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  1. - Top - End - #121
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    HalflingRangerGuy

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    Default Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick

    Crushing the blades was extremely lucky. I don't know how they could do that.

    With the oblivion gates, well, the empire would lose a lot of men, but it's going to gain a lot of veterans. There is some time between the oblivion crisis and the war.

    The only saving grace of the Thalmor are it's insane wizards that can hide the moon and geography; They've got an endless forest with gurilla warfare experts to their north, harsh desert to the east and they're on islands which is not only great for defence but also implies a decent navy. However, the Khajiit are reluctant alies and in older lore all of tamriel is nightmarishly dangerous. The Altmer have enemies in the forms of sea elves and Sload from the south.

    The Altmer are a fragile race who reproduce slowly, their superior gear is a bigger boon to their enemies who loot their corpses.

  2. - Top - End - #122
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    Default Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick

    The Oblivion Crisis was over something like 170 years before the Great War. The Oblivion Crisis may have broken the Empire's strength and sent it into decline, but I'd have to say that with roughly six generations of humans between the end of the Oblivion Crisis and the start of the Great War pinning the Empire's failure on the damage it took during the Oblivion Crisis is pretty iffy. Six generations or so is plenty of time to rebuild, if the Empire had had some decent leadership in the intervening period.

    The problem for the human part of the Empire isn't the damage that it took during the Oblivion Crisis; it's the failure of the Empire's leadership in the nearly two centuries afterwards to rebuild and strengthen it.
    Last edited by Aeson; 2019-01-13 at 05:25 PM.

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    Default Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick

    Two centuries? I could have sworn it was a single one...

  4. - Top - End - #124
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    Default Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick

    Quote Originally Posted by Resileaf View Post
    Two centuries? I could have sworn it was a single one...
    Nope, Skyrim starts in the year 201 of the Fourth Era, which had started after the Oblivion Crisis ended.

    The one confusing thing about Skyrim's timeline is the Great War - kinda feels like it only recently ended, while they wrote it as being finished 25 (20 for Hammerfell) years ago.
    Quote Originally Posted by Pickford View Post
    I don't understand your point. Why does it matter what I said?

  5. - Top - End - #125
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Jack View Post
    Crushing the blades was extremely lucky. I don't know how they could do that.
    I can only theorize, but I think part of it is that the Empire actually had both the Blades and the Penitus Oculatus operating at the same time - the Blades have always been sworn to the Dragonborn, where the Penitus Oculatus answered to the Emperor, so there may have been some infighting/distrust between the two. Add to that the Blades' main base isn't exactly secret anymore after the Oblivion Crisis and some idiot went and published the super-secret identity of the Blades' secret Grandmaster*...nothing crippling on its own maybe, but certainly not helpful when you've got a dangerous enemy gunning for you.

    *Yes, that was long before the Great War, but the Thalmor were active back then and could have used it as a point of reference to track down other Blades agents and keep tabs on them. Failing that, it still tells the Thalmor that the Blades do have a leader who is not the Dragonborn/Emperor so they know to look for him or her.

  6. - Top - End - #126
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    Default Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick

    Also: What are the odds that there were Altmer members of the Blades who might have decided the Thalmor had the right of it? One or two in the right place in the Blades could've destroyed them.
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    HalflingRangerGuy

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    Default Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick

    Bethesda's doesn't know how to set up a story.

    Remember, in fallout 4 The institute doesn't already control the boston area, didn't rescue every prime specimen from the vault the PC was in, and hasn't been the salvation of the wasteland.

    The most socially adept race in Tamriel can't keep good relations with it's states. Like, unless red mountain and the argonian invasion were also thalmor plots, and those lanky yellow nazis are playing 4d chess, there's no good reason for the empire to be in half the decay it's in.

    I don't get why the nords are even bothering with open war.

    Kill the yellow elves. Murder-mob them on the streets or something.
    Bribe the imperials, who are honestly on your side anyway.
    Keep the Bosmer/Khajiit outside of the relevant city areas where Talos worship is. The pretext is thieves.

    ****, there's like, such good relations with imperials and nords. They're the two closest races in the game. I really don't see why they would ever escalate beyond a phony war, baring lord/lord conflict that happens all the time in high rock without massive issues.

  8. - Top - End - #128
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Jack View Post
    Bethesda's doesn't know how to set up a story.

    Remember, in fallout 4 The institute doesn't already control the boston area, didn't rescue every prime specimen from the vault the PC was in, and hasn't been the salvation of the wasteland.

    The most socially adept race in Tamriel can't keep good relations with it's states. Like, unless red mountain and the argonian invasion were also thalmor plots, and those lanky yellow nazis are playing 4d chess, there's no good reason for the empire to be in half the decay it's in.

    I don't get why the nords are even bothering with open war.

    Kill the yellow elves. Murder-mob them on the streets or something.
    Bribe the imperials, who are honestly on your side anyway.
    Keep the Bosmer/Khajiit outside of the relevant city areas where Talos worship is. The pretext is thieves.

    ****, there's like, such good relations with imperials and nords. They're the two closest races in the game. I really don't see why they would ever escalate beyond a phony war, baring lord/lord conflict that happens all the time in high rock without massive issues.
    The Thalmor are explicitly inciting anti-imperial sentiment among the Nords. On top of that, Ulfric is an idiot who thinks civil war in a time of crisis is a good idea.
    “Evil is evil. Lesser, greater, middling, it's all the same. Proportions are negotiated, boundaries blurred. I'm not a pious hermit, I haven't done only good in my life. But if I'm to choose between one evil and another, then I prefer not to choose at all.”

  9. - Top - End - #129
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    Default Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick

    Quote Originally Posted by Keltest View Post
    The Thalmor are explicitly inciting anti-imperial sentiment among the Nords. On top of that, Ulfric is an idiot who thinks civil war in a time of crisis is a good idea.
    Yeah, that's all consistent

    Then there are the Falmer and the Forsworn, just in case there weren't enough enemies. Silly is what it really is.

    I do like it a lot, but you can't take the politics to be anything other than idiocy.
    The end of what Son? The story? There is no end. There's just the point where the storytellers stop talking.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Divayth Fyr View Post
    Nope, Skyrim starts in the year 201 of the Fourth Era, which had started after the Oblivion Crisis ended.

    The one confusing thing about Skyrim's timeline is the Great War - kinda feels like it only recently ended, while they wrote it as being finished 25 (20 for Hammerfell) years ago.
    25 years sounds about right for people to have licked their wounds and had time to chafe and breed resentment under terms of surrender. It's really not that long of a time; long enough for a new generation of young soldiers to be born, but short enough veterans of the last war who are mad as hell and not gonna take it any more can influence them with their own personal biases, with a side of having had 25 years to build a power base and, say, learn how to kill people by yelling at them to make a point in your bid for power.

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    Default Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick

    Quote Originally Posted by The Jack View Post
    ****, there's like, such good relations with imperials and nords. They're the two closest races in the game. I really don't see why they would ever escalate beyond a phony war, baring lord/lord conflict that happens all the time in high rock without massive issues.
    In a world where every race hates every other race due to centuries of d***ishness on both sides, it was nice to have two races who were genuinely buddies. I didn't like that they ruined that, especially not for a half-assed civil war plotline that is so annoying that most players just ignore it, anyways. I mean, if they were going to burn that bridge, they may as well have put on decent show for it.
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  12. - Top - End - #132
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kareeah_Indaga View Post
    Add to that the Blades' main base isn't exactly secret anymore after the Oblivion Crisis and some idiot went and published the super-secret identity of the Blades' secret Grandmaster*...nothing crippling on its own maybe, but certainly not helpful when you've got a dangerous enemy gunning for you.
    I feel like Cloud Ruler Temple being a major Blades base had to have been an open secret, if it was a secret at all. The fortress is easily visible from Bruma, barring draw-distance issues and inclement weather, and would attract attention since it is visually distinct from typical Cyrodiilic architectural styles, the 'obvious' main road leading out of Bruma's northern gate goes to Cloud Ruler Temple's gate (maybe also to a mountain pass to Skyrim, if the developers had thought to put in roads leading to other provinces even though the game itself is entirely within Cyrodiil, though that might've made players a bit more likely to encounter the game map's boundaries due to the inclination to see where roads go), and the guards on the fortress's walls are wearing the distinctive armor of the Emperor's bodyguards. It also at least has the appearance of being where the Blades who become the Emperor's bodyguards are trained, and since there seem to be no other Blades barracks anywhere in Cyrodiil except possibly in the largely-inaccessible Imperial Palace it would also seem to be where most of the Imperial Bodyguard Blades lived at the time of the Oblivion Crisis.

    The disclosure of Jauffre as Grandmaster of the Blades and the resultant implicit revelation of the link between the Blades and the Order of Talos (the order of monks to which Jauffre and Weynon Priory belonged) may still have been a significant revelation after the Oblivion Crisis, but I cannot see how it could have been surprising to any organization with a remotely-competent intelligence service to learn that Cloud Ruler Temple was a major Blades base, at least for the Imperial Bodyguards branch of the organization, unless they simply were not interested in learning such things.

  13. - Top - End - #133
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    Default Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick

    Quote Originally Posted by Aeson View Post
    I feel like Cloud Ruler Temple being a major Blades base had to have been an open secret, if it was a secret at all. The fortress is easily visible from Bruma, barring draw-distance issues and inclement weather, and would attract attention since it is visually distinct from typical Cyrodiilic architectural styles, the 'obvious' main road leading out of Bruma's northern gate goes to Cloud Ruler Temple's gate (maybe also to a mountain pass to Skyrim, if the developers had thought to put in roads leading to other provinces even though the game itself is entirely within Cyrodiil, though that might've made players a bit more likely to encounter the game map's boundaries due to the inclination to see where roads go), and the guards on the fortress's walls are wearing the distinctive armor of the Emperor's bodyguards. It also at least has the appearance of being where the Blades who become the Emperor's bodyguards are trained, and since there seem to be no other Blades barracks anywhere in Cyrodiil except possibly in the largely-inaccessible Imperial Palace it would also seem to be where most of the Imperial Bodyguard Blades lived at the time of the Oblivion Crisis.

    The disclosure of Jauffre as Grandmaster of the Blades and the resultant implicit revelation of the link between the Blades and the Order of Talos (the order of monks to which Jauffre and Weynon Priory belonged) may still have been a significant revelation after the Oblivion Crisis, but I cannot see how it could have been surprising to any organization with a remotely-competent intelligence service to learn that Cloud Ruler Temple was a major Blades base, at least for the Imperial Bodyguards branch of the organization, unless they simply were not interested in learning such things.
    Indeed. Cloud Ruler Temple seemed to be the HQ of the blades who operated as the Emperor's Elite Guard. Everybody was in uniform there, they all had their unique equipment and they garrisoned and trained instead of spying. Baurus even mentions that he hadn't been back there since he was trained as a Blade, so its purpose cant have been that heavily tied into their espionage role.

    Likewise with the Order of Talos, its basically a retirement community. Jauffre excepting, none of its members are on active duty anymore and are unlikely to be particularly involved in the affairs of the Blades proper.
    “Evil is evil. Lesser, greater, middling, it's all the same. Proportions are negotiated, boundaries blurred. I'm not a pious hermit, I haven't done only good in my life. But if I'm to choose between one evil and another, then I prefer not to choose at all.”

  14. - Top - End - #134
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    Default Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick

    Quote Originally Posted by Aeson View Post
    I feel like Cloud Ruler Temple being a major Blades base had to have been an open secret, if it was a secret at all. The fortress is easily visible from Bruma, barring draw-distance issues and inclement weather, and would attract attention since it is visually distinct from typical Cyrodiilic architectural styles, the 'obvious' main road leading out of Bruma's northern gate goes to Cloud Ruler Temple's gate (maybe also to a mountain pass to Skyrim, if the developers had thought to put in roads leading to other provinces even though the game itself is entirely within Cyrodiil, though that might've made players a bit more likely to encounter the game map's boundaries due to the inclination to see where roads go), and the guards on the fortress's walls are wearing the distinctive armor of the Emperor's bodyguards. It also at least has the appearance of being where the Blades who become the Emperor's bodyguards are trained, and since there seem to be no other Blades barracks anywhere in Cyrodiil except possibly in the largely-inaccessible Imperial Palace it would also seem to be where most of the Imperial Bodyguard Blades lived at the time of the Oblivion Crisis.

    The disclosure of Jauffre as Grandmaster of the Blades and the resultant implicit revelation of the link between the Blades and the Order of Talos (the order of monks to which Jauffre and Weynon Priory belonged) may still have been a significant revelation after the Oblivion Crisis, but I cannot see how it could have been surprising to any organization with a remotely-competent intelligence service to learn that Cloud Ruler Temple was a major Blades base, at least for the Imperial Bodyguards branch of the organization, unless they simply were not interested in learning such things.
    It's because there are two different kind of Blades. Those at Cloud Ruler Temple, the bodyguards of the Emperor, are not the spy branch of the organization. They're the visible part of the Blades, those that parade in armor. Contrast Caius Cosades in Morrowind, who acts as a bum in Balmora but is actually the Spymaster of all the Blades in all of Vvanderfell. Nobody knows who that guy is. Those are the Blades the Aldmeri Dominion had to find and hunt down. They're the spies that nobody knows exist.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Resileaf View Post
    It's because there are two different kind of Blades. Those at Cloud Ruler Temple, the bodyguards of the Emperor, are not the spy branch of the organization. They're the visible part of the Blades, those that parade in armor. Contrast Caius Cosades in Morrowind, who acts as a bum in Balmora but is actually the Spymaster of all the Blades in all of Vvanderfell. Nobody knows who that guy is. Those are the Blades the Aldmeri Dominion had to find and hunt down. They're the spies that nobody knows exist.
    I understand that. I was responding to Kareeah_Indaga, who suggested that the Oblivion Crisis, or perhaps the publication of the in-game book so titled, resulted in the revelation of a major Blades base. The only major Blades base which I can think of which might possibly have been revealed by the Oblivion Crisis is Cloud Ruler Temple, which I cannot see as having been anything more hidden than an open secret based on how it's portrayed within Oblivion.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Keltest View Post
    The Thalmor are explicitly inciting anti-imperial sentiment among the Nords. On top of that, Ulfric is an idiot who thinks civil war in a time of crisis is a good idea.
    Plus he was a Thalmor "asset" for a time, and while that is no longer the case at the time of the Skyrim civil war, his hatred for what the Thalmor did to him may be twisting his logic.

    Speaking of the civil war, I wonder what the canonical outcome of that will be in TES 6? It would be somewhat difficult for them to take the "Sod it, we'll have all possible outcomes be true at the same time" option that they did with Daggerfall.

  17. - Top - End - #137
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    Quote Originally Posted by Keltest View Post
    On top of that, Ulfric is an idiot who thinks civil war in a time of crisis is a good idea.
    Thing is... There's never a good time for that sort of thing. If you wait until the crisis is past, you will wait forever - because there's always another crisis.

    Quote Originally Posted by Resileaf View Post
    Contrast Caius Cosades in Morrowind, who acts as a bum in Balmora but is actually the Spymaster of all the Blades in all of Vvanderfell. Nobody knows who that guy is.
    Until he blabs not only his own identity, but also that of every other agent in Vvardenfell - with addresses - to some random convict who just dropped in off the street... And even before then, it seems at least some soldiers knew who he was.

    If that's an example of Blades security practice, I'm not at all surprised the Thalmor could wipe them out. All it would take would be a little bit of organisation.
    Last edited by veti; 2019-01-14 at 01:00 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by factotum View Post
    Speaking of the civil war, I wonder what the canonical outcome of that will be in TES 6? It would be somewhat difficult for them to take the "Sod it, we'll have all possible outcomes be true at the same time" option that they did with Daggerfall.
    I kind of suspect TES VI will be set in another province in the same year as Skyrim so as not to have to settle it.

  19. - Top - End - #139
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    Quote Originally Posted by veti View Post
    Until he blabs not only his own identity, but also that of every other agent in Vvardenfell - with addresses - to some random convict who just dropped in off the street...
    I wouldn't quite call the player character of Morrowind "some random convict" - you do at least come with a package ordering Caius to bring you into his organization. Still doesn't justify him just handing over the names and addresses of all his agents almost as soon as you come in the door, though he at least doesn't immediately tell you about his local contacts. Even had he been led to believe that you were to be groomed as his replacement as local spymaster - which, as far as I know, he wasn't, since there's nothing of that nature in the package you give to him - telling you the names and addresses of his agents more or less as soon as you walk in the door seems more than a little iffy from an operational security standpoint.

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    Default Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick

    Quote Originally Posted by Keltest View Post
    The Thalmor are explicitly inciting anti-imperial sentiment among the Nords. On top of that, Ulfric is an idiot who thinks civil war in a time of crisis is a good idea.
    Anti imperial sentiment exists primarily because of the imperials surrendering to the elves. I get that populism is a hell of a drug, and that Nords are notoriously thick, but it shouldn't work half as well.

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    Quote Originally Posted by The Jack View Post
    Anti imperial sentiment exists primarily because of the imperials surrendering to the elves. I get that populism is a hell of a drug, and that Nords are notoriously thick, but it shouldn't work half as well.
    Most of the Nords recognize that they were getting their butts kicked, and that the truce was better for the Empire than the elves in the long run. What theyre trying to do is take the actions of the Thalmor, like murdering Talos worshipers in their homes, and pinning it on the Imperials. "see what theyre letting our enemies do!?" type stuff. Im sure that the actual, literal murders and hit squads the Thalmor send out are dubiously supported by the concordant, at best, and if the Empire actually had solid proof it was going on then the Thalmor would be out of Skyrim in a heartbeat. Except that Ulfric had to go and declare war, which made it significantly harder for the Empire to find proof that the Thalmor were assassins, not diplomats, because now they can hide behind the idea of fighting the Stormcloaks.
    “Evil is evil. Lesser, greater, middling, it's all the same. Proportions are negotiated, boundaries blurred. I'm not a pious hermit, I haven't done only good in my life. But if I'm to choose between one evil and another, then I prefer not to choose at all.”

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    Quote Originally Posted by Keltest View Post
    Most of the Nords recognize that they were getting their butts kicked, and that the truce was better for the Empire than the elves in the long run. What theyre trying to do is take the actions of the Thalmor, like murdering Talos worshipers in their homes, and pinning it on the Imperials. "see what theyre letting our enemies do!?" type stuff. Im sure that the actual, literal murders and hit squads the Thalmor send out are dubiously supported by the concordant, at best, and if the Empire actually had solid proof it was going on then the Thalmor would be out of Skyrim in a heartbeat. Except that Ulfric had to go and declare war, which made it significantly harder for the Empire to find proof that the Thalmor were assassins, not diplomats, because now they can hide behind the idea of fighting the Stormcloaks.
    Game universe politics are, as real life politics, complicated.

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    Default Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick

    And because it's done by Bethesda, it's half-arsed at best.

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    Quote Originally Posted by The Jack View Post
    Like, unless red mountain and the argonian invasion were also thalmor plots, and those lanky yellow nazis are playing 4d chess, there's no good reason for the empire to be in half the decay it's in.
    At least one person thought that's exactly what they've been doing.

    Quote Originally Posted by halfeye View Post
    I do like it a lot, but you can't take the politics to be anything other than idiocy.
    Isn't that typical of politics in general though?

    Quote Originally Posted by veti View Post
    Until he blabs not only his own identity, but also that of every other agent in Vvardenfell - with addresses - to some random convict who just dropped in off the street... And even before then, it seems at least some soldiers knew who he was.
    "Some random convict the Emperor knows is heavily tied into a prophecy to stop a great evil" != "some random convict period". And wasn't the package you give him at the game start specific instructions to tell you some of these things? (Serious question, it's been a while since I played.) It's not like he did it on a whim.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Kareeah_Indaga View Post
    And wasn't the package you give him at the game start specific instructions to tell you some of these things? (Serious question, it's been a while since I played.) It's not like he did it on a whim.
    Decoded package, main part. Decoded package, attachment. Caius was ordered to induct you into the Blades and use you to investigate and fulfill the conditions of the Nerevarine Prophecies. Caius was also informed that you had been released from prison at the Emperor's whim for this purpose, and that you were of no particular distinction or importance otherwise. The package contained no particular instructions for how he was to involve you in his organization, so informing you of the names and addressses of his agents is entirely on Caius.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Aeson View Post
    Decoded package, main part. Decoded package, attachment. Caius was ordered to induct you into the Blades and use you to investigate and fulfill the conditions of the Nerevarine Prophecies. Caius was also informed that you had been released from prison at the Emperor's whim for this purpose, and that you were of no particular distinction or importance otherwise. The package contained no particular instructions for how he was to involve you in his organization, so informing you of the names and addressses of his agents is entirely on Caius.
    In his defense, they aren't just random agents, theyre specifically called out as trainers, and he wants you to go to them and learn various useful skills. Its not just an arbitrary thing, he does it specifically to help you survive and maintain your cover as an adventurer.
    “Evil is evil. Lesser, greater, middling, it's all the same. Proportions are negotiated, boundaries blurred. I'm not a pious hermit, I haven't done only good in my life. But if I'm to choose between one evil and another, then I prefer not to choose at all.”

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    Quote Originally Posted by Keltest View Post
    In his defense, they aren't just random agents, theyre specifically called out as trainers, and he wants you to go to them and learn various useful skills. Its not just an arbitrary thing, he does it specifically to help you survive and maintain your cover as an adventurer.
    Yeah, it's basically "The Emperor wants you to survive and I'm not the only person who can teach you the skills you'll need to succeed in your investigation. These guys are also my agents and will tell you stuff I can't myself."
    For him, it's a way to help you accomplish your mission. Maybe he'd have been more careful if there was the Thalmor threat, but as it was, the Blades weren't exactly threatened.

  28. - Top - End - #148
    Ogre in the Playground
    Join Date
    Jun 2014

    Default Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick

    Quote Originally Posted by Aeson View Post
    Decoded package, main part. Decoded package, attachment. Caius was ordered to induct you into the Blades and use you to investigate and fulfill the conditions of the Nerevarine Prophecies. Caius was also informed that you had been released from prison at the Emperor's whim for this purpose, and that you were of no particular distinction or importance otherwise. The package contained no particular instructions for how he was to involve you in his organization, so informing you of the names and addressses of his agents is entirely on Caius.
    Thank you. Though I think we're going to have to disagree, because I still feel saying someone is of no particular importance if you ignore the most important thing about them is somewhat contradictory.

  29. - Top - End - #149
    Banned
     
    HalflingRangerGuy

    Join Date
    Mar 2018
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    The Moral Low Ground

    Default Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick

    Quote Originally Posted by Kareeah_Indaga View Post
    At least one person thought that's exactly what they've been doing.
    A nice read.

    Every thalmor agent I've met had the charisma of a prolapse. They couldn't convince me the sky blue. Maybe it's just bethesda vision, maybe Mercer Frey was a masterful con to anyone but the very-special-dragonborn (not that Karliah even approached reasonably trustworthy ). The Thalmor are insufferable ****s even if, for any reason, you're playing an altmer. Hell, by altmer standards they're awful. Maybe it's skyrim's style that liars and bad people are exceptionally obvious to the player (except, of course, those few examples where good characters seem like bad characters), but the laws of chim say that, to everyone else, Thalmor agents have double digits of personality.

    Hey, Dunmer are supposed to be worse socially than Altmer, Altmer are supposed to be socially average, but stats and the way they're represented in the games are very different. I have a hard time accepting 'thalmor master plan' or anything approaching such.

    Did the Thalmor even exist pre-skyrim?

  30. - Top - End - #150
    Titan in the Playground
     
    AssassinGuy

    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick

    Quote Originally Posted by The Jack View Post
    A nice read.

    Every thalmor agent I've met had the charisma of a prolapse. They couldn't convince me the sky blue. Maybe it's just bethesda vision, maybe Mercer Frey was a masterful con to anyone but the very-special-dragonborn (not that Karliah even approached reasonably trustworthy ). The Thalmor are insufferable ****s even if, for any reason, you're playing an altmer. Hell, by altmer standards they're awful. Maybe it's skyrim's style that liars and bad people are exceptionally obvious to the player (except, of course, those few examples where good characters seem like bad characters), but the laws of chim say that, to everyone else, Thalmor agents have double digits of personality.

    Hey, Dunmer are supposed to be worse socially than Altmer, Altmer are supposed to be socially average, but stats and the way they're represented in the games are very different. I have a hard time accepting 'thalmor master plan' or anything approaching such.

    Did the Thalmor even exist pre-skyrim?
    In a loose sense, there were stirrings of anti-imperial sentiment from the altmer as far back as Oblivion. I doubt they planned for the Thalmor to happen when they wrote that rumor.

    Having said that, the only actual Thalmor diplomat in Skyrim is Elenwen, who seems to recognize that she's there as a lawyer rather than a peacemaker. The rest are justiciars, ie soldiers and agents, and therefore don't have to hide their contempt, and indeed want to actively discourage people from interacting with them.
    “Evil is evil. Lesser, greater, middling, it's all the same. Proportions are negotiated, boundaries blurred. I'm not a pious hermit, I haven't done only good in my life. But if I'm to choose between one evil and another, then I prefer not to choose at all.”

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