BrettM
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Posts posted by BrettM
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You know how thralls will sometimes say "thank you" when you kill them, releasing them from their thralldom? Apparently some are grateful in more tangible ways.
After rescuing the Moth Priest, I returned to White Run and met a courier with a letter from Jarl Elisif informing me that I had a 300g bequest from Vampire Thrall. The two in that cave were the only ones I had yet killed in Elisif's hold, so I presume that one of them somehow managed to make out a will. Maybe I just mortally wounded him, so he had time to write it before he bled to death. :)
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Besides, at what point did the Altmer, Dunmer, and Orsimer diverge from the Dwemer? It is pretty forthrightly stated by Septimus Signus that the Dwemer are the forbears of the other elven races.
I think you're misinterpreting the point of collecting all the blood. The Aldmer are the common ancestor of all the mer races, including the Dwemer. Each race has a certain subset of genes from that common source, and those subsets have a certain amount of overlap between different races. By combining the blood of the other races, you get a mix that allows Septimus to select a subset that matches the Dwemer subset closely enough to open the box. The other races are "brothers" to the Dwemer, not descendants of them.
For example, say Dwemer and Bosmer share gene A because both races received it from the Aldmer. Then suppose that Dwemer and Falmer share gene B but not gene A, and Dwemer and Dunmer share gene C but not A or B. By mixing the blood, you get a full set of A, B, C that could not be provided otherwise by any single race except the Dwemer.
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Serana does refer to "previous owners" of the castle during a conversation about the moon dial in the courtyard. If Harkon didn't build it, who did? Certainly not the Nords, since it doesn't match their architecture from ANY era except for the watchtower out front. Could it have been built by Snow Elves, back during their heyday? We don't have any known examples of original Falmer construction with the exception of the Chantry, though they did build Windhelm as slave labor under the direction of the Nords. However, I wouldn't expect a temple like the Chantry to be totally representative of ordinary construction.
Also of note is the similar architecture of the area where Serana was entombed. While it adjoins a typical ancient Nord crypt, it is very different. I see some resemblance to the architecture of the Chantry there, as well as the architecture of Castle Volkihar.
On another note, where exactly did Harkon and his family come from originally? He claims to have been a wealthy king before becoming a vampire. The UESP wiki claims they're Nords, but that doesn't make sense to me, especially if they were around in the early First Era and before. I suspect that they're immigrants to Skyrim from elsewhere. High Rock, perhaps?
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The evidence is a bit contradictory, but Serana may have been shut up in that monolith for about 4,000 years.
1. When released, Serana expresses amazement at the idea there's an empire in Cyrodiil. Yet, there have been three empires in Cyrodiil, founded by Alessia, Reman, and Tiber Septim. This means that the latest she could have been shut away is the interregnum between the second and third empires, before around 2E 850, for a minimum of around 600 years of imprisonment.
This would fit with a later statement about having been shut away for a "few hundred years" when you ask her for ideas about where to find a Moth Priest. However, it doesn't fit with some of the other evidence, nor with the implication that she's amazed that there is any empire, not just amazed that a new empire has arisen. If she is truly unaware of any empire, then she would have to have been shut away before the beginning of the Alessian empire in 1E 243.
2. Serana has heard of the College of Winterhold, founded in the First Era, so she could not have been imprisoned before that founding. I don't know of any source with an exact date for that, but it was certainly well before the death of King Borgas in 1E 369, and probably well before his birth. As one of the "Old Holds" and very near to Saarthal, it would be fair to guess at a founding somewhere between the start of the First Era and the Alessian rebellion in Cyrodiil. This means that the earliest Seran could have been imprisoned was early in the First Era.
3. Durnehviir made a deal with the Ideal Masters to keep Valerica imprisoned in the Soul Cairn until she died in exchange for necromantic powers he could use in territorial battles against other dragons. This means that Valerica was in the Soul Cairn first, by at least a short amount of time, and she didn't go there until she had seen to the safety of Serana and her Elder Scroll. But, when did Durnehviir arrive?
By 2E 373, the extermination of the dragons was nearly complete. I doubt that the dov were very concerned about vying with each other for "small slices of territory" during the years of the Akaviri Crusade against them. These dragon territorial conflicts almost certainly took place before the Dragonguard became a threat to their race. Thus, I would expect that Durnehviir entered the Soul Cairn some time between the beginning of the First Era and the arrival of the Dragonguard in 1E 2703. Coupled with Serana's surprise concerning an empire in Cyrodiil, it would have to be either before the founding of the Alessian empire or in the interregnum between the first and second empires. It seems impossible that it could have been during the interregnum between the second and third empires, as only a couple of dragons were known by the public to exist in Tiber Septim's time.
4. The prophecy that started the problem was invented by Arch-Curate Vyrthur after one of his initiates turned him into a vampire. Since there were initiates around, the Chantry of Auriel was not yet wiped out by the Betrayed at the time this happened. The culture of the Snow Elves was not entirely extingished until some time early in the First Era, since King Harald's men were still chasing down remnants of their armies in 1E 140. The creation of the prophecy and the final downfall of the Chantry could have been well before the race was thought to be finally extinct, possibly even in the late Merethic Era, but I doubt it could have been much later.
The question then becomes when Harkon learned of this prophecy, but I know of no evidence at all on that point.
(On a side note, it is interesting that Knight-Paladin Gelebor appears to be just as long lived as his immortal vampire brother. Do the Snow Elves have longer life spans than the other mer? Gelebor did tell us that it took the Betrayed "generations" to become so completely twisted, which suggests a much shorter life span, at least for those who were enslaved by the Dwemer.)
In summary, I can only conclude from the above that Serana was put in her monolith sometime between 1E 0 and 1E 243. I can't see any way to fit the pieces together to support any other conclusion. Can anyone put a different spin on the facts?
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When Serana is forced on you, it does help to tell her to "wait here". Even when she won't actually wait, she will agree to hang back and follow you at a distance. This keeps her back far enough to not start chattering or running blindly ahead into trouble. I'm glad I found that out because I was ready to kill her after an endless time in the Volkihar ruins with her saying "We're getting close! I can feel it!" every 5.2 seconds.
I have a hard time considering her comments "banter", though. They mostly seem to consist of complaints. If it's sunny, she wants dark. If it's dark and snowy, she says the sun would be better. If you're outdoors, she wants to go in a cave. If you're in a cave, she complains that she's already spent more than her share of time underground. Nag, nag, nag.
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How do you know that Paarthurnax can't resurrect other dragons? What proof is there that only Alduin has this power? As for being the only dragon left alive (which is not strictly true), that wasn't always the case.
Between the end of the Dragon War and the arrival of the genocidal Akaviri there was a very long period during which there were still plenty of dragons around. Paarthurnax himself tells us so. There doesn't appear to have been any organized conflict between men and dragons during this period, though there were incidents such as Olaf's capture of Numinex. This seems to be confirmed by Durnehviir's story of dragons fighting among each other for small slices of territory, which must have been during this period since it seems unlikely that Alduin would have allowed it while he was in charge and equally unlikely that territorial disputes would have been a priority after the Akaviri became a threat. Paarth had a pretty good window of opportunity there if he really wanted to try to take over the world.
But, you may say, Paarth knew it was really wiser to wait, knowing that Alduin would return but would be defeated for good the next time. However, this plan seems pretty risky. After all that waiting, what guarantee would Paarth have that he wouldn't end up with Alduin's teeth in his neck before it was all over? What guarantee would Paarth have that the dragonborn who defeated Alduin wouldn't set out on a new dragon genocide, turning on Paarth and spending the rest of his life putting as many dragons as possible down beyond any possibility of resurrection? Furthermore, even if the dragonborn was deceived into considering Paarth "safe" and died never knowing he'd been duped, why would the other dragons even consider following one who had already betrayed them once? Would YOU follow someone who'd already gotten you killed once by taking the other side in a war and teaching your enemy how to use your weapons? And, if they did follow him, what guarantee would Paarth have that Akatosh wouldn't simply send a new dragonborn to stop the new dragon tyranny?
Immortal or not, Paarth would have to be pretty stupid to put 4,000 years into a plan with so many things going against it.
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From the Dawnguard side I haven't had any problem getting Valerica back. You will find her at the alchemy bench where you first saw her during your first trip. Tell her that Harkon is dead and she will tell you that she'll return after she's gathered up her things. When you leave the Soul Cairn, you'll see her ahead of you on the stairs to the portal and then meet her in her laboratory.
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The Dawnguard is still growing. You should have noticed a few improvements to the fort and surroundings when you returned after meeting Serana. There will be more changes as you proceed with the quest line, and one early change will give you access to the DG armor.
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What evidence do you have that Siddgeir is corrupt? He's young and arrogant certainly, but what corruption?
The first thing he wants you to do in the process of becoming thane is to bring him a bottle of Black-Briar mead, showing that he's decadent enough to care only about his own amusements rather than the welfare of his people. (In fact, I believe he tells you at one point that his interest in being jarl is access to perks like fine clothes.) The second thing he wants you to do is kill some bandits ... because they've reneged on their arrangement with him and are no longer giving him a proper share of their take. I would call that pretty corrupt, though it's petty corruption compared to Maven Black Briar.
I would say Vignar is as good a jarl as Balgruuf, with the same concerns for the welfare of the people of Whiterun and definite plans for seeing to that welfare. Dengeir is certainly a better jarl than Siddgeir, and he has a very canny political sense and no great trust of Ulfric, though he supports the rebellion.
Yes, I like Idgrod despite her not having the trust of her people, but Sorli is not a bad replacement and a ruler that does have the confidence of her subjects is probably going to be able to accomplish more.
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My Khajiit character finds it surprising that guards are amazed to see fur coming out of his ears.
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Did I forget anyone? It doesn't exactly seem like Bethesda went out of their way to make the Stormcloak Jarl's look like geniuses.
There are about as many bad Imperial jarls, and I don't see an advantage for either side in average quality of rulers.
Laila may be clueless, but at least she's good-hearted and might actually be decent if we could get rid of that steward. The Imperials put Maven on the throne. Is evil better than clueless?
Siddgeir is corrupt and decadent. Igmund doesn't even control his own city guard and is unaware that the Forsworn are operating inside his city despite his uncle's attempts to get him to face reality. Idgrod is pretty good, but lacks the confidence of her people.
I'd say Bethesda went out of their way to balance the situation, so you can't pick a side based on who provides better governance.
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Magic is not traditional? Someone had better tell that to Tsun. If you tell him that your right to enter the Hall of Valor is due to your position as Arch-Mage, he will tell you that mages were highly valued by the ancient Nords and are still honored in Sovngarde despite the views of the modern Nords. You will also see mages among the heroes inside the Hall of Valor.
The draugr, who are all ancient Nords, are mostly warriors, but include a few mages as well as a few Tongues. There are references that mention battlemages among the armies of Skyrim during the early eras. Kings had a battlemage among their advisers and every jarl right up to the present day has a court wizard. The College of Winterhold has existed since the time of Shalidor in the First Era.
I'd say there's plenty of evidence that magic use is traditional in Nord society and has been respected during most of their history. The real mystery is how it came to be so widely distrusted in the present day.
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I don't think that Beth would even need to resort to a dragonbreak to make it come out any way they want. No matter which side you choose, there is no firm conclusion to the civil war during the time period covered by the game. If you pick Stormcloak, Ulfric is still not officially on the throne at the end of the storyline, Elisif and the deposed imperial jarls are still alive, and the Empire still has troops scattered around Skyrim and might still kill Ulfric before he can become High King. If you pick the Empire, the Stormcloaks still have not been entirely crushed, the deposed rebel jarls are still alive, and a new rebel leader might arise, leading to the death of Tullius in the near future.
So the next game could legitimately claim either side as the ultimate victor, with both Tullius and Ulfric being killed before the civil war was finally over for good. The history book covering the war doesn't have to say which one died first, so both player choices would fit either canon equally well without the need for a dragonbreak.
Likewise, the assassination of Titus Mede II can be canon no matter which choice a player makes regarding the DB quest line. The history books can simply say that there are rumors that the Dragonborn was involved, but no solid proof. Thus, any choice the player makes fits the canon that TM II was assassinated in Solitude.
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Also, in 40+ hours of gameplay, I have yet to have ONE NPC die from vampire attacks, seriously the vampires are so easy to kill that if they are managing to take out NPCs your doing something wrong.
Once I fast traveled to Morthal to visit the apothecary. A mudcrab popped out of the swamp at the other end of town and took down an NPC with one shot. I had less than a second to react and the NPC was yards away. Even if I had already had a bow in hand, I could not possibly have nocked, drawn, and fired at a distant target in the time available. Please tell me what I did wrong.
Once I fast traveled to the Riften Stable. A dragon appeared and I ran to engage him. So did the stable master and his assistant though they are unarmed and unarmored. The dragon insta-charred them before I got in my first hit. Please tell me what I did wrong.
I started Dawnguard with a level 74 character. I mapped to Whiterun. I heard shouting behind me. By the time I drew my sword, turned around, and ran towards the commotion at the gate -- a matter of seconds -- Adrienne and Ulfberth were dead. Please tell me what I did wrong.
This didn't start with Dawnguard, but the vampire attacks are making it more common. It is annoying, though not "game breaking", to no longer be able to buy a horse in Riften or to do business at Warmaiden's. But I don't see how that annoyance is caused by any failure on my part. It doesn't seem reasonable to expect me to do the impossible, especially when faced with NPCs who are stupid enough to try fisticuffs against a dragon instead of running away.
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I always try to let him live despite his questionable moral outlook and repulsive reverence for his ancestors. He's more stupid than evil, but he is capable of learning the error of his ways. If you let him live, go visit him in the museum later and you will see that his attitude has changed. He's been scared straight.
The problem I have is that he doesn't always give you the choice. Sometimes he will just skip the dialog that allows you to let him go and attacks you immediately, so you have to kill him in self defense.
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Both those books, The Madmen of the Reach and The Bear of Markarth, are so dubious and obviously biased, it is a wonder that they are even being discussed.
Despite their bias, these books have value or it would have been pointless for Bethesda to have included them in the first place.
If nothing else, the presence of these books and others (e.g. The Talos Mistake) is a demonstration that the intelligentsia of the Empire have become Thalmor sycophants. That is a sign of the failing health of the Empire. The establishment is pushing propaganda aimed at pleasing the Dominion and no alternative viewpoints are being published.
But there is something else. When the bias is so clearly detectable, it is possible to read between the lines, discount the bias, and get some idea of the true state of affairs. For example, The Bear of Markarth gives us the basic fact that there WAS a deal between Ulfric and the Empire regarding Talos worship, regardless of whether we believe the assertion that the deal was a result of blackmail by Ulfric. I doubt the author would have admitted the existence of this deal if he could have pinned the arrangement on Igmund and Torygg's father, leaving the Empire entirely blameless. But the fact is so well known that he has to admit it and resort to the blackmail story to get the Empire off the hook.
Likewise we can compare the author's claim that the Empire wanted to negotiate with the Forsworn, leaving those people free to rule themselves, with other facts at hand. If this is truly what the Empire wanted, why didn't they release Madenach from prison and give the Reach back to him once they had taken control back from Ulfric? It seems obvious that the Empire never did want the Reach to be independent, but they were forced to negotiate because the Legions were still too weak from the Great War to reconquer it. (Remember that this all took place very shortly after the end of the Great War.) Ulfric did the Empire a huge favor by reconquering the Reach for them, which the author is forced to admit if you read between the lines and ignore the scare quotes he uses when writing of the Empire's gratitude.
I find these books quite worthy of discussion.
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Actually coudln't the dragon born claim the throne based on the fact that he can wield the voice and that the emperor could do so too?
The situation has changed. In the three previous imperial dynasties (established by Alessia, Reman Cyrodiil, and Tiber Septim), the ruler HAD to be dragonborn to keep the Covenant of Akatosh. Only a dragonborn could wear the Amulet of Kings and light the Dragonfires that kept the doors of Oblivion closed. However, when Martin Septim was transformed into the avatar of Akatosh to end the Oblivion Crisis, the Amulet of Kings was destroyed and the Covenant of Akatosh was ended. There is now a permanent mystical barrier between Mundus and the Daedric Realms that prevents the Princes from invading, so there is no longer any need for the Amulet, the Dragonfires, or an emperor with dragon blood. Being dragonborn does not give a special claim on the imperial throne now.
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Both books strike me as being very clearly biased. It doesn't matter that the bias is towards a party that is not in the civil war because the bias is against a party that IS involved. The author has a motive for exaggerating the virtues and minimizing the vices of Ulfric's supposed victims because his goal is to paint the darkest picture of Ulfric that he can. It's all pure spin control. Ulfric is now the enemy of the Empire and it's time to revise his entire history. Anything positive must go down the memory hole and everything else must be presented as evidence of long-standing criminal tendencies.
I have questions about just how peaceable the Reach really was with the Forsworn in charge. Given the clear bias of The "Madmen" of the Reach, I find it telling that the author felt obliged to even mention any crimes committed by the Forsworn. If a biased author can't sweep those crimes entirely under the rug, they may have been much more extensive and serious than he is willing to admit. Likewise, the author is not able to pin the blame for the Markarth Incident entirely on Igmund but is forced to admit that there was, in fact, an agreement between Ulfric and the Empire. The best he can do with that uncomfortable fact is to portray the Empire as the victim of blackmail, which is extremely hard to swallow given that Ulfric was still a loyalist at that time.
The Reachmen may certainly be a distinctive culture and people. However, many Reachmen do not follow the Forsworn or the "old religion" they've revived. In fact, many of them regard those old ways -- a culture that has been dead for centuries -- with clear distaste. Don't they have just as much right to a voice as the Forsworn minority?
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Also back to the Markarth Incident, after the forsworn were driven out of Markarth and when empire came back to get the place under control, what did Ulfric do ? HE FORCED THE EMPIRE TO ALLOW OPEN TALOS WORSHIP.
Awww. Poor wittle Empire was forced by big meany Ulfric to make an evil agreement as the only way to save the suffering Reachmen from his criminal overlordship? I find that very hard to swallow.
The author that claims that the Empire was "forced" into the deal is a Thalmor suckup who was trying to divert all blame for the treaty violation onto Ulfric and paint the Empire as his innocent victim. He might as well have written: "Please, dear Thalmor masters, don't blame the Empire! Ulfric MADE us do it! HE'S the Bad One, not us! We just wanted to get the poor Reachmen out from under his iron boot, and that's the only reason the Legions went there at all. It had absolutely nothing to do with the silver mines and other resources that we desperately wanted under Empire control, and we weren't at all grateful that Ulfric got them back for us at no cost to the Legions at all. Honest!"
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The window lights in your "ghost house" look to me like a match for the windows in Dragonsreach.
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My theory is that there is no such thing as a "word of power" in the sense that the power is built into the word itself. The dragon language contains many ordinary words that would be used regularly in normal speech that are also used in Shouts. For example, take Paarthurnax's greeting: Drem yol lok (peace fire sky). All three words are part of one Shout or another. Some words are even used in more than one Shout.
I suspect that any given word can serve as a focus for one or more concepts encompassed by its meaning. Learning to Shout means internalizing and fully understanding a concept and then projecting that concept through the focusing word using the Voice. The word is like a lens that converts light (the raw power of the Voice) into a laser beam (a Shout). (I hope I'm explaining that clearly.) However, if you have sufficient control, then you can choose whether or not to project through that word, giving you the option of speaking it normally. Also, anyone who does not know how to Shout would be able to speak the dragon language normally, as it appears to have been the native language of the Atmoran colonists used in both speech and writing through the Merethic and First Eras.
This theory would explain the Dragonrend Shout, which can not be understood or used by dragons even though the words (such as "joor") are known to them and used by them in ordinary speech. This Shout was invented by men. Men could thoroughly understand the concept of mortality, so they were able to project that concept through selected words once they had learned the Voice. These words were not "words of power" until someone learned how to put the power of the Voice through them. The power is not in the words themselves, but in the use made of them.
The theory would also explain why you do not need to unlock "Call Dragon". You aren't using the words of Odahviing's name for any concepts behind their actual meanings, but to establish a connection with his identity, which is a function of all three words working together as a unit. His identity is a concept separate from the words of his name. (I would be interested to know if the expansion lets you learn to call Durnehviir without requiring an unlock. This should be the case if my idea is correct.)
As with any language, the same word can express more than one concept. This would explain why a word may appear in more than one Shout. The concepts behind a given word are all related, but differ enough that the word can be a focus for any of them if you know how to "adjust" the focus for the concept you want to express.
This might also explain how the Greybeards other than Arngeir manifest power no matter what they say, even when they are not actually Shouting. They have been concentrating on increasing the power of their Voice for years by using the power constantly as a strength training. Now their power is released in an unfocused manner every time they open their mouths, causing a general shaking. Perhaps they've even forgotten how to not use the Voice. Only when they are actually Shouting are they applying any focus to their words.
It's just an idea, but it does seem to explain much of what we experience.
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just one question, Can i Still recruit people for the blades before the Paarthurnax quest, or did they change that to make the choice to kill him more difficult?
You can do all of the Blades quests, including recruiting, if you do them after finishing "Alduin's Wall" and before doing "Alduin's Bane". Once you've done "Alduin's Bane" then the quest "The Fallen" will automatically begin, so the next time you have any contact with the Blades they will demand that you kill Paarthurnax.
After you do "Alduin's Wall", the next time you visit Sky Haven Temple both Delphine and Esbern will offer various quests. During this time you can take anything in the Temple -- Blades armor, Dragonbane, books, etc. -- without stealing it. The Atlas of Dragons will appear on Esbern's table when "The Fallen" begins, at which point you will have to steal any item you still want, even if you haven't yet spoken to Delphine or Esbern to get "Paarthurnax" added to the quest log.
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Skyrim too was obedient for quite some time UNTIL Ulfric stirred up a hornet's nest with his stupid demands during the Markarth Incident. My point still stands.
You seem to be using a strange definition for the word "obedient". If you only drive over the speed limit when there aren't any cops watching, are you obeying the law? If parents tell a young child not to smoke, is he obeying them if he sneaks out behind the barn and smokes where they can't see him do it?
How did Balgruuf obey the WGC by allowing a shrine to Talos to stand in the middle of his city with a priest of Talos spouting off publicly in front of it? How did the Jarl of Riften obey by allowing the presence of a shrine and priestess of Talos? How did the Jarl of Windhelm (Ulfric's father at the time) obey by allowing a temple and priest of Talos in his city?
All of this, and more, was going on before the Markarth Incident, so it is laughable to claim that Skyrim was "obedient" until Ulfric came along. Disobedience was rampant in Skyrim prior to Markarth by any rational standard. The Empire just turned a blind eye to it until Markarth took away their plausible deniability and the Thalmor called them on it.
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And the provinces obeyed instead of flipping Cyrodiil the one finger salute.
Obeyed?
Cyrodiil -- Of course they obeyed. According to The Great War, the people there who demanded the war were now ready for peace at any price.
Hammerfell -- Did they not flip Cyrodiil the one-finger salute? How do you characterize their response as obedience?
High Rock -- We actually have no idea what's going on there. However, they don't really seem to have a dog in that fight. They didn't lose any territory and I don't think they're a hotbed of Talos worship. The WGC requires no changes in their internal behavior. Is it meaningful to speak of their obedience to a treaty that doesn't seem to have any effect on them?
Skyrim -- Even those who side with the Empire aren't obeying the WGC. They shrugged their shoulders and figured they could just ignore it, as Balgruuf did, assuming it was not actually going to be enforced on them as long as they stayed under the radar. So they flipped the one-finger salute whenever the Empire wasn't looking instead of doing so openly. After the Markarth Incident this was no longer possible, and half the jarls did openly flip the one-finger salute at that point. How is this "obedience"?
So, out of four provinces, we have exactly ONE -- Cyrodiil -- that can be fairly characterized as obedient.
Dawnguard Vampire Attacks = Game Killer?
in Skyrim LE
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