#me: ''murkmire lore good''

[echthr0s]

excuse me, Leviathan's what

[dragonknightofsummerset]

The Vestige

Alright, so going through the Elsweyr chapter/dlc has me thinking about the Vestige, cause I love me characters that fall into the hero role (willingly or not) and how sometimes it is more tragic than not.

DISCLAIMER: My tes lore is not good, I have not played every chapter or dlc (definitely no trials) so there might be stuff I don’t mention because I can’t or my knowledge is just lacking. Also, I forget stuff. This is me just trying to make sense of my feelings and thoughts about the Vestige. Thoughts under the cut.

“An empty vessel that longs to be filled”

I first started thinking about how the Vestige is a chosen one, so not necessarily a hero by choice, when Varen (The Prophet) explains why he calls you “Vestige”. Which is something that I was reminded of when going through the Southern Elsweyr storyline. See below:

Both Ja’darri and Khunzar-ri talk about the cycle repeating:

“It is not a place, but a story that has been and will be told time and time again.” -Ja’darri

“The story repeats, and this is your turn in the cycle.” Khunzar-ri

And to tie it up, we have what Nahfahlaar says below:

I know they’re different people, this is more of a head canon I suppose, rather than a theory. What with the cycle repeating, the story being told over and over, and there being a hero in every cycle, and the Vestige being described as an empty vessel longing to be filled. And Nahfalaar himself saying at the end of the conversation that he will not repeat history just ahhh

Nahfahlaar had confused the Vestige (aka “hunter”) as Ja’darri. It just lends to Varen’s explanation of why he refers to the Vestige as such and describes them as a vessel. The Vestige is a vessel, they are a hero through and through in each cycle and (a hc of mine) is that Nahfahlaar (maybe all dragons?) can see the souls of mortals and that is why he had confused the Vestige for Ja’darri. In a sense they’re the same person, or soul in this case in a reincarnation type of way.

*EDIT: Not in a reincarnation type of way per se, but more like a past self. Idk something along those lines.

Below is just what makes the Vestige tragic:

“No, the real lesson of these heroes is that legend always carries a price. You must be prepared to pay that toll when it comes.”

“But when the weather turns foul, we must act on our own. The most consequential moments rest at these crossroads of faith and choice.

In this moment the choice is yours.”

“You’re kind of like me in a lot of ways, aren’t you? An outsider caught up in things we don’t fully understand?”

“But now that duty lies upon your shoulders. Bear it wisely.”

“I’m just whatever’s needed at the time” - The Vestige

^These just show how the Vestige is told that there is a price to pay for being a legend and to be ready to pay the toll when the time comes (during one of the base game storylines) and then in Murkmire, the Vestige is faced with a hard choice of choosing which friend will give their life to bring back a tribe thought lost.

Then we have Darien in Summerset, relating with the Vestige, in terms of just being thrown into the unknown even when they come across as an “outsider” to what’s going on. Followed by Ja’darri proving his point in saying that the duty of slaying the demon now falls on the Vestige.

And to finish this off, even though this was more for the Vestige to keep their cover, it’s interesting that they say that they’re just what’s needed at the time. Again, going back to what Varen said, that the Vestige is just a vessel longing to be filled!!!

[boethiah]

ok so i didn’t know Naga argonians were a thing until yesterday what can you tell me abt them 👀

i SADLY do not know much about them because when murkmire was released i for some reason got fixated on heita-meen mentioning murkmire having “a monsoon season” and then fried my brain trying to deduce whether it’s even physically possible for tamriel to have a monsoon. but anyway

the naga are ostensibly a certain “monstrous” phenotype of argonian whose range is restricted to inner argonia, particularly northern murkmire. most of what’s currently known abt the naga comes from eso’s murkmire dlc, and the interactions of outlanders with the naga-kur aka dead-water tribe. who are considered to be particularly hostile and bloodthirsty, which tbh, good for them

that said. just based on murkmire etc. i’m inclined not to believe that the ‘naga’ are a whole separate race of argonians or whatever, but rather, argonians who are strongly resistant to outsider/imperial influence. lore in murkmire and elsewhere seems to use the term “naga” to denote some strange ridiculous ‘other’ type of argonian, but i really do think that’s just.. an effort to vilify argonians resisting imperialization, and that the only distinction between a naga and a not-naga is how accommodating one is to the imperial power structure. “naga” is used to refer to a non-assimilated argonian, and i honestly strongly doubt there’s any actual physical difference between the ‘naga’ and the more imperial-accommodating argonians. so i think the term should be taken with a grain of salt

that said, the dead-water tribe is extremely fucking cool and i love them.

[foulserpent]

yeah one argonian lore thing thats always bugged me is how the shadowscales have the exact same view on sithis as the dark brotherhood, ESPECIALLY now that murkmire has established some actual good argonian lore about how they view sithis. like sithis is seen as an agent of change and cycles, birth + death, and isnt really viewed as a person. dark brotherhood sees sithis as a death god that wants blood and is out there siring children. eso further establishes that early argonian civilization DID view sithis in that bloodgod way, which is generally disapproved of by modern argonians and theyre looked back on as backwards for placing so much emphasis on death and permanence

so basically like why the hell is an order from the black marsh comprised of all argonians intensely partnered with the dark brotherhood, to the point that theyre giving young shadowscales to random imperial men (lucien) for training. 

i think the answer is just “its bad writing” but my interpretation is that shadowscales tend to be pretty isolated and have developed into a kind of  religious order due to this influence (although they still dont see sithis as blood god-y as the DBH does). maybe the reason the shadowscales are gone by the time of skyrim is that the an-xileel wiped out the order BECAUSE of how much imperial (and morrowind based) influence it had in its connections with the DBH. idk

[bi-badass-geek]

E3 part 3.

Third conference was “Bethesda” aka everyone wanted to heard about Fallout 76 but didn't get it so fast, it started with talking about last one year achievements and of course “The Elder Scrolls: Legends” because we didn't got it enough on the last E3.

The game that opened the panel was “Rage 2” and before i will go with story and all of that i need to say the music they gave us there wanted me to gone deaf or bleach my brain and never think about it ever again unless someone invented 'skip button' irl. The guys who were responsible for this sandbox looked funny on the stage because they complete opposites. You play as "The Walker" aka The Last Ranger of the Wasteland who want to TAKE THE AUTHORITY. Car you can use for me is what 'Nomad’ from Mass Effect Andromeda in Post-Apo would look like. When I was looking at the gameplay all in mind i had was Doom really but if we going extreme i would say it's weird mashup of "Doom"+"Rage"+"Mad Max"+"Fallout" sometimes it's just vibe you getting but with Doom you really feel it when you going slaugher mode. For interested you also have powers but they didn't show it much so hard to say what exactly it will be. Release date : 06.2019

“The Elder Scrolls: Legends” will get new visuals + available on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PS4 also i should probably add progress from PC can be transfered to console thru Bethesda account. (Zzz..no one cares but that happened)

After that words saying “The Elder Scrolls Online” was MMO of the year killed me like... what a joke. For people who like it good news DLC "Wolf Hunter" aka werewolfs and next story DLC "MURKMIRE" aka Argonian lore deeper look because fans wants it will be available soon.

“Doom Eternal” sequel that probably a lot of people are hyped about. They said we going to have 2x more badass demons but we will see.  Release date : 2019

“Quake Champions” bang with esport tournaments on QuakeCon End Dreamhack Winter, still in Early Access but you can try it out already. Quotes of the characters are the best tho : “I’m gonna flip you like a table” and "The bigger the guns, the bigger the boom..."

“Prey” will attack us with free update aka Story Mode, New Game + and Survival Mode but that's not it also DLC "MoonCrash". In summer we will also get "Typhon Hunter" aka hide and seek. (multiplayer and for people who have high tolerance to jumpscares)

Machine Games aka Wolfenstein, this time with ”Wolfenstein Youngblood” meaning play co-op tho you can solo as BJ's twin daughters meaning it’s sequel and that’s all we know so far.           Release date : 2019

We will get to punch Nazis and space simulator (two i said above) on VR tho Wolfenstein not sequel but new game called “Wolfenstein Cyberpilot” where we will be playing as a hacker who take Nazi robots and turn them against their masters. "Fuck Nazis to every platform possible.." The best message ever that happened on the conferences I respect it MG keep it up. Release date : 2019

Finally we got to Todd Howard on stage, funny fellow. He also was the only one that when you watched you didn't think cringe or awkward like with the rest of directors etc there. The best shit he done tho was "..we know that most of you came here for one thing. I think it's to see where we're putting Skyrim next" that part just killed me.”Skyrim Very Special Edition” aka Alexa Skyrim everyone was thinking he’s joking but it's real. So now you can shout around your home to Alexa to climb that mountain or eat all shit when you don’t have potions. Check it : Fus ro dah

Now about real deal aka ”Fallout 76″ first game of the franchise that is multiplayer tho you can play solo. About story as we know so far : You were in the titled vault for 25 years waited for the day it will get open on reclamation day, West Wirginia. It's prequel to the series , 4x size of Fallout 4 and 16 time the detail , also new thing we will get is view distant weather system across the map (Rip potato PC's). Building system looks better than the one from previous part because you will get a chance to build everywhere you want, it remind me of Rust to be honest. People will be all over grinding nuclear codes for sure in American way. It was said that they made platform servers 100% to support the game now and far years to come but we will see. B.E.T.A will be available you can sign for it already aka Break-It Early Test Aplication. For hardcore fans the Collector's Edition will contain : Map of the world that glows in the fucking dark (his words but i agree) , figures that you can put on the map and T-51 Power Armor Helmet. Release date 14.11.2018

”Fallout Shelter” will be on PS4 and Nintendo Switch (still for free).

"FPP RPG with console quality graphics mobile Skyrim Blades" game that for me is kinda a joke because it doesn't look like such good quality unless they really aimed just console not good one. You can finish the game in portrait mode "because you never know when you will need free hand...to hold your coffee" we all know what you done there Todd. There are three modes : Abyss (endless dungeon ), Arena (battle 1v1 against players), Town (main mode , hub for your story- You are member of titled 'Blades' aka the Empire's top agents forced in exile, got home destroyed and need to rebuild it).They want to bring it into every device possible : phones, PC's, consoles, VR phone and VR on PC also connect to each other. Free game will be available in Fall but you can already 'pre-order' it in store and get Early Access.

The last titles that were mentioned : Their new original franchise after 25 years “Starfield” (we only saw space and that's about it) and “ES VII”   (they showed us only title on screen and that’s it).

In conclusion the best conference from the first ones and third in general because I’m too gay for that so Sony and Ubisoft got higher. I think fans of ES and Fallout really got shit from this so it’s a win for them. With the best and shit it’s no surprise : “Fallout  76” and “Skyrim Blades”

[boethiah]

not that anyone asked but if you’re a TES fan who wants to play ESO for the stories and lore (which, despite it being an MMO, is totally possible-- 99% of my ESO playtime is solo questing thru storylines) my recommended play order would be (shining jewels of the game in bold):

the original alliance quest + coldharbour quest in the original order, alongside the fighters guild and mages guild quests

orsinium dlc

thieves guid dlc (can be done alongside other dlcs/quest because grinding thieves skills is a pain in a non-sneaky character)

morrowind chapter (the zone itself is mediocre, but it is the first installment of the court of bedlam plotline. blaze thru this one or just read a summary online.) 

the clockwork city dlc (caveat: i HATE this dlc with all my heart, it’s truly despicable in every single way, but it’s part of the court of bedlam questline so with a heavy heart i must include it here. again, blaze through it or read a summary if you don’t want to buy it) (EDIT: upon reflection i’ve realized that the cwc doesn’t actually introduce any relevant returning characters, and any returning themes are adequately explained in summuret anyway, so i don’t think cwc is actually needed to appreciate the court of bedlam. go ahead and ignore this dlc entirely. treat yourself.)

summurset chapter (this is absolutely worth slogging thru morrowind and cwc for) 

murkmire dlc (pretty good dlc with a fun quest and some fantastic lore, but misses out on a bold due to the, ah, racist writing) 

cadwell’s silver and gold (other two alliance questlines)

if you aren’t sick of this game by now, go do craglorn and dark brotherhood-- they’re both decent dlcs but ngl they can be a pain in the ass to play

yes this is just personal opinion but my opinions are the correct ones SO

don’t feel compelled to get eso+ unless you’re planning to blaze thru all the dlc in a month or so. levelling up crafting will probably be a waste of time and inventory space uness you’re really really into that, as all these quests are designed to facilitate solo play and do not require very specialized builds or good gear or anythiing, and there are a lot of crafters online who will craft sets for you if you want them (me included, im on ps4 eu, hmu). don’t feel stressed to research builds or anything too, you do not need them unless you’re doing group dungeons or pvp. also, for the love of god do not buy anything on the crown store, especially crown crates-- its all insanely overpriced and you can get cool costumes by playing the damn games. 

in my experience, the year of the dragon events-- elsweyr-- is compeltely not worth it. like it’s underwhelming in the extreme, doesn’t bring anything new or relevant to anything, and is kind of a waste of time and money. just read the introduced lore on uesp and you won’t be missing out on anything, except being bored i guess, lol.