LE Bosmer-Friendly Furniture

[CaiMcLean]

Ok so we know Wood Elves don't like cutting down their trees or making anything out of wood unless absolutely necessary right? Especially things they can easily make from something else. They *can* use timber as long as it's sourced from outside of Valenwood BUT they spend their whole lives avoiding the use of wood in general unless required for something important like bows (& even then, they outsource it), & well, old habits die hard.

Which brings us of the Bosmerically inclined in Skyrim to a problem, specifically with the furniture...like ALL the furniture. I never realized how many things in Skyrim were made with wood or plant based materials until I actively went looking for things that WEREN'T. Even if I were to go on an...'appropriating spree' with Jaxonz Positioner (and can I just say Hell Yes for that mod? if I could endorse it more than once I'd have done it a dozen times over by now) all through High Hrothgar, Ravenrock, Markarth & every Nordic & Dwemer ruin ever, I'd still be inundated with wooden furniture, hence this request.

Pretty pretty please will someone make a mod that provides furniture that's made of something else? ANYTHING else? Vanilla resources can be used to replace some things, the problem is things like smaller tables, drawers, cupboards, wardrobes, shelves etc where you have 2 choices: wooden furniture, or empty house. So umm...help? please?

Cheers

CM

Edited July 3, 2017 by CaiMcLean

[abborre]

I think the key to this entire problem is to realize that the lore of the wood elves is absolutely ridiculous to begin with, and the only response is to ignore the lore, or invent a more sensible head-canon version of it.

 

Honestly think about it, wood is the best material for building houses, crafting things, making temporary shelters, as well as fuel for fires which can be used for warmth, light, cooking, crafting, medical purposes, and blacksmithing, most of which are things where there are no good non-plant alternatives. Wood is a relatively cheap and abundant material that can be harvested on the spot, without necessarily needing a bunch of transportation. Same goes for all the various plant based things you can gather for food and other purposes.

 

I'm not saying you couldn't make a society without harming plant life, but given how the ecological pyramid works, this puts a massive restriction on the size of that society. If I buy that the Green Pact is a thing, then the Bosmer society should be insignificant compared to other Tamriel factions, especially with the ridiculous restrictions on technology and infrastructure that would be forced upon them by their unwillingness to harm and use plant-based resorces, and the lifestyle restrictions that come from that(nomadic). This is probably not the kind of society that's going to have the economical capacity to afford importing foreign wood into their nation, even if their home wasn't a crazy overgrown forest where transporting timber should be a massive pain in the behind.

 

Why are they even doing this anyway? Why are they agreeing to this massive restriction? What possible reward could be worth this insane lifestyle? What threat could be worth going this far to avoid? Wouldn't they genuinely be better off burning the whole forest down and farming instead?

 

Anyway, I think Bethesda should retcon the Green Pact for a much more reasonable version of the concept. It could be that they're allowed to take from the forest, but they're not allowed to cut it down en mass, nor would they be allowed to conduct agriculture, so that they live on natures terms. They could be genuine omnivorous hunter-gathers who don't rely on farming. It could be that they have religious rules dictating how they're allowed to cut down trees, when they're allowed to cut down trees, where they're allowed to cut down trees, what trees can be cut down, what rituals must be observed before cutting down a tree, etc. Maybe the task of cutting down trees is viewed as so dishonorable and unclean that it's only preferred by a particular caste of oppressed woodcutters, who are seen as useful yet contemptible, akin to prostitutes.

 

If done right, Green Pact could have been a piece of lore that sets the Bosmer apart, without making them too unrealistic and restricted, whilst also being a genuinely interesting piece of fictional culture. But instead we go this ridiculous piece of absolutist tree-hugger lore. It's lore so ridiculous that it's impossible to roleplay by, even in the games of the universe where it's supposed to be a thing.

 

Why yes, I do enjoy over-analyzing things and ranting on the internet, why do you ask?

 

My advice is to not try to RP to it, or to instead make up your own version of it and go along with that.

[CaiMcLean]

Oh I agree 100% with everything you said..uh typed, (the lumberjack hookers idea was a particularly interesting concept, I wonder if that's what prompted Faendal & Gwilin's move to Skyrim, I also noticed that for being from a race of people who don't ingest any form of plant life, there's a curious amount of vegetables growing in Faendal's garden.) but I wasn't looking to make an 'ultra lore-friendly' play-through or anything like that, it'd be totally impossible. It was more along the lines of 'can it be done? & if so how far could you take it?' as regards to furniture only.

 

I definitely think the Green Pact is a ridiculous religion to be following, considering all the restrictions it effectively puts on...well practically everything. There are several actual religions that have dietary restrictions associated with them, some of which were understandable at the time they were placed, if not any more, but some I find to be just strange.

 

For example some religions forbid the consumption of any pig meat like bacon, ham, pork etc. & at least one that I know of, also forbids the consumption of any form of shellfish. But at the time of these rules being introduced it was more a matter of public health & safety regulation than just a "god (or Y'ffre in Bosmer's case) says you can't." kinda deal, as then there were a lot more kinds of diseases running rife that could easily be transferred from pigs to humans & the average person collecting shellfish at a beach probably couldn't tell some of the good, safe shellfish from the poisonous kinds, so it basically boiled down to a case of "don't eat this, you'll live longer." which was perfectly logical at the time, but now in most countries you can go to the supermarket safe in the knowledge that the...I dunno say... mussels you bought actually WERE mussels, so it's not as necessary a rule as it once was, & the same with the pigs. But some of the other religious dietary restrictions are just...weird, like some very devout Catholics refuse to eat red meat on Fridays...ONLY on Fridays! the rest of the week they could be so carnivorous they put all Bosmer to shame, but not Fridays, mustn't do that, oh no! that's pescatarian day, my book says so! There is no possible logical explanation for this, but at least it only effects their diet & only in a small way, it's kinda like a reverse cheat-day, nothing as hugely lifestyle changing or...is 'oppressive' the right word?...to almost everything they can do with, say architecture to name a major thing. No I find the idea of strict adherence to something as restrictive & universally limiting as the Green Pact to be puerile stupidity, but for something as simple yet essential as basic furniture, it begs the question of "How would it work?" Leading to the submission of this request. Apparently I'm just too curious for my own damn good. :D

Edited July 5, 2017 by CaiMcLean