TES Lore question - Vampires of the Interregnum?

[SmedleyDButler]

Been thinking of making a replacer for the Skyrim Vampire armours, but I'm kind of wondering where to start. My first thought was to get an idea of the clothes or armour of the era when Harkon would have locked Serana up (because Valerica and Serana are wearing similar armour to the other vampires despite being in hiding for hundreds of years, we can assume that the existing Skyrim vampire armours reflect the fashion the Volkihar clan was into back then and hasn't changed over time). So I thought about maybe looking at other outfits from that period.

 

A little background:

 

So as the "When was Serana locked away?" thread confirmed, Lord Harkon would have started his plans sometime fairly late during the Interregnum before Tiber Septim comes to power.

 

The earlier half of the Interregnum is actually the period covered by TES Online, during which Molag Bal tries to take over Nirn (by merging Coldharbour with it). Anyway it's not too much of a stretch to imagine that maybe Molag Bal was receptive to the idea of having vampires more loyal and worshipful to him following his big failure, so maybe Harkon was able to contact Molag Bal and get a better "deal" with him more easily than would usually be the case.

 

So it should be easy, right? Just look at some TESO vampires right? Well...

 

As far as I know, neither Harkon nor any other vampire or Volkihar characters of Dawnguard are ever referenced by TESO. There have been many factions or groups of Vampires over the history of TES, and the Volkihar seem to be a special, unique case. The diseases that cause vampirism in Morrowind or Oblivion (porphyric hemophilia) or TESO (noxiphilic sanguivoria) are different from the sanguinare vampiris transmitted by the Volkihar vampires. In TESO the vampires seem to follow Lamae Bal's far more common teaching among vampires that they're all victims of Molag Bal and thereby hate him and wish to destroy him. Only the Volkihar clan seems to worship or think well of Molag Bal. Point being that there's not much mileage in looking at TESO Vampires for ideas, 'cause they're so different.

 

So with that in mind, what other elements of TESO might be used as an inspiration for an alternate Vampire armour or clothing for a rich and powerful clan of nordic humans? The viking-ish armour of TESO is no guide, because the Volkihars seem more the refined type than the average nord. The Volkihar clan remembers Solitude, and it's been the capital of Skyrim for a fairly long time, but I'm not sure if that means much.

 

One idea is something vaguely Asian because the Second Empire had had an Akaviri influence for a long time. But during the era of TESO there's also a huge Akaviri invasion in the north (the second and final one, which was eventually repelled in southern Skyrim IIRC) and I have no idea how the Volkihar clan would have dealt with that. Was he opposed? Was Castle Volkihar a bastion against the Akaviri or built in response to it? Maybe Harkon turned his back on the living races after being betrayed or abandoned during the invasion of the north? Or was he in collusion with the invaders? Honestly you could probably make up whatever story you liked.

 

I'm probably overthinking this way too much, but it's sort of an interesting question, I guess. It started as a simple idea about an outfit replacer and ended up as the question of what the origins of the Volkihars was.

 

Any thoughts?

Edited September 25, 2017 by SmedleyDButler

[Target1213]

Yeah, I did mention stalking. Reference "Notes on Dimhollow Crypt" ( check spelling) book found just prior to freeing Serana..."No Ancient Nord constructed this" or some such. Memory failing let me see if I can get the content. Helping...yeah.

Yeah, Of limited use...

Notes on Dimhollow Crypt, Vol. 3 (http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Notes_on_Dimhollow_Crypt,_Vol._3)

Direct quote: "There is no mistaking the stark contrast in architecture here; no ancient Nords make this stonework. Here, too, were more of the gargoyle statues that i first glimpsed in earlier passageways."..."The style and craftsmanship in the stonework are not only distinct in terms of design, seeming to speak of an entirely different culture than that of the old Nord peoples, but also in skill with which they were fashioned."

Reference "Immortal Blood" (https://www.imperial-library.info/content/immortal-blood)

"The next day, he did return with more questions, these ones very specific. He wanted to know about the vampires of eastern Skyrim. I told him about the most powerful tribe, the Volkihar, paranoid and cruel, whose very breath could freeze their victims' blood in the veins. I explained to him how they lived beneath the ice of remote and haunted lakes, never venturing into the world of men except to feed." (there is a bit more but of equal value in my opinion. i.e. little value.).

You may have to invoke a bit of Artistic License, appears to be a gray area in lore (specifically Volkihar,). Make it up with restraint?

 

Of interest: Never noticed..."Librian's comment: Movarth Piquine shows up in Skyrim. The player stops him from turning the town of Morthal into his own personal feeding ground.
This book appears in ESO - Movarth must have been ancient indeed, if the book speaks of the same man."

... of "Morvath's Lair" by Morthal?...Radiant quest...Helgi? Helgi's Ghost?, the "burned before turned" child ghost in the "Burned down house". Wow,The Author speaks of the vampire the PC has to kill, before he was a vampire. The author is responsible for turning Morvath, a long, long time ago. Dude was old, till we talked to him...neat. Apologies, Other people to stalk...going off subject is a sure sign...Later. Stay safe,

[SmedleyDButler]

Huh, been a while since this came up...

 

One of the other ideas that was floated on Reddit was that rather than looking at Nords of the Interregnum, instead look at Bretons. The Volkihars are listed in game as Nords, but maybe originally, waaaay back in time they were Bretons, who came along the north coast, so look at ESO Breton clothes instead. That would also explain architecture which is generally unlike that found in Skyrim (but the architecture might also have been influenced by that of Coldharbour).

 

At any rate, I wound up searching for a while but never really found much that seemed like it would work (also hard to search for ESO images without knowing quest names, etc., so it's tough to find pics of "civilians").

 

I may just wind up doing whatever.

[Target1213]

Been raining here, off work for a bit. Remembered the books...I was bored. No worries.