finishing his wine he set it down, he settled into silence once more as he weighed up something with himself "there's one more thing... But... I can't I can see where it might fit in the larger puzzle if it even fits anywhere at all...."

"No, the Driftwood Prince is no fool. Liar and pirate he might be, and set to inherit a vast amount of wealth and far-reaching influence, but not a fool." Theodore tucked his hands into his long flared sleeves. "One might almost wish he was, eh, Lord Savin? At least then we would be assured of him accidentally showing his hand in this affair." His gaze swept along the archipelago of the Greater Isles, out through the dotted scatter of the rest that made up the Forty. "Instead of being obliged to consider the possibility that he's clever enough to clear himself of suspicion by making the reasons to suspect him far too obvious." He sighed and stepped away, moving to one of the tall panelled windows. "You may as well divulge all of your information, Lord Savin," he said. "Whether it adds another snarl to this tangle or not."

Fane made a quiet noise of agreement. "And considering he's set to inherit that wealth and his father's seat why would he wish to squander it with an ill attempted plan such as this?" He studied the ocean between the Isles and the main continent, he'd never liked sea-faring much and the Isles were a far cry from his own lifestyle. "You heard about the Kesley coup, the lord responsible ended up being taken to the dungeons for further questioning... Only to end up being found with his throat sliced from ear to ear." A grim death as any, Fane stood up seeming hesitant to speak but having no reason not to share what he'd learned. "My men that were guarding the night of his death reported that the Grand Lady was the last to visit the man alive and that she had a strange hooded figure accompanied her on this particular journey... She happened to claim to be there on my behalf... Which, I can say is untrue... No effort was made to bribe the guards however, which was either quite deliberate or a mistake..." He shifted, feeling uncomfortable as he spoke the words. "Perhaps she had reason for being there... They did attempt to kidnap her, and I would never wish to presume about such matters without more evidence if there even is indeed any to be uncovered... Unfortunately, my attempts to investigate such things is where I've come up dry, considering the Kesleys are all six feet under now... I did hope Lady Florent might be of assistance -- I know you and her were to be seated on the Raj's council and of her position as Master of Whisperers. Unfortunately, as she informed me earlier today she is of the belief justice and peace can't both be served." 

That certainly sounded like something Ciara would say, particularly to a person like the Inquisitor -- whose entire position was intended to bludgeon information from suspects with expedience rather than finesse. It was a good thing he was facing the window; that meant the Prelate could indulge himself in a smile before assuring Fane, "Our Master of Whispers occupies a liminal space both physically and mentally. It's necessary to her position, and it also makes her suspicious of ... the co-existence of certain systems of governance. Or rather, the possibility of co-existence." Theodore turned from the window to look at Fane. "We can amend that objection easily, you and I. The Dawnguard can continue to serve the cause of justice, and the Cloverry will devote itself to instilling peace." The Prelate motioned between them. "We can be the fulcrum. I am a creature of politicking, Lord Savin; there's no need for you to wear yourself down when it comes to that side of the equation. But we can continue to share information."

Fane merely made a non-committal noise concerning Ciara. "Well, unless you can convince her to part with any secrets for the sake of finding the person responsible for all this, I'm not sure we have a case." His eyes drifted to the window, and the chants and cries going up from the streets beyond. "Which leaves us with a conundrum, doesn't it? The people want and expect us to give them a High Raj."

Prelate Theodore corrected in a firm, sure voice, "The people want and expect the Cloverry to give them a High Raj. And the Cloverry is already tabulating appropriate candidates, you can be sure." 

Fane inclined his head in polite deference for his mistake, "aye you're right, I apologise... It's been a long week."

Prelate Theodore waved a hand before returning it to his sleeve. "Not needed, Lord Savin. It's become second nature to me to remind people that appointing the High Raj is the province of the Cloverry -- I know that it's something you are well aware of. It's been a long week for me, as well." Theodore rolled his shoulders back, then forward again before straightening. "Please, don't trouble yourself anymore with the matter of the counterfeit crown and where the culpability lies. The Council will now take that matter on board. You've ... done plenty, for a man reluctant to be pressed into wartime service again."

Fane straightened his posture lifting his chin. "No doubt," politics nor the game were Fane's area of expertise so he was glad to pass the mantle on to someone else. "I've done what was asked of me, if it bears fruit then I'll rest easy. But, should you require my service for anything else, just ask."

Prelate Theodore gave a halfway nod, but then reconsidered and stepped closer to Fane, extending his cold, elegant hand. "You've been invaluable, Lord Savin," he said with the calm sincerity that the most effective clergy aspired to. "The Council will always consider you a trusted member and treasured asset."

Fane was admittedly surprised by the gesture, rare was it for the Prelate to give acknowledgement as he was presently. Fane took the proffered hand, far less elegantly but then again, his hands never were meant for building or shaping empires. "I appreciate your faith Prelate, and I hope by the end of all this we come out with some semblance of the peace we hoped to craft by being here." After shaking the man's hand, Fane naturally stepped back. "Please, keep me informed of any further developments that happen to arise... Otherwise, by your permission I shall take my leave of you."

[travelingtheusa]

SOUTH DAKOTA

2022 Aug 16 (Tue) – There was a thick fog blanketing the campground when we got up this morning.  It was pretty much burned off by 8 a.m.   Again, the bedroom slide wouldn’t work and Paul spent time trying to get the system working.  We left earlier than usual this morning.  It was just 8:50 a.m. when we pulled out. 

       The weather was pretty clear for the drive and there was more construction along the way.  We arrived at Ellsworth AFB FamCamp at 11:15 a.m.  It was too early for the normal check-in – that’s 2 p.m.  They said the check-out time is 11 a.m. so our site should be open and they let us in.  When we got to our assigned site, there was a camper in it.  I called the office and after some back and forth, we were able to set up in another campsite.  It’s a better one anyway; more level.  It has a concrete surface and full hookup with 50-amp service.

      While setting up, Paul discovered that the water valve that directs the water either to the onboard tank or direct to the water system was broken.  *sigh*  We waited too long to get another RV.  After set up, we then ran into Rapid City to find the part.  The first two places we stopped didn’t have it and we were redirected to other merchants.  We stopped to have lunch at Sickies Garage.  It was a motorcycle bar.  Apparently this town is on the road from Sturgis and much of the town – including the restaurant – advertises things for motorcycles.  They had all kinds of tee shirts for sale.  The place was decorated with whole bikes and trucks hanging from the ceiling and lots and lots of signs.

      After lunch, we drove to Summerset only to find they didn’t have the part either.  Discouraged, Paul was going to give up but we had one more place to check out in the next town over in Piedmont.  Voila!  They had the part.  We bought it and returned to the campground.  Paul was able to replace the valve and we now have water service again.  Now, if we can only figure out the bedroom slide malfunction.

      Paul washed the truck and trailer.  We also did the laundry in the free (no charge) machines. 

2022 Aug 15 (Mon) – We packed up and left Mitchell for Presho.  We are staying in New Frontier RV Park.  When we checked in, there were only two RVs in the entire place and we think one was where the owner lives full time.  It is a very lovely campground with trees and grass and nice layout.  We have a pull-through site with FHU and 50-amp electric.

      I heated left-overs for lunch before we drove into town.  We quickly ran into town first thing in the morning to have breakfast then to a gift shop to get a Christmas ornament from the Corn Palace.  We never got one during our last visit to the area in 2018.  We finally left the campground at 11 a.m.  We had lunch and bought two delicious looking muffins for breakfast tomorrow.

      The drive was OK.  Paul got a dashboard warning about the ABS.  It was raining and I guess the road was slick.  There was plenty of construction we had to drive around with rough roadway.

2022 Aug 14 (Sun) – The bedroom slide broke again.  Paul spent the morning making repairs and getting the motor back in place.  Finally, we were able to hit the road at 11 a.m.  We left Welcome, MN and arrived in Mitchell, SD at 2:20 p.m.  There were some sprinkles during the drive and the sky remained heavy and threatening but it wasn’t bad.  Paul pointed out that the turbo was giving him some trouble but didn’t expound on it.  Later, he said he thinks the cruise control is what’s acting up. 

      After set up, we drove into town.  Mitchell is a pretty large town.  The Corn Palace, a tourist attraction, is here.  We got fuel, shopped for groceries at WalMart, Paul picked up some repair items at Tractor Supply, and we had lunch in a Mexican restaurant.

      When we got back, the TV was acting up.  Guess we have moved into the gremlin phase of our travels.  Now, things will break for a while until we get back on an even keel.  Our rig is 5 years old and we have been traveling full time in it so I guess it’s time for wear and tear to show.  Same thing with the truck.  It now has over 220,000 miles on it.

[nxtheromoved]

Daeris: Random Facts & Trivia

A lot of NPCs are mentioned here, some of my own creation. For info on them, see my NPC page here.

Topics briefly mentioned: Daeris’s powers and inhuman traits, views on religion & the Daedra, political views, opinions on the Dark Brotherhood and it’s purpose, and some friends & family headcanons.

Daeris’s pupils appear to reflect no light.

Daeris is immune to poison and disease. She is also immune to the effects of alcohol, a fact she considers unfortunate.

Daeris blames Meridia as much as Nocturnal for what happened to Darien. Justified or not, she has no intent on forgiving or even trying to understand Meridia’s reasoning.

Daeris kept the Augur of the Obscure after helping the Psijics. She takes it on adventures often, but sometimes it stays behind at her house to watch over the other relics and treasures she possesses.

Daeris and Kaeri and close friends and visit each other often. They have similar ideas about the ideal political future of Tamriel and use their influence to work together to improve relations between Cyrodiil, the Dominion, and the Covenant. Though not on as friendly terms, Eofstre Reachblood works with them on behalf of the Pact.

Honora Bloodthorn tracked her down to get revenge for the death of her husband, Angof the Gravesinger, but gave up her initiative after being bested. Honora truthfully didn’t have ill will toward Daeris for Angof’s death and didn’t care much for revenge besides the consequences it would have on the succession of Clan Bloodthorn. The two became friends, and Honora stayed with Daeris for a while so she could explore Tamriel before returning to her clan.

Daeris’s shadow magic does not manifest like true shadow magic as it is a different type of magic unique to her and Nocturnal alone. Though she is capable of using “normal” shadow magic, most often she uses Nocturnal’s magic. It manifest as matte, formless substance as black as night that spreads across her body depending on how she manipulates it and what she uses it for. Covering her full body can allow her to meld into shadows while covering parts can allow her to fade sections of herself from reality or protect the covered sections like armor. The shadows she wields can be as corporeal or ethereal as she wishes due to the inter-dimensional properties of the magic, so their purposes can range from stealth and camouflage to defense and unorthodox weaponry. (For visual reference: think of the black symbiote from Spiderman but completely matte with permanent smoke-like wisps swirling from the surface.)

Daeris thinks the alliance war is little more than a continental pissing contest. She couldn’t care less which of the three alliances wins over the others. She thinks all the fighting is pointless and that Tamriel should be able to exist without its separate nations constantly being annexed and emancipated in a fruitless cycle of war. Though she helps the Covenant with some of their gripes, her aid doesn’t extend past their domestic threats.

In the same vein as the previous statement, Daeris is entirely against the expansion of the Empire. She thinks that the current state of Tamriel broken into different nations with unique rulers and governments is what’s best for the continent in the future. With the entire continent unified under one banner, it’d become extremely susceptible to a tyrant ruler that would kill trade, control the market, and police the people of the empire in a way that robbed them of true freedoms. She knows it’s idealistic to think that all these separate nations could forever coexist without conflict, but she favors having different nations and systems over one that controls everything. After becoming a diplomat, she strongly encourages trade and alliances over conquest and isolation. (And of course, as we all know, the empire eventually reforms and her political ideals go to waste.)

Daeris is fairly neutral about the Brotherhood’s purpose as a religious sect vs a business; a divisive topic in the Brotherhood. She believes that organization was founded for the purpose of honoring Sithis and that ignoring the reverent aspects of it and making concessions for the sake of business would make them no different from the Morag Tong. However, she also believes that while the organization should not stray from the will of Sithis, it was his intent for the Dark Brotherhood to be a business in the first place, and thus the business aspects should not be disparaged.

In line with the above views, she holds the Night Mother above any matron or member of the Black Hand. However, her acknowledgement of the Night Mother’s authority does not extend to reverence. Sithis is the only being entwined with the organization that she recognizes to hold any true power, and she believes that even the Night Mother herself could be replaced if Sithis deemed it so.

Daeris is indifferent about most religions. Before Summerset, she practiced some semblance of reverance towards Nocturnal and kept a respectful stance towards most other Daedric Princes. After Summerset, she completely turns on all of the Daedra and begins to despise them, and she also picks up practices and public reverence of the Imperial Divines if only for the sake of appearances. She believes they’re definitely present, but that they don’t have as much power over Tamriel as a lot of people believe whether through their own indifference or inability. They’re not going to smite her for her immorality or her lack of reverence. Her most revered deity is Sithis even after leaving the Dark Brotherhood, as death has been the only certainty for her.

Daeris stopped aging early in her twenties. Despite being ageless and inhumanly resilient, she is not truly immortal and can die like anyone else.

Daeris has regenerative capabilities, owing to her lack of scars. She has to put effort into healing herself, however, and cannot do it subconsciously. Critical wounds are more dangerous to her because of the distraction they pose rather than the immediate threat of death. The best way to defeat her is to incapacitate her.

Through all of the Urzara family’s public service and charitability, there is also a very dark and secret section of their history. Though unknown to the public and many of the family members themselves, the Urzara family has several links to the Dark Brotherhood; mainly through military alliances and marriages. Among such are the Caerellius family from which Hestrana was born and the Terenus family whom Viatrix’s husband Letreius was from, though there have been more since the organization’s original formation. Only members of the Urzara family married to connected family members seem to know, as most still publicly denounce the organization despite the unseen protection they’ve garnered through their connections.

[krahduzun]

OC Rambling 6: Haldrion

Haldrion(His actual name, just Hal to most, but Haldrin to his family) was born to a pair of altmer in Summerset with his twin brother Ludricelmo, but he was born with a deformed spine, marking him as a hulkynd. They couldn’t bring themselves to be rid of him, so they kept him hidden away, but still took care of him.

Rest is going under a read more. CW for death, abuse/abandonment and alcohol

One day his brother died(he was hit by a carriage) and his father saw opportunity in this tragedy. He had heard of a mage in Bangkorai known as The Mender who was rumored to be able to fix just about any bodily malady, from missing teeth to whole limbs.

After the funeral, he took Hal and Ludricelmo to The Mender, and the mage replaced Hal’s spine with his brother’s(and left one hell of a scar on his back as a result).

When they arrived back in Summerset, Hal’s mother was outraged with what had been done and reported her husband to the guards for desecration of her son’s corpse and cast Hal out into the wilds, hoping he’d be eaten by a griffon or something.

Hal was picked up by a Nord sailor in Shimmerene named Hrondulf who brought him home to Eastmarch where he was raised by Hrondulf and his wife Margitte alongside their son, Aeldsvir.

Nords raising an altmer was seen as a bit of a joke to some, but with the backing of his family(mainly his brother) Hal was able to make his way in the world.

When their mother died, Hrondulf sent them out into the world, saying he needed to be alone for a long while. Aeldsvir headed east to wander, and Hal caught a ship back to Summerset.

The night before they parted, after copious amounts of ale, he got it in his head that he was going to go find his birth mother. Let her know he didn’t die. Find her, walk right up to her and say "Hey, ma! Guess who didn't get turned into griffinshit!?"

It seemed like a good idea at the time, less so when that night’s ale and morning’s meager breakfast ended up in the sea on the way there.

When he arrived in Summerset, after realizing he had no idea how to even begin his search(he couldn’t remember her name or even where she lived) he befriended a performer from the House of Reveries who talked him out of it that night. Hal took up some gigs with the performer’s crew to help pay for passage back home, even taking the name Splinter for a bit.

He later decided to take up travelling like his brother did after heading home for a bit, let his friend know of this, and when he was setting out to leave for Eastmarch, was approached by a strange dunmer at the port asking to come with.

The dunmer laughed and joked about how sad it was that it’s been only three days and Hal forgot all about him, and then introduced himself as Gedryn.

The two boarded the ship and have been travelling together since.