#TES fanfiction

[sigrid-of-solstheim]

Fanfiction writers be like:

"here's the immensely time consuming 100K word novel-length passion project I'm working on between my real life job and family! It eats up hundreds of hours of my one and only life, causes me emotional harm, and I gain basically nothing from it! Also I put it on the internet for free so anyone can read if they want. Hope you love it!" :)

[chappydev]

Account of the Battlemage - Testimony of the Founder of the Empire, Zurin Arctus, the Underking

(The following is the end result of what can only be described as brainworms. This is the resolution of my brainworms with regards to the infamous Arcturian Heresy. It is my attempt to resolve its internal contradictions with. You can find the original post on the teslore subreddit, here. In addition, I put it on AO3, so it has a permanent place to reside. You can find that here.)

Account of the Battlemage

Testimony of the Founder of the Empire, Zurin Arctus, the Underking

In High Rock, Zurin Arctus is born at a certain time to uncertain parents. He is raised in the Breton manner, learning magic and chivalry and history. He has talent in the Art, but he does not have a purpose.

In the closing days of the Second Era, he hears the Greybeards Shout. The world is broken, and it is time to put it back together again. But Zurin does not yet know his purpose. It passes through his mind like a dream, implanting a sense of destiny without explaining it. He continues to live in the world, but now that he knows it is broken, it is not the same.

As Zurin walked through a field, he felt an ashen wind. He turned to look upon it, and saw the form of a King in Ash. I am Wulfharth, he proclaims, the Underking (not Zurin Arctus). And Zurin trembles, for he sees the Soul of Man inside Wulfharth. He sees himself, he sees a man Breathe Royalty and turn jungles into paradise, and he sees a Star-Made Knight driven mad by the weight of Prophecy. He sees that he is Talos Stormcrown, but so are many others. But it is too much, and he forgets, only remembering one name: Ysmir.

The Ash-King remains with him, an invisible ally, whispering and urging Zurin forward. Seeking his destiny, he joins the court of the pretender-emperor Cuhlecain, who declares him Grand Battlemage. But it is not Cuhlecain that he serves.

He sees a man standing by Cuhlecain, a Breton with Nordic features. His name is Hjalti Early-Beard. And Zurin remembers, and sees that he is Ysmir, just as Wulfharth is Ysmir, just as Zurin is Ysmir. Just as the Star-Made Knight was Ysmir. He falls to his knees and weeps, as the Underking leaves him to join Hjalti.

From here, Zurin and Wulfharth are united in service. They know that Hjalti will usher in a new age of Man. Wulfharth speaks of destroying Mer and realizing Shor's vision. Zurin does not think much of this. To him, it is only unity that matters. Only Hjalti that matters.

At the gates of Old Hrol'dan, Zurin watched as arrows flew towards Hjalti. He trembled and shouted, fearing the end of their dream. But Hjalti had no fear. Hjalti Shouted, and as he did, the Underking flew to his side. Others saw only storm and wind, as if Kyne herself were protecting the general. But Zurin saw the Underking. Zurin saw Wulfharth, and he saw that he and Hjalti were Two-Become-One. His troops proclaimed him Talos, or Stormcrown, ruler of the Wind.

Hjalti finally takes notice of Zurin Arctus, and they converse. In each other, they see kindred spirits. Zurin comes to love Hjalti, and knows he is the one to save Tamriel, to repair what is broken. Hjalti sees in Zurin a useful tool, one who can take blame for what must come next. Wulfharth whispers to both that the Cuhlecain has lost his usefulness.

Thus, after taking the Imperial City, Zurin Arctus arranges for Cuhlecain's death. How it is done is forgotten, but perhaps it was Wulfharth, always eager to do dark deeds in service of destiny. Zurin crowns Hjalti Emperor of Cyrodiil, and he takes a new name for his new people: Tiber Septim. A fiction is crafted. To the Nords, he is the last King of Atmora. Wulfharth spreads this in the hearts and minds of the Nords, appearing in dreams. To the Cyrods, he is a Colovian warlord of virtue and honor. Zurin Arctus ensures this fiction is believed. The Breto-Nordic Hjalti is erased.

The realms of man are united. Skyrim and High Rock fall easily, almost willing to serve this future Man-God. Hammerfell is more difficult. Wulfharth, who appears as Tiber Septim, is the hard fist of the Empire. When diplomacy fails, he is the leader of the Legions. Septim is the mastermind, using cunning and diplomacy to achieve his ends. Zurin feels as though he is going mad, for only he can see that they are different. And yet his mind still knows they are the same. His obsession with Septim deepens.

Wulfharth declares he will have vengeance on the Mer-Gods of the East, the Tribunal. Septim is not sure. He does not think a war with Morrowind is worth it. Not even Reman Cyrodiil could conquer Resdayn, and he thinks it is not worth it. But Zurin Arctus is as obsessed as Wulfharth, for different reasons. He knew the secret of godhood was found in Morrowind, in ancient ruins of the dwarf-folk.

Together, Wulfharth and Arctus convince Septim to invade. The war is hard fought, and in the end, an Armistice is reached. Zurin thinks this is good; they got what they needed. Septim got his Ebony, and Zurin now has access to the ruins of the Dwemer. But Wulfharth wanted only to destroy the Tribunal. When he demands answers from Zurin, asks why he will not fulfill his destiny, Zurin laughs and dismisses him.

Zurin's obsession grows. His love for Tiber Septim drives him to find a way to defeat their last obstacle, the Aldmeri Dominion. To the Men of the Empire, this is a religious war, a final confrontation between Man and Mer. But to Arctus and Septim, it is nothing personal. They must unite Tamriel. Septim sends Arctus to Alinor, to negotiate treaties and promote integration. All the while, Arctus works on the mystery of Walk-Brass, so that Tiber Septim the man can become Talos Stormcrown the God.

Soon, the pieces are found, and Zurin contemplates the Divine Metaphysics. He finds the Egg of Time, and he comes to understand the Tribunal, Dagoth Ur, and the Heart. He sees the danger, but it is worth it. Tiber Septim must become a god. He rebuilds the Numidium, its parts gifted by the Warrior-Poet Vivec. He does not question why Vivec aids them. Wulfharth screams in silent rage.

There is one obstacle. The Numidium requires the Heart of Lorkhan, avatar of Man, to function. Zurin has dim memories of his vision. He remembers that he dreamed Wulfharth was Ysmir, and that Ysmir was not-quite-Lorkhan. Perhaps it would be enough. Tiber Septim and Zurin Arctus hatch a plot, and lure the Underking back to the Halls of the Colossus. They craft a soul gem, the Mantella, to house Ysmir.

Wulfharth sees the deception, but also opportunity. With the Numidium, he can destroy the Tribunal, and then Alinor, and wipe out Mer. He comes willingly. While he fights against Arctus and Septim, he knows it is his destiny to become Anumidium. Tiber Septim strikes the final blow, and his soul is captured in the Mantella. Only now does Zurin Arctus realize his error.

Tiber Septim, the man Zurin Arctus loved and followed, stabs Zurin through his empty chest and slays him.

The souls of Zurin and Wulfharth both become trapped in the Mantella. Zurin remembers their connection. Flashing before his eyes, he sees that he is Wulfharth, and that he is Tiber Septim. His thoughts are jumbled, and now he knows that Tiber Septim does not need the Numidium to be a god. He is Shor reborn, the Star-Made Knight. He is Wulfharth and he is Zurin Arctus. He is Ysmir, dragon of the North. He is Lorkhan.

The Numidium will be used to commit a great crime, to kill many elves. Zurin only wanted to gift his lover godhood, for the good of all. In horror, he watches. Wulfharth laughs as his goals are realized, and Zurin understands the nature of Lorkhan. He is the God of Man, but the God of Madness. He is the contradiction of Man and Mer personified. He sees the Star-Made Knight, and he understands what drove him mad. Tiber Septim sheds all that came before, to define new meaning for Man, in the name of ambition.

Tiber Septim has freed himself from his other aspects. No longer bound by Wulfharth's all-consuming hatred of elves. No longer chained by the Battlemage's idealism. The three are now one, and he is Ysmir in his totality. A God not of madness, nor a God of ideal, but a God of Man. He displays a fraction of his might and levels Alinor, and now Tamriel is his. He does this not because it is fate, but because he can.

Talos Stormcrown cannot fully destroy that which is part of his essence. While their soul is trapped, Zurin and Wulfharth have become one. They return as the Underking once more. Talos is not truly free of them. They remain the dark reflection of Talos, the side of his divinity He discarded, that He wishes the world to forget.

They will haunt the Septim dynasty until its dying days, because Talos cannot escape the past. The lies have been made reality, but the truth remains the truth. The Underking is Talos, and Talos is the Underking.

Zurin Arctus wrote this.

[redyn-nerevarine]

In the very earliest days of writing Chronicles of an Outlander (circa 2016), Redyn and Secunda were the only two main characters. Secunda had a huge obsessive crush on Redyn, but he always friend zoned her because 1) he was oblivious to her affections, and 2) was only interested in her as a friend.

[blackmonitor]

Alduin Inspired by Surrogate from @mighty-peacock and @thebeastinsideusallarchive

And also Daedras be Damned, from @mighty-peacock

Watch the (sky) tags!

[santiespeaks]

okay get THIS idea for an elder scrolls series @writing-wolves and i are working on:

he was supposed to be the nerevarine for his people, but the time just wasn't right, as he was an ashlander's child from cyrodiil (his mother was a dunmer from outside and his father was an ashlander, so technically, he's an outlander being raised in a different province), so azura settled on a khajiit and an argonian to "put her people in her place." one houses the moon and one houses the star, hence why there's two. kinda like an heir (arbashka, the khajiit) and a spare (first-snow, the argonian). with the help (and eventually betrayal) of first-snow's mentor avalia helshire, the breton archmage and leader of great house telvanni, they defeated dagoth ur, fulfilling the prophecy, but azura simply played the game. little did these two know that azura wanted a replacement -- one more fitting for her people.

ENTER dunmeri ravyndrus the dead, who paints his face to look like a skull, wears daedric armor as a statement and omen, with a scar under his left eye from a kagouti attack as a child, comes to skyrim to kill the "false incarnates" after azura appears to him and explains morrowind needs him now more than ever (the eruption and state of vvardenfell and of course the state of the empire, which he could give fuck all about), here's the location for the false incarnates, go kill them, shows the fuck up and kills arbashka and first-snow in combat, both at the same time, takes the ring and wears it without even being dealt a single blow and lives. he's now crowns himself the nerevarine.

his first task is to kill hiricine's illegitimate daughter, avalia helshire, because *looks at notes* something about a hunt maybe? maybe an invasion?????? *fumbles through notes* uh it's kinda *shuffles through cards desperately looking for an idea while sweating profusely* it's kinda up in the air but we working on it

anyway, ravyndrus changed his name from shanti to ravyndrus the dead to mock nords and their culture. he laughs at the empire's fall. of course an imperial couldn't get shit right. he views the aldmeri dominion as annoying but low-key wants to destroy them. argonians and khajiits are subhuman to him, but he does not view them as slaves -- rather just annoyances. bosmer and orismer are just embarrassments to the elven name. and redguards are about the only race he can tolerate because of their own battles and similarities to the dunmer. the tribunal's death he scoffed at, and when he heard the nerevarine had been chosen, he scoffed at that bullshit, too. fuck deities. fuck the aedra. fuck the daedra. he makes his own destiny.

i'll post some pictures later of our character on skyrim. we're gonna sit down, after we get our website off the ground, and write this shit out for you guys on our blog @stories-of-moon-and-star where we're about to start writing out different stories for people to read about our characters.

i'll do an info sheet later on each character from our stories. we've played III - V, about to play Online, and can't wait to delve into this shit.

[varlaisvea]

Winterhold Arch-Mage's quarters in the 2nd Era w/ ESO Housing (Happy Anniversary ESO!)

In honor of ESO's 10th anniversary today, I'm gonna share an example of something I did with maybe(?) my favorite game feature, the ESO Housing system.

I'm working on a fic (not yet published) that involves the Arch-Mage's quarters and the College of Winterhold in both the 4th and 2nd Eras. Inspired by writer's block, I decided to recreate the Arch-Mage's quarters in ESO. (We have not yet seen the College of Winterhold in ESO canon.)

Note to writers: some of the details I knew going in, but I actually got some new key details of the story out of this effort. If you're feeling stuck, it can't hurt to try switching up your medium :)

Due to the limitations of ESO's housing system and the boringness of Skyrim's decor, it's more of an homage than a direct 1:1, but I hope it feels loyal in spirit :) More pics (and unnecessary detail) under the cut!

(Sorry I forgot to turn off the Skyrim HUD.)

The addition of fireplaces, built-in bookshelves, a kitchen, and general fanciness are because of the absolute criminal underdecoration of the Arch-Mage's quarters in base Skyrim. (Which actually fits in my fic, but.)

Like, come on Skyrim, not even a fire in the cavernous bedroom of this enormous stone refrigerator on the edge of a freezing ocean?

Most of the architectural discrepancies, such as the 8-sided room vs. Skyrim's 12-sided room, are because of my choice of venue or because of the furnishing selection in ESO.

The saddest of those is the loss of all the cool arches and the dope vaulted ceilings. The most annoying of them (imo) is the non-matching stone. Otherwise Forbidden Stronghold lent itself so well to this task that i chose it over options that would have let me keep the ceilings.

But actually, most of the more glaring discrepancies are directly related to the lore of my fic :)

The alchemy garden is newly-planted in the 2nd Era portion of my fic! The fact that none of those plants are actually harvestable plants in either ESO or Skyrim is just due to ESO's selection of furnishings. But a lot of things aren't: the lighting source being a Silvenari Sap-Stone that grows out of a wisteria tree (which, notably, is alive), the little spring, the moon-sugar—all of those are part of the story, and I think there might be additional Important Plants in there before I'm finished. :)

Also, in my fic, the 4th Era Arch-Mage is the Dragonborn of course, but the 2nd Era Arch-Mage is the first Khajiit Arch-Mage of Winterhold. Because of this endeavor, I wrote a whole scene where he talks about his decor choices 😂 Might get left on the editor's floor, but the overall gist is: the more public-facing areas of the space are Nord-core, so as to not rock boats unnecessarily. As soon as you step into the study and living quarters, it's Khajiiti af, so as to rock boats the right amount.

i have no idea whether people will be interested in this, so I'm going to stop there, but there's more, obviously. And if you made it this far, thanks! And happy anniversary ESO! 🥳

[sigrid-of-solstheim]

Sometimes when I'm writing Nerio's journal I catch myself getting into poetic, flowery language and wonder if, realistically, she would actually take the time and energy amidst the Oblivion Crisis to be such an eloquent narrator. But then I remember she's an old fashioned Nord who comes from a culture with a strong oral tradition that considers story telling to be an art form, and I am reassured; of Course she would be over the top even in her own diary.

[matri4rch]

"Conflict of Interest"

How am I going to get these two in the same bed undressed? Idk. But it will happen.

This ✨WIP Wednesday✨ piece but finished

I love noses. -Doja Cat (I just thought it was funny, I love to draw noses w unconventionally attractive shapes please don't snipe me and throw me in a ditch. uwu)

[abstractredd]

Chapters: 2/? Fandom: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Lucien Lachance/Martin Septim Characters: Lucien Lachance, Martin Septim, Jauffre (Elder Scrolls), Ocato (Elder Scrolls) Additional Tags: Rare Pairings, where the FUCK are you Marcien nation wake up, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Forbidden Love, Introspection, not beta we die like... well. Summary:

It was hard to describe what it was they had, Martin and Lucien.

[redyn-nerevarine]

I made a cute little cover for Chronicles of an Outlander. I plan to do a painting of a proper cover.

[throughtrialbyfire]

“Cycle of the Serpent”

Chapter 28 - Malkoran

prev. chapter | index

preview:

In the guttural silence, he had too much time to think, and thought far too fast. The idle words conjured themselves in the crevices of his mind, the questions, the demand for an answer as to what the past few weeks had been, and the knowing that there would be no explanation. He thought to himself in the unsettled quiet, what did he know of necromancers?    Sadists, the lot of them, the response came to mind. Especially with the shining example which lay at the end of this winding temple carved into the mountain. Interrupters of aetherial slumber. The bastardizers of the dead, or the thieves of life for whatever purpose they saw fit. They tackled the divide of life and death, and attempted to wield power over both. Many of them turned to illegal body trades, or plucked battlefields like carrion birds. Pursuit of lichdom required many sacrifices, after all. Mostly, it was to continue twisted experiments in the dark caves and ruins where they made their homes. They would carry out the inhumane works, and they would worship the death that they brought.    He shed a backwards glance.   What did he know of Wyndrelis?

[yorksbooty]

Dragon's Nature Chapter Nineteen

This woman, who had decimated his army and turned the tide of war, devoured a god, tamed an army of dragons, had taken it upon herself to lead him to victory where he'd only found failure. This woman, this incredible woman, stood leaning against a table and panting hard, battlespell worn off, eyeing him carefully for his approval. As if she hadn't held his life in her hands before and could easily do so again. She looked at him as though she was a child pleading for praise. For all the power she held over him, he had this.

[daedrabait]

The sun never sets when you turn a blind eye...

Unofficial cover for the next few chapters of my story as it becomes more and more plot-driven <3

Dust and Dim Sunshine can be read here if you’re interested.

[radstormz]

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Fandoms: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Relationships: Female Hero of Kvatch | Champion of Cyrodiil/Martin Septim, Minor or Background Relationship(s)

Characters: Martin Septim, Baurus (Elder Scrolls), Jena (Elder Scrolls), Caroline (Elder Scrolls), Cyrus (Oblivion), Achille (Oblivion), Arcturus (Oblivion), Captain Steffan (Elder Scrolls), Female Hero of Kvatch | Champion of Cyrodiil

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Texting, Humor, Fluff, Secret Relationship, Sneaking Around

Summary: where did baurus' gin go???? the groupchat investigates.

for @da3drat <3

[lucius-the-sinful]

On the Other Side (Chapter 1)

Series: Ashblind (Part 3)

Rating: Teen & Up

Word Count: 473

Characters: Helon Drevus, Talyn Drevus, Synrik Drevus, Almythra Drevus

Tags: Riften, Windhelm, Gray Quarter, Orphans

Summary:

Helón stays in Riften for the spring and meets a nameless child.

Part 1: Up In Smoke | Part 2: Frozen Hours | Part 3: On the Other Side

[honkinghonkfriendfics]

Time Is Fleeting! Chapter 1 (technically) is finally up! I'm proud of this and I'm already working on the next few chapters, hope you all enjoy it!