[OOC] The Elder Scrolls VI: Sentinel

[Raineh Daze]

The third century of the Fourth Era began turbulently, to say the least. Skyrim erupted into open civil war that threatened to have it secede from the Empire, to then be rudely interrupted by the sudden resurgence of dragons and vampires. The old Emperor, Titus Mede II, died under mysterious circumstances shortly before making a visit to inspect the Legions' progress in quelling the unrest.

To the bafflement of onlookers praying for the Empire's decline, the chaotic situation was just as quickly stabilised at the hands of a single figure. The Civil War? Brought to a bloody end by force of arms, despite the two sides' previous stagnation. The dragons? Similarly brought to heel, and the vampire threat silenced as quickly as it had sprung up. Even an attempt to take advantage of the College of Winterhold came to a dismal failure.

Yet still, as 4E 204 drew to a close, there was another interregnum, and the Legions were spent. Everything was ripe for the Aldmeri Dominion to make another move and finish what it had started.

Then the same woman that had caused them so much trouble in Skyrim waltzed into the Imperial City and declared herself Empress, the old regimes' hereditary bodyguards in tow. Her qualifications? Being Dragonborn, like Tiber Septim and Reman Cyrodiil before him.

And the dragons. Quite a persuasive argument, them.

Common wisdom and the advisors of the Elder Council suggested time to build the Legions up before acting provocatively and courting Hammerfell, actually readying themselves for the inevitable conflict ahead. The Empress? She declared the worship of the Nine to be the Empire's official faith once again, goading the Aldmeri Dominion to take action.

Another war looms on the horizon.

---

"And so, you, my Blades, are to go to Hammerfell and see to it that we at least have another ally against the Dominion. Preferably, they would rejoin the Empire fully, even if you have to make concessions. Tullius insists it would make travelling to High Rock easier than going through the Reach." As usual, the Empress looks distinctly unregal, lounging across the Ruby Throne in full armour. Not that it would be wise to provoke the Breton woman; that diminutive figure can be quite terrifying.

"I have to stay here and keep the Thalmor on their toes, so… Lydia? I think I'll pick Lydia. She's going to be the open diplomatic mission, use her as your point of contact back here. You get the fun part. Use your imaginations, just… don't start a war, I don't need the old man retiring out of frustration yet."

Your orders are open-ended, and your resources limited beyond what you can take on the journey. But, for better or worse, you are the hand-picked agents to bring Hammerfell back on the Empire's side.

Akatosh have mercy on us all.

---

In summary: the Dragonborn has taken control of the Empire, pissed off the Aldmeri Dominion immediately, and just picked the people she likes the vibe of to go do undercover work.

As you may imagine, this can make for quite the eclectic set of individuals. Albeit with two restrictions: they actually are on the Empire's side, and they're not quite as tiny as their boss. That's not hard, she's a short lady. I'm also aiming for a posting rate of once a week, so please don't apply if you can't keep up with that.

Bios:

• Name:
• Gender:
• Race:
• Appearance:
• Personality:
• Brief Backstory:
• Equipment: Please, keep it reasonable; this isn't a game economy and things beyond common steel are going to get exponentially more expensive, fast.
• Skills:

[Rune_Alchemist]

Killing elves?

Pelinial Approves!

Hello Rain, hows it. I'd be down to spin up a CS for this.

[Raineh Daze]

Heyo~

Pelinal levels of murderousness would be concerning. Please don't kill any friendly elves. :P

[Andreyich]

What happened to the Stormcloaks? I was thinking maybe an Imperial that fled to Skyrim to worship Talos just before the civil war, then became a Priest of Talos before being captured by the Empire. Depending on what the Empress did during the events of TESV the character would range from reluctant to enthusiastic. Probably of wealthy background, relatively educated before becoming a bit savage as he integrated among the Nords he ministered to.

[Raineh Daze]

As an organised force? Destroyed in short order by pretty overwhelming power. Standard civil war questline stuff.

Tullius was still around for a while to do cleanup before the whole upended power thing, and the remnants have either stood down or are becoming more and more irrelevant as their recruiting options have reduced one by one.

[Andreyich]

great! One more question, are you considering ESO canon? Was thinking my character would be something along the lines of the Templars therein in terms of skills on the sheet

[Raineh Daze]

Canon enough. Grabbing abilities from it is certainly applicable.

[Raineh Daze]

Eheh, for everyone else, please remember to put charsheets in the OOC first for approval. xD

Minotaur's good, though.

[Andreyich]

Imperial Nordboo

Name: Thorius (or, Thor, Tyr, Tàr, and many other variations depending on the milieu he is attempting to ingratiate himself with.) Justinianus
Gender: Male
Race: Imperial
Appearance: His hair and eyes are both very dark, whilst his skin was at birth quite pale and has further paled by his time in Skyrim. Often he might don face paints of all sorts on himself. Uusally his face will be cleanly shaven while his hair falls neatly to his shoulders to keep the cold away from his ears.
Personality: Thor is a man heavily influence by the fact that he worships not one but two pantheons, more than ten Gods demanding his attention in sometimes contradictory ways. Combined with his belief that the Gods are speaking to him (be it literally in his head, or through omens he believes he can decipher) this leads to behaviour that at first sight might seem somewhat erratic. However, past the artificial cheeriness brought for by his communing with the pantheon, Thor is a quite dour soul. In his youth forced out of his home, it was the first of a series of tragedies that culminated in his imprisonment. Though now Talos worship is legal in the Empire and he has an opportunity to fight against the true enemy of him and his people, he can't help but feel a defeated man serving his conqueror.

To the surprise of most, he doesn't have any problem with Elves, in fact getting along with them quite well so long as they do not happen to be Thalmor and their lackeys.
Brief Backstory:
Thor was born in the North of Cyrodiil, far enough to be close to Skyrim without being a Colovian pseudo-Nord. His family were merchant elites, bringing him into the curious position of being well educated and privileged without any of the true hereditary might of a noble, merely that which coin could buy. This made his father ceaselessly teach him that he had to be always on guard, for unlike a nobleman, he could only rely on that which coin could bring him. This was he would later learn, a prelude to the realities his family had to face as worshippers of Talos.

A voracious student, Thorius's academic studies were brutally interrupted as the truth of his family's confession was revealed by another merchant family they were competing with, and a raid forced the once proud Justinianii to become refugees.

Thus they fled for Skyrim. Suddenly bereft of funds, the once prestigious family became menial workers in Windhelm. With his family being outlanders that didn't speak the Nord tongue, Thor more and more found himself uninterested in whatever wisdom his father had to espouse. Instead the constant firebrand zealotry roared by the Stormcloaks enamoured him, and slowly Thor came to adopt himself into the Nord culture. While he never forgot his roots and kept the Imperial Gods, he more and more found himself feeling his soul to be Nordic. Before he even went through puberty, he left home and joined the Priests among the Stormcloaks. The teenage Thor would see many battles, both losing and winning among the Stormcloaks. He would mature in their ranks, slowly coming to wield a blade as tending to the wounded and dying did not feel a sufficient calling. He was more and more convinced that the ailing state of both Skyrim and the Empire was a result of their own failings, that the Gods were punishing them with the Thalmor for their inadequacies as he thought he heard their calls.

But he did not have much time to speak on this, as the first hairs on his face came at about the same time that the Empire seemed to wrap up the civil war in Skyrim. So Thor was imprisoned among many other Stormcloaks that went quietly.

Mixed feelings came across him as the new self-proclaimed Empress declared the worship of Talos legal and necessary once more. On the one hand, it meant that in spirit he had won. The Stormcloak cause of fighting for their right to worship one of the Nine divines was successful, even if it wasn't under the banner of the Bear. On the other hand, it meant he had fought for nothing. The woman that brought him and his comrades low had suddenly turned her back on the very same cause that she had fought for when defeating him and his brothers in arms.

Thor was confused, and the only thing that was clear was that he personally had lost. He had tried so hard to learn the blade to fight. He had prayed every day and night to ensure the Gods would be on his side. But still he was defeated.

Thus it was strange when admidst his sentencing, he was granted amnesty on the simple condition of his enlistment into service of the Empire. With little choice, he accepted, albeit warily. After all, was the Empire sincere in its reverence for Talos since mere years ago it had fought its worshippers? Or perhaps the tales of realpolitik were true, that they were merely bidding their time to fight the Thalmor, that Thor was an unwitting agent of the Thalmor? Either way, he was eager to seek revenge.

Equipment: He does not need very much. Ritualistic equipment (paints, incense, bones, etc.), a blade, a shield, and ideally some armour to catch the arrows. But he will gladly take anything greater if it is available.
Skills: Thor is not a true warrior, nor is he a true mage. A man learned in both blade and Godly sorcery, he treads directly on the line between these paths. While he calls on the power of the Aedra, he is more than willing to raise a weapon in hand in the instance they do not answer his prayers. While a learned fellow, he still has many gaps in his academic resume. However, in respect to history and religion of any culture and race of Mundus, he will be an expert.

[Rune_Alchemist]

@Raineh Daze
Here we are. Stopped being lazy and finished up now that I had some free time. Lemme know if anything needs to be changed.

Paladin

• Name:
  Colcette Phielus
• Gender:
  Female
• Race:
  Breton
• Appearance:
  Colcette, standing at five foot eight has long red hair, often hanging loose when not tied up or wearing a helmet. When shes not wearing her armor she wears either her robes from her time in the chantry or very humble peasant clothing, noting that wearing anything more feels a little excessive for a humble servant of Akatosh and the Divines.
• Personality:
  In her day to day, Colcette's personality can be described as confidently brash and self-assured. She fully believes she's here for some divine purpose, some grand divine portent such as helping the Empire rebuild itself and drive out its elvish aggressors and return peace and stability. She couldn't tell you exactly when she started believing this, but growing up on tales of Akatosh, Talos, and Pelinial Whitestrake certainly likely had a factor in it. This, of course, has also given her something of a less than stellar opinion of elves - especially the High Elves and the Bosmer who were the first to break away from the Empire.
  
  She often spends her free time either in churches or studying any religious text she can get her hands on. One could make the argument she is fairly arrogant. Perhaps rather paradoxically, though, she can also be surprisingly playful and a little catty which can catch people meeting her for the first time a little off guard.
  
  This attitude entirely vanishes in combat, however - that is something she takes with an almost impressive amount of seriousness and even hostility, and even mild cruelty depending on who or what she's fighting and the overall situation.
• Brief Backstory:
  High rock is no stranger to conflict, politicking, and having its own internal wars and strife. Such a way of life has long been ingrained and even celebrated by the peoples of the Illiac Bay. This fact and way of life is only overshadowed by the Bretons staunch ability to come together to defend against outside forces despite this. As such, the Thalmor had difficulty with its plots messing with the internal affairs and destabilizing region, allowing the Bretons to still remain staunchly loyal to the Empire.
  
  This, would be the climate that Colcette would be born into. Roughly four years after the Great War, Colcette would be born in the Stormhaven region of Highrock, in the city of Wayrest to a minor noble family as their youngest daughter. Her older siblings included a brother a few years older, a sister, and the her oldest brother. Growing up, the Phileus children couldn't be more different. Her gloomy and stern older brother focusing entirely on statecraft and inheriting the families titles. Her lively, slightly clumsy and too into fashion her older sister desiring to become a skilled mage, and her second brother focusing on sorcery and magic who grew up on too many tales of adventure and knighthood.
  
  Not that she could fault her second brother for that, she often would share his exuberance in such tales but her focus ultimately would end up going in an entirely different direciton.
  
  Theology, specifically myths and legends surrounding Talos, Akatosh, and spending much of her free time in Wayrests Temple of Akatosh studying any bit of religious text she could get her hands on, no matter how dubious in its origin. She spent her time learning from the priests, with a clear desire to join the Akatosh Chantry herself and becoming an ordained member of the clergy.
  
  This peaceful time in her life, though, came to an abrupt end in 4E 188. The sudden assassination of the corrupt head of the Order of the Hour by the dark brotherhood would cause a chain reaction that led the city to be besieged by corsairs. The king of Wayrest at the time, cut a deal with the pirates and fled, leaving the cities' gates open and free for the pirates to raid it as they see fit. If not for some unknown hero rallying the guard and populace together, the damage could have been much worse, but it didn't stop tragedy happening entirely. Her father was killed during the raiding, leaving the affairs of the family to fall to her eldest brother once her mother fell Ill shortly afterwards.
  
  During the following years, Colcette started questioning what she could do to prevent something like that happening again. Not only to prevent something like pirates or a corrupt leader or cowardly king to leave the populace at their whims, but to prevent something like the Great War that happened shortly before she was born from happening again, to say nothing of the Thalmor that were still causing issues and problems. Her abilities as a healer and student of Akatosh and Arkay could only do so much.
  
  It was only when a man started frequenting the Cathedral did she start to get some idea of what she could do. He was a former member of the Order of the Hour. Past his prime and obviously injured, but one day she walked up to him and demanded to be taught swordsmanship. It took awhile of her pestering him, but eventually he acquiesced and for several long years, she would learn everything she could from this former knight, gaining new perspectives on both her beliefs and how one can better aid people around her.
  
  When she was sixteen, she finally left home, wanting to both test her skills as a knight as well as start helping folk that she could...and more importantly, travel south to the Hammer fell border and find any evidence of Thalmor presence and eradicate it. Her years of tutelage and study of history and theology resulting in a unique disdain for the High Elves and other elves to a lesser extent - how dare they challenge Akatosh and the Empire?
  
  Thus, her life continued like this until recently. After hearing a somewhat familiar name had become Empress of the Empire and reinstated worship of Talos, Colcette made to travel further south, heading through the Gold Coast, traveling through Anvil and eventually making her way towards the Imperial city where she rather audaciously walked right into a meeting of the Elder Council and swore eternal loyalty to the Empress.
• Equipment:
  As one may expect of a particularly militant member of the Akatosh Chantry, Colcette over the years has put together a full set of Steel armor, decorated with religious iconography of Akatosh, a Steel longsword that is her favored weapon, and an amulet of Akatosh that she has had since she first became interested in learning theology from her home.
  
  Steel Armor
  A set of steel armored modified lightly to have religious iconography of Akatosh on the breastplate.
  
  Steel Longsword
  A simple and easy to use longsword.
  
  Amulet of Akatosh
  An old amulet of Akatosh she's had since she first became interested in the Chantry. Like all of these religious amulets, it increases ones ability to regenerate magicka.
• Skills:
  Restoration - Adept
  As a learned healer Colcette is skilled in Restoration spells, learned both from various priests at the temple of Akatosh and a few others that occasionally visited from abroad. She manifests her restoration abilities fairly simple and effectively as one may expect. To heal herself and those around her, restoring health and reinvigorating her allies and ensuring any negative effects from other spells and magic are also less effective. Also, harming undead through a few simple sunlight related spells. This skill, also extends to magical wards for protecting herself and her allies, and also granting them small boons and fortifying her own strength and stamina or her allies.
  
  Destruction - Apprentice
  While she mainly fights with sword in hand, she does know a handful of destruction spells for the cases where its needed to fend off Daedra or other spirits where her sword fails her. As Akatosh itself is often depicted with fire, that is also her preferred method of expressing this particular school of magic. She can only use simple fire balls or streams of fire really for now, but she is endeavoring to become better so she can cleanse Tamriel of anything standing in the way of the Dragon God and the Empire.
  
  One Handed - Adept
  While not an expert, she was tutored by someone from the former Order of the Hour. She can hold her own against most opponents, but is always looking for ways to improve.
  Heavy Armor - Adept
  The best protection against any stabby weapons and elves that need to be put in their place.

[The Otter]

Imperial Nordboo

@Andreyich

Sorry to say, but with a couple others we invited along at the outset giving us some confirmation now we've got a full house. We'll keep you in mind for the future.

[Raineh Daze]

@Rune_Alchemist budding pyromaniac accepted

[Psyker Landshark]

Telvanni Sorceress

Name: Rela Arel
Gender: Female
Race: Dunmer
Appearance:
Stands at 5'9" with a lithe, athletic build that suggests capacity for a good amount of physical exertion. Certainly more physically fit than several other mages. Her face and body bear deep scarring that look to be the result of claw slashes and weapons.

Typically favors extravagant, loud, and downright gaudy fashions. The contrast between her scarred face and richly adorned clothing produces a jarring effect that tends to catch the casual observer off guard.

Personality:
Living through the twin humiliations of both the Red Year and the Argonian invasion have done evidently little to curb this Telvanni's standoffish, haughty attitude. While not as bad as her House is stereotypically made out to be (translated: she's tolerable enough to be around others), Rela is still nonetheless something of a cold bitch focused on results and achievement above all. Following after that is her research. And coming in last place is what anyone thinks of her priorities.

Rela respects no law but those that can be directly enforced against her. This means begrudging adherence to the Empress's decrees, and nothing else. Necromancy? You'll be next in the collection if you keep asking. Levitation? Why was that law even still in effect?! Breaking and entering? Now you were just taking the piss.

Unbeknowst to most who know her, however, is her longing for better times. In her youth, the Empire had control of Morrowind, and life was better. No Red Year, no ash, no unruly lizards that didn't know their place. It's this sentimentality and desire for order that keep her in the life of a Blade, no matter how much she verbally complains and protests.

Brief Backstory:
Born to a minor branch family attached to House Telvanni at the very end of the Imperial Simulacrum, Rela grew up on the mainland of Morrowind in the waning years of the Third Era and Uriel Septim VII's reign. Her early years were typical for a Telvanni youth: she learned the ways of magic, advanced in her studies, and excelled, becoming Spellwright by the time the Nerevarine prophecy was fulfilled.

To say that the next few years shaped the course of her life would be a horrendous understatement. Rela fought in the Oblivion Crisis, lived through the Red Year, and was only just managing to get her life back together when the Argonian invasion happened. Rela fought. House Telvanni fought. The Argonians fought. Many died. She didn't. The vast majority of House Telvanni's forces in Mournhold fell, along with the city itself. Somehow, Rela managed to crawl through the ash and smoke after the battle long enough to be found.

In the aftermath, Rela was given a promotion to Wizard rank due to the complete absence of any other surviving Telvanni mages, and a laboratory when Mournhold began rebuilding. Many in the House expected her star to keep rising from there. She, on the other hand, had different ideas. Instead of chasing after becoming a Master, Rela delved deep into her magical studies, becoming a recluse. While this disappointed those who promoted her in the first place, it wasn't unheard of at all within the House.

For decades after, Rela's focus was on one thing: extending her lifespan as several notable Telvanni Masters had. Her brush with death three times in the span of barely a few years had galvanized her into accelerating the timetable on this research. She didn't make pacts with Daedra, despite being very well-versed in their summoning. Instead, her path towards a very extended lifespan was through necromancy. Illegal? Who gave a damn? It wasn't as if any Imperial authorities were in a place to care. And it wasn't as if House Telvanni was going to kick up a fuss about forbidden methods.

Eventually, she succeeded. Rela's necromantic magics had successfully reverted her into the prime of her youth, and would keep it that way barring a violent end. By the time she came up for air, it was to her surprise that nearly two centuries had passed. And Morrowind was still an ash-blighted hellhole. She took the time to touch base with the current Council of Masters, confirming that she was still alive and that she was active once more. After finishing with reporting in to the last of the Masters on Solstheim, Rela returned to Raven Rock, where she intended to spend the night before returning to Morrowind. What she didn't expect was a scintillating conversation with a visiting Breton woman, where they'd spent the entire night discussing the intricacies of magic, mace work, and mace work augmented by magic.

Three years later, that night would barely register in Rela's mind until an Imperial procession appeared outside her laboratory in Mournhold, with the very same woman telling her she was...recruited? And that was when the comedy that was Rela's life entered a new chapter.

Equipment:

• Enchanted Robes: Fine robes, gloves, and boots colored in garish crimson and gold, enchanted for defense.
• Accessories: Amulet, rings, and circlet enchanted to enhance magicka capacity and spellcasting potency.
• Steel Dagger: Plain knife intended for utility work and last ditch self-defense.

Skills:
Major:

• Conjuration
• Alteration
• Destruction

Minor:

• Alchemy
• Enchanting
• One-Handed

[Raineh Daze]

Accepted.