#barlgruuf

[booksandblanketnests]

The civil war quest line in Skyrim always get to me when it comes to Whiterun.

I usually end up siding with the imperials for both personal and role play reasons. When General Tulius sends you off to Whiterun, Jarl Barlgruf will ask you to deliver an axe to Ulfric Stormcloak, basically as a gift and to test the waters in a way. When you do get to Wildhelm and try to deliver the axe on Barlgruufs behalf, Ulfric will apologize and turn you away. It’s important to mention that Ulfric and Barlgruuf used to be friends. And as far as I can tell, pretty good(and close) friends at that. I can only imagine how Barlgruuf feels when the Dragonborn shows up as a soldier and messenger in Whiterun, being told that his once close old friend plans to siege his home.

I can honestly see it in my mind. Barlgruuf offering his sword, asking his once friend to tell him it’s not true. Getting his sword pushed back into him, and told to stand. They cannot fight properly if he grovels, mourning a friendship that Ulfric feels is long over.

Both feel betrayed, but for entirely different reasons.

(Sorry if this doesn’t make sense I’m autistic and it’s been a long day) (on another note, do y’all have any thoughts?)

[novagallery]

val was a devil once. was almost a devil twice

[modeus-the-misanthrope]

(After installing the Middle Aged/Auntie Lydia mod.)

Jarl Barlgruuf the Greater: Hmmm. I need to give this wander warrior a housecarl, it's only right after they slayed an entire dragon to help defend my citizens. But they look like an absolute horndog of a Tgirl, and I wouldn't want them to end up in Breezehome, making the foundations rock. I'll assign them...Lydia! She just turned 40 afterall, and what virile young heroine would want to be with a fou-

The Dragonborn: (Turns around to reveal her CC backpack has several bumper stickers stating, "My other steed is your mom!", "Milf Hunter License owner", and "Certified Cougar Bait".)

Jarl Barlgruuf the Greater:

[crysdrawsthings]

For the FMK prompt: Elisif, Jarl Barlgruuf, Brynjolf? (AKA a grieving queen, 'I'm not getting involved!' Dad and (almost) everyone's favorite career criminal. 😂👏

Fuck-Marry-Kill/Kiss prompts, accepting more!

Okay, this is interesting!

Now the entirety of the Thieves Guild will hate me, but off with Brynjolf, thus leaving me to decide if I would rather marry or spend a night with Elisif.

I will probably go for a marriage here, whenever Elisif is comfortable with the idea if only because marrying Balgruuf would mean that I am technically becoming a step mother to his asshat kid and I am not here for this.

So marry Elisif and spend a night with Jarl Ballin.

[leaflovingal]

Been playing more skyrim recently, and I gotta say that I really don't know how I can support the stormcloaks. I'll probably do a playthrough at some point where I join them, but that'll just be for the quests me thinks.

For one, I feel like there are far better ways to defy the thalmor than rebelling against your own people. Why not build up military power as much as possible? I'm pretty sure toryg was against the thalmor if i remember right, and the emperor is the same. Instead of fighting a small rebellion help turn the entirety of skyrim into a prosperous nation and go to war with the thalmor alongside the empire. It really doesn't make much sense.

Second, the stormcloaks winning wouldnt really mean much in the long run. Cool, you beat some of the empire. Now you have a destabilized region that has lost (in game hundreds) thousands of citizens and soldiers to your civil war. You can see this during the game too, it's already bad. Now you can wait a few years and get invaded, or maybe you'll have continued splinter factions, or the massive bandit, vampire, etc. Populace is going to become an increasingly large issue. At least with the empire in power you have two factions worrying about their territories. Now you have one, who just came out of a war, is now trying to control several holds and towns who disagree or hate this faction, have various parties within said holds willing to fight and possibly create an additional rebellion, and on and on and on.

Third, while i havent beaten the main quest of skyrim, i imagine that an imperial victory is just generally better for the country(?) Than a stormcloak one. For one, the area is now safer generally. Sure, you have some of the same issues as a stormcloak victory such as more rebellious groups and destabilized area, but now you have connection to the rest of the empire too. Windhelm might stop being a racist shithole, and riften can hopefully have the black briars taken out of power. Hopefully the rest of winterhold sinks into the fucking ocean*. Dawnstar....exists...i guess.

Lastly, i know that an imperial victory is still somewhat bad for skyrim. The legion will most likely start to exert more military control across the region, citing the rebellion as to why they need to. Talos worshippers are driven even further underground. The imperials, at least in the military, do not care about the nords culture. The giants probably get wiped out. Skyrim will be wounded, and the imperials will seep into that wound like never before.

I know this is probably as cold a take as the icicle lodged in my chest after fighting a necromancer, but it's been on my mind for a few days.

*god i fucking hate winterhold. Piece of shit fucking place. Awful. I play survival mode skyrim and there arent any fucking wagons or boats at winterhold. You know what you get instead? Bears and ice wolves and horkers. You either go southeast along the coast to windhelm, where you get assaulted by said animals, west to dawnstar where the same happens, or south to like whiterun i think where there are no more horkers just the fucking mountains and i think frost wisps or whatever. Why didnt they leave? Why not relocate? There are so many much better places than on the god damn coast. Leave, make a nice mountain mining village or something. We need a place between whiterun and markarth, settle there. At least dawnstar has a boat and falkreath doesn't have shit geography. Theres more than just black grey and white there.

Also why are almost all the jarls shitheads. Falkreath, winterhold, dawnstar, windhelm, riften, and apparently markarth all have shitheads as rulers. Barlgruuf is amazing and the lady in solitude is there i guess.

[ch4rmsing]

The Heir of Whiterun While there were many perks of being heir to a Jarl, the requirement to be present during tedious political meetings was not one of them. Frothar supposed he should have had more of an interest if he were to lead one day, and managed to feign attentiveness at the words that were being exchanged. He stood beside his father and uncle while being briefed by Legate Cipius, the Imperial commander stationed in Whiterun. "Our spies have reported something stirring in the East—all the lingering Stormcloak leaders have been recalled to the Palace of Kings," Cipius explained as he pointed toward the few small, blue flags strewn across the map, tracing the paths from them back to where Windhelm was marked. "Our blockade has been successful as no aggressive rebels have broken into Whiterun for six months. Tullius expects them to call a surrender soon." "That's what he said seven years ago after Ulfric was beheaded. He was wrong then and is now, you Imperial lot have always underestimated Nord stubbornness," Hrongar argued, blunt and contentious as always. Legate Cipius flashed a look of annoyance at being contradicted. The point was valid though. No one expected this conflict to drag on for over two decades. It seemed as though Skyrim would never have peace again. "They can still receive supplies through their port, though," Barlgruuf mentioned, tapping the area above Windhelm—the Sea of Ghosts. "Who would supply to them? We hold every dock across the northern coast all the way to High Rock. Those in Morrowind are unlikely to provide aid—they are cleaning up from an invasion, and House Redoran knows how unfriendly Windhelm has been to their people." Frothar was barely paying attention now, he felt his eyelids droop slightly before catching himself and opening them again—only because Whiterun's steward entered the room with a bow of apology for interrupting. "Please excuse the intrusion, my Jarl. A courier has brought you a message from General Tullius."The Legate looked stricken, and the Jarl furrowed his brow. Frothar kept awake enough at the new development with growing curiosity—why would one of the Empire's Leading Generals be sending correspondence straight to his father and overlook the commanding officer? Proventus handed the folded parchment to the Jarl and Balgruuf took it. His father also lifted a dagger that was laying on the map table to cut the seal. He unfolded it, seeming to glance over the writing and finally made a thoughtful grunt—not speaking to whether he took the penned words as positive or negative. "Jarl Kraldar is dead." Read More

[sephiratales]

Kali is a battle mage and sometimes she forgets life is not always a battlefield. Plus the Dragon inside her makes her blood boil with anger.

At first, she does not look like a threat, but people quickly regret not taking her seriously. In the back, you can picture Vilkas being amused and proud of her. He knows he don't need to protect her, despite what people say to him.

In fact, he is here to protect people from her sometimes. Jarl Barlgruuf can testify, he was very afraid for his walls once.

[holoir]

In a series of articles we will be looking at an extremely important topic in The Elder Scrolls Legends: Card Draw. After having had a look at the basics, the first draw and the mulligan, we are now looking at a few options on how to improve the card draw in our deck. We will look at the options by Attribute, to have a good reference point for deckbuilding. We will also be looking at Card Draw Engines, which will help you to consistently cycle through the cards of your deck. But let’s start with individual Neutral (Grey) cards, first.

Mudcrab Merchant

The epic 1-cost Mudcrab Merchant is a 1/2 animal (Mudcrab) from the Houses of Morrowind expansion, that provides a very unique, random card draw effect: When summoned, the Mudcrab Merchant shows you two random cards – you can pick one and put it into your hand, while the second one is put into your opponent’s hand. While the 1/2 mudcrab may not be the strongest fighter, the card draw effect can be substantially more valuable: depending on the progress of the game at which you trigger the summon effect, you might be presented with a rather high-value card. For the cost of 1 magicka, this can be a very powerful effect. It is, however, a random effect, so it’s not providing a reliable draw, but can still be a good draw. The random effect, might be desirable in Unite-the-Houses decks, so in this archetype, the Mudcrab Merchant is certainly a good card to consider, when building your deck.

Dwemer Puzzle Box

The 2-cost Dwemer Puzzle Box is a rare support card from the Houses of Morrowind (HoM) expansion, that let’s you discard the top card of the deck and draws a card as a Last Gasp ability. The card has currently not really seen a lot of use, as it simply discards a card (unseen) and draws a card after three times. It can also be useful in combination with Falkreath Defiler who summons a creature from your discard pile. Plus, there might be some synergy with Galyn The Shelterer played on Yagrum Bagarn (a unique legendary from HoM).

Thieves’Den

Quicksilver Crossbow

Forsworn Looter

Forsworn Looter

The 2-cost, epic Forsworn Looter from the Heroes of Skyrim (HoS) expansion is a 1/1 creature with an interesting Pilfer ability. The Reachman’s ability will draw a random item from your deck, with cost, equal to Forsworn Looter’s power. This little fellow is perhaps one of the most underrated draw cards. When it Pilfers, it draws me an item from the deck, that I can equip onto the Looter and next time he Pilfers, I get a more powerful item. Super-interesting. Also a great card in combination with Thieves’ Den which gives creatures +1/+1 if they Pilfer. Ideally, you’d put Thieves’ Den in turn 4, and play the Looter at 5 (or 7) magicka, followed by a Quicksilver Crossbow from hand (pinging your opponent’s face). By using the Quicksilver Crossbow, the Reachman will circumvent any guard creatures and draw a 2-cost item from your deck (or a 3-cost item with Thieves’ Den in play – maybe you’d like a Treasure Map?). If you have a Haafingar Marauder in game, and break a rune with him, the Reachman evens equips another item. Nice idea for a Hlaalu deck, maybe…

Spider Worker

The 2-cost Spider Worker is a 0/1 Dwemer card from the Core Set with Prophecy, that is a possible inclusion in Dwemer decks. It draws a card, when summoned. It is a cheap draw card and in combination with one or two Thieves Guild Fence the Spider Worker is part of a full deck card cycle package, which we will discuss in a separate article.

Silent Pilgrim

The 3-cost Silent Pilgrim from HoW is a 1/1 rare Dark Elf who draws you a random multi-attribute card from your deck. Assume you had only a particular copy that you needed for a combo, you could use the Pilgrim to increase the probabilities of drawing them. Alternatively, include ���allrounder” multi-color cards for a specific purpose, e.g. removal, and the Pilgrim might just help you draw that removal tool you needed…

Treasure Map

The 3-cost Treasure Map item can be equipped to a creature, where it provides +1/+1 and draws a card. If, however, the wielder has Treasure Hunt, then, the wielder draws something they are hunting for instead. Assume you had only one thing of something you needed desperately in your deck. Here might be a way to fish it out. Could be used with synergy on a Ruin Archaeologist, a Ratway Prospector, a Relic Hunter, Aldora the Daring, or a Ruthless Freebooter, for example. Of course, any other card with Treasure Hunt, too.

Yagrum Bagarn

Yagrum Bagarn

The 3-cost Yagrum Bagarn is a 2/4 Dwemer that draws a Dwemer from your Discard pile and gives it +2/+2. A nice option for dwemer decks and certain combo decks. Particularly amazing, if you get to play Galyn the Shelterer to shuffle a few more Yagrum’s into your deck, which can create a few big dwemer monstrosities. Best combined with Halls of the Dwemer and other neutral Dwemer cards.

Greybeard Mentor

The 4-cost Greybeard Mentor is a 2/2 Nord with a summon effect, that let’s you draw a random Shout from your deck. This card is part of the so called Shout package, which includes a Word Wall, a (set of) Shouts, a Night to Remember and sometimes Paarthunax. Note, there is some synergy to Ulfric Stormcloak as well. Ulfric draws a Nord, when a shout is played, and why not the Greybeard, who will then draw another shout? Nice…

Knife to the Throat

The 4-cost action Knife to the Throat silences a creature and draws a card. It does not see a lot of play, although it might be useful as an additional card draw option in self-silencing decks.

Merchant’s Camel

The 4-cost Merchant’s Camel is a 1/4 Beast from the Madhouse Collection that let’s you pick one of the top three cards of your deck to be put into your hand, while the other 2 cards you have been looking at will be discarded. The Camel is a great tool when you are looking for a particular card to help you out. It also helps cycling through the deck and is oftentimes included into decks with Journey of Sovngarde or combo decks, to search for a particular piece of the combo.

Namira’s Shrine

The 4-cost support Namira’s Shrine works as a card draw engine. Whenever you have played three cards on your turn, it draws you a card. We will look at the shrine in more depth when we look at Card Draw Engines.

Gristlehide Dreugh

The 5-cost Gristlehide Dreugh is a 3/5 Dreugh that draws a card when it takes damage. Can be considered as a card draw mini-engine in self-ping decks if equipped with items that boost the health of Gristlehide Dreugh. Does not see a lot of play on the ladder though.

Altar of Despair

Necrom Mastermind

Brass Arquebus

Brass Arquebus

The epic 6-cost Brass Arquebus is a 3/3 Dwemer (from RtCC) who draws three different random 1-cost creatures from your deck with his last gasp ability. The card comes at a relatively high cost, but could be considered in Dwemer decks and works a little bit as a micro-Tullius’ Conscription. If combined into a Last Gasp-deck with Necrom Mastermind, or the Altar of Despair, there might be nice synergies to Brutal Ashlander, Fireport Spider, or Shadowmere.

Dwarven Centurion

The epic 7-cost Dwarven Centurion is a 6/8 Dwemer with Breakthrough from the Core Set. When Dwarven Centurion is dealt damage, you get to  draw a 0/3 Dwarven Spider with Guard that helps to stabilize your board position, if you have the Halls of Dwemer in play, for example.

Tullius’ Conscription

The 11-cost action Tullius’ Conscription is usually part of a control-type deck that uses this card as a potential win condition. It can also be used in aggro decks that are sometimes in danger of running out of steam against mid-range decks. The idea of the card is basically to flood the board with loads of (cheap) creatures. Ideally a few have charge or ward for some reach or to enable favorable trades. Assuming Tullius’ Conscription summons 8 creatures with a power of 2 each, you get a lot of value from this card (16 power for 11 magicka distributed to many bodies). If this weren’t enough, the Conscription combined with Jarl Barlgruuf on the next turn can easily win you the game, if your opponent can’t counter it effectively.

In the next part of this series, we will be looking at card draw options for the red Strength Attribute: Card Draw #3: Card Draw Options in the Strength Attribute

Deck building in The Elder Scrolls Legends - A look at Card Draw. Part #2: Card Draw Options in the Neutral Attribute In a series of articles we will be looking at an extremely important topic in The Elder Scrolls Legends: Card Draw.

[meadows-of-france]

Party hard with #Skyrim #barlgruuf