kimmera

There are actually fermented milk drinks... they aren't very strong, but they exist :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumis

It was more than that in Fo3. Lyons chapter was also open and working with the locals as a force for rebuilding society, whereas the main chapter's mandate was to horde all tech to protect society from technology. Lyons approach was a lot more sustainable and practical. Which I thought was rather ironic. The BoS traditionalists became the Outcasts while the "official" local chapter under Lyons had, in fact, gone rogue. Instead of the traditionalists being labeled Outcasts, it should have been Lyons and his followers being labeled Renegades. In theory, yes, but they were still the dominant faction in the region so their name stuck.

It was more than that in Fo3. Lyons chapter was also open and working with the locals as a force for rebuilding society, whereas the main chapter's mandate was to horde all tech to protect society from technology. Lyons approach was a lot more sustainable and practical.

The Brotherhood didn't change between FO2 and FO3. The East Coast offshoot were just that, an offshoot, arguably renegades with respect to the overall organization. FNV has a branch of the main Brotherhood, and they are their usual isolationist tech collecting selves.

The Legion in the Fallout is the opposite of the Empire in the Elder Scrolls series. The NCR symbol is a bear because they are the New California Republic, borrowing the California State Flag as a banner. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_California#California_Lone_Star_Flag

Lol... my runs are always clean though. Not spotted, no lives taken just valuables. And the money keeps rolling in regardless of how much or little I work at that (after being appointed leader) so someone else must be doing something. Even if it is protection money, someone has to be out doing the leg work to collect.

With the thieves though you do eventually end up in charge and even though you don't see the recruits doing things, someone besides you has to be filling your Guild Leader chest with loot every week or so. As you say they work alone and quietly and you get the profits. What is wrong with that?

But Esbern seems to think the Dragonborns serve him..... And the Empire still exists, Septim bloodline or not. Do we have any pre-Skyrim lore saying they were something other than the Imperial Secret Service?

Frankly the whole Blades are dragon hunters bit makes no sense.

It depends on how you interpret what you're shown. Nocturnal never says that the Key is necessary for the Ebonmere to work, only that it's going to stay closed until the Key is returned. It's far more likely she's keeping it shut until her property is retuned to her. The Nightingales, as a Daedric Cult, aren't necessarily that reliable a source as to the motivations of the Daedra themselves. Another problem when looking at Tiber Septim is... He's a Reigning King (CHIM), and has almost definitely changed elements of his own history. So it's almost impossible to separate the original history from his revised one, and then you layer propaganda on top of that. However, Wulfhearth's and Arctus' involvement is integral to the enatiomorphic elements of Talos, i at least am more than willing to accept that Wulfhearth was Tiber's voice. We also know that some of the Nordic myths surrounding Tiber Septim are just flat out wrong. No dragons around? Hah! He had one WORKING for him. We also know Paarthurnaax was around. How did the Blades not know about Nafaalilargus though?

Not every Septim came to the Greybeards. And Tibor, we are told, lost his ability to shout very early on so it isn't a given he taught his kids about that. He'd have to confess to having murdered his own King to advance, not something he'd want to encourage in them since he was their ruler. I am tempted to load up the earlier games and try to see if these references are there. They change lore between games. The whole Skeleton Key plot in Skyrim doesn't make sense given the key has been at large for centuries without any mention to any twilight sepulcher. Nocturnal has rewarded people with the key rather than keep it close to avoid risk to her power being cut off simply by a door being closed. Not to mention the ancient coven of pre-Empire vampires living off the coast of Skyrim yet seemingly never being an issue for anyone.... The official lore includes the concept that each playthrough is a separate alternative world, so each new game's continuity does not necessarily completely match the continuity of the prior games 100%. It is not a given that the official games are all actually the same world rather than very similar parallel worlds. Very convenient for the writers...

The Song of Tiber Septim (from the Pocket Guide I linked a couple posts ago) says he went to the Greybeards. Why is it so hard to believe he learned something while he was there? He was Dragonborn and the DB in Skyrim can learn from them essentially instantly. According to that particular lore source, they called him to them just as they do with the DB in Skyrim. Why wouldn't they teach him?

And the Arcturian Heresy indicates that it was Wulfhearth who was Tiber's "Voice", and it was only after he had dispatched Wulfhearth to aid in the expansion into Highrock (and later the double betrayal of the Ash King and Kingmaker) that the story about Tiber's throat being cut was embellished. At this point, it's really down to what one believes... Based on what we know about Tiber Septim, however, i'm personally more inclined to Ysmir over Talos. But how does that fit with the end of Oblivion and Martin's transformation? Isn't the lore associated with Oblivion that the Septim line have dragonblood as a gift form Akatosh, hence the transformation? http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/The_Book_of_the_Dragonborn

What voice? Tiber Septim couldn't shout, it was Wulfhearth that did that. According the The Pocket Guide to the Empire, First Edition: Cyrodiil, Talos had the voice until he slit his own throat to deflect suspicion away from people suspecting correctly that he himself had killed his king, the King of Falkreath, Cuhlecain. He lost his ability to shout as a result. http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Pocket_Guide_to_the_Empire,_First_Edition/Cyrodiil The more I find details about Tiber Septim the more I suspect that Ulfric might be trying to emulate him closer than we think....

But Ulfric never once makes the distinction of 'Dragonborn.' And the only ones who seem to show any respect to the Dragonborn based on their status rather than their deeds are the Whiterun soldiers in the first dragon encounter, and the Greybeards. Everyone else seems more impressed that the DB has Azura's Star. The Stormcloaks who you claim revere Dragonborn are reluctant to sign a non-Nord dragonborn up, and test them before considering them a real member. Esbern is similar despite knowing the DB has to save the bloody world.