Talos the mighty! Talos the unerring! Talos the unassailable! To you we give praise!
We are but maggots, writhing in the filth of our own corruption! While you have ascended from the dung of mortality, and now walk among the stars!

But you were once man! Aye! And as man, you said, "Let me show you the power of Talos Stormcrown, born of the North, where my breath is long winter. I breathe now, in royalty, and reshape this land which is mine. I do this for you, Red Legions, for I love you." [note 1]

Aye, love. Love! Even as man, great Talos cherished us. For he saw in us, in each of us, the future of Skyrim! The future of Tamriel!

And there it is, friends! The ugly truth! We are the children of man! Talos is the true god of man! Ascended from flesh, to rule the realm of spirit!

The very idea is inconceivable to our Elven overlords! Sharing the heavens with us? With man? Ha! They can barely tolerate our presence on earth!

Today, they take away your faith. But what of tomorrow? Do the elves take your homes? Your businesses? Your children? Your very lives?

And what does the Empire do? Nothing! Nay, worse than nothing! The Imperial machine enforces the will of the Thalmor! Against its own people!

So rise up! Rise up, children of the Empire! Rise up, Stormcloaks! Embrace the word of mighty Talos, he who is both man and Divine!

For we are the children of man! And we shall inherit both the heavens and the earth! And we, not the Elves or their toadies, will rule Skyrim! Forever!

Terrible and powerful Talos! We, your unworthy servants, give praise! For only through your grace and benevolence may we truly reach enlightenment!

And deserve our praise you do, for we are one! Ere you ascended and the Eight became Nine, you walked among us, great Talos, not as god, but as man!

Trust in me, Whiterun! Trust in the words of Heimskr! For I am the chosen of Talos! I alone have been anointed by the Ninth to spread his holy word!

Hear Hear.

You know what I did to that guy? I shot him in the back several times with an elextric arrow.

Considering the Thalmor are actively trying to track down and arrest Talos worshipers, they kind of missed the elephant in the room.

Dervish said
Considering the Thalmor are actively trying to track down and arrest Talos worshipers, they kind of missed the elephant in the room.

The Jarl won't let the Thalmor into Whiterun.

Advantages to being neutral.

The Nexerus said
The Jarl won't let the Thalmor into Whiterun.

It shouldn't matter what the Jarls want, they're bound by the White-Gold Concordat.

Irileth: "Was it cowardly then to accept the White-Gold Concordat?"
Balgruuf: "This again?! That was different. Was I given a chance to object to the terms of the treaty? No. The Jarls weren't asked. We were told. And we had to like it."

Source

"The White-Gold Concordat was the official name given to the agreement signed that ended the Great War of the Fourth Era. The Great War was fought between the human-dominated Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion comprised primarily of Altmer of the Summerset Isles. Although the exact cause(s) of the conflict aren't specified, the Elven Supremacist government, the Thalmor, as well as a few quotes throughout Skyrim suggest the Elves were the aggressors. The events of this occurred after the Oblivion Crisis (the events of Oblivion) and before those of Skyrim. The treaty was the only means to end the conflict for the Empire and heavily favors the Aldmeri Dominion, who would have otherwise crushed the Empire. Among its legislation was the outlawing of the worshiping of Talos, disbandment of the Blades and giving free reign to the Thalmor to move throughout the Empire and to hunt down any worshipers of this outlawed deity, and the slaughtering of the last of the Blades."

Bolded to highlight relevant section.

"A large tribute of gold would be paid to the Aldmeri Dominion, the Empire would give a large portion of southern Hammerfell to the dominion, the worship of Talos would be banned from the empire, The Blades would be forced to disband, and the Thalmor may have free reign in Skyrim (including the Thalmor Embassy) to stomp out the worship of Talos."

Source.

Since the Jarls are bound by the White-Gold Concordat, which allows Thalmor Justicars free reign to hunt down and arrest Talos worshipers, Heimskr should have been quickly found and detained with Jarl Balgruuf unable to speak against it. The City Guard can deny the Alik'r Warriors access to the city because Hammerfell and Skyrim have no formal treaties to honour, so the Jarl's laws can be enforced in that case.

It's actually in the game files that if the Empire takes control of Whiterun during the Civil War, Heimskr was meant to be arrested and taken to the dungeons. It was never actually implemented.

I imagine the reason Riften's been spared from Thalmor presence is because Riften sided with the Stormcloaks, which as you know are rebelling against both the Empire and the White-Gold Concordat.

Perhaps the Thalmor consider Hemiskr to be doing more harm than good to the religion?

Fanatics can do that.

Blitzkrieg said
Perhaps the Thalmor consider Hemiskr to be doing more harm than good to the religion?Fanatics can do that.

Yeah....

Every time I seen him he was calling everyone maggots or threatening that the Altmer would come and take everyone's lives... I highly doubt always saying only those two lines constantly is a good way to gain members to your religion :/

Blitzkrieg said
Perhaps the Thalmor consider Hemiskr to be doing more harm than good to the religion?Fanatics can do that.

Given their track record, any heresy is bad heresy. It's not like they give a crap what people think.

Dervish said
Given their track record, any heresy is bad heresy. It's not like they give a crap what people think.

But they also have a history of using the nords to their own benefit. If Hemiskyr makes Talos worship look bad, he would have significant use to them.

Blitzkrieg said
But they also have a history of using the nords to their own benefit. If Hemiskyr makes Talos worship look bad, he would have significant use to them.

So they basically 'loosen the rope' on purpose about Heimskr so he can 'hang' himself, and by extension his belief, with how he's behaving?

The Thalmor have used more complicated means to advance their own goals.

Blitzkrieg said
The Thalmor have used more complicated means to advance their own goals.

They use those sorts of strategies in the struggle for control of the Tamriel, yes, but the thing about Talos is less a struggle and more a policy that they are enforcing on everyone under their control. I think there was something about them murdering children in Talos worshiping families because they were corrupt (But that might have been from 3dnpc), so I don't think they would let a guy who is constantly disrespecting their control live off of some scheme that he is doing more harm than good.

Really there are a lot of open Talos worshippers in Whiterun. It makes some sense for them to be there when Balgruuf isn't allied with the Empire, but after he has submitted and after the war is over it doesn't make much sense that the Thalmor wouldn't have a presence in the city and thus a lot of the people would be dying, but really that could be said about all major stormcloak cities. It was deemed an acceptable plot hole, obviously, they didn't put much work at all into the war questline so clearly they aren't about to make major changes to the world just because it is completed.

Heh, my favorite quest was "Missing in Action". Doesn't matter which faction my character was or is leaning on and the fact that the one needed to be saved was a Stormcloak, I just want a chance to bash the Thalmor.

I admit, it feels REALLY good to basically thumb my nose at them and show them my middle finger. Well, I got several assassins trying to ambush me and groups of Thalmor trying to eliminate me afterwards. Still worth it. XD (Even more so whenever I managed to overpower them and then laughed my heart out at the 'Elimination Note' I found on the Thalmor's group leader )

Suck it, you arrogant bastards! >:3

Blitzkrieg said
But they also have a history of using the nords to their own benefit. If Hemiskyr makes Talos worship look bad, he would have significant use to them.

Not necessarily. What does it demonstrate to the rest of Skyrim if the Thalmor aren't forcefully removing Heimskr when he's clearly the most vocal supporter of Talos (in game, anyways)? Even if he's obnoxious and likely widely ignored, people who already believe in Talos aren't going to stop because he "makes them look bad". The Elder Scrolls has well established that gods are very tangible entities, so it actually makes less sense to be an atheist in this world; especially when deities like Akatosh take the form of an avatar to send Mehrunes Dagon back to Oblivion, or the act of simply praying at an alter bestows a tangible blessing on you as well as cures you of disease. By not removing Heimskr, the Thalmor are sending the message that if someone as loud as Heimskr can continue being a public figure for the worship of Talos, then they can probably get away with it, too.

ishtar said
Heh, my favorite quest was "Missing in Action". Doesn't matter which faction my character was or is leaning on and the fact that the one needed to be saved was a Stormcloak, I just want a chance to bash the Thalmor. I admit, it feels REALLY good to basically thumb my nose at them and show them my middle finger. Well, I got several assassins trying to ambush me and groups of Thalmor trying to eliminate me afterwards. Still worth it. XD (Even more so whenever I managed to overpower them and then laughed my heart out at the 'Elimination Note' I found on the Thalmor's group leader )Suck it, you arrogant bastards! >:3

I totally make it a point to slaughter Thalmor patrols I find out in the wilderness. Sometimes, I find ways to break back into the embassy to murder the shit out of them some more.

Dervish said
I totally make it a point to slaughter Thalmor patrols I find out in the wilderness. Sometimes, I find ways to break back into the embassy to murder the shit out of them some more.

Break back... into the Embassy?
*loading mode* ........ *!!*

What a wonderful idea!!! I'm SO totally going to do that the next time I load the game!! =D <3

ishtar said
Break back... into the Embassy? *loading mode* ........ *!!*What a wonderful idea!!! I'm SO totally going to do that the next time I load the game!! =D <3

If it involves murdering hordes of people I don't like, I can be very creative.

...shit, I said that out loud.