Trying to justify joining the Stormcloaks as Dunmer

[apecallum]

Any ideas?

 

It would be like playing as the Jewish ghetto police or something.

[amycus]

Either because he just hates the thalmor, or dont like the ban on talos worship, or simply the most obvious one: "the opposing side tried to cut my head off for no reason at all". Not a great way to make friends, after all.

 

Otherwise you can do it because you support Ulfric in general, and belive you can change the stormcloak's mind about "other races" by proving yourself.

Edited February 17, 2012 by amycus

[yota71]

Any ideas?

 

It would be like playing as the Jewish ghetto police or something.

 

If you had to stay lore frendly you must be e north even my PG that is a breton is a little forced in the join of stormcloacks, but my pg hate the thalmor, thats my justification for joining the stormcloack ;)

Edited February 17, 2012 by yota71

[apecallum]

Either because he just hates the thalmor, or dont like the ban on talos worship, or simply the most obvious one: "the opposing side tried to cut my head off for no reason at all". Not a great way to make friends, after all.

 

Otherwise you can do it because you support Ulfric in general, and belive you can change the stormcloak's mind about "other races" by proving yourself.

 

Is there any good reason why the Dunmer in general would hate the Thalmor? As in politically not just because they're a bunch of arrogant chodes. I'm not too versed in TES lore, but aren't the Thalmor elf supremacists who aspire to ethnically cleanse mankind from Tamriel? Wouldn't the Dunmer therefore be supportive of them? Or are the Thalmor only interested in high elves? Last question how do Morrowind natives feel about Skyrim and the Nords?

 

Thanks for the advice.

Edited February 17, 2012 by apecallum

[amycus]

Either because he just hates the thalmor, or dont like the ban on talos worship, or simply the most obvious one: "the opposing side tried to cut my head off for no reason at all". Not a great way to make friends, after all.

 

Otherwise you can do it because you support Ulfric in general, and belive you can change the stormcloak's mind about "other races" by proving yourself.

 

Is there any good reason why the Dunmer in general would hate the Thalmor? As in politically not just because they're a bunch of arrogant chodes. I'm not too versed in TES lore, but aren't the Thalmor elf supremacists who aspire to ethnically cleanse mankind from Tamriel? Wouldn't the Dunmer therefore be supportive of them? Or are the Thalmor only interested in high elves? Last question how do Morrowind natives feel about Skyrim and the Nords?

 

Thanks for the advice.

I dunno about morrowind natives view of nords, but the thalmor consists of an allience between high elves, and wood elves, not dark elves. So considering that the dark elves were "excluded from the club", my guess is that they still dont like eachother very much.

[apecallum]

Either because he just hates the thalmor, or dont like the ban on talos worship, or simply the most obvious one: "the opposing side tried to cut my head off for no reason at all". Not a great way to make friends, after all.

 

Otherwise you can do it because you support Ulfric in general, and belive you can change the stormcloak's mind about "other races" by proving yourself.

 

Is there any good reason why the Dunmer in general would hate the Thalmor? As in politically not just because they're a bunch of arrogant chodes. I'm not too versed in TES lore, but aren't the Thalmor elf supremacists who aspire to ethnically cleanse mankind from Tamriel? Wouldn't the Dunmer therefore be supportive of them? Or are the Thalmor only interested in high elves? Last question how do Morrowind natives feel about Skyrim and the Nords?

 

Thanks for the advice.

I dunno about morrowind natives view of nords, but the thalmor consists of an allience between high elves, and wood elves, not dark elves. So considering that the dark elves were "excluded from the club", my guess is that they still dont like eachother very much.

 

Yeah that makes sense.

 

So how do the Dunmer feel about High Elves in general?

[Wintercross]

 

Yeah that makes sense.

 

So how do the Dunmer feel about High Elves in general?

 

The Dunmer don't realy like Altmer much, thats the impression I get anyway.

 

In fact, has anyone noticed the Dunmer seem much more agreeable in Skyrim than they were in morrowind?

[sukeban]

Whilst I definitely agree with the OP that there isn't any obvious reason (obvious being Nord-->Stormcloak, Imp-->Empire) for his character to join the Stormcloaks, I don't think that it is an incredible stretch of the imagination to allow him or her join them. To me, it would boil down to what sort of a Dunmer you were trying to RP.

 

The only completely incompatible Dunmer variant that I can think of would be that of Ambarys Rendar, the owner of the Corner Club. He has always rubbed me (even as a Dunmer) the wrong way, as he is essentially the archetypal "Bad Dunmer" in the eyes of the most closed-minded Windhelm Nords. Whenever he says something like, "I don't care who the killer is so long as he doesn't take a Dunmer" I just want to slap him for being so unhelpful and parochial. He's obviously got his reasons to be bitter, the product of ethnic snobbishness on the part of the Windhelm Nords, but he isn't helping his or anybody else's situation by being so standoffish and separatist. He is only reinforcing the negative image of the Dunmer that many Windhelm Nords hold, whereby perpetuating their own mistreatment at the hands of the Nords, which continues the cycle... over and over and over again. Books such as "The Dunmer of Skyrim" don't help much in this department either.

 

OTOH, you've got the Hlaalu/Atheron farmers, the "used wares" shopkeepers in the market and in the Grey Quarter, the Candlehearth bard, as well as the assorted Dunmer living relatively normal lives in Riften (included due to Stormcloak control). These Dunmer are so disposed for a number of reasons, all of which take precedence over any real or perceived injustices being carried out against their people. Some of them just want to make money (fishery boss, grey quarter merchant), others just want to be productive and thereby raise their standing in the eyes of the Nords (hlaalu farmers), whilst most seem to be some combination of both. Viewed from this angle, Ambarys really is the outlier in terms of being militantly anti-Nord almost as his raison d'etre. Whilst he is respected as being a proud and unbroken Dunmer, it is my inferred belief that even many of the Windhelm Dunmer think that his views are more than a bit outside of the mainstream. It would seem to me that he was created to serve almost as a Dunmer counterpart to Rolff Stone-Fist, with most of his cohort rolling their collective eyes when he winds up his /rant.

 

Therefore, from a RP perspective, I would say that it would be more likely that a Skyrim Dunmer isn't necessarily of the reflexive anti-Nord/anti-Stormcloak bent that Ambarys has so popularized, that instead they would have the freedom to make a more nuanced, balanced choice between factions--the same sort of freedom of choice that an Orc or a Redguard or a Khajiit would be able to enjoy. Perhaps he's from a family of bandits and wants to dismantle the Empire for the sake of easier thieving (like the whole "each hold tracks its crime separately" idea, but applied to most of Tamriel). Maybe she chafes at the state of present-day Morrowind and seeks to gain rank and authority amongst the Stormcloaks as a means of steering Ulfric into battle with the Argonians (appeal to anti-Argonian bias in Windhelm). Maybe she believes that Skyrim really is "big enough for everyone" and sees potential in the Stormcloaks/a free Skyrim if she can demonstrate the patriotism of all non-Nords through her heroism and valor. Or maybe she just hates the Thalmor due to some ancient injury or perhaps because she had Altmer/Bosmer friends that were lost in the purges. Or, of course, maybe she is just bitter because the Empire was going to kill her. My only real point is that nearly any RP reason that you can come up with is a good one. I don't think that the median Dunmer in Skyrim is really as parochial and disillusioned as Ambarys. Your own imagination shouldn't be held back by any needlessly (and IMO false) antagonistic finger on the scale of Dunmer-Stormcloak relations.

[MidbossVyers]

Same question to Bretons and Khajiit, as that is what I usually play as.

[Lachdonin]

"the opposing side tried to cut my head off for no reason at all". Not a great way to make friends, after all.

 

First, bad arguement, because all we get about the characters history is a few lines of dialogue about you being arrested. Admitedly, thats so you can come up with your own backstory, but there is still so little explained about the pre-intro that any value statement about the arrest is purely superficial.

 

Anyway, why would a Dunmer side with the Stormcloaks? Well, thats a good question, since the Dunmer generally hate the Nords, and have for several thousand years. You COULD play a 'progressive' Dunmer, one trying to foster better realtions between the Dark Elves and their oldest enemies. Or, you could play a more natural Dunmer, one who'se always plotting. Maybe you're in the Stormcloaks to rise through the ranks, murdr Ulfric and take his place, elevating Dark Elves to their rightful stance as rulers of Skyrim?

 

Bretons and Nords have more of a warm history (unless you count the Reachmen) and there are many Breton families which have lived in Skyrim for centuries, if not longer. Those Bretons are Nord in everything but blood, so there shouldn't be an issue there.

 

Khajit is tricky... Trying to show that Khajit can be trusted, and not left to freeze outside the walls, maybe? The Khajit tend to be oportunisitic at the best of times, so maybe your cat just thinks theres profit (and moon sugar) to be made.