thescrolls-haveforetold

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WIP Wednesday

Tagged by: @hircines-hunter and @chiqita 💖 Tagging: @skyrim-forever @theoneandonlysemla @dirty-bosmer @yansurnummu @pinessydr @scholarlyhermit @sunlightpassingthroughthewater @silly-little-diary @yewphoric @oblivions-dawn @flycasual @captain-of-silvenar @firefly-factory @sanzas-reverie @pocket-vvardvark @umbracirrus @infericon @madam-whim @rambles-about-some-scrolls @truth-01001001-liar @artaeums @saltymaplesyrup @thescrolls-haveforetold AND YOU 🫵 who's reading this

Sneak peaks at the trio's ref sheets! (I still need to add some greying and scars to Miraak. And some small details for Lilli. But their bodies are done! Onto clothes! I'm not sharing their nude forms in a wip. Y'all gotta wait 🙈)

Miraak || Lilliandra || Elikar

Now have some banter between Miraak and Lilliandra! the fucking nerds🤭 (Sorry if you've already read this from writing sprints! I had to share this bit!)

word count: 533

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Wordlessly, Miraak finally makes it to her desk — letting her watch as he now invades her space, fingers ghosting along the scattered papers. He’s calm and quiet, but the air between them is brittle. And her ledger on her desk is open, facing him. He lingers besides her desk for a beat before he steps between the desk and chair, his fingers skimming the edge of the open ledger. She neither stops him nor speaks up about his intrusion, instead turning back to her work.

So, he turns the ledger and pulls it towards him and begins flipping through the pages with causal ease. The quiet sound of page flipping as he skims through it accompany the strained breaths of her victim. The formatting is meticulously — not unlike her formal handwriting — but the structure itself is unconventional. Not alphabetical. Not even by subject matter or school or magic. Instead—

“‘Nervous twitch, too many rings, smells like vinegar’…” he reads aloud, brow lifting slightly. “Is that meant to be a description or an insult?”

Lilliandra doesn’t look away from her subject, but her voice floats lazily toward him. “It’s both, if I’m being honest.” She gives a half-shrug.

He makes a sound of amusement in his throat. “Charming. And here I thought your noble upbringing would afford them a touch more grace.”

“They aren’t guests. They’re ciphers,” she states matter-of-factly. “And I don’t recall you treating them with anything resembling dignity either.”

“I don’t dissect them like barn animals either.”

Her voice is light, too smooth. “No, you just bleed them of secrets, blackmail them, and throw them aside. I’m far more intimate.”

He continues leafing through the pages. “Do you keep a similar record for me, or do I get my own volume?”

There’s a long pause, then she hums. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

Another label “paranoia, third tier, loses hair under pressure” — his brows furrow slightly at the precise cruelty of her notes — until a page further on catches his eyes.

His name.

Not a full heading. Just scribbled in the margin. Miraak — see also: red ink notes, effect variance. His lips press together, expression unreadable.

Another entry further in: Possible shared influence on cipher behaviour? Observation needed.

And another: Response different with Miraak nearby — reactivity shift noted. Unclear if psychological or magical.

He glances back up at her. “You’re keeping track of me.” He can't even say he's surprised, given her past attempts at stalking. But this— this was becoming more thorough.

She doesn’t spare him a glance. “No. I keep track of anything that may skew results. You just happen to.”

“How flattering.”

Checking the cipher’s pupils, she then finally turns from her experiment. “Would you rather I guess blindly about your influence?” Her tone is clipped but almost… indulgent. “You do have a reputation, you know,” she says with a bit more amusement.

Oh, he knew, but she was gaining one just as quick. “And apparently, a column in your journal.” He taps the page. “Tell me— is it alphabetized under M, or do I fall under a different classification?”

Despite her trying to hide it, he catches how the corner of her lip twitches. “You’re a variable. I file those by volatility.”

A small snort escapes him, half a laugh despite himself. “How oddly fitting."

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It's so funny now that i can put them side by side for accurate heights. LMAO Elikar looks smol but Lilli's just insanely tall

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yes

🥳

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🥳

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gods and kings and stuff

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Ned Stark’s face in a rlly specific fanart has him w a strong chin and jawline so im like welp

it’s so embarrassing that I’ve been drawing and imagining martin w a cut jawline and then Oblivion 1 looks like that and Oblivion 2 rolls with it. like god arwen. the man’s face is round. stop using Ned Stark as a reference.

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it’s so embarrassing that I’ve been drawing and imagining martin w a cut jawline and then Oblivion 1 looks like that and Oblivion 2 rolls with it. like god arwen. the man’s face is round. stop using Ned Stark as a reference.

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ValMartin rlly is a ship i have so much trouble actually vocalises what it’s like. like they exchange no admissions of feelings, it’s a pretty crappy cycle of stress for a while, then they just… fall into a relationship routine. and they end up secret married. On Martin’s end it’s definitely a ‘last selfish act’ kind of vibe while Val had confidence that they would actually survive. but that’s not what happens

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by nerevar this can’t be happening right now

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Hey pookie!!! Ok so I really want to know what irl cultures are used for the dunmer cuz I see either Chinese or Japanese and it makes me so confused sometimes because I can never find a definitive answer so I’m hoping you can enlighten me bcs you’re like THE dunmer expert in my eyes and you always have great headcanons <33 feel free to ramble as much as you want I WILL be taking notes😋🫶

Hey there! I do love me some dunmer rambling. (Just a note, most of my Dunmer HC are based on what I've noticed playing Morrowind. So some influences come ESO might be different, I just haven't really managed to get into MMOs.)

Now I can never find a 100% certain source for the exact influences Bethesda uses for their inspo as far as Dunmer are concerned, but I have a few guesses based on my own knowledge and research.

I see influences from various Chinese and Japanese historical periods, particularly for the Redoran, who seem to be closely influenced by Bushidō. At least as far as their rules around honour and combat are concerned.

I've picked up on a lot of South Asian influence when it comes to the Tribunal and the religion they have built around them. A lot of Vivec's sermons remind me of the Vedas, plus his artistic depictions as well as the Tribunal in general remind me of what you find in Hindu and Buddhist art across South and South-east Asia. I find that there's a lot of similarities between the art you find on ALMSIVI shrines and in temples and Wayang puppets from Java.

There's Mesopotamian influences in both Redoran and Hlaalu architecture, as well as significant influences from Sumer in Chimeri architecture. Dunmeri strongholds in game are very clearly influenced by Ziggurats. I've even noticed some interesting ruins along Kogoruhn's outskirts that are eerily similar to some late Bronze Age dwellings that I have excavated myself.

Below is a pic of the Kogoruhn Citadel.

And the Anu/White Temple at Uruk

Platformed structures with administrative and or religious site on top and an inner structure which is usually administration and storage. You can also point towards similar inspirations for the cantons in both Vivec City and Molag Mar. I can also see inspo from Kowloon Walled City which is a whole interesting topic in and of itself. The Vivec Cantons are a series of cramped, winding hallways filled with apartments and shops and all the workings of a city. It's chaotic but what city isn't.

I've found that a lot of House Hlaalu architecture resembles Babylonian two storied houses.

(A terracotta model of an Old Assyrian Period "spirit house" and what Joshi would refer to as bumfuck Balmora.)

Telvanni are a tricky one, since I haven't truly tackled them yet, but one point of interest for me is what they call their dwellings. The term Tel in Dunmeris translates to tower, and we generally associate it with Telvanni Wizard towers. The term Tel or Tell in archaeology refers to a man made hillock that consists of multiple layers of habitation.

So whenever I see a damn mushroom I go "That's not a hill".

Ashlanders are where I've put most of my focus because they're just cool. I've noticed that there's influence taken from nomadic Turkic and Mongolian cultures and this influences parts of the language, whereas the rest of Dunmeris seems to be influenced by Semitic languages. You see terms used like Khan and Yurt which both have origins in Mongolian and Turkic languages respectively. They tend to use specifically Assyrian naming conventions, and a lot are taken from the Assyrian King List. Compare what's there to the Ashlander section of this list and I swear the amount of times Ashur is used...

When I write my Ashlanders, I draw mostly from Mongolian and Turkic cultural practices during the Mongol Empire through to the Timurid Empire. I also take inspiration from Tengrism for their religious practices, as I feel that just stating "ancestor worship" like the lore does is a bit too broad. I take death rite inspiration from Ancient Egypt, the Pazyryk burials, and the Chinchorro culture as well as aspects from Zoroastrianism and Tengrism. I also have aspects of Horse Burials when dealing with how Ashlanders in game view guar.

Indoril and Dres I haven't quite fleshed out yet so I won't comment on influences there. I am basing my Nerevar off of Timur and his conquests with Josh reflecting some of that when he conducts his. Again I'll be basing this off of the aforementioned Khanates.

But yeah, while I don't know exactly what cultures Bethesda uses specifically, I think they're pulling from multiple sources from across Asia. Mind you they do this for a lot of the races, so it can confuse me at times XD.

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NEW COMMISSION SHEET

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what

what

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what

what

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no but fr why is he wearing the tomb armour dawg 😭😭😭😭

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i’m making a morrowind playlist. gimme ur morrowind songs

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this is what you asked for, heavy is the crown

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this is what you asked for, heavy is the crown

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i signed up for a uni thing so i’m SOOOO ANXIOUS im trying to distract myself w terrible drawings

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dovahkiin