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theogcinnamonroll · 2 years ago

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Character Sheet for my latest Dragonborn

Lady Galateya Alysanne Masanne the Fourth

General Information

Name: Galateya Alysanne Masanne the Fourth

Alias: Teya Masanne

Nickname(s): Teya, Gala, Gal, Tee, Goldie, Golden Ears, Knife Ears, Blondie, Elfy, Wild One, Princess, Your Ladyship

Species: Altmer. While her father is a Breton, and as her mother is a descendant of Clan Direnni. Functionally, she has only one Altmer grandparent, being her mother’s mother. But as a child gets their race from their mother, Teya is an Altmer, just like her mother. However, in appearance, Teya looks surprisingly human, thanks to her extensive Breton blood, with only blonde hair, a faint golden tinge to her skin, and long pointed ears to distinguish her as an elf.

Gender: Female

Title: Lady of House Masanne, Young Lady of Northmoor, Heir to Massane Keep and the Duchy of Northmoor, Lady Galateya, the Elven Lady

Age: 28, although she looks to be somewhere between 18 and 20 thanks to her elven blood keeping her young and youthful

Birthdate: The seventeenth day of the ninth month, in the hundred and seventy third year of the Fourth Era (17 Hearthfire, 173 4E)

Birthsign: Those born in the month of Hearthfire are born under the sign of the Lady. Those born under this sign are said to be kindhearted and tolerant by nature, and Teya is no exception to this, being a sweet girl since the day that she was born, and all in all, a credit to her House and kin.

Birthplace: Massane Keep, The city of Northmoor, capital of the duchy of Northmoor in the Kingdom of Daggerfall

Culture: Although she’s physically an Altmer, Teya has no connection to Altmer to speak of. As a distant descendant of House Direnni, and a member of House Masanne, she and her family have been in High Rock for generations. So because of that, she was raised solely within the culture of High Rock. Specifically Daggerfall, where her family is from. Through her father, she has noble blood, being the heir to the duchy of Northmoor. And because of that, she was raised within the specific culture of Breton nobility, although she’s far more in touch with the common folk than most nobles, thanks to her mother’s common origins and insistence that Teya was raised with a connection to the world outside to keep her humble and make sure she has a good head on her shoulders.

Sexuality: Pansexual

Canon Replacement: The Last Dragonborn

Residence: After she graduated from the College of Winterhold, Teya found herself being drawn to the city of Markarth, as it was built out of an old Dwemer city. After living in the city for two years, renting a room from the Silverblood Inn for the duration, she managed to gain the rank of Thane. With the permissions of her new rank, she was allowed to purchase a house in Markarth, which she quickly did, buying a cozy home that’s now full to the brim with partially dismantled dwarven technology that she’s been tinkering with off and on in order to better understand how it works, and potentially how to rebuild and control it. However, Teya spends a lot of time away from home, leaving the house under the care of her Housecarl as she follows rumors of new dwemer ruins and tries to find new bits and bobs to fiddle and tweak with.

Occupation: Before it’s time for Teya to return to Northmoor in order to succeed her father, she’s chosen to travel Skyrim and study the dwemer, as is her passion in life. As a Scholar of the College of Winterhold, she occasionally returns to the College to teach classes about the Dwemer, although spends most of her time delving into dwarven ruins. In order to earn money to fund her expeditions, she often hires out her talents with a bow and healing magic to adventuring parties. Especially when they’re delving into dwemer ruins for one reason or another, as her dwemer knowledge makes her an especially useful companion to have when facing against automatons and other dwarven traps.

Appearance Information

Hair Color: Taking after her Altmer heritage, Teya’s hair is as bright and fine as spun gold. It almost perfectly matches the golden tones to her skin and makes her stand out. It isn’t just blonde, it’s a clear and brilliant gold that stands out in a crowd, and immediately marks her as an Altmer. Her hair is a wild mass of twisting curls, and it takes a great deal of work to try and tame it. It stretches down to her waist and is a blatant display of her femininity and vanity. While it would be smarter for her to keep her hair short in order to make it more tameable, she refuses to cut it. More than willing to put in the time that it requires because she just loves the way that her long golden curls make her feel.

Skin Color: As an Altmer, Teya has distinct golden tones to her skin that mark her as not quite human. However, she still has strong Breton ancestry, which leaves her with skin that isn’t quite the same bright gold as most Altmer. Instead, it’s a warm and tanned human shade, with distinct golden tones that make her status as an Altmer plain to see. Her skin is smooth and well taken care of, the product of a lavish noble upbringing, and plenty of healing magic to prevent any scars from taking hold. The tops of her cheeks and her nose are decorated with a dainty sprinkling of freckles that only add to her youthful, delicate appearance.

Eyes: Her eyes are the most significant departure from a typical Altmer face. Her eyes are nothing but human, with no sign of her elven blood to be seen within them. They’re large and round, sitting prominently in her face, and the color is a shining, brilliant shade of blue. It stands out sharply against the golden tones of her skin and hair and works as a vivid reminder of her human blood.

Height: Although most Altmer are tall, standing head and shoulders above most other denizens of Tamriel, Teya is an exception to that, as she is in so many other things in her appearance. Instead, she takes more after the height of a Breton. But she’s short, even for a Breton. In her bare feet, she measures in at just barely five feet tall. But she often wears heeled shoes in order to boost her height to a more proper Breton height of five feet and three inches, convinced that the mere three inches make her seem more distinguished and make people take her more seriously.

Weight: To match her Breton height, Teya has the weight and build of a Breton. Small by stature, soft but paired with a surprising amount of toned muscle, she weighs just over a hundred and ten pounds.

Build: While most Altmer are tall and willowy, Teya doesn’t share that same build. Instead, as in so many other things, she takes after her Breton kin. She’s short, standing at just barely five feet tall, and anything but willowy. She possesses a naturally soft figure as courtesy of her Breton blood. But along with that softness, she’s also in very good shape. Her travels and combat training have left her well muscled, toned and slender between the curves. All in all, the build of a perfect Breton, rather than the Altmer that she is by nature. But she doesn’t particularly mind, as she grew up among Bretons, and has rarely interacted with other Altmer.

Demeanor: Teya’s demeanor itself is rather easy to recognize. By appearance, she tends to be rather unique and an easily recognizable sight. And she doesn’t mind that. She carries herself confidently, like someone who’s comfortable in their body. And she moves smoothly and gracefully, as if every step is a dance, even in the midst of battle.

Favored Scent: Courtesy of her noble upbringing, Teya is incredibly particular about the way that she smells. Almost obsessive about cleanliness and hygiene, she’s incredibly averse to smelling dirty. And while she enjoys smelling clean, that isn’t enough to suit her tastes. Instead, she also uses oils distilled from roses, mountain flowers, and lavender to give her a fresh, floral scent.

Identifying Features: Galateya is an immediately recognizable and identifiable young woman, just because of the contradictions of her appearance. While she is an Altmer, she has more Breton blood in her veins than elven, which is plainly reflected in her appearance. She has the coloring of an Altmer, with golden hair and skin, but the appearance of a Breton. With soft, delicate features, big eyes, and a small, soft build. She’s incredibly attractive, especially by Breton standards, with pale skin and long golden hair. Her skin is decorated with a delicate smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks, and her eyes are round and blue, fully human in a way that’s virtually unheard of among the elves.

Usual Outfit: As befitting a High Rock noble and a thane of Skyrim, Teya has quite the wardrobe. Most of it finely made and lavish. All perfectly tailored for her to make the clothes look better on her, as well as making them more comfortable for her. On days where she’s simply lounging around her home, or tinkering with her dwemer possessions, she favors a loose tunic with tight breeches, sometimes paired with a pair of fine leather boots. Usually in pale pastels to go with the pale golden shade of her skin. For more formal occasions of course, she has a wide collection of fine gowns, all just as tailored to fit her, and the colors all picked to compliment her coloring. And when traveling across Skyrim, she chooses her clothes depending on the danger of her surroundings. Sometimes, she wears long tunics with tight breeches like her lounging clothes. And at other times, she wears a jerkin and pants made of leather, to provide protection from the elements and potential dangers. Although when danger is higher, she’ll wear one of her sets of armor, usually the one of dwemer metal to provide more physical protection.

Usual Hairstyle: Teya’s hairstyles are as diverse as her wardrobe. In more formal occasions, she often wears her hair down, or simply braids it out of her face to keep it neat and tidy. Although she’s also known to take the time to arrange complicated styles formed by dozens of small, winding braids, especially when wearing one of her more lavish gowns. However, in her usual day to day, she tends to settle for a pair of braids that stretch down her back, brushing against her tailbone when allowed down. But on days where she’s traveling, or planning to face any battle, she weaves the braids into a sort of crown around her head, pinning them in place with hair pins ornamented with little flowers or animals formed from precious metals. But for most days where she’s simply out and about, she settles for a simple, solitary braid that stretches down her back, keeping it out of the way and showing off just how long her golden curls are.

Voice: Sweet and bird-like, Teya’s voice is one that seems to be made for singing. And she’s been trained perfectly in how to use her voice in the most beautiful of songs. Even when she’s merely speaking, her voice is perfectly musical. And every word is carefully pronounced, thanks to years of careful vocal coaching as she grew up, making sure that not a word is out of place.

General Appearance: Galateya Alysanne Masanne is a beautiful young Altmer woman, although apart from her coloring, her appearance is fully Breton. At least apart from the long, pointed ears sticking out through her long golden curls. With delicate, beautiful features, she’s the product of the finest breeding in High Rock, and she looks it, plain as day. She has big blue eyes, and long golden curls that stretch down to her waist, perfectly complimenting her soft golden skin and the freckles dancing across her face. In form, she perfectly fits the Breton ideal, standing at just barely five feet tall. Her body is soft, complemented with toned muscles that have a deceptive amount of strength. And all in all, apart from her long ears, she looks every inch to be a beautiful young Breton maiden.

Miscellaneous Information

General Skills: Incredibly intelligent, Teya is a capable woman with quite a set of skills. She has a borderline eidetic memory, remembering everything she’s read or experienced, which is an incredible boon for her when delving into dwemer ruins. Incredibly good at research, she’s able to track down information with the slightest hints to go on, at least so long as she has access to a library. Courtesy of a proper noble upbringing, she can dance, sing, recite elven poetry, and make perfect, proper conversation at a fancy dining party, allowing her to blend into any high class crowd that she finds herself in. She also knows how to ride incredibly well, a product of both her upbringing, and riding horses everywhere that she goes in Skyrim. In order to make sure that she can survive on her own, she knows how to sew incredibly well, able to mend most rips and tears with leaving a minimal mark, as well as being able to cook incredibly tasty meals with the simplest of ingredients. Her time in Skyrim has given her high survival skills, able to hunt and scavenge for her food, travel long distances, and find or make shelter to keep her safe from the elements. Intelligent and clever, Teya just seems to have an inherent knack for technology, especially dwemer technology, which is her specialty. She also has an incredible knowledge of the inner workings of dwemer machinery, because she tends to take apart every bit of it that she comes across, at least whenever she can. Along with her knowledge of technology, primarily dwemer technology, she also knows quite a bit about how bodies work, as she’s been given a great deal of training as a healer so she can help people whenever they’re injured. While she’s best at healing with magic, she also knows how to tend to wounds with more mundane methods, such as with bandages, potions, herbs, and splints. Which has also included training with alchemy, although she isn’t as talented with alchemy as she is with some of her other skills. However, she’s still able to recognize most plants and their beneficial or negative effects, as well as figuring out how to mix them into potions. Although the vast majority of time, most of the potions she makes are cure disease potions, or healing potions.

Languages: Tamrielic, Bretic, High Elvish, a little bit of Aldmeris, Dwemeris (She isn’t completely fluent, just because it’s a dead language, but she’s always working to learn more of it, and works hard to translate texts that she finds in dwemer ruins), and a bit of Dovahzuul, which she picked up from a friend at the College of Winterhold who was obsessed with the dragons.

Pets: Although Teya doesn’t keep her at her side constantly, she fully adores her pet, a husky pup by the name of Irgod. She was a gift to Teya after she became the thane of Markarth, from the stablemaster in order to accrue good faith with her. She absolutely loves the pup, making sure that she’s always well protected and looked out for. And instead of bringing her with her and putting her in danger, she instead leaves Irgod at home in Markarth, under the care of her housecarl. Along with her pup, her most prized possession is a dwemer spider that she’s managed to get working again. She considers it to be the greatest feat she’s ever done, and brings it with her whenever she throws herself into potentially dangerous situations. And has named the spider Yrazgar, after a dwemer character in a book she read in her youth.

Mount(s): Teya has an eternally loyal steed that she purchased at the Markarth stables around five years ago after she began her travels on her own. An Atmoran horse with a bay dun pelt named Berse, she’s a rather compact mare, which perfectly matches Teya’s own small build. She rides Berse wherever she goes, and considers the horse to be one of her best friends. And is incredibly attached to her, endlessly protecting her against the dangers of Skyrim’s wilds.

Religion: Being raised among Bretons, Teya follows the Breton pantheon, rather than the Altmer pantheon as many assume about her. She can sometimes be bothered about the fact that people assume that about her, but most of the time, she just shrugs it off. While she’s incredibly devout, she specially worships the goddess Mara. She feels a special affiliation towards her because of her inherent talent for restoration magic, which leads to her visiting Riften often in order to visit the temple of Mara, and always wears an amulet of Mara, although she keeps it hidden under her clothes, so people don’t confuse it for an invitation for a marriage proposal. Which is a habit she’s learned after quite a bit of awkwardness in the past. However, in addition to worshiping the Divines, Teya also feels a certain affiliation towards the Daedric Prince Azura. For reasons that she can’t entirely name herself, she’s always been drawn to the Daedra, a pull that grew even stronger when she arrived in Skyrim and visited Azura’s shrine. Since her visit to the shrine, she’s been plagued by inconclusive visions of the future, showing her dragons and destruction. Which she interprets as a sign of Azura’s favor for her.

Combat Information

Weapon: Teya’s main weapon is a gorgeous dwarven bow that she found when delving into her first ruin in Skyrim. Paired with it, she has a near constant supply of dwarven arrows, thanks to her constant excursions into dwarven ruins. Combined with a custom made sword of dwarven steel that she commissioned from Eorlund Grey-Mane in exchange for bringing him both the materials and paying him the weight of the sword in gold. It’s a short, gorgeous blade, slender and wicked sharp. Made to both slash and stab in order to fit her versatile fighting style. And the least inclusion to her armory is a dwarven steel dagger that she keeps in either her boot or a sheathe in her belt, just in case that she could end up needing it.

Gear: A whetstone for sharpening her blades, spare bowstrings in case the one on her bow breaks, extra supplies for making arrows in case she runs out, a pouch for keeping alchemical ingredients and potions, several potions for healing and stamina, and improving her archery skills. A large pack with her bedroll, tent, cooking supplies, and fire starting materials, along with everything that could be needed to camp out on her own. A set of sewing supplies for mending her clothes and leather armor, as well as an amulet of Mara to improve her healing magic (Although she keeps it hidden under her clothes to keep people from proposing to her)

Armor: Teya has two sets of armor that she commonly uses, depending on what her aim for a job is. One set for stealth, and one set geared around protecting her from attacks. Both are light and provide plenty of protection, while still maintaining free range of motion for her usual fighting style.

Her first set of armor, one meant for protection rather than stealth, is a fine set made of polished dwarven metal plate over sleek leather. She has plates over her chest, thighs, legs, knees, and arms, with a shirt and pants of leather worn beneath to provide extra protection. And to give even more protection to her limbs, she wears a pair of boots over her pants that go up to the middle of her thigh, making sure that her joints have extra protection, as well as a pair of fingerless leather gloves that would fit under the plates on her arms. It’s also heavily enchanted with resist magicka enchantments, in order to make up for her inherent weaknesses towards magic. While the leather she wears under it is enchanted with resist fire and frost enchantments, the latter providing some protection against the cold of Skyrim. Although she usually wears a thick cloak lined with snowbear fur when in colder climates.

While her second set of armor is one far more geared for stealth, usually when she delves into ruins on her own, making sure that she can’t be seen. It’s tight and form fitting, made of black dyed leather in order to make sure that she can dwell into the shadows. It’s enchanted with the same resist magicka, frost, and fire enchantments as her other set of armor, combined with muffle enchantments on her boots to make sure that she’s even quieter.

Training: As part of her noble upbringing, Teya was given the basics of combat training, primarily with magic, archery, and fencing, that would benefit a noblewoman. However, this training was barely more than the barest basics, so she doesn’t have a whole lot of combat training. But since starting to delve into Dwemer ruins, she’s picked up a lot of combat skills, largely as on the job training, or being taught by the adventurers she travels with on the occasion that she does go with a group. However, the vast majority of her combat skills are things that she’s picked up on the road, from watching other fighters.

Combat Skills: Necessary for delving into dwemer ruins, Teya has blossomed into an incredibly capable and dangerous fighter, which has kept her alive as she explores the depths of Skyrim and finds more things for her to study and take apart. Her combat skills primarily lie in using a bow, which means that most of the time, she keeps opponents at a range, sniping at them and doing everything she can to avoid and dodge their attacks. Her expertise lies in hiding in the shadows and taking long shots at her opponents, cutting them down before they even get close. However, she can also fire off arrows incredibly quickly, making it possible for her to use her bow even in close quarters combat. Although usually, she switches to her blade when in close quarters, which is a short, slender blade made out of dwarven steel, meant for both slashing and stabbing, providing her with a versatile fighting style. Along with her blade, she uses spells in battle, usually firing off bursts of flames or lightning at whoever gets too close for her liking before cutting them down with her blade. Thanks to her small size, she’s an incredibly hard to hit target, and emphasizes that by being agile and fast, with her primary defense relying around being too fast for her opponents to hit. She’s a smart and clever fighter, making it easier for her to keep ahead of her opponents, and is incredibly resourceful, using her surroundings against the opponents whenever possible, especially if she has time to prepare beforehand. She’s trained her stamina reserves heavily, making sure that she can keep dancing around her opponents for as long as possible, without having to stop and rest. Courtesy of her fencing training, she tends to be very flashy with a blade, putting on a show and making her as distracting as possible in order to keep the attention on her, instead of whoever she’s fighting alongside. Although she relies heavily on her weapons, she can also fend for herself when fighting in hand to hand combat, especially with the aid of the dagger that she usually keeps hidden in her boot or belt. Although she isn’t specifically trained in hand to hand combat, and most of it tends to just be scrappy moves that she’s picked up in the occasional bar fight.

Combat Weaknesses: For all her skills, Teya is still only twenty eight years old, and doesn’t have enough training or experience to hold a candle to someone with more experience and/or training than her, especially when it comes to elves who are older than her. Because of her Altmer biology, she’s especially sensitive to fire, frost, shock, and magicka, making her especially weak to magical attacks, which she tries to compensate for with enchanted armor. Although without her armor, the weakness still remains. Although her fighting style is very fast and acrobatic, her lenience on that also means that she hasn’t built up on her physical strength any more than necessary. Combine that with her lack of training with larger weapons, and she’s unable to use any large weapons, such as a greatsword, greataxe, or warhammer. As she’s mostly used to fighting against beasts and automatons in dwemer ruins, she isn’t especially experienced when it comes to fighting against other sentient beings in matters of life and death, which means that she doesn’t always fight as fiercely as she should when facing dangers like bandits or highwaymen. Although she’s a very scrappy fighter, she doesn’t have a lot of formal training, which can sometimes make her a hard person to fight alongside, especially in a larger battle. She tends to do her own thing, not paying much attention to the people around her, so can sometimes be more of a menace than she intends to be. Because of her fighting style, she uses light armor, which means that she doesn’t have a lot of physical protection. And combine that with her small size, and that means she can’t take a lot of hits in a fight before she goes down. While she can use magic in a fight, she isn’t super experienced with facing other mages, especially in life or death battle, as there aren’t a lot of mages in Skyrim to begin with, at least not in the areas where she’s ended up fighting. Because she doesn’t have a lot of focused training on hand to hand combat, she’s not the most dangerous fighter to speak of without her blade or bow, especially when she doesn’t have her dagger in hand either.

Magical Information

Level of Magic Ability: Teya has an incredible amount of innate magical power, thanks to her Altmer physiology, as well as her Breton heritage. As well as the fact that she just seems to be an innately gifted individual when it comes to using magic. In order to make sure that she can properly use those abilities, she’s been given personal instruction under the guidance of tutors, and later studying at the College of Winterhold. Combine that with some skills she’s picked up along the way while traveling through Skyrim, and you have an incredibly powerful, and very well trained mage with quite a future ahead of her. She’s at the level of an adept mage, with great things ahead of her, considering her long life ahead as an altmer.

Training in Magic: Teya has about eighteen years of accumulated training in magic. Once her magical abilities displayed themselves when she was around five years old, she began her tutelage under the guidance of a series of different tutors hired by her parents to teach her how to use magic. Once she was eighteen, she left home in order to study at the College of Winterhold, where she specialized in restoration magic. She graduated four years later, and left the College in order to study the ancient dwemer, delving into their ancient cities. But while being on the road, she’s learned quite a bit more about magic, picking up skills from other adventurers that she travels with, and sharing her own skills with them in order to spread the knowledge of magic, as well as make sure that she’s better adjusted for surviving in Skyrim, as well as the people around her.

Spell List: Healing, Healing Hands, Fast Healing, Necromantic Healing, Steadfast Ward, Sunfire, Close Wounds, Greater Ward, Fertilize, Flames, Frostbite, Elemental Flare, Sparks, Elemental Bolt, Fire Bolt, Freeze, Fire Rune, Ice Rune, Ice Spike, Ignite, Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, Fireball, Ice Storm, Elemental Burst, Conjure Familiar: Wolf, Conjure Undying Ghost, Conjure Flame Atronach, Flaming Familiars, Soul Trap, Minor Dispel, Detect Pulse, Major Dispel, Major Life Detection, Candlelight, Starlight, Clairvoyance, Courage

Level of Strength in Each School: Restoration (Adept), Destruction (Adept), Conjuration (Apprentice), Mysticism (Apprentice), Enchantment (Apprentice), Alteration (Novice), Illusion (Novice), Thaumaturgy (Novice)

Favored Schools: Her favored schools of magic are Restoration, and then Destruction. They’ve always been her focus growing up, which is why she’s stronger in those schools growing up, as well as her innate knack for restoration magic.

Personality Information

General Personality: Galateya Masanne is an incredibly intelligent, if rather eccentric elven woman. She has a naturally sweet and generous nature that leads to her being very well liked. Although she has a hard time really opening up to people, because of her upbringing in the backstabbing courts of High Rock. Despite being a noble, she doesn’t consider herself to be better than anyone else, especially not common folk. As her mother herself was a commoner before marrying her father, and most of the friends she had growing up were the children of servants working for her family. She’s clever and inventive, always able to find a clever solution to a problem lying in her path, even though many of her solutions are unorthodox, and aren’t always something that will succeed. Inventive by nature, she’s obsessed with the dwemer and the technologies they left behind, always happy to find more things that she could take apart and study in order to learn more about them. Or even make new inventions similar to what they made, but sidestepping the issues that come with making dwemer technology work again. She misses her home of Northmoor greatly, but she does feel at home in Skyrim. She’s made plenty of friends, and feels particularly welcomed. Even if she sometimes gets treated differently because she’s a foreigner, or especially an Altmer, no matter how much she takes after her Breton heritage. Kind and generous by nature, she’ll stop at nothing to help another person, especially if her help could get that person out of danger. Although at the same time, she can be out of touch at times, thanks to a rather isolated upbringing in her family’s keep, and later rarely leaving the College of Winterhold while she was studying there. But granted, she’s grown much more aware of the world around her since leaving the College and starting to travel Skyrim on her own.

Personality Weaknesses: While she has a lot to be confident about, Teya tends to be very self conscious about herself, especially her abilities and sometimes awkward social graces. She’s naturally awkward, and has trouble understanding social cues, and has to focus on social interactions in order to get those social cues and understand the meanings that those cues convey alongside the words being spoken. She’s also incredibly sensitive to being insulted, and gets her feelings hurt rather easily. And when her feelings are hurt, she usually just shuts down and completely stops the behavior that caused her to get her feelings hurt, even if that isn’t the most emotionally healthy reaction. It’s what caused her to completely abandon her inventions and studies when she was younger, and it took years before she was confident enough to return to her interest in technology. And she’s still incredibly sensitive to how her failures can be embarrassing for her family. At the same time, although she has a lot of social difficulties, she enjoys spending time with people and being out among people, rather than just shutting herself away. Which does mean that she gets incredibly lonely whenever she goes out on her own, especially delving into ancient Dwemer ruins on her own. And when she gets lonely, she tends to catastrophize, going down mental rabbit holes of things she’s said wrong in the past, times she’s accidentally hurt people’s feelings, or just anything that causes her any kind of anxiety looking back on it. Teya is simultaneously impulsive and slow to act, wanting to make sure that every action she makes is the right one. By nature, she tends to be incredibly impulsive, doing things without thinking them through clearly, And in order to compensate for that, she overthinks her actions whenever she manages to reign in the impulsivity. Which often means that she’s either slow to act, or acts too quickly and without thinking things through enough. While how passionate she is by nature is largely a boon, at the same time, it also comes with a downside. Whenever she hyperfixates on something, it’s the only thing that catches her attention. Which often leads to her neglecting her physical wellbeing in favor of whatever project has captured her attention. And because of that, her housecarl has become somewhat of a nursemaid at times, making sure that Teya isn’t putting her wellbeing at risk for her projects.

Personality Strengths: While her passion can at times be a weakness, it’s at the same time one of Teya’s greatest strengths. Whenever she puts her mind to something, she won’t give up until she either finds a solution or reaches a point where she just can’t keep working anymore. And that has served her incredibly well in the past, especially with making her dwemer spider function again and under her control. By nature, she’s incredibly sweet and kind, which helps a great deal whenever she’s trying to make friends, and often balances out for the fact that she doesn’t often open up about herself. And when someone has earned her friendship, they have her undying loyalty and friendship. When she considers you a friend, you will always be her friend, at least unless you turn out to be an absolutely horrible person that she can’t justify spending time with. And she will always give second, third, fourth, or any number of chances after she’s been personally crossed by a friend. In her mind, she’d rather trust the wrong person and get hurt by that, than not trust the right person, and have someone else hurt by that. And she wholeheartedly believes that all anyone needs is just a second chance to help them realize that they’re better than who they used to be, and use it as a foundation for personal growth. Intelligent and creative, she often uses her brains to help her get out of trouble, especially while using clever or unorthodox solutions to problems that she faces. She’s also incredibly encouraging, happy to give anyone support in something that interests them. Even if it’s something that they’re not very good at, she’s going to give them support and encourage them to keep going in order to improve their skills. It’s something that’s incredibly important to her, primarily because her parents supported her so much when she was younger, even when her inventions were causing rampant chaos throughout the keep.

Likes: Studying the dwemer, spending time out in the wilds of Skyrim, sending letters home to her family, reading, getting to tinker with dwemer machinery, finding new bits of technology as she delves into dwemer ruins, getting to dance, singing, and just spending time with and getting to know people. When she’s looking for a bit of more mindless fun, she tends to dabble in reading romance novels, and has a surprisingly large collection tucked away in her home in Markarth.

Dislikes: People bringing attention to her being an Altmer, being treated differently because of her nobility, having to pass up important dwemer finds because her party members can’t help her get to a certain point in a ruin, falmer, having to be cooped up all day and not being able to go outside.

Goals: To someday manage to turn a dwemer centurion into a kind of ridable weapon that she’s able to control and use to fight, to be able to study the dwemer for a lot longer before she has to go back to Northmoor in order to rule her family’s lands. And hopefully, to find a love and relationship right out of the fairy tales, just like her parents, no matter how unlikely and borderline impossible it is.

Affiliation Information

Faction: The College of Winterhold

Rank: Scholar (Currently studying dwemer machinery, and occasionally teaches classes about it to students at the College when there’s interest in it)

Experience: Teya first arrived at the College of Winterhold ten years ago when she was eighteen. She studied at the college for about four years before she graduated and went off to study on her own. However, she still occasionally makes a visit back to the College now and then to teach about the dwemer to the students currently studying at the College.

Reputation: Teya isn’t super well known among the students and former attendants of the College of Winterhold. But those who do know of her, are well aware of her expertise over the dwemer, especially because of her frequent classes at the College. However, apart from that, not a lot of people know much about her, beyond her sweet nature and kindness. Which she doesn’t particularly mind.

Faction: City of Markarth

Rank: Thane and resident

Experience: She’s been visiting Markarth for the past six years, ever since she graduated from the College of Winterhold, even living in the city for two years just after her graduation. After proving herself particularly valuable to the city, with both her knowledge of the dwemer, and the fact that she’s helped many citizens of the Reach in the past between all of her expeditions and just her sweet nature leading her to help most people that she comes across. Since becoming Thane, she’s bought a home in Markarth and keeps it as her residence, often visiting home to see her neighbors, housecarl, and her beloved pup.

Reputation: Being a Thane of the Reach, Teya is very well known throughout the Hold, especially by the guards and more prominent citizens of the hold. She’s known to be sweet by nature, and incredibly helpful to anyone who asks her for assistance, or even anyone that she notices to be having difficulties. Although being an elf and a friend of the hold’s jarl, she isn’t especially popular among the Forsworn and their sympathizers. Especially because she’s killed quite a few of them in the past.

Background Information

Family: Galateya is the only child of Duke Clinnis Masanne and his wife, Duchess Elenea Masanne. She has several aunts and uncles on both sides of her family, with dozens of cousins to speak of. However, all four of her grandparents were dead by the time that she was born, which has always left her with the feeling that she could be missing out on something. Although, she’s still incredibly close with her family, especially her mother, and sends letters home frequently, updating her parents on her travels, discoveries, and just how her life in Skyrim is going.

Friends: Teya is an incredibly friendly person, and has friends all over Skyrim and High Rock. However, at the same time, she has difficulties opening up to people, so the friendships are rarely anything more than just the most surface level relationships. Although that leaves her feeling rather lonely at times, she doesn’t really mind, and just enjoys having people to talk to and spend time with. Especially if some of those people have a strong sword arm and can join her in the depths of dwemer ruins. She’s made plenty of friends through the College of Winterhold, through family connections in the nobility of High Rock, as well as friends and acquaintances that she’s met through adventuring and sharing jobs in the past. And of course, other citizens of Markarth, where she’s rather well known, being a Thane and everything.

Love Interest: While Teya has dabbled in love in the past, she doesn’t currently have a partner, and that’s just fine with her. Although she’d love to find someone that she has a relationship with like her parents, she isn’t incredibly hopeful about it, and has largely resigned herself to the possibility that she’s going to end up being betrothed to another High Rock noble and have a political marriage for the benefit of their families. She just hopes that whoever she’s betrothed to will be compatible with her, and won’t try to treat her badly, as she’s seen so many of her peers end up in unhappy marriages, and doesn’t want that for herself. Especially not since her parents have a relationship that’s inspired many a song and tale coming out of Northmoor.

Biography

The Rise of House Masanne (To 170 4E)

The rise of House Masanne is a tale full of twists and turns, one that’s now commonly known among the folk of Daggerfall, and High Rock altogether. While now, they’re a House of great power and prominence, that’s not a position that they’ve always occupied. Their fortunes began back in the Second Era, with a woman by the name of Galateya Masanne, who would later be known as the first of her name. In the late second era, Galateya was the daughter of a powerful merchant, and was married off to the duke of Northmoor, a young man named Ferus.

Unfortunately, Ferus had always been a man of ill health, and the fortunes of his own house were in their wane. He was the only heir to his house, with no cousins or siblings to speak of, the only child of only children. So when he passed away nary three months after their marriage, the future of Northmoor was in doubt. Civil war threatened to break out in the tiny land, especially as a force of seafaring pirates had begun to harass their coast, demanding tribute. All were in fear, none able to settle on how to handle this menace. At least until young Galateya stepped forward. Dragging the lords and ladies beneath her banner, she offered parley with the pirates, pretending that she was going to offer them the tribute that they asked for.

But when they entered the city of Northmoor, foolishly believing that a young girl of ten and eight would hold no threat to them, the trap was sprung. With their leaders in the city, she barred the gates and ordered their heads to be placed on spikes above the city walls. In full view of the host of pirates waiting outside the walls for their leaders. Opening the gates, she rode out to meet with the pirates. And there, she offered them peace and mercy, so long as they swore their fealty to her. Entranced by the cleverness of the young lady, they bent the knee and swore fealty. And after such a feat, the nobles of Northmoor followed suit, all of them swearing to her and making her the new Duchess of Northmoor.

Or at least, that’s what the stories and the history books say, praising her legend and saying that young Galateya was an unrivaled politician. Granting her the epithet of the She-Wolf of Northmoor. A sigil that she would later take for her house. However… the reality is not so fair or fantastical a tale. In reality, the pirate invasion and the death of Ferus had all been planned, orchestrated by young Galateya and her father. The so-called pirates were nothing more than merchants and sailors in costume, and the illness that took Ferus was a cleverly hidden poison. And using blackmail, secrets, and threats, Galateya and her father took control of Northmoor for themselves and their house. Later, rewriting the tale so it was far prettier and would give a more benevolent tale for their descendants to use to continue their rule.

After taking the title of Duchess for her own, Galateya took a young noble to husband, a man named Celrbert, and with him, she had eight children. More than enough to pass on her dynasty and continue building the strength of their house. The daughters were married off to build marriage alliances with the newly noble House Masanne, while her sons were sent out to make their fortunes in the world. All but her heir, Wilore. Who would learn how to rule the duchy in his mother’s stead. Her sons made names for themselves as merchants, sailor princes, and powerful mages, drawing more honor and distinction to their fledgling house, and bringing whispers to their meteoric rise.

Over the next centuries, House Masanne kept a stable control over Northmoor, managing to lead their little duchy through the chaotic politics of High Rock. And over the generations, they’d made many political alliances all over High Rock, marrying their family members off over and over to the other lands of High Rock to maintain those political alliances and make sure that they stayed strong. After the Warp in the West, the Dragon Break that twisted the fate of the province of High Rock, House Masanne swore their fealty to the kingdom of Daggerfall and King Gothryd.

After that point, their fortunes had somewhat changed, but they decided to focus on building up their power and maintaining their loyalty to the throne, to make sure that they wouldn’t be considered disloyal and potentially considered treasonous. And soon, House Masanne had made their name as one of the most loyal houses of all of Daggerfall, forever sworn to the royal house and an undying ally of the kings and queens of their kingdom.

And this is the family in which Clinnis Masanne was born into. Over the generations, the Masannes had begun to embrace the story they had spread about the rise of their family and fully embraced it. They became incredibly benevolent lords, looking out for the wellbeing of their subjects and the nobles who helped rule their little duchy. They were known for their kindness and compassion, and the generosity they showed to all. Both their fellow nobles and the citizens of Northmoor. And Clinnis was no exception. A kind man by nature, he was especially popular for a member of his house, and made many friends among both nobility and common folk of High Rock.

When he reached the age of majority, eighteen, he left Northmoor to go to Daggerfall, spending time at the court of the king. At the court, he began to make connections with nobles he otherwise wouldn’t have been able to meet, and his parents even began to arrange plans for his eventual marriage. Selecting a young noblewoman from Camlorn to be his future bride, and going through the betrothal process with her parents.

A New Destiny (170-173 4E)

But it seemed as though the gods had other plans for Clinnis and his destiny. One day, while walking through the city of Daggerfall, Clinnis encountered a young Altmer woman. It was a habit for Clinnis to escape from the palace and frolic among the common folk, getting to know the people that he would one day rule. But everything seemed to change as he stared into her eyes. She was the most beautiful creature that he had ever seen. And he just had to learn more about her.

Quickly introducing himself, he said that his name was Crenesl, and claimed to be a commoner visiting from Northmoor. He said that he was lost, and needed a guide. She seemed to know her way around, so was there any way that she could possibly show him around the city and perhaps help him find somewhere good to eat his midday meal? She introduced herself as Elenea Camael, mentioning that she was a descendant of the Altmer of Clan Direnni who had once ruled over the land of High Rock. They spent the day together, with Elenea showing Clinnis all around her favorite spots in Daggerfall, and sharing with him the way that she saw her home city.

He found himself sneaking out more often than usual to visit Elenea, neglecting his duties in order to spend time with her. Falling deeper and deeper in love with her every day that he spent with her. Until it tore at his heart that he was lying to her. And unable to keep lying to her, he told her the truth. He told her that his name wasn’t Crenesl. His name was Clinnis. And he was the son of the Duke of Northmoor, and would someday have to be the duke after his father. Swearing his love to her, he said that there wasn’t anything he wanted more than to get to spend his life with her. That he would forsake his inheritance if he had to, so long as she loved him and wanted to be with him too.

Overwhelmed by the revelation, Elenea didn’t know what to think. The young poet had started to fall in love with the Breton, but she couldn’t understand why he had lied to her for so long. Why he’d pretended to be someone else. But as Clinnis reluctantly gave her the space that she needed, she realized that she loved him too. Duke or not. Which she confessed to him the next time that they encountered each other. Overjoyed, Clinnis immediately arranged to present her to his father. Determined that she was the woman that he would marry. No matter what.

Their wedding was lavish, as befitting a future duke of Northmoor, and the future duke and his common wife immediately won the hearts of the common folk. And the tale of their love bewitched the poets and artists, entranced by the tale of a young lord who was willing to turn his back on his inheritance for the woman that he loved. Like a story right out of the tales, their popularity was unrivaled.

The two of them honeymooned in Cyrodiil, before returning to High Rock and making the move to Northmoor. Unfortunately, Dandal passed away shortly after their travel to Northmoor, leaving Clinnis as the new duke of Northmoor, and Elenea as the new duchess, a position that she wasn’t exactly ready for. But she didn’t exactly have much of a choice otherwise. Soon after taking their new position, it was announced that Elenea was already pregnant with the future heir to Northmoor, which was widely rejoiced among the folk of Northmoor. After all, Masanne was a beloved house, and the good will of the house meant that the good will of their duchy would continue. And that a war over succession would be avoided, at least for a little while.

The New Heir (173-176 4E)

The child was born on the seventeenth day of Hearthfire, the day of Northmoor’s traditional harvest festival to celebrate the ending of spring and the beginning of autumn and the harvest season. Clinnis and Elenea had been out in the city when her labor suddenly began, around a month before her due date was supposed to be. She was quickly rushed to a Temple of Mara where she could be tended to by the healers, as there wasn’t enough time for her to go back to Masanne Keep.

Thankfully, the labor was a quick one, and both mother and child were healthy after the ordeal. And the two of them now had a beautiful young Altmer daughter that they named Galateya. Considering her birthright, and the fact that Elenea’s water had broken beside a memorial devoted to the long dead duchess, they decided that naming her after the woman who had brought their family to prominence would only be fitting. And a month after her birth, she was announced to all of Tamriel as Lady Galateya Alysanne Masanne the Fourth, daughter of Duke Clinnis and Duchess Elenea Masanne of Northmoor.

Her birth did cause some controversy, as she was born right in the middle of the Great War between the Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion, with more conservative organizations in High Rock arguing that as she was an Altmer, how could they trust her to eventually consider her human subjects to be more important than her elven kin? Although most voices were quelled when it was pointed out that neither Elenea nor her parents had ever even set foot in the Summerset Isles, and that young Galateya was more Breton than Altmer by blood, with three Breton grandparents and only one Altmer grandparent. Although of course, no amount of logic would forever quell these whispers, and they would always follow her for the rest of her life, especially as she drew closer to becoming duchess.

Clinnis and Elenea worked to protect their young daughter from these rampant rumors, carefully keeping her safe and isolated from anything that could pose a threat to their little daughter. Especially as their relationship began to cause more controversy as the war raged on. But finally, the war came to an end. And with it, the controversy began to ebb away as well, giving them some breathing room in raising their daughter. While there were pressures to raise and rear their daughter in a proper way befitting a noblewoman, giving her to a wetnurse and then a governess, Elenea vehemently refused. Teya was her daughter, and she would not entrust her care to anyone else. She nursed her at her own chest, kept her with her at every moment, and never allowed her out of her sight.

But Teya grew fast. Before they knew it, she had been weaned, she was eating solid foods, and it was time for her to move into her own chambers. And reluctantly, Elenea allowed it. So long as the chambers were adjoining theirs, she still joined them for every meal, and the most important decisions and care would fall to her, while her day to day would be tended to by a governess, one personally picked and vetted by Elenea herself to make sure that she would fit her standards. A Breton who had served the Masannes her entire life by the name of Meliene. Her mother had been Clinnis’s nursemaid, and she herself had grown up alongside the young duke. He trusted her with his life, and the wellbeing of his daughter. And once she had proven herself to Elenea, she shared that trust in her. And she ended up being the best friend of the couple, spending quite a bit of time with them, even after Teya had gone to bed, or would later be in her classes.

A Simple Life (176-187 4E)

Now three years old, Galateya was under the care of Meliene in the day to day, rather than her mother and father. Although of course, she still spent plenty of time with both of her parents, having every meal with them, and often getting to visit them during the day. But they couldn’t still spend the same amount of time taking care of her, as they had important duties to take care of. But that didn’t mean they loved their daughter any less, of course. She was still the light of their lives, and they lavished all of the attention and love that they possibly could on her. But they were the duke and duchess of Northmoor, and they had other things to take their attention.

As she’d been used to having her parents take care of her for the majority of her life thus far, it was a bit of a struggle for Teya to adjust to now being in Meliene’s care. She’d race away to try and get to her parents, even when they were busy. Although of course, being three years old, she was usually caught almost immediately, before she could make it to her parents. But that didn’t mean her escapes became any less frequent. At least for the time being. Hoping that it would possibly start to distract her from missing her parents so much, Elenea arranged for Teya to start playing with the children of the family’s servants, in order to make sure she could make friends and have something else to do.

Her plan worked almost immediately, and Teya was quickly distracted away from trying to harass her parents. Instead, she began to make friends with the other children in the keep. And that’s how she started to grow up, spending her days playing with her friends, usually under the watchful eye of Meliene, or even her parents when they had a day where there wasn’t much to do. Teya spending so much time with the children of the castle’s servants was part of Elenea’s own plan, to make sure that her daughter didn’t think that she was better than them, just because she was born a noble. Clinnis was happy to encourage that, as he didn’t want their daughter to grow up to think that she was better than anyone else.

The years continued to pass quickly, until she was around five years old. At that point, Clinnis and Elenea decided that it was time for her to start her studies. So they arranged to hire a team of tutors to teach her everything that a young noblewoman could need to know. Around the same time, her magical abilities began to manifest, so they rushed to hire a magical tutor as well, to make sure that she knew how to control and use her abilities safely. Although her lessons at first focused on the most basic aspects of magical instruction, it was clear almost immediately that Teya had an innate talent for restoration magic. Particularly healing.

As befitting a proper young noblewoman, Teya began to learn dancing, singing, how to recite ancient elven poetry, history, politics, arithmetic, magic, and how to ride a horse. As well as the basics of how to run and operate a keep or her future lands, to make sure that she’d be the best duchess possible. But of course, her parents made sure that while she had quite the workload from her studies, she’d still have time to herself, able to play with her friends and just being able to enjoy the time she’d have of being a kid. And as she got older, she devoted herself to her lessons, devouring everything that she was taught and throwing herself into them with a singular passion. Eager to be the best ruler that she ever could, and to learn all that she could about the world around her.

But at the same time, she was beginning to develop a singular streak of mischief. One that would lead to her exploring her family’s ancestral home with her friends, learning every hidden passage, every nook and cranny of the expansive keep like the back of her hand. She was especially fascinated by the mechanisms that hid some of the more secret passages, eager to find out how they worked. If it was just magic, or if there was something else that could make a bookcase flip around to expose or hide a staircase. Much to the horror of her parents and many of the castle’s inhabitants, that fascination led to her often taking these mechanisms apart, leaving the hidden ways inoperable until someone could come to fix them. It seemed that Teya had a mind for how things worked, wanting to find out how things fit together to make something more impressive than they could ever be on their own. In order to try and distract Teya from tearing the castle apart, Clinnis began to arrange to be sent wonderful creations from all across Tamriel for her to be distracted with. Little bits and bobs that she could take apart and put back together to find out how they worked, and discover the insides of these little creations.

The years passed and Teya continued to grow up, blossoming into a singularly intelligent young lady, with the biggest collection of gadgets in all of High Rock. Or at least, publicly acknowledged collections. She was fascinated by every new piece that she was given, eagerly taking them all apart before putting them back together. And before long, she began to put her mind to creating her own creations. Much to the expanded horror of her parents. While her habit of taking things apart had ravaged the keep, her creations had a tendency to end up with Teya injured in one way or another. But thankfully, never more than that could be tended to by the healers at the Temple of Mara, or even Teya’s own magical abilities.

There was the time a ten year old Teya flung herself from the window of her tower in order to test a flying machine that she had made. Only to fall like a stone in water. Thankfully though, she escaped with merely a broken leg, an injured pride, and a seemingly endless lecture. And only a month later, she nearly burned down the same tower while working on a project that was supposed to provide her room with heating that didn’t require a fireplace, or any enchantments. Which resulted in an even longer lecture. But of course, these lectures only fell on deaf ears. Teya had found a passion and love in creating her gadgets. And even though she was usually only causing chaos with her creations, she genuinely wanted to make these things in order to make life better for other people.

As Teya got older, she’d started to garner her own reputation within High Rock. For more than just being the daughter of the duke of Northmoor, and the future duchess. Rumors of her chaotic creations and the destruction they left in their wake had begun to spread. And she was quickly regarded as an intelligent, albeit eccentric young child. Truly one who had taken after the more… scholarly aspects of her Direnni heritage. Although some began to question if such a child could truly be trusted to rule the duchy of Northmoor in the future. Especially if her father died before she learned restraint. But Teya was oblivious to the rumors, at least for a while.

In her twelfth summer, Teya and her family traveled to Daggerfall for a celebration of the king’s fiftieth nameday. She was excited for the celebration, as she’d prepared her own gift for the king. It was a product of both her magical abilities and technical skill and she’d toiled over it for months, eagerly awaiting when she could present the gift to their liege lord. She’d even gotten help from one of the smiths at Masanne Keep, a man who specialized in the hidden mechanisms of the castle’s secret passages. And had even been hired on in order to fix what she had broken when she was younger.

Finally, they reached the capital city of Daggerfall, and were brought before the king to offer up their gifts. Her father and mother offered him a beautiful robe made of royal blue silk, lined with the fur of a snowbear. And enchanted to bring health and protection to whoever wore it. And it was then that Teya displayed her own gift to the king. It was a model of the ship he had sailed on as a young prince, one that could actually sail when placed in water. At least, so long as it was wound up using a key that one could wear on a chain around their neck. The king was surprised by the gift and the inventiveness of the young girl who had created it. So he smiled, and said that the rumors had indeed been wrong. Galateya Masanne was a genius who had great things ahead of her. This confused the young girl, as she hadn’t known there were any rumors about her. So she asked her parents about them that night. Her parents pretended as though the king was just being kind, and that there was no way there were any rumors about her. But Teya could tell when her parents were lying. And it hurt her to think that they felt as though they had to lie about the rumors. And it only seemed to confirm to her that the rumors had to be terrible indeed if her parents didn’t wish to speak of them.

Thinking that her love of creating things had brought dishonor to her family, when they returned to Northmoor, Teya set aside all of her tools, vowing to never create anything again. Not if she was only an embarrassment. And her vow lasted for almost two years, with Teya never tinkering with another gadget that she found, or even trying to fiddle with the mechanisms of the hidden passages as she still so often did. Her parents tried to encourage her back to her creations, but nothing they tried could help to ease their daughter’s pain. So all they could do was watch as she turned her back on what she had loved to do for so long.

Discovering the Dwemer (187-191 4E)

Concerned by his daughter’s change, Clinnis had tried everything to bring back Teya’s confidence. Brought her books on famous inventors, had his connections scour High Rock for inventions that could bring back that spark of creation. But none of it worked and he was forced to watch for two years as his daughter was a shell of herself. Of course, she still applied herself to her studies, and she was growing into a talented young mage, and an intelligent young woman. A leader who he was proud to have succeed him someday. But it was as if the spark in her was gone. She seemed a shell of herself without the creations she once had to pour her imagination into. And he was beginning to lose hope. At least until an idea suddenly occurred to him shortly before her fourteenth birthday.

His daughter had been fascinated by inventions and technology. And who were the greatest inventors that Tamriel had ever known? The Dwemer. Surely their creations would be enough to recapture the spark that had long since left his daughter. Reaching out to some connections he had in Skyrim and Morrowind, he arranged for some particularly valuable bits of dwemer automation to be delivered to Northmoor just in time for her birthday.

At the feast celebrating her birthday, she was presented with a defunct Dwemer sphere. Long dismantled, it was still mostly intact, able for her to take it apart and study it. Teya was taken aback by the gift, not expecting such a thing. But she began to fiddle with it after, mostly out of obligation because her father had so clearly spent a lot of money on it in order to get it for her. But as she worked on the sphere, taking it apart and studying every part, she steadily found herself returning to where she had been, revitalizing her love and obsession with technology. And giving her a new particular obsession. Dwemer technology. Of course, she had heard of the Dwemer before, it would have been impossible for her not to. Especially not with her particular interests. But she’d never devoted any sort of specific study to them before. But with this sphere in her possession, she found a budding obsession in the long gone race and the creations that they had left behind. Which would be a particularly expensive hobby in High Rock, as they were far from the nearest Dwemer ruins.

But the Masanne family had quite the fortune that they had amassed over the years, and their mercantile connections and relations kept that fortune growing, so there was plenty of money for the family to spend on this interest of hers. And Clinnis was happy to spend it, just overjoyed that his daughter had recovered her spark, and she seemed to be just as she had been before she became convinced that her inventions were bringing disgrace to her family.

She threw herself headfirst back in her inventions, this time studying the dwemer and incorporating their creations into her designs. Until eventually, she had slowed making inventions mostly, with the majority of her focus being on understanding how the dwemer’s creations worked, and how to possibly make them work again. Or create a different way for them to be used again. Using her family’s fortunes, she collected every bit of dwemer technology that she could get her hands on and began obsessing over how to make them work. Of course, she still had to continue her classes to prepare her for her destiny of ruling Northmoor, but she spent nearly every waking moment focused on the dwemer and their technology. They captured her imagination and her attention, and she couldn’t find anything that could distract her. Or at least, at first.

But Teya was growing older. And as she grew closer to womanhood, she found herself starting to be distracted away from her studies and extracurricular pursuits. As she’d started to notice people her own age, both girls and boys, and her mind began to linger on thoughts of romance and marriage, as did so many people her age. At first, she viewed it as a distraction that she shouldn’t give much of her attention to, she found herself growing more and more distracted. Finding her mind hard to rest on what was considered more conventionally important.

And she began to dabble in romance. Small, girlish things that never went too far. The extent of it was secret love letters, or kisses snuck behind columns or in the stables. But none of it was ever more than short flings, drawn about by her heart. For Teya knew that she’d end up being married off someday, and she had to keep her virtue intact for that. Although she longed to have a love like that of her parents, she knew that the odds of that were basically nonexistent. Unlike her father, she didn’t have any siblings who could be married off for politically advantageous marriages instead of her. So she was careful not to let her heart get away from her, not letting herself get too close to anyone who caught her eye. And she was careful to make sure none of it could ever be used to sully her reputation or make her seem anything other than the perfect noble, and a woman who could someday be a proper wife.

But after about a year of these small dabblings, she began to grow bored of them, and her attention quickly returned back to her studies. After all, what the dwemer had left behind had lasted for eras. And no childhood romance ever lasted for long. At least not in the courts of High Rock. By the time she was sixteen, she was content to leave the future matters of her love life to her parents, for them to find a proper marriage for her, while she focused on her studies. After all, in her mind, she had more important things to focus on, and if she got involved in her eventual marriage, how would her parents know that she had chosen the right match, rather than just what her heart led her towards?

The years continued to pass, and Teya was blossoming into a beautiful young woman in the flower of youth. Although she was unquestionably an altmer, she still resembled her breton blood more visibly than that of the elves. She had long, beautifully golden hair, long pointed ears, and her skin bore a distinct golden tinge that immediately marked her as Altmer. Although her features, build, and size, were fully Breton. Which served to ease the worries that she would sympathize with the potential enemies in the Aldmeri Dominion, rather than the Breton folk that she was destined to rule someday. She was incredibly intelligent, well aware of her magical talents, and an expert in each of the skills that any noblewoman would need in the courts of Tamriel. She could dance as well as anyone, sing like the most musical of birds, recite elven poetry as if she had written it herself, and was well aware of how to properly arrange seating at a banquet to avoid any political rivals sitting together, or any interactions that could cause drama.

Studying at the College (191-195 4E)

When she was eighteen, Teya decided that her studies would draw her away from home and her personal lessons with her tutors. After all, she had such power with her magic, and she wanted to learn about how to use it, and there were few magical academies left in Tamriel. The closest being the College of Winterhold in Skyrim. Which was of course her first choice, as studying in Skyrim would give her unrivaled access to the ruins left behind by the Dwemer. Her parents were uneasy about such a decision at first, trying to convince her away from it, but she was insistent. This was what she wanted to do, and if they didn’t allow her to do it, she’d run away and do it herself. After all, she was a full woman of eighteen now. She was no longer a child and could make her own decisions. So reluctantly, Clinnis and Elenea gave their daughter their blessing to go and study. Away from where they could protect her, far out of any reach that either of them had.

She sent an application to the College of Winterhold, and gathered her most important possessions and everything she’d need for her travels before boarding a ship bound for Solitude. Considering the diminished state of Winterhold, despite being a port city, ships to that city were rare, making it necessary for her to sail to Solitude and travel by land to Winterhold. So after arriving in Solitude, she boarded a wagon which brought her and her possessions to Winterhold, the rundown city where she would study to increase her magical talents. There was some surprise that Teya had chosen Skyrim for her studies, as Morrowind had more knowledge of the dwemer than the Nords. But in her mind, Skyrim would be her first step, and she doubted her parents would give their blessing for her to study in Morrowind. And if the fates were kind, she’d have time later on to study in Morrowind before her father would die and she’d have to be the duchess.

By the time she reached the College of Winterhold, she received the letter that she had been accepted into the student body, which she was incredibly thankful for. Although she had been sure that she would be accepted, she was relieved that she wouldn’t have traveled all the way to Winterhold, only to find out she wasn’t accepted and would have to go all the way back home in embarrassment. When she arrived at the College, they had just recently gained a new Arch-mage, although he had already gone into seclusion to work on some kind of spell work that he considered to be particularly important to him. Which meant that things at the institution were a bit awkward, and were trying to adjust to a new kind of normal.

Teya was quickly accepted into the ranks of the mages specializing in restoration magic at the college. Although at the same time, she focused a great deal on studying destruction magic, in order to make sure that she could defend herself in the future. Especially because she planned on delving into dwemer ruins in order to find more pieces of dwemer technology to study and investigate. Shortly after arriving at the college, it became pretty common knowledge that Teya was interested in the dwemer and had quite a bit of talent when it came to their lost technologies. That led to her being taken under the wing of Arniel Gane, a senior mage at the College who studied odd magic, including the technology used by the dwemer.

Under Arniel’s tutelage, she managed to get her hands on a dismantled dwemer spider towards the end of her time studying at the College and as her graduation was drawing close. With permission from the senior mages, she decided to make the project into her dissertation, and would ultimately decide whether or not she could graduate at that point. With the help of Arniel, and the product of over a year of nearly endless work on the machine, she finally succeeded in her project. And in her possession, she now had a functioning Dwemer spider that obeyed each of her commands. Given quite a bit of a reputation for her unlikely success, Teya was officially declared a full mage of the College and that she’d graduated. Although she would be more than welcome to continue studying at the College if that’s what she wished.

Clinnis and Elenea assumed that since she’d now graduated from the College of Winterhold, she’d be returning home to continue preparing for the day that she’d take over for her father. Instead, she informed them through a letter that she was going to stay in Skyrim for the foreseeable future in order to continue her studies, which would involve her delving into the ruins of the cities left behind by the dwemer, no matter how dangerous it would be. Her parents tried to talk her out of such a decision, but Teya didn’t listen to them. This is what she had set her mind to, and this is what she was going to do, whether they liked it or not. Their choices were to accept her decision and respect it, or to try and drag her back home and ultimately fail in doing so.

Following the Dwemer (195-201 4E)

Clinnis and Elenea’s immediate response to Teya’s letter was to send several members of their household who Teya had grown up with in order to try and convince her to come back home and not put herself into such danger. But all their attempts fell on deaf ears, and if anything, just convinced Teya even further that she should do this. After all, she didn’t have a lot of time left to do what she wanted. Her father was a Breton, and he was getting older. And Teya only had a few more decades left at most to be able to study what she wished before she had to go home. It was this that ultimately made her parents realize that they couldn’t convince her to return home. So reluctantly, they gave her their blessing to continue in her studies. However, if she was seriously injured in any of the ruins, she would have to return home immediately in order to prepare for her future of ruling Northmoor. She didn’t appreciate that they were trying to place such restrictions on her, but Teya did agree to that condition. Although she wasn’t willing to follow it, and decided to use a very loose definition of what was considered “seriously injured” enough to invoke the deal.

Over the course of the next several years, Teya began to delve into ruin after ruin, investigating everything that she came across. And on many of those expeditions, she’d team up with other adventurers, to make sure that they could keep each other alive in the dangerous cities left behind by the dwemer. Although whenever she needed money to continue following on these expeditions, she’d sell many of her finds that she didn’t need, or would go out on other expeditions to other kinds of ruins, or wipe out a particular threat to a hold for some extra septims.

A great deal of her time ended up being spent in Markarth and the Reach, just because of how many dwemer ruins were maintained in the hold. She began to make quite the name for herself in the Reach. And after one particularly dangerous job where she helped defend a small village from a Forsworn attack, she was declared as a Thane of the Reach, and given permission to buy property in the city. Teya had managed to save up quite a fortune over her travels, starting to sell more and more dwemer artifacts. And using that money, she managed to purchase a house where she and her housecarl could live. Before long, her house was absolutely stuffed to bursting with dwemer bits and bobs.

Her housecarl would often sell off the pieces when she was done with them, which left even more gold in their coffers, although they still had more dwemer pieces and metal than Teya could ever know what to do with. And as the years passed, she just continued packing the house full, while her housecarl would have to sell off the less needed pieces and try to keep everything at least somewhat tidy.

Her most recent travels have led her to Helgen, where she’s resting between expeditions in order to narrow down rumors for a new place to explore, as well as gather up a group to help her with her next expedition.

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