#talym rend

[elderscrollsconceptart]

Talym Rend and his son Novos

Art for The Elder Scrolls: Legends

Art Direction: Jonas Andreassen

Artists: Marisa Oh, Joe Meehan, James Strehle, Reza Ilyasa, Bogdan Merica, Luis Lasahido

[uesp]

"Zhanar fled into the night, but there was no escape. Seeing our ghosts had broken the assassin, who would live out his days in fear of his long-dead victims."

--Talym Rend

[wispstalk]

If you've played the Elder Scrolls: Legends card game, or more specifically, the Isle of Madness story expansion, what does Tanis-as-Sheogorath think of Talym Rend, the Dunmer hero who was looking for a cure for his son's madness? I'll say no more - I don't want to spoil the plot twist for those who haven't played that excellent card game.

Thanks for sending this question-- mulling it over got the writer-brain moving. I have not played the card game but I did read a bit about that on UESP a few weeks ago and thought it was super interesting.

Answer below a cut for anyone not wary of spoilers

Tanis was his own father's sacrificial lamb, and all the damage done by that is what paves the way for him to mantle Sheogorath. Talym ended his career after the death of his son, and I think either player choice (going forth with the sacrifice, or refusing and blowing his cover and watching his son die anyway) would piss Tanis off profoundly, particularly because Talym sought a way to escape the pain.

As far as the ending, I think he'd have to respect the dude after being owned like that. And Talym's takeaway, that the past is a burden to bear, fits well with the characterization of Sheo!Tanis I'm hammering out-- that's the one thing he doesn't want to do, and it's why he is eventually beaten at his own game.

[indoril-nerevar]

sometimes u just wanna draw edgy fanart of an elder scrolls legends dlc character. its fine. its like that

[reachfolk]

Reach Tribes: Doomfang Clan

We're back again with another edition of my series, The Madmen of the Reach: Reachfolk Tribes!! To no one's surprise, I am once again being super biased because this time I'm talking about the Doomfang Clan, which is my beloved Esmeralda's clan. As usual, I'll start with canon info and elaborate more on them in my headcanons section. Note that everything we know about the Doomfang clan is from Legends, so if you've played it, you can just skip over to the HC's section if you'd like.

Lore Taglist: @vilkas @lookathooves @faolan-red-eagle @krogans-give-the-best-cuddles (ask to be added for lore or writing or both!)

Canon Information

Of all the Reach tribes, the Doomfang clan is arguably the one to stand out most of all. During the early 4th Era, they were based in Bthardamz, the largest Dwemer city in modern-day Skyrim. Unlike most Reachfolk, who were suspicious of Dwarfcraft and were illiterate (due to the Reach's reliance on oral traditions), the Doomfang clan utilized both of these things to their advantage.

In the early 4th Era, the Empire was continuing its efforts to wipe out the Reachfolk (to no one's surprise), and the Doomfang clan wouldn't go down without a fight. They developed a powerful poisonous gas that they were planning to transport with Dwemer animunculi. This gas was a simple recipe combining Falmer ear, deathbell, nirnroot, and red mountain flowers.

[Image ID: a letter written in cursive handwriting, describing the ingredients of the poison gas used by the Doomfang clan. It reads:

"This will stop those imperials. Mix together in a boiling pot. Deathbell, Falmer Ear, Nirnroot, Red Mountain Flower"]

Despite the effective strategy, the Reachfolk got tangled up in a one-sided conflict between Talym Rend, an imperial soldier, and his commanding officer and friend Portia Loran. Talym had made a deal with none other than Sheogorath, and to uphold his end of the bargain, he was instructed to drive Portia to insanity by sabotaging her mission.

Talym achieved this by intercepting a letter sent by the Doomfang clan detailing how to create the toxic gas. He then returned to Portia with false intel that the antidote for the gas could be made using flowers from a grove of Mara. Portia had to take these flowers by force from the clergy.

With the flowers acquired, Legion alchemists refined it into a gas that was meant to counteract the effects of the Reachfolk's poison. However, the two gases reacted violently upon contact, causing a massive explosion that wiped out most of the Reachmen and the Legionnaires. Despite the massive loss of life at Talym's hands (and inadvertently, Portia's), the Empire technically succeeded in eradicating the Reachfolk from Bthardamz.

Personal Headcanons

My headcanons for this tribe run pretty far, so let’s take it all the way back to the Merethic Era. Now whether or not the Reachfolk were even in existence at this time is really muddy and confusing, as most things are when you go that far back in Tamrielic history. Some sources state that the Reachfolk couldn’t have been around until at least after the collapse of the First Empire of the Nords in 1E 420. But other sources claim that the Nedes (i.e. ancient humans not from Yokudan or Atmoran ancestry) were around in Tamriel since the dawn of time.

Reachfolk tradition states the latter, and I will be sticking with that idea for a number of reasons. One, it’s my blog and I do what I want. Two, this is a Reachfolk based blog so we’ll be taking a Reachfolk based perspective on everything when we can. Three, everything covered in this video by FudgeMuppet essentially validates this point and shows that it isn’t a very far-fetched idea. Four, I discussed in this post briefly about the nature of Reachfolk oral traditions and how they stem back farther than the written word, carrying with them tales of the early Merethic Era with great accuracy. Needless to say, I trust their word.

Before I go into the meat of this post, there's one other bit of information I'd like to highlight before proceeding and that's the elaborate cave systems within the Reach. This is something that's discussed extensively in their folklore—that their most ancient ancestors lived within these caves long before Man and Mer fought over their lands. This allowed the proto-Reachfolk to explore their land literally inside and out, and pass on their wisdom through song and story.

This is a really interesting point in the lore, because we actually know quite a bit about cave systems within Skyrim and the people that inhabited them. If you're not picking up what I'm putting down: yes, I'm talking about Blackreach and the Dwemer.

It may seem odd at first, but the pieces line up just perfectly for the proto-Reachfolk to have at least engaged with the Dwemer at some point or another.

I believe the proto-Reachfolk and the Dwemer had a sort of allyship going for them. The nature of this alliance is vague and could be just about anything; perhaps the Dwemer provided protection to the proto-Reachfolk and the Reachfolk in turn bring resources from the surface world to the Dwemer. It's important to keep in mind that this is before the Reachfolk have been ostracised, antagonized, and oppressed by the other races, so it's not hard to imagine them as a vastly different people then. Perhaps their guarded, suspicious nature towards outsiders only set in later. With what we know of their strong sense of duty, it's possible that the Reachfolk and Dwemer fell into an easy alliance based on mutual benefit and returning favors to one another. Over the centuries, the Dwemer shared their knowledge of their technology with their friends, and the proto-Reachfolk shared their knowledge of alchemy and magics in turn.

But as we know, Reachfolk are inherently very suspicious of all things Dwemer, so that's rather bizarre to think, isn't it? I can definitely see that perspective, but I'd once again argue that we don't know how different the proto-Reachfolk are from their modern day successors. I believe the Reachfolk were in a good relationship with the Dwemer up until the events of the Aetherium War, which tore the alliance apart as well as any alliance the Dwemer city-states had with each other.

Then, of course, the disappearance of the Dwemer. This, I believe, took not only full-blooded Dwemer, but also those with mixed Dwemer-Reach ancestry. Seeing not only their friends and allies but also their own children, parents, and lovers disappear from their grasp left a scar of the Reachfolk's psyche, leaving most of them convinced all things to do with Dwemertech were cursed.

Emphasis on the word "most." Yes, we're finally getting into the actual Doomfang clan! I believe the ancestors of the Doomfangs were those left of the Reachfolk that firmly believed in the Dwemer culture and keeping it alive. They saw value in those same intellectual pursuits, despite the risks. These were among the first to inhabit Nchuand-Zel, later to be called Markarth.

Over the years, the clans shift and change and get renamed, but by the time of the fourth era, we end with the Doomfang Clan as the one clan that continues to tell tales of the Dwemer and pass on their knowledge. This is how they were able to get the Dwemer animunculi to work with rather than against them. This is why they chose to inhabit a Dwarven ruin rather than live in the hills. This is why their death is among the worst tragedies the Empire has committed against the Reach.

I do like to think that a very small handful of Doomfangs survived—those that were visiting other tribes or out gathering food during the time of the attack, things like that. They returned to find their home in shambles, their people’s blood and gore splattered across the walls of their own home. All in the name of the Empire’s selfish desires.

I have a ton more to say about this clan beyond just their history, but I'll leave all that for a part two. Stay tuned!

[the-college-of-whispers]

What the Fuck Happened to Jyggalag: A History of the Prince of Order

In-Game Lore

Stern Jyggalag sets order on its path

~Skald Skullsplitter in Darkest Divinities

Before some clown decided to start recording history, Jyggalag ruled over a realm of perfect order across the seas of Oblivion, aided by his librarian and later overall-chamberlain Dyus of Mytheria. This realm of perfect order and intense power Jyggalag held was generally considered a bad thing among the other Daedric Princes. They made him turn into Sheogorath and his realm into the Shivering Isles, but at the end of every Era he would turn back into Jyggalag and retake the Shivering Isles. At the end of this Greymarch, he turned back into Sheogorath, starting the cycle over again.

In 3E 433 (during the Shivering Isles DLC of Oblivion), someone popped open a doorway to the Shivering Isles in Niben Bay. Someone (the Champion of Cyrodiil) got the idea to go check on that. Sheogorath called dibs on them and made them his new mortal Champion because he could tell a new Greymarch was about to begin because Knights of Order (soulless servitors of Jyggalag) appeared in the Isles and weird obelisks started popping up. As it turns out, Sheogorath had a new and fun idea to break the cycle that Sheogorath-Jyggalag had been trapped in - the Champion would mantle the powers of Sheogorath, in the hopes that it would free Jyggalag to just be himself.

This would ultimately be true - the new Sheogorath would take the throne and Jyggalag would have his forces attack Sheogorath's Palace, ultimately culminating in an anime-esque duel between the two where the Champion would fight until Jyggalag yielded and congratulated the Champion on breaking the cycle.

Jyggalag then fucked off into Oblivion somewhere for reasons unknown. His ever-exhausted librarian Dyus figured that he would either be seeking revenge or pursue loftier goals, even potentially never returning to the Shivering Isles.

Strangely, some time in the Fourth Era, Sheogorath was said to have been driven even more mad by his memories of being Jyggalag, implying that either the Shivering Isles DLC didn't happen in the overall lore, or that mantling a role also included getting all the memories. Talym Rend, a Dunmer, was able to defeat Sheogorath at his own madness game by making the Madgod relive these memories.

And then we get to the events of Skyrim in 4E 201, when the mage Thoron got the Sword of Jyggalag and started a ritual to tear the veil between Tamriel and the Shivering Isles to ultimately destroy the Isles in a manner similar to the Greymarches. The Last Dragonborn put an end to the ritual by killing Thoron and taking the sword themself.

Overall, it's warned that Jyggalag will one day reassume his role with unknown ramifications for the complicated balance of power within Oblivion.

As mentioned in the Thoron paragraph, Jyggalag has just one Daedric Artifact - the Sword of Jyggalag. It was also said that replicas of the sword have been in existence since around 2E 582. His sword has been all over the place - the throne room of Sheogorath's Palace after he yielded to the Champion/New Sheogorath, in Talym Rend's possession before he decided to cause problems on purpose, in the possession of the mage Thoron before he got bodied by the Last Dragonborn, and possibly even in the possession of the Golden Saint Staada. It's a giant fuck-you claymore that's perfectly symmetrical and made of a weird silver crystalline material. It has an enchantment that allows those that gaze upon its edge to see the past, present, and future flow as one.

Pop Culture Witchcraft

Because Jyggalag is overall less-covered than every other Daedric Prince and intrinsically tied to Sheogorath, TES pagans and witches have had to build things from the ground up to figure out how and what to use to worship Jyggalag.

Altar ideas, offerings, and symbols can include:

books (especially nonfiction, scientific research)

candles (silver, white)

clear quartz

crystals in geometric shapes

cycle of rebirth

detective equipment

glass objects

hourglass

knight figurine (grey)

obelisks

organized space overall

planets (Earth, Jupiter, Mercury, Pluto, Saturn)

selenite

sword

traditional kinds of incense

water

wheel

white flowers (and wreaths including them)

Devotional activities can include:

cleaning and cleansing

embracing your strengths

linear ritual/spell working

participating in activism

putting things in order for future events

reflecting on past events

Summoning days may include:

28 Sun's Dusk (November 28th)

31 Evening Star (December 31st)

Sources

Jyggalag's lore page on the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Jyggalag

Jyggalag's page on the Elder Scrolls Wiki: https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Jyggalag

"Darkest Divinities" by Skald Skullsplitter on the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Darkest_Divinities

"Jyggalag - Daedric Prince of Logical Order" by @wickedenbywitch-moved on Tumblr: https://the-college-of-whispers.tumblr.com/post/668609374379507712/the-lore-jyggalag-is-the-daedric-prince-of

@shadow-path on Tumblr on what Jyggalag's summoning day may be: https://the-college-of-whispers.tumblr.com/post/661517412085219328/shadow-path-i-cant-help-but-wonder-what

"Altar Ideas/Offerings for Daedric Princes" by @shadowedpath on Tumblr: https://the-college-of-whispers.tumblr.com/post/661506022668697601/altar-ideasofferings-for-daedric-princes

"Astronomy" by @the-college-of-whispers on Tumblr: https://the-college-of-whispers.tumblr.com/post/663310441320153088/astronomy

"Daedric Princes: Part 2 of 2" by @the-gray-fox on Tumblr: https://the-college-of-whispers.tumblr.com/post/661415471325855744/daedric-princes-part-2-of-2

Intense Jyggalag lore analysis by @spectralfeathers on Tumblr: https://the-college-of-whispers.tumblr.com/post/661585285574967296/orderwithoutmercy-thesheogorath

[your-uncle-sheogorath]

What do you think of Martin Septim and Talym Rend?

Ah, the mystery of Martin. I've getting lots of asks about him. This is the first time, however, that someone asks me about Talym Rend.

As always, allow me to kindly remind you that I am writing from the Second Era. No spoilers!

[hasmashdoneanythingwrong]

(Made a separate post for length, both are tagged under TES Lore)

Oh man, oh buddy, oh pal, @lancelotlikeslewds I am totally taking this as an excuse to talk about those things.

Quote Kirkbride: “Pelinal was and is an insane collective swarmform war-fractal from the Future, you betcha”

As that may have informed you, former developer Michael Kirkbride imagined Pelinal Whitestrake as basically Terminator meets Doomguy but against elves specifically. See, Pelinal was noted for mentioning events and people from the future (like Reman Cyrodiil) and for having plate mail armor despite being from a time when only Dwemer had such technology. Of course, it should also be mentioned that several details imply both that he had a connection to both Akatosh (once mentioning that he saw him see pelinal stare at Akatosh) and Lorkhan as a Shezzarine. There’s also the fact that he would get so violent against any elves that once, he nearly made the Aedra leave the world in disgust. Which is impressive as by that point (the Merethic Era) the Aedra had already given themselves over to Nirn. That said, as most of this is Kirkbride Lore, you are free to take it as you wish, since Bethesda’s official policy on his writings has basically become “not not canon until we directly mention it in game” (see Heimskr’s preachings, which are basically an example of Kirkbride’s ideas becoming canon).

Crouching Tiger, Transmogrified Dragon

Far off in the Fantasy Japanese reaches of Akavir, one of the peoples are the tiger beastfolk, the Ka Po’Tun. Their leader, Tosh Raka, is claimed to have become a Dragon. How is unknown, but many assume a Tower to be involved, as those often can be used to assume godhood (Also Martin becoming an Avatar of Akatosh using the Amulet of Kings, the powering Stone for White-Gold Tower, springs to mind). Also of note, Tosh Raka is an anagram of Akatosh with an extra R added in. Hmm...

Sheogorath, The Sithis Shaped Hole In The World

Of the Daedric Princes, few are so powerful and strange quite like Sheogorath, Prince of Madness. See, that name of “The Sithis-Shaped Hole” isn’t just a name. Sheogorath is (well at this point, was) the cursed form of Jyggalag, Daedric Prince of Order. In other words, his is a form of “Is-Not”, AKA what Sithis represents. Where Jyggalag had been powerful but predictable, Sheogorath was slightly less powerful, but now has access to every original thought in existence, and also is a master of lateral thinking. As a result, he has gotten one over every other Daedric Prince as described in “16 Accords of Madness”. His domains include Art, Free Will, and to an extent Chaos. Thunderstorms and butterflies serve as symbols of his. Notable tales of Sheogorath include him using a songbird to trick a Werebeast of Hircine into literally tearing itself apart, tricking Malacath into killing a noble Orc who was his son, and driving a Vaermina worshipper to madness simply by not giving him horrifying dreams, leading the worshipper to believe Vaermina had abandoned him. Interstingly, some Khajiit tribes of Elsweyr (who Worship him as “The Skooma Cat”) believe him to be dead and replaced... which is, uh, kind of true after The Shivering Isles.

Notable artifacts include The Fork of Horripilation (a seemingly ordinary dinner fork that prevents magicka regeneration), Wabbajack (a staff that transforms things into other things like Dremora, bunnies, sweetrolls, and piles of gold coins), The Staff of Everscamp (forcefully binds scamps to whoever picks it up and also makes them unable to get rid of the Staff unless someone willingly takes it or leaves it at a certain shrine to Sheogorath), and the Memory Wand (which can manipulate memories. Notably, it even works on Sheogorath, as an adventurer named Talym Rend was able to use the wand to force the Sheogorath that was the Champion of Cyrodiil to relive the previous Sheogorath’s memories as Jyggalag, something which pains him greatly. Must be cringe).

[sheogayrath]

talym rend on his way to give the madgod a stern talking to.

[electronicdelusionstarlight]

Elder Scrolls Legends: Isle of Madness DLC: plot and lore summary for those who don't have the time or the will to play it

All Elder Scrolls legends stories have are framed as stories told by Kellen, a traveling moth priest, and Nagh, his furry boyfriend (?), who really like to hear the man talk, in their long and perilous journeys across Tamriel to better pass the time.

Kellen, who has always till now narrated stories he saw on the scrolls he carries around, stories about the shezarine Forgotten Hero, this time decides to tell a different kind of story, one he remembers from a old journal he found long ago.

As of now, we have no knowledge of when exactly any of this happening. However, since they treat the Return to Clockwork City DLC, which is happening right during the Skyrim Dragon War, as old history, we can assume this is happening way late in the 4th era, perhaps even the 5th.

Anyway, Kellen decides to tell us the story of a new "hero."

Talym Rend. He was a spy for the empire, stationed in Morrowind, and the journal was his. He narrates of how his son, Nevos, had been struck by a terrible madness, and how no healer, no temple priest, not even the ashlanders could heal the boy. He so decides to venture into the shivering isles, home of Sheogorath, corner of the house of troubles, and petition for him to heal his son.

We don't know when specifically this is also happening either. Morrowind isn't a smoking ruin, and the tribunal temple is still the local religion, so it's not the 4th era. The existence of a united empire deploying troops in both Morrowind and High Rock might make us assume this is happening during the 3rd era, before the events of Morrowind, but after the warp in the west? The details are confused.

Anyway, Talym finds a strange door in Morrowind, and by passing it he reaches the fringes of Sheogorath Realm.

There, we meet our first supporting character.

Cyriel is a sneaky little shit. She distracts Talym with the prospect of some sick weapon, and warns him about the incoming fight with the gate keeper, only to steal his gold purse one second later by going "Can't Help Being a Gemini Shadow."

Talym so ventures into the fringe, and finds a garden of swords, growing from the ground, and among them, a axe specifically grown to kill the gate keeper.

He uses it to kill the mountain of a flesh atronach, only for cyriel to come out of the bushes to thank him for all the work he's done for her, and walking onto the gates of madness.

Reached New Sheoth, however...

And so Talym is out to seek glory to amuse the mad god.

First, he meets once again Cyriel. The cheeky bugger has gotten herself trapped in a trap and is now trying to extort Talym's help via deception and false humility, all of this at the No-Rats Camp, a giant camp whose owner, the eponymous Nervous Giant, is terrified by Rats and Skeevers. Talym manages to make him run away and saves Cyriel, asking for his purse back, only for Cyriel to vanish in the shrubbery once again.

Second, he meets the second supporting cast member of his adventure.

The Orc Bard Luzrah gro-Shar, a gentle soul, who incidentally has the menu theme stuck in her head due to a magical cave filled with colored grumites. You help her finish her song, and she warmly salutes him.

And then, he meets the most peculiar of men (man?).

A man with a split personality, Tavyar (Rayvat?) who believes one is constantly following the other with ill intent. Talym makes them notice that they are apparently the same person, only for the 2 to get enraged and attack together... as one?

Killed the knight (or was it the mage?), Talym is approached by Haskill, who tells him that Lord Sheogorath is most pleased with him, and will receive him now.

Talym, reluctantly, accepts.

And so it begins. The mad god has also managed to conscript Cyriel and Luzrah in the mission, Sheogorath promising one riches, the other bodily harm if they don't comply, and the unfortunate Threesome is now forced to do the mad god bidding.

First, they must instill the fear of the dead to a Khajiit bandit lord, who lord Sheogorath calls a slur while he's at it, who has killed many a hero before like the Hero of Dawn and the Red Avenger, and is now afraid of no enemy, especially the dead ones.

Talym, who at first tries to spook the Khajiit with some smoke and mirrors, is in the end gifted by Haskill with a powerful amulet, that can capture weakened ghosts to later unleash on unsuspecting victims.

The bandit lord is left, fleeing into the night, haunted by the ghosts of those he had killed.

Second, a Dunmer Baron in Morrowind, owner of several Kwama Egg Mines, and sworn enemy of a rich Betty Netch Herder. The trio must convince the man, who has always had everything handled to him on a silver platter in life due to his noble and rich birth, that he is more than a simple mortal, is to boost his ego to comical proportions.

Talym so disguised himself as a prophet, and calls the baron "the Prince of the Prophecy, whose words always come true." He so asks the Baron to make three statement, three wishes, and see how they will hold true.

The first, is asking for his Kwama to lay golden eggs, a task easily fulfilled by Luzrah (" Didn't I tell you guys other than a hard I'm also a superb painter?").

The second, is for his rival's bull netches, the most gentlest of creatures, to rampage on his farm, another task easily fulfilled by simply harming the farm's betty netches in front of the bulls.

And third, for a snowstorm to start despite it being Morrowind in the middle of a particularly hot summer, which is another task fulfilled by hijacking a local telvanni mushroom tower and using it as a catalyst for a overpowered blizzard spell.

After the 3 portents are fulfilled, the baron, mad with power, decides to use his newfound "powers" to smite down his rival in a duel, and, once done so, he decides that he is capable of flight, launching himself from a Cliffside before anyone, let alone a horrified Luzrah, who unroll then was having a blast at the Baron looking silly and believing such obvious bull, can stop him.

The baron falls to his death, and Lurzah leaves the party, disgusted with watch she and the others have done.

Now, more somber, the zany adventures they seemed to have till now come to an end...

Starts the second part of this story.

Talym and Cyriel reach the border between High Rock and Skyrim. A rogue Reachmen Clan, the Doomfang Clan, is trying to breach the mountains and establish a small colony in northern high rock, so to keep trade between the 2 provinces on a choke hold.

The empire has sent one of their best generals and spies, General Porcia, Talym old friend and superior during his time as a imperial spy, and his next and last target in order to save his son.

The situation is dire, but Talym would do anything to save his son, even betray a old friend...

So, he intercepts and kills one of her spy couriers, so to tamper with its informations, so to Plant false ones and make her doubt her ability as a spy master...

Only to discover the unthinkable.

The reachmen had perfected a weapon, terrible in its design. A poisonous gas, with no antidote, deathly and pervasive, soon to be unleashed on the imperial garrison, the Breton contingent, stationed there and lead by Porcia.

Cyriel is horrified. She says they must warn the imperial at once, that no one is worth the life of an entire army...

Only For Talym to rebuke her with force. He would sacrifice anyone, even 100 armies to save his son.

Cyriel is disgusted. She leaves, stops, gets his unopened satchel filled with gold, and throws it on the ground at his feet. And then she's gone.

Talym can't stop now, he only has 24 hours left to complete his task, and he's getting desperate. He decides to plant false evidence that a sacred flower growing in a nearby grow, sacred to Lady Mara, can be extracted and used as a counter cloud to the poison, knowing full well that it will most likely do nothing of the sorts and will doom them all to a slow death by gassing.

But, due to the death of the courier, the Reachmen have gotten more alert, and manage to capture Porcia. Talym is so forced to save his old friend, only to later lead her to her doom.

They go together to the sacred grove, where Porcia, believing the flowers to be their only hope, and that the priestess were going to die anyway once the reachmen decided to attack them to prevent the flower from being harvested (something that was never going to happen), orders her men to kill them and take the flowers with force, committing a massacre of pacifist Mara priests trying to resist the imperials as they took their sacred flowers.

The trap is set, the weight of her actions already resting heavy on her mind, Porcia orders a attack against the reachmen stronghold, knowing full well such a enclosed space would be perfect for the deployment of the gas. So, she orders all her men to converge in a narrow passage, and, once the poison cloud is released, she orders to release the sacred flower counter cloud...

And then...

The two gasses have a terrible reaction with each other.

Fire is unleashed on Reahcman and Breton alike, the entirety of the Doomfang Clan, warrior, men, but also women and children living in the stronghold, and an entire imperial legion destroyed and eradicated in a single night, explosions disfiguring and killing and maiming soldiers for life, or kill those lucky enough to get killed. Porcia, miraculously unscathed, perhaps a punishment, or a mercy by lady Mara herself, witnessing her actions and her consequences, becoming more from that day onward, in fear her words might one day again cause such terrible fate, such senseless deaths, for nothing, and thinking it was her fault, hers and her faulty informations.

When it was all Talym's fault instead.

The war criminal, because we can't have a elder scrolls legends story mode without the main character being a bloody war criminal, returns home, the conquering hero, ecstatic to finally see his some again, whole and-

But his son is gone.

And only a tomb lays in his place. A tomb Talym himself built over a year ago.

He doesn't understand. How did that happen? Sheogorath must have tricked him somehow, so Talym returns to the isles, his mind getting more and more deranged as time passes and the weight of his actions start making itself clear, all with actions and horrors for nothing, the man slipping more and more into insanity as he forgets who he is, as he sees normal trees coming to life, and mudcrabs talking and trying to sell him their wares, and strange... colored grumites... singing... the menu theme song?

Lurzah is back, during Talym darkest hour, for the friend that helped her with her own song, despite everything he has done.

She wakes him from his delirium, and tells him that the only way for him to heal, is to face his past, maybe with the help of a ancient orc song, so powerful that it can send you in a trance and let you fight your darkest self.

But that's not enough. He must learn the truth, he must find Sheogorath and demand answers. So Lurzah tells him or a mighty warrior, someone Sheo himself was afraid of, trapped in a ancient cell in cavern at the fringes of insanity... or perhaps sanity?

So, they enter the cell, and free its prisoner, who was no other than...

Haskill's evil brother?

Dyus, keeper of the records of Jyggalag, the prince of order, the last thing of Jyggalag left in the isles, for not even Sheogorath could bring himself to kill his last link to his past.

Well, his second to last.

For the sword of Jyggalag is somewhere to be found, and, by using it against Sheogorath, he too will be faced with the memories of what he has done, of what he was, and, perhaps, will be compelled so to tell Talym the truth about what happen to his son.

Talym finds the sword, and returns to New Sheoth, bidding one last farewell to Lurzah, who tells him there are no ill feelings between them, and who probably decided to go search for where the hell Cyrial has gotten herself into to get her out of trouble, thus starting a epic Orsimer/Bosmer bard/thief lesbian love story to span the ages.

(Or maybe not, this one can dream).

Talym reaches Sheogorath, amazed that the man is still standing after his ordeal, and that he has managed to find the sword of order of all weapons. Talym directs his sword against Sheogorath, and demands an explanation.

Which Sheogorath, in all fairness, does give.

Via mind fucking flashbacks of course, but big still count as a explanation:

Back then, when Talym was still a imperial spy under porcia, the Black Worm Cult murdered his "partner" (Never mentioned if romantic or work partner. Since we see no spouse to speak of I'm assuming they killed the guy husband and spy partner and Nevos is adopted), so he decides to infiltrate the black worm cult himself to dismantle it from within, despite Porcia insists that he should take a break and spend more time with his son.

Alas, tragedy strikes. The cult discovers what his going on, and puts Talym in front of a terrible test.

Prove his worthiness to the cause...

Via the trial of ruthlessness.

This is by far the most chilling fucking scene and match in the history of this fucking game.

Whatever you do, you cannot save your son.

The spell in your hand, blood sacrament, is a damaging spell, and both creatures are ready to attack. There are 3 ways to kill your son.

Even if you pass, one of the two cultists will assume you failed the test, and comment on what a shame it was, only to then have the creature attack the boy by itself.

Memories come back like a flood. He had asked Sheogorath to forget the terrible action he had to commit, to kill his own beloved son, only for him to manipulate his memories so he could come back to him, years later, and do his dark bidding again.

Sheogorath and if he wants to do it all over again, and let him make him forget all of his pain and misery rather than have to face it for the rest of his miserable life.

But Talym has learned his lesson now. He must not run away from pain, but must healthily deal with his loss rather than strike bargains with mad gods. He has learned to live with the truth and his past, no matter the pain.

He then asks if Sheogorath if he can say the same for himself.

Talym strikes him with the sword of order one, two, three times, each strike making memories of his past as the prince of order flood in Sheogorath's mind, the mad god first disgusted by his last self, later scared, and in the end defeated, begging Talym to stop, to take away the memories with him and return home, something Talym agrees only after having the mad god swear to not harm or retaliate on neither him or on Cyrial and Luzrah again, who were probably having wild lesbian sex in Lurzah's colored music cave as all of this was happening and Sheogorath started making rain flaming cheese from the skies as he pleaded for Talym to go the fuck away from him.

And so the story end. Talym returns to his empty home to deal with his grief, alone, and leave us a warning: "no matter what devil might try to bargain with you, memories and grief are important to us, and we should never give them away, no matter how painful they might seem."

The story ends, and we return to out travelers from the start, with Nagh obligatory sarcastic closing statement: "Jeez, man, Naagh is beginning to think you only know angsty stories, it's the 3rd time you made this one cry with one," as a city appears on the horizon.

[uesp]

Talym: "When... when did I get here? Here's as good as anywhere, isn't it? This is his plane! He must be everywhere! And probably nowhere too! Let's check under this rock. SHEOGORATH! YOU IN THERE?!"

Mudcrab Merchant: "Why... why don't ya keep it down pal? Shome of ush are tryn' ta sleep."

Talym: "A ha! One of your foul creations, eh? Die, abomination!"

--Talym Rend, shortly before killing the Mudcrab Merchant

[uesp]

Did You Know: When Talym Rend's son was killed by the Worm Cult in retaliation to his work against them, he contacted Sheogorath to remove his memories of his involvement in his son's death? Sheogorath instead chose to alter his memory so he thought his son Novos was still alive, and suffering from a madness that Sheogorath would cure if he drove three people to insanity.

After he completed this task, Talym traveled home to be reunited with his cured son, only to discover his grave. He returned to Sheogorath for answers, and Sheogorath restored his memory, while pointing out that Talym has no way of knowing how many times he had repeated this cycle of having his memory altered and restored.

[uesp]

Pictured: Talym Rend with Novos Rend. Novos Rend is, as far as I am aware, the only elven child to ever appear in a game.

[indoril-nerevar]

[original format by mysillycomics]

[indoril-nerevar]

talym rend fucked up a lot the first time through but im glad he got another chance to be a dad after defeating sheogorath

[indoril-nerevar]

the final battle part 3 / the tragedy