kradus

Plenty of people in the empire are Talos worshippers, Tullius and Rikke as an example. We've been through this before. Ysgramor is a reencarnation of Shor?

Off topic question: if you finish the stormcloak quest-line before going to the thalmor embassy, what happens then? Are they still operating?

"That's enought out of you!" - From general tullius to Elenwen at the peace council. With the stormcloak rebelion finished, every other problem should be easier to handle. Throwing caution to the wind is out of the question, when human existance is in the ballance. Leadership change over time regardless, and the empire has been preparing for the next great war. It's the very reason the empire can't afford to send more legions to Skyrim, according to Tullius.

Yet the sormcloaks started a war that most of skyrim didn't want (imperial supporters + neutral individuals), that by itself causes a lot more harm than any thalmor jurisdiction before and after Ulfric provoked them into going all gestapo on Talos worshipers. The Thalmor already occupied hammerfell at that point, if that's what you're reffering to. They forced the situation, not the emperor. The empire didn't occupy anything, it was there from the start. This is what I mean, you have the wrong prespective about the war. It's not an imperial invasion, at least half the nords remain loyal to the empire, and fight to defend it. It's the duty of the empire to help its people fight against rebells in their own lands. It's an argument that you are wasting people's time. No, they are not present in all imperial meeting and events. You only see Elenwen at the greybeard council, and even then, she doesn't have a say in the agreement, that's purely between the heads of state. And even with a HQ in solitude, the Thalmor dont take place in any war meetings or in the court. So, no, the Thamor do not have control over the empire. Bingo, the Elder council know what the Thalmor are up to, and they have legions gathered in Cyrodiil. I dont see why they wouldn't want to defend their lands any less than the emperor. Smart and Opressive. If Ulfric cared about tradition, he'd simply let the Jarls decide. And most warriors/generals/heads of state in the empire, exept mainly for the stormcloaks, support the emperor. Consider all the support he retained after the WGC and you'll come to the conclusion that the smashing majority of people in lore disagree with your point of view.

The Empire does the same thing with the Jarls. Replace the Jarls with Jarls that will vote Elisif as High Queen because she will allow the Empire to walk all over her. She lets Ulfric do it to. Actually the original Jarls voted for Torygg, that's it. If Ulfric actually respected tradition, he would abide by their will, not use the ancient costumes as a tool for his own advancement. Manipulating the ancient costumes to kill his lawfull highking and then creating a fake moot by war, one that will certainly support his claim, while using the ban on the worship of talos to gather an army for that purpose, says it all. That guy is actually smarter than I gave him credit at first. Exactly my point. If the Thalmor had any control over the empire like you claim, they'd have done something to keep it from winning the civil war. Yet their only involvement was provoking you guys into rebelling, and supporting you indirectly. Your argument however, that "the AD controls the empire" has no basis. Even Tullius shuts Elenwhen down in the greybeard council, when she starts bitching at Ulfric. The legion keep fighting the civil war, even after the emperor gets killed, so yes, they are doing their jobs regardless. When the head of state dies, theres always a transition of power to the next in line. That's called hereditariness, there is an Elder council and an Imperial Marchal after all, and after those, the Generals/Legates. The idea that the empire or the legions would stop working without the emperor is yet another baseless argument. And again if Ulfric respected tradition, he would have abide by it, not chase after over half the moot. I can make an educated guess of why stormcloak/HighKingUlfricStormcloak would want to emulate the rebelious barbarian stereiotype, while fighting the opressive Roman lookalikes, and posting baseless arguments to justify it.

I get so tired of refuting this. -.- They'll keep posting the same baseless arguments over and over, because they have a need to convince themselfs they're right. There's no point to an election if you replace the voters with your own supporters, by force.

When I kill a bandit leader or when I loot a treasure chest, I usually leave the bounty/treasure map that drove me there, in its inventory. Like a signature.

Not true. If the Thalmor had a say, the empire wouldn't be allowed to win the civil war, and muster their forces in Cyrodill. The empire is thwarting Thalmor plans right there, despite their indirect assistance of the stormcloak rebelion. Regardless of how much knowledge you think the Thalmor have, the Legions keep doing their thing.

Change has occured in fact. It's up to the player to determine if the empire changes for the better or the worse. Breaking the empire appart fixes nothing. Cyrodill is screwed, and the surviving nations will hardly be able to gather themselfs and face the full power of the Dominion. The fact the empire is in a bad spot and about to be invaded is the reason it must stay intact. Unless you like to see the world burn.

I always found the Vigilants to be disgustingly self-righteous which gives me little problem with putting them in their place. No, I meant the priest of boethiah. It's not that I particulary like the guy, but being forced to kill a caged defenceless old man goes against my main's nature. Bethesda should have added an alternative to that. Usually we get a chance to challenge the daedric lords, but not in that one.

The only thing I recall was the Molag ball quest, because bethesda didn't give us an alternative to killing the priest.

Yeah, looking at the map makes me wonder how such a small archipelago that is the summerset Isls could field an army strong enougt to challenge the empire. It suggests that they do employ Bosmer and Khajiit in their millitary, like in the original AD.

Keep in mind that the Altmer also have warrior types with shields, whenever you have a thalmor vs stormcloaks or legionaries situation, the thalmor usually win fast due to an efficient melee/magic combo, of some holding off the enemy while others cast. That needs careful consideration.

Between Cyrodiil, Skyrim and HighRock/Orsinium, you can field some of the best warriors and battlemages in tamriel, Imperials can go either way. With that, it would be easier to match the tactical variety of the AD. Though, the empire is still more melee oriented, which should be an advantage when defending against an Invasion.

What about delphine?

See, this is another reason I'd have the empire stick together, as both imperials and bretons have some magical talent. Orcs themselfs have been a part of the legion, if they chose to.

Did you get the schematics for the actual dwemer crossbows? You can only make crossbows at the forge in castle Dawnguard.

Oh, nice, and we have to pick up the tab. Neutral btw, only debating on which side makes the most sence to me.

I hate her. Here I am, doing my thing, killing people, selling their stuff, and there she comes making me feel guilty for not buying flowers from her, or for just being alone out in the cold... I didn't purchase Skyrim for such emotional dilemmas!

But Skyrim is right in the middle, like a wedge. Splintering the empire is pretty much the end. Actually, it wasn;t meant to be a simply translation, it was meant to be a joke. OMG, FOR REAL?

-------------post censored------------- Move along citizen, and have a good day.

All these enemies are pretty inconsequential to my breton warrior with a shield and stacked magic resistance.

Pfff I can use translators too.

I believe the empire only works as a buffer if it remains intact. Cyrodill by itself would fall pretty quickly to an overwhelming enemy force before any such leghty plans could be put to practice. And the dominion army would only have any significant losses if it was presented with an actual challenge. Basically, you need to work with what troops you have now, and whatever alliances you can forge, because the Dominion is at the gates.

Because of what they did in the past, because both the empire and the dominion have been gathering their forces on the border. Which is why breaking the empire appart gives the Dominion an imediate advantage. The please post your arguments, but dont just post nonsensical stuff, like the dominion splitting their forces appart to make it easier for their enemy to beat them. Those aren't arguments. Start by looking at the map. You'll notice that Cyrodill is just between the Dominion and the rest of the empire. Meaning that after pillaging Cyrodiil, the Dominion gets to choose when and where to attack. Again, this is after Cyrodiil is torched, meaning, one less front. Now, the Dominion doesn't have to attack Hammerfell and Skyrim at the same time, there's absolutely no need to divide the army, when you can focus on just one nation. And when that nation is dealt with, the next follows. If one province decides to help the other, then its Hammerfell and Skyrim vs the entire army of the dominion. If the stormcloaks decide to sail to Alinor as you say, they'd have to first build a navy, then leave skyrim with even less fighting men. Now, an army is only significantly weakened, when they face at least similliar odds. If your army is able to overwhelm an enemy army, the battle ends pretty quickly, with little losses on your side. That's why the Dominion is more than capable of crushing each province if they break into separate armies.