Cobwebmaster

I've just walked into a "black hole" on the area surrounding Orotheim. No matter which way I seem to approach it - CTD! Even invoking fast travel takes me straight back to my desktop after the obligatory pause and load screen diversion. The thing is, I have already been there on a quest and cleared the place and am trying to get back to do another as requested by Morthal's steward for a bounty. I can get to other parts of Skyrim with my level 56 2h warrior. Guess it's a bug?

Well from my point of view you seem to be getting there, and are sorting out rather a lot of seemingly unexpected problems. The new version 46 seems to be doing what it said on the tin - facilitating downloads and removing a lot of major stumbling blocks, so it's well done and thank you for that and for your continuing perseverance However, as an ex IT project manager, this has to be a bit of a disaster for you in terms of how your major upgrade affected service delivery overall. This was an ambitious project and action plan for all the right reasons but I am sure that hindsight tells you that crisis management is something you would prefer to avoid for the future Thank you for all your hard work in disaster recovery and for your continuing efforts to address all the impacts of this change. I can now use NMM to download and update mods. The downloads are still a little on the slow side but you have made considerable progress in addressing such issues over the last few days

I've just got stuck on this I'm level 15 and not involved in the civil war. I get a quest marker approach Pelagia, and he won't talk to me. Can I re trigger the quest?

Can't remember how many times I played BG and BG2 (inc Throne of Bhaal). Still got the games.I always took Minsc (and Boo of course) everywhere. Terrific characters even the ones I hated like that little elf from the Circus Aerie?. Jaheira, (a pain in BG1 with her going on about the balance) - once she got widowed she changed, Imoen, Viconia, Yoshimo, little Mazzie, Edwin etc. Seem to recall that the Skyrim Viconia mod is being re voice acted because of cost implications, Kivan another character in BG is also I think an Oblivion mod. Great effort went into creating credible "henchmen" (amongst other things) for that series of games and their expansions. It continued in NWN2 with a whole new set of NPCs . NWN1 had a sort of shrink wrap version of it with a much reduced adventuring party, The Hordes of the Underdark expansion opened that up a bit and took the game to a new level

So there we have it - No chance of dynamic personalities like MInsc and Boo!! What???? Boo is outraged! See his fury! It's small, so look close. Trust me, it's there! Minsc would have made an perfect Nord "Magic is impressive, but now Minsc leads. Swords for everyone!"

Thanks for the tip GI on Serana and her attack of the vapours. I agree with your overall analysis. I am reminded of a simple exchange in ME3 between Shepard and the reporter Diana Allers in Shepard's cabin which illustrates the point I think we are both making. Allers: "Keep feeding me like this Commander and I might have to take you home" Shepherd (2 conversation response options): "I'm ok with that" or "Lets just keep this in front of the camera". Depending on the response the relationship develops accordingly, but ultimately you can only have a romantic relationship with one NPC as once you commit to an individual the others drop out but still remain as friends and/or comrades and develop as such. Skyrim doesn't bother. You can marry pretty much anybody you've either employed, had assigned to you as a servant, simply done a favour for, or beaten up in a fistfight - yeah right get the sappy muck out of the way while we concentrate on the real issues which are? There lies in my view the difference between a really good game and an exceptional one for role players at least

Yes Vilja developed further from the character in Oblivion does come across in the way you describe, but as an RPGer weaned on Baldur's gate Neverwinter Nights, Dragon Age and Mass Effect I tend to look at Bethseda's efforts with a somewhat jaundices view. Now if only it were possible to make both the PC and NPC's like Vilja, Sarena, Caerwiden, and so forth more closely interactive that would be great. Difficult for modders because of the voice acting thing but for Bethseda? Serana irritated me with her constant complaining about daylight, and then when you got her into a cave or a dragr filled tomb she bitched about that as well. This is from someone who has been incarcerated for hundreds of years and after a brief bout of "There'a a real world out here". The carping starts Not getting excited about pixellated characters no matter their chest dimensions, but if you are going to create a character put one together that has real identifiable moralistic traits and a personality and charisma you want to explore and develop the true sense of Role Play My view is that Skyhrim identifies itself as an RPG but pays little more than lip service to the concept. Modders it seems are the only contributors who at least try and adhere to the basic rules of immersive role play

no solution except just deop her and move on i Found serana probably the most bugged npc in the game nor is she that good i usually send her away during the DG quest lines except for those few she is essential besides she is a vampire and jusy as evil as her father altho ibn a different matter as a ancient vampire she must hav fed on countless of inocent victims to survive and that makes her in my opinion evil I rather suspected that was the case. All I want to do with her is send her back to the Dawnguard castle but I guess she can just stay in Proudspire Manor scoffing all my food and drinking mead . No big deal, but as you say it's irritating having such a buggy character hanging around the place. There there are plenty of other followers available . Also irritating that her bugs haven't been ironed out yet, After all Dawnguard has been around for a while and Serana's obvious defects must be well documented by now. Like you also I preferred to leave her out of my party when I could. I only took Serana with me to see if I could get get her to cure herself of vampirism Thanks

I've completed Dawnguard as a member of the Dawnguard and have Serana as a companion. I've asked her about curing herself of vampirism and she says she needs to go away for a bit. However Serana returned to my mansion in Solitude and just sits there drinking up my supply of mead instead of going to see Falion as expected. Every time I approach and talk to her I get a one liner saying that she will be sorting herself out at some point but nothing happens. Can't make her follow me or do anything! Any suggestions?

Helghost's argument for or against killing Paarthurnax I believe is flawed for various reasons some of which I will set out here. Firstly in roleplay as I am the dragonborn I will make the decisions about who to slay not the Blades. The Blades have a much distorted view of their own importance and purpose- distorted because largely only fragments of their lore have come down to them and they are fond (well Delphine certainly is) of making rash judgements based on the flimsiest of evidence. I don't believe it is my duty to pass judgement on anyone or anything for their past actions. Those actions should be left where they are - in the past. Besides the dragons are my kin and I take the view that I am not brought into Skyrim to slay all of them. When the greybeards tell me of a word, if where I go there is a dragon guarding it who wishes to challenge me then that's their look out. Also when a Jarl puts a bounty on one for destroying farms, buildings citizens then that threat needs to be nullified. I have however been brought into Skyrim as the balance to Alduin's threat and purpose. That is my first and only priority . Sod the civil war not interested. Not interested in bloodying the Thalmor's nose either (any more than I need to) Paarthurnax is an ally in this fight and I do not betray Allies. I'm certainly not going to help the blades build a private army so they don't get my followers and housecarl(s). I don't need the Blades to defeat Alduin. The blades or the pitiful remains of them are still gnawing on the bones of their old plots to wipe out/seek revenge on the Thalmor and threats to Tamriel. That was never their duty they just took it upon themselves at some point. It is clear that previous Dragonborn never really trusted them to do anything but act as their personal bodyguards and they failed dismally at even doing that in Oblivion! Esbern's academia is useful from a historical perspective but that is as far as it goes Paarthurnax may become a problem for Skyrim as is General Tullius, and Ulfric the arse. But they are for another day not this one in the quest to defeat Alduin Sorry Nudedragon no action today? I as the dragonborn am not around to correct someone else's perceived mistakes, and I'm certainly not going to get involved in leading a crusade - there's two of them already going on in Skyrim led by Ulfric and Tullius. The only thing I would say is that the three great Nord Heroes who sent Alduin into the Teed Akhran (The time wound)? saw no reason to kill him and they had far more reason than modern day Nords (or bretons) so why should I? How long does one have to carry an imaginary grudge? forever? Btw the Blades knew nothing about this at all only what they've gleaned from books and scrolls (incomplete records). The Greybeards show perhaps a similary narrow minded view of the world through their own outlook, but they are not aggressive and therefore not a threat . On the contrary they possess much wisdom (if it is to your taste ) and they show no inclination to go forth as crusaders to convert the world to their beliefs by using words of power to repress or overcome opposition to their will All the reasons I have given are one's from a role play perspective using a neutral approach. Of course the other side of Skyrim is that you can kill pretty much whatever and whoever you like but there are consequences

It depends on whether you berlieve in Destiny. Many gamers myself among them believe that they can change the shape of a projected future wthin a timefrrame by their actions. Those actions can foreshorten your lifespan or extend it, can change the future of others, can by preventing someone chopping down trees, save de-forestation for a while. Ultimately the trees, mountains, rivers, and valley formations don't care if you win or lose a war, marry all nine of the Valkyries, have sex with several horses or blow your money on Skooma. They will still be doing their thing long after you are dust atoms. We all die eventually but many of us like to think that we have a choice in whatever time we have in how we decide to live our lives as individual. Importantly we can think that we can change the future or make it better for us personally If we believe we are simply puppets being jerked around by some invisibly semi malevolent deity with a warped sense of humour then what is the point of our existence and why should we bother to exert ourselves at all. Being a puddle of slime seems a reasonable alternative. As for marrying a vampire lord's daughter - isn't that her choice as well? You could have a marriage ceremony performed with a skeever - doesn't mean to say that the skeever will do anything else but give you a disease!

Well thanks to all for contributions each one relevant and helpful and special acknowledgement to ginnyfizz for the backup on Stem Issues - I thought for a moment it was just me Here's what I have done Renamed Mesh and Texture files Tested ok with head only appearing Uninstalled all mods Reloaded 3-5 mods at a time deleting some to avoid duplication of effort and testing regularly Finally reloaded game with all selected mods running - Problem gone away and the pleasure of Whiterun now await me. Think it's time for a bottle or 10 of local mead Will keep other long term clean up advice on the back burner for now Once again Thank You

Good points and thank you. Sometimes when I have run Steam updates I end up re downloading the whole of my Half Life Game suite. Also I have now disabled the Steam Cloud synch option as it inevitably (well used to back in the day) couldn't synch and drove me nuts by prompting me with error messages, but generally I am rather wary of Steam on principal as it has caused me problems in the past with other games when it has run (a) its own updates, game updates and some downloads. I understand that it is a convenient buffer zone for many game producers and provides some useful functionality for them. Skyrim is more than many other games really buggy so it is I think more difficult to pin down operating difficulties for gamers like me Anyway I may have ID'd my particular thorn in my gameplay side. The Skyrim mod optimiser can, on odd occasions cause CTDs when you run the optimiser for NIF files so I am initially carrying out the following recommended process 1. Rename meshes and textures folders 2. Test 3. Disable 3-5 mods 4. Test 5. Repeat 3-4 until no CTD 6. Enable last 3-5 disabled mods one-by-one I have already run the disable latest (or contentious) mod test (via Nexus sited donloads via NMM) so I know none of those individually are causing the problem. If the above doesn't work out then it's WIPEOUT time as has been previously suggested

Thanks again. Looks as though I have no choice. However as I had loaded a number of new mods I did run the Skyrim Optimizer, which although not listed as a mod, runs from windows and has been known to cause problems on occasions. I'm just checking that out after which I shall do what you suggest As a further test I started a new game and got the same problem Oh bother! (or words to that effect!)

Thanks for that So Many Mods. As you say the remedy you recommend is pretty drastic stuff. Before going that route I would like to explore one or two more basic processes of elimination first. The thing that puzzles me is that Whiterun hold is a place where I am in and out of as regularly as a fiddler's elbow during an Irish Jig and before the latest Steam update I had no problems

A Quality World Map Animated Prostitution Apaachii Sky Hair Auto Unequip Arrows Better Females By Bella Better Males Beautiful Nudes and Faces Black Tower Black Sacrament Armour Pack Blood Witch Armour Categorised Favourites Menu CBBE Skin Texture + Thepal &UNP Covereyes - 1 Coverwomen Seamless UNP Creating a Playable Race The Right Way Daedric Female Armour Replacer Dandelion Armour Set UNP Mashup Deadly Dragons Deadly Dragons Armoury Dimonized UNP Female Body Dynavision Dynamic Depth of Field Vision Enahnced Wolf Armour Envision Face High Quality Eyes High Res Face Maps Immersive Armours Immersive Armours UNP Support Isilmeriel LOTR Weapons Khaliza of Gilane Lust Design Sovngarde Steel Armour Lydia Loop Fix Master of Magic Natalie Portman Comnpanion No More Blocky Faces Project Reality- Climates of Tamriel Rans Eyebrow Replacer Realistic Water Textures RR Motion Replacer Skyrim Universal 4G memory patch SkyUI The New Ilia by Beans Witcher2 Geralt Light Armour and Witcher swords The Witcher 2 Models The Roadstrokers Rogue Sorceress Tribunal Robes Set Triss Armour Retextured UFO Ultimate Follower Overhaul Unique Female Followers Unique Female Followers - UNP patch Unofficial Skyrim Patch UNP Female Armours UNP Meshe for Triss Vamilla Mannequin Script fix W.A.T.E.R. Water and Terrain Weapons and Armour Fixes Witcher2 Shield Pack Witcher Eyes Witcher Silver Sword Wolf Armour remix XCE Xenius Character Enhancement

I have 3 games running concurrently in Skyrim. On my latest game ( a level 13 Nord warrior) I try to fast travel to Whiterun and get a CTD. OK so I load a level 27 game Redguard and try to fast travel him to Witerun - same result. So I go back to my level 13 guy and exit my location (near Riverwood) and walk/run him to Whiterun's gates and then try to enter - guess what? CTD. Same with a level 41 dude about to enter Windhelm who gets a fast travel instruction to Whiterrun. Now fast travelling to another location works so I then go back to my level 13 guy and fast travel him to Dragonsreach (Whiterun Jarl's palace - all ok. ??? What has happened to Whiterun main entrance??? Just taken anothwer Steam update. Before that everything was fine. Anyone got any ideas? thanks

Sure, but the Dragonborn - no matter his power or prowess - is not eternal or immortal, at least as far as I know. The reformed Blades, on the other hand, would be something that could keep the dragons in check for a long time after Dovahkiin's death. Of course such an organization can (and probably should) have a different name, different structure, different methods and objectives with it's main goal being to protect both Men and Mer from any future threat dragons might pose (as a successors to the Akaviri Dragonguard, I imagine the Blades know or at least should know more about the dragons than anyone except the Dragonborn himself), but simply throwing away three centuries of the Blades' history only because they got their asses kicked by the Elves would be unwise, in my opinion at least :wink: The Dragonborn, is the necessary balance to Alduin, provided by Akatosh &Co (known manufacturers of life forms) and the means to prevent the return of the Dragon's tyranny under Alduin's leadership. It is only the Blades - well Delphine particularly and Esbern - that seem to be obsessed with exterminating ALL dragons. There is also a need to remove the potential domination of the Thalmor as well, at least in Skyrim anyway. Agreed the blades (and the Akiviri before them) have a history relating to battling dragons, but any group of warriors can do that, as the the Ancient Nords did at great cost. Ok you could argue that the Blades defeat at the hands of the Thalmor was due to poor leadership, but that event is not my sole reason for distrusting them. Rebuilding the blades is an option for the Dragonborn and potentially his private army but under Delphine's influence? I don't think so! The Dragonborn is not immortal as you say but their descendants can carry the dragonblood as the Septim dynasty proved. Preserving history is not the exclusive property of the Blades. Other competent scholars are available. The blades were important once in Tamriel history but I would argue that there is not sufficient need to resurrect and maintain a standing military force, for the sole purpose of exterminating Dragons once Alduin has been dealt with. The other reason for the Blades existence has already disappeared. Many Jarls would see the blades as a major threat. Besides as far as we know Dragons though the children of Akatosh and immortal are incapable of reproduction by natural means.I didn't see any reproductive organs to target) So once their numbers are sufficiently reduced where does the threat to mankind (or Nordkind) originate. The greatest source of knowledge are the Dhove and there will be those who would argue for their preservation. I certainly would argue for Paarthurnax's!

Not quite sure why you or Skyrim needs another Blade Army, apart from as you say it might be fun. The blades for me need to be forgotten. They made a hash of protecting the dragon emperors to whom they were supposedly totally loyal and devoted to guarding. Next they get their collective asses kicked by the Thalmor. Now all they want to do is gnaw at the ends of their old plots like a dog with a dragonbone from the days of the ancient Nords. Ok they do have a decent HQ with some nice wall carvings in it (good for Nord tourist trade) but that's about it. If you do the Thane Quests and pick up some loyal followers through adventuring, brawling, or even simply hire some, you have a pretty seriously heavy handed bunch of folks ready to kick ass anywhere you tell them to. I'd like to see a Dragonborn DLC which allows a third but winning faction in the Skyrim conflict! The Blades can join it and Delphine forgets her silly plots or loses her head, with the option to recruit Paarthurnax and any other dragon that wants to be part of a untied Skyrim. Once you've taken care of Alduin the remaining Dragons will fall into line or simply face extinction. Even a Forsworn alliance would seem to be a possibility in this world (with some certain quid pro qos) .Tullius and his bunch of midgets could either swear loyalty or have a dragon and some Forsworn barbecue them ( or freeze for later consumption) As for Ulfric? Well with the guys you've got and converts (dragonborn awestruck) he doesn't really have a chance. He forgets his pretentious ambitions to the throne or loses his parts in a challenge where your Thuum does it's divide and conquer bit to various parts of his anatomy and Windhelm (what a dump!)

The who should...greater ethical stance, etc...Is a very hard question to answer....though I would more so say this in regards to the Forsworn and Nords, not the Silver-Bloods.....The Forsworn are a dispossessed and abused people in their own land and they have every damned right to fight back....but their 'Kill em' all!' approach is a big issue....that's where the Forsworn slam a few nails into their own coffin so to speak....The Forsworn certainly have my sympathies but their approach sucks and only serves to ultimately hinder their own cause not help it.....They do need to be united under a singular thinking General or King...one who can be reasoned with/bargained with and I believe Madannoch could fill that role. Considering the Forsworn's extreme behavior as it stands...no one at this point holds the ethical high ground or is the lesser of the two evils. Interesting debate here about legal rights. The point I would like to make as an observer is that applying modern day socialist value judgements to a dark age or Romanesque society is really like trying to put tits on a bull. It just don't fit! History records that whoever wins makes the rules and legal right does not exist unless those extolling it are in a position to enforce it or in the case of Markarth may be able to use it as a shield. In short Forsworn and Nordic rights are imposed by conquest. Silverblood rights have been imposed by extortion, murder and whatever local remedy is available. The Jarl of Markarth really has no control over what is going on in his hold and is virtually powerless. He may pass a law but he is not in a position to enforcwe it without the consent of those who hold all the best cards in this particular power game (Riften is in a similar state of evolution but doesn't have the local tribesmen in rebellion). The Empire is a preferred authoritarian figure (or the Altmeri it matters little) as in essence it grants those in control a greater degree of autonomy than Ulfric would otherwise allow. The Empire don't care who runs the place as long as trade flourishes and the taxes keep pouring in. The Altmeri (Ayleids) are pretty much the same as long as tribute is duly paid. Either way any solution to the Markarth problem is going to be a bloody one and I am forced to agree that choosing between the Forsworn or Nords requires the wisdom of Solomon. Who would run a better society? It's only us that really cares about such things. The only real argument about the Silverbloods is that they are keeping all the goodies for themselves and not spreading the loot around enough. Balgruuf of Whiterun has more foresight in allowing everyone to make a few coins and better themselves so there the peasants are not revolting. I guess the answer to this is just let the protagonists sort it out themselves as no -one holds the moral high ground here. The Altmeri are quite happy to let the situation resolve itself as would be the Empire (they've done nothing about this in the past). Divide and rule is a simple tactic but it works on a temporary basis As regards the Altmeri's status as Nazis? Well they're conquerors again as were their ancestors and the only rule I can see they are interested in enforcing is making sure that no one worships the guy who kicked their asses out of Skyrim centuries ago. Hitler himself wasn't an obvious persecutor of those with opposing religious beliefs just an exterminator of convenient whipping targets (The Jews, the Poles, and anyone else who believed in such daft ideas as democracy or opposed his views). Hitler himself had a Christian upbringing as his parents were both Roman Catholics but there is no record of his confirmation. It is on record however that he was a crap artist

Wrong! I know a lot about the NSDAP having studied it's activities extensively over many years from a political history viewpoint. Are you trying to tell me that there are no parallels whatever between Ulfric and his Stormcloaks and Hitler, and Himmlers "Jewish Question" which started off as a repatriation and persecution thing and later became a policy of extermination of Jews Communists Homosexuals, prostitutes and any political enemy or "degenerate"? I don't think so! Ulfric in ruthlessly suppressing the Forsworn revolt has created for himself a particular ranking in the Forsworn's Hall of Hatred so describing him as a Nazi is not a million miles away from an accurate analysis of his political stance. However , while I acknowledge that the morality of Ufric's thuggish regime is not an direct issue here it does have some relevance when trying to gauge what might be the obstacles to a peaceful solution to the "Forsworn" problem. It's my guess that Ulfric would simply wipe them out . " Skyrim for the Nords!" So to also disagree with the follow up post to this one, I do not seee how you can discount any major action which would have a direct effect on the Forsworn attitude towards anyone who is not a forsworn but particularly Nords who are seen as the chief aggressors. Yes the Silverbloods are a problem, but they also Nords. If a Forsworn family were doing what the Silverblood (aka Borgia) family it's a simple case of having a better Jarl who is not a Silverblood, but who would that be and how would he she work to bring "Justice for all"? Skyrim is a very complex political place with no particular Jarl (unless it's Balgruuf) standing out as particularly able in managing the prosperity for all his hold citizens and keeping the peace

Couldn't have put it better myself

Why kill the Greybeards? For the fun of it? They are followers of Jurgen Windcaller and practice the Way of the Voice. What threat are they to the Dragonborn or anyone for that matter communing with the sky up in their isolation? Paarthurnax is their leader. Killing him doesn't remove their purpose, just a big chunk of their knowledge and skill base. Between them they can still continue to practice and teach their philosophy. After all they may well have taught Ulfric and others. Falling foul of and ending the Blades is one thing. After all, there are only 2 remaining of a forgotten sect of warrior priests who failed at everything they were supposed to achieve. Even Tiber Septim and Raymond Cyrodiil didn't trust them completely as it was obvious that they had their own agenda and were trying to use the Dragonbornr. Killing the Greybeards however has immediate political consequences in Skyrim as they are generally revered by all Nords

While i agree for the most part (and would in fact love to see more quests regarding the Foresworn Rebellion) i dissagree with this premise. The Foresworn hate the Nords, it's true, but there is something verry different about the conduct of the Empire and the Stormcloaks in regards to them. The Empire is far more tollerant to the idea of Reachman independance, going so far as to be willing to hear their suggestion of soverignty during the uprising. They also are opposed to the treatment of the Reachmen in Markarth, as evidenced by a particular conversation with the Smelter Foreman. With that to consider, its clear that the Jarl have a lot of independance in their own domans, because te Empire is, ethically at least, more on the side of the Foresworn. Economics of course are want to confuse the issue. As for the Stormcloaks, not only are they the ones who put down the Reachmen during the Markarth Incedent (rather brutally, in fact) there is also the hipocritical nature of their own rebellion to consider. The Reachmen wanted independance and the right to live by their own traditions, and were, in effect, slaughtered for it, then Ulfric and his followers, fresh from what can only be considered a war crime, demand the same thing for themselves of the Empire. If you were a Reachman, would you be willing to even talk to Ulfric after that? The act its self indicates that, to Ulfric, the Stormcloaks and maybe even the Nords in general, the Reachmen are inherently inferior and not deserving of the same rights they demand themselves. That makes for a radically different negotiating platform between the Empire and the Stormcloaks. Agreed Ulfric and his Stormcloaks are Nazis and therefore racists with a superiority complex. Windhelm stinks of such a culture which I have to say Ulfric does nothing to discourage. Ulfric is of course totally untrustworthy as evidenced by his personal ambition in trying to become King by betraying the Imperials to of all people the very race which his own Nords express such permanent dislike of. The fact that the Altmeri were already inside the Imperial City (as evidenced by Ambassador Elenwenn's security reports) does not detract from the revelation that Ulfric as a senior Imperial Legionnaire is quite happy to sell out his own allies to further his personal agenda. Perhaps I did not express my point clearly enough. In terms of Nords being invaders there is or will be from the Forsworn viewpoint a general feeling of deep resentment but yes, an Empire motivated Skyrim king or one with an eye on uniting Skyrim rather than conquering it is going to have a much greater chance of success at a long term peaceful solution with some if not all of the Forsworn, but for any long lasting solution to work the fanatics and extremists from both sides need to be dealt with. It makes sense to theorise that even without the Empire's intervention Ulfric's usurping of the throne, would have led to a major split in Skyrim anyway with the more prosperous Jarls and Hold citizens resisting any attempt by Ulfric to take them back to the stone age. Ulfric seeing that the majority of Jarls would not support him (as evidenced by the last moot) simply decided to take the place over for himself. The Stormcloaks are a means to achieving that and of course enforcing his will if and once he gets the whole country which inevitably will regress under his leadership The Dragonborn is uniquely positioned to take the political intiative. Not being a Nord to my mind lengthens the odds of a mutually beneficial alliance with Ulfric anyway, given the attitude towards foreigners unless you are a Redguard who's nation are already conducting a campaign against the Altmeri. Even then it will only be a short term alliance until the Altmeri are defeated or neutralised Going back to the topic I do have some sympathy for the plight of the Forsworn, but the OC does not cater for the political solution of having the Dragonborn unite Skyrim, or as an alternative (echoes of DAO here) get a leader appointed who all of the Jarls (except Ulfric who will have to be defeated/deposed) will support. The strength of the Dragonborn behind (or on) the throne (with even maybe some dragons) will give the Altmeri pause for thought

Well I guess my vote goes towards peace. There is little to choose between the forsworn and the Silverblood regimes. The forsworn big gripe is with the Nords who forced them to live in caves and in hiding after conquering the area. I's a bit like England and the Saxons. All of them were dispossessed by the Normans. The only thing that should be possible is to open a real major quest in the Reach area (after the dragon thing is sorted) which offers the possibility for the Dragonborn to broker a peace with fairer deal for the Forsworn for the future. it doesn't really matter who wins the civil war as the Forsworn hate Nords period, but that should not be a barrier to peace. If the Forsworn are adamant on ejecting everyone and not doing any sort of deal which ends up with them being a loyal part of a Skyrim set up (they could even have their own Jarl maybe at some point) then there is no choice but to get rid of them one way or another. Thoise that want to live in peace would be welcomed, but the area must be stabilised