#oc: arthano

[skyrim-forever]

Thank you so much to @baileybooradly for doing this commission of my gal Theodora with her first baby, Arthano <3

[skyrim-forever]

The children! I love them so much you did such a lovely job <3

Left to Right: Ricardo, Arthano, Ceridwen :)

Commission with lovely characters for skyrim-forever! Thank u so much again <3

[the-elder-polls]

omg hi :) love your polls <3 im here to lore dump about my ocs!

My main Dragonborn is Theodora Viticius (her father picked that name out of a book as he did not know his own father, technically has no history). She was born off the coast in Senachal as her parents were pirates at the time, but grew up in Anvil. In my headcanons after the war Anvil kind of became a company town, the East Empire Company stepped in to try to rebuild but at the cost of people's freedoms.

After her father dies she heads to the Imperial City and joins the arena as a way to make money, most of her father's wealth is tied up and she can't access it right away. She ends up becoming quasi-famous and is up for the Grand Champion title before she realizes she doesn't like the fame and leaves Cyrodiil to go find her aunt in Hammerfell.

Along the way of course, getting captured by the Legion, you know the rest :P Initially she ran from being Dragonborn; headed to Riften planning to leave for Morrowind when she ends up joining the thieves Guild. Eventually destiny knocks and she tries the whole hero thing.

After defeating Miraak (and her man Ondoelmar faking his death to leave the Dominion), she ends up back in Cyrodiil, just outside the city with 3 kids.

Arthano the oldest grows up to be Grand Champion, before becoming a hired mercenary, traveling through Skyrim and High Rock. Choosing to settle down in Falkreath with an old childhood friend.

Ricardo ends up becoming a Moth Priest and dedicating his life to the study of Elder Scrolls. A strong advocate for knowledge he eventually leads seminars and becomes a prominent scholar.

Ceridwen originally went to study the school of Illusion in the Summerset Isles, but left for the College of Winterhold and became fascinated with Conjuration. She becomes a Telvanni Master Wizard after marrying a Telvanni she met at the college. she ends up surpassing him in skill quite early on.

Sorry this is so long!

hi!! glad to hear you're enjoying the blog! i enjoy yours too, i've been following you for quite a bit!

they all sound so cool!! i love her story, esp the bits about her family and her stint with fame. also that's the first time i've seen anyone have a moth priest oc!! also ondoelmar is such a valid choice i love him

no apologies necessary for it being long, i love hearing from y'all

[lumilasi]

So now that I felt like I'm FINALLY happy with my Telepaths oc set, I decided I'd finally try to get back to my OG ones and work on them too. Their story is more inspired by general fantasy themes/more around-the-world mythology, so there won't be that many Japanese names/Japanese yokai inspired characters like my other "Telepaths" set. (That one's basically a "fake manga" lol)

I'm starting with someone who honestly would be in my top ten, I just couldn't put him on the list in that Meet the Artist thing, cuz his design was out of date lol

I wanted to put as much of the info as I could on the images themselves, but in case you can't read the texts, I've included them below + some extra info:

Shaell Amaros/The Shadow King: Former ruler/Deity of Arthanos

Human Disguises:

Amaros typically appears to people in human form, usually that of his child or teen self. His voice still tends to have the echo from his adult form, especially if he’s in his teenager Deity form. He has more access to his powers in teenager form, but the child form is safer as it completely hides his presence, and makes sure he doesn’t accidentally overwhelm more magic/spirit sensitive people with his powerful aura. He’s much shorter even in teenager form, only about 160 cm tall, when his adult size is around 190 cm.

Basics:

Age: ~800, he was 31 when ascending

Family: Descendants Azul & Reuben Samaros

Love interest: An astral spirit (light element spirit) called Helias (it’s complicated…..)

Being type: Former human, An ascended Deity.

(ascended Deities are humans who become Deities of something, typically like a Guardian Spirit for a place or a region, like Amaros is/ was. Their powers tend to vary depending on the way they ascend/ their reasoning & personality)

Abilities:

Summoning his Lost Soul Demons, shapeshifting, traversing between the different dimensions of their world, shadow/dark flame magic, ability to create his crystals that can trap/damage people’s minds and souls, or form weapons. telepathy. Granting his magic power to those who can handle it.

Personality summary:

Amaros is very no-nonsense, serious type of person, who doesn’t much care for pointless chit-chat. He’s very intelligent and cunning, willing to bend the rules to do what he believes he has to, sometimes at the expense of others. While he can be sinister, Amaros is capable of genuinely caring for people, and tends to express this more through action than his words.

Role Summary:

Amaros is the mentoring figure of his descendant, a young mage Azul Samaros, whom he has tasked with undoing the failed repeat of his ascension ritual. This failure resulted in all the citizens of Arthanos having their souls trapped in crystalline form, littering the ruins of the kingdom currently.

The person responsible didn't understand what they were doing fully, due to all the knowledge of this forbidden act having been scrubbed from their history books: this was done by a traitorous family who dethroned the Amaros bloodline, and trapped Amaros himself for over a century, declaring any worship of the "Shadow king" heresy.

While still bitter and angry towards the traitors, Amaros takes his role as the Guardian Deity of his kingdom very seriously, and genuinely wants to undo the harm done by the ignorance of others. He's also fond of his descendants, who are the only people he allows to talk back to him, and even use his first name rather than just calling him "Amaros."

INFO THAT DIDN'T FIT IN THE PICTURES:

Amaros is basically one of the central characters of this character set, the main mentoring figure for the protagonist Azul.

He doesn't really mentor Reuben, because Reuben's powers are very different and he can't channel Amaros' powers at all. Amaros still cares about him though, he's one of his children after all.

The surname of the protagonist siblings comes from Amaros' name; his descendants who managed to escape the kingdom still wanted to keep their trapped Deity's memory alive, but could no longer recall his full name, only that his first name started with an S. They therefore added the letter at the beginning of their surname.

his family crest is the purple star, and his dimension's sky is purplish starry sky.

Amaros had a few concubines to produce a heir (common tradition for the ruler in Arthanos) and while he never had any romantic feelings towards any of them due to his preferences, he treated them all well and they typically served a bigger purpose than just being a mother; advisors, Grand Priestess, Chief healer, etc. He tended to take their opinion into consideration if the topic at hand touched their area of expertise.

The woman whose bloodline eventually lead to the birth of Azul and Reuben was a Scholar, specializing in studying ancient magic. She was the one in fact who discovered the Ascension Ritual and told him about it. (She was actually against doing it once she realized the sacrifice it required, not to mention the fact he deceived someone she could tell he had genuine feelings for.)

The Lost Soul demons are Arthanosian warriors, who ended up losing themselves to their powers, becoming demonic beasts. (When he was sealed away, pretty much everyone who had this channeling power lost their minds, no matter what state they were in at the time)

Amaros always warned anyone wanting this special channeling power, and did not hand this out lightly. Any soul who ended up losing control was banished into his realm, though they could be summoned back either by Amaros himself, or someone strong enough/someone who had a personal connection with the transformed soul.

The thing with Helias is "complicated" because he essentially tricker Helias into helping him with his ascension ritual, something Helias might've not done had he known it required the sacrifice of a lot of the citizen's souls as well, not just a bit of his blood he gave to Shaell.

These two still have lingering attraction/feelings towards one another, with Amaros even saving Helias from certain death after he was freed from his prison. (He did ask/demand them to take Azul and Reuben in in exchange, as the kids had lost their former home and needed a safe place to live/place for Azul specifically to grow his power and abilities for his needs)

Azul's personality is very similar to his ancestor, although he is fundamentally a kinder person. Still, this similarity allows him to use and resist Amaros' magic far better than anyone before him, which is why Amaros tasked him with fixing the mess with the failed ritual.

Amaros is polite towards the siblings' adoptive parents, although does not care about them much. He only really sometimes protects them because the brothers ask him to. They're just helpful tools for his goal, though he is pleased to see his descendants having a loving, supportive family around them.

Azul sometimes calls him "Grandpa Shaell" if he's extremely annoyed with him. Azul (and Reuben though he never does this) are the only ones who can get away with this without being punished.

While quite a devious person with lower levels of empathy, Amaros did genuinely care for his citizens, and did not make the choice to perform the ritual with light reasoning. In his mind the situation was desperate enough to warrant it. (There was a war going on that Arthanos was at the verge of losing, and a mystery curse based disease released among the citizens they struggled to combat)

As a Deity, he gained the nickname "Shadow King" because typically he discussed and advised his descendants and was more of the true ruler rather than the current generation of his mortal brethren. He was also the one who typically chose who got to be the ruler next, as well as punished those who betrayed their people in some way.

He tends to come off kinder in his child form, and he's chattier as a teenager. This reflects to how he actually was as a human, and the main reason Amaros is so cold and calculative nowadays was due to his harsh upbringing.

The extra piece of cloth on his hood is a veil that the rulers of Arthanos used to cover their faces when interacting with common folk. Amaros is not wearing it properly though, given he always found this tradition pointless. (He was the first king to let citizens see his face, and after his ascension this tradition died out, up until the dethroning of his bloodline; the new rulers brought the tradition back)

Amaros can still appear in adult human form too, but he does that extremely rarely, given keeping his power at bay in that form is much harder.

He's not evil per say, just a little bit sus

There was a survivor of the failed ritual, who also happened to be the prince of the current royal family. Azul ends up meeting this man years later, and the prince agrees to help them in their quest to fix things. Amaros is initially hostile towards him, but eventually let's it go, noting the young man's a worthy leader and genuinely wants to help.

[tezabelmondmusic]

Ancient houses, acrylic paints, and noble pursuits. Just a little something I threw together for fun based on an OC of mine!

[skyrim-forever]

My LDB Theodora and her three kids

Soft launching new oc blorbo whose not actual new she's existed for a year and a half just had nothing to do until now

Just for fun, here's a height comparison chart for the OCs I've drawn:

Lilli's height only makes her more terrifying lmfao

How tall are your TES OCs? I wanna see comparisons!!

[skyrim-forever]

Decided to go ahead and adopt him <3 Only thing I had to give him was a dagger so he is fucking up that dummy go little dude!

In Solitude he was talking about wanting to grow up and join the Legion so we moved to Markarth :P

Maybe he will be a scholar after all

Now we're gonna go down to the Understone Keep and ask for child support :P

[skyrim-forever]

WIP Wednesday

Thank you for the tag @hircines-hunter <3

I'm tagging: @theoneandonlysemla @bougainvillea-and-saltwater @pocket-vvardvark @dirty-bosmer @changelingsandothernonsense

@lucien-lachance @firefly-factory @scholarlyhermit @sheirukitriesfandom @umbracirrus @lillxart @ladytanithia

@sanza-17 @sulphuricgrin @captain-of-silvenar

Was feeling like garbage most of last week and the ability to write vanished from me for a bit, but I've decided to return to a wip from December. This features two of Theodora's kids, Ceridwen (Ceri) and Arthano as her brother is visiting her at the CoW, in the below snippet they are giving a certain miserable mer a taste of his own medicine :P Apraxic - High Elvish/Altmeris "social outcast, a shamed outcast" Under cut for length :)

“I have seen the students you work with, ” He looks at her when he says this. “What you consider worthy of associating with is something I’d never subject myself to barring anything other than absolute necessity.” Faralda opens her mouth to speak, furrowed brows as she once again reminds him of his place as the slight delay in their meeting is making him bold, but she doesn’t get the chance. 

“Who the fuck are you to have a problem with my sister?” Her brother is quick to add an apology. “Pardon my language, Professor.” 

A small smirk creeps over Ceri’s features. Alone she did not feel comfortable to fire back at him with more than a glare; best to let her advisor handle it, but the mage feels more emboldened with Arthano here. Arthano who had gotten in more than his fair share of fights defending his younger siblings. If Ancano was feeling bold, brazen even, then he could handle being outnumbered. Satisfied at finally giving him a piece of his mind, she answers for the ex-Thalmor. 

“Nobody. He isn’t a faculty member, not even a student, just someone Faralda has graciously pitied as to not let him freeze to death outside because he has no other options.”

“Why you little-” The mer at the forefront of their words is seizing as the one across the table pulls out a more devastating insult. 

“Hmm…” Hand stroking his chin, he feigns a state of deep thought. “No position, no status, nowhere to go but here so he can’t return home… sounds a bit apraxic, don’t you agree Ceridwen?” Yes.

“Oh I hadn’t looked at it that way before but, you are indeed right, my brother.” Holding back a snicker, Ceri continues. “We probably shouldn’t even be speaking with him, what would the ancestors say?” Oh, how they are laying it on thick. Any ancestors that hadn’t instantly discounted them based on their heritage must be laughing, she is sure of it. Most certainly the type to have a sense of humour. Arthano keeps playing it up as Ancano’s eye twitches, prominent enough that she can see it out of the corner of her eye. 

“By Auri-El, what would they say?” A small chuckle emits from her at that. “We have reputations to uphold after all, we cannot go bringing shame to the family name.” The name that neither of them had on their documentation anywhere outside of the few years spent in their father’s homeland. That does not matter, what matters is the incredibly smug expression on both of them as the other implodes. 

“I will not be spoken to on the subject of reputation by two half-breeds who could not get further from the notion of praxis, why I-”

“You will take your leave now, Ancano.” The Master Wizard’s voice is clear and firm. “I will reschedule our meeting for in three weeks time, I am sure you will be available.” The rage settles into confusion then sadness as the former Thalmor’s face falls. 

“Three weeks?”

“I will make four if you do not leave now, your outburst already made it longer. You should be thankful the dining hall is mostly empty and you did not embarrass us more.” 

“I think you should get going, Alcano. And some advice for next time; we lived in the Summerset for years, you’ll have to get more creative with the insults.” For a split second the fire within the sad mer ignites once more, torn between addressing the great insult of mispronouncing his name, ultimately deciding Arthano is not worth further punishment. 

“Fine.”

[skyrim-forever]

Sujamma Sundas

Thank you @sulphuricgrin for the tag and lovely, eerie scene <3

Tagging: @theoneandonlysemla @bougainvillea-and-saltwater @dirty-bosmer @pocket-vvardvark @changelingsandothernonsense @scholarlyhermit

[This week Sujamma has been brushing up on his literacy. It's hard being a humble Nix-Hound. Reading doesn't come naturally to him, but he's doing his best! This week Sujamma is hoping you will help him learn to read!

Post a favorite scene, favorite sentence, favorite dialogue, favorite anything from any fic you've written! If you haven't written any fic, feel free to share your ideas. If you don't have any, recommend a friend's fic!]

I've decided to share this scene from Chapter 3 of my AU fic These are no times for people like us aka my angsty AU about what if their son grew up without a father. This scene is after an argument between Theodora and her son as he's come home to find a certain mer a bit too close to his mother and Ondolemar is taking what might be the one opportunity he has.

There’s nowhere for Arthano to go, nowhere other than out into the darkness. Howling rain and wind, the waves aggressive from sound alone as the night hides them. So he doesn’t go anywhere, choosing instead to kick at the sand in a feeble attempt to take out the anger. Though the dents he makes are unsatisfying, still so much emotion in him, the young man collapses along the shoreline letting the tears fall in the comfort of the night. The rain added extra deniability if anyone were to see him. The sound of footsteps behind him, not hearing them until they are too close, proves someone is here. 

“Go away Mother, I’ve heard enough from you. You like keeping secrets so keep your thoughts a secret as well.”

“You should not speak to your mother like that.” Him. In spite of the rain, the match inside him is lit again, so is the flames spell he readies as he stands up. 

“Who the fuck do you think you are you fucking piece of shit?” 

“The object of your ire.” What? Again, confusion washes over him. “You are angry at your mother for keeping what I am a secret, you are angry that she would associate with me at all. Further, you are angry at the Thalmor for how your life specifically has been affected, in all of those I am the common denominator. Your ire is with me, not your mother. Keep it focused on me.” Feeling the fire at his fingertips, Arthano agrees. 

“You’re right, you are the problem.”

Magical ability was innate to Altmer, the only thing Arthano really appreciated about that part of him. Where others struggled with the practicals, it came naturally for him. His old mentor Voranil had taught him a lot about conjuration, even more of enchanting which had been his specialty. An old friend of his mother’s Teldryn Sero taught him destruction when the Altmer he looked to as a father revealed his true colours. That had been easy too. All manners of fire and lighting he could make; it felt powerful to do such a thing, being on the receiving end much less so. As he pulls his arm back with the intent to rid himself the problem, the other simply grabs his wrist and lightly twists. Not causing any pain but making the flames dissipate to the younger’s shock.

“What did you-”

“Have you killed anyone?” 

“No…” But you have . 

“Then I wouldn’t recommend picking it up now.” He removes his hand. “If nothing else, be better than myself in that regard.” 

“I am better than you.” 

“Of course you are, already leagues braver than I was at your age. Though I wanted to kill my father, I never put any plans into action; you, however, saw the moment and seized it. Quick thinking, smart.”

It would seem much of what his mother told him was true about the mer in front of him. 

“Your paternal grandfather was not good to his family, he lied, gambled, stole, cheated, had no morality. Your father spent his whole life trying to escape his legacy, replace it with his own.” Maybe they could share this one thing in common, aside from the obvious of their appearance, hatred of their fathers. Now, they could even share the desire to escape their legacy. But it is odd, everything about him was odd, that he commends him for trying to burn him to a crisp, the fact that wouldn’t work due to the heavy downpour doesn’t matter. An attempt on his life was just made and he was… proud of him? Was that what it was? And why does the thought of it ease the weight of the earlier revelation? 

[skyrim-forever]

@dirty-bosmer asked me how Theomar would text their kids and these were born

Arthano & Ricardo being brothers 🥰

Mom Theo getting involved

Ceri to Ondolemar and Theo to her husband 😛

[skyrim-forever]

WIP Wednesday

Hello everyone, happy Wednesday <3 This will be my last wip until two weeks time due to the holiday so we'll get back to normal Jan 1st. Starting the new year off right :)

Thank you for the tag @hircines-hunter <3

Tagging: @bougainvillea-and-saltwater @theoneandonlysemla @dirty-bosmer @thequeenofthewinter @pocket-vvardvark

@firefly-factory @changelingsandothernonsense @ladytanithia @lucien-lachance @scholarlyhermit @captain-of-silvenar

Theodora's children have taken over my brain and I got this silly idea of Arthano visiting Ceri at the CoW while she is working under Faralda in Destruction. Though she notices he's acting odd, not like himself... he's so real for this love older women under the cut because long EDIT: He has blood on him from fighting a bear earlier he's fine don't worry about him

Whilst they are chatting in the main courtyard, her explaining the three different towers and what they contained, her mentor approaches them. 

“Hello Professor Faralda, how are you this afternoon?” There’s a notable change in her brother’s, suddenly standing taller as he removes the bloodied gloves, holding them behind his back as though he were hiding them. 

“I’m quite well, Ceridwen.” A soft smile towards her before turning to him. “Ah, you must be Arthano, your sister mentioned her brother would be visiting.” 

“Yes, I am Ceridwen’s brother, pleasure to meet you Professor Faralda.” Ceridwen? Ata and Ricardo called that, Mother only doing so in formal settings; her eldest sibling never used her full name. Only ever Ceri. It felt foreign hearing it in his voice, saying it casually like it was the norm for them. Now that she thinks more on it, everything he said sounded unlike him. Far too formal to come naturally from the lovable but brash man she knew him to be. Here he was using the type of speech they made fun of others for, especially their brother. Even on serious occasions, he had a habit of making jokes out of anything and everything; now very polite.  

“I’ve been told you are a mage yourself, a conjurer specifically.” Gesturing with his hand, the older continues with his odd speech, adding mannerism to the mixture as well. 

“Yes, I mostly work with bound weapons but I’ve dabbled a bit in Destruction myself. Nowhere near Ceridwen but not inexperienced.” Dabbled? Is that what he calls it?

“What spells in particular? Electromacy like your sister?” 

“I mostly stay in the realm of pyromancy.” Repeated use of the Flames spell because he coulded be bothered to learn more is not exactly what she would refer to as pyromancy; Arthano was always one to stretch the truth. Faralda extends a similar smile to him now. 

“Hmm,, very interesting, I assume you’ll be accompanying Ceridwen to dinner this evening?” 

“Naturally of course.”

“Well, perhaps we all can discuss further then, I have some work to attend to now.” Turning to leave, the instructor makes one final comment. “Arthano?” 

“Yes Faralda?” Such a stupid grin wipes over his face. What is going on with him?

“You are very much as your sister described you. Though I’d wash the blood off before dinner.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

Still caught up in how abnormal he’s being, it’s not until he opens his mouth again does she draw a conclusion. Fixing his posture, uncharacteristically proper tone, inflating his Destruction skills as if they were  No.

“Hmm, so you’ve mentioned me?” His eyes still watching Faralda leave she seizes the opportunity while he’s distracted. Ripping one of the gloves out of his hand, she whacks him with it. 

“No, no, no!” 

“What the fuck? I haven't done anything!” At last he is sounding like himself again. One more smack in the shoulder as she disregards what he is saying. “Help help, I’m being assaulted!”  

“I’m sorry I don’t want my brother trying to get with my advisor!” 

“I’m not trying to do anything, Ceri. Just introducing myself, I don’t know if you’ve heard but that is the polite thing to do when meeting someone for the first time.” Another smack as she throws the glove this time, letting him retrieve it from the snow. 

“Like I believe that,” In an attempt to mimic his voice she utters his own words back at him “I’ve also dabbled a bit in Destruction myself, please.” As he stands up, dawning the bloodied gloves once again. “It’s gross.” A smirk almost as stupid as his grin prior appears. 

“Well Ceri, that’s not nice to say about your professor. Respect your elders, she seems far from gross.” 

Ugh her brother strived to find the balance between charming and insufferable, something he was normally good at. Being naturally social had its benefits. Everyone could appreciate a good joke and if they couldn’t, well then he had no reason to bother with them further. Now however, knowing he had an interest in her mentor, the woman who had graciously taken her under her wing, makes her more annoyed than anything.

“You, you’re gross.” Briefly, her hands flex, forgetting she has already thrown the glove at him. “And she’s too old for you.” 

“Oh I wouldn’t say that, how old is she?” Brow raised in curiosity, the younger answers him before it occurs to he should not be given such details. 

“She’s one-hundred twenty something, don’t remember exactly.” 

“Oh we’re fine, less than a century apart. Barely noticeable even.” The gap between her and Ralos was barely noticeable, two years; Ninety-odd years was definitely something to take note of. But unfortunately this checked out for her brother, perhaps she can introduce him to someone else, maybe the bard at The Frozen Hearth. He had long, shiny, blonde hair. Very within his type.

“That’s a pretty large gap, Arthano.” He shrugs. 

“Well, Mother and Ata are what? One-hundred? One-hundred ten years apart? I’m doing well comparatively.” She stutters, trying to find the right words to shut him up, he is however, too quick for her. “Why is she a war criminal?” 

“What? No, absolutely not.” The College was a neutral organization, both faculty and students coming from across Tamriel for the purposes of advancing magical study. Conflicts were left at the gates, to imply anything different was a lie. But he’s not implying anything about the College, rather making a further comparison to their parents.  

"So I'm actually doing great."

“I should lock you in my dorm tonight and let you starve.”

[skyrim-forever]

One of my favourite mods is Kidmer -Adoptable elf children because who would not want to be able to adopt mer children <3

I mean look at these pookies <3 Perhaps there is one in particular who is my favourite and I used their name for one of Theodora's kids... perhaps :P

[skyrim-forever]

OC Alignment Chart

Thank you @lathez for the tag <3 This is is a super cool tag.

Tagging: @theoneandonlysemla @pocket-vvardvark @captain-of-silvenar @thequeenofthewinter @changelingsandothernonsense @dirty-bosmer @hircines-hunter @umbracirrus

Choose an alignment chart and place where you ocs would be, feel free to use canon characters you have blorbified as well <3 Choose any chart, it doesn't have to be this one but I've placed a few under the cut if you'd like to use one of them :)

I had too much an ddecided to do two for my blorbo kids Arthano, Ricardo, and Ceri <3 Art from @sunsettemplar <3

Chart ideas below:

[skyrim-forever]

Summary: As the second and final war with the Empire is underway, Commander Ondolemar has a comfortable position in Anvil. Overseeing citizen dissent, it is not often he has to interact with lawbreakers himself. But when a young man-mer is brought in under suspect of conspiracy against the Altmeri Dominion, he is determined to make an example of him. His curiosity leads him to learn there is much more to this young man than he could have ever imagined…

The Angsty AU has started!

[skyrim-forever]

WIP Wednesday

Hi everyone, not only is it Wednesday but it is the first Wednesday of 2025. Why not start it off with sharing among friends? <3

Absolutely no pressure, especially since it's a holiday but tagging: @theoneandonlysemla @bougainvillea-and-saltwater @pocket-vvardvark @dirty-bosmer @thequeenofthewinter @lucien-lachance

@changelingsandothernonsense @firefly-factory @captain-of-silvenar @umbracirrus

@hircines-hunter @moriche @ladytanithia @sulphuricgrin @scholarlyhermit

This is piece of Chapter 2 of an AU where Ondolemar never learns why Theodora left. Twenty years has passed and now assigned in occupied Anvil during the war, he learns not only is she there but she's not alone... mentions of war, angst, slight violence. Theo runs a trading company in this timeline <3 Girlboss :P

It had never been easy for Arthano, the stares and whispers he heard when young became more brazen as tensions heightened, the few friendships he had gone or strained. That’s what got him arrested, tired of guilt by perceived association; her son was caught after being too vocal in his anger at the Thalmor. The story was difficult to piece together due to the lack of details he provided and its overall strangeness. Apparently it had all been a mistake. A quick conversation of which he shared nothing more than that fact: it had been quick. Now seeing his father at the door, in uniform, a possible chain of events forms in her mind. Piecing together what he told her, Ondolemar confirms it with a question.

“Is he mine?” The hope in his voice is even more pronounced when he asks again, perhaps emboldened by the fact he still stands. “Do we have a son?” 

“Yes.”

It’s a simple answer. Conveying the truth but nothing more. Yet, even in its simplicity, it brings a smile across his face, slack-jawed in awe. 

“I have a son.” Too much joy laced in his voice and now she finds herself fighting internally as tears well in her eyes. Two things seemingly true at once, how often that had been the case with him. On one hand he was only in Cyrodiil to end the dominance of the inferior races, but on the other, there was happiness at hearing he had a child with her, a woman of an inferior race which made him inferior as well. The external evidence, the occupation and his reaction, confirmed both were true. But how true were they to him? Too opposing to be equal, which was more true to his beliefs now? 

“What gave it away?” 

“Your surname.” If she had any living relatives with the name, they were not in Anvil. Only Arthano and her carried her father’s name. He asks a question of his own.“Is he why you left? Or did you stop loving me?” Concerns of not trusting herself leave as she halves the distance between them. Even with everything going on now, Theodora cannot help but think of the pain of knowing he lived two decades thinking she hadn’t loved him. Not knowing she left because she had, leaving ensured the safety of him and the people, at least for a time. She had loved him so much she had raised their son on stories of how much she had loved his father, only lying about who left who. 

“I still love you, Ondolemar. I didn’t suffer through weeks of vomiting and twenty hours in labour to bring a little piece of you into my life, because I fell out of love.”  The memory of leaving still stung. “I didn’t want to leave but I was not given much of a choice…”

It felt like a lifetime ago now and in many ways it was. Her life had been very different when Elenwen gave her the ultimatum, cease contact with her subordinate and she would play nice in the revision of negotiations with the general. Desperate to avoid war she took the bitch’s offer, motivation to stay gone from Skyrim increased once she learned of the pregnancy. Terrified somehow that the Ambassador would find out of his existence and hurt Ondolemar or the child, likely both. 

“I will give it to her, the First Emissary was creative in her cruelty. Offering to actively work to avoid war just so I’d stop seeing you, all that trouble just to have you behaving in a manner fitting your position.” The Thalmor’s face drops. 

“Elenwen threatened you?” Another nod and his hand covers his face, briefly turns away before his fist beats against the frame. Knowing which is more true now, she closes the rest of the gap and places a hand on his bicep, gently moving it up and down to comfort. The tears in her eyes are flowing wildly now. “They have taken everything from me.” The hand that had beaten the doorway opens around her own now as he looks at her once more, pained by what he sees. “And now I have taken from you.”

“You have.” 

“Yet, you still love me.”

“I do…” 

Pulling her hand from the light hold his has on it, she cups the side of his cheek and for a moment she hesitates. They way he melts into her touch of her skin on his nearly has her reconsidering her next actions. But then she remembers. 

“That is for war.” Just as he recovers, her palm offers another blow. The crack in time with a clap of thunder outside. 

“That is for fucking with my revenue.” He doesn’t bother returning his head face on for the final slap so she compensates by making it harder. 

“And that is for the pain you’ve put our son through.” Bruising on his cheek already starting to form, she knows exactly what salve she’ll put on it after.  

“I deserve worse.”

“You do, so much worse” Theodora wipes her eyes. “But I deserve this.” She pulls him by his robes, bringing his lips to hers as all of Nirn disappeared around them.

[skyrim-forever]

WIP WHENEVER

Tagged by @thequeenofthewinter and @sulphuricgrin thank you both so much loved your pieces <3

Tagging @theoneandonlysemla @captain-of-silvenar (special thanks to you homie for encouraging me with this) @bougainvillea-and-saltwater in case you want to <3 And if you want some more of the angsty Arthano AU I'm cooking up hehe

Sharing a small snippet as I want to share this whole scene for this upcoming WIP Wednesday but cannot resist sharing a bit now :) Ondolemar is leading the Thalmor occupation of Anvil and some young half-mer is arrested under suspicions of interfering with the new Dominion government...

Entering the room he sits across from the man-mer, his skin the same colour as his own and the two guards on either side of the prisoner. Dark hair matching his dark eyes, distinctive pointed ears fully visible as the seemingly shoulder-length hair is tied back. The small sliver of light among the stone walls shines off the hoop in his left ear. Ondolemar’s curiosity peaked. What Altmer would be so careless as to spoil their heritage and dishonour their ancestors in such a way? Perhaps someone born outside the Homeland, such behaviors would be unsurprising among the Cyrodiil-born crowd. Altmer physically but too far removed from the culture, the true culture. There will be time to deal with him, make an example out of such an abomination, for now he chooses to divulge this curiosity. What is the harm?  

“Well, the mer is obviously Altmer. What race of man are you?” The cold, neutral expression on the prisoner slips for a moment; a scowl forming in the centre of his face spreading outwards. From his nose twitching to the furrowing of his brows.

“Imperial.” He spits out. This is Cyrodiil, unsurprising to find Imperials in their homeland, but who had made the mistake? A man or a woman?

“Mother or father?”

“Mother.” 

“Who?” The question slips from him before he can realize it has. Such a foolish question, whoever his relations are has nothing to do with what will be done to him. Even the man-mer knows this. 

“I’d prefer to leave my mother out of this.” Smart. Yet this doesn’t change his line of questioning. 

“And your father?”

“I have none.” This has him smirking, almost proud of this fact. This made more sense, an abandoned child of some mer who had a moment of weakness, unaware of his existence. 

Ondolemar be like: